The 11th Hour Dispatch — Thursday, August 23, 2018
YOUNG MONEY
Chipotle is reportedly launching…no, it’s not a new outbreak of a foodborne illness. Before I was rudely interrupted, I was going to say that the burrito chain is launching a startup accelerator. The accelerator is focused on startups in alternative farming, agritech, food waste management, and plant and alternative products. The $14.2 billion company is looking to invest in startups from those sectors. For this effort, Chipotle is teaming up with the Denver-based social benefit accelerator Uncharted. The fast food chain has donated $200K to the accelerator and will assist with marketing for any startup that participates. On top of just actual business assistance and growth, startups in the accelerator will also receive monthly Chipotle catering for their offices and Chipotle “celebrity cards,” which allow them to get a free burrito every day. TUMS are not included, I am being told.
BINGE WATCH
Watch out Twitter! We’re getting another Twitter-first talk show from BuzzFeed. The UK-based series #What2Watch will air once a week over on the Tweeter Totter. The series will be hosted by BuzzFeed U.K. TV editor Scott Bryan and social media editor Dionne Grant. The two will discuss “the week’s best and worst TV” and interview guests to help viewers find new shows to binge in our delightfully oversaturated world of television content. BuzzFeed has enjoyed pretty substantial success with its live Twitter-first morning talk show AM to DM, each episode of which BuzzFeed reports is viewed by one million people.
BIG BUSINESS
Facebook is now warning about 4 million users that their data may have been compromised by another app. This time, it’s the popular myPersonality app. The social network announced in a blog post yesterday afternoon that it has banned the app, which has been lurking around Facebook since at least 2012. Facebook discovered myPersonality’s issues once the app failed “to agree to [Facebook’s] request to audit and because it’s clear that they shared information with researchers as well as companies with only limited protections in place.” After the Cambridge Analytica scandal heard ‘round the world, Facebook pledged to audit all apps — past and present — that had integrated with Facebook. According to Business Insider, Facebook has been investigating myPersonality since at least April of this year, when it suspended it from the platform. At that point, myPersonality had 6 million users, 40% of which shared personal data. Yikes, my dudes.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
I didn’t know I could ever be so excited about a Chrome extension but here we are. (Please watch The Good Place on September 27.)
SUBSCRIBE TO THE 11TH HOUR DISPATCH
The 11th Hour Dispatch is your daily dose of all things media without the boredom but with all the snark. We mash what you need to know with what we truly think into one hot mess of knowledge, just for you. Subscribe to get it live and in color in your inbox every weeknight.
