Social – TechCrunch

 As Rafiki once said, “It is time.” Tinder Gold, the dating app’s new premium subscription tier (which includes a feature that lets you see who’s already liked you without any swiping) is finally rolling out to the U.S. Tinder Gold and Likes You were originally tested in Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico at the end of June. Today, however, the the feature rolls out… Read More

 Facebook says it’s taking another step against Pages that share fabricated news stories. The company has already been working with outside fact-checkers like Snopes and the AP to flag inaccurate news stories. (These aren’t supposed to be stories that are disputed for reasons of opinion or partisanship, but rather outright hoaxes and lies.) It also says that when a story is marked… Read More

 Turns out, observing other people’s lives is actually a biological instinct. And in the age of social media, where lives are presented on a platter and require only the slip of a thumb, it’s easy to indulge in those instincts. In fact, sometimes, we let our impulses run wild in the most unproductive ways. But why the fascination? Whether we social media stalk out of adoration… Read More

 Facebook says it’s looking to become more open and transparent about its decisions, and it’s hired Liz Spayd, a former public editor of The New York Times, to consult on the process. The hire comes as Facebook — or at least, parts of Facebook — seems to be wrestling with its role in the public sphere. There have been specific controversies, like the debate over… Read More

 Wattpad, the social publishing platform behind apps for sharing original stories and chat fiction, is today venturing into video with the launch of a new app called Raccoon. Unlike its predecessors, Raccoon will focus on non-fiction video-based storytelling, with the goal of connecting people who want to create and watch stories that either entertain or inspire. While Raccoon still fits… Read More

 What if you could see if your Instagrams made people happy, surprised or disgusted? That’s just one of the innovative features of new photo-sharing social network Polygram. Using facial detection, Polygram gives you analytics about the emotional reactions people have to the photos you post. Read More

 Facebook today is expanding on the popularity of its two-year old “On This Day” sharing prompt, with the addition of new features that let users revisit their memories, as well as celebrate milestones related to their friendships on the social network. While “On This Day” provides a look back in time, starting with memories from the same day last year, two new options… Read More

 Facebook is faced with yet another content-related scandal, after The Times newspaper reported that people traffickers and slave traders are using its platform to broadcast videos of migrants being tortured to try to extort money from their families.  Read More

 Adding real-world diversity to emoji is a work in progress, but with platforms spanning the entire globe, it’s clearly important to big companies like Facebook. The social network just rolled out a set of new “family” emoji that, while they don’t yet capture the full spectrum, at least let your partner and kids have something other than yellow skin. Read More

 Amazon’s Influencer Program, a service that allows social media personalities to earn commissions on the Amazon products they promote, is now accepting sign-ups from YouTube influencers who want to participate. Last Thursday, Amazon quietly enabled a self-service tool for YouTube stars that lets them request to join the highly-vetted program, which had first launched into beta in late… Read More

 Veteran Facebook exec Andrew “Boz” Bosworth is taking over consumer hardware efforts at the company, including projects under groups like Building 8 and Oculus. The announcement was made internally by Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer, Business Insider reports. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the appointment to TechCrunch. Read More

 Remember Valerie Plame Wilson? The former CIA agent, who got involved in what became known as the “Plame Affair,” has a solution for ridding Twitter of America’s favorite troll. Wilson launched a fundraiser last week to buy the social media service. Read More

 Facebook has been a big supporter of 360-degree photos and video, adding support for the immersive media formats early on Facebook itself. Now, the social tech company is adding support for capturing 360-degree photos right within the Facebook app itself. The 360 photo capability is rolling out across both iOS and Android starting today, and includes the ability to zoom and tag friends.… Read More

 Musical.ly, an app best known for its lip-syncing music videos, but which has more recently begun to air shows from Viacom, NBCU and Hearst, is today rolling out an overhaul of its mobile app that will put an increased emphasis on personalization and recommendations. Most notably, the update includes a new “similar musical.lys” feature that uses computer vision to figure out what… Read More

 Snapchat could start offering original scripted content very soon, according to its content lead Nick Bell (via Variety). Snapchat has already done a lot with creators to build shows, including tie-ins for big broadcast hits like The Voice and The Bachelor, and it’s also working with A&E on reality TV via Second Chance, a dating show featuring exes. This isn’t… Read More

 Video is the name of the game in social networking: sites like Facebook and Twitter have been doubling down on the medium in recent years to drive more traffic and engagement from users, and also as a platform to snare more premium advertising away from traditional television broadcasters. Now Microsoft-owned LinkedIn is hoping to muscle in on the party with its own video strategy. Read More

 Facebook is losing appeal among teens and young adults which is contributing to generally slowing growth for the platform, according to the latest projections from research firm eMarketer. Read More

 Facebook is giving its “Safety Check” feature a permanent home in its app and on the desktop, the company announced today. The feature, which lets you check to see whether friends and family are safe following a crisis, will now have its own dedicated button in the app’s navigation menu and will be available via the Facebook website on the desktop. Read More

 Should your parents be able to read your Facebook messages if you die? Facebook explained why it won’t let them in a post in its Hard Questions series today about social networking after death. Facebook admits it doesn’t have all the answers, but it has come up with some decent solutions to some issues. Read More

 Instagram inception, here we come. If somebody sends you a photo or video in a private conversation on Instagram, the app will now let you play around with the original photo so that you can reply in a creative way and keep the context of the conversation. If you receive a photo or video, there’s now a reply button in the conversation thread. If you tap on this button, the original photo… Read More