Sarah Perez

Bluesky now lets you personalize main Discover feed using new controls | TechCrunch

Bluesky is now allowing users to personalize their main Discover feeds. The social network is rolling out an updated version of its app that lets users offer feedback about its algorithmic feed so they can better customize it using “Show more like this” and “Show less like this” buttons in a post’s menu to choose which content the algorithm surfaces. The change will help Bluesky users create a timeline that takes into consideration their own

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Google built some of the first social apps for Android, including Twitter and others | TechCrunch

Here’s a tidbit of startup history that may not be widely known outside of the tech firms themselves: The first versions of popular Android apps, like Twitter, were built by Google itself. That revelation came about via a new podcast with Twitter’s former senior director of product management, Sara Beykpour, now the co-founder of the AI news startup Particle. In a podcast hosted by Lightspeed partner Michael Mignano, Beykpour reminisces about her role in Twitter’s

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Start-ups

Gratitude Plus makes social networking positive, private and personal | TechCrunch

Private social networking is making a comeback. Gratitude Plus, a startup that aims to shift social media in a more positive direction, is expanding its wellness-focused, personal reflections journal to include support for families who want to stay in touch even when physically distant.  The startup, whose name reflects its core offering of a gratitude journal, is, in some ways reminiscent of Path, which was built years ago. Path had briefly emerged as a Facebook

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WordPress.com owner Automattic acquires multiservice messaging app Beeper for $125M | TechCrunch

WordPress.com owner Automattic is acquiring Beeper, the company behind the iMessage-on-Android solution that was referenced by the Department of Justice in its antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The deal, which was for $125 million according to sources close to the matter, is Automattic’s second acquisition of a cross-platform messaging solution after buying Texts.com last October. That acquisition made Texts.com founder Kishan Bagaria Automattic’s new head of Messaging, a role that will now be held by Beeper founder

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