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☆ YouTube's mass exodus of stars show the uncertainty of the creator economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. In today's big story, we're looking at a potential exodus of stars from YouTube and what it means for the creator economy. What's on deck:This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. AdvertisementBut some people who helped fuel YouTube's rise are walking away from the platform that gave them their big break. TikTok's challenges represent the ongoing uncertainty content creators face trying to make a living in such an unpredictable and shrinking world.

Persons: —, we've, Rebecca Zisser, It's, Insider's Lindsay Dodgson, MatPat, Lindsay, Andy Kiersz, Critics, it's, Alistair Barr, Dan, Jamie Dimon doesn't, Dimon, Karim Qubadi, Abanti Chowdhury, OpenAI, Musk's, Christopher Nolan's, Tyler Le, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb, George Glover Organizations: Service, YouTube, Business, Nielsen, Gaming, ISI, SensorTower, BI, CPI, JPMorgan, Elon, University of Chicago, Quest, realtors, Meta, Google, Companies, Adidas Locations: United States, New York, London

☆ VSCO's CEO explains how the app found a profitable and sustainable business model — and breaks down 3 lessons for new social-media startups
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The app, which offers a slew of editing tools like filters, became a go-to for influencers and everyday social-media users, rivaling Instagram in cool factor if not in size. VSCO's memberships make up a majority of the company's revenue and it turned a profit in late 2022, Wittman told The Information last year. "VSCO boasts a worldwide community of more than 200 million users," Wittman told BI. Wittman told BI that VSCO is "capital efficient" and a spokesperson confirmed the company is profitable by GAAP standards. Here are 3 lessons VSCO's CEO has for startups entering the social-media arena in 2024:

Persons: Eric Wittman, VSCO, " Wittman, Wittman, ByteDance's, VSCO isn't Organizations: DMs

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Apple, Nio, CVS Health, GitLab and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Nio — The Chinese automaker climbed about 3% after reporting a smaller-than-expected loss in the third quarter. Nio has taken steps to bring down costs recently, including a 10% cut to its workforce last month. CVS Health — Shares gained 4% after CVS said it would overhaul the way it prices prescription drugs . GitLab — The software company's shares jumped more than 12% a day after the company reported better-than-expected results for the fiscal third quarter.

Persons: Nio, GitLab, Adecoagro, Albemarle —, Piper Sandler, —, Samantha Subin, Hakyung Kim, Sarah Min, Alex Harring, Pia Singh, Michelle Fox Organizations: Apple, Bank of America, CVS, FactSet, UBS —, UBS, Suisse, Nokia, Ericsson —, Ericsson's, Ericsson, Albemarle Locations: China, U.S, Monday's, Ericsson's U.S, Sweden, Finland

Shein's website drew 28.6 million unique monthly visitors in October, up 7.25% from a year earlier, according to Similarweb. Amazon trounces both online retailers with 56% of its 268 million unique monthly visits in October resulting in purchases, its data shows. Temu, which launched in the U.S. in September 2022, is offering deals for cheap goods for the holiday shopping season. Shein is ramping up holiday marketing in the U.S. and Europe as it extends its reach and products on its platform. Peter Pernot-Day, head of corporate strategy at Shein, said Shein has advised its marketplace sellers "to optimize their product listings" by "providing competitive pricing and keeping inventory up to date."

Persons: David, Dee, Delgado, Temu, Shein, Inditex's Zara, Melissa Minkow, Peter Pernot, Arriana McLymore, Nick Zieminski Organizations: REUTERS, Missguided, CI, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Singapore, Europe, Similarweb, New York

☆ Meta's Instagram and Facebook are growing faster than TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

During the third quarter, the Facebook app's daily active users grew by 1.5% and monthly active users grew by 1.8%, according to data from Apptopia. Instagram's daily users grew by 1.5% and monthly users grew by 1.6%. In its quarterly report , Meta said Facebook's total number of daily users, including web users, grew by 5%, while monthly users grew by 3%. There is one metric where TikTok still has Facebook and Instagram beat: how long the average user spends on the app. Instagram's average user spends 58 minutes a day on the app, while the average Facebook user spends about 45 minutes.

Persons: TikTok, Mark Zuckerberg, China's Bytedance, Evercore, Meta, Instagram, Adam Mosseri, Zuckerberg, Kali Hays Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Evercore, Twitter Locations: Apptopia, Instagram, SensorTower, TikTok, khays@insider.com, @hayskali

☆ Here's why shares of Apple are ready for their 'next leg up'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"I think Apple is about to have the next leg up," Jim said earlier Tuesday, citing both the headset launch and upbeat data out of China. The U.S. and China comprised the two biggest app store markets for the company, at 58% of total app revenue. Most notably, in September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing had banned government employees from using iPhones and other foreign-branded devices at work — fueling a massive selloff of Apple stock. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., holds an iPhone 15 Pro Max during an event at Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Jim, Jim Cramer's, Tim Cook, Max, David Paul Morris Organizations: Apple, Bank of America, Street Journal, " Bank of America, Huawei, Big Tech, CNBC, Apple Inc, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: China, U.S, Beijing, India, Cupertino , California

☆ Mark Zuckerberg delivers on promise to pour 'gasoline' on Threads growth as the platform regains users while X shrinks
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg is making good on his promise to accelerate the use of Threads. "I'm highly confident that we're gonna be able to pour enough gasoline on this to help it grow," Zuckerberg said. As the app has matured quickly in recent weeks, users have started to return and downloads have continued to rise. So far in October, Threads has hovered around 33 million daily active users and 120 million monthly active users, according to data from Apptopia, up from about 25 million daily users and 100 million monthly users in July. "A big thank you to everyone who's made Instagram and Threads what they are today," Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, wrote on Threads about the event.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon, Zuckerberg, it's, who's, Adam Mosseri, Instagram, Jorge Caballero, Angelo Zino Organizations: Twitter, Facebook, Meta Locations: Apptopia, Instagram DMs, New York, monetize

☆ Snapchat isn’t just for teens anymore. Now it needs to make some real money
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

New York CNN —When Snapchat announced last month that it had reached 5 million paying subscribers for its Snapchat+ service, it seemed like a stunning achievement. At 5 million subscribers paying $3.99 per month, Snapchat+ is set to earn around $239 million in annual revenue. That subscriber number is just a fraction of its overall user base of Snapchat, which has quietly become one of the world’s fastest-growing social platforms. The sales declines come as Snapchat, like other platforms, works to update its advertising business to cope with changes to Apple’s app tracking policies. Snapchat has grown its user base by more than 10% year-over-year for the past 16 consecutive quarters.

Persons: Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, it’s, ” Jack Brody, ”, Angelo Zino, Jess Maddox, TikTok Snapchat, ” Brody, you’ve, TikTok, CFRA’s Zino, Scott Kessler, ” Snapchat, Kessler, Brody, Spiegel, “ It’s Organizations: New, New York CNN, Twitter, Facebook, CNN, “, CFRA Research, University of Alabama, YouTube, Intelligence, Meta, Apple Locations: New York, North America, United States, India, Europe, TikTok, Instagram

☆ Donald Trump's mugshot post single-handedly shows X is still the place that moves the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The former president broke his hiatus from the app formerly known as Twitter to post his mugshot. It's a tacit recognition that X is still the place that moves the internet. But Trump's decision to post his mugshot to X, there is a tacit recognition that X is still the place that moves the internet, despite all of its serious shortcomings. It's unclear if Trump will start posting more frequently to X or go back to posting as usual on Truth Social. Either way, it's clear that X remains the place that makes the internet go round.

Persons: Donald Trump's, It's, Donald Trump, Twitter, it's, Elon Musk, Trump, hasn't, X hasn't, Mark Zuckerberg's Organizations: Twitter, Elon, Trump Locations: Fulton County , Georgia, SensorTower

☆ Elon Musk's boost to Twitter's popularity is being 'unwound' as usage drops, new data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter led to an uptick in downloads and usage for several weeks. Elon Musk's boost to Twitter's popularity may have been short-lived. A separate analysis of engagement with Musk's Twitter account shows a similar downward trend. All Twitter users averaged, 19.1 minutes spent on the app per day in April, Apptopia found. Younger users hit 15.9 minutes a day on the app in October, up from 13 minutes about six months earlier.

Persons: Elon Musk's, Musk, Tom Grant, Apptopia, Grant, Data.ai, Kali Hays Organizations: Elon, Twitter, Facebook, Silicon Valley Bank Locations: Apptopia, Silicon, khays

☆ Mihoyo's new video game tops download charts as big launches return to China
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blockbuster debut bodes well for several other games due to launch this summer in the world's largest video games market. As of Thursday, the Shanghai-based company's strategy game "Honkai: Star Rail", where anime characters battle space monsters, had amassed 20 million downloads across smartphones and personal computers, miHoYo said. 1 on the iOS game download chart in more countries than any prior game," Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad said on Twitter. It is scheduled to test action game "Valorant" in May ahead of its official release this year. Tencent will invest in launching an esports league in China for the game.

☆ The city without TikTok offers a window to America's potential future As Americans face a future without TikTok, Hong Kong offers a glimpse into that reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Hong Kong CNN —Across the United States, more than 150 million people are being faced with the possibility of a new reality: life without TikTok. In Hong Kong, there’s no need to imagine that reality: TikTok discontinued its services there in 2020. Lost opportunitiesTikTok announced its exit from Hong Kong in July 2020, a week after China imposed a controversial national security law in the city. At the time, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts had yet to arrive in Hong Kong. And while they occasionally wonder what’s happening on TikTok outside Hong Kong, the allure of it is lost when nobody else around them uses it either.

☆ Why experts worry TikTok could add to mental health crisis among US teens
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

TikTok is far from the only social platform to be scrutinized by lawmakers and mental health experts for its impact on teens. That’s problematic because the more time a teen spends on social media, the more likely he or she is to be depressed. Psychologists say as smartphones and social media grew around 2012, so did the rate of depression among teens. But teens say it’s not the most egregious videos that keep them engaged. The majority of teens say social media can be a space for connection and creativity, according to Pew Research.

☆ China’s TikTok wins while U.S. dillydallies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States has a new kind of Trojan horse. The White House tasked the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States with deciding whether TikTok can cut a deal to mitigate risks. While the Biden administration mulled an executive order, the measure was shelved, too, as CFIUS talks continued, Politico reported in December. Follow @BenWinck on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSThe United States banned the use of TikTok on government devices on Dec. 30. TikTok recently paused plans to hire consultants that would help enact a security deal with the United States, according to a Reuters article.

☆ Microsoft says it has reached a 10-year deal to bring ‘Call of Duty’ to Nintendo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft said late Tuesday it has reached a 10-year deal to bring the 19-year-old game franchise to Nintendo after its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which makes the game, is completed. The Nintendo deal is the latest attempt by Microsoft to ease concerns that its blockbuster acquisition of the gaming giant could harm competition in the industry. Microsoft head of gaming Phil Spencer announced the commitment with Nintendo in a tweet and said it will continue to offer “Call of Duty” on gaming platform Steam if the deal is completed. The company’s decision to bring “Call of Duty” to Nintendo comes as Microsoft’s Activision deal faces regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic. “Nintendo is not a high priority for ‘Call of Duty,’ all things considered – it has done perfectly fine without being on Nintendo recently,” Abbruzzese added.

☆ I turned myself into a masterpiece using Lensa, the chart-topping app that can make anyone a digital work of art — here's how it works
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

After seeing all my friends transformed into works of art, I finally decided to download the Lensa app. Lensa uses AI technology to turn 10-20 images into artwork across categories like anime, fairy princess, and pop. The service costs $3.99 for 50 images, and is a fun and interesting way to see AI technology at work. So I downloaded Lensa, the wildly popular app behind the digital self-portraits, made with AI technology that renders selfies into artwork. My 50 avatars were delivered in 10 categories of 5 images including Iridescent, Light, Stylish, Anime, Cosmic, Fantasy, Kawaii, Pop, Focus, and Fairy Princess.

☆ Crypto crash leaves media companies with budget holes as advertising dries up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In Alphabet 's third-quarter earnings call last month, the company blamed a slowdown in revenue growth in part on reduced ad spending by cypto companies and other financial firms. A 30-second spot during the NFL's grand finale in February cost an average of $6.5 million, and crypto was a huge theme. Crypto.com's online ad spending plummeted from about $16.2 million in the first quarter to $1.6 million in the third, SensorTower said. The crypto market has suffered downturns in the past, only to bounce back and attract even greater sums of cash and new entrants. WATCH: FTX's bankruptcy puts increased pressure on the ad market

☆ The founder of Twitter rival Mastodon says he's 'not a fan' of Elon Musk's 'erratic' leadership style
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Eugen Rochko told BBC Newsnight that Elon Musk's leadership style "shows incompetence." Mastodon has recently surged in popularity as users seek alternatives to Musk's Twitter. "Frankly, I'm not a fan of it," Eugen Rochko told BBC Newsnight on Friday. The platform's popularity has surged, with downloads up more than 650% in the 12 days following Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, according to SensorTower. Rochko told Newsnight he created Mastodon precisely because he recognised the importance of Twitter as a tool for global communication.

☆ Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has translated into huge user growth — for upstart social media platforms like Mastodon and Tumblr, according to new data
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New data from SensorTower found that smaller rivals like Mastodon and Tumblr have also seen an explosion of growth. Twitter installs have grown by 21% since Musk's takeover, while Mastodon's have grown by 657%, according to the data. Mastodon has 1 million global downloads, according to SensorTower, while Twitter had 238 million daily active users as of July. However, the recent interest in smaller microblogging sites points to some users' discontent with the recent chaos on Elon Musk's Twitter and the growing demand for a replacement. Tumblr has taken advantage of the newfound attention, trolling Elon Musk's recent blue checkmark fiasco by offering to sell two blue checks for $7.99.

☆ Some Democrats dip a toe in TikTok as most Republicans stay away
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

NBC News found that nine Democratic candidates in this year’s 35 Senate races are posting to TikTok, while three Republican Senate candidates are using it. In the most competitive Senate races, four of the Democrats are using TikTok: Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia, former state Chief Justice Cheri Beasley in North Carolina, Lt. Gov. The only Republican in a competitive Senate race using TikTok is Oz, who began posting there in 2019 before he left his television show for politics. “TikTok does have such widespread use,” Madison Horn, the Democratic nominee for one of two Senate races in Oklahoma, said in a phone interview. Bob Ellsworth, a Republican advertising consultant, said TikTok has certainly changed how Republicans campaign even if they’re not on the app itself.

☆ Bank of America downgrades Meta, says lower ad spending could hurt Reels
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investors should hold off on Meta as it heads into earnings this week, according to Bank of America. Analyst Justin Post downgraded shares of Meta to neutral from buy, saying there is likely greater ad spending pressure ahead that could hurt Meta's Reels business. "We expect 4% y/y growth in 2023 ($120bn in rev) vs Street at 9% ($127bn) and see some downside risk to our estimates in a recession." Meta shares dipped 1.7% in the premarket Monday. The analyst said that lower content consumption on Snap has made the firm cautious on whether Meta could successfully transition users to Reels.

Kakao shares plunged as much as 9.5% on Monday to their lowest since May 2020, wiping out 2 trillion won ($1.39 billion) in market capitalisation at one point, while shares in affiliates KakaoPay (377300.KS) and KakaoBank (323410.KS) lost more than 8% before paring losses. South Korea's technology ministry is probing whether the outage violated any laws while the communications regulator is reviewing the matter, including questions of user compensation, officials said on Sunday. An initial probe on Sunday found electrical issues around battery racks in third basement floor of the data centre, which is operated by SK C&C (034730.KS), may have caused the fire. REPUTATIONAL HITThe Kakao messaging application and the Kakao T taxi booking application are seen on a mobile phone in this illustration photo March 13, 2018. It said on Monday it would discuss compensation with data centre operator SK C&C for losses it and its key units have sustained.

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