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Brian Contreras
@_B_Contreras_
Covering VC, PE and finance for @Inc. Formerly @latimes.
Joined June 2018
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    Over the past few months, I've spent hours talking with a young woman who goes by the name Karalyn McKay—as well as her AI 'boyfriend' Alex. My latest for @Inc is the result: a story about what loneliness looks like in America, and whether AI might help.
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    Sen. Blumenthal: "Will you commit to ending finsta?" Facebook global head of safety Antigone Davis: "We don't actually do finsta..." Blumenthal: "Finsta is one of your products or services..." Davis: "Finsta is slang."
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    Not long ago, these five young Latinos were working typical service-industry jobs: at theme parks and catering companies and Walmarts. Today, they share a $2.2 million home high in the Hollywood Hills, making TikToks full-time. Meet the Familia Fuego.
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    Well, unfortunately I'm among those who were laid off by LAT today, among many other brilliant and dedicated colleagues both inside and outside our union. If you're looking for a tech reporter with experience on the AI or social media beats, I'm at briancontreras42 'at' gmail
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    Replying to @vijaya
    Hi! My name is Brian; I’m a tech reporter with the L.A. Times. We're working on an article about how Twitter employees feel about the company's sale to Elon Musk, and I’d love your perspective! Please reach me at brian 'dot' contreras 'at' latimes 'dot' com if you're interested.
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    I went to the crypto-themed burger joint in Long Beach. They said they weren't accepting crypto.
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    Replying to @kenklippenstein
    I wrote about this a few weeks ago for @latimes. Trump's page has always been up, and accruing comments from his fans and trolls -- even though he himself remains banned.
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    Subtitles are wildly unpopular in film. So why do they show up everywhere on TikTok? The answer is more complicated than you might think. It involves a little bit of psychology, a little bit of business theory, and a whole lot of activism. latimes.com/business/techn…
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    Comedy is changing, and TikTok is a big part of the reason why. “Stapleview” — a new sketch show staffed with some of the biggest names in the app’s homegrown comedy scene — offers a sneak peak of where the industry may be headed.
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    Starting a summer position with the @latimes DC bureau today! If you have a story pitch or an interesting perspective on COVID, protests, #election2020, tech regulation, etc. my DMs are open! (Also accepting scoops about goings-on in my basement, where I'll be working)
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    ✨ PLEASE SHARE WIDELY ✨ Are you in high school, college or young adulthood and have changed life plans or lifestyle in response to climate change? Want to talk to the L.A. Times about it? DM me here or reach me at brian.contreras 'at' latimes.com to chat!
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    New from me, for the L.A. Times: a look inside the often-costly conservation work that goes into America's public lands, and a new bill that would inject billions of dollars into their expansion and maintenance.
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    We're walking out tomorrow because management refuses to work with us in good faith to craft a buyouts proposal that could save jobs and money. Instead, they're using the threat of layoffs to try to gut the contractual protections that allow people to build a life + career here.
    📢DON’T CROSS THE LAT GUILD DIGITAL PICKET LINE To support us in our walkout, we ask you not to 1) Click on LAT stories  2) Engage with LAT brand accounts on social media  3) Open LAT news alerts Or otherwise engage with LAT content from midnight to 11:59 p.m. Jan. 19
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    If you’re an OnlyFans user whose content will be affected by the site’s new ban on sexually-explicit content, I’d love to chat! DM me here or reach me at [email protected] — especially if you’re California-based.