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☆ Seattle public schools blame tech giants for social media harm in lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The lawsuit says the companies' actions have been a substantial factor in causing a youth mental health crisis. Students with mental health issues perform worse, causing schools to take steps including training teachers to identify and address such symptoms, hire trained personnel, and create additional resources to warn students about the dangers of social media, the complaint said. In 2021, U.S. lawmakers accused Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg of pushing for higher profits at the expense of children's mental health following testimony by whistleblower Frances Haugen. "We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don't want their ads next to harmful or angry content. And I don't know any tech company that sets out to build products that make people angry or depressed."

☆ LinkedIn is having a moment thanks to a wave of layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some LinkedIn users affected by recent layoffs have formed groups on the site aimed at providing assistance, coordinating around signing exit paperwork and aiding with connections for new jobs. Suddenly, the normally staid professional network has become both a vital lifeline for recently laid off workers and a surprisingly lively social platform. “There’s been an uptick in [LinkedIn use] since the pandemic,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media expert at Syracuse University. Layoffs and upheaval in social media industryEven apart from the layoffs, the social media landscape has been through a volatile year. But lately it appears users have more than enough reason to use LinkedIn amid a wave of thousands of layoffs.

☆ How 2022 shocked, rocked and rolled global markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The main drivers have been the war in Ukraine, combined with rampant inflation as global economies broke out of the pandemic, but China remained shackled by it. U.S. Treasuries and German bonds, the benchmarks of global borrowing markets and traditional go-to assets in troubled times, lost 17% and 25% respectively in dollar terms. Ten-year Treasury yields jumped to 1.8% from less than 1.5%, knocking 5% off MSCI's world stocks index (.MIWD00000PUS) in January alone. The Fed has delivered an eye-watering 400bps of rate hikes and the European Central Bank, a record 250bps, despite saying this time last year it was unlikely to budge. "What has gone in global markets this year has been traumatic," said EFG Bank Chief Economist and ex-Deputy Governor of Ireland's central bank, Stefan Gerlach.

☆ The year that brought high-flying Silicon Valley back down to earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The tech industry, already dominant, only seemed destined to grow even bigger at the start of this year. The spread of the Omicron variant suggested a continued pandemic-fueled demand for digital goods and services, which had buoyed many tech companies. The result was a bloodbath unlike anything the tech industry has seen in the past decade. For years, Silicon Valley has held up its founders as visionaries who can see far into the future. “I do not think venture is cratering, or the tech industry is cratering as an industry.”But for now, at least, there appears to be no end in sight to the pain for Silicon Valley and those who work in it.

☆ Premarket stocks: Wall Street kills its darlings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

It appears that Wall Street has also caught on to the concept. Investors are rushing to kill their darlings – er, sell their stocks– and even safe-havens like Apple (AAPL) and Intel (INTC) are getting crushed in the stampede. What’s happening: It’s been a shaky year full of economic uncertainty, geopolitical chaos, elevated inflation and a hawkish Fed. But what’s been most surprising is that market-cap titans, traditionally expected to weather storms on Wall Street well, haven’t held up against the rising macroeconomic tides. EY Parthenon projects that consumer spending will flatline in 2023 after growing 2.7% this year.

☆ Startups find better access to talent as top tech companies cut jobs, freeze hiring
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

More than 50,000 tech workers were let go from their jobs in November, according to data collected by the website Layoffs.fyi. “Given the tech layoffs and lower hiring by the big-tech companies, folks are looking for smaller tech companies to join,” said Christopher Fong, founder of Xoogler.co, a network for ex-Google employees. In the absence of the stability that the largest tech companies once offered, workers are looking to startups and midsize companies that offer greater flexibility and, in some case, the opportunity to have a bigger impact. “I tried not to think a lot about tech layoffs when interviewing," Bell said. Lauren Illovsky, talent partner for Alphabet's CapitalG venture firm said “hiring has gotten a little easier" for the group's portfolio companies.

☆ The tech IPO market collapsed in 2022, and next year doesn't look much better
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The Stockholm-based company raised financing at a $6.7 billion valuation this year, an 85% discount to its prior valuation of $46 billion. Butler doesn't expect the IPO market to get appreciably better in 2023. Butler also thinks that Silicon Valley has to adapt to a shift away from the growth-first mindset before the IPO market picks up again. Butler said he expects this "cultural reset" to take a couple more quarters and said, "that makes me remain pessimistic on the IPO market." Databricks raised $1.6 billion at a $38 billion valuation in August of 2021, near the market's peak.

☆ Metaverse off to ominous start after VR headset sales shrank in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrates an Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset and Oculus Touch controllers during the Oculus Connect 3 event in San Jose, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. With the ad business mired in a slump, Zuckerberg has been looking to VR devices and related technology to pull Meta into the future. Taken together, the estimates of VR headset sales and shipments create a problematic picture for Meta, whose stock price has lost about two-thirds of its value this year. Meta's Quest 2 headset, released in 2020, is by far the leader in the VR market, according to several analysts. VR headset revenue in the U.S. doubled in 2021 from about $530 million in 2020, according to NPD.

☆ Which Twitter alternatives have staying power — and which is the next Clubhouse?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

For the rest of the week, in addition to the day's top stories, I'll be highlighting some of the year's biggest investigations, features, and more from Insider's tech reporters. Today, we're taking a look back on everything from employee angst at Amazon to Thomas Kurian's three-year reign at Google Cloud. Which Twitter alternatives have staying power — and which is the next Clubhouse? See which Twitter alternatives could make it out alive. We gave readers an inside look at Kurian's Google Cloud.

☆ Facebook parent Meta agrees to pay $725 million to settle Cambridge Analytica suit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | Arjun Kharpal Is A News Assistant For Cnbc In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Facebook parent Meta has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed the social media giant gave third parties access to user data without their consent. The class action lawsuit was prompted in 2018 after Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a consultancy firm linked to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign. A scandal that prompted global outrageThe Cambridge Analytica scandal prompted global outrage and a flurry of regulators worldwide to scrutinize Facebook’s data practices. Cambridge Analytica, which shut down after the allegations in 2018, was controversial because the data it harvested from Facebook was used to inform political campaigns. Since the scandal, Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its growing ambitions to become a leader in the metaverse, a term used to refer to virtual worlds.

☆ Meta agrees to pay $725 million to settle lawsuit over Cambridge Analytica data leak
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Facebook parent company Meta has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a longstanding class action lawsuit accusing it of allowing Cambridge Analytica and other third parties to access private user information and misleading users about its privacy practices. The proposed settlement would end the legal battle that began four years ago, shortly after the company disclosed that the private information of as many as 87 million Facebook users was obtained by Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm that worked with the Trump campaign. The data leak sparked an intense international scandal for Facebook, drawing the scrutiny of regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. They estimated that between 250 and 280 million people may be eligible for payments as part of the class action settlement. But the improper sharing of Facebook data triggered a cascade of events that has culminated in investigations and lawsuits.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the market Friday: Inflation, natural gas plunge, Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Case in point: Natural gas prices plunge roughly 25% this week alone and even more for the month. Citi cuts price target on Paychex (PAYX) to $119 per share from $131. Wedbush cuts price target on Tesla (TSLA) to $175 per share from $250, though keeps its outperform (buy) rating. Loop Capital cut Paramount Global (PARA) to a sell from hold, slashing its price target to $14 per share from $30. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ I started the Elf on the Shelf with my mom and sister. We self-published a book and took on credit-card debt to turn our family tradition into a business.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Taayoo Murray | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Christa Pitts is the co-CEO of the Lumistella Company, the manufacturer for the Elf on the Shelf. Her family started the business in 2005 after being inspired by their own Christmas family tradition. Facebook / The Elf on the ShelfIn 2005, my mom and Chanda wrote "The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition." In 2020, the company rebranded to the Lumistella Company to better reflect our portfolio of products, entertainment, and experiences. We also started Scout Elf Productions, our own production company, and began developing content around our brands.

Mastodon, an alternative microblogging platform, has seen several spikes in user sign-ups since the world’s second-wealthiest man purchased Twitter in late October. Hourly data from a Mastodon user counter shows that the surges typically happened shortly after some of Musk’s most headline-grabbing actions. Mastodon-powered sites averaged about 130 new sign-ups per hour from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26. That number jumped to 2,000 per hour after Elon Musk took control of Twitter on Oct. 28. Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, journalists, news organizations, authors and politicians have created Mastodon accounts.

☆ Cybersecurity Firms Cut Staff as Fears About Economy, Funding Mount
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Belle Lin | James Rundle | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Cybersecurity companies have laid off hundreds of workers in recent months, as concerns mount that an economic downturn will delay funding rounds, and squeeze the amounts investors are willing to commit. But cybersecurity companies often run through cash at high rates, analysts say. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Cybersecurity news, analysis and insights from WSJ's global team of reporters and editors. In August, email security firm Malwarebytes Inc. laid off around 125 people, or roughly 14% of its global workforce, a spokesperson confirmed. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS How would a layoff at one of your cybersecurity providers affect your security strategy?

☆ Mark Zuckerberg will split Meta, take the 'verse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is the tale of two companies, tied together only by their potential to sell advertising and their owner Mark Zuckerberg. But cash flow from Meta’s operations alone – mostly the business without spending on the metaverse – would represent a yield of 15%. That’s three times the free cash flow yield of consumer giant Procter & Gamble (PG.N), and more than oil major Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), which had a banner 2022. Rather than make Meta shareholders collectively pay for Zuckerberg’s ambitions, he could fund them himself through dividends from the parent company. If Meta were smaller, or the metaverse were a separate company, it might not attract the same attention.

☆ Elon Musk is growing a social network. Just not the one he expected.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Nigel Chiwaya | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 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 biggest beneficiaries of billionaire Elon Musk's chaotic ownership of Twitter is a small social network most people hadn't heard of two months ago. Mastodon, an alternative microblogging platform, has seen several spikes in user sign-ups since the world's second-wealthiest man purchased Twitter in late October. Mastodon-powered sites averaged about 130 new sign-ups per hour from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26. That number jumped to 2,000 per hour after Elon Musk took control of Twitter on Oct. 28.

☆ Is the worst over for bitcoin and the rest of crypto?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This is not the first crypto winter, as long-term fans of bitcoin can attest. “It is very clear that we as an industry need to build better products,” said Hany Rashwan, CEO of 21.co, a crypto investment firm. That’s about triple where prices were during the depths of the crypto bear market in the early pandemic days of 2020. Others point out that the underlying blockchain technology behind bitcoin and crypto remains solid. Pride and Reynolds added that it’s erroneous to think that bitcoin can hold up well during stock market volatility.

☆ Elon Musk promotes release of internal Twitter documents rehashing platform’s block of Hunter Biden story
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The controversy involving Twitter and Hunter Biden dates to October 2020, weeks before the presidential election between Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump. Taibbi wrote that he has seen no evidence that there was government involvement in Twitter’s move to block the New York Post story. Shortly after the New York Post published the article, Twitter pointed to concerns about hacked materials as the reason for blocking the story. Zuckerberg cited warnings from the FBI about election-related threats, though none about Hunter Biden in particular. Hunter Biden has said that federal prosecutors in Delaware are investigating his taxes.

☆ Big Tech workers who've been laid off finally get a vacation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

For some laid-off tech workers, that thought isn't confined to just daydreams — some employees told us that since they've been laid off, they've taken the opportunity to finally go on vacation. In Big Tech, getting laid off can mean taking a fancy vacation. While the typical US worker receives little to no severance pay when they get laid off, firms like Facebook, Snap, and Twitter have been relatively generous. Some laid-off tech workers have racked up few years of sky-high pay, frequent bonuses, generous stock awards, and now, decent severance — so some are thinking, "why not travel?" See where other "freed" tech workers are headed.

☆ In Big Tech, getting laid off can mean taking a fancy vacation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Typically in the US, workers receive little to no severance pay as it is not required under federal labor law. When companies do offer it, frequently severance pay is just one to two weeks of pay for every year a person has worked. One laid off worker there was on his way to Japan for vacation when he got the news he was laid off. Other workers tech who have been laid off feel similarly. Another former Twitter worker said colleagues are organizing "all kinds of trips" among those looking to travel.

☆ Sweetgreen is among the 12 chains Taco Bell owner, Yum Brands, could buy as the company's CFO tells investors it's hunting for an acquisition
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

A Yum Brands exec said the company was "scanning categories" that don't compete with its brands. Analyst Mark Kalinowski identified 12 chains Yum Brands could target, including Sweetgreen. Habit was Yum Brands' latest acquisition — it purchased the fast-casual chain in March 2020 in a deal valued at $375 million. Zoe's Kitchen could be a buy target for Yum Brands, a veteran analyst wrote in a research note last week. "It has a market cap bigger than I would have expected, so it'd be an expensive purchase for Yum Brands."

☆ Irish regulator fines Facebook 265 million euros over privacy breach
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Facebook Chief Executive Officer and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, leaving the Merrion Hotel in Dublin after meeting with Irish politicians to discuss regulation of social media, transparrency in political advertising and the safety of young people and vulnerable adults. Ireland's data privacy regulator imposed a 265 million euro ($277 million) fine on social media giant Facebook on Monday, bringing the total it has fined parent group Meta to almost 1 billioneuros. Monday's fine is the fourth Ireland's Data Privacy Commissioner (DPC) has levied against one of Meta's companies. It is Meta's lead privacy regulator within the European Union, and has 13 more inquiries into the social media group outstanding. In September the watchdog hit its Instagram subsidiary with a record fine of 405 million euros, which Meta plans to appeal.

☆ NBCUniversal layoffs are coming in January, with cuts expected mainly in broadcast and cable TV groups
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Layoffs will come in ad sales and marketing in the linear TV business but aren't expected to affect theme parks. NBCUniversal is the latest major media corporation to plan layoffs, according to two company insiders and a third person closely familiar with plans. The axe will fall mainly in ad sales, marketing, and back-end functions at the traditional broadcast and cable business units, but will come division by division, two people said. The company is looking for $1 billion in cuts across the TV networks, according to a Bloomberg report. Paramount Global also conducted layoffs last week, mainly in ad sales in New York and Los Angeles.

☆ Snap employees must work in the office at least four days a week next year, ending its 'remote first' policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Many tech companies allow remote work, with some reverting to part time in-office work. Starting next year, in-office work will be required at Snap, employees were told. Snap employees will be spending most of their working hours in an office by next year. Starting in February, Snap employees will be required to work in an office at least four days per week, a person familiar with the plans said. Facebook is continuing to allow employees to work remotely and plans to close some offices as part of new cost-cutting efforts.

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