*By Michael Teich*
The World Cup will take over a large part of the Twitter universe this summer when the quadrennial international soccer championship begins June 14 in Russia, and the social network aims to reach fans far and wide with its live video platform.
About 80 percent of Twitter's 330 million monthly active users are outside the United States, said Motley Fool analyst Jason Moser. The World Cup represents an opportunity for Twitter to grow that reach.
Four years ago, the tournament in Brazil reached 3.2 billion viewers around the world, and fans around the world are expected to be at least as excited this year.
Consumers are ditching cable at a rapid clip and opting to stream video content from services such as Netflix and Hulu. Disney's ESPN has been slow to adapt and retain subscribers, social media companies including Twitter are capitalizing by loading up on live and on-demand sports content.
The social media company's investments to become a premier destination for video appear to be paying off: Twitter revealed in its latest quarterly report that video ads made up more than 50 percent of total ad revenue.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/twitter-looking-forward-to-world-cup-boost-2).
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A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
