8.13.2016
Good to Know: Been watching the Rio Olympics? There’s about two weeks left. We hear it’s best to stream.
THE SKINNY
When You’re the Outlier …
Post the Republican and Democratic National conventions, opinion polls are showing that it’ll be Hillary over Trump come this November. But, app maker Ric Militi says otherwise.
When You’re Confused …
When You’re A Judgment-Free Zone …
Militi says the discrepancy between opinion polls and his app comes down to anonymity. He says his app allows people to answer questions and express their feelings without anyone knowing their identity. He says people feel free to say what they want without being judged and labeled for their opinions.
When You Need Answers …
What do you think? Is Militi onto something? Tweet us with you think @virtual_skinny. #My6WordOpinion
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Play Your Cards Right…
Tech companies are going public like they used to, but employees still want to cash in on their company shares. Private tech startups are hearing them loud and clear and are trying to do right by their employees. Pinterest and SpaceX are leading the way. Employees can sell their ‘startup shares’ – with strings, of course.
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
Message him maybe? President Obama just copped himself a Facebook Messenger account. The goal is to “meet people where they are.”
Snapchat’s filters aren’t always a hit. The app released its “anime-inspired” filter, and it didn’t go well. Asian users took to Twitter to call out the app for its “yellowface” app. A similar reaction happened back in April when Snapchat put out its Bob Marley app in honor of 4/20. People were not ok with it on account of “blackface” and all. Snapchat took the filter down a couple of days later. But, we gotta ask! When will they learn?
Speaking of filters gone bad … BuzzFeed’s saying that Twitter filtered out abusive comments during Q&A sessions with President Obama and celeb Caitlyn Jenner. This all allegedly went down while former CEO Dick Costolo was CEO. Costolo said it never happened. The issue? Twitter may be treating celebs differently than regular folks on its platform. Celebs, maybe they aren’t just like us after all…
Facebook’s on a mission. First, the company kicked off its take down of clickbait. Now, it’s changing up its secret algorithm sauce to show people more content they care about to keep them informed. That’s right… Keep ‘em coming back for more.
Netflix’s ‘Making of a Murder’ was a huge hit. Now, the documentary’s main subject Brendan Dassey just got his conviction overturned.
If you’re a gamer, Spotify’s got something for ya! The music streaming service just launched a new portal dedicated to video game music. Enjoy!
Ride-hailing service company Lyft just told GM, “your money’s no good here.” It’s turned down GM’s advances to buy out the startup.
MAKIN’ MOVES
Co-founder of the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington, has been trying to get us to sleep and take care of ourselves for a while now. She even wrote a book about it. But, now she’s done talking. Huffington said she’ll no longer be the head EIC of the online media company. She’s now heading up Thrive Global, a “corporate and consumer well-being and productivity platform.” Think wellness type stuff for corporate employees.
Bill Maris, founder and CEO of Google Ventures, thinks he’s done all he can to get the company’s investing arm on the right track. He’s decided to leave the company on a high note to spend time with his fam. Maris will be leaving GV in the hands of David Krane, Google’s former PR guy.