Welcome to Tech Brief, your weekly wrap-up on all that’s happened in the tech and startup industries this week!
It’s been an exciting week – perfect for our very first Tech Brief here at DANamic.ORG. Let’s take a look at the biggest stories this week, involving Twitter, Instagram, and GoPro!
Twitter Execs Leave Company, Stock Continues To Fall
In the 3 months that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has spent at the top following his return, we’ve seen the switch from the classic “Favourite” star to the flamboyantly-animated heart-shaped “Like”. While rumours are swirling that the tweet limit might be expanded from 140 characters to a mind-numbing and finger-cramping 10,000, the 39-year-old’s next course of action was to see the leaving of about half of its executive team, including former VP of product Kevin Weil jumping ship to Instagram.
Was really hoping to talk to Twitter employees about this later this week, but want to set the record straight now: pic.twitter.com/PcpRyTzOlW
— Jack (@jack) January 25, 2016
With a falling stock and The Verge asking “Is Twitter Doomed?”, could an epic Twitter employee pep talk and new secret policy of removing ads from the timelines of “VIP users” be enough to save the struggling social network?
Instagram Is Showing You More Ads Than You Think
Owned by the big bosses over at Facebook, Instagram’s ad revenue and numbers are not made public, which has made it difficult to acquire reliable estimates. This week, one of Instagram’s official ad partners, Brand Networks, released data that shows just how quickly Instagram made good on its announcement last June to deliver more ads on the popular photo-sharing site.
Do note, however, that this reflects data from just one ad partner. We still don’t know how much Instagram is earning, or how many ads they’re putting out there. But we’ve mentioned before that having ads is not a bad thing.
GoPro Survives All Falls… But Can It Survive A Fall From Grace?
GoPro is facing a common but crippling problem for businesses: Nobody is buying their product. After news broke that the company was cutting 7% of its workforce, CNET argued that the camera, while riding on the waves of its awesome initial publicity, is beginning to face the reality of its consumers.
Most of us aren’t professional skydivers, parkour enthusiasts, or bored, second-gen mega-millionaires. There simply isn’t a need for us to own an action camera. Most of us don’t even own a normal camera. Add the durability and lifespan of a GoPro to the equation and you’ve got the manufacturers’ nightmare scenario: products that never break and one-time consumers. Has GoPro managed to grasp just half of the popular “Move fast, break things” motto among tech firms?
All is not lost for them though, if they just follow these 3 ideas to break out of their rut.
And lastly…
Here’s A Timelapse Video Of Superstorm Jonas in New York
Because it’ll never snow in Singapore, but we can dream, right?
No, the incredibly annoying rain we’ve got this whole week doesn’t count.
The DANamic.ORG Tech Brief arrives every Friday. Set your watches.
