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It's become a popular way to send notes to friends without having to type long messages, especially among Gen Z. Not only is using a digital camera nostalgic, they have sharper flash and crisper image quality than a smartphone. As a result, some members of Gen Z are turning to flip phones. In other words, flip phones are helping Gen Z unplug without going entirely off the grid. Dark modeZoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Gen Z uses dark mode instead of light mode.

Persons: Daniel de la, Gen Z's, It's, Gen Z, WhatsApp, Emojis, Z, Gen, Jake Piazza, Zoomers Organizations: Pew Research Center, CNBC, Photodisc, Getty, Media, Walmart, Amazon Locations: TikTok

☆ Read an exclusive 24-page deck about Snapchat's invite-only creator program Snap Stars, which breaks down best practices, how to get in, and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Whispers about Snap's invite-only creator program have swept the industry in recent months. Creators want to know how to be accepted into the program and gain access to Snap's lucrative payouts. Berry spoke about Snapchat's invite-only Snap Stars monetization program, sharing tips on getting accepted and details about how the program works. The Snap Stars program pays creators based on an ad-sharing model. And Berry highlighted important steps creators should take once accepted to maintain their engagement and growth on Snap.

Persons: Nuseir Yassin, Samir Chaudry, Brooke Berry, Eric Wei, Berry, David Dobrik, Hannah Stocking, Fortune Organizations: Nas, Facebook, Nas Company, YouTube, Karat Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Snapchat's AI chatbot may pose privacy risk to children, says UK watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Sachin Ravikumar | Thomson Reuters | Sachin Ravikumar Is A Correspondent For Reuters In London Covering General News Across The Uk. Over Nine Years At Reuters | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said if the U.S. company fails to adequately address the regulator's concerns, "My AI", launched in April, could be banned in the UK. "The provisional findings of our investigation suggest a worrying failure by Snap to adequately identify and assess the privacy risks to children and other users before launching 'My AI'", Information Commissioner John Edwards said. "My AI went through a robust legal and privacy review process before being made publicly available," a Snap spokesperson said. The ICO is investigating how "My AI" processes the personal data of Snapchat's roughly 21 million UK users, including children aged 13-17. Social media platforms, including Snapchat, require users to be 13 or over, but have had mixed success in keeping children off their platforms.

Persons: Lucas Jackson, John Edwards, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Snapchat, Farouq Suleiman, Sachin Ravikumar, William James, Sarah Young, Louise Heavens Organizations: Inc, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Commissioner's, ICO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New York City , New York, U.S

☆ How do you do, fellow kids: Facebook is rolling out new AI characters to lure Gen Z users. But their personalities are a bit... dated.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Sebastian Cahill | Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta is hoping to gain more Gen Z customers with new AI chatbots. The bots are based on outdated characters that aren't as resonant with a Gen Z audience. Aside from the awkward summation of Gen Z humor, Bender might be a touch behind what kids are watching today. AdvertisementAdvertisementMeta's attempt at being Gen Z's 'North Star'Meta also misses the mark on what Gen Z humor is — often absurdist, incredibly fast-moving, "anti-humor." AdvertisementAdvertisementThis doesn't mean, however, that Gen Z is fully onboard with AI bots.

Persons: Gen, Meta, Bob, Bender, it's, —, Z's, millennials, ChatGPT, Alvin, Mark Zuckerberg, Snapchat Organizations: Service, Meta Connect, Street Journal, Meta, Facebook Locations: Wall, Silicon, TikTok

☆ 'Relentless pursuit of eyeballs': Analysts name China internet stocks to buy, give 2 over 50% upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Several stocks are set to benefit from the "relentless pursuit of eyeballs" in the Chinese internet sector, according to analysts at asset management firm AllianceBernstein. Mini programs are apps within WeChat and have functions in areas such as e-commerce, task management, coupons, and so on. Tech giant Alibaba was given a price target of $100, representing a 14.9% upside from its Sept. 18 close. Kuaishou and Bilibili were given target prices of HK$70 and $16, representing 10.9% and 17.0% upside, respectively. Outlook The analysts said the expansion of channels for spending could lead to accelerating growth in e-commerce penetration, though the extent of upside is "debatable."

Persons: Robin Zhu, Ronald Ma, Xuan Ji, Xiaohongshu, AllianceBernstein, PDD, JD, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Douyin, JD, Hong Kong, HK, Tech Locations: China, Pinduoduo

☆ A food creator with almost 14 million followers shares his earnings from Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook and how he's fundraising to donate meals for unhoused people
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He's earned five figures so far this year directly from YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat. Daoud started creating content in 2015, at age 13, by filming YouTube videos. Today, Daoud has almost 14 million followers across Snapchat , YouTube , TikTok , and Facebook . Platform Earnings YouTube $9,380 Facebook $9,265 Snapchat $4,704Daoud earns money directly from platforms' ad-revenue-share programsDaoud earns money directly from YouTube and Facebook through ads for long-form content. The money he's earned directly from Facebook so far this year is only around $100 less than what he's earned from YouTube.

Persons: Wasil Daoud, He's, Daoud, he's, TikTok, It's, it's, Jellysmack, unhoused Organizations: YouTube, Facebook, TikTok Locations: Snapchat, Los Angeles , California, New Jersey, LA

☆ Snapchat users react with confusion after the app's AI chatbot mysteriously posts its own story and then refuses to answer questions about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Snapchat's My AI posted its own story and was not responding to messages, according to users. Snap told Insider that the AI chatbot had experienced an outage that had since been fixed. Exactly what the AI's story showed wasn't clear, and the impacted Snapchat users quickly took to other social media platforms to post about being confused and slightly frightened. "Hello I confronted Snapchat AI now she's not replying what is thisssss," the user posted in all caps. "Someone tell me why tf my Snapchat ai is posting Snapchat stories lmaooo," another Snapchat user posted to X.

Persons: Snapchat's, chatbot, Brian Long, Long, Snapchat

☆ Snapchat is paying augmented-reality developers for silly, viral lenses, opening up a new way for creators to earn beyond branded effects
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Snapchat is launching a new fund for augmented-reality lens creators. Traditionally, AR creators have leaned on branded effects to make money. For years, augmented-reality creators who make amusing visual effects for Snapchat have relied on brand work to make money. It's also tested a program where AR creators could charge users for access to variations and upgrades of certain lenses. Other social-media platforms have also recently launched funding programs for AR creators.

Persons: Philip Walton, he'd, Walton, we're, Joseph Darko, It's, TikTok Organizations: Inc, Developer Locations: United States, India, Mexico

☆ Elon Musk needs to be ruthless if he's going to transform X into a killer app. Here's what he should do, according to a Fortune 500 project management expert.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Dr. Te Wu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Dr. Te Wu is the CEO and CPO of PMO Advisory, a project management training and consulting firm. From a project management perspective, here are the top five actions I would undertake to make this latest transformation successful. Business transformation is more of an art than a science, and building new product features can be extraordinarily difficult. Dr. Te Wu is CEO and CPO of PMO Advisory, a project management training and consulting firm for companies, including Global 500 and nonprofit organizations. He is an associate professor at Montclair State University and chair of the Project Management Institute's Portfolio Management Standard Committee.

Persons: Te Wu, Wu, It's, Elon Musk, I've, Musk, Linda Yaccarino, WeChat, Meta, OpenAI's, Slack Organizations: PMO, Twitter, Morning, SpaceX, Fortune, Swiss Army, China Europe International Business School, Elon, New York's Transit Authority, Facebook, Microsoft, Montclair State University, Project Management Institute's Locations: New, China

☆ Here's exactly how much I made at Google, Snap, and Cisco in non-technical roles
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Aria Yang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Jonathan Javier is a former product operations analyst at Google, Snap, and Cisco. I graduated from UC Riverside and always wanted to work in the tech industry in non-tech roles focusing on strategy, sales operations, and advisory. Cisco: Go-to-market strategy and operations analyst$90,000 base salary + $10K bonus + $20K stock optionsI left Google for Cisco for two main reasons. You need to build your network early on to land your dream jobBuilding your network early on makes a big difference in job hunting. That's why it pays off to build the network early on.

Persons: Jonathan Javier, Jonathan, Snapchat, It's, Aria Yang Organizations: Google, Cisco, UC Riverside, LinkedIn, Meta, Network Locations: Snapchat

☆ Meta is trying to catch up with ChatGPT with new AI chatbots that speak like famous figures including Abraham Lincoln, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta could soon be launching AI chatbots that speak like famous people including Abraham Lincoln. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is hoping to retain users by introducing chatbots that rival ChatGPT. Meta is exploring plans to launch AI chatbots as soon as next month that imitate famous figures, including Abraham Lincoln, as it scrambles to retain users and see off the threat from ChatGPT, a new report says. However, Meta has lacked a more consumer-facing, engaging interface like ChatGPT or Snapchat's My AI chatbot. The FT report added that the chatbots will aim to offer users fresh search functions as well as recommendations.

Persons: Abraham Lincoln, Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI's, Zuckerberg, Meta Organizations: Financial Times, Morning, Financial, Meta, Facebook

☆ Snapchat augmented-reality creators can now earn thousands of dollars for lenses that go viral
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Snapchat is launching a new fund for augmented-reality lens creators. Traditionally, AR creators have leaned on branded effects to make money. For years, augmented-reality creators who make amusing visual effects for Snapchat have relied on brand work to make money. A Snap spokesperson declined to share the total amount of funds available to AR creators, but said that "many creators" will earn rewards each month. It's also tested a program where AR creators could charge users for access to variations and upgrades of certain lenses.

Persons: Philip Walton, he'd, Walton, we're, Joseph Darko, It's, TikTok Organizations: Inc, Developer Locations: United States, India, Mexico

☆ If Elon Musk understood anything about China, he'd know his attempt to make X a super app like WeChat is doomed to fail
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Elon Musk thinks turning X into an everything app like WeChat could make the company profitable. Elon Musk may be going all in with his plan to turn X into an everything app in the vein of China's WeChat. In fact, Musk gave us all some insight into what X might one day look like when he expressed his admiration for China's everything app, WeChat, last summer. We don't have anything like that outside of China," Musk continued. Even foreigners would be hard pressed to make their way around China without using the WeChat app to make simple purchases.

Persons: Elon, Musk, WeChat, HECTOR RETAMAL, he's, —, Feng Kaihua, Tencent, China's Didi Chuxing, doesn't Organizations: Morning, PayPal, Twitter, Getty Images, Facebook, Getty, Netflix, YouTube Locations: China, AFP, Xinhua

☆ The European Space Agency jokingly asks Mark Zuckerberg if he will start making rockets like Elon Musk after Threads launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The European Space Agency joined in on the jokes around Wednesday's launch of Threads. In a post tagging Mark Zuckerberg, the ESA said: "Do you want to start making rockets?" The European Space Agency joined in on all the memes and jokes around Wednesday's launch of Threads – the new Twitter competitor app from Meta. The account, which currently has 122,000 followers on the new app, tagged Mark Zuckerberg in a post that asked: "Do you want to start making rockets?" Either way, the space agency is one of the first companies to gain attention on Threads.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, TikTok Organizations: European Space Agency, ESA, Meta, Musk's SpaceX

☆ Threads, Twitter and Mark Zuckerberg's long history of copycat apps and features
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Nicolas Vega | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Zuckerberg's latest not-quite-innovation comes in the form of Threads, an Instagram-based Twitter competitor. Musk, meanwhile, replied with a laughing emoji to a Tweet saying that Threads was a straight copy-and-paste of Twitter. For every copycat product that Zuckerberg has rolled out over the years to great success, others have failed to gain traction. "Despite all the frustration," Ives says, "many people start their day with coffee, brushing their teeth and looking at Twitter." Here are some notable copycat apps and features rolled out under Zuckerberg's leadership.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, hasn't, Dan Ives, Ives, it's Organizations: Facebook, News, Meta, Twitter, Wedbush Securities, Mastodon

☆ A new type of creator is taking over Snapchat: Giving fans constant access to their lives, posting hundreds of times a day, and raking in cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Marta Biino | Dan Whateley | Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"Even if it's a day where I'm super tired and I'm not doing anything, I'll be like, 'Guys, I am doing nothing all day. Compared to YouTube videos, or even content for short-video platforms like TikTok, Snapchat stories require less effort to produce. "The privacy thing is kind of something you take with being a content creator," Leilani Green, a beauty and makeup creator with 845,000 subscribers on Snapchat, told Insider. Rick Lox, a food creator with around 215,000 Snapchat subscribers, said he sets dedicated times in the morning, afternoon, and evening to upload stories. TikTok and YouTube's attempts at sharing in-stream ad revenue with creators for short videos has produced measly payouts thus far.

Persons: Snapchat, Influencer Alyssa McKay, I'm, McKay, she's, Truman, Eloise Head, —, Alyssa McKay, Jacques Slade, Dave Roter, Noam Galai, Rick, Francis Roberts, " Roberts, YouTuber David Dobrik, Brandom Baum, monetization, Matthew, that's, it's, Jim Louderback Organizations: Inc, Snap's, YouTube Locations: Snapchat, New York

"Even if it's a day where I'm super tired and I'm not doing anything, I'll be like, 'Guys, I am doing nothing all day. Compared to YouTube videos, or even content for short-video platforms like TikTok, Snapchat stories require less effort to produce. "The privacy thing is kind of something you take with being a content creator," Leilani Green, a beauty and makeup creator with 845,000 subscribers on Snapchat, told Insider. Snapchat may be incentivizing creators to broadcast every minute of their lives, which isn't for everyone. TikTok and YouTube's attempts at sharing in-stream ad revenue with creators for short videos has produced measly payouts thus far.

☆ Instagram appears to be developing an AI chatbot with 30 different personalities to choose from
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Instagram appears to be testing out an AI chatbot, according to a mobile developer. The chatbot could answer questions, give advice, and help users write messages. Earlier this year, Snapchat released its own AI chatbot to generally negative reviews. Users will be able to choose between 30 different personalities for the AI agents, Paluzzi says. The company is developing a way for advertisers to create and test ads using AI.

Persons: Instagram, Snapchat, Alessandro Paluzzi, Paluzzi, Zuckerberg Organizations: Meta

☆ TikTok has a new program that will pay augmented-reality creators up to $50,000 per month
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

TikTok is earmarking $6 million to pay creators that make popular augmented-reality filters. Creators earn a base of $700 and up to $14,000 for effects that appear in at least 500,000 videos. TikTok launched on Tuesday a new $6 million rewards program for augmented-reality creators who use its AR platform, Effect House, a company spokesperson confirmed to Insider. Augmented reality has become an increasingly important feature for social-entertainment platforms like TikTok and Instagram as AR effects drive millions of video creations. AR creators can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars by making custom effects for brands and building out careers as augmented-reality developers.

☆ Is Twitter's new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, being set up to fall off the 'glass cliff'?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk appointed Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal exec, to succeed him as CEO of Twitter. Amid Twitter's turmoil, some suggest that Yaccarino could fall prey to the so-called "glass cliff." While men often glide on a "glass escalator" to the corner office, women often confront a "glass ceiling." "I wish we were seen as good leaders in good times, too." I wish we were seen as good leaders in good times, too."

☆ Snapchat's vision of the future has dystopian vibes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Snap executives took the stage on Tuesday to pitch its social app to brands and ad agencies. The company said Snapchat was one of the last places for real and authentic relationships. But in highlighting one-way relationships with influencers and AI, its pitch felt dystopian. Snapchat is the one of the last places for "authentic" and "real" relationships, and therefore, a great place for brands to sell products, the company said. "We created a space for people to truly be themselves, and all along we've been building for a future that is grounded in reality."

☆ Restaurant bookings, movie searches, and other tasks that Microsoft's Bing will be able to do, following an upgrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft said it's allowing third-party developers to build on top of Bing Chat, powered by OpenAI's GPT-4, to help people complete tasks. The company also plans to beef up Bing Chat's "memory," something that caused issues for Microsoft after the search engine launched. After Bing's chat feature launched, some users found they could provoke the chatbot into engaging in inappropriate and creepy conversations during long sessions. Bing users have engaged in over half a billion chats since its launch, the blogpost said. In March, just over a month after the company launched the AI version of its search engine, Bing exceeded 100 million daily active users.

☆ Snapchat’s new AI chatbot is already raising alarms among teens and parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The feature is powered by the viral AI chatbot tool ChatGPT – and like ChatGPT, it can offer recommendations, answer questions and converse with users. The net effect is that conversing with Snapchat’s chatbot may feel less transactional than visiting ChatGPT’s website. Snapchat's new AI chatbot. “I snapped a picture … and it said ‘nice shoes’ and asked who the people [were] in the photo,” a Snapchat user wrote on Facebook. One user wrote on Facebook that she’s been asking My AI for homework help.

☆ Snapchat's AI tool is a total fail with users
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Snapchat's AI tool made its debut across the application last week, and users aren't loving it. Only Snapchat+ subscribers can opt out of the service, which is powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT. My AI, Snapchat's ChatGPT-powered chatbot, launched to all Snapchat users earlier this month, and ever since, the app has been met with a surge of one-star reviews in the App Store. The feature, which offers a more stripped down version of OpenAI's now ubiquitous tool, was first introduced to Snapchat+ subscribers at the end of February. My own screenshotThe tool's access of personal information — including a user's location — has also been criticized for being creepy.

☆ Anyone can now use Snapchat's 'My AI' chat bot and the memes about 'horrifying' messages have arrived
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Snapchat launched its My AI feature to Snapchat+ subscribers in February. Now that the chat bot is available to all, memes and concerns about the feature are emerging. Snapchat's My AI chat bot is now available to non-paying users, and it's already the subject of hilarious memes and genuine concerns. As of Sunday , My AI is available for regular Snapchat users to chat to, and many are already posting about their strange conversations. Those who've tested out the feature took to TikTok to share their jokes and concerns about the chat bot.

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