Discussion

• @pkafka Peter Kafka on threads

  I think in an alternate reality where Twitter/x threads fb etc didn't exist an artifact-like service would be huge.  And yes all of those services are much less good at surfacing good content then they used to be.  Still (sadly) hard to imagine there are enough people who care ab…

• @danseifert Dan Seifert on threads

  Artifact was a big factor in making up for losing Twitter as a news funnel when I left that disaster over a year ago.

• @mcwm Mike Murphy on threads

  that was fast

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads

  Artifact, the news app from the founders of Instagram is shutting down.  I always wondered what the business or product opportunity was for a news aggregator when news sites are struggling daily.  It turns out there isn't one.

• @wsig Will Sigmon on threads

  Noooo... Tech Threads: @artifact_news from IG co-founders is shutting down.  I had high hopes for this app (and really enjoyed using it for the past year or so).

• @martinsfp @martinsfp on threads

  As Nuzzel showed, getting really good at news recommendations is sadly not necessarily a business.  Artifact was another Nuzzel.

• @danseifert Dan Seifert on threads

  agree, the social features were a misstep.  I used them once, just to test, and then never posted anything ever again. but I read hundreds and hundreds of links in the app and used it every single day for news.

• @karissabe Karissa on threads

  I genuinely liked Artifact, but as someone who has covered just about every buzzy indie news app of the last decade (ZIte, Prismatic, Nuzzel etc.) this was sadly predictable.  “We have built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportun…

• @kurtwag8 Kurt Wagner on threads

  IG co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger are shutting down their news app.  I'm sure this won't be the last we hear from them. https://medium.com/...

• @danseifert Dan Seifert on threads

  ugh, I am legitimately bummed to hear this.  Artifact quickly became my go to news app that I check multiple times a day.  Many days it's the first app I open on my phone: https://www.theverge.com/...

• @quillmatiq Anuj Ahooja on threads

  This is truly unfortunate.  Artifact brought great ideas to the table and I wish they had more time to evolve, but I understand why they decided to stop.  Best of luck to them!  For those looking for a new home, I still really enjoy using @flipboard (disc: I used to work there). …

• @chris Chris Messina on threads

  Makes me wonder if @kevin and @mikeyk are going to go full time on @arcinternet with the unfortunate shutdown of @artifact_news. https://medium.com/... #Deadpool #RIPArtifact

• @griffitherin Erin Griffith on threads

  I guess I was one of the few people who liked Artifact.  The social features were not great, but it filled a Nuzzel-shaped hole in my media diet, surfacing stories I might have otherwise missed.  Bummer https://medium.com/...

• @martinsfp @martinsfp on threads

  Artifact got really good at recommending news articles and then threw too many social features in there when it perhaps should have stayed a tool for personal use.  Still, sad to see it shut down.

• @crumbler Casey Newton on threads

  Aw man, I really enjoyed using Artifact.  Wonder what Mike and Kevin will get up to next ... https://medium.com/...

• @dcseifert@mastodon.social Dan Seifert on mastodon

  ugh, I am legitimately bummed to hear this.  Artifact quickly became my go to news app that I check multiple times a day.  Many days it's the first app I open on my phone:  —  https://www.theverge.com/...

• @ricmac@mastodon.social Richard MacManus on mastodon

  It lasted longer than Burbn...  (obscure Web 2.0 joke).  But seriously, I did try Artifact but didn't find it compelling.  The founders got the timing just right with Instagram — right at the start of the smartphone app revolution. …

• @jesseconrad.bsky.social Jesse Conrad on bluesky

  This is actually really upsetting.  This app has so much potential [embedded post]

• @spencercallaghan.ca Spencer Callaghan on bluesky

  Started off great and then they ruined it with UGC and clickbait garbage.  [embedded post]

• @justinling.bsky.social Justin Ling on bluesky

  where else will I get hourly push updates from Newsweek announcing that yet another Russian TV host threatened nuclear war? [embedded post]

• @sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x

  Instagram cofounders shut down their news aggregation startups “We have built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportunity isn't big enough to warrant continued investment in this way.” https://medium.com/...

• @loudmouthjulia Julia Alexander on x

  Unsurprising but disappointing. Artifact seemed to overvalue idea of utility creation (unified ecosystem of fragmented services) still hindered by a paywall hurdle, and undervalued the shift to short form video (free) as a news proxy, and free sites (aggregators) as context adds.

• @rafat @rafat on x

  I called it DoA when it launched. The only benefit: that list of rich white tech guys who think they can save the news has grown longer.

• @nbashaw Nathan Baschez on x

  Sounds like this is not a “bourbn to instagram” type moment, and they are moving on to other things entirely Was a really well-made app, but yeah, a tough market!

• @palewire Ben Welsh on x

  A high-profile AI news startup is toast. Vibe shift TK?

• @lexnfx Alexei Oreskovic on x

  The “market opportunity” for news “isn't big enough” Happy Friday. Shutting down Artifact by @ARTIFACT_News https://link.medium.com/...

• @joshuaogundu Josh on x

  Instagram Co-Founders are shutting down their newest effort

• @jsmarr Joseph Smarr on x

  Sad to see this, I was one of the “core group of users” who loved @Artifact_News, but I can believe it's been hard to scale that userbase. Do I go back to Google News now, or is there something else newer and worth trying? :) https://medium.com/... [image]

• @baburkhwaja Babur Khwaja on x

  This is example of difficulty of finding product-market fit in sequential startups. Kevin Systrom found product-market fit at Instagram worth $1 billion — but next startup Artifact did not work out. Note that Elon Musk found product-market fit at many startups. He is #1...

• @seanhackbarth Sean Hackbarth on x

  Bummer. It has problems, but it also has promise and I have it part of my regular news routine.

• @thomasgermain Thomas Germain on x

  Wild, it's almost like the solution America's news problem is more journalism, not more algorithms

• @broderick Ryan Broderick on x

  I used Artifact from pretty much day one and actually liked it... until they launched social features a few months ago. Suddenly the entire user experience went out the window and also the recommendations seemed to get much worse. Didn't think it would shut down so fast though.

• @hamburger Ellis on x

  wow... i was an Artifact skeptic but really grew to enjoy it. the mobile web content situation is just ᴡᴀʏ ᴛᴏᴏ ғᴜᴄᴋᴇɴ ᴅɪʀᴇ with no light at the end of the tunnel, with content moving to subs and more engaging formats actual, rare props for calling it early

• @hamburger Ellis on x

  maybe there was a world where artifact went for “tiktok for text” ... or a content-format-agnostic AI recommendations tool... but i imagine the team's just already burned out on content and wants to build another AI thing given how much has changed in last 12 mos

• @loudmouthjulia Julia Alexander on x

  Still, Artifact was trying to figure out a system that needs it: news distribution, news product unification, and trends of consumer consumption habits being disrupted every few years. It's an insanely hard job and, as much as Artifact didn't seem the answer, I was rooting.

• @nikitabier Nikita Bier on x

  @JoshConstine Should've relaunched Instagram

• @rafat @rafat on x

  So much hype for a news aggregation app which everyone who has ever done news aggregation knew would never work, BUT, you know....disruption. 🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️ [image]

• @om @om on x

  Dang. This is sad outcome. https://medium.com/...

• @joshconstine Josh Constine on x

  Instagram's founders are shutting down their news app Artifact. Good on them for making the call early, especially when they could self-fund it, to seek out bigger opportunities. I'd love to see them tackle memes, which still lack a scaled, dedicated app https://medium.com/...

• @devahaz Deva Hazarika on x

  @pitdesi I don't think it's so much that the market opp isn't big enough as they recognized how incredibly hard to capitalize on that market opp with a news/content app and felt odds a lot better elsewhere

• @pitdesi Sheel Mohnot on x

  That's a 1st- I learned that @Artifact_News was shutting down from a push notification from them Sad, I like the product. They concluded the market opp isn't big enough. I agree with but I always felt that way about this product. Wonder what they originally envisioned. [image]

• @mrjnowlin @mrjnowlin on x

  More like they made it unusable attempting to incorporate AI to rename articles which never worked well

• @artemr Artem Russakovskii on x

  Noooo! @kevin just killed the Artifact app @Artifact_News which I've been using since its launch to read news. https://medium.com/...

• @pitdesi Sheel Mohnot on x

  I actually had assumed that they knew the market wasn't big enough from the start but were doing it as a pet project (it was started by the founders of instagram)

• @trace_cohen Trace Cohen on x

  “Artifact is currently self-funded by the founders to the tune of “single-digit millions.” - Feb 2023 What was the last successful personal news reader? Props to them for trying

• @warmoth Brian Warmoth on x

  Artifact app shutting down is a bummer. I really liked their news discovery experience for the most part: https://medium.com/...