The Know Daily - Tuesday 2 May 2023

_{Read in 5m 24s ∙ Listening to Joy Oladokun}

A new generation of music lovers will soon be able to browse vinyls, CDs and even cassettes IRL, as HMV is set to return to its original site after a four-year absence. The store, located on London’s Oxford Street, is expected to open by the end of the year - catch us browsing for Christmas presents there!

⛽ Fuel to the fire

Oil and gas company BP has reported stronger than expected profits for the first three months of the year, reigniting calls for energy giants to pay more tax.

How much money are we talking about?
BP posted profits of $5bn in the first quarter of this year. While this is down from $6.2bn in the same period last year, it’s still much higher than analysts had predicted.

This story feels familiar…
With good reason. In February, BP reported record profits for 2022 as the company - along with the rest of the sector - benefited from surging oil and gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But this also fuelled a sharp rise in energy bills for households, which led the government to introduce a windfall tax on energy firms last year.

The Energy Profits Levy means that companies currently face an additional 35% tax on profits made from extracting UK oil and gas in the North Sea - but not from other activities. Today’s news is expected to reignite debate over whether energy firms should pay a harsher rate of tax.

What could this look like?
On Monday night, Labour called for the levy to be made tougher in order to fund a freeze on council tax for “cash-strapped households”, The Guardian reported. Labour has previously criticised the current scheme because it lets firms claim tax savings for investing in fossil fuel extraction.

Is there anything else I should know?
BP has also faced criticism from climate campaigners after the energy giant cut back its target to reduce emissions by the end of the decade.

And wholesale gas prices have now started to fall, which should mean that household bills will start coming down this summer.

 📸 It’s been real

BeReal was one of the most talked about apps of 2022, at one point even surpassing Instagram in weekly downloads. But despite reaching an audience of more than 53 million, users now appear to be waving off the “authentic” photo-sharing platform.

What’s the deal with BeReal?
The premise of the French-founded app is simple: prompted by a once-a-day alert, users have two minutes to share a photo of themselves and what they’re doing. Only once they’ve posted can they see their friends’ images.

But the app’s initial attraction is reportedly fading, with British Vogue describing BeReal as a “digital ghost town”.

Are fewer people using it?
It depends on who you ask. Intelligence firm Apptopia says the number of daily active users has dropped by 61%, from around 15 million in October 2022 to fewer than six million in March.

However, the platform has insisted that it is continuing to grow. “BeReal has over 20 million daily active users around the world 😎,” states an April blog post, described by The Verge as “oddly defensive”.

What’s BeReal doing to retain users?
Last week, the platform increased its daily post limit for users who post on time, allowing them to upload two additional photos (“Bonus BeReals”) at a time of their choosing.

It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to keep people on the app - and some have suggested that the update goes against BeReal’s original goal of creating “an alternative to addictive social networks”.

Is there a bigger picture?
British Vogue says the BeReal saga is symptomatic of a wider problem. “Social media more generally seems to be in the midst of a massive identity crisis,” wrote journalist Daisy Jones, pointing to the Elon Musk-era changes to Twitter and the declining popularity of Instagram among Gen Z.

Although BeReal “claimed to be different”, Jones added, “it wound up being just another platform that ate into our time and encouraged us to project a certain image”.

🤖 AI warning: An artificial intelligence trailblazer nicknamed the “godfather of AI” has spoken out about the threat he feels the technology poses to humanity. Geoffrey Hinton said he quit his job at Google so he could speak freely about the risks.

👎 Donation drop: Volunteering in England is at a historic low, with a new survey of 7,000 adults finding that those raising money or taking part in sponsored events has fallen by 48% since 2018.

🥫 Cost-of-living: Food price inflation in the UK jumped to 15.7% last month compared with April 2022 - despite a decline in wholesale costs. Experts say the cost of a food shop “should start” to come down soon.

👀 Met Gala 2023: The star-studded event, often dubbed the “Super Bowl of fashion”, took place last night. Highlights included Jared Leto in a fluffy feline costume, Serena Williams’ pregnancy reveal and Rihanna’s extravagant bridal-inspired look.

🇭🇰 Fancy a free flight?: Hong Kong is giving away 500,000 free airline tickets to lure tourists back to the region - and applications are now open for people in the UK, US and Europe.

Trivia answer: B) Sainsbury’s offers the cheapest meal deal, according to this league table.

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