00:00 Evan Spiegel and Reggie created Snapchat, a photo-sharing app that disappears, which became a multi-billion dollar idea. 02:38 Snapchat’s success was driven by its appeal to teenagers and its unique features. 05:13 Snapchat refused to sell to Facebook and faced competition from Facebook’s clone app Poke. 07:50 Snapchat’s success and potential led to Facebook’s … Read more
Inside Uber’s Aggressive, Unrestrained Workplace Culture New York Times – Mike Isaac – Feb 22, 4:31 PM Until this week, this culture was only whispered about in Silicon Valley. Then on Sunday, Susan Fowler, an engineer who left Uber in December, published a blog post about her time at the company. She detailed a history … Read more
Report: Snap Inc. spent millions to get better at augmented reality The Social Software Weblog The creators of Snapchat are running toward an IPO at full speed, but it seems to have nabbed itself a neat holiday gift along the way. According to a report from The Calcalist (as interpreted by The Times of Israel), … Read more
KickassTorrents ex-staffers brought the torrent site back from the dead The Next Web by Mix Back in July, millions of pirates got their hearts broken when their go-to torrent site KickassTorrents suddenly shut down following the arrest of alleged founder Artem Vaulin – but it seems not all is lost. A group of devoted ex-staffers has kicked off a … Read more
The wild west of automated news. A Medium collection ************** Centre for Community Journalism launches network to represent independent news publishers Journalism.co.uk The network will provide an online forum, training and advocacy for its members The year of the fact-checking bot Nieman Journalism Lab by Bill Adair A year ago, I predicted that 2016 would … Read more
IPI launches database on online abuse against journalists ipi.media – Silvia Morales – Dec 6 Spanish journalist Mayte Carrasco spent years covering deadly conflicts across the globe, from Afghanistan to Libya. But it was from the safety of her own home that she faced some of the most vivid threats to her life. Not long … Read more
Digital Security Tips for Protesters EFF.org Updates by Bill Budington After the election, individuals took to the streets across the country to express their outrage and disappointment at the result of the U.S. presidential election. Many protesters may not be aware of the unfortunate fact that exercising their First Amendment rights may open themselves up … Read more
How Livestreaming Is Transforming Activism Around the World Wired Top Stories by Lexi Pandell In some countries, livestreaming an event can get you thrown in jail. Explore the promise and peril of using your smartphone to fight the power worldwide. Snap’s Spectacles Are the Beginning of a Camera-First Future Wired Top Stories by David Pierce Cameras aren’t … Read more
Turkish government shuts down 15 media outletshttps://t.co/rBrlRkTXCo pic.twitter.com/NR6xlM3qcX — P24 (@P24Punto24) October 29, 2016 The rest of the Kurdish media in Turkey closed down by decree on top of days of no internet in the Southeast. https://t.co/p401np2FRz — Emma Sinclair-Webb (@esinclairwebb) October 29, 2016 The team set out to build a ‘truly integrated narrative’ and … Read more
Mozilla open-sourced its logo redesign, and here are the finalists The Next Web by Natt Garun In June, Mozilla announced that it would be redesigning its logo with the help of the internet’s collaboration. Along the way, it asked its community members to provide feedback on every step, shaping the logo into what the Web believes … Read more
Sorry teens, olds are slowly taking over Snapchat The Next Web by Natt Garun Move over, teens. Your parents, aunts, and uncles are getting in on the Snapchat action. According to the Wall Street Journal, 14 percent of US smartphone users aged 35 and above use Snapchat, up from 2 percent three years ago. Hacker Lexicon: What Are … Read more
Nobel Prize in literature goes to journalist from Belarus EurActiv.com Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarussian journalist and dissident writer, won the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday (8 October) “for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time”, the Swedish Academy announced. How the Crowd and Automation Are Shaping Journalism Social Media Today by … Read more
Lessons from the Digital Classroom MIT Technology Review Technologists and venture capitalists are betting that the data online learning generates will reshape education. Hacking Team Leak Shows How Secretive Zero-Day Exploit Sales Work Wired Top Stories by Kim Zetter It was not easy for Hacking Team to buy zero-day exploits to sell to governments. Once again: … Read more
A Q&A with The Guardian U.S. about its new mobile innovation lab Nieman Journalism Lab by Laura Hazard Owen The Guardian U.S. has nabbed $2.6 million from the Knight Foundation to launch an “innovation lab” within its New York City newsroom. The lab will focus on news consumption via mobile devices. Per the release: Smartphones and … Read more
The Unbearable Horror of Corporate Instagram Hashtags The prolific, epidemic, and ineffective attempt to reach young, hip, millennial consumers. in Matter, by Alana Hope Levinson STUDY: Rumors of Facebook’s Demise Among Teens Exaggerated All Facebook by David Cohen Despite the continuous flow of reports claiming that teens are done with Facebook, a new report from Pew … Read more