Social Media

Elon Musk doesn’t own Twitter, but he partially owns its Q2 results: The Tesla CEO has been a headwind factoring into the platform's weak Q2 results.

On today's episode, we discuss Netflix choosing Microsoft to help with the streaming service's upcoming ad-supported tier, the need for a chief media officer, what to make of inflation still not slowing down, whether YouTube is the future of cable, whether customers will buy into in-car subscription services, an unpopular opinion about the term "influencer," what exactly a "black box" really is, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Dave Frankland, Evelyn Mitchell, and Max Willens.

Amazon, Twitter, and HBO Max are all dealing with fraud: Spam and fakery are affecting multiple facets of the digital economy.

Facebook eyes a cheaper creator economy: The platform is pivoting away from publishers, but small creator payouts could hurt its plans.

Focusing on TikTok: As the social video platform cuts jobs around the world and deals with the departure of its chief security officer and accusations of data harvesting, we weigh in on what’s next.

Facebook tests multiple account profiles: The move would represent a major shift as user growth slows and competition increases.

ByteDance looks to extend its app hits and take on a rival: TikTok’s owner launches recommendation app Kesong in the China market to challenge Tencent.

Instagram sweetens income opportunities for creators: New subscription features allow group chats and other interactions between creators and their fans.

40% of Gen Z likes to search on TikTok instead of Google: Those numbers come from Google itself, which is eager to deflect monopoly accusations.

On today's episode, we discuss what to make of Elon Musk trying to pull out of the Twitter deal, the ramifications for both parties, and how advertisers will likely view the platform going forward. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Jasmine Enberg.

Instagram has its priorities in focus: Platform looks to draw advertisers to Reels, sees shopping wins in home goods and electronics as well as fashion and beauty, executive says.

Twitter up in arms: The social media company is fighting for its life and going after Elon Musk for disrupting its operations, destroying stockholder value, and walking away.

Twitter’s value topples: Elon Musk withdraws from the $43.4B deal and causes a $2.5B drop in Twitter’s market value. A lawsuit could produce a range of possible outcomes for both parties.

In the US, Twitter will lose 1.4 million monthly users between 2022 and 2026. Many of those defectors will be people who joined in the initial years of the pandemic—for updates on COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election—but are leaving out of news fatigue or in pursuit of other content.

Could influencers help mitigate against slowing Prime Day sales? Amazon is incorporating “creator houses” into its plans for this week’s sale.

Twitter teetering as acquisition deal likely canceled: Twitter lays off 30% of its talent acquisition team as the company is seemingly in limbo.

Both parties go after TikTok: Senators Warner and Rubio raise concerns about the app’s data policies to the FTC.

Reddit explores the NFT waters: The platform is introducing collectible, customizable avatars.

Our latest forecast shows that Facebook’s monthly user base in the US will plateau, rather than grow as previously expected. Following a peak of 179.7 million last year, the base will lose 2.1 million users by the end of 2024 and hold steady at 177.6 million through 2026.