Month: October 2021

Clubhouse rolls out conversation replay and clip-sharing to drive growth

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Social audio chat app Clubhouse is launching the ability to record and replay conversations and also download 30-second clips to share on social media or other sites, it said on Thursday.

The app will also roll out an improved search function to help people find live and scheduled audio rooms, users and clubs oriented around certain interests, the company said.

The new features will aim to help content creators on Clubhouse expand their audience at a time when larger tech rivals like Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc have also introduced competing “social audio” features.

“Right now it’s too hard for (creators) to grow,” Paul Davison, Clubhouse’s co-creator and chief executive, said in an interview. “Anytime you help create a great moment or there’s a good quote, you can share that out far and wide, alongside a link that tells people where to go to join that club.”

The ability to record and replay conversations will be tested and offered to certain creators over the next few weeks, Clubhouse said, while the ability to share short clips will begin rolling out on Thursday.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

MarketBuzz Podcast With Ekta Batra: Sensex, Nifty50 likely to make a gap-down opening tracking global weakness

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Indian market is likely to open sharply lower on Friday as indicated by Nifty futures trading on Singapore Exchange. At 8:30 am, SGX Nifty futures — an early indicator of NSE’s Nifty index in India — were down 154.5 points or 0.9 percent at 17,447.5.

About MarketBuzzThe CNBCTV18.com podcast on the big themes, vital news and key events that you should know before the opening bell, powered by CNBC-TV18 anchors. MarketBuzz is your daily morning briefing by CNBC-TV18 research analysts and anchors Sonia Shenoy, Ekta Batra, Anisha Jain, Nigel D’Souza and Mangalam Maloo to jumpstart your stock market investing. Subscribe to our free podcasts on Audioboom or listen on the featured podcast page on CNBCTV18.com.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

EU postpones trade talks with Australia amid submarine deal fallout

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Australia’s Minister for Trade Dan Tehan said on Friday talks with the European Union over a trade deal have been postponed, as a row over Canberra’s decision to cancel a $40 billion deal with France escalates.

Australia last month cancelled a deal with France’s Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines and will instead build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and British technology after striking a trilateral security partnership with those two countries.

The cancellation has angered France, which accused both Australia and the United States of stabbing it in the back. Paris recalled its ambassadors from both Canberra and Washington.

In solidarity with France, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has questioned whether the bloc could strike a trade deal with Australia.

Tehan on Friday declined to comment on the role the submarine deal had played in delaying negotiations but confirmed the 12th round of talks scheduled for Oct 12 had been postponed by a month.

“I will meet with my EU counterpart Valdis Dombrovskis next week to discuss the 12th negotiating round, which will now take place in November rather than October,” Tehan said in a statement to Reuters.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Facebook research shows company knew of Instagram harm to teens, senators say

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US senators on Thursday grilled Facebook Inc on its plans to better protect young users on its apps, drawing on leaked internal research that showed the social media giant was aware of how its Instagram app harmed the mental health of teens.

The hearing in front of the Senate consumer protection subcommittee was called after the Wall Street Journal published several stories earlier this month about how Facebook knew Instagram caused some teen girls in particular to feel badly about their self-image. After growing opposition to the project, Facebook put plans for Instagram Kids, aimed at pre-teens, on hold this week.

Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, disputed the committee and WSJ’s conclusions of the research documents throughout the hearing, and said the company was working to release additional internal studies in an effort to be more transparent about its findings.

“This research is a bombshell,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, during the hearing. “It is powerful, gripping, riveting evidence that Facebook knows of the harmful effects of its site on children, and that it has concealed those facts and findings.”

“IG stands for Instagram, but it also stands for Insta-greed,” said Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

The senators pressed Davis on several major themes, including what identifiable data Facebook collects on users under the age of 13, to what extent the company views young users as a growth area and to confirm whether it knew that Instagram led some children to consider suicide.

Davis reiterated that kids under 13 were not allowed on Facebook, adding 0.5% of teens in the company’s research connected their “suicidal ideation” to Instagram, lower than the figures the Journal had reported.

“You’ve cherry-picked part of the research that you think helps your spin right now,” said Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, demanding Facebook commit to releasing its full research on the links between Instagram and youth suicide.

A second hearing is planned for Tuesday and will feature a Facebook whistleblower. The whistleblower is expected to reveal their identity on Sunday in a recorded interview for TV news program “60 Minutes,” which in a preview described the woman as a former Facebook employee who left with tens of thousands of pages of research.

Davis said Thursday that Facebook would not retaliate against the whistleblower for sharing confidential documents with the senators.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Celebrity Instagram content linked to negative feelings, Facebook researchers say

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Major social media stars including Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Charli D’Amelio are among celebrities whose Instagram followers experience more negative feelings about their self-image, according to internal Facebook research revealed by the Wall Street Journal this week, raising questions about the impact of celebrity culture online.

The Journal released the leaked research slide decks on Wednesday, which served as the basis of articles it published earlier this month saying that Facebook knew its apps harmed the mental health of some teenage girls and young users.

The research, titled “Social comparison on Instagram,” surveyed 100,000 people in March and April 2020 in nine countries, including the United States, Australia and Brazil.

Facebook spokesperson Kevin McAlister said the survey respondents were not asked to name specific accounts, but researchers found the celebrity accounts were “some of the most frequently seen accounts for people who told us they experienced either higher or lower levels of negative social comparison on Instagram,” based on the company’s internal data.

He noted the findings made sense because the celebrities listed have more than 30 million followers each.

Facebook researchers did not study whether users’ exposure to those celebrity accounts led to negative feelings about themselves.

Singer Ariana Grande and model Kendall Jenner were among the celebrities who followers felt more negative social comparison, Facebook researchers found.

Facebook researchers noted in the slide decks that the company could partner with the stars on campaigns to reduce negative comparison.

On the other hand, Instagram accounts belonging to “The Ellen Show,” which is hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres, American actor Will Smith and Brazilian soccer player Neymar had followers who felt “less negative comparison,” according to the research slide deck.

The findings are notable given that Instagram helped pioneer the rise of social media influencers and made efforts to recruit celebrities to the app in its early days.

Actor Ashton Kutcher was one star who helped Instagram gain credibility with other celebrities and helped introduce the company to Grande, according to an anecdote reported in the book “No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram.”

The company’s partnerships team also works with celebrities, musicians and other public figures to improve their presence on Instagram, according to the LinkedIn bios of some employees.

The Facebook researchers found that seeing more celebrity content in the Instagram feed was associated with more negative comparison.

Almost half of the content people see on Instagram comes from celebrities, the research showed.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Petrol, diesel prices rise for second straight day; check latest fuel rates here

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The oil marketing companies (OMCs) hiked the prices of petrol and diesel across the metro cities for the second straight day on Friday. While petrol price was increased by up to 25 paise, diesel rate advanced by up to 32 paise.

Accordingly, the price of petrol and diesel was increased to Rs 101.89 and Rs 90.17 per litre respectively in Delhi, as per Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s largest fuel retailer. In Mumbai, the petrol price was hiked to Rs 107.95 per litre on Friday. The cost of diesel mounted to Rs 97.84 a litre.

The prices of petrol and diesel are reviewed by oil marketing companies such as state-run Indian Oil on a daily basis and any revision is implemented from 6 am.

Oil companies revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15-days, and foreign exchange rates.

Among the four metro cities, fuel rates are the highest in Mumbai, according to the state-run oil refiner.

Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges. Rajasthan levies the highest value-added tax (VAT) on petrol in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow