If you could quit your full-time job to Periscope for a living and help those in need, would you?
Jon Jacques, a 20-year-old who worked at a video marketing company in New York City, has been spending his free time after work and on the weekends showcasing his street magic performances on the live-streaming app, Periscope. After a while, he realized he could turn his hobby into his dream job. In June, Jacques gained the courage to quit his high-paying job so he could Periscope full-time.
In a video posted on his GoFundMe page, Jacques said, “I had this crazy idea to go to Times Square in NYC and do some street performances to raise money, but not to keep the money, to take that money and donate it to noble people via random acts of kindness.”
Within 24 hours of creating his first GoFundMe page, Jacques raised $700. Soon after, Jacques decided to launch a second page so he could raise even more money, this time with a goal of $5,000.
Jacques left it up to his contributors to decide where he should donate the money, and they voted that the donations should go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. As far as the rest of the money goes, they voted it should to go towards random acts of kindness.
Even though Jacques has already raised a couple hundred dollars, he said he hasn’t spent any of the money on himself. Jacques made sure to save up enough money over the past few weeks so he could live without earning a steady paycheck.
Jacques has earned more than 22 million hearts and is ranked No. 16 on Periscope’s Most Loved list worldwide.
Jacques told Mashable he was drawn to Periscope because “it can give anyone a platform to tell their story. It can give people a voice.”
Jacques will continue to reach out to people who need a magic moment and could use the extra support. People who donate to Jacques GoFundMe page can learn more about the individuals stories and watch live through Periscope.
If things don’t end up working out for Jacques, he said he’ll definitely go back to working full-time.
You just opened X and started typing your thoughts. Imagine the jump scare when a hand suddenly pops up on your screen, pointing at the promote button. It doesn’t say a word and simply points. For a growing number of X users, this isn’t a made-up scenario but something they have been seeing since yesterday, and very few of them are amused.
Most of us have learned to tune out the usual in-app upsells, whether it’s a glowing upgrade banner or a pop-up about a premium plan. A floating hand hovering over your draft is much harder to ignore, and that’s probably the whole point.
Scroll through any app for five minutes, and you’ll find someone maxxing something. Their skin, their sleep, their protein intake, even their Friday night on the couch. That little suffix has been everywhere this year, and now it has a trophy to show for it. In a recent announcement, Dictionary.com named maxxing its 2026 Word of the Year.
What are people actually doing when they’re maxxing?
Instagram is testing a new format for long-form videos called Features. It allows select creators to upload horizontal videos running up to 90 minutes long. Instagram has already tested the new format with creators in Brazil, and now, it's expanding to tens of thousands of creators across the US.
How will Instagram's new Features format work?