Twitter will ban links to other social media services and suspend accounts that try to direct Twitter users to alternative platforms, the company announced Sunday, in an apparent attempt to stem user defections to competitors.
Under the new policy, links to content on Facebook and Instagram are prohibited, as well as links to content on emerging Twitter alternatives, including Mastodon and Post. The rule also covers Truth Social, the Twitter clone backed by former President Donald Trump.
Twitter’s move signals a shift toward a more closed environment, one that still accepts incoming traffic from other sites but makes it more difficult for users to leave Twitter’s website for other destinations.
“Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post,” Twitter’s support account tweeted.
Despite the bans, Twitter says it will still “allow paid advertisement/promotion for any of the prohibited social media platforms.”
Notably absent from the list is TikTok, one of the internet’s fastest-growing social media platforms whose links to China have sparked national security concerns among US policymakers. Musk’s own significant stake in China through his other company, Tesla, have raised doubts among critics as to whether the CEO would stand up to China if the country’s leaders sought to apply pressure on Twitter.
Twitter’s announcement prompted confusion from the platform’s former CEO, Jack Dorsey, who replied: “Why?” Dorsey followed up with: “doesn’t make sense.”
The policy change comes after some Twitter users announced their intention to move to other platforms last week, in the wake of Twitter’s suspension of a number of journalists who cover Musk. Amid the backlash to the journalists suspensions, Twitter quietly began blocking links to Mastodon.
Now, that practice has been formalized into official Twitter policy, a move that could further raise eyebrows among Twitter’s regulators.
As part of Twitter’s new policy, users may not “link out” to social media platforms subject to the restrictions. Users are also prohibited from updating their Twitter profiles to include their account names on other platforms, a way to inform followers where they might be found elsewhere on social media.
For example, posting encouragement to “follow me @username on Instagram” or “username@mastodon.social” is restricted, Twitter said in a blog post.
Attempts to circumvent that policy will also be enforced against, the company said. For example, use of link-shortening services to obscure the true destination of a URL or attempts to spell out a URL in plain text will also run afoul of Twitter’s rules, the company said.
“If violations of this policy are included in your bio and/or account name, we will temporarily suspend your account and require changes to your profile to no longer be in violation,” the blog post said. “Subsequent violations may result in permanent suspension.”
First offenses or isolated incidents may result in temporary suspensions or requirements that users delete the violating content, Twitter said.
Users may continue to use third-party software to simultaneously publish their social media content to multiple sites, including Twitter, the company said.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, as well as Truth Social’s parent Trump Media & Technology Group, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m a Zara devotee. But the thrill of finding a one-of-a-kind vintage piece that is unique is far more exciting than scooping up another Zara top. Vintage shopping is one of my favorite pastimes—my earliest (and fondest) childhood memories involve scuffling through racks of musty old clothes at the local secondhand store with my mother. It’s a shopping ritual I wholly believe led to my enduring love affair with fashion.
So today I wanted to share some of my favorite online vintage stores where you can find charming, pre-loved pieces that you can guarantee no one else will be wearing. Not only does shopping secondhand maintain individualism, but it also offers affordable access to designer heritage brands, it’s cost-effective, it favors quality over quantity, and it encourages sustainability.
Scroll below to see my favorite online vintage shops that range from Zara prices to investment-worthy discount designer rates.
Call me crazy, but I love winter—partly because of all of the cozy clothes that go along with it. The layering and faux fur and velvet and sparkling things and leather are all the things that a fashion person’s dreams are made of. And since it’s the festive season, it seems like everyone is suddenly very decked out in winter gear and has left fall in the dust.
Being the diligent fashion editor that I am, I’ve been keeping track of what the many fashion people I follow on Instagram are wearing, and I’ve singled out eight specific trends I’m seeing a lot of, and I’m only here to talk about easy trends. (Who has time for complicated ones right now?)
Below, you’ll find excellent examples of the trends that are suddenly everywhere, along with the very best shopping the internet has to offer for each. Some are accessories, some are fabrics, and some are outerwear trends that’ll make an outfit. All are chic.
More than 150 lawsuits against social media giants TikTok, Meta and others will proceed next year. Sharyn Alfonsi spoke with some of the families suing social media.
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When whistleblower Frances Haugen pulled back the curtain on Facebook last fall, thousands of pages of internal documents showed troubling signs that the social media giant knew its platforms could be negatively impacting youth and were doing little to effectively change it. With around 21 million American adolescents on social media, parents took note.
Today, there are more than 1,200 families pursuing lawsuits against social media companies including TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Roblox and Meta, the parent company to Instagram and Facebook.
More than 150 lawsuits will be moving forward next year. Tonight, you’ll hear from some of the families suing social media. We want to warn you that some of the content in this story is alarming, but we thought it was important to include because parents say the posts impacted their kids’ mental health and, in some cases, helped lead to the death of their children.
Kathleen Spence: They’re holding our children hostage and they’re seeking and preying on them.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Preying on them?
Kathleen Spence: Yes.
The Spence family is suing social media giant Meta. Kathleen and Jeff Spence say Instagram led their daughter Alexis into depression and to an eating disorder at the age of 12.
Kathleen Spence: We realized that we were slowly losing her. We really had no comprehension to how severe social media had affected our daughter. She was being drawn into this hidden space and this dark world.
Kathleen and Jeff Spence
It began after the spences, both middle school teachers from Long Island, New York, gave 11-year-old Alexis a cell phone to keep in touch with them after school.
Kathleen Spence: We had very strict rules from the moment she had the phone. The phone was never allowed in the room at night. We would keep the phone in the hall.
Jeff Spence: We checked the phone. We put restrictions on the phone.
Alexis Spence: I would wait for my parents to fall asleep, and then I would just sit in the hallway or I would sneak my phone in my room. I wasn’t allowed to use a lot of apps and they had a lot of the parental controls on.
Sharyn Alfonsi: And so how quickly did you figure out a way around the restrictions?
Alexis Spence: Pretty quickly.
Hoping to connect and keep up with friends, Alexis joined Instagram. Instagram policy mandates users are 13 years old. Alexis was 11.
Sharyn Alfonsi: I thought you had to be 13?
Alexis Spence: It asks you, “Are you 13 years or older?” I checked the box “yes” and then just kept going.
Sharyn Alfonsi: And there was never any checks?
Alexis Spence: No. No verification or anything like that.
Sharyn Alfonsi: If I had picked up your phone would I have seen the Instagram app on there?
Alexis Spence: No. There were apps that you could use to disguise it as another app. So, you could download like a calculator, ‘calculator’, but it’s really Instagram.
Jeff Spence: There was always some work-around.
Sharyn Alfonsi: She was outwitting you.
Jeff Spence: Right, she was outwitting us.
Kathleen Spence: She was addicted to social media. We couldn’t stop it. It was much bigger than us.
Alexis Spence
Now 20, Alexis says an innocent search on Instagram for fitness routines led her into a dark world.
Alexis Spence: It started as, like, fitness stuff. And then I guess that would spark the algorithm to show me diets, it then started to shift into eating disorders.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What were you seeing?
Alexis Spence: People would post photos of themselves who are very sickly or just very thin, and using them to promote eating disorders.
Some of the images that were sent to Alexis through Instagram’s algorithms
These are some of the images that were sent to Alexis through Instagram’s algorithms – which process the user’s browsing history and personal data, then push content to them they never directly asked for.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What did you learn from looking at these pro-anorexic websites?
Alexis Spence: A lot. Learning about diet pills and how to lose weight when you’re 11 and going through puberty and, like, your body is supposed to be changing. It’s hard.
Sharyn Alfonsi: When did that stop being something that you looked at and start being something that you were doing to yourself?
Alexis Spence: Within months.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Did it normalize it for you? Did you think, “Oh, well, other people are doing this”?
Alexis Spence: Yeah. Definitely. Like, they needed help. I needed help. And instead of getting help, I was getting advice on how to continue.
By the time she was 12, Alexis had developed an eating disorder. She had multiple Instagram accounts and says she would spend five hours a day scrolling through the app, even though it often made her feel depressed.
She drew this picture of herself in her diary crying, surrounded by her phone and laptop, with thoughts reading, ‘stupid, fat…kill yourself.’
Alexis Spence: I was struggling with my mental health. I was struggling with my depression and my body image. And social media did not help with my confidence. And, if anything, it made me, like, hate myself.
It all came to a head her sophomore year when Alexis posted on Instagram that she didn’t deserve to exist. A friend alerted a school counselor.
Kathleen Spence: That was the scariest day of our lives. I got a call to come to the school. And I went there and they were just showing me all of these Instagram posts of how Alexis wanted to kill herself and hurt herself. And if Instagram is really — has all the software to protect them, why was that not flagged? Why was that not identified?
This previously unpublished internal document reveals Facebook knew Instagram was pushing girls to dangerous content.
It says that in 2021, an Instagram employee ran an internal investigation on eating disorders by opening up a false account as a 13-year-old girl looking for diet tips. She was led to content and recommendations to follow ‘skinny binge’ and ‘apple core anorexic.’
Other memos show Facebook employees raising concerns about company research that revealed Instagram made 1-in-3 teen girls feel worse about their bodies and that teens who used the app felt higher rates of anxiety and depression.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What was it like when you saw those Facebook papers for the first time?
Kathleen Spence: Sickening. The fact that I was sitting there, struggling and hoping to save my daughter’s life. And they had all these documents behind closed doors that they could’ve protected her. And they chose to ignore that research.
Attorney Matt Bergman represents the Spence family. He started the Social Media Victims Law Center after reading the Facebook papers and is now working with more than 1,200 families who are pursuing lawsuits against social media companies like Meta.
Matt Bergman: Time and time again, when they have an opportunity to choose between safety of our kids and profits, they always choose profits.
Matt Bergman
Next year, Bergman and his team will start the discovery process for the federal case against Meta and other social media companies, a multi-million dollar suit that he says is more about changing policy than financial compensation.
Bergman spent 25 years as a product liability attorney specializing in absestos and mesothelioma cases. He argues the design of social media platforms is ultimately hurting kids.
Matt Bergman: They have intentionally designed a product that is addictive. They understand that if children stay online, they make more money. It doesn’t matter how harmful the material is.
Sharyn Alfonsi: So the fact that these kids ended up seeing the things that they saw, that were so disturbing, wasn’t by accident; it was by design?
Matt Bergman: Absolutely. This is not a coincidence.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Isn’t it the parents’ job to monitor this stuff?
Matt Bergman: Well, of course it is. I’m all for parental responsibility. But these products are explicitly designed to evade parental authority.
Sharyn Alfonsi: So what needs to be done?
Matt Bergman: Number one is age and identity verification. You know, that technology exists. You know, if people are trying to hook up on Tinder there’s technology to make sure that the people are who they say they are. Number two would be turn off the algorithms. You know, there’s no reason why Alexis Spence, who was interested in exercise, should have been directed toward anorexic content. Number three would be warnings so that parents know what’s going on. Let’s be realistic, you’re never gonna have social media platforms be 100% safe. But, you know, these changes would make them safer.
Right now, the Roberts family says social media is not safe for kids. Englyn Roberts was the baby in a large family, the center of her parents Toney and Brandy’s world.
Toney Roberts: She made every day…
Brandy Roberts: Special.
Toney Roberts: Every day felt like Christmas here.
Toney and Brandy Roberts
But Englyn’s life online told a different story. As the pandemic played out, Englyn wrote about struggles with self-worth, relationships and mental health.
One August night in 2020, just a few hours after Toney and Brandy kissed their 14-year-old smiling daughter goodnight, Brandy received a text from a parent of one of Englyn’s friends who was worried about Englyn and suggested they check on her.
Toney Roberts: We went upstairs, and we checked, and her door was locked. That was kinda odd, so I took the key from the top and we opened the door and no Englyn. And when I turned around that’s when I found her. When you find your child hanging, and you are in that moment in disbelief. It’s just no way. Not our baby. Not our child. And then ultimately, I fault myself.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Why do you fault yourself?
Toney Roberts: Because I’m dad. I’m supposed to know.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Prior to that night you had no idea that she was depressed?
Toney Roberts: Not. Not even close.
Like the Spence family, Toney Roberts started connecting the dots after the Facebook papers came out and began digging through his daughter’s phone for answers. He found an Instagram post sent to Englyn from a friend.
Toney Roberts: There was a video. And that video was a lady on Instagram pretending to hang herself, and that’s ultimately what our child did. Cause, you ask yourself, how did she come up with this idea? And then when I did the research, there it was. She saw it on Instagram. It was on her phone.
Brandy Roberts: If that video wasn’t sent to her, because she copied it, she wouldn’t have had a way of knowing how to do that certain way of hanging yourself.
Toney and Englyn Roberts
Nearly a year and a half after Englyn’s death, that hanging video was still circulating on Instagram, with at least 1,500 views. Toney Roberts says it was taken down in December 2021. The Roberts are suing Meta, the parent company to Instagram.
Toney Roberts: If they so call monitor and do things, how could it stay on that site? Because part of their policies says they don’t allow for self-harm photos, videos, things of that nature. So, who’s holding them accountable?
Meta declined our request for an interview, but it’s global head of safety gave us this statement – telling us, “we want teens to be safe online” and that Instagram doesn’t “allow content promoting self-harm or eating disorders,” and that Meta has improved Instagram’s “age verification technology.”
But when 60 Minutes ran this test two months ago, our colleague was able to lie about her age and sign up for Instagram as a 13-year-old with no verifications. We were also able to search for skinny and harmful content. And while a prompt came up asking if we wanted help, we instead clicked see posts and easily found content promoting anorexia and self harm — showing more rigorous change is needed, a challenge the Spence and Roberts families are ready for.
Kathleen Spence: We’re being gaslighted by the big tech companies that it’s our fault. When really what we should be doing as parents is banding together and say, “No. You need to do better. I’m doing everything I can. You need to do better.”
Brandy Roberts: We’ve lost, we’ve learned, but what’s gonna stop these companies from continuing to let things happen if they don’t change or be forced to make a change?
Toney Roberts: Social media is the silent killer for our children’s generation. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to. Why is everyone in power that can help change this, why is it not changing quick–enough? If our children are truly our future, what’s the wait?
RESPONSES FROM META, SNAPCHAT, AND TIKTOK
Statement from Meta
“We want teens to be safe online. We’ve developed more than 30 tools to support teens and families, including supervision tools that let parents limit the amount of time their teens spend on Instagram, and age verification technology that helps teens have age-appropriate experiences. We automatically set teens’ accounts to private when they join Instagram, and we send notifications encouraging them to take regular breaks. We don’t allow content that promotes suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, and of the content we remove or take action on, we identify over 99% of it before it’s reported to us. We’ll continue to work closely with experts, policymakers and parents on these important issues.” – Antigone Davis, Vice President, Global Head of Safety, Meta
Statement from Snapchat Global Head of Platform Safety Jacqueline Beauchere
“The loss of a family member is devastating, and our hearts go out to people facing these tragedies, no matter the circumstances. We designed Snapchat to be different from traditional social media, built around visual messaging between real friends and avoiding the most toxic features that encourage social comparison and can take a toll on mental health. We know that friendships are a critical source of support for young people, especially when dealing with mental health challenges, and we continue to work with leading experts on in-app tools and resources to support our community – especially those who may be struggling.”
TikTok only provided background information and declined to provide statement in response to our story.
Produced by Ashley Velie. Associate producers, Jennifer Dozor and Elizabeth Germino. Edited by April Wilson.
Toni Collette announced that she and her husband of 20 years, David Galafassi, have decided to go their separate ways after photos surfaced of him kissing another woman.
A week after returning to the social media platform, the actor shared the news on her Instagram account on Wednesday, posting a picture of a sign composed of flowers that reads “PEACE & LOVE.” She wrote in the caption, “After a substantial period of separation, it is with grace and gratitude that we announce we are divorcing.” Collette continued, “We’re united in our decision and part with continuing respect and care for each other. Our kids are of paramount importance to us and we will continue to thrive as a family, albeit a different shape. We’re thankful for the space and love you grant us as we evolve and move through this transition peacefully.” The former couple concluded the post with a joint sign-off, writing, “Big thanks. Toni Collette and David Galafassi.”
Prior to sharing this message, Collette also shared a quote on her Instagram Stories that read, “No matter what your current circumstances are, if you can imagine something better for yourself, you can create it.” And on Friday, the Hereditary star shared a moody photo of a lone tree standing in a field with no caption. All of these posts also happen to coincide with the release of photos published by the Daily Mail of Galafassi kissing another woman, drummer Shannon Egan, while on the beach in Sydney, Australia. Galafassi was a drummer in an indie rock band when he first met Collette.
Collette and Galafassi married in a Buddhist ceremony in 2003, and five years later announced they were expecting their first child together. The couple share two children, 14-year-old daughter Sage Florence and 11-year-old son Arlo Robert. When announcing her first pregnancy in 2008, the actor told the Associated Press, “We’re completely over the moon. It is strange, the last three films I’ve done I have been pregnant. I’m just like, what is the universe trying to tell me? But I think everything happens when it’s meant to.”
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Tuesday.
Quinta Brunson is the star of Cosmopolitan‘s The Party Issue The “Abbott Elementary” star and creator is gracing the cover of Cosmpolitan‘s Issue 8: The Party Issue. In an interview with Patrice Peck, Quinta Brunson discusses her path to television success, her appreciation for Marilyn Monroe and her role as a boss. When it comes to whether Brunson has had time to celebrate her recent award wins, she says, “I’m finding my ways to celebrate, but it’s been a consistent grind […] I look forward to the day when I can look back and remember, Ah, yeah. That was cool.” {Cosmopolitan}
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram
Instagram publishes its 2023 trend report Instagram, in partnership with WGSN, has released its 2023 trend report based on the topics, issues and trends that matter to Gen-Z users. Findings of the report include: more than half of Gen-Z respondents are committed to making their own clothes as a way to be more sustainable; Gen Z see makeup as a form of self-expression rather than a way to augment their beauty; and two out of three Gen-Z shoppers look for climate-proof skin care to protect themselves against climate change. You can read the full report here. {Fashionista inbox}
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Andrea Guerra will join the Prada Group as new CEO Former Luxottica CEO Andrea Guerra will be recommended as Chief Executive Officer of the Prada Group at a board meeting on Jan. 26, replacing Patrizio Bertelli, who will become chairman of the board. Miuccia Prada will remain Miu Miu‘s Creative Director and continue to collaborate with Raf Simons at Prada. In a statement, Prada and Bertelli said, “This is a fundamental step we have decided to undertake, while completely engaged in the company, to contribute more to the evolution of the Prada Group.” {Fashionista inbox}
Gucci will show its Cruise 2024 collection in Seoul On May 15, Gucci will present its Cruise 2024 collection in Seoul, South Korea. The show will mark 25 years since Gucci opened its first Seoul flagship store in 1998. Following Alessandro Michele’s sudden departure last month, the Gucci design office will carry out the house designs until a new Creative Director is announced. {WWD}
Photo: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta launches ‘Bottega for Bottegas’ Bottega Veneta has announced the second iteration of its commitment to supporting international ‘bottegas,’ which translates in essence to ‘workshop.’ This holiday season, the brand will pay homage to various bottegas through its website, advertising, newsletters, store windows and a custom display at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Some of the items to be featured include Italian culture-inspired products from international makers, like a Shanghai-based pasta-maker and a woodworker in Vermont. {Fashionista inbox}
If you scroll through Instagram enough, you’re bound to notice more than a few common themes. The satin Miu Miu ballet flats everyone and their mother is snapping photos in? Yep, they’ve put the brand at the center of the balletcore aesthetic. How about the colorful knit scarves that seem to come back around every single winter? Those ACNE Studios scarves continue to sell out.
While my job may entail scrolling through Instagram more than the average person, the dozens of images pooling in my saved folders confirm that the trends I’m noticing are most certainly a thing this season. Meet the winter Instagram fashion trends I keep seeing all over my feed.
An endless slew of influencers, editors, buyers, and miscellaneous fashion people all agree on the list below. Don’t just take my word for it, though—the proof is all over the ‘gram. Keep reading to see all nine fashion picks and shop them yourself. I’ve seeded out the best options at many price points.
Study from Harris Poll Thought Leadership finds groups’ new opinions, uses of social media point to shift in values and future look of the internet.
Press Release –
Nov 29, 2022 07:00 EST
NEW YORK, November 29, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Millennials and Gen Z go to TikTok – not for dance videos but for career planning. They look for their friends on Instagram – but don’t believe what they see. These new, little-known social media trends point to a fundamental shift in societal values, according to new data from The Harris Poll Thought Leadership Practice.
The Harris Poll Thought Leadership Practice designs creative research for leading brands, allowing them to proactively address cultural trends. The new project examines changing societal values and how they play out in social media.
“If you think TikTok is just about viral dances, you’d be mistaken. Young people are turning to it for deeper purposes, like gathering information, building community, and cultivating equity,” said Abbey Lunney, co-founder of The Harris Poll Thought Leadership Practice. “We see a giant shift happening in social media away from surface-level likes, hyper-edited photos towards spaces for authenticity and discovery.”
The group’s study identifies five shifts in social media, with a central theme of Gen Z and Millennials wanting something more real from these online interactions. They include:
Gen Z Aren’t Looking for Friend Updates, They Are Leaning Into The Algorithm Gen Z doesn’t turn to social to see updates from their friends; instead, they turn to social to be informed, entertained and direct messages. For example, Gen Z says their feed is ‘filled mostly with personalized content that the platform thinks I’ll like’ (62%) and a majority agree that ‘algorithms have increased the content they like to consume and be entertained by’ (65%). This is in contrast to older people, like Boomers and Gen X, who a majority of their feeds consist of ‘updates from friends/people I follow’ (66%, 57% respectively).
TikTok is the new Google. For Gen Z, TikTok is the “center of gravity” when it comes to search and education. TikTok is the first platform Gen Z uses to search for culturally relevant content; TikTok (34%), beating YouTube (24%), Google (19%), and Instagram (17%). This is in contrast to older generations, including Millennials, where Google continues to be the first platform users turn towards (Boomers 57%, Gen X 47%, Millennials 40%).
TikTok is an Undercover Learning Engine: A majority of Gen Z reports regularly turning to TikTok to learn something (63%). And the things they are learning about surpass the social media standards of food, fashion, and music to include career planning (37%), small/local business (36%), politics (28%), social structures/DEI (27%) and even STEM categories (20%). And this is critical as 81% of Gen Z and Millennials say that ongoing education is core to their ability to create financial stability in their life.
Reality, not superficiality. Four out of five (80%) Gen Zers and Millennials believe most lifestyles on social media are fake or overly perfected, and almost three-quarters (73%) would like to see proof that people are living the way they claim on social media. Large shares of those generations want social media to validate information that is shared on its platforms (39%) and don’t want filtered images and content on social media (24%).
Social media isn’t just youth culture, it’s all culture. Among Americans of all ages, 85% say social media isn’t just for young people. Moreover, 78% of Gen Z and Millennials say they have learned a lot from content created by people older than them. And an amazing two-thirds (66%) of Gen Z and Millennials say they love watching videos of senior citizens.
The Harris Poll Thought Leadership study also offers insight on the reasons behind these shifts in values. Pressure from those concerns, Lunney said, is creating “distinct generational values,” and for Gen Z and Millennials, that means ways to navigate the future:
Learning as a source of stability. They believe ongoing education is central to their ability to have financial security. (Gen Z, 78%; Millennials, 82%; 41+ yrs old, 66%.)
Fluidity as a source of expression. More than three out of four (77%) say being able to express different versions of themselves is important. (Gen Z, 79%; Millennials, 77%; 41+ yrs old, 62%.)
Equity as a source of growth. They believe racial and gender equity helps individual, economic, and societal growth (Gen Z, 78%; Millennials, 82%)
The desire to create and utilize these services, Lunney said, will drive the internet toward a more 3D and immersive environment – 74% of Gen Z and Millennials expect the future of art to be assisted and accelerated by artificial intelligence, and 67% are interested in using AI creative-based tools.
The result will be a change to everything from ads to immersive search to online personas and more. “Today’s stacked crises are creating movement toward changing generational values,” she said. “Today it’s rewiring social. Tomorrow, it’s redefining social.”
Building on 50+ years of experience pulsing societal opinion, we design research that is credible, creative, and culturally relevant. Our practice drives thought leadership and unearths trends for today’s biggest brands. We are focused on helping our clients get ahead of what’s next.
French fashion brand Balenciaga has filed a $25 million lawsuit against a production company it hired to produce one of two advertising campaigns that have drawn condemnation online.
The ad in question ran on Instagram and showed a purse on top of a document-strewn desk. One document in the background was a partially visible page from a court ruling related to child pornography. Balenciaga on Monday confirmed the document was from a 2008 Supreme Court case, United States v. Williams, which held it is not unconstitutional to forbid the promotion of child pornography.
According to the company’s lawsuit, Balenciaga hired independent production company North Six and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins, both of New York, to create the ad for the company’s spring/summer 2023 collection. The North Six ad “included certain documents in the campaign photographs, including an excerpt from a court decision upholding a criminal prohibition against child pornography” without Balenciaga’s knowledge, claims the suit, filed late Friday in state court in Manhattan.
A representative from North Six confirmed with CBS MoneyWatch Monday that the company managed the ad shoot that included the court document, but didn’t comment further.
Last week, the ad including the page from the Supreme Court case circulated online at the same time as another Balenciaga campaign — not produced by North Six — which featured children holding teddy bear bags dressed in bondage-style garb. A social media firestorm erupted over the images, with critics saying the ads normalized child abuse. The teddy bear campaign even caused reality-star-turned-entrepreneur Kim Kardashian to reevaluate her relationship with Balenciaga, she said on Sunday.
Balenciaga released a statement on Monday describing the images as the result of two concurrent but separate ad campaigns, and apologizing for both.
The teddy bear bag ad “should not have been featured with children,” Balenciaga said. “This was a wrong choice by Balenciaga, combined with our failure in assessing and validating images,” the company said. “The responsibility for this lies with Balenciaga alone.”
Balenciaga said the North Six ad was supposed to feature random documents in the background and “was meant to replicate a business office environment.”
“All the items included in this shooting were provided by third parties that confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents” the statement reads. “They turned out to be real legal papers most likely coming from the filming of a television drama.”
“Blown out of context”
Balenciaga is suing North Six for “extensive damages” it says the ad caused.
It claims that “members of the public, including the news media, have falsely and horrifically associated Balenciaga with the repulsive and deeply disturbing subject of the court decision.”
Balenciaga last week deleted all of its Instagram posts, with the brand saying the teddy bear bags “should not have been featured with children in this campaign.”
A spokesperson representing Des Jardins said Balenciaga was well aware of how the finished “office environment” ad would look.
“Everyone from Balenciaga was on the shoot and was present on every shot and worked on the edit of every image in post production,” Des Jardins’ spokesman said. “This has all been blown out of context and we are hiring a legal team to support Nick on this which is why no one has commented yet.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified North Six as the producer and Des Jardins as the set designer of the teddy bear bag ads as well as the “office environment” ad. In fact, North Six and Des Jardins only worked on the “office environment” ad.
Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
Last year, Michaela Coel dared me to write a story that scares me. OK, she wasn’t talking directly to me. Her clarion call to all writers, issued as she accepted an Emmy for limited series writing ― the first Black woman to do so ― invited us all to disappear from a world where “visibility, these days, somehow equates success.” Coel encouraged writers like me to disappear and “see what comes to you in the silence.” I quit Instagram the next day.
I’d been thinking about my constant use of Instagram for several weeks before I heard her speech. During the pandemic’s peak, I spent at least four hours a day glued to my screen. In the morning, I’d consider whether any of my family’s meals or adventures were post-worthy. At bedtime, I’d watch Instastories of friends’ beach vacations, drool over street food posts, or silently judge “friend’s” motivational quotes. I was addicted.
I envy the people who can casually view posts and move on with their day. It seems they benefit from the best of social media. They can connect with family and friends, bridging distance and time, all while strengthening their networks. Good for them. They close the app and avoid rabbit holes. I am not that person. I can’t ignore the bells and whistles and find myself wasting time tracking down something silly like the vegan protein bars posted by Ryan Reynolds’ trainer. I’d often fall asleep to the reassuring scroll, exhausted from teleworking full-time and guiding my daughter through virtual first grade.
I am 45 years old. I joined Facebook in 2007. I quit that platform in 2016, hoping to escape the political vitriol that crept onto my feed that year. Instead, I joined Instagram, reasoning that it’s just pictures and images, right? In total, I have spent over half my adult life carefully curating images and browsing through the lives of family, friends, and acquaintances. Was there a better use of my time?
Quit may be too strong a term for what I did the day after the 2021 Emmys. I didn’t deactivate my account. Instead, I tricked myself into thinking I’d just take a 21-day hiatus ― the amount of time an expert claimed it takes to build a habit (this has been refuted in recent years). I removed the app from all my devices and downloaded Coel’s speech onto my phone. When tempted to reinstall Instagram on my phone, I’d watch Coel, resplendent in her two-piece neon gown, urging me to write, “what makes you feel uncertain that isn’t comfortable.”
I have wanted to write for the better part of two decades. I wrote in college, but my then-boyfriend was the writer in our dyad, and it didn’t seem fair to compete. Instead, I kept reading the books that I would have liked to have written, ”Dogeaters,” “The Namesake,” “Americanah,” and “Afterparties.” I told myself that, one day, I’ll write my family’s story too. That never happened as life ― a civil rights career, motherhood, a pandemic ― derailed my plans for a room of my own. Instead, I posted snippets of family vacations, baking projects, or family costumes. I liked it. My friends “liked” it. I thought I had found a voice.
But, increasingly, I felt muzzled by my own social media audience. Not for the many good reasons others have listed. My profiles were private, and no one trolled me. Instead, I felt encumbered by the safe story I fed to an online world.
The author piping finishing touches before an office party. “This is a photo from my dormant Instagram account,” she writes.
Courtesy of Laureen Laglagaron
I am a proud third-generation Filipina baker. Most of my childhood was spent at the family bake shop in Vancouver, Canada, greeting customers or folding cake boxes at the counter. Pandemic baking helped me process the stress of the lockdown. It also happened to be wildly popular on social media because, really, who can be mad at cookies? On Instagram, with a few select posts, I had a captive audience that swooned when I unveiled a dry ice volcano or an edible lego structure on elaborate birthday cakes.
But my cheery posts didn’t tell the full story. Those homemade ube and kabocha pumpkin spice mooncakes glossed over how I didn’t bake for years, resentful of the time the bakery took away from me and my family. Behind my ability to pipe a perfect Happy Birthday greeting on any surface was the story of how I got there ― an immigrant tween forced to work every weekend and evening alongside her parents. I couldn’t complain because I knew that the bakery hustle ― on top of my parents’ full-time jobs ― allowed me to attend the best private schools. That’s a harder and more nuanced story to tell on the ’gram. It was far easier to regale my online audience with tales of macaron-making marathons.
The “likes” rained down on my culinary posts. I basked in the attention even as I fretted that people assumed baking and family were the most vibrant parts of my life. I bristled when an ultra-conservative guy with whom I’d gone to law school reached out to say hello and relay how happy he was to see that I was spending pandemic time in the kitchen. Gross. I began to sense the limits of social media as a storytelling platform.
Let’s be honest, we know social media isn’t good for us. Facebook intentionally targets teenagers and children under 13 to grow its consumer base. Instagram has been shown to be disastrous for many teenage girls. Kids’ brains are particularly vulnerable. In its current form, social media bends the arc of the moral universe toward chaos and distortion. Women, Black people, and Latinos are disproportionately harassed online (sadly, the research has not caught up to what it might be like to be Black, Latina, and female in the digital public square, but the intersection can’t be great). We could, as whistleblower Frances Haugen suggests, build the “cultural muscle” of skepticism and critical thinking we need to better consume social media. But I have a radical and simple solution: Quit it all.
I am no stranger to bouts of asceticism. I stopped watching live TV in my early 20s. After reading about Ann Patchett’s year of no shopping, I bought no clothes, shoes, or books for all of 2018. I’ve completed two rounds of the Whole30 diet ― banning sugar, grains, alcohol and what seemed like anything delicious for 30 days. Marie Kondo taught me to thank items for their sentimental value and give them away. Often, the call to purge or cull parts of my life came in reaction to excess: too much reality TV, too many impulse buys on Amazon, too many desserts, and too much stuff. With Instagram, it was the clutter in my mind. The need to keep up with my “friends” and post content took more of a psychic toll than I care to admit. And, in retrospect, it stole valuable creative time.
Quitting my social media audience wasn’t easy. There were moments when I felt like I was the last to know about a friend’s latest accomplishment or family celebrations. I became mildly paranoid that I was missing out on the latest cultural trends or jokes. I shuddered at the thought of becoming my friend, an Ivy League professor who once earnestly asked me, “Who is Cardi B?”
But strange things also happen in the silence of your own thoughts. When Instagram’s algorithm didn’t tell me what to view or like, or buy, I was left to my own devices. Literally. I reacquainted myself with the other parts of my phone. My WhatsApp and Signal text threads kept me connected to the latest friend gossip and I managed to stay conversant in TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram thanks to Roxane Gay’s newsletter, The Audacious Roundup.
The author at her first residency at the Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow.
Courtesy of Laureen Laglagaron
Without any packaged reminders of what I or my friends liked, I mined my own memories. I giggled to myself as I built and listened to eclectic playlists ― Moxy Früvous, Boyz II Men, Aerosmith, Digable Planets, En Vogue, and R.E.M. It seems ridiculous to say out loud, but I realized I was better than an algorithm at predicting what I like and how I would enjoy spending my time. Inspired, I recreated the scenes, characters, heartbreaks and triumphs of a Filipina Canadian teenage girl growing up in the northwest in the ’90s. I jotted down ideas for a memoir, short stories, and essays. I regained a creative focus I had not realized I lost.
The day after I quit Instagram, I signed up for a 10-day writer’s bootcamp. Then another. I created a spreadsheet of dream writing residencies or workshops where I could focus on my craft. I won writing scholarships, landed my first residency, and was accepted to three juried writers’ workshops on my list. In my first nine months off social media, I accomplished more than I had in two decades of wishing I had time to be a writer. I should have quit sooner.
It’s no surprise that quitting social media freed up time for me. On average, Americans spend a little over 2 hours a day on social media. Who else could be writing their magnum opus for the time they spend curating posts? Put another way, could maintaining a social media presence be holding you back from writing a play or finishing that novel? Or, maybe it’s none of those things. Maybe you’ve wanted to learn a new language or spend more time with your kids or start taking that 20-minute walk every morning you keep telling yourself that you’ll take. It could be small. It could be anything. But I bet there’s something you’ve always been meaning to do with an extra few hours back in your day.
I’ve snuck back on Instagram a few times. Once because I couldn’t resist seeing my friends’ Halloween costumes and another time to stalk authors after finishing a particularly satisfying novel. Both times, I was shocked at how much I didn’t miss the platform. Sure, there was that pang of guilt from missing out on the lives of friends and family, but I was also eager to sign off, impatient to return to the stories or essays knocking about my brain.
You don’t realize how much social media pervades your life until you give it up.
And, to be clear, I still waste quite a few hours a day on my phone. I peek into LinkedIn and allow Apple News’ algorithm to deliver me articles about civil rights, parenting, food, and what all Parisian women over 40 have in their closets. The difference is that I’m aware that I’m letting an algorithm feed me.
Re-joining social media does feel inevitable if I sell my novel. But when that miracle happens, I’ll figure out appropriate guardrails to curb my tendency to get lost in the algorithm. For now, my main focus is to use the luxury of extra hours in a day to read and make art. Quitting social media afforded me the time and clarity to chase my dreams. How would your life change in a year of Instagram silence?
Laureen Laglagaron is a civil rights attorney and writer. Follow her writing at www.citizenpinay.com.
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A resort in Nairobi, Kenya, is known as one of the most Instagrammed properties in the world because its guests are treated to close encounters with the world’s tallest animals. But Giraffe Manor isn’t just about the thrills, it also plays a role in conservation efforts. Debora Patta shares more.
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Elon Musk’s rocky takeover of Twitter has already been marked by mass layoffs, resignations and the reinstatement of former president Donald Trump’s account, as well as other controversial figures, leaving many users uncertain about the direction of the platform’s future.
Amid the chaos, several Twitter alternatives have reported a surge in new users. The latest to gain mainstream momentum is Hive Social, an app that combines some of the familiar elements of Instagram, Twitter and even MySpace, and which was reportedly started by a college student who taught herself how to code. On Monday, a profanity-laden tweet questioning what Hive was even caught the attention of Musk, who responded with a simple “lmao.”
App analytics firm Sensor Tower confirmed to CNN Business on Tuesday that Hive Social has seen approximately 871,000 worldwide installs — more than a third of which camein the last week alone. This week, Hive Social garnered the top spot in the social networking category on the US App Store.
As I tried to download the Hive app on my Apple device, however, I was greeted with a series of errors. First, it had issues letting me register through my email address. Then, I got a pop-up message saying that my device was blocked for “unusual activity.” Despite this, I was able to create an account by giving my phone number. However, the platform does not currently offer two-factor authentication.
Once I had set up my account, I toggled over to its “Discover” page, where I was immediately served an unexpected image of a fully nude man. (On its barebones website, Hive Social says nude content is permitted, as long as its categorized “NSFW Mature Content.”)
The interface is more like Instagram than Twitter: largely image-driven, but you also have the option to upload text-only posts. I had trouble using the search function to find people to follow. Adding to the confusion, I saw quite a few different accounts that appeared to have the same exact username — more than a dozen accounts with an @Catherine username, for example.
I wasn’t served any obvious advertisements or overtly-spam accounts while scrolling through my “For You” tab, which was pleasant. Overall, there was also a strong sense of community-building among many of the new users, as people shared tips and advice for how to get started on the app. The main feed, consisting of posts from people you follow, is chronological, unlike most well known platforms.
Hive Social, which lists just two employees on LinkedIn, did not respond to CNN Business’ requests for an interview or further comment. A Twitter account associated with the app said Wednesday that it had been inundated with new user sign-ups and “Email verifications are still down but Google and Apple sign in work!” The Twitter account also responded to some troubleshooting requests from Twitter users who were similarly setting up their accounts on the platform and confronting confusion and glitches.
On its website, Hive Social also outlinesgoals for keeping the community respectful. “We remove content that contains credible threats or hate speech, content that maliciously targets private individuals, personal information intended to blackmail or harass someone, and repeated unwanted messages,” it states.
“Threats of harm to the public (including threats of physical harm, theft, vandalism and all forms of financial harm) and personal safety aren’t allowed,” the website added. “Hive carefully reviews reports of threats to determine whether a threat is credible.”
Hive’s guidelines are admirable, but there remains an open question how it will be able to keep up its content moderation goals amid an overnight surge of new users. In an interview with Newsweek, Hive founder Kassandra (Raluca) Popsaid that just three people — herself, a designer, and a developer — run the app. “It’s just the three of us and we’re managing pretty well I think,” she told the outlet. And indeed, for such a small team, the app’s precipitous user growth is a remarkable feat.
While the interface was inviting and some of the posts engaging, I found myself too frustrated by constant lags and crashes to spend much time on the app just yet. Its lack of a web interface also left me unsure of how well it will fill a Twitter-shaped hole for those looking for an alternative to the Musk-owned platform.
To be fair, Hive started in 2019 and never sought to be a Twitter clone or to welcome a sudden influx of disgruntled Twitter users. Founder Pop told Newsweek she was inspired to create Hive after her own frustration with Instagram’s algorithm and ads.
Hive’s viral rise over the past week, and the hiccups associated with other Twitter alternatives like Mastodon (more on that here) or Post.News (which currently is only accepting new users to join a “Waitlist”), in many ways only reveal how difficult it would be to replace a platform that has been so widely used by brands, government agencies and more for over a decade.
Beyond Twitter’s unusual set of circumstances, other social media giants are also facing a new reckoning brought on by a whiplash in demand and worsening economic climate. As users and developers confront sweeping changes to how social networking might function, digital rights groups are urging that this can also be a time to regroup and rebuild based on past lessons.
“The problems of living under a system dominated by unaccountable, vast corporations seemed inescapable. But growth has stagnated for these centralized platforms, and Twitter is in the midst of an ugly meltdown,” Cindy Cohn and Rory Mir of the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in a blogpost. “Our hearts go out to the thousands of workers mistreated or let go by the incumbent players.”
“The major platforms have already screwed it up,” Cohn and Mir added, “but now we have the chance to get it right and build something better.”
Lily-Rose Depp is the latest star to grace Elle’s cover (alongside her co-star, Blackpink’s Jennie Kim), promoting HBO Max’s forthcoming series “The Idol.” In the accompanying story, which has now been widely circulated, Depp shared some thoughts on being called a “nepo baby” — and let’s just say her remarks have sparked some reactions among major fashion-industry figures.
“I’m familiar. The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff,” Depp tells Véronique Hyland in the interview. “People are going to have pre-conceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part.”
The 23-year-old then adds: “The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.”
The term “nepo baby” — short for “nepotism baby” — references the privilege that comes with being part of a wealthy, powerful family. In the past year, Hollywood stars like Maude Apatow and Zoë Kravitz have also been criticized for having their careers easily fed to them from a silver spoon. So have models like Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Gigi and Bella Hadid.
As is made clear by her name, Depp is the daughter of actors Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis — the latter also a longtime Chanel muse and model. After nabbing a few film roles, Depp has been seen across various magazine covers, music videos and is hounded by paparazzi. She’s now largely regarded for her modeling career, and was even selected by the late Karl Lagerfeld to be Chanel’s ambassador for its Chanel No. 5 fragrance when she was only 17 years old.
Since Depp’s cover story released on Nov. 17, some of the industry’s biggest models have responded with their own perspectives on nepotism and privilege.
Italian model Vittoria Ceretti, who has been in the industry since the age of 14, took to Instagram to share her thoughts.
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“Just want to share a thought here because I can,” she began in a now-deleted Instagram Story post. “I bumped into an interview of a so-called ‘nepo baby,’ whatever y’all call it… Yes, I get the whole ‘Im here and I work hard for it,’ but I would really love to see if you would have lasted thru the first five years of my career. Not only being rejected, because I know you have an experience with it and you can tell me your sad little story about it (even if at the end of the day you can still always go cry on your dad’s couch in your villa in Malibu).”
Ceretti, now 24, continued, “You have no fucking idea how much you have to fight to make people respect you. TAKES YEARS. you just get it by free day one.” She finished with, “I know it’s not your fault, but please, appreciate and know the place you came from.”
On Friday morning, Anok Yai also commented on the situation. The Egyptian-born Sudanese-American model recalled the difficult early days of her career on her Instagram Story. “I remember at the beginning of my career…there was this perceived notion that I had an upper hand, [but] I can tell you it was quite the opposite.”
Yai revealed that when she moved to New York, she had only college debt and $30 in her name, and it wasn’t until a photo of her during Howard University’s 2017 Homecoming went viral that her career took off. Even then, she said, she’s had to fight for every single thing.
“Just weeks into my career, my agent sat me down and told me – ‘Everyone thinks you’re rich now so you have to play the part…’ I remember barely being able to afford living in New York but having to budget out flights, hotels and cars for work; taking out loans so I could buy food, drowning in debt, seeing myself on billboards but having a few dollars to my name. I didn’t mind – I wanted to earn my stripes.”
She then added that, “I will see some of you privilege kids stress about not booking a job because of the impact of your career while there are those of us who stress because we don’t know if we’ll be able to take care of our parents this months or put our siblings through school.”
She wrapped up her post by summarizing an unfortunate reality of the modeling industry for many, writing, “What bothers me is when power players in the industry (brands, directors, editors, etc) pretend to be ignorant to that fact…I know you work hard and have your struggles like the rest of us, but goddamn if you only knew the hell we go through to stand in the same room that you were born in.”
Al Roker was hospitalized last week after “some medical whack-a-mole.” The longtime “Today” show anchor posted on Instagram on Friday that he is now recovering after doctors found blood clots.
Roker, 68, has a long history of medical issues. Just two years ago, he announced on NBC’s “Today” that he had prostate cancer and had to have the organ removed. He’s also had several surgeries to address issues with his hip and knees. He announced the latest complication in an Instagram caption alongside a photo of an autumn-colored floral bouquet.
“So many of you have been thoughtfully asking where I’ve been,” he said. “Last week I was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in my leg which sent some clots into my lungs. After some medical whack-a-mole, I am so fortunate to be getting terrific medical care and on the way to recovery.”
Roker had been noticeably absent from the NBC broadcast for several days, which his fellow anchors addressed on the show on Friday.
“He’s in great spirits,” Hoda Kotb said.
Dylan Dreyer chimed in, saying that the first time she called Roker to see how he was feeling, he immediately said, “Hey, Dilly-Dyl, how are the boys?” referencing her sons.
“That’s classic Al,” she said.
Roker has been a staple at NBC for decades and has been working in broadcast since the mid-’70s. His claim to fame has been his weather updates and he has won several Daytime Emmy Awards for his newscasts. His cheery demeanor has not faltered throughout his career, even in programming that’s followed his most difficult triumphs.
Even with years of health issues, the longtime weatherman completed the Brooklyn Half Marathon just six months ago.
“There is a sense of accomplishment,” he told “Today” after crossing the finish line in Coney Island. “It’s like, ‘Wow, this is something 22,000 people did. Not everybody can do it.’ And you do feel like, ‘Oh, OK, I did that!’”
Maanasa Gopal from Singapore went the extra mile by delivering food to her customer in Antarctica. She covered the world’s longest distance to deliver food from Singapore to Antarctica.
Maanasa shared her journey on an Instagram video wherein she mentioned about covering over 30,000 km and four continents to deliver food in Antarctica.
In the video, one can see her travelling while carrying with a food packet in her hand. She started the journey from Singapore, then traveled to Hamburg, to Buenos Ares and Ushuaia, and then finally reached Antarctica. The clip follows Gopal passing through multiple snowy and muddy paths. And crossing all paths, she delivers the food to her customer.
In the post, she wrote that she did a special food delivery in Antarctica from Singapore.”Super excited to partner with the amazing folks at @foodpandasg to pull this off. It’s not every day that you get to deliver Singaporean flavours across 30,000+ km and four continents to one of the most remote places on earth!,” her caption read.
The video has garnered more than 38,000 views with several comments. A social media user commented, “Incredible,” while another user called the act,”Insaneeee.” A user named Patel asked how much did the customer paid for delivery.
“Wow….you did an excellent committed task and first time in history for such a long way delivery from SGP to Antarctica,” the fourth user commented.
Maanasa in a separate post revealed that in 2021 she tried to raise funds for her Antarctic expedition while she was looking for a brand to sponser it. She added that last month, she got a reply from Food Panda and that the delivery brand wanted to make it happen.
Meta Platforms Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday that WhatsApp and Messenger would drive the company’s next wave of sales growth, as he sought to assuage concerns about Meta’s finances after its first mass layoffs.
Zuckerberg, addressing pointed questions at a company-wide meeting a week after Meta said it would lay off 11,000 workers, described the pair of messaging apps as being “very early in monetizing” compared to its advertising juggernauts Facebook and Instagram, according to remarks heard by Reuters.
“We talk a lot about the very long-term opportunities like the metaverse, but the reality is that business messaging is probably going to be the next major pillar of our business as we work to monetize WhatsApp and Messenger more,” he said.
Meta enables some consumers to speak and transact with merchants through the chat apps, including a new feature announced Thursday in Brazil. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday’s internal forum.
Zuckerberg’s comments there reflect a shift in tone and emphasis after focusing heavily on extended reality hardware and software investments since announcing a long-term ambition to build out an immersive metaverse last year.
Investors have questioned the wisdom of that decision as Meta’s core advertising business has struggled this year, more than halving its stock price.
In his remarks to employees, Zuckerberg played down how much the company was spending in Reality Labs, the unit responsible for its metaverse investments.
People were Meta’s biggest expense, followed by capital expenditure, the vast majority of which went to infrastructure to support its suite of social media apps, he said. About 20% of Meta’s budget was going to Reality Labs.
Within Reality Labs, the unit was spending over half of its budget on augmented reality (AR), with smart glasses products continuing to emerge “over the next few years” and some “truly great” AR glasses later in the decade, Zuckerberg said.
“This is in some ways the most challenging work … but I also think it’s the most valuable potential part of the work over time,” he said.
About 40% of Reality Labs’ budget went toward virtual reality, while about 10% was spent on futuristic social platforms such as the virtual world it calls Horizon.
Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth, who runs Reality Labs, said AR glasses need to be more useful than mobile phones to appeal to potential customers and meet a higher bar for attractiveness.
Bosworth said he was wary of developing “industrial applications” for the devices, describing that as “niche,” and wanted to stay focused on building for a broad audience.
Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Philipp Plein
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Thursday.
Inside the mind of Steven Klein For Business of Fashion, Tim Blanks profiles fashion photographer Steven Klein and explores the stories behind some of his most notable photographs. When it comes to his typically violent and bloody images, Klein says, “Instead of avoiding things, I like to address them.” He goes on to explain, “there are always hidden messages in my work. Being really honest, I’m not always sure what they are.” When Blanks asks how his work translates to his real life, Klein proposes, “What the real story is, is up to the viewer.” {Business of Fashion}
PETA launches $1 million prize for vegan wool PETA has launched a competition that will award $1 million to the first person or small business that produces a comparable vegan alternative to wool. Entrants have until July 28, 2023 to submit their fabric samples and production plans to the animal rights group at Peta.org. {Business of Fashion}
The Fashion Act announces new amendments Lead sponsors Assemblymember Dr. Anna Kelles, Senator Alessandra Biaggi and supporters have introduced new amendments that “clarify and strengthen” the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act and give stakeholders more of a say. Assemblymember Kelles said in a statement, “This bill is the first of its kind and would require that clothing brands not only map their supply chain but, most critically, would hold them accountable for any inhumane labor practices and environmental footprint embedded in their supply chains.” More detailed information about the new amendments can be found at thefashionact.org. {Fashionista inbox}
Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta has appointed Sandhya Devanathan as the Vice President of its India vertical – Meta India. She will take over from January 1, 2023, and will report to Meta APAC Vice President Dan Neary. Devanathan will move back to India and lead the company’s organisation and strategy in the country. She will focus on bringing the organisation’s business and revenue priorities together to help partners and clients while supporting the long-term growth of Meta’s India business.
The incoming Meta India Vice President will also focus on strengthening strategic relationships with leading brands, advertisers, creators, and partners to drive the behemoth’s revenue growth in India. She has over two decades of experience and an international career in areas such as banking, payments, and technology.
The industry veteran joined Meta in 2016 and played a significant role in building out Meta’s Singapore and Vietnam businesses and the company’s e-commerce initiatives in Southeast Asia. Devanathan led the company’s gaming vertical for APAC, one of the largest Meta verticals globally.
She is also an executive sponsor for Women@APAC and the global lead for Meta’s global initiative aimed at diverse representation in the gaming industry Play Forward. Besides, she is also on the global board of Pepper Financial Services.
“Sandhya has a proven track record of scaling businesses, building exceptional and inclusive teams, driving product innovation, and building strong partnerships,” Meta Chief Business Officer Marne Levine said on Devanathan’s appointment.
Devanathan’s appointment comes as global tech giants are laying off thousands of employees given the uncertain economic situation. Meta fired around 11,000 employees earlier this week and several Indians have been impacted. Zuckerberg said in a blog post that the company will provide immigration support to foreign employees.
