Livestream e-commerce: Why companies and brands need to tune in

Alanna Gregory Contributor Share on Twitter Alanna Gregory is a marketing executive and is currently senior global director at Afterpay. Previously, she was VP at Hairstory, the founder and CEO of VIVE Lifestyle, and was an AVP at Barclays. More posts by this contributor E-commerce roll-ups are the next wave of disruption in consumer packaged goods What comes to mind when you think of livestreaming? In the U.S., most people would name...

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Fortnite’s new ‘superstar’ virtual music tour kicks off next week

Epic Games is teasing the biggest in-game event since Travis Scott psychedelically stomped through Fortnite’s virtual meadows. The mysterious new event, which Fortnite-maker Epic is calling the “Rift Tour,” will kick off on Friday, August 6 and run through Sunday, August 8. In the teaser announcement, Epic invites players to “take a musical journey into magical new realities where Fortnite and a record-breaking superstar collide.” Escape into the...

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Twitter shuttering NY, SF offices in response to new CDC guidelines

Just two weeks after reopening its New York and San Francisco offices, social media giant Twitter said Wednesday that it will be closing those offices “immediately.” The decision came “after careful consideration of the CDC’s updated guidelines, and in light of current conditions,” a spokesperson said. “Twitter has made the decision to close our opened offices in New York and San Francisco as well as pause future office reopenings, effective immediately....

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Spotify’s Clubhouse rival, Greenroom, tops 140K installs on iOS, 100K on Android

Spotify’s recently launched live audio app and Clubhouse rival, Spotify Greenroom, has a long road ahead of it if it wants to take on top social audio platforms like Clubhouse, Airtime, Spoon and others, not to mention those from top social networks, like Twitter and Facebook. To date, the new Greenroom app has only been downloaded a total of 141,000 times on iOS, according to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. This includes downloads...

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Facebook warns of ‘headwinds’ to its ad business from regulators and Apple

Facebook posted its second quarter earnings Wednesday, beating expectations with $29 billion in revenue. The world’s biggest social media company was expected to report $27.8 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 50 percent increase from the same period in 2020. Facebook reported earnings per share of $3.61, which also bested expectations. The company’s revenue was $18.6 billion in the same quarter of last year. In the first financial period to really...

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Snapchat adds My Places feature to Snap Map, recommending spots to visit

As more people are venturing out into the world this summer (safely, we hope!), Snapchat wants to make it easier for people to find restaurants, stores, parks and other interesting spots in their neighborhood. Today, Snapchat is starting to roll out the My Places feature on its Snap Map, which connects users with over 30 million businesses. Users can log their favorite spots, send them to friends, and find recommendations. My Places has three main...

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Twitter launches U.S. e-commerce pilot that lets users shop from profiles

Twitter this morning will launch a pilot in the U.S. aimed at testing the potential for e-commerce on its platform. The company is introducing a new “Shop Module” that offers brands, businesses and other retailers the ability to showcase their products to Twitter users directly on the business’ profile. Users will then be able to scroll through a carousel of product images in the module, and tap through on a product they’re interested in purchasing....

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Discord rolls out threads, side conversations that auto-archive

After announcing that threads were on the way earlier this year and teasing the feature on Twitter, Discord is now introducing the long-requested way to make conversations in bustling servers more comprehensible. Starting today, any server with “community” features enabled will be able to transform messages into threaded conversations, across mobile and desktop. Threads are designated by their own subject name, making it easy to compartmentalize...

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TikTok expands LIVE platform with new features, including events, co-hosts, Q&As and more

TikTok announced this morning it’s expanding its TikTok LIVE platform, which currently allows creators to livestream to fans while responding to viewer comments and questions and accept virtual gifts. Now, the LIVE experience will include a number of new features for creators to make it more competitive with platforms like Instagram Live, including the ability to go live with others, host Q&As, use moderators and improved keyword filters, and...

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Norby raises $3.8M for an all-in-one creator marketing platform

Early in the pandemic, Nick Gerard, Steven Layne, and Samantha Safer Valentine had a hit on their hands. In the era before Zoom fatigue set in, the trio launched Mainstream Live, a website and newsletter that curated live virtual events across platforms and gave people text-based reminders to check them out.  “We started with the discovery problem of people looking for cool things to do online,” Gerard told TechCrunch. “…Right away we knew that...

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Pinterest rolls out new features that let creators make money from Pins

Pinterest today is increasing its investment in the creator community by introducing new tools that will allow creators to make money from their content. Now, creators will be able to tag products in their Idea Pins — a video-first feature the company first launched this spring — to make their content “shoppable.” They’ll also now be able to earn commissions through affiliate links and partner with brands on sponsored content, much like on other...

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Instagram to default young teens to private accounts, restrict ads and unwanted adult contact

As it gears up to expand access to younger users, Instagram this morning announced a series of updates designed to make its app a safer place for online teens. The company says it will now default users to private accounts at sign-up if they’re under the age of 16  — or under 18 in certain locales, including in the E.U. It will also push existing users under 16 to switch their account to private, if they have not already done so. In addition,...

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