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.
TikTok
YouTube updates Shorts to make it even more like TikTok
YouTube is adding even more TikTok-like features to Shorts, including a new “clear screen” mode that removes the icons and text from the video you’re watching. In a blog post on Thursday, YouTube says it’s also replacing the “thumbs-up” button with a “heart” icon, and is introducing a new option that lets you watch Shorts […]
YouTube Shorts are getting even shorter with an update that lets you double the playback speed
YouTube Shorts is getting a makeover.
Instagram wants to monopolize your attention
This week, Instagram launched a series of new features for its smart TV app that are all designed to get people to spend more time on the platform through the biggest screens in their homes. In addition to vertical Reels, Instagram for TV – which is currently available for Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, and […]
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.
Florida sues TikTok for allegedly violating its social media ban for kids
The state of Florida is suing TikTok over claims the company isn’t complying with the state’s child safety law, which bans kids under 14 from creating social media accounts, as reported earlier by Reuters. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, alleges that TikTok still allows 13-year-olds in Florida to use the platform and is “actively deceiving” […]
UK unveils sweeping social media ban for users under 16
The ban would apply to a range of social media platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Cyberdecks used to look like little laptops, but now they’re getting more personal
DIYer and TikTok user Annike Tan, who goes by @ubeboobey, can carry her cyberdeck around without anyone noticing because it doesn’t look like a computer at all. Tan, who has been featured in The Cut and Wired, went viral earlier this year with a mermaid-themed cyberdeck she made inside an old purse. She has since […]
AI grifters are creating fake Black people to sell Shein junk
Aliyah, a light-skinned Black woman dressed in country-western gear, is struggling to sell metal buckles she handmade on TikTok. In a video for the social media platform from March, she cries to the camera and pleads for views: “Even as a black woman, I have more faith that white women will stay 13 seconds [on […]