With Senate hearings and leaked documents galore, teen mental health on social media is a hot topic right now. But Gen Z founders Georgia Messinger and Ari Sokolov have been trying to create healthier online spaces since they were in high school, when they started the anonymous virtual support app Trill. “People ask us sometimes, […]
Mark Cuban-backed live entertainment app Fireside launches to creators
Amid a deluge of new creator platforms, a startup called Fireside is launching today with what it believes will be a compelling proposition for professional creators in need of a more robust set of tools for content creation, distribution, measurement, and monetization. The service, which offers a platform for live and interactive shows, had been […]
Ben Rubin explains why the Web3 era of social media will help everybody get paid
After a decade of a handful of social media companies trading what are essentially publishing tools in exchange for serving us all an endless deluge of ads, the winds of change are finally blowing.
Ben Rubin, who founded Houseparty, Meerkat and Slashtalk, will peer into the future of social at Disrupt
Ben Rubin understands where social is going. In fact, he understands it so well, he’s always there early. Rubin is the current CEO and co-founder of Slashtalk and an angel investor who scouts for Sequoia Capital. He previously founded Houseparty and Meerkat — apps that pioneered group video chat and mobile livestreaming, respectively — shaping […]
Demand Curve: How to get social proof that grows your startup
When people are uncertain, they look to others for behavioral guidance. This is called social proof, and using it effectively can lead to up to 400% improvement in conversion.
Glassdoor acquires Fishbowl, a semi-anonymous social network and job board, to square up to LinkedIn
While LinkedIn doubles down on creators to bring a more human, less manicured element to its networking platform for professionals, a company that has built a reputation for publishing primarily the more messy and human impressions of work life has made an acquisition that might help it compete better with LinkedIn. Glassdoor, the platform that […]
The network effect is anti-competitive
Social networks and online marketplace providers have become digital dictators with complete control over their territories.
Spotify’s Clubhouse clone adds six new weekly shows, some that tie to Spotify playlists
This summer, Spotify launched its live audio app and Clubhouse rival, Spotify Greenroom, with the promises of more programming to come in the months ahead to augment its then primarily user-generated live content. Today, the company is making good on that earlier commitment, with the launch of six new shows on Spotify Greenroom focused on […]
Twitter wants you to tweet to interest-based communities, not just followers
Twitter is a useful place for following breaking news and keeping up with what the people you’re already interested in are doing, but its relative dearth of discovery features and a lack of organized community spaces make it pretty hard to connect with anyone you aren’t actively seeking out. The company is thinking about changing […]
Spotify officially launches Blend, allowing friends to match their musical tastes and make playlists together
Spotify today is officially rolling out its shared playlist feature called Blend to global users, with a few changes. Earlier this summer, Spotify had first launched the new shared playlist experience into beta testing. The feature, which allows two people to combine their favorite songs into one shared playlist, uses the same music mixing technology […]