Despite gaining quick fame and recognition, co-founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka were forced to shut down their social networking platform, Koo, due to hesitant investors and the high cost of technology services. Despite winning awards and being ranked among the top social media products in the Asia-Pacific region, Koo faced funding troubles and had to lay off 30% of its workforce. The founders, however, remain determined and hope to challenge global giants in the future with better funding opportunities.
In 2021, social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, experimented with a downvote feature for posts, but eventually scrapped it when acquired by Elon Musk. However, new code references discovered in the latest iOS app update suggest X may be considering implementing downvotes specifically for replies. This potential addition aligns with X's focus on crowdsourced fact-checking and could potentially create a Reddit-like "hivemind" effect by downranking posts that receive negative ratings from individuals with differing views.
Koo, a homegrown microblogging platform in India, gained popularity in 2021 as an alternative to X, formerly known as Twitter. However, the platform's founders recently announced its shutdown due to a shortage of funding and high technology costs. This decision has left millions of social media users in India stranded and highlights the struggle for competition in the tech industry in the country.
Despite securing funding and early adopters, Koo could not sustain itself in the Indian market and ultimately decided to shut down due to financial losses and a decrease in active users. The platform faced difficulties in negotiations with potential partners and faced challenges in competing with Twitter, its main rival. Despite its earlier success and collaborations with the Indian government, Koo was unable to sustain its presence in the rapidly changing landscape of social media.
Mastodon, the open source decentralized alternative to Twitter, has rolled out a new feature that will make it easier for users to access the accounts of authors referenced in link posts from news publications. This feature, which features the author's profile photo and name, has already been implemented by select news publishers and is available through the main Mastodon server and its API. The back end technology is a new OpenGraph tag that can be easily added to websites to enable this feature. While it currently only supports one author, this may be addressed in the future.
It seems like X may be implementing a downvote feature for replies on its platform, a feature that was previously tested back in 2021 before Elon Musk's acquisition of the company. Code references found in X's iOS app suggest that the social network is considering adding downvotes in order to better rank replies. While this doesn't guarantee that the feature will be released, both an X engineer and Elon Musk have commented on its potential use. Moreover, the idea of leveraging negative signals to improve rankings aligns with X's current crowd-sourced fact-checking feature, Community Notes.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's social media platform X has surged in popularity, with 600 million monthly active users from all over the world. Musk envisions X as a global town square where people can engage in group chats and discussions, as well as post content and make digital payments. In the US, X usage has reached an all-time high, with users spending an average of 30 minutes on the platform per day. Musk acquired X (then called Twitter) in 2022 for $44 billion, and has since transformed it into an "everything app" with a wide range of features.
After India's dominant win over England in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final, ambassador Yuvraj Singh took to 'X' (formerly Twitter) to make a cheeky post, congratulating India and trolling England. India's victory was particularly satisfying as they avenged their loss against England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final. Captain Rohit Sharma became the first Indian captain to lead the team in three ICC tournament finals in the span of 12 months. He also expressed his satisfaction with the team's effort and adaptability to the challenging conditions.
The highly-anticipated first images of the new Superman and Lois Lane in the upcoming DC Studios film have been released, and fans are buzzing with excitement. Directed by James Gunn, the release of the film is scheduled for August 2025 and is said to be greatly influenced by the 1998 comic run 'Superman for All Seasons'. Actor David Corenswet, who plays Superman, has dedicated six months to training and has transformed his physique to silence any critics. With its star-studded cast and a talented director at the helm, fans are eagerly waiting for this reboot of the DC Universe. Follow MeriStation USA on X (formerly known as Twitter) for all the latest updates and news related to the world of entertainment.
A war of words between former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Tesla CEO Elon Musk played out on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, as the two expressed opposing views on electronic voting machines (EVMs). While Musk had advocated for the elimination of EVMs due to the risk of being hacked, Chandrasekhar defended the secure and custom-designed EVMs used in India which are isolated from any network or media. Chandrasekhar strongly countered Musk's "huge sweeping generalisation" and provided context about the security measures in place for Indian EVMs.