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Instagram Testing a 'Notable Shift in Strategy'

Platform is testing 90-minute horizontal videos to rival YouTube, and to court creators, podcasters

(Newser) - Instagram is stretching well past snack-size videos. The platform on Monday started testing "Features"—a hub for horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long, aimed at podcasters, comedians, and other long-form creators—in the US, per The Hollywood Reporter . Users who see short reels will be able to...

Country's Social Media Ban Lifted After 8 Months

Authorities in Gabon claimed platforms were stoking unrest

(Newser) - Gabonese users can scroll through social media again. The West African country's media regulator says it is ending an eight-month shutdown of major social platforms, a blackout that had drawn sharp criticism at home and abroad, the BBC reports. Authorities cut access on Feb. 17, arguing that online posts...

Netflix Aims Next Round of Layoffs at the Top

Streamer shakes up its leadership, signaling a larger strategic overhaul amid slowing growth

(Newser) - Netflix's latest plot twist is happening behind the camera. Days after cutting about 6% of its workforce under an internal restructuring dubbed "Project Meridian," the streamer pushed out content boss Bela Bajaria and, soon after, film chief Dan Lin—moves that signal leadership thinks its programming slate...

Musk Maker Says Sites Won't Sell Ads
Platforms Reject
Ads for Musk
Sep 26, 2026 1:05 PM CDT

Platforms Reject Ads for Musk

Only Meta backtracks and calls decision a mistake

(Newser) - A documentary that questions Elon Musk's influence is running into a wall. Bleecker Street, the distributor of Alex Gibney's four-hour film Musk, said it has been blocked from buying trailer ads on YouTube, TikTok, Meta's platforms (Facebook and Instagram), and X, according to the Hollywood Reporter . Meta...

Why Kimmel's Talarico Interview Won't Air on TV

Late-night host blames FCC equal-time rules for YouTube shift

(Newser) - Late-night TV is bumping up against campaign rules again. Fresh off his return from summer break, Jimmy Kimmel told his audience Wednesday that his Thursday sit-down with James Talarico, the Democrat running for Senate in Texas, won't air on ABC at all—it'll go straight to YouTube. Kimmel...

Latvian Clip Farm Floods Social Media Feeds With GOP Content

'Elephant Clipping' service recruits workers to slice up Republican-themed videos, make them go viral

(Newser) - If your social feeds are suddenly packed with punchy clips boosting Republicans, one Latvian entrepreneur may be part of the reason. A man calling himself "Serviuos" is recruiting people—often outside the US—to slice up preselected conservative videos and repost them on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, promising they...

Golf Company Pulls Ad, Offers Quick Apology

Good Good Golf spot featured a man shoving a woman to the ground with a warning

(Newser) - Good Good Golf is walking back its ad for a new driver that viewers swiftly flagged as out of bounds. The since-deleted video, posted Friday, showed a male co-founder of Good Good knocking a woman to the ground as she reaches for his golf bag, and warning, "Do not...

YouTube Dangles Million-Dollar Exclusivity Deals to Top Creators

Platform's push is designed to take on Netflix

(Newser) - YouTube is quietly testing a new way to keep its biggest stars from wandering: multimillion-dollar exclusivity checks. Business Insider reports that the platform has been approaching a select group of creators in recent weeks with verbal offers worth "in the millions" if they agree to keep their videos on...

Baby Shark Kid Is Making a K-Pop Debut
The Baby Shark
Kid Is Back
Aug 13, 2026 8:28 AM CDT

The Baby Shark Kid Is Back

Now 17, Park Geon-roung is releasing debut K-pop single 'Wave' as Baby Shark Boy

(Newser) - A decade after leading the internet's most inescapable earworm, the original "Baby Shark" kid is back—with a K-pop twist. Park Geon-roung, who was 6 when he danced through the 2014 video that has since racked up 17 billion YouTube views, is debuting as a K-pop artist under...

'Gen Alpha Melody' Is Everywhere, Once You Hear It

Musician's viral video reveals backbone behind hundreds of modern hits around the world

(Newser) - When Danish music student Carl Martin sat down to write a song of his own in 2019, he thought he'd struck upon a brilliant original melody. Turns out, he had instead tapped into the hook of a generation, reports the Washington Post . After writing his piece, he began to...

Teen Drops Meta Suit Alleging Social Media Addiction

RKC withdrew remaining claims after confidential settlements with other platforms

(Newser) - A closely watched lawsuit accusing Meta of fueling a Florida teen's mental health struggles with its addictive platform has ended before it began. Days ahead of the trial's planned start in Los Angeles, the 15-year-old plaintiff, identified as RKC, dropped his remaining claims against Meta, his lawyers said...

Australia's Social Media Ban for Teens Has Early Problem

Major platforms aren't verifying ages, study finds

(Newser) - Australia's attempt to lock out teens from social media is running into trouble at login. A new follow-up study by a team that helped design the system found major platforms are largely skipping the basic step of checking whether users claiming to be 16 actually are. On 50 test...

Jay Leno: Joe Rogan Is 21st Century's Johnny Carson

'Joe talks to everybody about everything'

(Newser) - Jay Leno thinks he's spotted the new Johnny Carson—and he's not on broadcast TV. In a wide-ranging interview with Deadline , the former Tonight Show host argues that podcasts, not traditional late-night shows, now own the talk space:
  • "Joe Rogan is the new Johnny Carson," he
...

She Sang Without a Headscarf. Now, 74 Lashes

Sentence of Parastoo Ahmadi in Iran angers human rights activists

(Newser) - An Iranian singer's viral performance has led to a punishment that rights groups are calling both extreme and illegal. Parastoo Ahmadi, 29, and eight members of her production team have been sentenced by a criminal court in Qom province to 74 lashes, two years of travel restrictions, and a...

Duffy Faces Backlash in Reality TV Return

YouTube road trip series funded by companies his department oversees

(Newser) - Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's return to his reality-TV roots is drawing plenty of attention, though not for the reasons he would hope. Duffy is starring in "The Great American Road Trip," a five-part YouTube series timed to the nation's 250th birthday, featuring a cross-country journey with...

2-Week Phone Detox Can Reboot Your Brain
2-Week Phone Detox
Can Reboot Your Brain
new study
May 10, 2026 4:45 PM CDT

2-Week Phone Detox Can Reboot Your Brain

Study links taking a break to sharper focus, better mental health

(Newser) - If your brain feels a little frayed by your phone, the simple fix of taking a break appears to be surprisingly effective, writes Ariana Eunjung Cha at the Washington Post . She cites research in PNAS Nexus suggesting that a two-week "digital detox" packs a powerful punch. In the study...

On School-Issued Device, He Viewed 13K YouTube Videos

WSJ takes a deep dive into how YouTube is taking over schools and fueling screen addiction concerns

(Newser) - In many US classrooms, the day now runs on YouTube. That's the picture the Wall Street Journal draws, starting with a Kansas mom who found out her seventh grader had binged more than 13,000 videos on his school-issued device in just three months—many of them gun-heavy or...

MrBeast Employee Sues, Alleging Sexual Harassment

Lorrayne Mavromatis says she dealt with gender bias for years, was fired after giving birth

(Newser) - A former Beast Industries employee is suing MrBeast's media production company after she was allegedly fired from her social media manager job upon returning from maternity leave and following years of what she described as sexual harassment and workplace gender bias, the AP reports. The lawsuit, filed by Lorrayne...

YouTuber Learns the Hard Way Not to Kiss Statues Overseas

S. Korean court jails US' 'Johnny Somali' for 6 months after inflammatory stunts, sexual deepfakes

(Newser) - A US YouTuber whose antics in South Korea have sparked repeated outrage is now headed to jail there for six months. A Seoul court on Wednesday sentenced 25-year-old "Johnny Somali," whose legal name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael, on charges including public nuisance and distributing sexual deepfakes; he was...

Op-Ed: Retirees These Days Can't Put Down Their Phones

With no one holding them accountable, retirees describe lost hours to scrolling

(Newser) - Retirement, the Yoders have discovered, comes with an unexpected time thief in their pockets. In the Wall Street Journal 's "Retirement Rookies" column, former editor Stephen Kreider Yoder and his wife, Karen Kreider Yoder, describe how their post-work freedom has been quietly swallowed by the endless scroll of...

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