If it seems like the Post News took off overnight, that’s because it did. Post news has surfaced that existing social networks like Mastodon, Hive Social or others are being flooded with disgruntled Twitter users. Two weeks ago. With Elon Musk’s Twitter leadership chaos front and center at the core of our alliance, the team wanted to go public, so the platform quickly went into live beta.
Post News has the same basic functions as Twitter: you make posts, like and repost other people’s posts, and follow interesting accounts. Still in beta, it still lacks accessibility features like DMS, a native app, and adding alt text to images (and the company hasn’t made accessibility a priority at this point because of concerns for some users), he said.
The Post News is trying to use Twitter’s “virtual water cooler for journalists” side. The platform describes itself as a place to access “premium news content without subscriptions or ads.” News publishers and freelance writers are encouraged to share their articles on Post News under a paywall. The idea is that this will allow users to pay for individual articles from different news sources. It is an alternative or supplement to paying for individual subscriptions to certain news sources.
“I believe the future of the newspaper is food and I want it to be more civil for consumers, more profitable for publishers and better for society,” wrote Post News founder Noam Bardin. Twitter Announcing the effort. Bardin previously served as CEO of Waze between 2009 and 2021.
Profile on Post News
As of Monday, the Post News had 335,000 users on its waiting list, Bardin said, with about 65,000 accounts activated. (Users are being onboarded slowly to avoid overloading the platform’s operations and scaling capabilities.) The platform has received undisclosed funding from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as well as NYU professor and technology analyst Scott Galloway. Silicon Valley journalist Kara Swisher said she is an adviser to the company but not an investor.
A16z is a curious choice for an investor in a Twitter alternative, given that Musk’s venture capital firm has invested $400 million in buying Twitter. Sriram Krishnan, a crypto investor at a16z, has also been Work closely With Field at Twitter HQ. But Bardin said he chose to work with a16z simply because they were the fastest investors to make a decision and fork over a check.
“That doesn’t mean I’m a crypto enthusiast. [a16z] “He should have funded some of the individuals he recently funded or I agree with every statement,” Bardin wrote on his Sunday Post news account. “We have discussed the Twitter investment at a high level and I can assure you that there is no problem – the post has been separated from the people involved with Twitter and a clear line has been drawn up.”
TechCrunch contacted Bardin and a16z for comment.
The purposes of Post News are many. Not only is the platform trying to compete with the long-time social media mainstay, but its business model is based on digital news publishers opting for the model to fill readers with each article rather than sign up for a subscription. Additionally, the platform is developing rapidly while building out key security features, which makes things a little more worrisome.
“I want to remind you that this is very early beta and not right for everyone,” Bardin said on Monday. “People looking for a refined product will have to wait. It’s okay to take a break and come back when things are production-level – beta isn’t for everyone.
