Twitter

Twitter kicked off pilot tests this week for three new ad formats: Interactive Text Ads, Product Explorer Ads and Collection Ads. Group Product Manager Madeleine Bayer and Product Manager Lauren Nagra said all three formats will be visible to U.S. users on Android, iOS and the web, adding: “As we kick off early experiments, we’ll aim to understand how the new formats resonate with consumers and drive results for advertisers. We’ll test, learn and iterate based on performance and customer feedback.”

The company is undertaking a far-reaching effort to change how it works. For some, it is an echo of their early idealism and a vision for what the internet could have been.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is forcing big tech companies to decide how to handle state-controlled media outlets that spread propaganda and misinformation on behalf of the invaders.

Twitter said on Thursday that its revenue grew more slowly than analysts had expected in the last quarter 2021, and the company predicted that it would report a loss in the current quarter. But it added new users, potentially easing concerns that it was having a hard time drawing interest in an increasingly diverse market for social media.

A project from Twitter and Social News Desk lets newsrooms upload up to six images and videos into a single tweet, and some are already using it to offer more expansive winter weather coverage on the platform.

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol issued subpoenas on Thursday to four major social media companies — Alphabet, Meta, Reddit and Twitter — criticizing them for allowing extremism to spread on their platforms and saying they have failed to cooperate adequately with the inquiry.

T-Mobile is dropping out of CES 2022 because of COVID-19 concerns, the company said Tuesday, with CEO Mike Sievert no longer scheduled to deliver a keynote presentation either in person or virtually. Meta and Twitter came to the same decision, it was announced Tuesday. CES is set to take place during the first week of January, in Las Vegas.

Twitter’s new chief executive, Parag Agrawal, said on Friday that he would reorganize top leadership at the company and that two key executives would depart. The shake-up was the first sign of change under Mr. Agrawal, who took the reins of the social media company on Monday after its co-founder and chief executive, Jack Dorsey, announced his resignation.

Dorsey will remain on the board until his term expires in 2022. He has been succeeded by Twitter’s current chief technology officer, Parag Agrawal. Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011 and has been CTO since 2017.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is expected to step down from his executive role, sources tell CNBC’s David Faber. Twitter stock was up on the news before being halted due to news pending. Dorsey, 45, currently serves as both the CEO of Twitter and Square, his digital payments company.

The San Francisco-based company said Tuesday that its net loss was $536.8 million, or 67 cents per share, in the July-September quarter. That’s down from a profit of $28.7 million, or 4 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Variety and Twitter have partnered on what Variety calls “a unique, first-of-its-kind chart” that ranks the most tweeted about TV shows across network television and streaming. The three Variety Trending TV charts, powered by Twitter, will detail the top 10 programs that are organically bubbling up on the social platform, analyze the day-to-day movement of the top three shows and provide a heat map of which shows are resonating across the country.

Twitter has rolled out new ad features and revamped the algorithm that decides which ads users see, as part of an effort by the the social networking company to lay the groundwork to launch future e-commerce features.

Former president Donald Trump on Friday sought a court order requiring Twitter to restore his account. In a 38-page request for an injunction, Trump’s lawyers argue that his continued absence from Twitter could hurt the Republican Party’s chances of winning future elections.

Government regulation will never fix everything wrong with online discourse. The industry needs to develop professional norms—just as journalism once did.

If approved by the court, the settlement will resolve a class-action claim that Twitter misled investors in 2015.

The survey found that “a sizable portion” of U.S. adults (48%) say they get news “sometimes” or “often” from social media sites.

The San Francisco-based company earned $65.6 million, or 8 cents per share, in the April-June quarter. That’s up from a loss of $1.38 billion, or $1.75 per share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 74% to $1.19 billion from $683.4 million, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations. Ad revenue in the U.S. alone nearly doubled.

Trump announced the action against Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube, along with the companies’ CEOs, at a press conference in New Jersey on Wednesday. He was joined by other plaintiffs in the suits, which were filed in federal court in Miami.

Twitter is partnering with veteran climate journalist and meteorologist Eric Holthaus to launch a local weather news service on the platform called “Tomorrow” that will be built using all of Twitter’s new creator products — from paid newsletters to ticketed live audio rooms and more.

Twitter stressed live content and real-time connection in its presentation at the 2021 Digital NewFronts on Wednesday. The company also announced a slate of new and expanded video-based content partnerships. “Twitter is not only a second screen, but it’s also the first scroll when anything is happening in the world,” said Jen Prince, Twitter’s global head of content, in a recent interview.

Twitter is acquiring Scroll, a subscription service that removes ads from participating news sites. Scroll, which charges $5 per month, is going into private beta with Twitter in preparation for being incorporated in a broader subscription service later this year, Scroll CEO Tony Haile said in a blog post.

The San Francisco-based company earned $68 million, or 8 cents per share, in the January-March period. That’s up from a loss of $8.4 million, or 1 cent per share, a year earlier. Revenue grew 28% to $1.04 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting a loss of 2 cents per share on revenue of $1.03 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.

A months-long war of words between CNN and Project Veritas has escalated into an actual libel suit. On Tuesday, James O’Keefe’s operation filed a complaint in Georgia after a CNN anchor discussed Twitter’s suspension of Project Veritas and attempted to explain that “this is part of a much broader crackdown … by social media giants on accounts that are promoting misinformation.”

Usually, when social media executives are brought to testify in front of Congress, the hearings are centered on specific policies and types of content, misinfo and foreign interference, antitrust issues, and privacy concerns. What doesn’t quite get as much attention are the engines that drive these platforms: their algorithms. That’s what makes Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube different. The hearing is entirely focused on social media algorithms.

It said the case is moot. There were no noted dissents, but Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to say the court at some point will need to examine the power of tech media companies.

The chief executives of Twitter, Alphabet and Facebook (l-r: Jack Dorsey, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg) will appear before a House panel, where they will face questions about social media’s role in fomenting discord and their decisions to suspend or ban former President Trump.

Facebook overwhelmingly is the most important social media platform for TV stations, say executives for CBS stations, E.W. Scripps, Nexstar, NBCU stations, Fox stations and Meredith. Broadcasters’ relationship with the platform once widely viewed as a “frenemy” continues to evolve, though the opacity of its all-important algorithm still frustrates. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.

The tensions in newsrooms over reporters’ social media presence are not just about politics. Above, in 2012, David Carr, a New York Times media columnist, spotted the way social media had begun to shift the balance of power in newsrooms.

In an effort to combat misinformation, Twitter says it hopes to build a community of “Birdwatchers” that can eventually help moderate and label tweets in its main product.

“I do not celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban @realDonaldTrump from Twitter,“ Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wrote. But he added: ”I believe this was the right decision for Twitter.” Dorsey acknowledged that shows of strength like the Trump ban could set dangerous precedents, even calling them a sign of “failure.” Although not in so many words, Dorsey suggested that Twitter needs to find ways to avoid having to make such decisions in the first place.

Twitter shares plunged by more than 10% Monday in early morning trading following the social media giant’s move to ban President Trump, reflecting fears of political retribution and financial fallout stemming from the company’s decision.

Twitter on Friday permanently suspended President Donald Trump from the site, meting out its toughest punishment two days after a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”