With a now-total ban on WhatsApp, China has finally ousted Facebook for good, and Russia is threatening to do the same if the social media platform does not abide by its government’s rules (ironic, as Russia reached at least 10 million American Facebook users with its U.S. election propaganda ads, according to the latest tally). Also in this week’s tracker: Facebook leverages Apple’s FaceID for account recovery, and Android users can skip the bells and whistles with Messenger Lite.  Read More...

Snagajob was all about the gig economy before the gig economy was cool. Founded in 2000 as a marketplace to help hourly workers and employers find each other, the platform has since grown to 83M hourly workers and 300K employment locations. Snagajob CEO, Peter Harrison, tells Karen Webster how — and where the company is headed next. That would be the “Uber for hourly workers,” Husl, which just launched in beta.  Read More...

Walmart is America’s biggest retailer, but not necessarily among millennials — despite its repeated efforts to woo them. Is becoming more like eCommerce giant Amazon the answer? That seems to be the route Walmart is exploring of late, but it may demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of the younger generation.  Read More...