Social

TikTok on Monday said it will start letting some popular accounts at the video-snippet streaming star charge subscriptions for live streams. Similar money-making tools have been added to rivals such as Instagram and Facebook as the social media platforms compete for online personalities that attract audiences. “LIVE Subscription is an extension of our efforts to

Meta on Tuesday launched 3D avatars on Instagram stories and direct messages (DMs) in India. The Facebook parent company has also unveiled updated avatars for Facebook and Messenger with options for customisation. The avatars have new facial shapes that let users replace their appearance on these platforms with virtual characters. The updated avatars also include

WhatsApp launched emoji reactions on the platform earlier this month. This functionality allows users to express their feelings toward a message with six different emojis. Now, the messaging service is reportedly working on a new feature that lets users view detailed reaction info for automatic albums without opening it. The move by the Meta-owned instant

WhatsApp is dropping support for iOS 10 and iOS 11 and has silently made iOS 12 as the minimum software requirement for iPhone users. By leaving the older iOS versions behind, WhatsApp is finally discontinuing support for the models iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c — giving users a reason to upgrade to a newer iPhone.

Facebook owner Meta Platforms will share more data on targeting choices made by advertisers running political and social-issue ads in its public ad database, it said on Monday. Meta said it would also include detailed targeting information for these individual ads in its “Facebook Open Research and Transparency” database used by academic researchers, in an

WhatsApp users in India can now access DigiLocker using the government’s MyGov Helpdesk chatbot. This will enable users to create and authenticate their DigiLocker account as well as download documents such as PAN card, driving licence, and insurance policy documents, among others, by directly using the instant messaging app. DigiLocker is claimed to have over

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that “Tesla is on my mind 24/7,” trying to soothe investor worries about him being distracted by a Twitter deal that has depressed stocks at the electric car company. Posting a picture showing a woman (Tesla) who is upset by her boyfriend (Elon) checking out another woman (Twitter),

Twitter is stepping up its fight against misinformation with a new policy cracking down on posts that spread potentially dangerous false stories. The change is part of a broader effort to promote accurate information during times of conflict or crisis. Starting Thursday, the platform will no longer automatically recommend or emphasise posts that make misleading

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called Elon Musk’s proposed takeover of Twitter a “breath of hope” as the two met in Brazil on Friday, adding he hoped the US billionaire would help end the “lies” about his widely criticised stewardship of the Amazon rainforest. Bolsonaro and Musk, the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX,

WhatsApp has reportedly started rolling out a beta update that lets users request their account information on WhatsApp desktop. The feature was initially introduced on Android and iOS to comply with EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Request Account Info feature is said to only be available after updating your WhatsApp desktop to the

Schroders, Britain’s biggest listed asset manager, said on Wednesday it would back a swathe of shareholder resolutions at Amazon, Meta and Google-owner Alphabet concerning workers’ and digital rights. Schroders, which manages around GBP 730 billion (roughly Rs. 70,65,210 crore), said it was declaring its intention to vote against management on the issues as an escalation

Match Group said on Friday that Alphabet’s Google will allow the dating apps maker to offer users a choice in payment systems, eliminating Google’s control over user data. Match sued Google in May, calling the action a “last resort” to prevent Tinder and its other apps from being booted off the Google Play store for

WhatsApp is introducing free cloud-based API services in a push to get more businesses using the app, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced at the company’s messaging event on Thursday. The messaging service, which has increasingly courted business users, is one of several platforms where Facebook-owner Meta has launched more shopping and business-focused features. Zuckerberg,

WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature that will allow users to view former participants in their groups. The move by the Meta-owned instant messaging app would make it easier for people to keep track of the members who have left a WhatsApp group in the past. The feature has been spotted in WhatsApp

TikTok has been conducting tests so users can play games on its video-sharing app in Vietnam, part of plans for a major push into gaming, four people familiar with the matter said. Featuring games on its platform would boost advertising revenue as well as the amount of time users spend on the app — one of

An S&P Dow Jones Indices executive told Reuters on Wednesday it has removed electric carmaker Tesla from the widely followed S&P 500 ESG Index because of issues including claims of racial discrimination and crashes linked to its autopilot vehicles, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded with harsh tweets including that “ESG is a scam”. In

Instagram is said to be testing a new Stories layout that will hide excessive posts from a users stories uploads. The feature will reportedly show only the first three stories, whereas all the stories after that will be hidden. Users can currently post up to 100 images or videos on stories at once, which can

Elon Musk may find a way to prove his claim that spam accounts on Twitter platform are significantly higher than the social media company has estimated, but showing that he and investors were misled will be difficult, legal experts say. Musk tweeted on Tuesday that his $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,40,923 crore) deal to acquire Twitter