Josh Constine
Josh Constine is a technology journalist who specializes in deep analysis of social products. He is currently an Editor-At-Large for TechCrunch.
Previously, Constine was the Lead Writer of Inside Facebook, where he covered Facebook product changes, privacy, ads, ecommerce, games, and music technology.
Constine graduated from Stanford University in 2009 with a Master’s degree in Cybersociology, examining the influence of technology on social interaction. He researched the impact of privacy controls on the socialization of children, meme popularity cycles, and what influences the click through rate of links posted to Twitter.
Constine also received a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Stanford University in 2007, with a concentration in Social Psychology & Interpersonal Processes.
Josh Constine is an experienced public speaker, and has done on-stage inteviews with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, SoundCloud CEO Alex Ljung, and Senator Cory Booker. He’s been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, The Atlantic, BBC World Magazine, Slate, and more, plus has been featured on television on NBC and Fox News. Constine is available for speaking gigs.
[Disclosures: Josh Constine advises a college friend’s social location-sharing startup codenamed ‘Signal’ that is based in San Francisco. This advising role has been cleared with AOL and TechCrunch’s editors. Constine’s cousin Darren Lachtman is the founder of Niche, which connects social media stars to sponsorships from brands.]
CrunchBase profile →Featured Picks from Josh Constine
Latest from Josh Constine
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The 48 startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2
The world’s most prestigious startup school launched 48 companies today at part 2 of its Summer 2016 Demo Day. Nanoparticle analytics and delivery robots were amongst the products revealed in the B2B, biotech, enterprise, edtech, fintech, and hardware verticals. You can check out our write-ups of all 44 startups that launched yesterday, and TechCrunch’s picks for the top 7 from… Read More
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Live video minus Facebook equals Alively
SMS is terrible, yet it’s still the way more than half of video gets shared on mobile. Meanwhile, Facebook is trying to turn everyone into famous broadcasters when most people just want to show close friends what they’re up to. That’s why Facebook’s product manager for Live, Vadim Lavrusik, defected from the social network to start his own video streaming iOS app… Read More
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The top 7 startups from Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 1
In-flight VR entertainment and security guard drones were amongst our favorites from the 44 startups that launched at Y Combinator’s Summer 2016 Demo Day 1. After querying investors and our writers, here are TechCrunch’s picks for the 7 most promising companies from the first half of the batch, plus an honorable mention. Check back later for all the startups and our picks from… Read More
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All 44 startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 1
Farm drones, autonomous security guards and next-generation tampons were among the products presented at today’s Y Combinator startup accelerator Summer 2016 Demo Day 1. You can check out write-ups of all 44 below. And here are TechCrunch’s picks for “The top 7 startups from YC Demo Day 1”, plus writeups of the 48 startups that launched on Demo Day… Read More
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LendUp fights big banks with $47M for compassionate credit cards
Banks win when the poor lose. Credit cards can trap people in debt and bleed them dry with late fees. But it’s this exploitative experience that makes banks vulnerable to fintech startups like LendUp that are willing to undercut them and make up margin with software efficiency. It’s that strategy of building an enduring consumer banking brand on the principle of compassion that… Read More
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Facebook’s new teens-only app Lifestage turns bios into video profiles
“What if I figured out a way to take Facebook from 2004 and bring it to 2016? What if every field in your profile was a full video?” asks Facebook’s 19-year-old product prodigy Michael Sayman. The answer is Lifestage, a standalone iOS app for people 21 and under, which Facebook is launching today. It asks for your happy face, sad face, likes, dislikes, best friend, the way… Read More
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Facebook’s new teens-only app Lifestage turns bios into video profiles
“What if I figured out a way to take Facebook from 2004 and bring it to 2016? What if every field in your profile was a full video” asks Facebook’s 19-year old product prodigy Michael Sayman. The answer is Lifestage, a standalone iOS app for people 21 and under Facebook is launching today. It asks for your happy face, sad face, likes, dislikes, best friend, the way you dance… Read More
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Jobless in the self-driving economy
Uber’s self-driving cars will hit the road this month, earlier than anticipated. That’s an exciting surprise…unless of course you’re a driver. They won’t be the only ones affected, though. The consequences of robot-induced unemployment could eventually ripple through the rest of the economy. What will happen to Uber’s 1 million drivers? And the 3.5… Read More
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Facebook is building its own Steam-style desktop gaming platform with Unity
Facebook may try to compete with Steam, or at least win back revenue lost when casual gaming shifted to mobile. Today Facebook formally announced it’s working with game engine Unity to build a dedicated, downloadable desktop gaming platform, plus it’s broadening the Facebook.com experience for gamers. Both will allow publishers to offer their iOS and Android games on desktop in… Read More
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Operator fuses bots with humans to build cyborg shopping experts
Big purchases are scary to make online without anyone there to quell your fears and answer questions. Operator’s app wants to give you the same peace of mind, not with mechanical chat bot responses, but through real humans with knowledge about whatever you’re buying. Today Operator 2.0 launches with a new Discovery tab where curators assemble recommendations about their… Read More
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The NSA got hacked? A quick explainer
Hackers allegedly stole cyberweapons from a group affiliated with the NSA. Here’s a step-by-step guide to what that means for the world. Read More
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Yik Yak yearns to be local, not just anonymous
Anonymity has proven a dangerous path for startups like Secret, so Yik Yak is pushing a soft pivot towards connection with people close by. You can still share anonymous quips on the sagging college app, but now it’s forcing you to add a handle and photo. Then it wants you to post status updates about what you’re doing that day, and browse and contact nearby Yakkers. Changing course… Read More
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Facebook fights Messenger spam with Asimov’s three rules of bots
The big risk of Facebook launching the Messenger platform was that spammy bots could drown out your friends. Now Facebook is formalizing rules to prevent that because before, there were none. Messenger API experiences may only respond to users who initiate conversations. They can only reply within 24 hours, and once more after that for reengagement. Subscription Messaging that requires an… Read More
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Google launches Duo video-calling app, a dull cross-OS FaceTime rival
Can Google spring back from its social failures with a bare-bones video-calling app that unites iOS and Android users? Today it’s launching Duo, which lets you video call people one-on-one via their phone number. The problem is they’ll have to download the app but won’t get any bells and whistles or the ability to connect with Google Chat, Hangouts, Spaces, the upcoming… Read More
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Snapchat is acquiring mobile search app Vurb for $110M+
Snapchat could help you organize a night out with friends or get a digest of the day’s news thanks to its acquisition of mobile search startup Vurb. TechCrunch caught wind of the impending deal over the weekend and now The Information reports Snapchat is in the closing stages of talks to pay $110 million for Vurb (75 percent stock, 25 percent cash). Snapchat is also said to offer $75… Read More
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After the correction comes The Conclusion
Winter came, and now it’s time for a season of shut downs, sell outs, and saving face. The circle of life includes the stage of death. That doesn’t mean these founders did anything wrong, just not quite enough right. Their experiments are coming to an end. Two years ago a bunch of startups raised two years of runway. An abundance of early capital had emerged. Angels and VCs… Read More
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Facebook’s next big platform: Your camera
Facebook can’t build everything. For a decade, its strategy has been to provide the canvas, then let developers paint it however they want. That’s because there’ll always be another game. Another app. Another… selfie filter? Read More
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Facebook rolls out code to nullify Adblock Plus’ workaround again
Adblock Plus launched a workaround to Facebook’s ad block bypass today that ham-handedly removes posts from friends and Pages, not just ads, according to a statement provided by Facebook to TechCrunch. “We’re disappointed that ad blocking companies are punishing people on Facebook as these new attempts don’t just block ads but also posts from friends and Pages. Read More
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Facebook feed change that predicts what’s informative could reprioritize news
News outlets may get back some of their mojo stolen by a June Facebook feed algorithm change that preferred friends over publishers. Today Facebook will start predicting stories that are informative and highlighting them to people if they’re “related to their interests, if they engage people in broader discussions, and if they contain news”. Facebook surveyed tons of people… Read More
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Spotify’s first original videos are boring behind-the-music cartoons
Don’t expect Spotify’s lackluster attempt at original video to help it defeat Apple Music or YouTube. The three-minute clips produced in partnership with new media company ATTN are no more compelling than any freely available videos on the web. Spotify’s first series called “Deconstructed” features animated shorts about outdated national anthems, LGBT rappers… Read More
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