Venerated entertainment industry magazine Variety has announced its newest partnership with a Black-owned tech company named Yappa.
In a press release announcement, it was revealed that Yappa, an audio and visual commenting tool for the web, will be the exclusive new commenting solution for the magazine’s official website. The Yappa commenting widget will live at the bottom of each story throughout Variety’s website, allowing readers to leave audio and/or video comments based on what they just read or interacted with on the page.
This partnership, which was made official as of yesterday, comes hot on the heels of Yappa’s most recent valuation of $200 million. They also recently secured more funding to further their technology, expand their team, and roll out new products.
Jennifer Dyer, the Webby Award-winning CEO of Yappa, also said that this new infusion of funds will also allow the company to form partnerships with other online brands, including Vox Media, iHeart Radio, The Hill, and Perez Hilton.
“Since ideation, our goal has been to afford brands a tool to connect with their community in a way that fosters empathetic dialogue and cannot be masked by the veil of anonymity that most comments sections operate under,” she said, in the press release announcement. “The opportunity to work with Variety — the preeminent source for entertainment news and features — is truly a dream partnership for us. We are thrilled to provide its readers a better way to engage with the top-notch content their writers are producing. As we integrate across Variety’s digital platform, we are also excited about activating for its quintessential slate of in-person and virtual event programming.”
Launched in 2019, Yappa’s mission is to empower humanistic connectivity, support corporate social responsibility and promote diverse voices online. Yappa’s multimedia conversational tool has allowed web publishers to build a social network of users within their own platform, creating a growing source of engaging user-generated content.