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LinkedIn is testing out new ways to bring audio-only content onto its platform as interest in the medium surges. The Microsoft-owned company is the latest tech platform to dip its toe into audio. Newcomer audio chat-room app Clubhouse has added millions of users in the last year and inspired a slew of copycat produc...

TikTok has become a focus area for ESPN and its strategy has been effective.In the past year, ESPN saw the second-biggest spike in new followers among brands on the app (behind Netflix), a report from the video-analytics firm Conviva found. It now has around 14 million followers on its main account and over 1 millio...

Summary List PlacementAlex Atallah is tired. The 28-year-old New Yorker is the cofounder and CTO at OpenSea, a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In recent weeks, he said he'd been working from 9 a.m. until two in the morning as interest in buying and selling digital items surges.  "Last year at this time we were doing about $1 million a month [in trading volume],"...

Summary List PlacementNetflix and ESPN added the most followers among brands on TikTok last year, found a new study of 900 accounts by the video-analytics firm Conviva.  The two companies attracted around 10 million new fans on their main accounts between February 2020 and February 2021. (Netflix added an additional 6.4 million followers on its Spanish-language account, Netflix Español, during the same period.) Other fast-growing...

Summary List PlacementTikTok has become a launching point for a new crop of internet stars and upstart media brands. Many are using the app to build out full-fledged businesses.  But TikTok's recent growth hasn't only benefited newcomers. The app has also been a boon for some traditional media companies. Publishers like The Washington Post, NPR's "Planet Money," and Yahoo News have turned to TikTok...

Summary List PlacementThe price of bitcoin crossed $30,000 for the first time on Saturday as the digital currency continued its rally into the new year.  Bitcoin reached a high of $33,136.92, a spike of around 14% over the last 24 hours. The cryptocurrency has been breaking record-after-record in recent days, passing the $20,000 price point a little over two weeks ago and edging toward...

Summary List PlacementIt's been a noisy year for TikTok. After smashing downloads records at the start of the year, the ByteDance-owned app was blocked in India and later became a target of the Trump administration, which is pushing for a US ban or forced sale.  With so much buzz around its early success and political issues, TikTok has regularly made its way into the...

Summary List PlacementAlexa Collins works full time as a social-media influencer and has over 1 million Instagram followers. Since kicking off her Instagram account in March 2016, Collins' steady stream of swimsuit and dog photos, clothing (and occasionally tax accounting) promotions, and product placements have provided the 25-year-old Miami resident with a steady income.  "I started this a while ago, and it takes a...

Summary List Placement When the NBA, NHL, and other live sports ground to halt in March, esports took on more of the spotlight at sports-media outlets including ESPN. The cable network started airing "League of Legends," "NBA 2K," and "Rocket League" tournaments on its secondary channel. And its esports division, used to covering events from around the world remotely, pressed on. It covered championships,...

Startups are eyeing social-media stars as potential customers for financial services products as the influencer industry continues to grow.  Last month, the fintech startup Karat introduced a custom charge card for influencers, looking at a creator's social metrics, like follower count and engagement rates, rather than their FICO score to assess whether they qualify for its card. This week, the influencer-tech company ChannelMeter is...

The music artist Eminem has joined the text-marketing app Community, announcing to fans this week that they can text him at 313-666-7440. The rapper appears to be using Community to promote a new line of merchandise he's releasing to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his album "The Marshall Mathers LP." Here's what you should know about how Community works, and why the platform has...

Instagram influencers have been leaning into the app's "Live" and "Stories" features in recent weeks as many of their followers spend more time on social media during the coronavirus pandemic.  Daily views on Instagram Stories jumped 21% in the middle of March, according to a new survey of 1,021 Instagram creators by the influencer-marketing platform Klear.  Between March 15 and April 14, use of...

Olivia Jade Giannulli, whose parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannull have been charged in the college-admissions scandal, appears to be ramping up her influencer-marketing efforts on Instagram. In the past 24 hours, Jade posted links to two Amazon pages in her Instagram Story using affiliate-marketing links that suggest she could earn a commission from resulting sales.  Jade also reshared a photo of herself posted...

The adventure and travel influencer JJ Yosh and his cat Simon have 2.8 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.  The duo became popular on social media after posting photos and videos of their hiking trips in Colorado and other outdoor destinations. Yosh and Simon often sell sponsored content on their social channels as a package, attracting five-figure deals with brands, Yosh said. The pair...