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Netflix and Instagram team up for a series of live COVID-19 chats
Tomorrow, Netflix and Instagram are launching a weekly series in which stars from Netflix’s popular young adult content will discuss self-care during the pandemic. Wanna Talk About It? will air every Thursday at 7PM ET on the @Netflix Instagram account, Deadline reports.
An old Instagram hoax is back, and it's duping celebrities
An Instagram hoax that first circulated in 2012 is back, and celebrities from Usher to Waka Flocka Flame, Julianne Moore, Julia Roberts and Rob Lowe have allegedly fallen for it. The post claims Instagram is changing its rules and everything you've ever posted will become public, NBC News reports.
Snapchat launches Creator Shows with Serena Williams and Kevin Hart
In the last year, the time spent watching Shows on Snapchat has tripled. The company wants to take advantage of that. Today, it announced Creator Shows, a new format that will deliver regularly published content from some of Snapchat's most popular stars. It's also adding a Highlights feature, which will let Creators add longer-lasting photos and videos to their profiles.
Unsecured database exposed thousands of Instagram influencers (updated)
A database containing contact information for what was originally thought to be millions of Instagram influencers was reportedly found online, exposing info like phone numbers and email addresses for celebrities, influencers and brand accounts. According to TechCrunch, the database was hosted on Amazon Web Services and left without a password. Original reports claimed it contained as many as 49 million records, but Instagram has since confirmed that the database contained records for about 350,000 accounts.
Instagram lets you buy what Kim Kardashian wears right from the app
With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram sees a major opportunity to disrupt online shopping. And, over the past year or so, the company has been working hard to make shopping a cornerstone feature of its app. Just last month, it started allowing users buy products from a select group of brands without leaving the application, and now it's taking that one step further by opening up these features to celebrities, athletes and influencers. Starting next week, Instagram will make it easy for you to shop looks from your favorite creators: They'll now be able to tag products in their posts, giving you the ability to buy whatever they may be wearing (from apparel to cosmetics) directly from the app.
Google's latest iOS app is built for celebrity Q&A
Google is giving stars another direct line to their fans with Cameos, a Q&A app that's targeted towards public figures. They can share their video answers in the knowledge panel on their Google search result pages, so there's an incentive for celebrities to get involved and ensure information about them is accurate.
Instagram opens its paid post tools to more 'influencers'
In June, Instagram introduced a new tool that makes sponsored content a little more obvious. The feature allows users posting images and stories that qualify as ads to make that clear right up top with a "Paid partnership with [brand]" tag. That tool was expanded to more users in August and now, Instagram has made it available to users with a high level of engagement and anyone with access to its Insights data -- Instagram's analytics tool for those with a business account. Additionally, those that can use the tool will also begin receiving notifications when Instagram systems detect a post that could be an ad but hasn't been tagged as such.
How Kevin Durant’s attempt to clap back at trolls backfired
What does an NBA champion and Finals MVP have in common with Taylor Swift? In the case of the Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant, it's that internet trolls love calling them snakes. Swift earned that label last year after a feud with Kim Kardashian and husband, Kanye West; for Durant, that scorn came after he decided to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder to join a main Western Conference rival, the Warriors. Since that day, July 4th, 2016, his mentions have been overtaken by angry basketball fans calling him a cupcake, coward, sellout, traitor and, yes, a snake. That's right, a cupcake and a snake.
Celebrities are vanishing from social media to make a statement
Platforms like Instagram and Twitter have taken the relationship between celebrities and fans to new heights. Those who follow famous people on social media feel closer to them than ever before, since these networks act as a window into the lavish personal lives of individuals they admire. Celebs can share anything from selfies and family pictures to random thoughts about topics they feel strongly about. But, as we've seen with Kanye West, Solange Knowles and Taylor Swift recently, that online presence doesn't last forever. Some vanish for unknown reasons (West), while others do it because of the current political climate (Solange) or as a marketing scheme to promote a fresh music album (Swift). And if you're Rob Kardashian, well, you just get banned for revenge porn.
FTC letters warn social media stars about advertising labels
Over the last few months, the feds have slowly turned their attention to the spread of advertising over social media. With a lack of rules and information, celebrity "influencers" paid to push products on their growing audiences haven't had consistent guidelines on how to reveal those relationships. Last year, the FTC pressed brands to educate influencers, and now it has sent over 90 letters to influencers and marketers alike. Those letters indicate that any material connection between an endorser and advertiser "should be clearly and conspicuously disclosed, unless it is already clear from the context of the communication."
Second 'celebgate' hacker sentenced to nine months in prison
For his part in the "celebgate" celebrity hacking scandal, 29-year-old Chicago man Edward Majerczyk will be sentenced to nine months in federal prison. Last July, Majerczyk agreed to plead guilty to felony computer hacking charges, admitting that he scammed more than 300 people, including 30 celebrities, in order to steal their Gmail and iCloud account info.
Nicki Minaj's new game could make you a rap star
It's hard to believe anyone that's not a Kardashian, a Jenner or a Ramsay can successfully make a game about their careers, but Nicki Minaj's new app actually sounds like fun. Through a collaboration with Glu Mobile -- the same company behind those Kim Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Gordon Ramsay games -- Minaj made The Empire, a game that focuses on rap music and lets players create their own songs. In addition, you can record your own voice (rapping your own words) into the app, and Minaj herself (or her minions, anyway) will select the best few to showcase on her social media accounts. The Empire is now available on iOS and Android, and from my few days playing a beta preview, it seems like more than just another celebrity-branded app.
The Notorious B.I.G. might be going on tour in hologram form
ARHT (Augmented Reality Holographic Technology) Media announced on Monday that it has acquired the digital rights to Biggie Smalls' likeness and will resurrect the famed rapper as a hologram. He (it?) is expected to appear in a new music video before potentially going on tour. "What we're gonna start with is a video with the first single from [Faith Evan's upcoming duets compilation] The King & I then I think Faith wants to do a little tour," ARHT Media founder Rene Bharti told Billboard.
ICYMI: Hypersonic plane, social connections app and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-184810{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-184810, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-184810{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-184810").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Germany is trying to revive a decades-old plan for a hypersonic commuting plane which would deliver people from Frankfurt to Australia in 90 minutes. A video for a social connection app called Knock Knock stars a couple celebs who will likely never ask to be connected to little ol' me at a party. And a custom drone builder is calling it what it is with a giant eyeball drone. Just to clear up any confusion.
Sony hack snowballs as movie scripts, celebrity phone numbers leaked
Sony Pictures is in full-blown damage-control mode and has called an all-hands meeting following another huge leak of sensitive, confidential info. The new trove of data released by the so-called GOP (Guardians of Peace) includes more private employee info, actor phone numbers and traveling aliases, legal claims against Sony Pictures, film budgets, scripts and more. As pointed out by the WSJ, it also includes private info of some 40,000 Sony Pictures ex-employees like home addresses, previous salaries and social security numbers. Many of those folks are incensed with the Culver City-based company, which gave them no guidance on how to protect their identities or sign up for credit monitoring.
Follow updates from only celebs you choose with Popeek
Popeek is a free app for iPhone that creates a personalized feed of Hollywood news tailored to you based on the celebrities you choose. When you select which people you're interested in, the app gathers links from Facebook and various news sources and puts them all in one place. It can even alert you of new updates as well. The Popeek app doesn't have much to it. When you open the app for the first time and log in, more than a few familiar faces should appear in the Explore section. This is where you select which celebrities you want to follow in your main feed. There's the A-list names such as Beyoncé, Angelina Jolie, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Katy Perry and then there's some lesser known folks like Lionel Messi and Bar Refaeli thrown in for some variety. Right off the bat, I wasn't impressed with the number of celebrities available to follow in Popeek. In fact, I can actually count how many celebrities there are in total: 33. Considering just how many people in Hollywood there are and how much coverage sites like TMZ spews out every day, that's a very small number. I selected a few celebrities at random to see what came up in my feed. It was a decently aggregated collection of Facebook posts, tweets and links from Hollywood websites like E! Online, Perez Hilton, Just Jared and some others. Each post comes with a like button, comment button and share button attached at the bottom for some social flair. Posts in Popeek like tweets actually just pull the number of favorites the tweet has into the app, so it's not just exclusive engagement from Popeek users. However, if you do like something in the app, it shows up in a collection of reverse chronological likes on your very own profile page. Where Popeek fairs a bit better is on individual celebrity profiles. The My Peeks section lists the celebrities you're keeping up with, but tapping one will show only content from them. Even better, the menu to the right of the profile grants access to a fan wall where Popeek users post messages, tour dates, videos, a Wikipedia bio and a store. Unfortunately, the fan wall, tour dates and store sections replaced any meaningful content with a "Coming Soon!" banner. Alerts in my experience were sporadic. I'm not entirely sure how the app chooses which news to alert you of, but I followed four celebrities and only received one alert in 24 hours for an insignificant news story involving Jennifer Lawrence. Popeek seems like an app that's ripe for potential, but its limitations are too much of a hindrance to give it a wholehearted recommendation. The main problem is the severely lacking library of celebrities. If you're passionate about keeping up with a wide range of celebrity gossip, chances are you won't enjoy much of what this app has to offer because it's truly minimal right now. I'd say Popeek is worth revisiting a few updates down the road once the content is built up. If you don't want to wait, get it for free in the App Store.
Celebrities outside of the US can now get Facebook's Mentions app
If you didn't already know, Facebook is targeting the celebrity set with a new iPhone-only app called Mentions. However, when it launched in July, it was only available to musicians, actors, athletes and government officials in the US. Today, the company has lifted one restriction, making it available to socially important people in over 40 countries worldwide, including the UK. The bad news is that you're probably not a big enough deal to use it. Mentions is designed to help VIP's interact with fans via their verified Facebook page, allowing them to post updates, host live Q&A sessions and identify if they're trending. Tyrese Gibson supposedly used it to share news of Apple's Beats acquisition with the world, but really it's the overworked PAs trying to keep on top of their employers' social lives who will be secretly rubbing their hands following today's expansion.
Tinder wants to verify celebrities so you know they're really into you
Tinder, the iOS and Android app that matches people by how close they are from one another, has a celebrity problem. While signing up to a dating app is probably the last thing you'd expect any privacy-conscious alphabet-lister to consider, Tinder already counts a few famous faces amongst its millions of users (Ashton Kutcher and Lindsay Lohan reportedly are fans), but they aren't racking up matches because people believe their profiles are fake. According to Hollywood Reporter, the mobile startup wants to remove all doubt from that equation by introducing a verification system for celebrity users that could use Twitter-style checkmarks to signify that an actor, actress or musician (etc.) is who they say they are. Tinder CEO Sean Rad also says that the company could drop the requirement for stars to sign up using Facebook, where they'd have to use their real name instead of an alias, allowing them "to enter Tinder in a different way." We don't yet know when the new system will be implemented, but if it does lure famous users to the service, you never know, you could only be five right-swipes away from Kevin Bacon.
Wikipedia to store famous voices for posterity, starting with Stephen Fry's
Virtually everyone in the UK (and many an Engadget reader) is familiar with Stephen Fry's iconic voice, but will anyone remember it in, say, 50 years? He certainly hopes so, but just to be sure, Wikipedia has recorded it for posterity and pegged it to his bio page. The plan is to have a large number of well-known types do the same so that readers will know "what (those folks) sound like and how they pronounce their names." Though there are only a handful of contributors so far (including US astronaut Charlie Duke and British peer Baron Knight of Weymouth), the effort will be soon be bulked up by some "500 to 1,000" celebrity clips thanks to the BBC. As tat for its tit, the Beeb hopes to one day use the Wikipedia archive to power a real-time, open-source voice-recognition engine -- and perhaps add some VIP pizzazz to its own collection of voices.
Samuel L. Jackson voices the objectively best announcer pack for Heroes of Newerth
You're going to play Heroes of Newerth now. It's the best game of its type, and that's simple fact. No, stop going on about balance or game mechanics or anything else in the world. Heroes of Newerth has an announcer pack in which all of the clips are voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, and if you think there's any other reason to play or not play a game, it's time for you to step back and re-evaluate your life choices to date. Jackson's announcements are... well, pretty much exactly what you'd expect from the terms "Samuel L. Jackson announcer pack." You can check them out past the break, although we should warn you that if your workplace or home has an issue with shouted profanity, you might want to turn down the volume. For everyone else, click past the break and enjoy the new pack.
