Snapchat shares jump as coronavirus lockdown boosts user numbers April 22, 2020 Snapchat has reported a sharp spike in user numbers during the first quarter as millions of people turned to the social media app during the coronavirus lockdown. Parent company Snap said daily active users rose 20 per cent year on year to 229m in the first three months of 2020. Revenue also grew 44 per [...]
NBCUniversal quietly offloads $500m Snapchat stake March 9, 2020 NBCUniversal has quietly offloaded its $500m (£381m) stake in Snapchat as the US media giant ramps up preparations for its new streaming service. Parent company Comcast acquired the shareholding in March 2017 when Snap completed its initial public offering. The investment was passed to NBCUniversal, which then quietly sold off the stake last year. NBCUniversal [...]
Snapchat says it fact checks political ads in dig at rival Facebook November 18, 2019 Snapchat boss Evan Spiegel has revealed that his platform fact checks all political ads, as he took a swipe at rival social media firm Facebook. Read more: Mark Zuckerberg defends politics ads on Facebook after Twitter ban Tech giants have come under fire in recent months over their failure to crack down on adverts that [...]
Just can’t get the staff these days? Brush up on data security May 31, 2019 Unemployment is at its lowest rate since the early 1970s. This is good news for those preparing to leave the nation’s schools, colleges, and universities over coming months, as they begin their climb up the career ladder. Employers, however, may view the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics with concern. There may be [...]
Post-Maybot, the Tories are on the hunt for a likeable leader May 30, 2019 Every Tory leadership election has a flavour. In 2016, after childishly airing our dirty laundry to our European neighbours during the bitter referendum, a sheepish UK was looking for a “grown-up”. Six years of boyish David Cameron making rash decisions on behalf of the country had taken its toll on the Conservative party, and the [...]
Health groups urge social media firms to end tobacco influencer marketing May 22, 2019 More than 125 public health groups have called on social media giants to end the promotion of tobacco products on their platforms, including through the use of influencers. In an open letter to the bosses of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, the organisations called for an end to the “aggressive” advertising of all tobacco products [...]
Tech giants urged to work with government in online harms battle April 29, 2019 Facebook, Google and Snapchat should use their technology to work with the government on tackling harmful content online, health secretary Matt Hancock will say today. The health secretary will challenge social media giants to make greater progress in protecting vulnerable users at a second UK summit between tech firms and internet providers, held as part [...]
Snap smashes expectations with narrowed losses and surprise user growth April 24, 2019 Original shows, a design overhaul for Android phones and an entry into video games powered Snap to top analyst expectations last night, surprising Wall Street naysayers. Snap – the parent firm of photo-messaging app Snapchat – said its losses had narrowed to $0.10 per share or $123m (£95m) in the first three months of 2019, [...]
Social Media: Who watches the watchers? April 8, 2019 Social media, and especially its archetype, Facebook, has had a difficult run of publicity over the past few years. The 2016 US presidential election and the rise of “fake news” certainly did it no favours, and the Cambridge Analytica scandal which came in its wake made things worse still. Facebook’s origins as a benign thread [...]
Snapchat set to shed users to Instagram after controversial 2017 redesign April 4, 2019 Snapchat will see a decline in users from this year as an ill-fated redesign pushes people to rival social media platforms, a new report has stated. This year 14.5m people in the UK will use Snapchat, down 2.3 per cent on last year, according to a forecast published by Emarketer. Read more: Fraudsters use Facebook [...]