The photo app Snapchat is overhauling how people earn money on its platform, at a time when TikTok influencers will be looking for alternatives ahead of the looming ban.

The company announced a ‘new, unified monetization program for creators’ this week which aims to empower “creators with expanded monetization and evolving rewards.”

The program will place ads within a creator’s Stories and now in longer Spotlight videos as well. From February 1, 2025, eligible creators will be able to monetize Spotlight videos longer than one minute.

“With Spotlight viewership up 25% year-over-year, there is a unique and growing opportunity for creators to monetize this format in the same way they do with Stories.”

Today, we announced our earnings results for Q3 2024. This quarter, we delivered $1.37B in revenue and our community grew to 443M DAU! Learn more at https://t.co/QdxXzxY8lP. pic.twitter.com/wTiAkM67DS

— Snapchat (@Snapchat) October 29, 2024

The Spotlight feature allows users to see a mix of content from people all over the world. People submit their snaps in the hopes it will be seen by a much wider audience.

Snapchat launches new version of monetization program

As part of the unified program, creators may be eligible for invitation if they meet the below criteria. The eligibility requirements now include a creator:

• Having at least 50,000 followers
• Must post at least 25 times per month to Saved Stories or Spotlight
• Must post to either Spotlight or Public Stories on at least 10 of the last 28 days.
• Achieve one of the following in the last 28 days: 10 million Snap views,1 million Spotlight views, or 12,000 hours of view time

The changes come after Snapchat stated the number of creators posting publicly on its platform has more than tripled.

“We remain committed to evolving and expanding the total rewards available to creators, from Snap’s Monetization Program to the Snap Star Collab Studio, and more, making it even easier for them to find success and get rewarded for being their authentic selves.”

It’s not known how much the top creators earn, but it is likely to be a lucrative platform as some major influencers have adopted it as their main resource.

David Dobrik, who was a popular vlogger on YouTube, then turned to Snapchat a couple of years ago and has quietly gained 6.8M followers. He posts 80 to 100 times a day, featuring the same type of content he would have otherwise posted on YouTube.

Over the next few months, many other influencers could be looking to test out new platforms as they face the ban of TikTok.

Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram 

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After Apple Maps on the web debuted in public beta in July, the ‘Look Around’ feature has been added which offers a similar experience to Google’s Street View.

Look Around was first introduced in 2019 through iOS 13 and allows people to explore their surroundings with a 360-degree panoramic view. It has now been seen in the web app.

Technology "> content creator Chris Carley was the first to spot the new addition as he took to Threads to share that “the Apple Maps web app beta now seems to support Look Around (Apple’s version of “Street View”).

“Doesn’t seem to have the same parallax effect it does on the iOS and Mac apps when looking around. Does still have it when moving.”

He followed up with his post to share more about his findings: “It’s possible this was added some time ago, but it was not there at launch.”

Apple Maps on the web still in public beta, but new support added

While the technology giant has been busy working on Apple Intelligence, there have been no formal news updates about the feature nor the web-based version of Apple Maps.

The tool is still in public beta and offers users on non-Apple platforms the chance to use it. It comes preinstalled on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

While it was supposed to reach a wider audience, not everyone has had the chance to use it yet. It was initially found to only work in Safari on macOS and iOS, as well as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge on Windows and macOS.

Users of Mozilla Firefox then saw support in August, but only for those on macOS, iOS, and Windows. For those who can access it, Apple Maps on the web can be used by clicking on the binoculars icon in maps.

On an Apple help support page, the company states “Maps on the web works best on the latest versions” of Safari, Edge, Chrome and Firefox.

It’s not yet known when the tool will be out of beta and if its usage will be expanded even further.

Featured Image: Via Apple Newsroom

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Apple has released its 2024 app download charts, revealing the most downloaded apps and games across America this year. Chinese shopping app Temu has retained the top spot for the second year running after dethroning TikTok in 2023.

The e-commerce app is centered around hyper-reduced pricing, with many items costing less than $10. It has spawned competition from Amazon, which launched Amazon Haul, a storefront with products for $20 or less. Competitor Shein, another online shopping platform centered around cheap pricing, was placed 12th on the list, while Amazon Shopping scraped in at spot number 20.

Social media sound off

The second place spot this year has been taken by Meta’s X competitor Threads, which reached 275 million monthly active users last month. It was rated number three in the download chart last year. BlueSky, which saw a huge surge in new users (it added over a million new users in a single week after X changed its terms of service to allow data shared by users to be used to train its AI, Grok), did not make the top 20 Apple app store list.

TikTok took third place in the chart, despite facing a ban in the US. The video-sharing social media platform is currently appealing a US Senate ruling that decided it would be banned in America unless there was a change of ownership away from China.

There are currently several investors poised to buy TikTok should the courts enforce the ban despite ByteDance’s appeal, including venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary, former US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and former CEO of Activision Bobby Kotick.

AI curiosity

Coming in at fourth place is OpenAI’s ChatGPT app. While there are other generative AI chatbots out there, ChatGPT is the one that has caught the public’s eye. This year was an important year for the relationship between OpenAI and Apple – Apple Intelligence launched as a huge collaboration between the two tech giants, bringing the genAI capabilities of OpenAI to Apple’s huge user base.

This generated outrage from Elon Musk, who has a long-running feud with OpenAI. After the announcement that Apple devices would come with OpenAI features integrated, Musk threatened to ban them entirely from the premises of businesses he owns.

Old reliable Google

Rounding out the top five is the Google app, but this isn’t the only Google item in the top 20. Despite Apple having its own map and email tools, people are loyal to the Big G. Also making the top 20 are YouTube, Gmail, and Google Maps. This year Google brought a key maps feature to Apple when it added speed limit warnings to the app.

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Adobe has updated Photoshop with another artificial intelligence-backed feature. The company’s latest tool allows for heavy reflections to be removed from images, but only from RAW images for the time being.

It’s part of the ongoing updates for Photoshop 2025, which was released in October. By analyzing the image, Photoshop detects the reflection and the intended target of the photo. In the blog, Adobe admits that the AI “mixes up” the reflection and wanted scene, which is why it provides a slider.

In our testing, the model works as intended, but struggles with smaller reflections like those on glasses. It also requires you to edit around the removal effect, as it either darkens or lightens the image excessively.

Right now, the reflection remover is limited to RAW images. It’s not explained in the Adobe blog, but it’s presumed that thanks to RAW photos containing far more data compared to JPG or PNG, it’s able to work better with the AI.

Adobe’s AI push has seen it directly integrate image generation into its suite of apps. Video editing app, Premiere Pro, has an auto-caption generator for example. Photoshop, however, has seen the most additions. On top of image generation, it can leverage generative AI to assist with removing elements from photos.

The company has been moving in this direction for nearly a decade, as in 2015 it introduced its machine learning backend, Adobe Sensei. This provided the “Content Aware” tool, which scanned the images and layers of the file, and can “create” an estimation to mask something in the image.

With generative AI, it not only pulls from the image in the file, but also from Adobe’s trained models and backend.

How to use AI reflection removal in Photoshop 2025

• To get the feature, you’ll need to upgrade to Photoshop 2025 in the Creative Cloud app
• After that, it’ll automatically update the Camera RAW plugin to 17.1
• Open Photoshop and open Camera RAW by pressing Shift + Ctrl + A on Windows or Shift + Cmd + A on macOS
• In the corner, press the setting button, and in the menu press Technology Previews
• Press OK and then restart Photoshop itself
• Load up your RAW image and press the eraser button the side of Camera RAW
• Check “Distraction Removal” and it’ll begin to analyze the image for reflections to remove

Featured image: Adobe’s reflection removal library

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Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter, is bringing its own version of Bluesky’s Starter Packs to the platform. Announced by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, the feature has received a mixed reception with some welcoming the decision and others blasting the platform.

Bluesky, another competing Twitter alternative, features “starter packs”. These can be made by any user and allow for a curated list of accounts to follow. It’s been praised as a quick way to build up following lists and as a great method of highlighting particular people.

However, Threads’ version has already drawn ire. Initially, starter packs on Threads won’t be able to be made by anyone and only select accounts. ">Mosseri has said that for now only “community leaders” will be able to share these.

In a follow-up response asking for anyone to make packs, the plan is to make the option available publicly.

Threads now has starter packs, but not how you’d want

It’s not known how long the feature will be locked behind specifically chosen individuals, with reactions ridiculing the temporary measure. On Bluesky, tech pundit, and PR specialist Ed Zitron said that Meta “has no idea how social networks work and what makes them good.”

Piggybacking off of your Instagram account, Threads was quickly put out after the Elon Musk buyout of Twitter. As Twitter, now X, began to lose users due to Musk’s decisions, multiple replacements began to pop up. Threads hasn’t been the best received, but Meta claims over 275 million people use the app.

Meanwhile, Bluesky appears to be going from strength to strength. Since the Twitter alternative’s massive rise – surpassing 25 million accounts – one user said it “continues to benefit Threads users” as Meta has increased shipping features.

However, some users on Bluesky are beginning to turn on starter packs. The en masse following some users do, is resulting in certain people getting unwanted interactions on the platform.

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A new social media-related study has revealed that teens in America are spending the majority of their time online, browsing platforms each day.

The Pew Research Center conducted the study between September 18 and October 10, 2024, to look at how young people aged between 13 and 17 are using their smartphones and technology.

Across all five platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook) “one-third of teens use at least one of these sites almost constantly.”

The share of teenagers who say they use Instagram almost constantly has increased from 8% in 2023 to 12% today.

When asked about how often they go online in general, nearly half of the participants said they are online almost constantly which is a 24% increase from what was seen a decade ago.

With concerns around social media usage, some people are calling for regulations to be brought in to protect children and teenagers. In Australia, for example, a world-first social media ban has been passed which targets under 16-year-olds.

American teens’ social media habits are discovered in study

The researchers focused the study’s attention on five platforms – YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.

In terms of the most visited platform, YouTube came up trumps as it is the most widely used and visited platform in the study.

“Overall, 73% of teens say they go on YouTube daily,” while about six in ten visit TikTok daily. This includes 16% who report being on it almost constantly.

“Roughly half of teens say they go on Instagram or Snapchat every day, including about one in ten who say they’re on each of these platforms almost constantly.”

The study found that relatively few teenagers reported using Facebook daily, with just 20% of participants in this category.

When it comes to gender, Instagram, and TikTok were found to be used more widely by girls. On the other hand, boys are more likely to say they use YouTube.

Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram

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A European privacy rights group, noyb, has filed a complaint against the social media app BeReal, raising concerns over how it gets users to agree to being tracked.

BeReal, a popular app among Gen Z known for its candid selfie-sharing, was recently acquired by French mobile games company Voodoo. According to noyb, the app employs what they call “dark patterns” to nudge users into consenting. Essentially, when people open the app, a pop-up appears asking them to say “yes” or “no” to letting their personal data be used for ads, but noyb claims the design of this prompt is manipulative.

‘Dark patterns’ over how BeReal asks EU users to agree to tracking

Noyb claims that BeReal seems to be pushing users toward a specific choice. If you click “accept,” the consent banner disappears for good. But if you choose “reject,” you’re stuck seeing the banner every single day—until you finally cave and hit “accept.” This tactic of annoying people into giving consent is the latest example of what’s known as a “dark pattern.”

Today, noyb filed a complaint against the social media platform BeReal.

If you dare to reject the tracking, the app's consent banner will appear every day – until the end of your days, or until you click on the “right” button and accept.https://t.co/knLbLe4fyl

— noyb (@NOYBeu) December 12, 2024

If these practices are found to violate Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), BeReal could face fines of up to 4% of its global annual revenue.

Lisa Steinfeld, noyb’s data protection lawyer, states: “BeReal’s nudging tactics are particularly absurd. When first confronted with the consent banner, users get the impression that the app actually respects their choice – only to find out that BeReal actually won’t take no for an answer. It is obvious that BeReal is trying to pressure users into consenting to tracking.”

To support its claim that BeReal’s approach violates GDPR, noyb refers to 2022 guidance from the European Data Protection Board. This guidance specifically calls out “dark patterns” in social media interfaces, including tactics like “continuous prompting.” The board warns that repeatedly asking users for consent can wear them down until they eventually give in, just to stop being annoyed every time they use the app.

BeReal faces challenges over popularity

The French social media app invites users to share a snapshot of themselves and their surroundings during a randomly selected two-minute window each day. Branded as the “anti-Instagram,” it launched in 2020, responding to a growing desire for more authentic content online.

ReadWrite reported that the app saw incredible success, racking up 53 million downloads by October 2022, according to Sensor Tower. However, its daily active users have taken a sharp dip, with Vogue reporting a drop from 20 million in October 2022 to just 6 million by March 2023.

ReadWrite has reached out to Voodoo for comment.

Featured image: Voodoo / BeReal

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LinkedIn has a new initiative to tackle short-form video platforms, like TikTok. This comes as more content-focused apps try implementing their version of the Chinese company’s video methods.

The video-sharing app has ballooned in popularity since it rebranded from Musical.ly to TikTok. It became especially popular during the worldwide lockdown in 2020, with different trends taking over each month.

LinkedIn, however, is the dominant force in the job market. The social network incorporates job searching, business networking, and content creation under one roof. It was bought by Microsoft in 2016, and can now be accessed through a Windows 11 shortcut by pressing Ctrl+Win+Alt+Shift+L.

Speaking with a range of people, Business Insider has found that interaction on the platform has boomed since the company pushed for video. One example found a text post that received 10,000 impressions from 15,000 followers. Switching over to video, this exploded to 2 million.

LinkedIn itself has confirmed that video content is viewed 1.4 times more than regular text or link-based posts. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, said in the October earnings call that LinkedIn’s viewership was up “36% year-over-year”.

Short form video is coming for LinkedIn too

Speaking with Business Insider, community manager Jamé Jackson said that they want to make LinkedIn “a daily habit for people”, as well as show that it is “much more than just a platform for job searching.”

Meta and Google have also taken notice of TikTok’s success. The scrolling, addictive nature of the app with hundreds of hours of short content has taken hold of Instagram and YouTube. In 2020, Instagram launched Reels, and YouTube Shorts was made live.

TikTok is currently in an embittered battle with the US government. It looks likely that owner Bytedance will have to sell it off to a US company, or risk being banned from the country.

However, as with LinkedIn’s huge boom in content views, TikTok creators are warning that their businesses could be at risk in the event of a ban. Microsoft, Google, and Meta will be using this potential ban as an in to replace the app.

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Instagram is testing a new feature to help Reels creators enhance their content’s performance through audience sampling, allowing creators to gauge the potential success of their latest Reels before sharing them widely.

Meta announced the introduction of “trial reels,” which will help users experiment with new ideas without concern for how their followers might initially react.

Trial Reels will first be shown to non-followers, allowing creators to test the content in a less familiar audience pool. If the trial performs well, the Reel will automatically be shared with the creator’s followers, providing a broader reach and feedback opportunity.

In a blog post, the tech giant stated: “We often hear from creators that they feel nervous about posting too much or trying out content that’s outside of their niche on Instagram, for fear of it not resonating with their followers.

“We’re already seeing early success from creators who have had access. They report that their fresh content ideas are performing well with both new audiences and existing followers.”

It seems that Meta is leaning heavily on Reels, as ReadWrite recently revealed that the company is working on a new option to let users post Instagram posts and Reels directly from Threads.

How does Trial Reels work?

You can find your trial Reels in the drafts section of your profile, but during the first testing phase, they won’t appear on your profile grid or Reels tab. In addition, only you will know that the Reel is a trial—there’s no public version to others.

To share your trial Reel on Instagram:

• Create your Reel and complete the steps leading up to the sharing screen.
• Before sharing, toggle on the “Trial” option.
• Tap “Share” to publish your trial Reel.

Around 24 hours after launching a Reel, you’ll have access to key engagement metrics, such as views, likes, comments, and shares. The insights are said to help you assess its performance and compare it against previous trials. Your Reel will not appear in your profile’s Reels tab or main grid unless you choose to share it with everyone later.

As Instagram notes, it’s possible some of your followers might still see a Reel if, for example, someone else shares it with them (a potential concern for high-profile creators). However, the main goal is to showcase trial Reels to an alternative audience, so that users can experiment with new ideas without being constrained by existing audience expectations.

Instagram explains: “If your trial reel is performing well, you can choose to ‘share with everyone’ so your followers can see it and increase its reach, or, when creating the trial reel, you can choose to have Instagram automatically share your trial reel with followers if we determine it’s performing well based on the views it receives within the first 72 hours. You can change this setting at any time.”

Once shared, the Reel will be added to your profile grid and Reels list as usual. If the Reel underperforms, you can get rid of it discreetly, making sure your audience remains unaware of its existence.

Trial Reels started rolling out since Tuesday (Dec. 10) and will be available globally to all eligible creators in the coming weeks.

Featured image: Meta

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TikTok has officially launched its ‘Live Shopping’ feature in Spain which will benefit businesses based in the country.

The country has over 20 million people who frequent the app, with the company now expanding the feature that has previously been seen in a small number of markets including the US and the UK.

In a press release, the short-form video platform announces the news: “Today we are delighted to announce a new way for Spanish users to discover and buy directly from Spanish sellers and brands, since TikTok Shop opens its doors in Spain.

“TikTok Shop will bring shopping videos and live purchases directly to the Feed For You, allowing Spanish sellers and creators the possibility of selling directly through in-app purchase content.”

The addition will see sellers and creators able to integrate products into livestreams which enables a real-time shopping experience. “Sellers can show their products live, while buyers can ask questions and receive answers in real-time while interacting with the community in the livestream.

“This allows sellers in Spain to establish a deeper relationship with buyers by interacting in real time to show products through live demonstrations and tests, offer exclusive discounts and organize raffles.

TikTok Shop opens in Spain, after seeing immense success elsewhere

This expansion comes after the company, owned by the Chinese-based Bytedance, has seen huge levels of success with the shopping experience.

By the third quarter of 2023, TikTok Shop’s U.S. sales surpassed $100 million in a single month. It was then that the platform was reported to be aiming for a huge $17 billion in Gross Merchandise Value for 2024, according to Alibaba.

The move towards a shopping experience has been nostalgic for adults as it’s reminiscent of the success seen on TV shopping channels, while it has brought Gen Z a whole new experience.

Alongside the LIVE shopping, other features to land in Spain include the ‘Product Showcase’ which allows users to explore product sheets, read reviews, and buy directly from a brand profile.

Sellers who choose to adopt this approach will be able to promote their stores through Ads, with creators able to benefit from an affiliate program too.

Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram

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As TikTok’s fate in the U.S. remains uncertain, major investors such as Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary and former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt have expressed interest in acquiring the platform.

The increased buzz follows a U.S. court decision on Friday (Dec. 6) upholding a law that could remove the app from American app stores unless ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, divests its stake by January 19.

TikTok responded swiftly, announcing plans to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds. In a statement, the company said: “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people.”

With the deadline fast approaching, potential buyers wait to act if ByteDance decides to sell or if the Supreme Court upholds the ban.

Which investors are interested in buying TikTok?

Kevin O’Leary

In March, O’Leary Ventures chairman and investor Kevin O’Leary proposed buying TikTok’s assets from ByteDance Ltd., with an initial bid between $20 billion and $30 billion—a valuation slashed by up to 90% compared to the company’s most recent funding round.

O’Leary noted on CNBC that any potential deal for the short-form video platform — which PitchBook valued at $220 billion in 2023 — would likely exclude the user preference algorithms that have been a cornerstone of its success.

He said: “It’s the largest entertainment and business network in America as it stands today, so it’s of great interest and great value.”

Steve Mnuchin

In the same month, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also expressed interest in acquiring TikTok. Speaking to Bloomberg in May, he stated, “I do believe the algorithms could be rebuilt. So my plan, if we were to purchase, it would be to rebuild the technology under US leadership, make sure that it’s all disconnected from ByteDance going forward, and that it is very robust and secure.”

Bobby Kotick

Meanwhile, Bobby Kotick, former CEO of video game publisher Activision, has reportedly shown interest in a potential deal. According to the Wall Street Journal, Kotick approached ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming and explored the idea of forming a partnership to acquire TikTok.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Kotick floated the idea to a group that included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, suggesting OpenAI could use TikTok’s platform to train its AI models if Kotick secured the necessary funding for the acquisition.

Frank McCourt

Business executive Frank McCourt, executive chairman of McCourt Global and founder of Project Liberty, revealed on Face the Nation that his company is actively positioning itself as a possible buyer for TikTok’s U.S. operations.

According to reports, the billionaire has secured informal commitments totaling over $20 billion to support a possible bid. His group is also planning investor roadshows in New York and San Francisco next week to attract additional backing.

McCourt stated that his team is “uniquely positioned to assume stewardship of TikTok” and stressed a commitment to user safety in the event of a successful acquisition. He said to Axios, “The technology we are building respects individuals by returning to them ownership and control of their identity and their data, not by surveilling them.”

Featured image: Ideogram

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As the decentralized social media platform, Bluesky exceeds expectations and climbs to over 24M users, the CEO suggests she’s not ruling out ads completely.

As the site has blown up in popularity, gaining several million new sign-ups over the last couple of months, many have been wondering when and how it will be monetized.

The CEO Jay Graber has told TechCrunch she’s already getting attention from other investors and when asked ‘does that mean advertisers can never be on Bluesky’ in response to a previous answer, she said “I don’t think that’s necessarily true.”

Sponsored by @harmonic_ai: At last night's StrictlyVC event, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber discussed the future of advertising on the platform. pic.twitter.com/Fj5vIDCjSD

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) December 5, 2024

At the publisher’s StrictlyVC event in San Francisco, Graber said on stage: “I think the ways we would explore advertising, if we did, would be much more user intent-driven.

“We want to keep our incentives aligned with users and make sure that we’re not turning into a model where the user’s attention is the product.”

The platform started to see a snowball effect in terms of its new users when Elon Musk announced changes to his X platform – like the changing of the blocking feature.

Bluesky future is being discussed as people wonder about its advertising stance

It’s not the first time the CEO has been asked about the future and advertising decisions. In an interview with Wired in February of this year, Graber said: “We really think that money follows value. There’s been skepticism that this whole model of social can work.

“People are even wondering what it is. So, first of all, we’re trying to prove that this ecosystem has value to users and developers, and that it can kick off an era of open innovation.”

From there, she said they will monetize while following values. Earlier in the year, the company began selling custom domains to users which follows its open web approach. When asked about ads, she said “we can’t enshittify the network with ads.”

The possibility of AI licensing deals, however, has been ruled out with TechCrunch saying this was mentioned offstage as Bluesky likely wouldn’t profit from these deals in the same way other social media platforms have.

Featured Image: Via Bluesky on X

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The personalized messaging service platform Cameo is expanding its offering with the launch of CameoX. 

As announced by the company in an official blog post, the app is widening its offering to create space beyond celebrity greetings, now anyone can join the party. 

Previously, Cameo had focused its offerings on A-list celebs and well-known personas but that will always be a limited talent pool. The pivot in a new direction will see the company embrace ordinary people and emerging talent, in the pursuit of growth and increased revenue.  

Cameo enjoyed a rise in prominence and proliferation during the Covid pandemic when various types of physical celebrations were not possible. In the absence of parties and gatherings, other services filled the void. 

One of those was celebrity video shout-outs with Cameo at the forefront of the trend. 

The company enjoyed a prolific rise, resulting in a $1 billion valuation but post-pandemic normality has caused some bloating, staff layoffs, and a plummeting value for the brand. 

Cameo was also hit with an FTC fine, which it was unable to pay, regarding undisclosed celebrity arrangements.

Those days are over, insists CEO Galanis

“We realized we had missed out on thousands of talented individuals who could have made meaningful contributions to the marketplace,” said Cameo CEO Steven Galanis in a statement.

He added how the company had missed out on SAG-AFTRA actors who had applied to the platform before landing breakthrough roles on Netflix, as well as rising artists ahead of their chart-topping releases. 

Viral creators on TikTok – which was sued by seven families in France last month – had been allowed to slip through the net, as well as pro athletes on the bridge between college and full recognition. 

Galanis emphasized, “With CameoX, those days are over.”

The company has claimed since the launch of the CameoX pilot in May last year, over 31,000 creators have been added to the platform, producing over 155,000 Cameos resulting in millions in bookings.

With the changes, the previous three-way invite process to join the cameo ranks has been replaced by a simple application system. 

Creators wanting to join CameoX can proceed through the app or the website to complete an identity verification signup. 

Cameo celebrities set their own prices, and ordinary creators will do the same, pocketing 75% of the booking price for each request.

Image credit: Via Midjourney

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If you’re using an older iPhone, you may find that WhatsApp will not work on your device much longer. According to WABetaInfo, a warning message has started appearing for some users, letting them know their device will soon lose access to the popular chat app.

The message reads: “WhatsApp will no longer support versions prior to iOS 15.1. This change applies to both the standard WhatsApp app and WhatsApp Business, as both apps share the same underlying code and system requirements.”

Which iPhones will not support WhatsApp?

This affects three specific iPhones including the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6s. These models are all at least 10 years old—the 5s launched in 2013, while the 6 and 6s came out in 2014. Unfortunately, these devices can’t run the iOS 18 software that WhatsApp will soon require. So, when next May rolls around, WhatsApp will stop working on these iPhones.

In a statement, WABetaInfo adds: “Currently, WhatsApp supports iOS 12 and later, but with a future update, the app will require iOS 15.1 or newer to work properly. To help affected users adapt to this change, WhatsApp is providing a five-month notice period, giving them ample time to update their devices if possible or consider alternatives if their hardware does not support newer iOS versions.”

It’s not just iPhones that will be impacted. As 9to5Mac points out, WhatsApp still doesn’t have a proper iPad app—there’s only a beta version available through Apple’s TestFlight. With this upcoming update, the first-gen iPad Air, iPad mini 2, and iPad mini 3 will also lose support. These older tablets can’t run iOS versions beyond 15.1, so they’ll be left behind as well.

Some social media users have already noticed the issue, and have taken to X to air their grievances. One person said: “Is WhatsApp trying to force us to buy/upgrade iPhones or what???,” while another added that it was forcing off the platform.

Is WhatsApp trying to force us to buy/upgrade iPhones or what ??? pic.twitter.com/9p5qPG9foC

— (@zuriwtf) November 7, 2024

Seems that @WhatsApp are trying to force me off their platform.
First, their Mac desktop app is made sluggish, so it's hellish to type anything. Now, their iPhone app will no longer support the iOS my phone is running after May 2025.@telegram it is then.

— Gerald Holdsworth (@radiogezza) November 30, 2024

If you’re using one of these devices, now might be the time to consider an upgrade to keep enjoying WhatsApp without interruptions.

Featured image: Canva

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The much-anticipated Spotify Wrapped 2024 is finally out. The company released the sought-after statistics on Wednesday (December 4).

The digital music streaming service has run the round-up every year since 2016, with each offering new elements and ways to approach how they share the music its users are listening to.

At the end of November, we guessed December 4 could be the company’s chosen date as they have long stuck to a Wednesday release around the end of November or very beginning of December.

Special delivery: WRAPPED IS HERE. We preview all the things you’ll unwrap this year https://t.co/7RlugcVXig pic.twitter.com/o57rAq9c2w

— Spotify News (@SpotifyNews) December 4, 2024

Now that the listening insights are officially live, we can see Spotify has run with a number of AI-related additions.

In a press release, the company says it has focused on taking personalization to “the next level” through the AI DJ, AI Playlist, and new ‘Your Spotify Wrapped AI’ podcast.

“Through the combination of Spotify’s powerful personalization technology and generative AI, we’ve created hyper-personalized Wrapped experiences that connect millions of listeners worldwide with the music and audio they love.”

What is included in Spotify Wrapped for 2024?

Along with the AI tools which we’ll explore further, Spotify Wrapped 2024 includes:

• Your Music Evolution
• Your Music Evolution Playlist
• Your Top Artist Reimagined
• Your Music Video Playlist
• Your Artist Clips
• Your Podcaster Clips
• More Editorial Playlists & Insights

What is Spotify’s AI Podcast in Wrapped 2024

Source: Spotify For the Record

This year, an AI podcast about users’ Spotify Wrapped music listening has been launched and built with Google’s NotebookLM.

It provides a deeper understanding of the top songs, artists, and genres and is delivered by two AI podcast hosts who sound eerily human. The podcast is just under 5 minutes in length and they open with saying the user’s name and explaining they (the AI host) is from Google’s NotebookLM.

However, not everyone will be able to access the 2024 feature as it will only only be available for a limited time in English across the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and Sweden.

“From uncovering the unique ways you listened on Spotify to exploring the inspiration behind one of your favorite tracks, Your Spotify Wrapped AI podcast brings you even closer to the music that soundtracked your year,” the company explains in a For the Record blog post.

How to access Spotify Wrapped 2024 AI podcast

With so many options to click through, it can be confusing to find what you’re looking for. To experience the AI podcast, go to the Wrapped feed on the homepage – usually at the top of the screen in between ‘All’ and ‘Music.’

Or you can use the search feature to find it, by typing in ‘Your Spotify Wrapped AI podcast.’

From there, you’ll see the podcast option just under the classic ‘Your Wrapped’ icon and this will bring up a play button in the center to begin the recording.

The link can also be sent on to friends and family so they can listen to their own too.

More Spotify Wrapped 2024 features to explore: AI DJ

Going beyond the podcast, DJ: Wrapped is available for premium subscribers. This tool first debuted in February 2023, featuring an AI DJ who creates a personalized playlist from what you currently listen to.

It works by using OpenAI generative AI. This is then put in the hands of the team’s music editors to provide people with facts about the music, artists, and genres.

The voice is generated from Spotify’s acquisition of the AI Voice platform Sonantic which took place in the summer of 2022.

While it’s another faux-human addition, the voice has actually been based off the Head of Cultural Partnership, Xavier Jernigan, who previously served as one of the hosts on the service’s first morning show.

“His personality and voice resonated with our listeners and resulted in a loyal following for the podcast. His voice is the first model for the DJ, and we’ll continue to iterate and innovate, as we do with all our products.”

That’s why the DJ introduces himself as X, as it’s based on the former morning show host with the same nickname.

For the first time, the feature is available in Spanish with the tool able to explain the year in music listening while bringing expertise from Spotify’s editors about the top tracks and artists.

AI Playlist goes from beta mode to making the Wrapped cut

In September the AI Playlist began rolling out in beta mode across the US, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. But it had been in the works for much longer as the team introduced it in beta back in April to premium subscribers in the U.K. and Australia.

Again, it’s only paying members who will be able to access the tool – making this the second Wrapped 2024 tool that is behind a paywall.

For those who can access it, the AI Playlist will allow people to go beyond the Wrapped results by entering prompts like ‘my top 5 genres’ or ‘artists similar to my top 5’ to create a personalized playlist.

“AI Playlist combines Spotify’s powerful personalization technology with generative AI so users can turn their most creative ideas into playlists. Whether you’re new to the game or a prolific playlist creator, this feature offers a fun, easy way to create and curate that perfect musical mix, just for you.”

These features sit alongside the ones we have seen in previous years, like ‘Your Top Songs 2024,’ ‘The best of’ series, and more.

Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram

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After years of resisting outside pressure to moderate content, Telegram has agreed to work with child safety scheme Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to crackdown on child sexual abuse imagery from being spread on the platform.

The messaging software will use IWF’s tools and data in addition to its own to detect, disrupt, remove, and block the imagery.

On Wednesday (December 4) Telegram was officially accepted as a member into the child safety scheme which acts as the UK’s front line against child sexual abuse imagery online. It’s one of only a handful of non-law enforcement bodies worldwide that has the legal power to pro-actively seek out and remove images and videos.

.@telegram joins the IWF in cracking down on child sexual abuse imagery on the platform.

Telegram will deploy new tools to proactively prevent child sexual abuse imagery from being spread in public parts of its platform.https://t.co/wGEjzGFsee

— Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) (@IWFhotline) December 4, 2024

The child safety scheme has in the past stated it had confirmed thousands of reports of child sexual abuse imagery on Telegram since 2022. When the IWF reported the content to Telegram, it was removed by the platform.

Going forward, the platform will use a range of new services including “taking IWF “hashes”, unique digital fingerprints of millions of known child sexual abuse images and videos, to instantly spot when this criminal content is being shared in public parts of the site.”

When found, these will then be blocked and prevented.

Telegram and child safety scheme collaboration is ‘first step on a much longer journey’

In a press release, Remi Vaughn Head of Press and Media Relations at Telegram said: “Telegram removes hundreds of thousands of child abuse materials each month, relying on reports and proactive moderation which includes AI, machine learning and hash-matching.

“The IWF’s datasets and tools will strengthen the mechanisms Telegram has in place to protect its public platform – and further ensure that Telegram can continue to effectively delete child abuse materials before they can reach any users.”

This comes after Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, had made headlines earlier on in the year after being detained in Paris. Prosecutors claimed the platform has failed to take action against harmful and criminal content on the site.

Interim CEO at the IWF, Derek Ray-Hill, described the new collaborative effort as being a “transformational first step on a much longer journey.

“We look forward to seeing what further steps we can take together to create a world in which the spread of online sexual abuse material is virtually impossible and, when it does happen, we are able to remove it very quickly and permanently…”

Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram

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It will now be easier to search on the social media network Threads as they begin to roll out a new feature amidst growing competition.

On Monday (December 2) the Meta-owned platform shared its news in a post, writing: “ ">Coming soon on Threads: More search tools.

“We’re making it easier for you to search for specific posts here.”

The company stated that if people don’t see the update yet, they will soon as it is being published globally in the coming weeks.

Previously, the search facilities on the platform have been fairly limited to just a basic keyword search. The results have been shown with a ‘Top’ and ‘Recent’ sorting option, whereas now it has expanded to ‘After date,’ ‘Before date,’ and ‘From profile.’

This announcement comes after it continues to compete with X (formerly Twitter) and the relatively new Bluesky which is on a rapid rise. The decentralized social platform has seen substantial growth over the last few months, benefitting from users switching over from X.

In mid-November, Bluesky reached 20 million users and just a couple of weeks later it reached 24M.

The Threads app also reached a new milestone at the beginning of November, as they announced they had crossed 275M monthly active users.

How does Thread’s new search feature work?

Once the search feature becomes available, users will see some additions to the app and desktop.

To utilize the feature, go to the search bar which can be accessed through the magnifying glass icon.

From there, tap on the menu on the right which is visible through the three horizontal lines. This will bring up three options – ‘After date,’ ‘Before date,’ and ‘From profile.’

This will allow users to enter dates and a username through the sorting filters which now give a greater level of precision than what has been seen previously as a basic search feature.

Once you have selected the sorting filter you require and any dates or a username, you can type in the topic you’re looking for and click search. It will then bring up the results according to what you’re looking for.

Image Credit: Threads account on its platform

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A Danish research group has discovered that Meta’s Instagram platform might not be providing the safeguarding needed to keep vulnerable teenagers from committing self-harm. The results of the study have found it to be “extremely inadequate”, as content posted during the study wasn’t removed.

Researchers posted for a month, ratcheting up the severity of the content. Included in the images were gore and razors, which made up part of the 85 pieces of content posted. It found that Instagram hadn’t removed anything.

Those working on the project also found that once an account had connected to another in the test group, it was quite easy to expand the circle. This way, the chance of self-harm encouragement or groups could easily proliferate in quite a short amount of time.

Instagram – and Meta at large – has been struggling to keep on top of its removal of such content. In March, Lotte Rubæk left the company and said that it was “turning a blind eye” to self-harm content on its apps. While the use of Facebook has begun to dwindle amongst younger users, Instagram remains incredibly popular for teens.

In January, it introduced a new teen-focused level of protection, including direct messages.

Ex-Meta staff shocked at Instagram’s lack of moderation

Speaking with The Guardian, Rubæk was shocked that Meta didn’t manage to flag any of the content posted. “They have repeatedly said in the media that all the time they are improving their technology… This proves, even though on a small scale, that this is not true.”

Meta has switched to using artificial intelligence to help moderate its content. While it still uses human reviewers, AI has mostly taken over. The company claims that 99% of this style of content is removed before it even sees human eyes, but the Danish researchers, Digitalt Ansvar, see it in a much different way now.

Last year, a report from The Washington Post found that the company’s TikTok competitor was delivering violent and gore-filled videos regularly.

Featured image: Instagram, Pexels

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As WhatsApp continues to develop its channels feature, a new QR code function is being introduced to make it very easy to access the content.

As detailed by WABetaInfo, the latest WhatsApp beta for Android (version 2.24.25.7) includes the option to scan QR codes to follow and participate in channels. 

Launched by the Meta-owned social platform in June 2023, the information source allows users to receive updates from accounts and organizations of interest. Although it is a one-way flow of communication, the content can be shared by users, who can react by leaving an emoji of choice on a particular post.

The content consists of text, images, video, audio, and polls, with the channels feature located within the Updates tab on the app. 

To avail of the new functionality, all you have to do is open the channel, tap on the sharing options at the top, then select the QR code option. 

That’s it. A simple, fast, and easy method to pass on the content you are viewing with others, without the need to copy links and forward them using another method.

WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.25.7: what's new?

WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to view and follow channels using QR codes, and it's available to some beta testers!
Some users might get this feature by installing certain previous updates.https://t.co/LgCabwXMxA pic.twitter.com/r3867Ab9Vy

— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) November 29, 2024

It will be particularly useful in face-to-face situations with other WhatsApp users. 

As part of the beta update, the QR code share is only available to select users at present, but it is expected to be rolled out extensively in the coming weeks.

Green screen bug impacted previous beta update

WhatsApp will be aiming for a more streamlined full launch of the update, following on from the green screen issue that plagued beta 2.24.24.5. 

A bug meant some testers reported the app was unusable, experiencing a full green screen when they attempted to click on a chat, with others reporting the app forced to close. 

This highlights the importance of beta updates and the need for testing, as the software can contain bugs or performance issues to be rectified before full, general release.

Image credit: Via Midjourney

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Reddit has revealed that it is aiming to refocus its goals, by showing users more specific and targeted advertisements based on their location. It comes as the company is attempting to grow outside of its heavily US-centric user base.

The chief operating officer, Jen Wong, spoke with CNBC about it, saying that half of the site’s users are based in the US. Comparatively, competitors to Reddit have a much larger international audience.

Reddit is predominantly English-speaking, with large swaths of the online communities using English outside of country-specific forums, or subreddits. Often you’ll see US political or centric posts reach the top of the popular page.

One area Wong is interested in gaining a foothold in is India. Several subreddits with an Indian focus have become quite popular, including AskIndia and IndiaSpeaks. “India’s growing really rapidly… We see a big opportunity in India.”

Reddit readies to try to take over the world as it overtakes X in UK

Wong aims to eventually bring more local adverts to the platform, as it currently does with the UK and US. As of right now, international markets make up 17% of Reddit’s revenue, despite the social network having an estimated 50% outside of the US.

Some countries, like the UK, currently see adverts relating to their local services like the NHS. However, Reddit wants to bring in more international companies to advertise on the platform.

This need for growth stems from the company going public this year, which has seen it become profitable for the first time ever.

Reddit communities in the UK have also managed to overtake X (Twitter) in number of users for the first time this month. The Elon Musk-led company is currently struggling to retain users after the election and sweeping site changes.

Outside of trying to advertise more, Reddit is also planning to improve its search tools. Again, speaking with CNBC, Wong said that it can feel like “a dead end” when you find the post you’re after. The proposed plan would surface even more content similar to what you’ve found for a “total view”.

Featured image: Reddit, Pexels

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