Your brand deserves its own stage — Side Events at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
From October 10-16, host a Side Event and command the room during the week of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
Social
WhatsApp now lets you reserve usernames
WhatsApp username can be between 3 to 35 characters length
Instagram is testing more ways to customize ‘Your Algorithm’
Instagram users could soon see more ways to tune their content.
TikTok’s road to becoming a super app
TikTok may be working to become the app that people use for most of their digital activities.
Facebook rolls out an AI companion app for creators
The new app, which is currently being tested with select creators, will have Facebook’s recently launched AI creator assistant built into it.
WhatsApp gets new chief as Meta taps India’s CRED founder Kunal Shah, and invests $900M in startup
WhatsApp gets a new boss, as Will Cathcart moves to a new role at Meta, while Shah steps down as CEO of Indian fintech giant CRED to replace Cathcart.
Instagram looks to take on streaming services with longer-form, episodic and live formats for its TV app
Instagram is coming for streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as it sets its ambitions for living room viewing.
Pixi’s new iOS app turns text messages into interactive AR experiences
Forget stickers, GIFs, and emoji reactions. Pixi is betting that the next evolution of messaging is interactive augmented reality (AR).
Social media’s next evolution: user-controlled algorithms
Social media feeds are becoming more customizable as platforms like Threads, Instagram, and TikTok introduce tools that let users directly influence the algorithms powering their recommendations.
Mastodon looks to newsletters to help revive the open social web
Mastodon’s newly launched newsletter feature lets anyone subscribe to creators by email, even without a Mastodon account.