All posts tagged: Twitter

Ads watchdog files FTC complaint against X, formerly Twitter, over unlabeled ads

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X, formerly Twitter, was caught running unlabeled ads on its platform in September. Now that issue, which has been ongoing, has been brought to the FTC’s attention. An independent non-profit Check My Ads has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission urging an investigation over the advertising practices at X, including the lack of disclosure about which posts are ads, broken links that explain why ads are targeted, and more. The complaint cites X’s lack of disclosure around ads, saying it misleads consumers that the content and the information they’re consuming on the platform is not paid for. “This misrepresentation tricks users into trusting content as organic and exacerbates the opportunity for scams to occur,” the complaint states. “Furthermore, by failing to adequately disclose advertisements, X Corp. misrepresentsthe methods employed to target users or facilitate third-party ad targeting.” It also points out that X’s promotional materials for advertisers indicate that advertisements are distinguished from non-paid, organic content with a “Promoted” label, but no such label appears for consumers. As Mashable earlier reported, …

Pebble, a startup that tried and failed to take on Twitter, finds new life on Mastodon

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Pebble, a startup that took on Twitter and failed, has returned from the dead — as a Mastodon instance, it seems. The company announced last month that it was shutting down its Twitter/X alternative citing the increasingly competitive landscape, X’s ability to retain users, and its own failure to gain traction with a wider audience. But after deliberately avoiding any plans to participate in the decentralized social network Mastodon during its time as a startup, Pebble has now given itself a fresh start as a dedicated Mastodon server dubbed pebble.social. It was initially unclear if the new Pebble server was a community-led attempt to keep the small network afloat or something more official. Despite clearly displaying Pebble’s branding and tagline, there wasn’t any information about who started the Pebble instance or why. But TechCrunch has now confirmed the Pebble instance was recently established by Pebble co-founder and CEO Gabor Cselle as something of a new social experiment. However, members of the Pebble community are involved in the server’s moderation. Cselle tells us that the community …

Musk says Twitter subscribers will get early access to xAI’s chatbot, Grok

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Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, is creating its own version of ChatGPT. That appears to be the case, at least, from Musk’s tweets on X late Friday evening teasing the AI model xAI has been quietly developing. Called Grok — a name xAI trademarked recently — the model answers questions conversationally, possibly drawing on a knowledge base similar to that used to train ChatGPT and other comparable text-generating models. (Musk has previously suggested that X would use its own data to train ChatGPT-like tech.) Like ChatGPT, Grok also has internet browsing capabilities, Musk said, and can search the internet for up-to-date information about specific topics. Well, most topics. Musk implied that Grok will refuse to answer certain queries of a more sensitive nature, like “Tell me how to make cocaine, step by step.” Judging by one screenshot, the model answers that particular question a bit more wryly than ChatGPT; it’s not clear if it’s a canned answer or if the system is, in fact — as Musk asserts — “designed to have a little more …

HBO boss apologises for using fake Twitter accounts to troll TV critics | US television

Published by Sam

The HBO CEO and chairman, Casey Bloys, has apologised for tasking employees with creating fake Twitter accounts to attack TV critics. Bloys was responding to a bombshell Rolling Stone report that referenced alleged text messages between himself and Kathleen McCaffrey, HBO’s senior vice-president of drama programming. In six conversations, the pair discussed a “secret army” that could respond to TV critics who gave HBO shows a negative review. During a presentation for HBO and Max’s upcoming programming, Bloys addressed the allegations. “For those of you who know me, you know that I am a programming executive very, very passionate about the shows that we decide to do.” he said, according to Variety. “And the people who do them and the people who work on them. I want the shows to be great. I want people to love them. I want you all to love them. It’s very important to me what you all think of the shows. When you think about that, and then think of 2020 and 2021, I’m working from home and doing …

The demise of Twitter Circles left a void that Instagram Close Friends can’t fill

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When X’s Circles feature shut down this week, the app formerly known as Twitter turned its back on the best product it’s shipped since the Quote Tweet. Like an Instagram Close Friends story, Circles allowed users to post to an exclusive, hand-picked group of up to 150 people, where they could be themselves without worrying about the personal or professional consequences. Now that Circles has been inexplicably axed, the chronically oversharing, young millennials among us are mourning its demise. Since the era of LiveJournal and MySpace bulletins, internet folks have craved a place where they could share their most private thoughts with an audience of people who they trust. Though there are countless horror stories of supposedly private blogs leaking into the public, these public diaries – later replaced by “finstas” and “alt accounts” – help us develop a passive intimacy with the people in our lives. It’s a way to telegraph how you really feel, but in a way that makes you feel less annoying or burdensome to your friends, since they can opt …

So long, Twitter Circles | TechCrunch

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If tic-tac-toe has taught us anything, it’s that Xs and circles cannot peacefully coexist. The app formerly known as Twitter, X, has shut down the Circles feature, which allowed users to post to a small, exclusive audience. Like an Instagram Close Friends story, Circles — née Twitter Circles — offered a more intimate social media experience. In other words, you could overshare about your life to an audience of friends only, rather than the whole internet. And isn’t one of the greatest joys of the internet to emotionally shitpost without worrying about the consequences? But, as the whims of the Circle reminded us, nothing we say on the internet is ever actually free from consequence. The feature worked almost all of the time. Almost. And anything less than 100% efficacy is not ideal for a feature that people used to share private thoughts with trusted friends. As early as February, some users reported that their Circle tweets were reaching a wider audience than they were supposed to. These glitches showed up again in April, and …

Why did Twitter (X)’s valuation tank 56% in one year?

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The company formerly known as Twitter, X is valuing itself at $19 billion, per internal documents obtained by Fortune. When Elon Musk bought the company one year ago this week, he paid about $44 billion for the microblogging platform, or $54.20 per share. This internal valuation marks about a 56% decrease in X’s value over the last 12 months, which doesn’t look too good. There are certainly many explanations as to why Twitter’s value has been halved, like how the platform has spent the last year killing global brand awareness, deplatforming journalists and aiding impersonation. Still, one number rarely tells the whole story of a company, especially when company valuations can be so arbitrary. Depending on who is calculating a company’s valuation — a venture capitalist, a government auditor or an egotistical billionaire — the resulting number can vary drastically. Fidelity, for example, has marked down its investment in X by 65%. The company, which was taken private with Musk’s purchase, is now offering employees restricted stock units (RSUs) at a share price of $45. When …

Pebble, the Twitter alternative previously known as T2, is shutting down

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The grip Twitter, now called X, has on the market may be stronger than some believed. Unfortunately, that’s led to the first casualty among Twitter alternatives, as the startup Pebble (formerly T2), is shutting down. The would-be X rival had grown a small but engaged community on its microblogging service that aimed to dupe Twitter’s features, from its verification systems to functionality like DMs. But the company says they’ve run out of time to make Pebble happen — the app maxed out at 3,000 daily active users, out of 20,000 registered users. That daily user figure fell to 1,000 daily users following its rebranding from T2. In part, the sizable competition coming from other Twitter rivals was to blame, says co-founder and CEO Gabor Cselle, who had exits to Google and Twitter prior to starting Pebble. “I think the competitive landscape evolved faster than we had thought,” he explains. “I didn’t think that quite as many people —  established organizations and newcomers — would try to do the same thing that we were doing and in …

Elon Musk under investigation by US agency for $44bn takeover of Twitter | Elon Musk

Published by Sam

Elon Musk is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over his $44bn takeover of social media giant Twitter, it was revealed on Thursday. The investigation concerns whether Musk broke federal securities laws in 2022 when he bought stock in Twitter, which he later renamed X, as well as statements and SEC filings he made about the deal. In March 2022, Musk bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter and became the company’s majority shareholder. The purchase was not disclosed in an SEC filing until the next month. Twitter shareholders sued over the late filing shortly after, though their suit was dismissed. Faced with a trial that sought to compel him to complete the deal, Musk purchased Twitter’s remaining stock in a $44bn deal and took over the company in October 2022. The SEC’s investigation was revealed on Thursday when the US agency sued to compel Musk to testify in their investigation, which he previously agreed to do and then reneged on. The SEC said it subpoenaed Musk in May 2023, requiring him to …

SEC to compel Elon Musk’s testimony in Twitter stock purchase probe

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will try to force Elon Musk to testify over his Twitter stock purchases. The federal agency charged with regulating securities markets is currently investigating Musk for allegedly violating securities laws when he bought Twitter shares before buying the social media platform, which he has since renamed X. Buying Twitter stock before acquiring the company could mean Musk was guilty of insider trading, market manipulation or even violation for fair market disclosure. The SEC said on Thursday that Musk failed to appear to testify last month as requested. According to a filing by the agency in federal court in San Francisco, first spotted by Bloomberg, the agency is auditing Musk’s statements and disclosures about the stock transactions. Since the SEC began its probe in April 2022, Musk has sent hundreds of documents and testified twice in July 2022, according to the filing. The investigation is ongoing and nonpublic. The agency said Musk agreed to an interview with the SEC last month in San Francisco, but two days before the scheduled …