Latest from Taylor Hatmaker
Featured Article
6 outdoor gear gift ideas for the adventurer in your life in 2023
At the risk of overcomplicating one of the last bastions of low-tech, totally offline recreation, there are a few things you can take into the outdoors that add to the experience rather than detract from it. A lot of gimmicky outdoor gear isn’t worth bothering with, but the right tools…
2:05 pm PST • November 16, 2023
Social
X is leaving up antisemitic and Islamophobic hate, new report shows
11:46 am PST • November 14, 2023
In the midst of escalating conflict in the Middle East, X is failing to moderate hate speech on its platform that promotes antisemitic conspiracies, praises Hitler and dehumanizes Muslims and…
Social
Amazon Games will close its Crown channel on Twitch and cut 180 jobs
10:15 am PST • November 14, 2023
Amazon announced another cluster of layoffs this week along with plans to discontinue the Crown channel, a flashy Amazon-run Twitch channel that featured television-like programming. Amazon will also shutter its…
Social
LGBTQ suicide prevention org the Trevor Project is leaving Elon Musk’s X for good
9:04 am PST • November 9, 2023
One of the most prominent LGBTQ organizations in the U.S. will close its account on X, formerly Twitter. The Trevor Project announced Thursday that it has decided to end its…
Social
Meta will start requiring disclosures for political ads manipulated with AI
3:00 am PST • November 8, 2023
In 2024, Meta will begin requiring advertisers running political or issue ads on its platforms to disclose when their ads are “digitally created or altered” through the use of AI.…
Social
A choreographer’s lawsuit over Fortnite dance moves isn’t dead after all
1:21 pm PST • November 6, 2023
A prominent choreographer’s lawsuit against Fortnite maker Epic Games is back on after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s decision to throw the case out…
Social
A researcher critical of X under Elon Musk will fight for his account in court
2:12 pm PDT • November 1, 2023
A Berlin-based software developer is fighting back after X suspended his account, claiming that research he conducted on the platform violated the company’s terms of service. Following Elon Musk’s chaotic…
Featured Article
Fortnite is the latest game to entice players with a portal to the past
There’s a massive appetite for nostalgia in entertainment right now, and one of gaming’s cultural juggernauts wants to cash in. Fortnite maker Epic Games announced Friday that the game’s next season would return to its original map from the multiplayer shooter’s very earliest days. Epic teased the return “back to…
12:18 pm PDT • October 30, 2023
Featured Article
Why 42 states came together to sue Meta over kids’ mental health
Attorneys general from dozens of states sued Meta this week, accusing the company of deliberately designing its products to appeal to kids to the detriment of their mental health. In the lawsuit, filed in California federal court Tuesday, 33 states — including California, Colorado, New York, Arizona and Illinois —…
4:43 pm PDT • October 25, 2023
Roblox has been around for a long time. The online game platform first launched in 2006 — just two years after vanilla World of Warcraft hit (the first time) and…
Social
Recs is a social ‘wallet’ for stashing and sharing your favorite places
9:48 pm PDT • October 10, 2023
The most popular apps suck us into the technological equivalent of couch lock, but it’s easy to imagine how things might have gone differently. Rather than idly scrolling and mindlessly…
AI
Artists across industries are strategizing together around AI concerns
4:04 pm PDT • October 6, 2023
As creative industries grapple with AI’s explosion into every artistic medium at once, separate calls from artists warning the world to take action before it’s too late are starting to…
Featured Article
What’s at stake in the Supreme Court’s landmark social media case
The Supreme Court is poised to decide whether a pair of state laws are allowed to reshape the ability of social media companies to control what does — and doesn’t — appear on their platforms. Last week, the Supreme Court decided that it would hear the pair of cases, which…
1:07 pm PDT • October 4, 2023
Social
Elon Musk is being sued for defamation after falsely claiming a man was a neo-Nazi on X
7:07 pm PDT • October 2, 2023
Elon Musk has been on something of a suing spree lately, but on Monday, Twitter’s new owner was hit with a fresh inbound lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Musk defamed…
Social
On TikTok, videos promoting steroids are exploding — and targeting teens
3:54 pm PDT • September 28, 2023
In a new report, a social media watchdog group details how steroid content is exploding in some TikTok communities, promoting potentially dangerous and often illegal substances while propagating unattainable body…
Apps
Apple asks the Supreme Court to reconsider a previous ruling in Epic’s favor
12:05 pm PDT • September 28, 2023
Apple has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a previous ruling in its fight against Epic Games that would change the rules of the App Store. In a cert petition,…
Apps
Epic asks the Supreme Court to weigh in on its beef with Apple
5:56 pm PDT • September 27, 2023
We haven’t heard the last of Epic’s crusade against Apple over the iPhone maker’s App Store fees. Epic Games filed a cert petition with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, setting…
Government & Policy
The FTC just hit Amazon with a major antitrust lawsuit
9:32 am PDT • September 26, 2023
The Federal Trade Commission made its big move against online shopping giant Amazon on Tuesday, accusing the company of illegally stifling competition on its way to becoming a ubiquitous retail…
TikTok is testing a new feature that integrates Google Search into its own in-app search results. The test, spotted by app researcher Radu Oncescu, shows a small box midway down…
As Microsoft marches toward a new deadline for its planned acquisition of Activision, the company stumbled into an unexpected setback of its own making. This week, a trove of documents…
Featured Article
Nolej’s AI-generated classroom tools are a force multiplier for educators
The idea of bringing AI into the classroom doesn’t sit well with everyone, but the team behind Nolej believes that generative AI can supercharge learning — all while keeping teachers front and center. Nolej AI is an AI-powered tool that lets educators quickly generate interactive learning modules like quizzes, flashcards,…
1:52 pm PDT • September 19, 2023
TechCrunch Disrupt 2023
Apple’s Lisa Jackson explains how going carbon neutral by 2030 is good business
12:08 pm PDT • September 19, 2023
As the most valuable company in the world, Apple extends its massive footprint into every corner of industry that it touches. With that footprint comes a vast responsibility to conduct…
One of the buzziest post-Twitter apps hit a big milestone on Tuesday. Rose Wang, who works on strategy and operations for Bluesky, shared a screenshot of the moment on X,…
Government & Policy
Google’s big antitrust trial kicks off, with even bigger implications
2:50 pm PDT • September 12, 2023
The Justice Department’s landmark antitrust case against Google kicked off in court today, marking the beginning of a trial that will stretch on for months, potentially upending the tech world…
Social
Roblox is launching avatar-based voice calls with facial motion tracking
9:31 pm PDT • September 8, 2023
At its annual developer’s conference, Roblox detailed its near-future plans to expand beyond its identity as a game platform for kids. The company is already pushing into new demographics —…
Social
Meta shut down a disinformation campaign tied to Chinese law enforcement
1:31 pm PDT • August 29, 2023
A massive social media disinformation campaign linked to Chinese law enforcement is no more, according to Meta. In its latest report on what Meta calls “coordinated inauthentic behavior” — usually…
Social
Twitch just made it a little easier to qualify for the Partner Plus program
10:46 am PDT • August 29, 2023
Earlier this summer, Twitch offered some good news to streamers frustrated with the platform’s default revenue share, which splits earnings between the company and the creator 50/50. With the launch…
Social
Former president Trump returns to Twitter, now X, with his mugshot
9:53 pm PDT • August 24, 2023
Former president Trump tweeted for the first time in more than two years on Thursday night, breaking a long silence on the platform, now known as X, that persisted into…
Social
No Man’s Sky updates are going strong with Starfield around the corner
11:08 am PDT • August 24, 2023
With a big-budget space exploration game debuting in days, indie spacefaring mainstay No Man’s Sky continues to deepen its own world with no signs of slowing down. No Man’s Sky…
Social
Twitch starts testing a TikTok-like clips feed to boost discovery
3:56 pm PDT • August 22, 2023
Twitch’s previously announced Discovery Feed is now out in the wild as a live test following the feature’s announcement back in July. The new feed will surface short clips from…