The 11th Hour Dispatch — Monday, September 24, 2018
BIG BUSINESS
Facebook’s dating service kicked off a soft launch in Colombia on Friday. The service, simply called Dating, allows users ages 18+ to create a dating profile and match with others. Nothing too crazy. However, unlike popular apps like Tinder and Bumble, most people already have a Facebook account, and according to Wired, Facebook’s service seems more geared toward long-term relationships. Each profile, which lives within your Facebook account but is independent of your Facebook profile, only pulls your first name and age from your standard Facebook profile. You can then manually enter your verified location, gender, your gender interest(s), height, job, education, and preference on kids in the future. You can also add up to nine photos or ice breaker questions, of which there are currently 20 available to choose from. You can’t match with people you’re Facebook friends with (or people you’ve blocked), and you can only initiate a conversation by responding to a user’s profile or ice breaker responses — a pretty direct ripoff of the arguably least cringy app of the moment, Hinge. Another interesting tidbit unique to Facebook is that you can restrict to Events of interest or Groups that you’re a member of, however, keep in mind that young people are continually leaving the platform, so it will be interesting to see where — or if — this service finds its footing.
BINGE WATCH
Apple has reportedly axed a Dr. Dre-produced series because it was too violent. The series, Vital Signs, was Apple’s first publicly announced original scripted series back in 2016. According to a Wall Street Journal report, CEO Tim Cook was worried about how it would be received by Apple’s streaming service’s potential audience.
- The report said: “[Cook] was troubled by what he saw. The show, a dark, semi-biographical tale of hip hop artist Dr. Dre, featured characters doing lines of cocaine, an extended orgy in a mansion and drawn guns. ‘It’s too violent,’ Mr. Cook told Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine, said people familiar with Apple’s entertainment plans.”
The series, which was a semi-autobiographical look at Dre’s life outside of the music industry, was supposed to tie into Apple Music and potentially spur original content for the music streaming service too. This move could signal that Apple’s service won’t be dishing out the no-holds-barred risqué storylines we’ve become accustomed to in the age of the streaming giant.
YOUNG MONEY
Starting today, the FAANG stocks (except Amazon) are no longer listed as tech stocks on the S&P. The S&P Dow Jones is revamping its Global Industry Classification Standard, resulting in a couple of buzzy stocks being relabeled. Facebook is making the move from the Information Technology sector to the Communications Services index because of its pivot away from purely tech toward advertising. Alphabet, Twitter, PayPal, and Snap are also making the same move. Netflix, Disney, Viacom, and 21st Century Fox are making the switch from the Consumer Discretionary group to Communications Services. However, Amazon will hang back in Consumer Discretionary. Because Apple, which singlehandedly makes up around 16% of the S&P Information Technology Index, will not be moving out of the tech sector, these shakeups will likely only decrease weighting of tech stocks in the S&P 500 from 20% to 15%. Wild.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
I don’t understand why this meme is sweeping the internet, but for some reason I’ll take it.
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