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Sony relaunches video sharing site, renames it Crackle
MUMBAI: Sony is today relaunching its video sharing website Grouper that it bought last year and renaming it ‘Crackle‘. It will try to differentiate itself from sites like Youtube using the pitch ‘We‘re going to make you a star baby‘ under which users who submit clips stand chance to win cash-prizes and even an Academy award nomination. |
Unlike Grouper which shared amateur video content, Crackle will feature videos by aspiring professionals, including some funded by Sony. Sony hopes this will attract advertisers who were not particularly enthused by amateur video sharing. It has also set up Crackle studios comprising a team of 15 employees who will produce segments for the site. They will also accept submissions from the public, although they will not be paying for them. “We‘re out of the user-generated-video business and in the emerging-talent business,” said former Grouper founder and current Crackle co-president Josh Felser. “We‘re liberating the next-generation directors and producers from YouTube.” |
Sony hopes to use Crackle to discover a new generation of filmmakers and is open to accepting proposals, which on acceptance will be funded by the company. The company will sponsor contests to find the best original animation and award creators with a cash prize and a trip to Los Angeles for a pitch meeting with executives at Sony Pictures Animation, which has made such movies as this summer‘s Surf‘s Up. The animated short films have the chance to release in theaters making it eligible for an Academy Award. They would also be invited to attend ‘Siggraph‘, the annual computer graphics conference in August 2008. The videos can be posted on blogs, MySpace, Facebook and other websites, and viewed on the Sony PSP hand-held game console and Internet-connected Sony Bravia televisions. |
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
