Chroma, a startup building a new type of audiovisual entertainment for mobile devices, has been sold. The company, which had financial backing from Twitter and Medium co-founder Biz Stone as well as Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, is headed to London-based audio technology company Bronze, an AI music startup. Founded by record producer Lex Dromgoole, who’s […]
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Chroma, backed by Pinterest and Twitter co-founders, sells to AI audio company Bronze
Архив рубрики: Twitter
Twitter seemingly now requires all advertisers to have a verified checkmark
As Twitter’s legacy blue check mark system finally comes to an end, the social network’s new paid-for verification system is causing more than a little chaos, with CEO Elon Musk himself stepping in to pay for some celebrities’ verification when they refuse to do so.
However, another little nugget to emerge from the carnage today is that anyone looking to advertise on Twitter will now seemingly have to have a verified account.
Several Twitter users, including social media guru Matt Navarra, have posted screenshots of an email reportedly sent by Twitter, which states that starting from April 21 (today), verified checkmarks are required to continue running ads on the platform.
The email reads:
Building a better Twitter through verification
Hello!
Starting April 21, your @account must have a verified checkmark or subscribe to either Twitter Blue or Verified Organizations to continue running ads on Twitter. Business accounts spending in excess of $1000 per month already have gold checks or will soon, and they’ll continue to enjoy access to advertising without interruption at this time.
This change aligns with Twitter’s broader verification strategy: to elevate the quality of content on Twitter and enhance your experience as a user and advertiser. This approach also supports our ongoing efforts to reduce fraudulent accounts and bots.
Subscribing to either of these services means you have been verified by Twitter as a real person and/or business.
Amongst other features, you’ll have a more visible organic presence and a broader range of creation tools. We’re excited for you to get started and to benefit from a superior Twitter experience.
For Twitter Blue, sign up here.
For Verified Organizations, apply here.
While Musk has been pushing subscriptions as a core money-driver as advertisers fled the platform, it’s clear that Twitter still wants (and needs) advertising dollars. The platform’s top advertisers, those spending $1,000 each month, already receive an official gold check-mark gratis, indicating that they are an official business account.
There is nothing official yet on Twitter’s ads account pages to indicate that only verified accounts will be able to advertise, but there is some sense in requiring verification for advertisers if it reduces spam or deters other bad actors from the platform. However, for this to be properly effective, it would surely need rigorous vetting beyond requiring a credit card and phone number, while the $8 monthly fee is not a major deterrent in itself.
Moving forward, it seems that anyone wanting to post an ad or promote a tweet will have to cough up $8/month for Twitter Blue, or $1,000 per month to be recognized as a verified organization. One exception here will likely be accounts with a grey checkmark, which are reserved for official government and related accounts, such as agencies, embassies, parliaments and so on.
At any rate, it’s difficult to see how this move will do anything other than dissuade advertising spend on Twitter.
TechCrunch reached out to Twitter for comment, but at the time of writing we have yet to receive a response (aside from the customary poop emoji, of course).
Twitter seemingly now requires all advertisers to have a verified checkmark by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch
Twitter seemingly now requires all advertisers to have a verified checkmark
Musk says Twitter will offer “amnesty” to suspended accounts
Elon Musk said Thursday Twitter will grant “a general amnesty” to accounts that had been suspended from the platform beginning next week. The CEO posted a poll the day earlier over whether the platform should restore affected accounts.
The news comes within a week of Musk also ending former president Donald Trump’s ban from the platform after running a similar poll. Trump was banned after the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but said he doesn’t intend to return to the platform.
Musk’s poll to users included a caveat that suspended account holders could rejoin the platform “provided they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam.” Around 3.2 million users responded to the poll, which voted 72.4% in favor of amnesty.
“The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk said, using a Latin phrase that means “The voice of the people is the voice of god.”
Historically, Twitter has banned accounts that glorify hate and harassment, have the potential to incite violence or rampantly spread misinformation that can lead to harm. Some high profile individuals who were banned include MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell after he made a series of claims that Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election; former Trump advisor and former executive chairman of Breitbart Steve Bannon after he said Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray should be beheaded; and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes for violating the site’s policy of prohibiting violent extremist groups.
It’s unclear from Musk’s brief tweet how Twitter will deal with content moderation in the future, now that more potentially problematic voices will be returning to the platform. These concerns have only been exacerbated by Musk’s mass layoffs and the general exodus of employees who’d rather quit than be “hardcore.”
Musk’s impact on content moderation at Twitter faces early test in Germany
Musk says Twitter will offer “amnesty” to suspended accounts by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch
Musk says Twitter will offer “amnesty” to suspended accounts
Elon guts Twitter, Google shutters Hangouts, and the tech layoffs continue
Hey, all — welcome back to Week in Review, the newsletter where we sum up the most read TechCrunch stories from the past week. And oof, what a week it was.
Want this newsletter in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Signed up? Let’s just dive right in.
most read
Mass layoffs at Twitter: It was Elon’s first full week as the boss of Twitter post-$44 billion acquisition. Sweeping layoffs were said to be on the way — and, well, they’ve begun. After a painfully impersonal heads-up email went out Thursday evening, entire teams are waking up to find their access suddenly revoked. With reports suggesting layoffs could impact up to half the company, Twitter employees have reportedly taken to referring to the whole thing as “the snap” (à la Thanos). A class action lawsuit has already been filed alleging that Twitter isn’t following the proper legal processes here.
Layoffs everywhere: Meanwhile, news of tech industry layoffs continues to pour in. Lyft let go of 13% of its workforce, Stripe cut 14%, Opendoor reduced its workforce by 18%, Chime parted ways with 12%, and more. Meanwhile, both Apple and Amazon have reportedly gone into hiring freezes.
Google kills Hangouts: We knew it was coming, but this week Google put the final nail in Hangouts’ coffin, shutting down the chat-focused web app (the Hangouts Android/iOS apps were shuttered last year) in favor of Google Chat. Of course, given Google’s history with chat apps, I expect at least two more to be launched and/or shuttered by the time I finish this newsletter.
Falcon Heavy returns to space: This week SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time since 2019, finally moving forward on a mission that had been delayed (“due to payload readiness issues”) since late 2020.
Amazon expands its Music service: “The company said it will now offer Prime subscribers a full music catalog with 100 million songs, instead of the previously more limited selection of just 2 million songs,” writes Sarah, “and will make most of the top podcasts on its service available without ads.”
audio roundup
Whats up in TC podcast land this week? Here’s some of the highlights:
The Equity crew chatted about the ever-evolving role of the venture capitalist, and our friend Melia Russell from Business Insider stopped by to fill us in on her recent story about how “investors are rewriting the playbooks when it comes to maternity leave policies at their firms.”
Amanda joined Darrell on the TC Podcast to discuss Elon’s “questionable plans” to change up how identity verification works on Twitter
The Chain Reaction team dive into the growing list of troubles that have developed for Bitcoin miners in the last few months.
techcrunch+
Not a part of TechCrunch+ yet? Here’s what TC+ members were reading most behind the paywall:
Pilot’s CEO tears down their $60 million Series C deck: Published in early 2021, this one blew up for some reason this week! Just a few weeks after raising a big Series C, Pilot CEO Waseem Daher sat down with Lucas Matney to break down what worked about their pitch deck.
The most common pitch deck mistakes: Speaking of pitch decks, TC’s resident pitch expert, Haje Jan Kamps, has a list of the mistakes he’s tired of seeing in decks, having reviewed thousands of them.
Elon guts Twitter, Google shutters Hangouts, and the tech layoffs continue by Greg Kumparak originally published on TechCrunch
Elon guts Twitter, Google shutters Hangouts, and the tech layoffs continue
Twitter CMO is the latest to leave in a string of exec departures
Twitter CMO Leslie Berland is the latest executive leaving the social network, just days into its Elon Musk era, Bloomberg and the New York Times report. Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg also writes that Jean-Philippe Maheu, the vice president of global client solutions, is leaving the company.
Berland hasn’t said anything publicly about the job change yet, other than tweeting out a simple blue heart emoji.
— Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) November 1, 2022
Despite the tweet’s brevity, it seems to have been signal enough to usher in a flood of responses, including other Twitter employees sending blue heart emojis right back. A VP of product quote tweeted Berland’s tweet and added that “it’s not hyperbolic to say that no one had a bigger impact on Twitter the service — and Twitter the company. She always had your back, she always listened, she always did right, and she made Twitter ‘what’s happening.’”
Berland’s LinkedIn and Twitter bios haven’t been updated to reflect any job change. TechCrunch reached out to Berland prior to publishing for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Berland’s reported departure comes over a decade after they first joined the company — and continues a string of departures that were announced today, including chief consumer officer Sarah Personette and chief people and diversity officer Dalana Brand.
As my colleague Amanda Silberling noted, the cohort of Twitter’s pre-Musk executives still at the company is getting smaller and smaller. Jay Sullivan, Twitter’s head of product, deleted the bio on his Twitter account, which previously denoted his role at the company. The previous head of product, Kayvon Beykpour, was let go by former CEO Parag Agrawal in May. Agrawal himself, along with CFO Ned Segal, general counsel Sean Edgett and Head of Legal Policy, Trust and Safety Vijaya Gadde were let go on Thursday when Musk took over.
Current and former Twitter employees can reach out to Natasha Mascarenhas at natasha.m@techcrunch.com, or Signal, a secure messaging app, at (925) 271 0912.
Twitter CMO is the latest to leave in a string of exec departures by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch
Twitter CMO is the latest to leave in a string of exec departures