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Napster Just Sold for $207M
Napster Just Sold for $207M
Mar 26, 2025 11:10 AM CDT

Napster Just Sold for $207M

Tech startup hopes to transform the service once known for music piracy into a social music platform

(Newser) - A brand that was notoriously connected to music piracy before reemerging as a subscription music service has been sold to Infinite Reality for $207 million. The tech startup announced Tuesday it had bought Napster in hopes of transforming the streaming service into a social music platform where artists can connect...

That 'Tradwife' Account Folks Couldn't Stop Reading? Fake

'Patriarchy Hannah' apologizes for impersonating conservative mom with 14 kids

(Newser) - For the past few years, the "tradwife" (short for "traditional wife") phenomenon has been taking off online, drawing gawkers intrigued by an ultraconservative lifestyle in which women and men adhere to old-school gender roles, with the woman in the relationship cheerfully tending house, cooking, and raising their...

To Feel Better, Take the Smart Out of Smartphone
To Feel Better, Take the
Smart Out of Smartphone
NEW STUDY
Feb 25, 2025 11:55 AM CST

To Feel Better, Take the Smart Out of Smartphone

2-week break from mobile internet boosts well-being, mental health, researchers say

(Newser) - Researchers say you can improve your mental health, well-being, and attention span in just two weeks. All you have to do is get off mobile internet. Adrian Ward, a 38-year-old psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, decided to study what it would be like to return to the...

Saudis Free Student Sentenced to 34 Years for Her Tweets

Doctoral student Salma al-Shehab was accused in 2022 of 'destabilizing the social fabric'

(Newser) - A Saudi doctoral student at Leeds University in Britain has been freed after seeing her 34-year sentence for her activity on Twitter in Saudi Arabia drastically reduced, a rights group said Monday. Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two, had been sentenced to 34 years in prison back in 2022 over...

DOGE Staffer: 'I Was Racist Before It Was Cool'

25-year-old Marko Elez, who gained access to Treasury's payments systems, resigns

(Newser) - A staffer at Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has resigned after racist X posts came to light. Marko Elez, 25, who was reportedly granted administrator-level privileges to read and write code in the Treasury Department's payments systems , resigned Thursday after the Wall Street Journal asked the White...

Pope Warns Against Dangers of 'Brain Rot'

He speaks out on 'the addiction to continuous scrolling on social media'

(Newser) - Pope Francis, noting that the term "brain rot" was the Oxford dictionary's word of the year for 2024, urged people to rediscover the "courage to free the heart from what corrupts it" in a speech Saturday. "The choices of each of us count, for example, in...

Farmers Worry About the Fate of 'FarmTok'

Farmers use social media as vital tool to engage the public, advertise, share information

(Newser) - Zoe Kent hopes people get a little joy out of her talking about farming on the Internet. In one of her latest videos, she compares pesticide application to dry shampoo. "Farming is for the girls," she quips. On Instagram and TikTok, as "farmwithzoe," Kent films herself...

Meteorologist Fired for Calling Musk's Gesture a 'Nazi Salute'

Sam Kuffel is out at WDJT, though some suggest she should sue

(Newser) - A Milwaukee TV station has fired a meteorologist who accused Elon Musk of making a Nazi salute at the inauguration . "Dude Nazi saluted twice. TWICE," WDJT-TV weather forecaster Sam Kuffel wrote on her Instagram account Tuesday alongside a picture of Musk, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . "You...

Suddenly Following Trump on Social Media? Here's Why

White House-controlled accounts were automatically transferred, along with followers

(Newser) - Social media is full of claims that Meta forced Facebook and Instagram users to follow President Trump. "Full dictatorship incoming," one Reddit user warned, per USA Today . But these claims are false, according to fact-checking site Snopes and other media outlets. The social media accounts for the US...

Where Things Stand on TikTok After Supreme Court Ruling

'Stay tuned!' writes President-elect Trump, who says platform's fate is in his hands

(Newser) - The Supreme Court opted on Friday to uphold the ban on TikTok in the name of national security, meaning if parent company ByteDance, which is based in China, doesn't find a US buyer to take over the company before Sunday, the app will essentially die a slow death in...

Supreme Court Upholds Ban on TikTok
Supreme Court
Upholds Ban on TikTok
Jan 17, 2025 9:33 AM CST

Supreme Court Upholds Ban on TikTok

New users won't be able to download it come Sunday unless a US buyer emerges

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless it's sold by its China-based parent company, holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overrides concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in...

Aubrey Plaza Shuts Down Her Instagram

It's not clear if the Parks and Rec star will return to social media following death of husband Jeff Baena

(Newser) - Aubrey Plaza has addressed the "unimaginable tragedy" of her husband Jeff Baena's death , but it looks like she doesn't want to address much else in the near future. People reports that the 40-year-old Parks and Rec and White Lotus star has deleted her Instagram account for now;...

TikTok Case Goes Before Supreme Court on Friday

Justices hold Chinese app's fate in their hands

(Newser) - The law that could ban TikTok is going before the Supreme Court on Friday, with the justices largely holding the app's fate in their hands. The popular social-media platform says the law violates the First Amendment and should be struck down, per the AP . TikTok's parent company, ByteDance,...

More Colleges Teaching Students to Be Influencers

Colleges are recognizing the demand for skills to gain an edge in an increasingly competitive arena

(Newser) - Becoming an influencer is now an aspirational career choice, with more than half of Gen Zers wishing they could carve out employment on their phones, according to the Hollywood Reporter . But without a rulebook in a constantly evolving, potentially lucrative field, treading that path isn't so simple. The Hill...

Mangione's Reported Ailments: Chronic Pain, Lyme Disease

Social media posts reveal back surgery, a call to not 'retreat into a bubble'

(Newser) - With much talk of motive in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, focus has turned to the suspected shooter's social media posts. Luigi Mangione "left behind a tantalizing digital footprint with few parallels in the history of famed assassins," revealing the data engineer to be an...

'Operation RU Pharm' Nabs 7 in Rutgers Bust

7 have been arrested in what authorities say was a social media-run drug ring at New Jersey university

(Newser) - A monthslong probe into drug activity at New Jersey's Rutgers University has resulted in seven arrests, including that of a former student. Per a release from the office of Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone, the undercover sting dubbed "Operation RU Pharm" unearthed "a closed and private social...

Appeals Court Upholds US Ban of TikTok

It's a 'resounding defeat' for the social media platform based in China, will require ban or sale

(Newser) - A federal appeals court panel on Friday upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the US. The US Court of Appeals for the District...

AOC Claims a Big First on Bluesky
AOC Claims a
Big First on Bluesky
Dec 3, 2024 7:19 AM CST

AOC Claims a Big First on Bluesky

Democrat Ocasio-Cortez is first individual to gather 1M followers on the social media platform

(Newser) - As Bluesky continues to lure followers from X, one name in particular has notched a big milestone on the social media platform. Bluesky tells the Hill that Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the first person to rack up a million followers on her account there, not counting the Bluesky account...

Chinese Women Fired Up by Too-Short Sanitary Pads

Popular brands cave to pressure, apologize

(Newser) - A trend emerged on social media in China this month with women posting videos of themselves measuring sanitary pads. It wasn't some bizarre fad but a protest against companies accused of cheating women with feminine hygiene products significantly shorter than advertised. "Will cutting a few centimeters help you...

Australia Passes Social Media Ban for Those Under 16

Ban for under-16s won't take effect for another 12 months

(Newser) - Australia has passed a social media ban for under-16s, but the country's teens and tweens don't need to worry about being kicked off the likes of TikTok and Facebook immediately. The law won't take effect for another year, and details like how platforms will enforce it have...

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