DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Sam Altman kicked off a flood of ❤️ emoji posts from OpenAI executives. Can someone just tell us if he's coming back or not?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sam Altman was forced out as CEO of OpenAI on Friday, in dramatic fashion. One that was more snarky than loving: "if i start going off, the openai board should go after me for the full value of my shares." AdvertisementYet, it was the one about the OpenAI team that kicked off our current mystery. Various members of OpenAI staff have liked both tweets. Johnathan Lachman, who heads special projects at OpenAI, retweeted Murati's heart reply to Altman adding "our team spirit is just incredible."

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Mira Murati, emojis, —, he'd, OpenAI, She's, Heart, Greg Brockman, what's, Jason Kwon, Brad Lightcap, Romain Huet, Aditya Ramesh, Johnathan Lachman, Brockman's, hasn't, Ilya Sutskever, Brockman, Vinod Khosla, Matthew McConaughey, Kali Hays Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Google, Altman, Twitter Locations: OpenAI, khays@insider.com, @hayskali

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's Threads platform hits 100 million users in 5 days, growing faster than ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Threads has passed the 100 million user mark, according to data tracking platform Quiver Quantitative. Threads has passed the 100 million user mark just five days after it launched, according to estimates from data tracking platform Quiver Quantitative. The platform, aimed at Elon Musk's Twitter, has launched at an opportune time as Musk's platform grapples with another turbulent period. After Threads' first launch, several tweeters took to the platform to say goodbye to Twitter and Musk's erratic leadership. Many shared memes and screenshots of new Threads accounts, encouraging their followers to switch platforms too.

Persons: Zuckerberg Organizations: Morning, Elon, Twitter

☆ 'Goodbye Twitter': Users say they're ditching the app for Mark Zuckerberg's Threads
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

On Elon Musk's Twitter, Threads, Meta, and Goodbye Twitter were all trending on Thursday morning. Some Twitter users took to the platform to say their goodbyes. Over on Elon Musk's Twitter, "Threads," "Meta," and "Goodbye Twitter" were all trending topics on Thursday morning. One Twitter user wrote: "Instagram Threads.... Goodbye Twitter I found a better app." Another Twitter user shared a video of crowds, along with the caption: "Everyone running back to twitter after trying Threads App for 5 min.. #ThreadsApp"

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Elon Organizations: Elon, Twitter

☆ Tweeters are pointing out that a neurosurgery role in London pays about the same as an Aldi store manager
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tweeters pointed out an apparently low salary range for a surgeon in London. An NHS Trust is advertising for a neuro-oncology fellow paying as little as £33,790 (about $43,000). One tweeter pointed out that an Aldi manager can make £50,000 (about $64,000) right out of college. The National Health Service (NHS) is hiring a neuro-oncology fellow at the Barts Health Trust in central London. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, neurologists in the US can expect an annual salary of about $255,000.

Persons: Tweeters, — Organizations: Service, National Health Service, Barts Health Trust, Twitter, British Medical Association, Government, Sky News, BMA, Bureau of Labor Statistics, neurologists Locations: London, Barts

☆ The funniest joke suggestions for Elon Musk's Twitter CEO successor, from Elizabeth Holmes to Meghan Markle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk announced Thursday he would be handing over the Twitter CEO role to a woman. But Twitter users have been having fun suggesting several joke candidates. Months after Twitter users voted for Elon Musk to step down as the company's CEO, the billionaire announced Thursday that he'd found someone to takeover the position. Musk tweeted. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Yaccarino is in talks to take over as Twitter CEO.

Lowest Price Google Nest Hub Max With a 10-inch display and great sound, the Google Nest Hub Max is the largest and most entertainment-friendly smart display in Google's lineup. Shop at WalmartGoogle Nest Hub vs. Nest Hub Max: PricingWith a larger screen and built-in camera, it makes sense that the Google Nest Hub Max ($230) comes with a higher price tag than the second-gen Nest Hub ($100). Google Nest Hub vs. Nest Hub Max: Display size and soundThe Nest Hub Max has an impressive speaker system for a smart display. Google Nest Hub vs. Nest Hub Max: Smart featuresThe newer Nest Hub has the Soli chip, which powers features like Sleep Sensing. Google Nest Hub vs. Nest Hub Max: PrivacyGoogle makes it fairly easy to modify your privacy controls, but you'll need to dive into the Google Home app to make these changes.

☆ Pay $84 a year for Twitter Blue or lose your checkmark beginning April 1, Twitter says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue,” the company’s tweet continued. Twitter Blue is a subscription service that Musk relaunched late last year that costs individuals $84 a year or $8 a month. Twitter Blue first launched in the pre-Musk days of 2021, as a subscription service offering “power features” like undoing a tweet and saving bookmarks to folders. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesMusk pulled the Twitter Blue program for a few weeks and relaunched it yet again in December, with additional steps for reviewing and approving subscribers. The company also says Twitter Blue users will see 50% fewer ads in their home timelines, and that their tweets will be prioritized among replies, mentions and searches.

The new HomePod is $50 cheaper than the original, and packs in more smart home features. It's Apple's first new smart speaker since the release of the $99 HomePod Mini in November 2020. The launch price of the new HomePod is actually $50 cheaper than the original model, which was discontinued in 2021. Should you preorder the new Apple HomePod? Apple's smart speakers have struggled to win over customers compared to Amazon's Echo brand and Google's Nest, and remain more expensive than the competition.

☆ The only victim in Elon's beef with journalists is Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Twitter itself knows news and journalists are major drivers of user engagement on its platform. By barring journalists, Musk is openly demonstrating his resentment towards one of Twitter's most active and important userbases, hurting the platform further. Journalists depend on Twitter, and Twitter depends on them tooBy Twitter's own estimates, journalists count for a lot on its platform. Users "regularly follow news-related Twitter accounts, and around 4 in 5 young journalists rely on the platform for their jobs. Journalists use Twitter more than any other social media platform, according to research from Pew in June, treating it as a real-time source of information.

☆ Twitter Blue relaunches, now costs $11 per month if you subscribe from an iPhone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter relaunched its updated Twitter Blue subscription service Monday after the company's new owner Elon Musk pulled and delayed the launch in November. The service costs $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iOS users who purchase it through Apple 's App Store. Blue users will also be able to edit tweets and get early access to new features. Twitter Blue briefly launched in November, but it was pulled after users abused the new paid option by impersonating celebrities and brands. Users who were verified under Twitter's old policy are being marked as legacy verified accounts that "may not be notable" under the new Twitter Blue service.

Vindman first joined Twitter while working in the Trump administration because it was often the way his then-boss, the president, made policy. His wife, liberal activist and podcaster Rachel Vindman, has almost 400,000 followers, making them a progressive Twitter power couple. In a clubby city obsessed with status and information, Twitter delivers both, all from the comfort of one’s mobile phone. No one wants to leave Twitter until everyone else does, but there’s no obvious place to go next. Some think Musk will kill Twitter regardless of whether there’s a mass exodus of its users.

Black users have long been one of Twitter’s most engaged demographics, flocking to the platform to steer online culture and drive real-world social change. But a month after Elon Musk took over, some Black influencers are eyeing the exits just as he races to shore up the company’s business. And while there is no hard data on how many Black users have either joined or left the platform over that period, some prominent influencers say they’re actively pursuing alternatives. Some signs indicate a slowdown among Black Twitter users that predates Musk. “It’s crippling to the economies of cities when Black folks leave, platforms when Black folks leave, entertainment sites when Black folks leave,” she said.

☆ Elon Musk predicts 'Twitter 2.0' will have 1 billion users a month by 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said the number of users signing up to Twitter was at a record high. By 2024, he predicted that the social media platform would have a billion users a month. A leaked document showed Twitter was losing its most active "heavy tweeters," Reuters has reported. One of the graphs the Tesla and SpaceX CEO shared showed signups and active minutes were at a record high. Another slide that Musk shared stated that Twitter was now recruiting after mass layoffs and resignations.

☆ The death of Twitter won't be the dramatic explosion you might expect
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

So I'm confident saying Twitter won't wink out of existence, here one day and gone the next. That said, I'm also confident that Twitter won't be the same after Musk's gambit. Here's how I think will happen:Power users start to abandon ship. The combination of app unreliability and the increasingly-notable absence of power users and influencers will lead to average Twitter users spending less time on the site. If and when users stop refreshing Twitter because it's no longer reliable, they'll start spending more time on other platforms.

☆ If you’re thinking about quitting Elon Musk’s Twitter, here’s how to use alternative Mastodon
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

It has been reported that more than 200.000 new users flocked the social media app after the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk. One of the fastest growing alternatives is Mastodon, which looks and feels a lot like Twitter. In the 12 days after Musk bought Twitter, Mastodon app downloads on Apple App Store and Google Play for Android surged more than 100 times previous rates to 322,000 installs during the period, according to analysis by Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm. That's still a lot lower than the over 245 million daily active users of Twitter that CEO Elon Musk tweeted about this week. Davide Bonaldo | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesBecause anyone can set up their own Mastodon server, there's no central place to sign up like twitter.com.

☆ Would Twitter get online publisher immunity in fake 'blue check' suits?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc’s introduction last week of a new subscription system to dole out blue-check verification badges was a flop by any standard. Edelson's preliminary theory: By awarding verification badges to the fake corporate tweeters, Twitter enabled the imposters to trick consumers and even shareholders. (Eli Lilly and Co and Lockheed Martin Corp both experienced sharp, if temporary, stock drops after tweets from corporate accounts that carried the blue-check verification.) Twitter also did not respond to my email query about potential private lawsuits arising from last week’s fake tweets. What about shareholders or consumers who claim to have been duped by tweets from fake corporate accounts?

☆ Here are 17 of the most outrageous impersonations to come from Elon Musk's Twitter Blue rollout blunder
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Elon Musk's new Twitter Blue model allowed anyone to pay $8 for a verified blue check. Elon Musk's new Twitter Blue subscription, which allows anyone to pay to become verified, has ushered in a wave of bizarre — and potentially harmful — impersonation of public figures and brands. The launch of the paid verification feature almost immediately triggered trolls into action as many users paid the $8 Twitter Blue fee and promptly used their blue check to impersonate prominent entities on Twitter. The jokes began with Elon Musk impersonations, but quickly evolved into tweeters pretending to be historical figures, celebrities, and brands. Insider collected some of the most outrageous impersonation tweets we've seen during the week of chaos.

☆ I built a name and career on Twitter. I'm worried Elon Musk will destroy opportunities for creatives like me.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Scott Bryan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Scott Bryan used Twitter to build a career as a journalist writing and commentating about TV. He fears Musk's takeover will drive people from the platform, which would deny others its benefits. For people interested in entering journalism, Twitter provides a network of pretty much every single editor and journalist in the country. Beyond my following, I use Twitter to sense how much the wider public is reacting to a new TV story. My tweets show editors and producers what I'm knowledgeable about and have led to invitations to go on radio and TV.

☆ The memes mocking anyone with paid Twitter verification checks have arrived — and they're merciless
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter users can now purchase a blue verification checkmark as part of the $8 Twitter Blue subscription. The change sparked widespread memes as users mocked those willing to pay for verification. The $8 Twitter Blue subscription means anyone can pay to be verified, but their blue check comes with a disclaimer. As the memes continue to swirl around those paying for a Twitter Blue subscriptions, creators are defending their choice to cash in on the blue checkmark offer. In Wednesday's Twitter Space, Musk admitted offering the blue checkmark for $8 might be "a dumb decision, but we'll see."

☆ Trolls are already abusing Elon Musk's new Twitter verification system, impersonating everyone from George Bush to O.J. Simpson
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter's new verification system is already being abused by trolls impersonating public figures. Neither Bush nor Blair have personal Twitter accounts, but are verified through their foundations. Other examples of fake but verified accounts causing trouble soon after the new verification system came in included a user pretending to be O.J. "I'm ngl I did that shit," the verified account "ThaReal0J32" tweeted, attracting over 55,000 likes before it was deleted. The fake Bush account also responded to tweets about fake verified accounts saying: "Jed [Bush's younger brother] is smarter than Elon."

☆ Elon Musk reverses course, kills new 'official' designation for big-name tweeters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In his latest series of changes to Twitter's verification system, Twitter owner Elon Musk said he has already "killed" the new "official" designation Wednesday that had started rolling out for some of the platform's biggest names earlier in the day. Some originally verified accounts would sport an "official" label, Crawford said, while any user who pays $7.99 per month for Twitter Blue, the company's subscription product, would sport a blue check mark. Musk himself has benefited from having the Twitter verification check mark. In a tweet Wednesday, Musk wrote, "Blue check will be the greatest leveler." Under Musk's direction, the new Twitter Blue check mark will instead work as a paying subscriber badge that the company nonetheless plans to call "verification."

☆ Twitter users could soon be able to pay to DM 'Very Important Tweeters' thanks to a new feature, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's Twitter is working on a paid direct messaging feature, the NYT reports. Twitter users would pay a few dollars to send a message to a "Very Important Tweeter," per the report. According to two people familiar with the plans and internal documents seen by The Times, Twitter is working on paid direct messaging to verified users referred to as "Very Important Tweeters." These paid direct messages would land in a separate area of the "Messages" section on Twitter, the report said. "Very Important Tweeters" would then select which paid messages they want to receive, The Times said.

☆ Twitter will let government accounts keep their blue ticks for free under Elon Musk's new paid verification plans, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Government accounts will not have to pay Twitter's new $8 verification fee, Bloomberg reports. One of Elon Musk's first moves as Twitter's owner has been to draw up plans for paid verification. Many governments around the world have hundreds of verified Twitter accounts across numerous departments, and paying for all those accounts to stay verified could prove expensive, possibly placing an additional — admittedly small — burden on taxpayers. Elon Musk's plan to let anybody have the verification symbol for payment is expected to come into action next week. The verification fee is one of Musk's many plans to change things up at the company.

☆ Ad giant IPG advises brands to pause Twitter spending after Musk takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Twitter logo is seen on a mobile device in ths illustration photo in Warsaw, Poland on 30 October, 2022. Twitter is losing its most active users according to research done by Reuters. Advertising giant Interpublic Group has recommended that clients of its IPG Media Brands agencies suspend all paid advertising on Twitter for at least a week following Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of the social media network. Yoel Roth, head of safety at Twitter, has posted several threads to Twitter discussing how the company is combating this. Finchem called upon Musk personally for help in a tweet, and Musk said in a reply on Twitter that he was "looking into" the matter.

☆ Elon Musk manages free speech versus 'hellscape' at Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The pressure is mounting on Musk and Twitter as he is set to address the Twitter staff on Friday after closing the deal. Fewer than 10% of 266 Twitter employees who participated in a poll on messaging app Blind expected to still have their jobs in three months. Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. As news of the deal spread, some Twitter users were quick to flag their willingness to walk away.

Search resuls for: "Tweeters"

25 mentions found