Time Inc has acquired Viant, owner of Myspace and a number of other Web properties. “Time plans to combine Viant’s business with its own, creating a big data, ad targeting powerhouse,” TechCrunch reports. “Specifically, Time says it will ‘merge its premium content, subscriber data, and advertising inventory with Viant’s first party data and programmatic capabilities.’”

Twitter is in big trouble, according to The New York Times’ Farad Manjoo. Yes, despite being what he calls “the world’s most important social network,” Twitter has virtually stopped growing. The solution? “Perhaps there’s more promise in a future as an independent but private company; as a small and sustainable division of some larger tech or media conglomerate; or even as a venture that operates more like a nonprofit foundation.”

As part of its Internet.org initiative, Facebook is testing a "Next Generation Data Network," which can connect computers using millimeter-wave radio links deployed as a mesh network. That’s according to patent records obtained by The Verge. Another patent describes the Next Generation Network in more detail, as a kind of centralized, cloud-based routing system, The Verge reports. 

Twitter has formed a “Trust & Safety Council” that is made up of multiple external organizations with stakes in free speech as well as anti-bully efforts. “The company said today that the Twitter Trust & Safety Council will provide ‘input on our safety products, policies, and programs,’” TechCrunch reports. In a blog post, Patricia Cartes, Twitter’s Head of Global Policy Outreach, said a “multi-layered approach” is necessary.

After almost seven years of operation, Kickstarter has successfully funded its 100,000th campaign. What’s more, “The rate at which projects are being funded is much faster than it used to be,” The Verge notes. Indeed, “Kickstarter says that it took 121 days for a first 100 projects to be funded back in 2009; its most recent 100 funded projects took only three days.”

As part of a ruling in favor of net neutrality, Indian telecom regulators have decided to block Facebook’s Free Basics Web service. “It was opposed by supporters of net neutrality who argued that data providers should not favour some online services over others,” BBC News reports. “Facebook indicated it hoped to adapt its scheme to make it legal.”

Hashtags were slightly less prominent in this year’s Super Bowl ads, compared to last year’s ads. The social media signatures appeared in 45% of ads, this year -- down from 50%, last year, according to Marketing Land. Meanwhile, “Twitter and Facebook tied as the most-mentioned social networks, though neither was explicitly mentioned often,” it notes.

For the fourth quarter, LindedIn beat analyst estimates on both income and revenue. However, the stock company’s stock sank 30% in after-hours trading, because of a disappointing outlook and earnings guidance. “The job networking site said that revenue for first quarter of 2016 is expected to be $820 million and adjusted earnings per share will be 55 cents,” TechCrunch reports. “Investors were discouraged by these numbers.”

Twitter is reportedly charging advertisers $1 million in exchange for custom emojis. “Since October, Twitter has designed 17 custom emojis -- three of which launch this week for Super Bowl campaigns with Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch,” Adweek reports. The “million-dollar deals entail packages, per sources, that involve the custom emoji with different combinations of the following: Promoted Trends (which normally cost $200,000), Promoted Moments and Promoted Tweets.”

Evernote is pulling the plug on Market -- the e-commerce platform on which it sold Evernote-branded products and Evernote-integrated office products. “The moves come at what has been a pretty difficult period for the startup,” TechCrunch notes. “Developments have included a number of senior departures, including that of the previous, longtime CEO Phil Libin.”