Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Social Media
  3. Legacy Archives

Twitter’s Biz Stone stepping aside, relaunching Obvious

Add as a preferred source on Google
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Twitter co-founder Isaac “Biz” Stone has announced he will be moving on from the popular microblogging and social networking service Twitter in order to focus on helping schools and non-profits—and relaunching technology incubator The Obvious Corporation with Twitter co-founder Evan Williams.

“The Twitter crew and its leadership team have grown incredibly productive,” Stone wrote in his blog. “I’ve decided that the most effective use of my time is to get out of the way until I’m called upon to be of some specific use.”

Recommended Videos

Although Stone says he plans to work with Twitter “for many years to come,” his decision to leave the company is just the latest in a series of executive and leadership changes at the San Francisco-based company. Last year, Evan Williams handed over the CEO role to Dick Costolo, and in March Twitter co-founder (and Square CEO) Jack Dorsey returned to the fold as executive chairman to oversee product development.

The Obvious Corporation is a technology incubator dedicated to developing “systems that help people work together to improve the world.” Williams and Stone didn’t outline any specific projects they have lined up for Obvious, but it’s worth noting that Obvious is what originally spawned Twitter five years ago.

In addition to working with Williams at Obvious, Stone plans to dedicate times to non-profits, schools, the Biz and Lydia Stone Foundation, as well as serve on other companies’ advisory boards.

[Image: Joi Ito]

Geoff Duncan
Former Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Topics
X Money is finally here, and it’s much more than a digital wallet
The new financial service aims to turn X into an app where users can pay, save, spend, and send money.
X Money featured

Elon Musk's vision of turning X into an "everything app" has taken another major step forward. The company has officially begun rolling out X Money to Premium and Premium+ subscribers in the United States. Rather than being just another digital wallet, X Money is designed as a full-fledged financial hub built directly into the social platform, allowing users to send money, receive payments, hold cash, earn interest, and spend through a Visa debit card—all without leaving the X app.

What is X Money, and who is it for?

Read more
The EU says TikTok still isn’t doing enough to protect kids
Regulators say the platform's privacy settings don't go far enough under the Digital Services Act.
TikTok Creative Featured

The European Commission has accused TikTok of falling short on protecting minors, saying the platform's current account settings don't meet the child safety standards required under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The findings are preliminary, but if upheld, TikTok could face a fine of up to 6% of its global annual revenue.

Why the EU thinks TikTok isn't doing enough

Read more
Facebook debuts Seller app for Marketplace and tests a TikTok-style video feed
As Marketplace turns ten, Facebook is celebrating with a seller app and a video-first redesign test.
facebook-seller-app

Facebook Marketplace just turned ten, and Meta is marking the milestone by reshaping how you buy, sell, and scroll. The company launched a dedicated app called Seller for its most active Marketplace users.

At the same time, it confirmed plans to test a video-first home screen that looks a lot like TikTok. Together, these updates hint at where Facebook wants to take its massive user base next, and they lean heavily on AI to get there.

Read more