Twitter is like a library with all the books on the floor and then it's covered with toxic waste. It's unclear if the chaos will be positive chaos for Twitter or negative chaos in the long run. I have this thesis that all great social networks start as utilities. And we launched with a very specific view that if we were going to be massive someday, we'd have to be extremely useful... only then do we get a coupon that allows us to start doing social stuff.
After a quick rundown of Kara’s Twitter feud with SVB-enthusiast David Sacks, we turn to an interview with a former Silicon Valley Bank customer: Kevin Systrom. When you found one of the most successful social media apps at 27, it’s tough to figure out where to go with Act Two. But after leaving Facebook (now Meta) in 2018, Systrom is back with an AI-powered news-reader called Artifact which has been dubbed a “Tiktok for Text.” Onstage at SXSW this weekend, as the SVB crisis was playing out, Kara and Kevin discuss his regrets about Instagram, his plans to crack the news business and what’s wrong with tech bros.
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