Elon Musk gets to work at Twitter
Possibly one of the chunkiest stories we’ll ever write on the Mashup, the past week has seen Elon Musk get to work as Twitter’s new owner. And he’s been a busy boy. After dissolving the platform’s board of directors, Musk has reportedly dismissed half of the platforms 7,500-strong workforce, causing understandable distress. He’s also working to bring in a fee to get your hands on a blue tick. Initially proposed at $20, Musk soon backed down and settled on a $7.99 fee.
In addition to the blue verified badge, those who pay could have their tweets promoted more widely and see fewer adverts. However, blue tick fees will not be rolled out until after the US midterm elections following fears that this could elevate misinformation. Musk is also making moves to rid the platform of parody accounts– profiles that impersonate another user or person. If you own a parody account, you will now have to specify the fact clearly or risk being permanently suspended from the platform. And that’s all in just a week. *Collapses from social media fatigue*
WhatsApp launches discussion group feature, Communities
Large group chats on WhatsApp can often feel overwhelming, but now the messaging service is making it easier to organise and communicate with its Communities feature. Communities boasts a range of tools, including admin controls, support for sub-groups and announcement groups, 32-person voice and video calls, emoji reactions, and more. Communities can support groups of up to 1,024 users, offering end-to-end encryption. The feature first entered testing earlier this year and is now available for all users worldwide.
Snapchat now lets you share Strava activities in snaps and stories
Have you really been on a run if you haven’t shared about it with your friends and fans? Snapchat is partnering with Strava to launch a new Lens that lets users share their fitness journey on the platform. Each time you do a workout, it will be loaded into Snapchat, giving your followers the chance to see your progress. On Snapchat, you can find the Strava Lens in the app’s Lens Explorer or on Strava’s public profile. Your most recent workout will automatically appear, or you can toggle through different activities to pick one to share via a snap or story.
YouTube to unveil ‘Go Live Together’ co-streaming feature
We all love a bit of a collab. Now YouTube is allowing select creators to invite a guest to go live with them. Initially, creators will only be able to create a co-stream via their phones as the feature is not currently available on desktop. You’ll be able to rotate your guests but can only have one guest appear on screen at a time. YouTube’s guest streams can run ads, but any money made will solely go to the host. A stream also will not appear on the guest’s channel, but with visibility important to creators, it is likely YouTube will add this function in the near future.