Media Insider: Death of Vine Prompts New App Debut, Facebook Prepares Users For Election, Condé Nast Starts $4K Membership Program

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s round up of journalism, blogging and freelancing stories from the week.

Photo by Esther Vargas, used under (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Vine Co-Founders Finally Discuss Their New App: Hype (BuzzFeed)

Twitter recently announced its decision to kill the Vine app, but the online video trend it started will continue on. Vine co-founders Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll are bringing to life another online-video platform, Hype, that will allow users to incorporate pre-recorded videos into live streams, reports BuzzFeed. The duo made the announcement via a Hype broadcast, after hearing about the death of Vine. To demonstrate the ability to add pre-recorded videos to a live-stream, they grabbed old Vine videos from their phones and shared them with tuned-in viewers.

Preparing for the US Election 2016 (Facebook)

Facebook is all about helping US citizens get the information needed to prepare for Election Day. The social platform launched a new feature that shows users what’s on the ballot — from candidates to ballot initiatives — based on their location, reports Facebook. The feature allows users to share their picks with friends, or email their choices for later reference. Users can also share their exact address to get localized ballot information, too.

Wired, With Other Condé Nast Tech Publications, Starts a $4,000-A-Year-Membership Program (Digiday)

In the quest to drive more revenue from readers, publishers are getting creative in their efforts. While most target the masses, Condé Nast’s Wired Media Group aims for limited appeal with the launch of its Emerging Technology Council. Priced at $4,000 a year, the membership-based organization will target C-level business leaders who want to stay current on new technology, reports Digiday. In addition to in-person and virtual event access, members (and up to four colleagues) will join an 24/7 online community, receive a monthly newsletter, and see other perks. Members can look forward to the first event, which is scheduled for January.

Backchannel Is Using Intimacy And Audience Participation To Fuel Its First Push Into Live Events (NiemanLab)

Tech conferences are known to have large-scale audience attendance. Backchannel, however, is taking a more intimate approach for its first live event. The Backchannel Breakfast Salon will invite just 30 people to New York City’s Ace Hotel to talk about technology, careers, and the interaction between the two, according to NiemanLab. Invitees are asked to participate deeply by sharing advice and personal stories with others from a mix of backgrounds. The goal is to spark unlikely relationships that pay off in the future, reports NiemanLab.

Snapchat Stops Autoplay, Marketers Grapple With Declining View Counts (Digiday)

Snapchat recently stopped autoplay on Snapchat Stories, resulting in the loss of view counts for marketers, according to Digiday. But, marketers aren’t adopting new strategies as a result of the change. In fact, marketers view the community of loyal brand advocates as more important than the obvious decline in views. One marketer even noted that engagement hasn’t been affected. The biggest question is if the change will impact ad revenue for the social platform, especially as it seeks its IPO.

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Tabresha B. Langham is a Customer Content Specialist with PR Newswire. She also is a social media enthusiast, foodie, and lover of SEC Football (War Eagle!). Follow her at @PRNmedia and @TabreshaL.