News

 Captiv8 announced today that it has raised $2 million in seed funding.
Created by the founders of mobile ad exchange Moblix, Captiv8 is one of a number of companies connecting marketers with influencers on social platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
However, the startup says it uses a technology- and data-driven approach, examining things like geography and demographics to predict which… Read More

 Jump on the party line or hear the voices of your whole family with Facebook Messenger’s latest feature. Rolling out globally over the next 24 hours on Android and iOS for free, users can start a group VoIP audio call from any group chat. Just tap the Phone icon, select which of the group chat members you want included and they’ll all receive a Messenger call simultaneously.… Read More

 Happy 4/20 day everybody! To celebrate, Snapchat teamed up with the estate of Bob Marley, and the results were … unfortunate.
Snapchat created a lens that makes your face look more like the legendary musician’s by adding Marley-like features — a cap, dreadlocks, a beard and darker skin. Amusing? Probably for some users, but it comes with some really awful historical… Read More

 Last November, we reported on how Airbnb appeared to be experimenting with ways to expand beyond its role as a P2P marketplace for renting private accommodation, to “experiences” — including more detailed local guides and a prepaid card to spend money once you’re there. Now, as Airbnb continues to expand, covering some 34,000 cities and 2 million properties,… Read More

 LinkedIn — the social platform used by 400 million professionals looking to network or find work —  has taken a major tumble in the markets in the last few months over weak financial guidance amid slowing growth. So this week, ahead of its next quarterly earnings on April 28, LinkedIn is shoring up in areas where it’s either already strong or banking on growing… Read More

 Following WhatsApp’s move to add end-to-end encryption to its platform, another big messaging company is joining the wave of apps turning on expanded privacy features. Viber — a messaging app with 711 million+ users — today is introducing end-to-end encryption for all messages and calls on its platform, including group chats (you can chat with up to 200 people), and a way… Read More

 In the scramble to build bots that live up to the hype, messaging app Telegram has just announced a $1M giveaway to developers to try to incentivize them to build cool stuff. The messaging startup launched its own bot platform back in June last year, long before Facebook started its photocopiers in case you’re keeping count. Read More

Facebook 86’ed The Shade Room from its platform today for unknown reasons. The celebrity gossip and news publisher attracted about 4.2 million followers on Facebook. We reached out to The Shade Room and to Facebook to learn why its page disappeared. Facebook did not yet reply to our inquiry, but we’ll update this story as it develops. Angie Nwandu, The Shade Room founder, and… Read More

 Every time there is a conference where we get saturated coverage from a given company, we tend to buy into their vision, at least for the couple of days the company has our undivided attention. Last week, Facebook had its turn at F8 and boy, did it push Messenger and Messenger bots hard. Bots, for those of you who might be unfamiliar with them, are pre-programmed interactions you can have with… Read More