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☆ TikTok is pushing longer videos. Some creators worry about the vibe shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-16 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But now, the short-form video pioneer is changing course and pushing users to make and consume longer videos. “I think TikTok is now [thinking], ‘We need to show [advertisers] that we can keep people staying on one video longer,’” Stein said. Consumers are also more likely to sit through a pre-roll ad for a video longer than one-minute than a video that’s nearly the same length as the ad itself. The company also says it recommends longer videos the same way it does shorter ones, based on user preferences rather than video length. She said that even when making relatively simple “storytime” videos, where she’s just sitting and talking to the camera, making videos longer than 1-minute means investing significant time and effort.

Persons: TikTok, — it’s, ”, Nikki Apostolou, ” TikTok, Zachary Kizer, Krysten Stein, “, ” Stein, Scott Kessler, ’ ” Kessler, TikTok —, Aly Tabizon, “ I’m, I’ve, ” Tabizon, it’s, Tabizon, Aly Tabizon TikTok, Laura Riegle, Riegle, she’s, ” Riegle, ” Apostolou Organizations: New, New York CNN, Facebook, YouTube, University of Illinois, CNN Locations: New York, University of Illinois Chicago, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany

☆ Threads now has ‘tens of millions’ of daily users. But its honeymoon phase may be over
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

After surpassing 100 million user sign-ups in less than a week, user engagement on Threads has slowed. Threads daily active users fell from 49 million on July 7, two days after its launch, to 23.6 million users last Friday, according to a report published this week by web traffic analysis firm Similarweb. “I’m very optimistic about how the Threads community is coming together,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on the platform Monday. “We’re clearly way out over our skis on this,” Mosseri said in a Threads post the week of the app’s launch. Threads could be a way for Meta to eke additional engagement time out of its massive existing user base.

Persons: It’s, “, Mark Zuckerberg, who’s, Adam Mosseri, ” Mosseri, Mosseri, ” Meta, Elon Musk, ”, Ali Mogharabi, Musk, Scott Kessler, ” Kessler Organizations: New, New York CNN, Meta, Twitter, ”, ” Morningstar Locations: New York

☆ Big Tobacco posts warning signs at 220,000 US stores, wrapping up ongoing lawsuit since 1999
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The signs will be installed in stores between July 1 and September 30, and must be displayed until June 30, 2025. An example of a corrective sign shows a large asterisk icon with the statement, “Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans. The content of the corrective statements was finalized in 2017 and then began to run in different media forms. R.J. Reynolds said these corrective statement signs appear on its website and had previously appeared in newspapers, television, radio and on pack inserts. “The tobacco industry has evolved considerably since this lawsuit was filed nearly 25 years ago, back in 1999,” a spokesperson said.

Persons: Phillip Morris, RJ Reynolds, ”, Gladys Kessler’s, “, ” Kessler, Altria, R.J, Reynolds, vaping Organizations: New, New York CNN, Big Tobacco, ITG Brands, U.S . Department of Justice, “, Reynolds American Inc Locations: New York, America, Spanish

☆ How Big Tech’s pandemic bubble burst
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft’s customers, Nadella said, are now trying “to do more with less.”Microsoft isn’t the only company experiencing such a dramatic reversal. In recent months, higher interest rates, inflation and recession fears causing a pullback in advertising and consumer spending have all weighed on tech companies’ profits and share prices. “They’ve taken a more seemingly thoughtful approach to hiring and overall managing the company,” Kessler said. Notably, however, none of the Big Tech company CEOs now overseeing layoffs appear to have been hit with any change to their compensation or title. The tech layoff announcements are likely to continue into the upcoming earnings season, Kessler said, amid ongoing economic warning signs.

They’re offering more policy briefings to longtime supporters, Zoom calls with top administration officials and White House tours, too. "The $500,000 people like me, we’re not going to be players in 2024," said Dick Harpootlian, a longtime Democratic donor and South Carolina state senator. For the White House, the shift is an acceleration of a courtship campaign that began more modestly before the midterm elections. Amid concerns about the omicron variant last year, the White House was forced to abandon plans for a more full set of holiday parties. Some of those same people were invited to the White House next month for an in-person policy briefing.

Ed Fischbach, on his farm in Spink County, S.D., said no to the carbon pipeline on his land. But some energy experts say safety is an issue with carbon capture pipelines — carbon dioxide doesn’t like to stay put, and the fear is that a pipeline could rupture and leak. Asked about the Mississippi leak, Hill of Summit Carbon Solutions characterized the event as tragic but anomalous. Braun says she is afraid the Summit pipeline will disturb sacred land around Whitestone Hill. Both Braun and Locke say they are happy to be forging new ties with farmers and ranchers in opposition to the Summit project.

☆ Tech earnings are coming and they probably won’t be pretty
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (FB)-parent Meta, Microsoft (MSFT), Twitter (TWTR) and Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) will each report earnings results the following week. “People probably should be bracing themselves for these results,” said Scott Kessler, technology global sector lead at research firm Third Bridge Group. Rampant inflation is eating away at consumers’ paychecks and reducing their ability to spend freely on tech products and services. To make matters worse, tech companies must also confront the growing strength of the US dollar, which is currently trading at its highest level in two decades. Many of the issues currently weighing on tech companies are unlikely to let up anytime soon, which is why industry watchers will be paying close attention to the guidance these companies offer for the rest of 2022.

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