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Brian Contreras
@_B_Contreras_
Covering VC, PE and finance for @Inc. Formerly @latimes.
Joined June 2018
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Mar 28, 2025
    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.
    Sick and Lonely, She Turned to AI for Support—and a Boyfriend
    From inc.com
    4.3K
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Sep 30, 2021
    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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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Feb 16, 2022
    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.
    latimes.com
    Five Latino TikTokers traded 9-to-5s for a Hollywood Hills house. This is how they live
    In only a few years, the five young Latinos in the Familia Fuego TikTok collective have gone from working day jobs to mixing with Hollywood's elite.
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Jan 23, 2024
    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
    85K
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Oct 26, 2022
    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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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Jun 27, 2022
    I went to the crypto-themed burger joint in Long Beach. They said they weren't accepting crypto.
    Founder Andy Nguyen says he paid over $330,000 for the different ape-themed NFTs that form the basis of his restaurant's brand.
    Inside the crypto restaurant after the crypto crash
    From latimes.com
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Jun 2, 2021
    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.
    latimes.com
    How Trump's zombie Facebook page became a weird internet memorial
    Frozen in time since the Jan. 6 insurrection, perhaps forever, Donald Trump's Facebook page lives on as an internet destination for #MAGA fans and #Resistance types alike.
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Sep 23, 2021
    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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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Mar 24, 2022
    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.
    LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 14: Sarah Coffey, Dylan Adler, Jane Wickline, Gray Fagan, Grace Reiter, Sydney Battle and DaMya Gurley, left to right, the cast of Stapleview, stand for a portrait where they film a live weekly sketch comedy show that is being broadcast through TikTok's in-app live-streaming platform at their production room on Monday, March 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
    'It’s like SNL TikTok': A peek inside 'Stapleview,' a viral live comedy show
    From latimes.com
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Jun 22, 2020
    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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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Nov 10, 2020
    ✨ 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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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Jul 14, 2020
    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.
    latimes.com
    As political stars align, billions more set to fund national parks
    The Great American Outdoors Act would provide billions of dollars to buy land and care for national parks after years of budget cuts and delayed maintenance.
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Jan 19, 2024
    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.
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    L.A. Times Guild 🦅
    @latguild
    Jan 19, 2024
    📢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
    6.9K
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    Brian Contreras
    @_B_Contreras_
    Aug 19, 2021
    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.