Sapna Maheshwari
sapna.bsky.social
Sapna Maheshwari
@sapna.bsky.social
8.6K followers 220 following 72 posts
NYT (@nytimes.com) covering TikTok and emerging media. love consumer-y business news. former retail and advertising reporter. pun fan, Tar Heel, CT native, toddler mom - contact me at [email protected] or Signal me directly @Sapna.87
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Reposted by Sapna Maheshwari
If you're going to sell your face to the AI company (and probably be humiliated) at least ask for more $$$.
This is from TikTok’s ad platform but several of the avatars have also been placed onto CapCut - the ones I spoke with didn’t realize that was part of the contract they signed!
Reposted by Sapna Maheshwari
Selling one's likeness for a mere $500 and having it talk about its sexual preferences while hawking fiber supplements is like a sad plot device that I would expect from a good science fiction novel.

But it's real, via @sapna.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/b...
He Sold His Likeness. Now His Avatar Is Shilling Supplements on TikTok.
www.nytimes.com
I wrote about people who sold their likenesses to TikTok for AI-fueled advertisements. Marketers have been able to use their “avatars” to promote all sorts of products - and several regret the work. The folks I spoke with were paid as little as $500 for it www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/b...
He Sold His Likeness. Now His Avatar Is Shilling Supplements on TikTok.
www.nytimes.com
“When it’s time again to pick up that phone and incinerate a few more seconds of my one life on earth, more often than not, I shovel them into Reddit.” @jwherrman.bsky.social spot on as usual! nymag.com/intelligence...
Why You Are Reading Reddit a Lot More These Days
“The front page of the web” is turning into the last refuge of the human internet. But can it survive AI?
nymag.com
will be covering the Cannes ad/tech/media confab this year in June... plz DM / email me if there are things i shouldn't miss while there!
one of my fav stories i wrote from this spring — how agencies are trying to train college athletes as the next big group of influencers on TikTok and Instagram: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/b...
They’re on the Varsity Influencer Team
www.nytimes.com
regularly shocks me that my child will only know a beautiful LaGuardia and a delightful Penn Station
which pairs well with this deep-dive (& NYT debut!) from Caroline Kitchener on the White House's plans for persuading more American women to have babies: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/u...

seems like the folks preaching "more babies" aren't talking much about mat leave + childcare...
Trump Aides Solicit Ideas to Raise Birthrate, From Baby Bonuses to Fertility Planning
Baby bonuses and menstrual cycle classes are among the ideas pitched to Trump aides as they consider plans to try boosting the birthrate.
www.nytimes.com
that’s what a lot of folks are saying. I’ll be interested to see if this actually goes into effect on May 2. to be fair though, plenty of places to continue buying cheap stuff at dollar stores, Walmart, etc. But this is def a newer and perhaps more impulsive source of it all
TikTok & Reddit are filled with people worrying about the new tariffs on Shein and Temu packages set to go into effect on May 2 — and price hikes on April 25. the alarm reflects the deep inroads the apps have made into American shopping habits in recent years: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/b...
Shein and Temu Will be Hit by Trump’s China Tariffs. Americans Are Worried.
The Trump administration’s plan to add steep fees to packages from China will deal a blow to Temu, Shein and some TikTok Shop sellers, worrying American consumers.
www.nytimes.com
i don't eat a ton of meat but these paragraphs are making me consider going full vegetarian... www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/u...
thanks! love going on squawk box!
Oracle met with top congressional aides yesterday to talk about how it plans to work with TikTok in coming weeks, as the April 5 deadline for a deal approaches: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/t... (scooplet with david mccabe)
www.nytimes.com
I saw this on 40th St a week or so ago and it has lived rent free in my head ever since! For the Bradlees hive… I know you’re out there
Reposted by Sapna Maheshwari
Charging this puppy up to make sure it still works for Flip Phone February.

(If you make up a movement, you gotta follow through on it: www.nytimes.com/2024/01/06/t...)