Lockdown and Social Media

Social media began, as the name suggests, with the intention and aim of connecting people. One could meet old, long-lost friends, or make completely new connections with the same ease, regardless of time and space, on the numerous platforms that constituted this new kind of media.

It may be a cliché to say so, but social media did revolutionize communication. It also opened opportunities for the masses – who would otherwise have been simply consumers – to be creators and shape narratives previously crafted and curated by traditional media executives. 

It became a shining example of what humanity was capable of. It defined and shaped entire generations and cultures. 

But this was not to last. Like all things, including good ones, social media grew a bit too much. From the hero that saved people from the cold impersonality of traditional media that had been subject to gatekeeping, it became the villain.  

Social Media and Isolation  

In their book Introduction to Psychology, Dennis Coon and John Mitterer explain social thinking and social influence. Humans in social context think in terms of roles, in the case of social media, leaders, and followers. Social media forms a perception of the real world by superimposing artificial and unrealistic standards.

These standards force the group structure (society/followers) to form cohesion, norms, and social conception – gradually forcing an attitude change through persuasion and coercion. 

First, people became addicted to it, as they would to alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, raising similar concerns. And then came the (too many) astonishing and ironic revelations that social media caused widespread feelings of isolation among its users. People in the artificial bubble of interconnectedness were suffering from loneliness.  

To some, this outcome seemed apparent, as they saw virtual contact on social media platforms replace actual, physical, real-world interactions and connections among people. The control it gave people to tell their stories and present themselves was far more than was available to them in real-world interactions, and falsification began to seep in. This was swallowed by most viewers as true. 

FOMO (fear of missing out), a playful and teasing acronym, became a significant factor contributing to declining mental health, fueling feelings of inadequacy and envy, and eventual isolation. Where people had earlier turned to for something they could relate to, they found only a version far from that.  

At a time when social media was beginning to be reviled more widely than before in light of the revelations about it and isolation, it found its opportunity for redemption – the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns it brought. Panic and chaos ensued as people were thrown into entirely new circumstances and were forced to refrain from actual contact, and to physically isolate themselves from each other.  

The Redemption of Social Media 

Social media came on its own at this time. It continued to replace real-world interactions, but in a way that was far more meaningful than before. It became more of a need than a fun and entertaining option. Apps and online services for video calling and messaging, such as Zoom, received much more attention and use than they did before the pandemic. Education and work shifted to online platforms as well and utilized these platforms. 

There was also a shift in the content produced and put up on social media. Where previously it had largely been dominated by images and videos of people living their best lives (and likely masking their internal and private struggles), everybody was now in, more or less, the same boat. 

Posts became much more relatable and uplifting. Hope and motivation were the main themes of content that went viral, such as a Scottish grandmother’s message of reassurance and advice to her grandchildren, and whole neighborhoods joining in singing songs from their balconies and windows. 

People now posted about their struggles with anxiety and fear or their daily schedules during the lockdown rather than their trips to amazingly exotic places or equally exotic and jaw-dropping parties and gatherings. 

There was a rise in the collective mindfulness of people – online support groups for people and mental health were widely promoted. There were also reminders to simply care for the people who might need more attention, such as neighbors who were seniors. Appreciation for both medical and non-medical essential workers – who are otherwise close to invisible to most – shot up as well.  

Lockdown Humor

While news became more and more anxiety-inducing, social media, more than TV or movies, gave people an out from the all-consuming “doom-scrolling”. Motivation about the very specific situation everyone found themselves in could be easily found. 

There was also stress relief in the form of the Internet and social media’s particular brand of user-produced humor. Memes about the pandemic, and the bizarre behaviors the situation induced cropped up a dime a dozen across all platforms. Very soon, “challenges” and dance trends spread too. 

Even the most harried group on earth, medical professionals, joined in the fun. Clips of PPE-clad doctors and nurses executing ridiculous dance moves during their breaks spread like wildfire. Humor also came in the form of user errors while video conferencing, caused by having to adapt to this ‘new normal’ in a short amount of time. 

Authority figures such as the police, the WHO, and government officials too upped their engagement on social platforms. Their accounts and handles became sources of important, trusted information, even as misinformation (a continuing downside of social media) swirled. They also allowed prompt responses to individual cases and queries – sometimes, intentional or unintentional humor could be found(often the latter). 

As feel-good material gained traction on social media, big brands adopted it too. Rather than trying to plug their worries into people whose financial circumstances were decreasing their ability to spend, brands too produced uplifting content. Many also used their online visibility to engage in CSR (corporate social responsibility) at a time when people needed it most. 

Some of the most severe disadvantages of social media have not gone away. Misinformation, divisive arguments and campaigns, and trolling are still going strong. However, there is very little doubt about it – social media went a large way towards mitigating the intensity of the situation for people who might have suffered a lot more without it. To the many, many people forced to isolate themselves, it became the only means to feel less lonely in a time of heightened anxiety and stress.

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Social Media Mental Health

The adolescent years are a time when connecting with peers becomes a focal point in your teen’s life and online social platforms offer ample opportunities for interaction. However, while social media allows teens to connect with each other, the platforms also open teens up to mental health issues. Even though there are a host of benefits to using online platforms, such as forming groups, staying in touch with far-away friends, and even providing social support, social media often affects teens in negative ways.

A recent study published in The American Academy of Pediatrics reported roughly 25 percent of teens think social media has a negative effect, but over 30 percent think the impacts are mostly positive. Studies have also shown over 20 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds report bouts of depression and anxiety. Depression in particular is seeing a sharp increase among teenage girls and some researchers believe this is at least partly due to using social media. To help you stay abreast of the dangers, here are five ways social media affects teens’ mental health:

1) Indirect Communication

Before the advent of social media, teens spent most of their free time hanging out with friends or talking on the phone. However, today’s wide range of electronic devices allows teens to be online at all times. Texting and making online posts have replaced talking and direct human interaction with more impersonal communication. This loss of in-person interaction often leads to teens not developing the social skills crucial to forming productive adult relationships.

2) Depression

A new phenomenon referred to as “Facebook depression” is characterized as depression resulting from spending too much time on social media platforms, and not just Facebook. Researchers found that teens who spend the most time on these platforms exhibited more of the classic symptoms of depression, and at a much higher rate, than those who spent less time engaging in online social activities. Researchers believe this is due to the increased quantity of online social interaction, giving teens the ability to interact with a larger number of peers.

3) Cyberbullying

One of the biggest dangers teens face online is being bullied. Cyberbullying is related to the phenomenon of “keyboard bravado,” where a person has the courage to say hurtful things while hiding behind their keyboard. Clinical and developmental psychologist Donna Wick reports this is especially true of teenage girls who most often won’t be as vicious to someone offline. Wick says social media is teaching teens to be more extreme in their disagreements, instead of learning how to work out conflicts in real life.

4) Addiction

While researchers have not been able to reach a consensus, a fair amount of evidence supports the theory of social media addiction. A study performed at Nottingham Trent University examined research on the effect of social media on psychological characteristics. Researchers concluded this type of addiction is a real possibility as many of the standard addiction criteria, like moodiness, neglect of personal life, and trying to conceal the addictive behavior, are present in many teens who spend excessive amounts of time on social media platforms. So teens should stop being so addicted to social media platforms.

5) Jealousy

Studies have found a durable link between envy and depression and seeing how well their peers seem to be doing only adds to the pressure teens feel as they compare their life to those of others. Studies show that seeing their friends and classmates going on exotic vacations and getting a new car often triggers feelings of envy. Researchers also found the number of envy-inducing incidents on Facebook alone can initiate a vicious cycle of making teens feel envious enough to create their own jealousy-inducing posts.

Conclusion

Adults often forget the struggles of their own teen years and as such, it can be difficult to understand what their teens are dealing with. Additionally, with all the pressures of life parents have to deal with, it can be challenging to know when your teen is having issues. The most important thing you can do is make sure your children understand they can always come to you with emotional issues. This is easier said than done as many parents don’t know how to approach these issues. For those parents, it is imperative to seek professional help for your teen as soon as any drastic behavioral changes are noticed. If requires, take a break or delete social media profiles for your mental health.

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WeChat Statistics for 2023 and Beyond

WeChat is the top-used messaging platform in China and it is one of the most used social media messaging apps in the world. It’s also called weixin (微信) which is launched by Tencent in 2011. Tencent company also provides various apps and services including QQ Messenger, WeCom, QQ Mail, Tencent Music, Alipay, and more. In China alone, around 1.3 billion users use Wechat and its annual growth rate is 48.7% from 2011 to 2022.

Here are some of the most recent WeChat statistics Infographics prepared by the Adchina website. This will be very useful for businesses that promote their service and products in China market. Want to be part of this biggest social media platform? Checkout the official website and register a WeChat account (微信注册). 

Wechat Users Statistics 2022

WeChat User Statistics

  • In 2022, WeChat touched a mammoth 811 million users in China, which is 57.9% of the total population.
  • In 2021, it starts with 968.32 million users and is estimated to reach 1.102 billion by 2025.
  • WeChat users sent 45 billion messages daily, out of these, 205 million are video messages. 
  • 6.1 billion voice messages are sent daily on WeChat.
  • About 360 million users read articles on Wechat posted by official accounts. 
  • 120 million post updates on Moments and 10 billion users hits daily. 
  • 500 million users use Wechat Mini Programs daily.
  • There are 3.5 million registered programs in 2021 in the Tencent app store.
  • 76% of WeChat account users use Moments features to share stories and watch friends’ stories on a daily basis.
  • On Facebook, users spent 41 minutes daily, whereas on WeChat users spend 66 minutes on this app.

Infographic About WeChat Statistics in 2023

Wechat Statistics 2023

WeChat Business Statistics

  • There are 20 million active WeChat official accounts that are used to promote their business activities. 
  • Over 34% of official account owners agree that this WeChat app helps to cut costs by more than 30%.
  • 57.3% of users discover new Official Accounts to follow after being recommended list.
  • On Average, a normal Wechat user follows 10 to 20 official accounts. Around 4.3% of users follow 30 to 50 accounts and 2.7% of users follow more than 50 official WeChat profiles.
  • 70% of Chinese people use WeChat for communication, instead of QQ mail and other email services.

WeChat Pay Statistics

  • Almost 45% of users prefer to use WeChat pay to send and receive money.
  • Over 10 million merchants use WeChat pay.
  • 23 thousand monthly service providers and merchants.
  • More than 1800 banks and Payment institutions integrated. 

However, this messaging platform also sees an average of 19 million daily active users in the US, while it’s also widely used by a range of businesses for promoting their brands.

These are the most recent and key statistics available for WeChat. Check out the Adchina website for detailed WeChat statistics for 2022 and future growth in 2023 estimation.

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What is Strikethrough Text Generator?

A strikethrough text generator is nothing but striking the text is a quick way to denote if a particular piece of text has to be removed or ignored for a specific purpose. For example, when proofreading, the editor can strikethrough certain parts of the text to show that they have to be deleted. There are several ways to strikethrough the text. It can be done using the word processing software that you’re using or it can be done with the help of an online tool.

Here, we will discuss the three most versatile crossed-out or strikethrough text generators used in top social media accounts such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and others. So, without wasting any time, let’s get to the review of the tools.

List of the 3 Best Strikethrough Text Generators

With each tool, we will discuss the work as well as the results provided. Then, we’ll also look at some features that make the tool worth using.

Editpad.org

The first strikethrough font generator on this list is the Strikethrough Text Generator by Editpad.org.

Editpad Org Strikethrough text generator tool Interface
 This image represents the main interface of Editpad.org’s Strikethrough Text Generator

This tool is a one-click crossed-out text generator that creates a strikethrough version of the text within seconds. It lets you export the generated output to the clipboard in real-time and try it anywhere. All you have to do is click on the copy icon.

You can enter the text into this tool by typing or pasting the copied text. However, once you have entered the text, click on the ‘Generate’ button and this tool will instantly cross out the text. This is the most used strikethrough text generator for Instagram.

How Does This Tool Present the Output?

Here is an example of how this tool presents the result:

Editpad Org Strikethrough text generator tool result Interface
This picture indicates how Editpad.org’s Strikethrough Text Generator presents the output

Why Should You Choose This Tool?

  • You can test the output of this tool on a sample text by clicking on the ‘Load Sample’ option.
  • This tool has a simple UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience). So, it will be an ideal choice for beginners as it has no learning curve.
  • This crossed-out text generator is an entirely free tool as it has no hidden pricing plans.
  • Since it lets you save the results to the clipboard, you can paste its output anywhere by accessing the clipboard.

Some Drawbacks of This Tool:

  • There are no advanced options in this tool.
  • It only supports the text of the English language.

Textreverse.com

The second tool on this list is the ‘Strikethrough Text Generator by Textreverse.com.

Textreverse Strikethrough text generator tool Interface
This image represents the main interface of TextReverse.com’s Strikethrough Text Generator

The strikethrough text generator of Textreverse.com is a real-time crossed-out text generator. Therefore, this tool presents the output as you type the text.

Since this is a real-time strikethrough word generator, it has no preprocessing requirements. All you need to do is enter the text. Speaking of entering the text, you can input text into this tool by:

  • Pasting the copied text.
  • Typing the new text.
  • Uploading the document file.

Once this tool has generated a crossed-out text version, you can save the results to the clipboard. To do that, you just have to click on the copy icon. You can use this line through text generator on Twitter, Facebook, and google docs too. 

How Does This Tool Present the Output?

Let’s see how this tool presents the output through the following example:

Textreverse Strikethrough text generator tool result page Interface
This picture indicates how Textreverse.com’s Strikethrough Text Generator presents the output

Why Should You Choose This Tool?

  • As mentioned earlier, it is a real-time crossed-out text generator. So, this tool will strikethrough the text in real-time
  • Besides the web version, you can try this tool’s Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux applications. So, the services of this tool are available for every operating system.
  • If you want to cross out the lengthy text, you can upload the document (‘.doc, ‘.docx, ‘.pdf, or ‘.txt’) file from local device storage to this tool.
  • This tool also displays the word count, making it easier to keep track of the text’s length.
  • With one click, you can clear the contents of the current session.
  • The UI and UX of this tool are more appealing than the first tool.
  • Like the first tool, you can load the sample text in this tool to test it.

Some Drawbacks of This Tool:

  • None.

Titlecapitalize.com

The third cross-out text generator on this list is the ‘Strikethrough Text Generator by Titlecapitalize.com.

Titlecapitalize Strikethrough text generator tool Interface
This image represents the main interface of Titlecapitalize.com’s Strikethrough Text Generator

Like the first tool, the crossed-out text generator of TitleCapitalize.com is a one-click strikethrough text generator. However, its interface looks more organized.

First, you will have to type or paste the copied text into this tool. Then, click the ‘Strikethrough Text’ button to generate a crossed-out version of the input.

The tool will instantly generate a strikethrough version of the text. However, if you want to save the result, you must click the ‘copy’ button. This is the simplest strikethrough generator for your Facebook posts.

How Does This Tool Present the Output?

Here is an example of how this tool presents the result:

Titlecapitalize Strikethrough text generator tool result page Interface
This picture indicates how Titlecapitalize.com’s Strikethrough Text Generator presents the output

Why Should You Choose This Tool?

  • The interface of this tool looks cleaner and more attractive than the first tool.
  • This cross out text generator is an entirely free tool, like the first and second tools.
  • You can try its output anywhere because it lets you save the result to the clipboard.

Some Drawbacks of This Tool:

  • Like the first tool, this one has no advanced options.
  • There is no option for loading the sample text into this tool.
  • Besides the web version, there is no other way to try the functionalities of this tool.

Other Top Strikethrough Generators Online

Here are some of the other best strikethrough word generators available online are

  • Saijo George 
  • PiliApp
  • Singlegrain
  • Convertcase
  • Qwerty.Dev
  • Cute Kaomoji

Can you strikethrough text on Instagram?

Instagram doesn’t provide any in-built strikethrough function in their app. So users need to download a strikethrough app or online sites to create it and paste it into the Instagram post. Same for the Twitter platform. 

Strikethrough Text in WhatsApp

Whatsapp allows the format or changes of the text in four different ways within the app as Bold, Italics, Strikethrough, and Monospace. 

In Android: Tap and hold the text you’re entering in the text field, then choose Strikethrough.

In iPhone: Tap the text you’re entering in the text field > Select or Select All > B_I_U. Then, choose Strikethrough.

Same as WhatsApp, you can use strikethrough in Facebook posts too like this Enter the text you want to cross out into the “Your Text” box. Then click the “copy” button next to the specific strikethrough style that you’d like to use.

Conclusion

Text styling is an excellent way to grab readers’ attention to a specific portion of an all-textual post. However, there are different text styling ways and one of the ways is to strikethrough the text.

The term ‘strikethrough’ refers to drawing a horizontal line over the text. Although most word processors offer the facility to strikethrough the text, if you want advanced options, you can try a dedicated cross-text generator.

Thus, read the above discussion to find the best strikethrough text generator for your needs, as multiple tools are available on the internet.

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Snapchat Parental Control Feature in India

Snapchat is rolling out its initial set of parental control features for Indian users. Earlier in August, the popular social networking and messaging platform introduced an in-app parental control tool – Family Center in the US and some other markets. This helps parents to see their teen’s activities on the Snapchat account without disclosing the content of their chat. Teens will also be able to notify their parents when they report an account or a piece of content to the platform.

Snapchat Family Center view
Image Credits – Snap Inc

How Snapchat’s Parental Control Works

This tool mainly helps parents who have teenagers between the age of 13 to 18. By using the in-app tool, called Family Center, parents can invite their teens to join the Family Centre on Snapchat. When teens accept an invitation, parents can examine their children’s friends list and who they have messaged in the last 7 days. It also gives the ability to report safety concerns and potential abuse to Snap’s Trust and Safety team to review anonymously.

A few years ago, Snapchat introduced some additional measures, such as a minimum of 13 years to signup for Snapchat, requiring teens to have mutual friends before they can start chatting, and also it does not allow teenagers to have public profiles.

Also, Read – How To Set Parental Controls on iPhone and iPad

How to Enable Family Center Feature on Snapchat

To use this family center features parents and guardians must install the Snapchat app on their devices and opt-in invite process to link their accounts to those of their teenagers. Once the accounts are linked, the tool can be accessed with all its controls through the Snapchat app’s Profile Settings or by using the search feature for “family” or “family center” from the app’s Search functionality. 

Snap said they are working with local nonprofit organizations FXB India Suraksha and CyberPeace Foundation to launch its Family Center feature in India. This parental control option is followed by the launch of its competitive social networking platforms including Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Jeremy Voss, Snap’s head of messaging products, had said that this feature makes the right path for strengthening the safety and well-being of young snap users, while still preserving autonomy and privacy.

Snap Parental Control Tool Family Center Teen View and Parent views
Image Credits – Snap, Inc

Snapchat Stats in India

India is an important market for Snapchat inc, where it has more than 109 million monthly active users, according to Sensor Tower statistics. Recently, Snap introduced its premium service Snapchat+, in the South Asian market and also Snapchat for web features too.

Snapchat is a central communications tool for so many young Indians, and as our community continues to grow, we know parents and caregivers want additional ways to help keep their teens safe. Our new in-app Family Center tool will help parents get more insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat, to help foster positive conversations about online safety while respecting the privacy and autonomy of teens,” said Uthara Ganesh, Public Policy head, of India, Snap, in her statement.

Snap is also launching bully prevention and mental health campaigns globally to celebrate World Mental Health Day and Bullying Prevention Month. The company in India said it is partnering with the nonprofit Sangath for these campaigns.

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Stickers on Pinterest Boards

Pinterest has added another option to drive more traffic from your Idea Pins with lots of new Board Sticker options that enables you to highlight a specific Pinterest board via your Idea Pins in the app. The Idea Pins were originally called Story Pins but to avoid confusion with similar features on existing social media platforms and to give a better intention behind this new Pinterest product, the name changed to Idea Pins. 

Pinterest Board Sticker

In the above image shared by influencer marketing analyst Lindsey Gamble, the new Board Sticker is now available to some ios Pinterest app users in the sticker tray within the Idea Pin creation flow. By tapping on that, you’ll be able to choose from your existing boards to link to, with various display formats for your Board Sticker, texts, and music, and add to your frame.

That Pinterest stickers will link users directly go to your dedicated topic board, which could help to highlight more of your Pin content and drive more referral traffic from those links.

Creators can add up to 5 board stickers per image & add up to 20 board stickers max in an Idea Pin. So you’re not restricted to a single sticker per frame. Creators can able to tag any public board they own, but they can’t tag private boards or other creators’ boards.

This could be the best way to highlight specific products or services that you offer, via direct links back to your bigger display of Pins, to further highlight your offerings. 

The main intention of the added Pinterest stickers link on the boards could also help to drive more clicks, and with the holiday season presto approaching, it may be worth mapping out, say, a Christmas gift idea board, which you could also link to in unborn Idea Leg sweats. 

At present, the option is only available to selected users on iOS. Though it’s not available to everyone just yet. So, SocialMediaToday experts asked Pinterest for further word on the rollout of the option, and they will update this post when they hear back. 

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ShareChat – Short Video Platform

ShareChat is an Indian social media short video app developed by Bangalore-based Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd which helps to communicate with friends, and share jokes, videos, quotes, and images in 15+ languages. Now they are in an advanced stage of discussions with Google, Temasek, and other investors to close a $300 million funding round at a valuation of $5 billion and the deal is expected to be closed by June 2022 according to the report from Reuters

Mohalla Tech also raised $266 million in December 2021 at a valuation of $3.7 billion.

Google, Temasek, and others back ShareChat

Short video platform giant TikTok (formerly Musical.ly) came into existence in India due to the banned of Chinese apps, there are lots of new alternative short video apps entered the market. This Sharechat platform changed the video creation process to a whole new level when compare to other apps so that it hits 100M+ downloads in the play store and App store. 

With the popularity and increasing views of short videos, other social media giants like Youtube and Instagram came up with their alternatives – Shorts and Reels. While these international tech giants were growing all over the world, Indian startups like ShareChat, MX TakaTak, and Moj were also coming into the picture. As of today, ShareChat has over 180 million users, and Alphabet Inc’s Google appears to be enthralled by its popularity, as it does its second backing for an Indian short video platform. Google also invested in Josh, another Indian short video platform that competes ShareChat.

When contacted, Google and Temasek declined to offer any comment on the matter, terming it speculative information. “As a matter of policy, Temasek does not comment on market speculation and rumors,” a Temasek spokesperson said. The email query sent to Mohalla Tech did not elicit any reply.

In February, the company merged Times Group’s short video platform MX Takatak with its Moj platform, claiming that Moj and MX TakaTak will create the largest short-video platform for Indians. Because both platforms will have over 100 million creators, over 300 million monthly active users (MAU), and nearly 250 billion monthly video views.

Elon Musk was shown very much interest to buy a stake of between 6% and 8% in ShareChat, if the bid by Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk to buy Twitter would not happen. 

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Is Social Media Addictive?

We can virtually not picture a life without social media since it has become such an integral part of our daily lives. We may not actively check our usage and the consequences excessive use of social media may have on our life due to the popularity of social media. Around half of the world’s population utilizes social media as of February 2022. This equates to around 3.96 billion users worldwide, regardless of age or internet availability. 

On a worldwide basis, it is also estimated that a user spends roughly 2 hours 30 minutes every day on social media. While many people can limit their social media usage to a manageable time frame, an increasing number of people are reporting an excessive, even obsessive use of social media in ways that are harmful to their health. According to a recent poll by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, roughly 16 percent of Ontario students who use social media spend up to five hours or more online. 

Like all other types of behavioral addictions, so much of using social media can influence your brain in harmful ways and both physically and psychologically. Social Media Addiction is comparable to cocaine addiction.

What is the definition of social media addiction?

Netflix binge-watching? Is it doom and gloom to scroll through Twitter? Spending hours upon hours on Tik Tok? In a world driven by technology and smart gadgets, it’s not uncommon to lose minutes, if not hours, to the internet. Social media refers to the websites and applications that consume up the majority of our time. While it began as a simple method to remain in touch with friends and family, social media has evolved into an almost indispensable part of our culture. Due to the exponential surge in interaction over the previous few years, researchers have dubbed social networking sites a “global consumer phenomenon” (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011)

Social Media Addiction Facts

Here are some of the social media addiction statistics globally.

  • An average person spends nearly 2 hours a day on social media platforms which is up to 5 years and 4 months of one’s lifetime.
  • Nearly 210 million people worldwide are affected by the internet and social media addiction.
  • Especially Teens addicted to social media can spend up to 9 hours a day.
  • Teens who spend more than 5 hours a day on social platforms are twice more likely to suffer from depression.
  • 4 in 10 young adults have insufficient sleep caused by social media addiction.
  • Children start to use social platforms at the age of eight.
  • There are 3.8 billion active social media users.
  • As of 2020, 49% of the world’s population is on social media, and every month, 1 billion people use Instagram.
  • 74% of all Americans log in to check their Facebook account daily.
  • 1 of 3 divorces is caused by social media.

Also, Read – Snapchat Launched ‘Here For You’ Mental Health Program

Social Media Addiction Symptoms

Although social media addiction is difficult to measure, there are certain tell-tale indications – see how many of these signs of social media addiction you have.

How many of these apply to you? Don’t be frightened if you recognised yourself in any of these indications. In reality, many of us would reflect the behavior patterns and habits of someone addicted to social media, all of which are detrimental to our health and well-being.

People may have the following experiences:

  • A strong desire to utilise social media, as well as negative sensations while not doing so, such as significant rage or irritation.
  • Constantly thinking about what they’re missing out on, what others are doing, and how much attention their own stuff is getting.
  • When you are not using social media, you may have psychological issues such as anxiety, loneliness, concern, and excessive seeking.
  • A lack of balance – you tend to spend the majority of your time and thoughts on social media. You may be thinking about it even while you aren’t using it.
  • Distress and obsession cause individuals to go out of their way to obtain social media, either through negotiation or unsafe behavior.

Solutions for Social Media Addiction

Beating social media addiction is not an easy process and it can’t be done overnight; it requires a reevaluation of your digital-life balance. It’s not necessary to give up social media entirely, but it is important to have strategies for setting limits. 

There are some steps you can take to reduce your use of and dependency on social media. Here are the top 4 solutions to overcome social media addiction

1. Remove the convenience – Change a device function

Constantly beeping messages also activate our brain’s reward system, according to research (He, Turel, Brewers & Bechara, 2017). When we get alerts on our devices, it’s difficult to ignore them, which might lead us down another rabbit hole of social media checking. Similarly, the ease with which we can access social media via our cell phones is a large part of what makes it so enticing and addicting. 

According to the same experts that advocate turning off alerts, you should only browse social media platforms on your desktop or laptop because you are less likely to have it on you at all times (He, Turel, Brewers & Bechara, 2017)

2. You don’t have to entirely give it up – just prevent partial access

According to research, reducing social media use without fully eliminating it has several benefits. Researchers recruited 143 undergraduate volunteers and ordered one group to limit their social media use to 10 minutes each day for three weeks to investigate this association between social media and well-being (Hunt, Marx, Lipson & Young, 2018). 

The control group was free to utilize social media as they pleased. In comparison to the control group, participants in the limited social media group had significant reductions in loneliness and sadness. Similarly, the restricted group showed a substantial decrease in anxiety and fear of missing out, which the researchers ascribed to enhanced self-monitoring. 

3. Encourage positive habits – Set aside a certain amount of time each day to utilize social media

Children are getting more and more reliant on social media. Children might mistakenly overstimulate their reward centers, causing them to become less sensitive to rewards. Encourage healthy conduct, whether you’re a parent or not, to train your brain away from maladaptive behaviors and coping methods like social media. Setting guidelines like “no phones at the dinner table” are simple methods to distinguish between true connectedness and online time. 

4. Be honest about it – Talk to yourself and admit that you have a social media addiction.

Admitting you have a problem is one of the most commonly heard statements when it comes to addictions. The same can be true about social media addiction, since talking about it may have a lot of beneficial consequences. It’s critical to talk about why your behaviors are troublesome if you want to change them (Ricci, 2018). This is because discussing and clarifying knowledge motivates most individuals to act and improve. 

Treatment for Social Media Addiction

The first step in treatment is to find whether a problem exists in you or not. If you do not believe you have a social media addiction problem, you no need to seek treatment. Consult with your nearby counseling center or psychiatrist and a few counseling sessions would help the person overcome the addiction. 

The intended treatment outcome and timeline for working toward recovery are highly dependent upon your motivation to change. If you are fully involved in treatment while utilizing doctors’ advice, changing your environment, and mindset, then the treatment outcome is favorable for you.

All of the above suggestions are stages toward a digital detox of social media. The advantages of a complete digital detox, on the other hand, much outweigh those of any of the other suggestions. Only when you eliminate social media from your daily routine do you realize how much more time you have for yourself and how much your mind is freed up.

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Russia – Ukraine Crisis

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused global angst, putting the military superpowers of the world at odds formerly again, and potentially forcing an intervention that could lead to one of the biggest conflicts in decades. And unlike analogous incidents in times once, this battle is playing out in the age of social media, with memes, misinformation juggernauts, and swindles all adding to the growing whirlpool of information, which can confuse, deform and cloud what’s passing in the eastern European region. 

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine officially began, social media was flooded with photos of bombed-out buildings, first-person accounts from Ukrainian civilians fleeing their homes, and even videos purporting to be from soldiers engaged in the fighting.

Given this, and the part that social media now plays in the dispersion of information, the platforms need to work presto to limit any abuse of their networks for questionable purposes, and numerous have formerly legislated plans to alleviate certain rudiments of abuse and misinformation.

How Social Media Platforms are responding to the crisis between Ukraine and Russia

Here it’s how Social media Platforms are responding to the crisis between Ukraine and Russia.

Meta

Facebook is at the main center of the social media information shared within the conflict zone, with around 70 million users in Russia, and 24 million in Ukraine by Nov 2021 which is approximately half of the total population of each respective nation.

Late last week, the Russian Government announced that they would restrict access to Facebook due to Meta’s refusal to remove misinformation warning labels on posts from state-affiliated Facebook pages. Now, Meta has taken that action and also prohibited ads from Russian state media FB pages, and demonetized these accounts, severely limiting the capacity for Russian authorities to use Facebook as an information vector.

Russia also has its own social media and messaging platforms such as VK, OK, Viber, Telegram, and other apps. So they easily communicate and post their activities to motivate Russian citizens. But Meta has taken a strong stance, while it’s also restricted access to many accounts within Ukraine, including those belonging to Russian state media organizations.

In addition to this, Meta has also opened a special operations center, staffed by native Russian and Ukrainian speakers, to monitor for harmful content trends. If users share war-related images and videos, it adds new warning labels to their posts. 

Also, Read – How To Signup VK Account

Also, Read – How to Signup Ok.ru Account

Meta’s also outlined a range of safety features for users in Ukraine, “including the ability for people to lock their Facebook profile, removing the ability to view and search friends lists, and additional tools on Messenger”. Meta works hard to find the misinformation posts from spammers and scammers seeking to capitalize on the situation for engagement.

YouTube

At the request of the Ukrainian Government, Google-owned second largest search engine and top video platform YouTube has announced that it’s restricting access to Russian television networks and youtube channels for users in Ukraine and also suspending monetization feature for a few Russian channels. It also removed Russian state-owned YouTube channels from recommendations and limited the reach of their uploads across the platform.

Russia YouTube Channels Blocked in Ukraine

As per YouTube (via The Wall Street Journal): 

“As always, our teams are continuing to monitor closely for news developments, including evaluating what any new sanctions and export controls may mean for YouTube.”

Twitter

Twitter also announced a temporary ban on all ads in Ukraine and Russia “to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it”. Twitter banned political ads back in 2019, including those from state-affiliated accounts.

The #Kiev hashtag (at 2.5 million posts) was dominant on microblogging platform Twitter, while #STOPWAR (2,52,000), #Ukraine Russia (255,000), #Ukraine under attack (65,600), #Russia Ukraine War (27,800), #Russian invasion (68,700), #Poland (296,000), #Russians (608,000) and #America (774,000) were the other main trending ones on the platform a few days back during russia-ukraine war. 

Ukraine’s official Twitter account wants @Russia to be removed from the platform.

In addition, Twitter’s safety and integrity teams were monitoring the tweets and potential risks associated with the conflict to protect its services, including identifying and disrupting attempts to amplify false and misleading information, said a spokesperson. 

TikTok

Tiktok, the popular video creation app used by more than 1 billion people has been amplifying videos portraying old conflicts, scenes from movies, and even video game battles as if showing on-the-ground live footage.

The short video sharing platform TikTok reports that Russian-affiliated groups are using the app to spread ‘orchestrated disinformation’, while thousands of related videos are being uploaded to the platform, many fake, causing significant headaches for TikTok’s moderation teams. 

As of Friday (Feb-25-2022) evening, videos with the hashtag #RussianInvasion have received 32 million views and videos with the hashtag #RussiaUkraine have racked up 132 million views.

TikTok’s algorithm designed something of a paradox: If you watch a video repeatedly to try to understand whether it’s authentic or return to one after conducting research, “you’re telling the algorithm you want more of this,” Gregory said.

Also, Read – How To Go Live Stream on TikTok

The introduction of monetization option TikTok influencers for popular clips has also added new motivation for bad actors to create fake streams and broadcasts in the app, in a bid to lure viewers, while on the other side, reports have also suggested that Ukrainian TikTok users are using the app to communicate Russian troop locations to Ukrainian fighters.

Let’s hope this war stops soon between Ukraine and Russia and Peace Spreads Everywhere!

TikTok Beats Google

TikTok is the New Champion of the Internet in 2021. 

TikTok was the most visited website this year, according to the 2021 Cloudflare domain ranking. After August mid, TikTok became the leading website for most of the days of 2021, especially in October and November. In 2020, TikTok was ranked seventh in the list behind Google, Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, and Amazon, but now it’s jumped to the top spot due to a covid-driven surge in popularity.

TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd, drove rapid growth in the internet world and provides interesting short forms of video content to its users. TikTok visitors use its app or browsers to watch videos that TikTok’s secretive algorithms predict and deliver to the users for engaging video content, on a user’s “For You” page. 

According to Wall Street Journal’s previous reports, the key to TikTok’s assessment of user interest is the length of time its users spend looking at a piece of content. Re-watching an item also affects its scoring.

Cloudflare describes TikTok’s journey

“It was on February 17, 2021, that TikTok got the top spot for a day. Back in March, TikTok got a few more days and also in May, but it was after August 10, 2021, that TikTok took the lead on most days. There were some days when Google was #1, but October and November were mostly TikTok’s days, including on Thanksgiving (November 25) and Black Friday (November 26).”

Top 10 Most Visited Domains/Sites on 2021

Here are Cloudflare’s top 10 internet domains which we have visited most in 2021

Top 10 Most Visited Websites 2021

Top 10 Social Media Platforms in 2021

  1. TikTok.com
  2. Facebook.com
  3. YouTube.com
  4. Twitter.com
  5. Instagram.com
  6. Snapchat.com
  7. Reddit.com
  8. Pinterest.com
  9. LinkedIn.com
  10. Quora.com

Also, ReadTop 7 biggest social media sites in 2020

Most Popular Chat (Messaging) Domains 2021

  1. WhatsApp.com 
  2. Telegram.org 
  3. WeChat.com 
  4. Signal.org

Also, Read – Tips and Tricks in Facebook Messenger

Top 10 Most Popular Video Streaming Sites 2021

  1. Netflix.com
  2. YouTube.com
  3. Roku.com
  4. HBOMax.com
  5. Hulu.com
  6. Peacocktv.com
  7. Disneyplus.co
  8. ParamountPlus.com
  9. Sling.com
  10. Iq.com

Also, ReadHow to add and change YouTube thumbnail

Top 10 Most Popular E-Commerce Sites 2021

  1. Amazon.com
  2. Taobao.com
  3. Ebay.com
  4. Walmart.com
  5. Jd.com
  6. Shopify.com
  7. Bestbuy.com
  8. Target.com
  9. Rakuten.co.jp
  10. Homedepot.com

According to the reports TikTok.com received more traffic than any other domain that doesn’t mean TikTok has more users than Google or competing social media sites. If TikTok isn’t part of your social media marketing strategy, in 2022 you should give more priority to this platform and create a TikTok marketing strategy for your business.