Content warning: This story contains descriptions of violent acts against people and animals, accounts of sexual harassment and post-traumatic stress disorder, and other potentially disturbing content.Keith Utley loved to help.First, he served in the Coast Guard, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. He married, had a family, and devoted himself utterly to his two little girls. After he got out of the military, he worked as a moderator for Facebook, where he purged the social network of the worst stuff that its users post on a daily basis: the hate speech, the murders, the...…Content warning: This story contains descriptions of violent acts against people and animals, accounts of sexual harassment and post-traumatic stress disorder, and other potentially disturbing content.Keith Utley loved to help.First, he served in the Coast Guard, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. He married, had a family, and devoted himself utterly to his two little girls. After he got out of the military, he worked as a moderator for Facebook, where he purged the social network of the worst stuff that its users post on a daily basis: the hate speech, the murders, the...WW…

ALL HANDS ON DECKIn two hours of leaked audio, Mark Zuckerberg rallies Facebook employees against critics, competitors, and the US government.July should have been a relief for Facebook. The company ,after having essentially .It settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleged that it had misled investors about the risks of user data being mishandled, for .And Facebook , beating investor expectations and sending its stock priceup.But inside the company, the mood remained anxious. Several 2020 presidential candidates, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), had called...…ALL HANDS ON DECKIn two hours of leaked audio, Mark Zuckerberg rallies Facebook employees against critics, competitors, and the US government.July should have been a relief for Facebook. The company ,after having essentially .It settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleged that it had misled investors about the risks of user data being mishandled, for .And Facebook , beating investor expectations and sending its stock priceup.But inside the company, the mood remained anxious. Several 2020 presidential candidates, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), had called...WW…

The Verge logo. Facebook has reportedly reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over repeated privacy violations, . According to the Journal, the FTC voted this week to approve a $5 billion settlement, which has now moved to the Justice Department’s civil division for review. It is unclear how long the review will take.A Facebook spokesman declined to comment or confirm the report. The and later confirmed the details in the Journal’s report.The Journal reported that the FTC voted along party lines, with three Republican commissioners voting in favor of the settlement and two...…The Verge logo. Facebook has reportedly reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over repeated privacy violations, . According to the Journal, the FTC voted this week to approve a $5 billion settlement, which has now moved to the Justice Department’s civil division for review. It is unclear how long the review will take.A Facebook spokesman declined to comment or confirm the report. The and later confirmed the details in the Journal’s report.The Journal reported that the FTC voted along party lines, with three Republican commissioners voting in favor of the settlement and two...WW…

Share this postwww.platformer.newsCasey NewtonNov 17, 2023∙ Paid26Share this postwww.platformer.news6ShareToday let’s talk about one of my favorite productivity companies and the challenge it now faces from a tech giant. It’s a story that speaks to the challenges of competing with software bundles in a world with only minimal antitrust enforcement — even when the challenger’s product is significantly better. Seven years ago this month, Slack was riding high…Subscribe to to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.Already a paid subscriber?...…Share this postwww.platformer.newsCasey NewtonNov 17, 2023∙ Paid26Share this postwww.platformer.news6ShareToday let’s talk about one of my favorite productivity companies and the challenge it now faces from a tech giant. It’s a story that speaks to the challenges of competing with software bundles in a world with only minimal antitrust enforcement — even when the challenger’s product is significantly better. Seven years ago this month, Slack was riding high…Subscribe to to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.Already a paid subscriber?...WW…

Filed under:The president has built a daily online reality show, but the presumptive Democratic nominee is still broadcasting from the garageThe Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy. Subscribe .The biggest story of today is the creeping sense that , with the average number of new cases rising slightly throughout the month to around 29,500 per day. Large swathes of the country are preparing to re-open for business even as all signs point to the likelihood that, for all of our collective efforts to send the novel coronavirus into...…Filed under:The president has built a daily online reality show, but the presumptive Democratic nominee is still broadcasting from the garageThe Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy. Subscribe .The biggest story of today is the creeping sense that , with the average number of new cases rising slightly throughout the month to around 29,500 per day. Large swathes of the country are preparing to re-open for business even as all signs point to the likelihood that, for all of our collective efforts to send the novel coronavirus into...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postEv Williams gives upwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailJul 13Share this postEv Williams gives upwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailFew tech CEOs can claim to have steered the course of online conversation more than Ev Williams. In 1999 he co-founded Blogger, which helped to take blogging mainstream with a well designed, free tool that sold to Google four years later. In 2006 Williams and his co-founder followed with Twitter, which remains one of the most influential social networks in the world.Medium declined to make Mr. Williams...…SubscribeSign inShare this postEv Williams gives upwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailJul 13Share this postEv Williams gives upwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailFew tech CEOs can claim to have steered the course of online conversation more than Ev Williams. In 1999 he co-founded Blogger, which helped to take blogging mainstream with a well designed, free tool that sold to Google four years later. In 2006 Williams and his co-founder followed with Twitter, which remains one of the most influential social networks in the world.Medium declined to make Mr. Williams...WW…

The idea was much easier to imagine than it was to build: Figma was building in stealth mode for three years before its first public preview. But the hard technical work paid off: Figma was a hit with designers almost immediately, as the real-time collaboration it enabled made design processes — particularly software design processes — much more efficient than they had before.Highlights of our conversation follow; this interview has been edited for clarity and length. Casey Newton: Are you tired of talking about this acquisition yet?Dylan Field: laughsSo any time a beloved tool gets bought,...…The idea was much easier to imagine than it was to build: Figma was building in stealth mode for three years before its first public preview. But the hard technical work paid off: Figma was a hit with designers almost immediately, as the real-time collaboration it enabled made design processes — particularly software design processes — much more efficient than they had before.Highlights of our conversation follow; this interview has been edited for clarity and length. Casey Newton: Are you tired of talking about this acquisition yet?Dylan Field: laughsSo any time a beloved tool gets bought,...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postMusk flips Twitter the birdwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 28Share this postMusk flips Twitter the birdwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailupOn Wednesday, he tweeted a meme to his more than 86 million followers with the face of Twitter’s top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, that appeared to suggest the company’s decisions are affected by a “left wing bias.” The tweet came hours after he criticized a 2020 policy decision Gadde made, and was in response to an earlier tweet from a political podcast host calling her the company’s “top...…SubscribeSign inShare this postMusk flips Twitter the birdwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 28Share this postMusk flips Twitter the birdwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailupOn Wednesday, he tweeted a meme to his more than 86 million followers with the face of Twitter’s top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, that appeared to suggest the company’s decisions are affected by a “left wing bias.” The tweet came hours after he criticized a 2020 policy decision Gadde made, and was in response to an earlier tweet from a political podcast host calling her the company’s “top...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postInside Twitter's emotional Friday all-handswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 29Share this postInside Twitter's emotional Friday all-handswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailLate Thursday night, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the company would hold an all-hands meeting to address employee questions related to Elon Musk’s planned acquisition of the company. Employees I spoke with were somewhat surprised; it seemed clear that executives know little more about Musk’s plans than he has disclosed in public, and Twitter has been...…SubscribeSign inShare this postInside Twitter's emotional Friday all-handswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 29Share this postInside Twitter's emotional Friday all-handswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailLate Thursday night, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the company would hold an all-hands meeting to address employee questions related to Elon Musk’s planned acquisition of the company. Employees I spoke with were somewhat surprised; it seemed clear that executives know little more about Musk’s plans than he has disclosed in public, and Twitter has been...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postSheryl Sandberg calls it quitswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailJun 2Share this postSheryl Sandberg calls it quitswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailSandberg’s announcement came on the first day of June, though it might just as easily have come on any other day this year. Or in the past seven years, really. Sandberg held many roles at Facebook over the years, and helped guide it through several tumultuous periods. In conversations with people who worked closely with her, though, there were really only two distinct eras in Sandberg’s...…SubscribeSign inShare this postSheryl Sandberg calls it quitswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailJun 2Share this postSheryl Sandberg calls it quitswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailSandberg’s announcement came on the first day of June, though it might just as easily have come on any other day this year. Or in the past seven years, really. Sandberg held many roles at Facebook over the years, and helped guide it through several tumultuous periods. In conversations with people who worked closely with her, though, there were really only two distinct eras in Sandberg’s...WW…