The indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with the Presidential election has intensified the pressure put on Facebook, which uncovered about three-thousand Russian-linked ads on its platforms before and after November 2016. Cheddar Senior Reporter, Alex Heath, breaks down the the latest developments.
Facebook's Vice President for ads, Rob Goldman, tweeted about Russia's disinformation effort. President Trump then cited him. Facebook did not intend for Goldman’s tweets to be quoted by Trump. They thought the tweets would only be seen by a contextually-aware audience of techies and media types who follow Goldman.
Heath believes that the tweeting from Goldman and other execs is part of a carefully orchestrated PR campaign by Facebook to make itself appear more transparent and relate-able through engaged spokespeople on Twitter.
Netflix is planning to test a feature that would provide recommendations for other content that would play in between episodes of shows. Austin Powell, managing editor at The Daily Dot, calls it a "really bad look" for the streaming giant.
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Dan Primack, business editor at Axios, talks all things Elon Musk.
NEO U, a new gym in New York, is not just a place to get in shape, it's a studio where fitness professionals can share their workouts with online followers around the world. The co-founder Nate Forster wants trainers and partners like Soul Cycle, Equinox, and Peloton to see the NEO U platform as an opportunity, not competition.
Facebook is planning on launching a dating feature, fueling more competition in the online dating world. Sarah Jones Simmer, Chief Operating Officer at female-focused dating app Bumble, tells Cheddar that competition validates the industry and rids the stigma of online dating.
Public-radio platforms PRX and PRI are merging to capitalize on the growing appetite for podcasts. Kerri Hoffman, the CEO of Public Radio Exchange, tells Cheddar she wants the work of her producers to be heard."There are lots of podcasts," she said. "It's really important that we create lily pads along the way that help people get more successful."
Amazon's reported interest in Landmark Theaters may not only be about about showing the streaming giant's films, says Larry Dignan, editor-in-chief of ZDNet. It's likely a retail play by Amazon, the e-commerce giant, he says. "Remember, whatever Amazon does has everything to do with Prime subscriptions."
The outspoken CEO of Tesla told The New York Times, "this past year has been the most difficult and painful year of my career." In a revealing, hour-long interview Thursday, Musk choked up several times describing his struggles leading the electric-car company.
Janet Comenos, the CEO of celebrity marketing company, Spotted sat down with Cheddar anchors to discuss the rise in "disgrace insurance," the cost to protect brands from scandals surrounding celebrity endorsers -- something prompted by Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement.
Citron Research's Andrew Left raised his price target on Twitter to $52 a share this week, more than 60 percent higher than where the stock closed Thursday. The long-time short seller, who earlier this year said the social media platform was more susceptible to regulation than its competition, is less concerned by privacy issues now and applauded CEO Jack Dorsey's efforts in video.
