# data[].attributes.body
This article reports on 5 examples where Twitter saved lives.  The first involved a person who was suicidal.  Her tweet was seen by actress Demi Moore who retweeted, which resulted in the authorities intervening to save the woman's life.  Another example was of a man who was kidnapped who was able to send a message from the trunk he was held captive in.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Twitter can be used for so much more than just mildly incoherent, 14-character observations. As these instances prove, the social media platform can literally be a lifesaver.
Demi Moore prevents suicide
On April 2, 29, a San Jose, Calif., woman using the handle @sandieguy sent out a frightening tweet. The individual stated she was about to commit suicide with a knife, and went into graphic detail about cutting herself.

At this time, none other than G.I. Jane - actress Demi Moore - quickly retweeted the disturbing message, preceding it with a message of her own.

Ms. Moore had roughly 4, Twitter followers at the time. Within minutes, several individuals who received the tweet notified the local authorities. San Jose Police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez told E! News that the woman showed no injuries, but was deemed fit for a psychiatric evaluation.

An hour later, the actress expressed mixed feelings about the initial response:

But soon afterward, Ms. Moore confirmed the claim was valid and the woman was now safe - thanks to her good samaritan followers.
Japanese doctors assist quake survivors
In the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan's eastern coastline in May 211, doctors struggled to communicate with survivors. Phone networks were down, but the Internet was somewhat stable - and Twitter became a primary link between medical staff and hundreds of chronically ill patients.

Most of the sick individuals suffered from pulmonary hypertension, and required a continuous regimen of infused prostacyclin. Without a steady supply of this drug, these patients would succumb to their condition in a matter of days.

Drs. Yuichi Tamara and Keiichi Fukuda spearheaded the effort to connect with the survivors in need. They told Medical News Today that Twitter served several purposes throughout this life-saving effort.

"Forming a supply chain for such drugs in the earliest stages of the disaster was difficult; however, we found that social networking services could have a useful role...We were able to notify displaced patients via Twitter on where to acquire medications. These 'tweets' immediately spread through patients' networks, and consequently most could attend to their essential treatments," they said.
Ann Curry lends a hand to Doctors Without Borders
In April 21, roughly three months after a powerful earthquake struck Haiti, Doctors Without Borders dispatched a team of medical workers to the ravaged Caribbean nation. But when their plane began its descent into Port-au-Prince, pilots were unable to get clearance to land from U.S. military officials, who oversaw activity on Haitian airfields.

DWB Communications Director Jason Cone immediately issued a press release, as well as a series of tweets to notify the public of the plane's situation. His pleas reached the eyes of award-winning journalist Ann Curry, who contacted the Pentagon and sent out a tweet of her own:

In this case, Twitter indirectly saved lives. Though the doctors were never in imminent danger, their plane was eventually allowed to land - and their presence surely improved the medical welfare of countless Haitian citizens. Twitter cited Curry's response as the " most powerful tweet of 21 ."

DWB, under the handle @MSF_USA , has a very active Twitter account with nearly 2, followers. In the months that followed the 'plane diversion' incident, the nonprofit organization tweeted about various problems facing Haitian quake survivors, such as destitute living conditions and cholera outbreaks.
Kidnapped? Text somebody!
In April 212, an unnamed Johannesburg man was carjacked, beaten and forced into the trunk of his automobile. During the commotion, the attackers overlooked the cell phone in their victim's pocket.

The man texted his girlfriend as soon as the vehicle started off, and she sent out this tweet in response:

Guardian UK reported that her message was picked up by @pigfinder , a well-known South African Twitter user who specializes in revealing locations of police blockades. Since his many followers included several private security personnel, the local authorities were immediately notified of the crime and given a vehicle description.

The man's abductors were eventually apprehended roughly 15 miles from where the carjacking took place. Their hostage was a little shaken up, but otherwise OK.
Tunisia's Twitter Revolution assists millions
Last year, the small North African nation of Tunisia experienced two revolutions. One involved a rebellion again the country's sitting president. The other, dubbed ' Tunisia's Twitter Revolution ' by the Canadian National Post, saw a dramatic spike in the use of the social networking platform.

Tunisian and foreign medical aid workers, peacekeeping coalitions and civilian volunteer groups used Twitter to communicate various needs throughout the uprising. In just 24 hours following President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's departure from the nation, hundreds of thousands of tweets originating in Tunisia were recorded.

Two of them were sent by a man using the handle, @BulletSkan.
"Spread the word! I must escape! There are armed men in our yard at 72 Avenue 3 Aout!" Translation (courtesy of the Canadian National Post): "The army is not responding to calls! There are armed men in our yard! We need help!" "Twitter saved my life."
The details of his circumstances have remained vague. But Bullet Skan received the help he so desperately requested - and expressed his gratitude two days later.

Honorable mention: In December 211, Gawker reported that Twitter saved the life of Erickson Dimas-Martinez, an Arkansas man charged with first-degree murder. The Arkansas Supreme Court overturned his murder conviction after a juror sent out a series of tweets during the trial. "It is in no way appropriate for a juror to state musings, thoughts or other information about a case in such a public fashion," stated the court. But Mr. Dimas-Martinez was only temporarily spared by Twitter; a new trial was recently scheduled for June 212. It should also be noted that the defendant is accused of robbing and shooting to death a 17-year old boy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Five Instances Where Twitter Saved Lives | Social Media Chimps

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Twitter can be used for so much more than just mildly incoherent, 14-character observations. As these instances prove, the social media platform can literally be a lifesaver. Demi Moore prevents suicide On April 2, 29, a San Jose, Calif., woman using the handle @sandieguy sent out a frightening tweet.

# data[].attributes.headline
Snapchat Decision Ends a Quarterback's Football Career

# data[].attributes.subject
Snapchat Decision Ends a Quarterback's Football Career

# data[].attributes.body
A 16 year old quarterback took a picture of a teacher wearing a skirt and shared it with 3 friends.  It got around to the whole school.  The next day he was sent the the principal's office, then to the police station.  Initially he was suspended for 3 days, but eventually was expelled.  Even though he had no prior infractions, there were many negative effects of this one action.  He eventually transferred to another school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If you know a high school student, or you are a high school student, and you haven't reckoned with how that little device in your hand can wreck your life inside of a minute ... it's time to recognize just how dangerous social media can be.

Today's story, the latest in a long line of terrible ones, comes from Indiana, where a junior at Plainfield High School made the decision on Sept. 28 to post an inappropriate photo on Snapchat, and ended up altering several lives for the worse. Ben Slaton and his family recently talked to the Indianapolis Star about Ben's mistake and the resulting wreckage, with the hope that it won't happen to any other students.

Ben Slaton, a 16-year-old junior, had been a strong quarterback for Plainfield, a starter since freshman year whose play had drawn interest from colleges including Michigan State and Wake Forest. But in September, he was seated in a classroom close to a teacher wearing a skirt. Slaton made the regrettable decision to take a photo of her and send it to three friends. The Star reviewed the photo, which "does not show the teacher's face, but is clearly inappropriate," in the Star's words. "It shows her feet on the floor, legs uncrossed."

Ben Slaton's father Damon does not justify his son's actions in any way. "By no means is what he did acceptable," Damon Slaton said. "He set the entire chain of events in motion. He broke my rule by having a cellphone in school. He made another conscious decision to take a picture in class - an inappropriate picture. It was. And then he made the conscious decision to share that picture with three other people."

What happened next happened fast. A screenshot of the photo made its way around Plainfield, and the next day, Ben Slaton was brought to the high school's office and, soon afterward, was escorted to the local police station. The school initially levied a three-day suspension, and then expelled him for the remainder of the semester. Friends gave Ben a wide berth. Parents told their children to avoid hanging around with him. Rumors about what had exactly happened spread throughout the school.

Ben and his family had to deal with the consequences of one terrible decision in one moment, and not even Ben's past positive record helped him. "Ben's actions on that day earlier this semester are unfortunate, and he has received many consequences from the school academically and athletically," assistant principal Brent Schwanekamp wrote in a letter of support for Ben, per the Star. "He had not had previous discipline of any magnitude, and this behavior was out of character for this young man that I have known since he was in elementary school. It is clear that Ben showed terrible judgement on that day, but he has demonstrated remorse and is hopeful for forgiveness."

Like the story from earlier this year of a softball team kicked out of a championship tournament for an inappropriate Instagram photo, this is a case of someone making a terrible decision on social media. Even so, as the Star notes, Ben isn't the victim in this story; the teacher (who declined comment for the Star story) is. The picture still exists, of course, and this kind of a violation of privacy can have long-lasting effects.

The Slaton family made the decision to transfer Ben to another nearby school for the rest of his high school career, and the family will be moving from its current home. They considered the possibility that Ben could teach younger students the lessons he wish he'd known, but decided a fresh start was a better option.

Ben Slaton said that he's spent months thinking about what he should have done differently in that moment back in September, but can't any longer. "I can't look at it like that," he said. "Now I have to look at it like, 'What am I going to do from it?'"

Read the full Star story.
____
is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

More from Yahoo Sports:
* Random drug testing takes odd turn with MLB star
* Patriots boot Brady's longtime trainer from sideline
* Derek Jeter's disastrous meeting with Marlins' fans
* NBA icons end decades-long beef in emotional moment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Student's inappropriate Snapchat ends football career, alters many lives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you know a high school student, or you are a high school student, and you haven't reckoned with how that little device in your hand can wreck your life inside of a minute ... it's time to recognize just how dangerous social media can be.

# data[].attributes.headline
David Dobrik Surprises Fan's Dad With Tesla by Hannah Kaufmann

# data[].attributes.subject
David Dobrik Surprises Fan's Dad With Tesla by Hannah Kaufmann

# data[].attributes.body
A 24 year old YouTube star created a challenge to make a viral video stating why you deserve to win a free Tesla. A kid named Bobby Coleman thought his dad deserved this new car because of how hard he works every day. He made a video explaining his dad's work condition and his current car. The video went viral and David Dobrik saw it, and was able to surprise Bobby Coleman's dad with a brand-new Tesla car through social media.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
David Dobrik has just revealed the three winners of his Tesla giveaway, and one of them has gone completely viral on TikTok.
YouTuber David Dobrik revealed on Thursday that he would be giving away a brand new Tesla to three lucky people. And now, the winners have been announced.

But there was one particular winner who has won over everyone's hearts after he revealed that he was actually trying to win the new car for his hard-working and well-deserving father.

Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images for EIF & XQ

David Dobrik's Tesla giveaway has finished

Popular YouTuber David Dobrik took to his Instagram account on Friday to announce that he would be giving away Tesla's to his fans to celebrate his 24th birthday.

The competition was partnered with GFUEL, and all you had to do to enter was follow both David Dobrik and GFUEL on Instagram, share the photo to your Instagram Story and tag a friend in the comments.

It ran from Thursday to Monday, but unfortunately the competition has now closed. And the winner has been revealed!

Who won David Dobrik's Tesla giveaway?

David posted a series of videos onto his Instagram Story on Monday that revealed the three winners of his Tesla giveaway.

The first winner was an Instagram account called @xclaudiaj, a 22-year-old girl from Chicago. David FaceTimed each of the winners and screen recorded the winner's reaction to post onto his Instagram Story.

The second winner was an Instagram account called @chxy.xnnx, who wrote an emotional thank you post in response to winning the giveaway. She said: "Thank you again @daviddobrik & @gfuel my heart is so full. Now it's my turn to make someone's day."

And the third and final winner was an account called @bobbyxcoleman, a now-famous TikToker with 453.5k followers after his heartwarming reason for entering the Tesla giveaway went viral.

Bobby Coleman went viral trying to win the Tesla for his dad

On TikTok, the third winner of the Tesla giveaway Bobby Coleman made a viral video explaining how he was entering the competition for his dad who has owned the same broken car for 10 years.

When David Dobrik revealed he would give away a third Tesla to the TikTok video that gained the most likes, he decided to try and win the new car for his dad.

The video gained a huge 24.2 million views and 5.6 million likes, making him the winner of the Tesla.

David Dobrik then reacted to the video on his own TikTok, holding up pieces of paper that said: "Hi Bobby! Your dad seems like he deserves the world. Or at the very least a brand new car. Enjoy."

In other news, Solo Leveling chapter 132: Release date, time and potential spoilers revealed

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Who is the winner of David Dobrik's Tesla Giveaway? Bobby Coleman goes viral on TikTok!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
David Dobrik has just revealed the three winners of his Tesla giveaway, and one of them has gone completely viral on TikTok. YouTuber David Dobrik revealed on Thursday that he would be giving away a brand new Tesla to three lucky people. And now, the winners have been announced.

# data[].attributes.body
In 2014 many people started to raise awareness for ALS. The trend spread through social media and allowed them to do lots of research and have support throughout their journey.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Show of hands: how many of you have poured a bucket of ice water over your head? Had I asked this question two years ago, most of you probably would have thought it was a rather bizarre thing to ask. But, I'm guessing that most of you reading this have, in fact, poured a bucket of ice water on your head or, at the very least, know someone who has.

In the summer of 2014, the phenomenon known as The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge swept across social media. It was hard to go even a few hours without seeing someone on Facebook or Twitter posting a video, bucket in hand. While it might have seemed like an odd phenomenon, the beauty of this challenge, and the reason why it was so successful, was that it was for a good cause: ALS awareness and research.

The ways in which this campaign had an impact on ALS awareness demonstrates the power of social media. Everyone from your neighbour to the world's biggest celebrities seemed to be taking part. It started with one person, Chris Kennedy, a minor-league golfer from Florida, and eventually reached people like Oprah, Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg.

When it started, the Ice Bucket Challenge called for people to simply donate to their favourite charity and it had nowhere near the amount of awareness it would eventually have. So, when it reached Chris Kennedy, he chose to donate to ALS research because his cousin's husband was suffering from the disease. He nominated three friends (including his cousin) and the campaign spread quickly throughout his town-400 videos with pledges to ALS research were posted within a week. The video then reached two key figures: Pat Quinn, who suffers from ALS brought the video to Boston College baseball captain Pete Frates, who then nominated other athletes. The rest, as they say, is history.

The videos often went like this: 1) person thanks whoever nominated them for the challenge, 2) person mentions and/or speaks about donating to ALS research 3) person nominates others to partake in the challenge, 4) person pour bucket of ice water over their head (the more creative, the better for this part.) 5) Person uploads their video to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc. Ideally, the challenge had to be answered within 24 hours. I took part in the challenge with my two cousins and had a lot of fun with it:
The Impact

"It was not just get a bucket of ice dunked on you; make a donation and spread the word." - Claudine Cook, Executive Director, ALS Society of Quebec

The most important part of this campaign was following through and making a donation to ALS. While I'm sure there were plenty of people who took the challenge without donating, the impact of the campaign on ALS research is undeniable. In 2013, the year before the Ice Bucket Challenge, the ALSA Association (ALSA) raised $23.5 million. The following year, The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge brought in an astonishing $115 million to the ALSA and an additional $13 million to regional branches. That's more than one hundred million dollars more than the year before!

In fact, The ALS Association received $31.5 million in donations compared to $1.9 million during the same time period (July 29 to August 20) the year before. There's no arguing just how powerful this campaign was. As of August 2015, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge had brought in $220 million worldwide.

Lessons for Others

So, does this still count as a marketing campaign even though it happened organically? I'm sure there can be arguments made either way but I truly believe that it should be considered marketing; even if it didn't start as a marketing campaign, it certainly turned into one. Just take a look at what has happened since the campaign: there have been several copycats (some serious, others that seem more like parodies), though they likely will never reach the heights of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Considering the fact that less than 1 percent of Twitter clicks go to ads, companies should take note that the general public are far more likely to react to an organic, fun campaign verses an obvious advertisement.

The reasons the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was so successful:

1. It played into people's vanity. I know this sounds cynical but you can bet that there were tons of people who took part in the challenge but didn't actually donate. Even if that is the case, the videos themselves still raised awareness.

2. It was fun. People came up with all sorts of creative ways to take part in the challenge-not all fundraisers have to have a serious tone!

3. It was simple. All you needed was a device to record your video, a bucket, ice and water. Easy peasy.

4. It utilized "word-of-mouth." Well, technically it's a newer, digital form of word-of-mouth through social media. The fact that the challenge isn't open ended and people nominate their friends and family directly by tagging them on Facebook or Twitter, was essential to the momentum of the campaign.

5. It was for a good cause. While there are other social media challenges that had no point to them, the charitable aspect of this challenge allowed for a larger demographic.

6. It was unique. When most people think of donating to charity, they think of attending an event or writing a cheque. This challenge was a more unique way of raising awareness, which means that people were excited to take part (and since it was one of the first of its kind, the novelty hadn't worn off.)

When the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge swept across social media, it made a huge difference to the ALS Association and millions of sufferers across the globe. So, I guess social media is about more than selfies, isn't it?

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

References

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Social Media at its Best

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Show of hands: how many of you have poured a bucket of ice water over your head? Had I asked this question two years ago, most of you probably would have thought it was a rather bizarre thing to ask.

# data[].attributes.headline
Snapchat's Location Tracking Feature Saves Mother-Of-Two From Committing Suicide

# data[].attributes.subject
Snapchat's Location Tracking Feature Saves Mother-Of-Two From Committing Suicide

# data[].attributes.body
This article reports on how a mother-of-two who was contemplating suicide, was persuaded out of it by emergency services. Her friend alerted emergency services of her location after noticing her location on a bridge via Snapchat's location tracking feature.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
'Snapchat saved my life': Mother-of-two, 32, reveals her friend rescued her from suicide bid at top of bridge after spotting her location on app

Rehanne Burton, 32, contemplated suicide by going to top of bridge in Derby

Her friend Sammie Jo tracked her exact location using tool on Snapchat app

It allowed her to alert emergency services who were able to talk Ms Burton down

She has since undergone counselling and is raising awareness of mental health

A mother of two claims Snapchat saved her life after her friend rescued her from a suicide bid by spotting her at the top of a bridge by using the app to pinpoint her location.

Rehanne Burton, 32, of Chaddesden, Derbyshire, was saved by her friend Sammie Jo, 28, four months ago thanks to the 'Snap Maps' function on her phone.

She then called the emergency services who tracked down the bouncer to the A52 Wynsene Bridge in Derby and convinced her to come down.

The app tracks users' locations and shows them on a map, using characters created by account holders - unless the user disables the function through 'ghost mode'.

Ms Burton said she had climbed onto the bridge after suffering from post-natal depression and an abusive relationship that caused her to self-harm.

She said said: 'You could say Snapchat saved my life. The map meant Sammie was able to recognise that I was stood on a bridge and she immediately called emergency services.

'I had hit an emotional wall - I'd fallen into the habit of self-harm and had been rushed to A&E to meet the crisis team just hours before I climbed the bridge.

'I was there for four hours and was given anti-anxiety medication but I felt emotionless.

'I felt like I'd been dismissed and I was shocked when I was allowed home on my own.

'I put on my coat and trainers, left the house and walked to the A52 bridge.

'I was ready to give up and I had no idea my location was visible on Snap Maps.'

Ms Burton added: 'Sammie knew I hadn't been coping well lately with my depression as I'd spoken to her earlier that day.

'So when I showed up on the map near Wynsene Bridge, she knew.

'I didn't know that my location was active but as Sammie reminded me, it's something I always use with my two kids who are four and eight-years-old so it was always been used.'

Ms Burton was talked down from the bridge by a police officer who attended the scene, and said the support offered to her since the incident has been 'immense.'

She added: 'I can't praise the police officer enough. He told me he had been in the same situation before and that it does get better.

'Before the lead up to my attempted suicide I had felt as though I was always being judged by others around me.

'People can be judgemental, but you cannot judge someone until you know them.

'Now, I just want to get the message out there and, now I am, it feels like ripping off a band-aid from your arm.

'People need to listen and the stigma needs to be reduced.

'Now I'm being helped by charities like MIND, who I've since raised money for.

'I did not know about counselling organisations such as Talking Mental Health Derbyshire or Life Links before.

'I now also go to the gym, which has been amazing.'

Ms Jo, a full time mother, added: 'We are all so thankful that Rehanne uses Snapchat as we were able to track her exact location.

'I was then able to call the police and make sure they rushed to the scene.

'Rehanne was thankfully talked down from the bridge and has been given lots of support since.'

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mother-of-two claims Snapchat saved her life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rehanne Burton, 32, contemplated suicide by going to top of bridge in Derby Her friend Sammie Jo tracked her exact location using tool on Snapchat app It allowed her to alert emergency services who were able to talk Ms Burton down She has since undergone counselling and is raising awareness of mental health A mother of two claims Snapchat saved her life after her friend rescued her from a suicide bid by spotting her at the top of a bridge by using the app to pinpoint her location.

# data[].attributes.body
a young girl sits in twitter how she is going to cut herself with a knife. This man saw the tweet and tried to help as much as he could and the girl changed her mind

# data[].attributes.headline
Claire Newman - Facebook Saves a Woman's Life

# data[].attributes.subject
Claire Newman - Facebook Saves a Woman's Life

# data[].attributes.body
The first example in this article of social media saving people's lives involves a woman who was being attacked by her husband. The husband pulled out the phone line eliminating her ability to call 911. She then made a post on facebook asking for help . Her friends saw the post and called 911.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Times Social Media Saved A Life - Social News Daily

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There's no doubt that social media is a powerful tool today that serves various functions. Apart from its main purpose of aiding communication between people from the different parts of the world, it also has been proven effective in the areas of marketing as well as in influencing communities, states and countries.

# data[].attributes.body
People can make money off their Youtube and Tiktok accounts to help pay for college, pay off student loans, and many other things.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
College students and graduates like Lacy Young are turning to YouTube and TikTok to find relief from rising college costs and student loan debt.

"This is the generation of side hustles, in part because of the amount of debt we're in," she says.

Young graduated in 2018 from Wake Forest University in North Carolina with a bachelor's degree in English and philosophy, and she has $100,000 in student loan debt. But as her subscriber count goes up - today she has about 7,000 subscribers and more than 380,000 views on YouTube - the amount of debt she's in is slowly going down.

Her most viewed YouTube to date is a detailed, emotional discussion of her personal financial situation, including her credit card and student loan debt. Creating a channel and being vulnerable on it have played a big role in chipping away at her debt, she says.

"Make whatever your story is work for you," Young says in giving advice to other students and recent graduates. "That's what I did. I learned how to make my financial situation work for me."

The average cost of college tuition continues to rise and the majority of college students graduate with student loan debt, according to U.S. News data about the class of 2018, which makes starting a YouTube or TikTok account for financial relief all the more attractive to young adults. While YouTube has become a staple online platform since its founding in 2005, TikTok, a video-sharing app, has exploded in popularity this year.

Earning about $800 a month on YouTube, Young says she's been able to pay off all of her credit card debt; next, she hopes to pay off her student loan debt, and she says others can do the same.

How to Make a Successful YouTube Video or TikTok

Even if debt inspires current students or recent graduates to get started on a platform like YouTube, the passion individuals have for their content will be the key to success, creators say.

"Start with stuff you know and like," says Ben Leavitt, who graduated this year from the University of Guelph in Canada and began using YouTube and TikTok while still a student.

Though he began his YouTube channel with the intention of making money, he says "the real success came when I was making videos about things I was very knowledgeable on." His content centers around topics like podcasts, social media, marketing and branding - things he was familiar with as a student who studied marketing.

Leavitt uses his following on YouTube to attract the attention of companies looking to sponsor a video or have him talk about a product in a video. He says even creators with small followings can reach out to companies and talk about ways to partner, which can result in brand deals and other income generators.

Leavitt had around $25,000 in student loans, but he began paying them off while in college and became debt-free shortly after graduating. He credits his YouTube earnings not just for allowing him to pay off his student debt so quickly, but also for limiting the amount of debt he needed to incur while in college.

How Much YouTubers and TikTokers Make

YouTube requires users to have more than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 valid public watch hours over the last 12 months before monetization is possible. Creators can then earn a percentage of the ad revenue generated by video views through Google AdSense, but to maximize income, creators recommend diversifying revenue streams.

Leavitt, for example, says he made $500 to $600 monthly from various YouTube revenue sources while in college and significantly more since graduating.

Some creators rely more on company partnerships than Google AdSense, which Young says can be unreliable and subject to significant fluctuation month to month as YouTube becomes more restrictive on what content can be shared and monetized.

So in addition to ad revenue, Young earns money through Patreon, a subscription-style platform where artists and creators can offer services in exchange for financial support from followers, and by garnering brand deals with companies to promote or sell products.

Monetizing TikTok is more difficult, creators say. The platform more closely resembles Instagram, in that users must primarily rely on promoting company products through brand deals to make money off of their content. However, creators say TikTok can be a great way to drive users to their YouTube channels and to other content that is more easily monetized.

YouTube creators with large followings like Dr. Danielle Jones, a licensed OB-GYN who runs the channel Mama Doctor Jones, also warn that it can take time to establish a following and start to earn money. Until recently, she had student loans from medical school that she's discussed on her channel and on TikTok. But more important to her, Jones says, was her mission on the platforms to educate viewers.

"The first many, many months, I invested every cent I earned into improving my channel," Jones says. "I didn't start my YouTube to make money; I started it because I felt I had something valuable that I could add. It's just a bonus that it's a platform that can be monetized, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of work. It's not easy - it's a full-time job if you want to make money."

Think About the Impact on Financial Aid

In general, it's a good idea for recent graduates to devote any excess cash flow to paying off their student loans quickly, says Shannon Vasconcelos, director of college finance at Bright Horizons College Coach. However, current students hoping to earn money through YouTube should be aware of a potential drawback: They may receive less financial aid if their income increases significantly, she warns.

Vasconcelos says having a presence on YouTube or TikTok won't necessarily have a dramatic impact, but the added income may be considered on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

"There is an Income Protection Allowance (IPA) built into the federal financial aid formula that allows students to earn approximately $7,000 per year without affecting their financial aid," she wrote in an email. "After this $7,000 allowance, however, there is a 50% assessment rate on student income, so for every dollar of income beyond the IPA, the student loses 50 cents of financial aid eligibility."

So if a dependent student earns $800 per month for a year, about $7,000 of his or her income would be protected, but the remaining amount would be assessed at 50% and result in a loss of about $1,500 in financial aid eligibility in a future academic year, Vasconcelos says.

However, she says, "Earnings for your last 2½ years of college are completely invisible to the financial aid process. Long story short: upperclass YouTubers don't need to worry about the financial aid implications of their earnings."
Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Students, Grads Use TikTok and YouTube to Pay for College

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
College students and graduates like Lacy Young are turning to YouTube and TikTok to find relief from rising college costs and student loan debt. "This is the generation of side hustles, in part because of the amount of debt we're in," she says.

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Ways Social Media Saved Someone's Life (Ava Blandford)

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Ways Social Media Saved Someone's Life (Ava Blandford)

# data[].attributes.body
This article shows five different times social media saved lives. The first one is about a boy whose face was swelling, but his parents didn't know how bad the condition actually was until people on social media informed them of the disease. The rest of the stories are similar to the first one, parents who posted pictures of their kids and were told the condition was worse than it seemed. This ended with these kids' lives being saved from bad sicknesses.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This post is brought to you by Humana. Click here to learn more.
I was chugging coffee, trying to meet a deadline before my children got home from school, when I felt a strange sensation: My left eyelid began twitching uncontrollably, fluttering as rapidly as a butterfly's wings.

Great! I thought. The last thing I had time for at that moment was a trip to the doctor. Instead, I typed a quick Facebook post: "My eyelid keeps twitching uncontrollably. Is that bad?"

Within minutes, several mom friends informed me that this had happened to them, too, and that doctors had diagnosed it as a symptom of stress. Well, that made sense. I made a mental note to see a doctor if it continued for long, but went on with my work, and once my deadline went away, so did the twitching.

My story is not nearly as dramatic as those whose social networks helped point them toward life-saving diagnoses. But it illustrates a valuable point: The power of social networks to help us manage our health is much bigger than the occasional life-and-death story. Whether it's on Facebook, Reddit or any other platform, social media can be a valuable reality check to help us figure out when we or our children need medical attention, and when we need to just calm down and get on with things.

The dramatic stories, though, are much more fun to read about. Enjoy these tales of ordinary people whose lives were saved when strangers or friends online let them know they needed intervention. Nearly every one was a tear jerker for me.

1. Kawasaki Disease

Doctors thought Deborah Kogan's 4-year-old son, Leo, had a strep infection, but when his face swelled to "Nutty Professor" proportions, Kogan was puzzled. Within 10 minutes of posting a photo of the sick child on Facebook, Kogan received a phone call from a contact, urging her to rush the boy to the hospital. The Facebook friend's son had had a rare autoimmune disorder called Kawasaki Disease, and she was convinced that Leo had the same thing.

Kogan was tempted to ignore this warning and stay home - until two doctors in her social network contacted her with the same thought.

At the hospital, Leo was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease, and although he suffered liver and heart damage, his life was spared.

2. Mastoiditis

An Australian mother looked to a mother's Facebook group for help identifying a red lump on her toddler's head. The photo the woman, identified only as Kerry, posted did not look alarming - just a little swelling behind the ear. Yet, her friends urged her to take 21-month-old Gracie to the hospital immediately. Some group members had correctly pegged the swelling as mastoiditis, an infection that can lead to hearing loss, meningitis or even a brain abscess.

At the hospital, Gracie had surgery, with doctors drilling into her skull to relieve swelling pressure. She made a full recovery.

3. Retinoblastoma

On the other side of the world, another toddler named Grace was also saved when her picture was posted on Facebook - but this time, her parents didn't even know she was sick. Michele Freeman uploaded an everyday snapshot of her daughter, and a friend who happens to be a pediatric nurse noticed something odd about the child's eyes: One reflected red light, as is common in flash photos, while the other eye looked white.

Warned by her friend, Freeman had her daughter examined, and Grace was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a form of cancer. She lost her vision in the affected eye, but the cancer was treated before it could spread.

4. Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Mary Evelyn knew her son would have spina bifida before he was born. She joined some online groups for parents of such children, thinking that this would help her family adjust. Little did she know, her new online community would help save her child's life.

After bringing the baby home from the hospital, Evelyn noticed that he took long pauses between breaths while he slept. Her pediatrician said it was normal, but she was not convinced.

So Evelyn posted about the issue online, and was urged to take a video to show medical professionals. She did, and the video got the baby admitted to the hospital, where he was later diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and eventually needed a tracheotomy.

"An online community of strangers saved my baby's life," Evelyn writes on her blog. Now, she tells other families whose children are diagnosed with SB: "Find your community."

5. Testicular Cancer

The preceding stories show that moms are very active online when it comes to their kids' health, but not all stories of social diagnosis are about small children. In fact, last year, a college student ended up getting lifesaving cancer surgery because he looked at a photo on Reddit that was labeled as "gross."

The photo was posted by someone who had recently had a testical removed due to cancer. Taylor "Chase" Tyree, a computer science major at the Colorado School of Mines, realized he had the same symptoms that the poster described. Four days later, he was in surgery.

"I can tell my friends, 'Reddit saved my life!'" Tyree posted after the procedure, along with a photo of himself in his hospital gown, thumbs up.

It's important to note that all of these stories led the parents and patients to consult real doctors; it would be a terrible idea to rely entirely on the opinions of online friends to make diagnoses. Still, the common thread in all these stories is that the parents or patients would not have seen a doctor at that time, had they not been pushed to do so by their online networks.

In the future, social media as a health resource might not be limited to advice from human connections. Researchers are experimenting with analyzing Twitter feeds for hints that the people behind them might be suffering from disorders, including postpartum depression. Others are using social media to track infectious disease outbreaks.

Today, your social media connections might realize you are sick before you do. In the future, it could be the social network itself, or an app on the network, that suggests you get that lump checked out.

Like this article? Pin it!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Ways Social Media Saved Someone's Life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This post is brought to you by Humana. Click here to learn more. I was chugging coffee, trying to meet a deadline before my children got home from school, when I felt a strange sensation: My left eyelid began twitching uncontrollably, fluttering as rapidly as a butterfly's wings. Great! I thought.

# data[].attributes.headline
10 Times Social Media Made The World Better in 2014-Michael Barnett

# data[].attributes.subject
10 Times Social Media Made The World Better in 2014-Michael Barnett

# data[].attributes.body
On February 2nd, 2014 in Michigan, the mother of 10 year old Colin created a Facebook page for her son.  On this page, she asked for just a few people to reach out to Colin to make his birthday special.  She did this because Colin was disabled and did not want to have a birthday party because he said he did not have any friends.  Just a week and a half after making this page, Colin had made over 60,000 friends on Facebook.  Furthermore, Good Morning America hosted a birthday celebration for him in time square! Now, Colin's friends page has more than 2.1 million fans!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.

Thank you!

For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com.

In this YouTube video uploaded August 29, Georgia resident Kelly Gunderson said she captured a rare moment in which her 87-year-old mother, an Alzheimer's patient, seems to remember who she is. Gunderson she hopes the clip, with some 8 million views to date, will give other family members who are caregivers hope and something to relate to.

Devon Still, Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle, shared video of the moment he gave his daughter, Leah, a fist bump en route to the pediatric cancer patient's tumor removal surgery in September. The viral clip helped boost sales of his jersey, and the NFL team's pro shop donated all proceeds-more than $1.3 million-to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

This YouTube video uploaded by Toby Lever of Victoria, Australia, shows the moment when a seven-week-old baby named Lachlan-diagnosed with moderate-to-severe hearing loss-hears his parents' voices for the first time, thanks to new hearing aids and therapy. It has logged 11.8 million views to date.

This photo of a little boy reading to a tabby cat went viral on Reddit in early February, raising awareness about the adorable "Book Buddies" program at The Animal Rescue League of Berks County, in which children read aloud to cats at the Pennsylvania shelter to practice their reading skills.

The Ice Bucket Challenge craze-which helped raise $115 million for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research earlier this year-produced all kinds of remarkable videos. But none were more poignant than the one from Anthony Carbajal, documenting how he cares for his mother, who has ALS, before revealing that he too had been diagnosed with the disease. For people like him, he said, the Challenge was an invaluable resource.

This video of Avery, son of University of Nebraska assistant men's basketball coach Chris Harriman-who had spent roughly a month undergoing intense chemotherapy for leukemia-made national headlines in September, and prompted supporters to start an #AveryStrong hashtag.

On Feb. 2, a Michigan mom started a Facebook page to solicit birthday wishes to cheer up her disabled son, Colin, who said he didn't want an 11th birthday party because he thought he didn't have friends. About a week and a half later, he had 60,000 of them on Facebook, and a few weeks after that, Good Morning America hosted a surprise birthday celebration for him in Times Square. Now the "Colin's Friends" page has more than 2.1 million fans.

When his dog, Gina, ran away on Halloween, the American Pie and Orange Is the New Black actor asked his Twitter followers to keep an eye out for her. Thousands of retweets later, Gina was found alive. Biggs tweeted, "Could NOT have done it without you guys. An amazing woman picked her up in the street, and you guys ended up forwarding the message 2 her."

After Tara Taylor uploaded a photo of her daughter, Rylee, to Facebook, a friend reached out about a strange glint in the toddler's eye, saying it could be a sign of vision problems. A Memphis retina specialist diagnosed the youngster with Coat's disease, which can cause blindness, and Rylee started treatment to help restore some of her peripheral vision.

Katheryn Deprill's March 2 Facebook plea was shared more than 33,000 times-and one of the people who saw it was her biological mother, Cathy Pochek, who contacted an attorney to arrange a reunion at his office. "She left me somewhere she knew I'd be found," Deprill (nicknamed the "Burger King baby") told CNN affiliate WFMZ. "She did not want to throw me away."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Times Social Media Made the World Better in 2014

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

# data[].attributes.headline
3 Times Social Media Saved A Life (Farris Grau)

# data[].attributes.subject
3 Times Social Media Saved A Life (Farris Grau)

# data[].attributes.body
A teenage girl in Australia started a petition to raise awareness for domestic violence. She did this because her mother suffered from abuse for many years, and her father committed suicide. Her petition went viral, and attracted the government to ask schools to teach about domestic violence. The girl was very happy over the influence that she had over all of those kids and parents.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Times Social Media Saved A Life - Social News Daily

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There's no doubt that social media is a powerful tool today that serves various functions. Apart from its main purpose of aiding communication between people from the different parts of the world, it also has been proven effective in the areas of marketing as well as in influencing communities, states and countries.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social Media Can Negatively Affect Mental Health and Well-Being

# data[].attributes.subject
Social Media Can Negatively Affect Mental Health and Well-Being

# data[].attributes.body
This articles entials reasons why social media can be used for positive and negative reasons. Within the writing, it is said by the author, Mesfin Awoke Bekalu, that routine social media use can lead to checking apps excessively out fear of feeling left out or missing out on something. It is also mentioned that social media use may lead to increased risk or depression and anxiety symptoms.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
January 6, 2020- Mesfin Awoke Bekalu, research scientist in the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discusses a new study he co-authored on associations between social media use and mental health and well-being.
What is healthy vs. potentially problematic social media use?
Our study has brought preliminary evidence to answer this question. Using a nationally representative sample, we assessed the association of two dimensions of social media use-how much it's routinely used and how emotionally connected users are to the platforms-with three health-related outcomes: social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health.

We found that routine social media use-for example, using social media as part of everyday routine and responding to content that others share-is positively associated with all three health outcomes. Emotional connection to social media-for example, checking apps excessively out of fear of missing out, being disappointed about or feeling disconnected from friends when not logged into social media-is negatively associated with all three outcomes.

In more general terms, these findings suggest that as long as we are mindful users, routine use may not in itself be a problem. Indeed, it could be beneficial.

For those with unhealthy social media use, behavioral interventions may help. For example, programs that develop "effortful control" skills-the ability to self-regulate behavior-have been widely shown to be useful in dealing with problematic Internet and social media use.
We're used to hearing that social media use is harmful to mental health and well-being, particularly for young people. Did it surprise you to find that it can have positive effects?
The findings go against what some might expect, which is intriguing. We know that having a strong social network is associated with positive mental health and well-being. Routine social media use may compensate for diminishing face-to-face social interactions in people's busy lives. Social media may provide individuals with a platform that overcomes barriers of distance and time, allowing them to connect and reconnect with others and thereby expand and strengthen their in-person networks and interactions. Indeed, there is some empirical evidence supporting this.

On the other hand, a growing body of research has demonstrated that social media use is negatively associated with mental health and well-being, particularly among young people-for example, it may contribute to increased risk of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Our findings suggest that the ways that people are using social media may have more of an impact on their mental health and well-being than just the frequency and duration of their use.
What disparities did you find in the ways that social media use benefits and harms certain populations? What concerns does this raise?
My co-authors Rachel McCloud, Vish Viswanath, and I found that the benefits and harms associated with social media use varied across demographic, socioeconomic, and racial population sub-groups. Specifically, while the benefits were generally associated with younger age, better education, and being white, the harms were associated with older age, less education, and being a racial minority. Indeed, these findings are consistent with the body of work on communication inequalities and health disparities that our lab, the Viswanath lab, has documented over the past 15 or so years. We know that education, income, race, and ethnicity influence people's access to, and ability to act on, health information from media, including the Internet. The concern is that social media may perpetuate those differences.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Social media use can be positive for mental health and well-being

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A new study assessed the association of two dimensions of social media use-how much it's routinely used and how emotionally connected users are to the platforms-with three health-related outcomes: ...

# data[].attributes.headline
 Cannon Mackley: Red bull marketing that inspires you.

# data[].attributes.subject
 Cannon Mackley: Red bull marketing that inspires you.

# data[].attributes.body
Red Bull put out a goal of creating awareness of the brand increasing sales on there drink called Summer Edition tropical energy drink.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Want to grow your organic traffic by 20-100%? We built ClickFlow, a suite of SEO tools designed to increase your organic rankings and scale qualified traffic for your website. Click here to learn more and get started.

Everyone's on social media. The number of social media users worldwide is 3.484 billion, up 9% year over year. And to put that into perspective, the world population is 7.7 billion.

According to Brandwatch:

Facebook boasts a whopping 2.375 billion daily users

YouTube has 1.9 billion users

Instagram has one billion users

LinkedIn has 610 million users

Twitter has 330 million users

Snapchat has 190 million users

That's an awful lot of social media users.

Almost every brand is on one or more social networks running marketing campaigns, which means that social media advertising spend in the U.S. alone is expected to reach $18.4 billion this year! And that number is likely to increase to $37.71 billion by 2020:

Further, 73% of small businesses are investing in social media marketing with nearly all (95%) planning on increasing their marketing budgets in 2019.

The reason why social media is important to marketers is because it allows them to put their brand out there while implementing strategies, measuring outcomes and, ultimately, influencing their target audience to act in a certain manner. Very few brands, however, taste success.

While there's no one-size-fits-all formula to ensure a winning social media campaign, there are certainly lessons to be learned from brands who have managed to pull it off and are now reaping the benefits.

Here are a few success stories from companies using social media to boost your inspiration!

Starbucks

When Starbucks used Instagram to promote their Unicorn Frappuccino, their global same-store sales and same-store sales in the Americas increased by 3% for the second quarter.

In unveiling their Unicorn Frappuccino, a neon-colored pink-and-purple fruity drink that changes color as you consume it, Starbucks not only piqued their younger customers' curiosity, but they successfully aroused feelings of FOMO (fear of missing out) among Millennials due to the limited-time of the beverage.

The photogenic concoction attracted innumerable eyeballs with an army of consumers posting pictures of themselves with it on Instagram, as well as Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter:

The Unicorn Frappuccino and its hashtag #unicornfrappuccino generated nearly 155,000 posts and directed huge amounts of foot traffic to the physical stores, keen to taste the beverage before it sold out.

Creating scarcity is an age-old marketing trick, which seems to be effective even in modern times as exemplified by Starbucks's successful campaign on Instagram. Capitalizing on this tactic via social media can create opportunities for your campaign to go viral in no time.

Starbucks played smart and knew exactly how to trigger its social-media savvy audience and wasted no time in implementing their strategy. The results were for everyone to see (and learn)!

IHOP

The International House of Pancakes decided to become the International House of Burgers for a short while in the summer of 2018:

IHOP leveraged Twitter to announce a temporary name change to "IHOb" by asking its followers to guess what the letter "b" stood for. The result? Mass engagement with over 30,000 users responding with their guesses. When IHOP/b finally shared the new name, their tweet received almost 15,000 retweets.

The campaign certainly accomplished its goal of setting tongues wagging about its brand. It even managed to attract other brands' attention. Wendy's couldn't help but take a little dig at their potential new competitor by commenting, "Not really afraid of the burgers from a place that decided pancakes were too hard."

YouGov, which tracks the perception of more than 1,500 brands daily through its BrandIndex, stated that IHOP's Word-of-Mouth Score rose in the week after the announcement. In addition, its burger sales quadrupled as a result of their marketing gimmick.

Wix

Because of the $5 million price tag for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl, Wix decided to make sure that as many people as possible saw their ad - so they used Facebook's and YouTube's Live Video features to air a teaser of its Super Bowl ad:

The Super Bowl campaign, starring Gal Godot and Jason Statham, was shot by director Louis Leterrier, known for his work in the Transporter movies and The Incredible Hulk, among others.

Since Facebook and YouTube announce when a brand goes "live," Wix's video teaser got 3.2 million Facebook likes, 3.2 million Facebook follows and 50,000 YouTube channel subscribers. Using these social media platforms helped the website-building brand attract much a lot more attention than they ordinarily would have, considering that the younger demographic doesn't watch traditional television as much. Furthermore, the engagement was easily quantifiable.
Dive Deeper: 10 Content Marketing Tools that Can Help You Increase Engagement on Twitter
Omer Shai, Chief Marketing Officer at Wix, said that the campaign built brand awareness and that millions of users had interacted with the campaign online within 24 hours of seeing the video.

Airbnb

Airbnb launched a series of live videos with the tagline " We Are Here," which showed travelers using Airbnb's new "Places and 'Experiences" options.This campaign came at a time when Airbnb wanted to grow and become more than just an accommodation provider for travelers.

In this endeavor, the company announced the launch of its "Trips" platform using Facebook Live:

During the 24-hour launch period, people could post live videos of themselves indulging in exciting activities at their travel location. These included surfing in L.A., cooking authentic Venezuelan cuisine, partaking in performance arts in Paris, street dancing in Seoul, and more. All these breathtaking experiences were transported to Facebook users via the Live feature.

Airbnb used their Facebook Live campaign to show potential customers the wide array of thrilling activities that are available to participate in all over the world. And, most importantly, they can easily experience these activities with Airbnb.

The campaign attracted over 6.2 million views of the six live streams around the world. Miami, Paris and Tokyo were the top-viewed streams with Miami alone receiving more than 2 million views:

According to Shorty Awards, the campaign squarely hit the "target demographic for Trips with views from millennials contributing to over 22% of those that tuned in (ages 25-34)."

They also noted that the engagement and views were coming from over 13 countries, which enabled the successful launch of Trips.

Casper

If you think cross-channel marketing is overrated, think again! Casper, the sleep products e-tailer, did a great job of leveraging multiple channels to reach a wider audience base. The logic? Not everyone uses every social media platform. It is, therefore, a good idea to create a strong presence on a few networks and share the same content on each.

Apart from harnessing the most popular networks such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, Casper made good use of platforms like YouTube, Spotify and IGTV to telecast their new Casper Sleep Channel. This was done to help listeners doze off with their sleep-inducing segments of sounds, meditations and bedtime stories (interestingly, the mattress brand's products were never mentioned):

Casper shared all its new Sleep Channel episodes on each of the three platforms while promoting a teaser on their other social media profiles simultaneously. This proved to be a great way to create buzz around their sleep channel, increase their following on other platforms, and cross-promote content.

As Elise Dopson puts it: "Getting maximum ROI on your content marketing is almost impossible if you're not using an omnichannel approach to distribute your content and ensure that it's actually seen in a world saturated with content."
Dive Deeper: How to Use Live Video (Facebook & Instagram) to Grow Your Business
Cross-channel marketing may seem like a time-consuming endeavor, but using modern social media management tools can go a long way in simplifying things.

Taco Bell

Who doesn't love Snapchat filters? Taco Bell capitalized on this social media gem and created a Snapchat filter in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

As part of the campaign, the filter allowed users to transform their face into a giant taco shell that's seasoned with Diablo sauce. With this filter, Taco Bell aimed at providing users with an exciting way to share Cinco de Mayo with their friends and, at the same time, included subtle branding with the taco-shaped head playing the chain's famous "bong" sound:

Taco Bell successfully shattered a Snapchat record with its filter: even though the campaign went live for just a single day, it managed to become the most-viewed Snapchat lens ever. As per TINT, "it generated a whopping 12.5 years' worth of play in just a single day," even beating Gatorade's Super Bowl campaign that had more than 165 million views.

TINT also observed that "the lens was viewed more than 224 million times in one day, with Taco Bell dishing out $750,000 for the pleasure - at a cost of just 0.3 cents per view." What more could a fast food chain ask for?

Red Bull

Red Bull implemented their marketing campaign on Instagram with the goal of creating extended awareness of the brand and increased sales of their Summer Edition tropical energy drink in the Australian market:

Red Bull decided to keep things simple and focus on brand-building initiatives. It kickstarted the campaign with a promotional teaser that was launched right before the arrival of summer. To bring the audience's attention to the updated appearance of their cans, they included yellow filters across an array of images and videos that displayed summery days.

One of the main obstacles for energy drinks is their taste, so this campaign also used the hashtags #thissummer and #redbullsummeredition to superimpose the idea of customers sipping on their refreshing, tropical-flavor summer drink.
Dive Deeper: The Marketer's Guide to Snapchat
The campaign was immensely successful, resulting in:

Give customers an engaging social media campaign and you're sure to have them eating - or drinking! - out of your hand. When used well, Instagram can be a potent tool to drive engagement - and Red Bull hit the nail on the head!

Museum of Ice Cream

The Museum of Ice Cream leveraged Instagram as a platform to serve as a digital extension of their physical stores:

This helped make the brand more appealing to customers both offline (at their four pop-up outlets) and online (social media), and Instagram is known for creating a sense of unification of digital and physical environments.

The Museum of Ice Cream made good use of its presence on Instagram:

10-point increase in top-of-mind awareness among customers

9-point rise in favorability

7-point decrease in the unconvinced market

1.2 million - number of consumers reached

The campaign presented the Museum of Ice Cream with opportunities for making real connections with customers and encouraged them to share their experiences.

Conclusion

When created with a vision and a specific purpose, and implemented in a well-thought-out manner, social media campaigns can produce encouraging results.

With careful planning and collaboration, and a hefty dose of creativity, the brands in these examples managed to make the most of these social media platforms and achieve their marketing objectives. Hopefully, their success stories will inspire you to leverage social networks to your advantage and create a customer engagement record of your own!

Written By Debbi Gourley

Debbi Gourley is President and Founder at Money Mailer of San Diego, an advertising firm that provides shared mail, solo mail and print services. You can connect with her on LinkedIn @DebbiGourley

Think you've got a fresh perspective that will challenge our readers to become better marketers? We're always looking for authors who can deliver quality articles and blog posts. Thousands of your peers will read your work, and you will level up in the process.

They accumulated a following of 393K organic followers

They grew their organic reach to 280 million

The hashtag #museumoficecream is reported to have 72 million engagements

All four of their locations received a combined footfall of more than 500K people (with celebrities such as Beyonce, Gwen Stefani, Chance the Rapper among them)

Dive Deeper: 18 Reasons Why Your Instagram Posts Fail (And What to Do About It)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8 Social Media Success Stories to Inspire You - Single Grain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Want to grow your organic traffic by 20-100%? We built ClickFlow, a suite of SEO tools designed to increase your organic rankings and scale qualified traffic for your website. Click here to learn more and get started. Everyone's on social media. The number of social media users worldwide is 3.484 billion, up 9% year over year.

# data[].attributes.headline
Cannon Mackley:  Seattle Seahawks compare football to the civil rights movement

# data[].attributes.subject
Cannon Mackley:  Seattle Seahawks compare football to the civil rights movement

# data[].attributes.body
The Seahawks decided to compare their struggle for a championship to the struggle for equal rights that African Americans have gone through.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Best in Business
The 7 Biggest Social Media Disasters of 2015

A strong social media presence is vital for any brand. To maintain it, you'll need to avoid these kinds of cringeworthy mistakes.

In their never-ending jockeying for customers' attention on social media, some companies make terrible mistakes in judgment. Here's a roundup (in no particular order) of some of the worst fails brands committed over the past year.

1. Victorian Taxi Association's hashtag horror.

In November, Australia's Victorian Taxi Association launched its #YourTaxis campaign to get customers' feedback about its service. The response wasn't exactly what the group was expecting, though. The hashtag quickly became a repository for stories about drivers committing horrible violent and sexually abusive acts against riders.

2. IHOP serves up sexist tweets.

IHOP, the ostensibly wholesome chain also known as International House of Pancakes, showed the Twittersphere how immature, sexist jokes kids used to make in gym class do not translate into good social media strategy. Here are the company's one-liners, which were immediately met with widespread opprobrium:

Uh @IHOP I really must advise against. pic.twitter.com/wFKzP1YDSR
-; Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) October 18, 2015

3. Bic alienates women.

Bic, which makes everything from those colorful disposable lighters to pens and office supplies, also made an ill-conceived attempt to encourage professional women during South Africa's Women's Day holiday by suggesting in a Twitter ad that they should "act like a lady" and "think like a man."

what fresh hell is this pic.twitter.com/KctXjvWAHp
-; Caroline CriadoPerez (@CCriadoPerez) August 11, 2015

4. Seattle Seahawks compare football to the civil rights movement.

In January, the NFL's Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers to earn a trip to their second consecutive Super Bowl. The day after that win happened to be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so inexplicably the Seahawks decided to compare their struggle for a championship to the struggle for equal rights that African-Americans have gone through.

5. "Go to hell, @SeaWorld."

SeaWorld, the aquatic-themed amusement park, has been plagued with allegations of animal rights abuses. In an effort to get ahead of a tell-all book by a former killer whale trainer, SeaWorld launched the #AskSeaWorld campaign--to disastrous effect. Here's just one example of the many angry responses to SeaWorld's call for questions:

Have questions about killer whale care? Tweet us! See your answer and others here: http://t.co/vWEg4z67C8 pic.twitter.com/J23o6VVjV6
-; SeaWorld (@SeaWorld) March 26, 2015

6. BlackBerry employees don't use their own company's products.

If you can't beat the competition, make sure your employees don't use their products in front of your customers. Two years ago, BlackBerry suffered a public embarrassment when its celebrity endorser, singer Alicia Keys, sent out a tweet from an Apple iPhone. Apparently the company failed to learn its lesson, however. In January the central BlackBerry account took to Twitter to urge its loyal users to keep up the BlackBerry conversation on the social platform. Once again, it turned out the tweet had been sent from an iPhone.

7. Starbucks fails to solve race relations with a hashtag.

Starbucks president Howard Schultz wanted his company to drive the discussion of race relations in the aftermath of two high-profile deaths of black men at the hands of white police officers last spring. Schultz dreamed up a utopia where the coffee giant's #RaceTogether campaign would spur healthy discussions among customers and employees at Starbucks locations and on Twitter. The result? According to an analysis, the majority of social media posts about #RaceTogether were negative, with a third of them that followed the campaign's announcement categorized as "hate."

The arrival of Starbucks is typically a key indicator of gentrification in low-income communities. But, #RaceTogether
-; dae (@Duanecia) March 17, 2015

In their never-ending jockeying for customers' attention on social media, some companies make terrible mistakes in judgment. Here's a roundup (in no particular order) of some of the worst fails brands committed over the past year.

1. Victorian Taxi Association's hashtag horror.

In November, Australia's Victorian Taxi Association launched its #YourTaxis campaign to get customers' feedback about its service. The response wasn't exactly what the group was expecting, though. The hashtag quickly became a repository for stories about drivers committing horrible violent and sexually abusive acts against riders.

2. IHOP serves up sexist tweets.

IHOP, the ostensibly wholesome chain also known as International House of Pancakes, showed the Twittersphere how immature, sexist jokes kids used to make in gym class do not translate into good social media strategy. Here are the company's one-liners, which were immediately met with widespread opprobrium:

Uh @IHOP I really must advise against. pic.twitter.com/wFKzP1YDSR
-; Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) October 18, 2015

3. Bic alienates women.

Bic, which makes everything from those colorful disposable lighters to pens and office supplies, also made an ill-conceived attempt to encourage professional women during South Africa's Women's Day holiday by suggesting in a Twitter ad that they should "act like a lady" and "think like a man."

what fresh hell is this pic.twitter.com/KctXjvWAHp
-; Caroline CriadoPerez (@CCriadoPerez) August 11, 2015

4. Seattle Seahawks compare football to the civil rights movement.

In January, the NFL's Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers to earn a trip to their second consecutive Super Bowl. The day after that win happened to be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so inexplicably the Seahawks decided to compare their struggle for a championship to the struggle for equal rights that African-Americans have gone through.

5. "Go to hell, @SeaWorld."

SeaWorld, the aquatic-themed amusement park, has been plagued with allegations of animal rights abuses. In an effort to get ahead of a tell-all book by a former killer whale trainer, SeaWorld launched the #AskSeaWorld campaign--to disastrous effect. Here's just one example of the many angry responses to SeaWorld's call for questions:

Have questions about killer whale care? Tweet us! See your answer and others here: http://t.co/vWEg4z67C8 pic.twitter.com/J23o6VVjV6
-; SeaWorld (@SeaWorld) March 26, 2015

6. BlackBerry employees don't use their own company's products.

If you can't beat the competition, make sure your employees don't use their products in front of your customers. Two years ago, BlackBerry suffered a public embarrassment when its celebrity endorser, singer Alicia Keys, sent out a tweet from an Apple iPhone. Apparently the company failed to learn its lesson, however. In January the central BlackBerry account took to Twitter to urge its loyal users to keep up the BlackBerry conversation on the social platform. Once again, it turned out the tweet had been sent from an iPhone.

7. Starbucks fails to solve race relations with a hashtag.

Starbucks president Howard Schultz wanted his company to drive the discussion of race relations in the aftermath of two high-profile deaths of black men at the hands of white police officers last spring. Schultz dreamed up a utopia where the coffee giant's #RaceTogether campaign would spur healthy discussions among customers and employees at Starbucks locations and on Twitter. The result? According to an analysis, the majority of social media posts about #RaceTogether were negative, with a third of them that followed the campaign's announcement categorized as "hate."

The arrival of Starbucks is typically a key indicator of gentrification in low-income communities. But, #RaceTogether
-; dae (@Duanecia) March 17, 2015

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 7 Biggest Social Media Disasters of 2015

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Best in Business In their never-ending jockeying for customers' attention on social media, some companies make terrible mistakes in judgment. Here's a roundup (in no particular order) of some of the worst fails brands committed over the past year. 1. Victorian Taxi Association's hashtag horror.

# data[].attributes.headline
TikTok spreading awareness about the muslim camps in China- Lily Lucero

# data[].attributes.subject
TikTok spreading awareness about the muslim camps in China- Lily Lucero

# data[].attributes.body
Tiktokers have started to bring awareness to the muslims concentration camps in China. The government has forced thousands of Muslims to go against their beliefs. Such as making them eat pork and drink alcohol. There's also been reports of the government torturing their muslims citizens.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At the beginning of her TikTok, Feroza Aziz promised her viewers she'd show them a trick to get the longest eyelashes.

Aziz, 17, looks into the camera and tells the viewer to pick up an eyelash curler - then the tone of the video completely shifts.

"So the first thing you need to do is grab your lash curler, curl your lashes, obviously. Then, you're going to put them down and use your phone that you're using right now to search up what's happening in China," she says in the video, which has gone viral, with more than 1.5 million views on TikTok alone.

Aziz is among a growing number of young people who are using the Chinese-owned short-form video app TikTok to raise awareness for the approximately one in 12 Uighur Muslim residents of China's western Xinjiang region who are languishing in political re-education camps, according to the United Nations.

Around 10 percent of the Uighur population of Xinjiang is locked up, according to the U.S. government and human rights organizations. The Chinese Communist Party maintains these centers are a crucial part of its effort to counter terror, extremism and separatism.

"First, there is no so-called re-education camps in Xinjiang at all," the Press Office for the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in New York said in an email. "The vocational education and training centers legally operated in Xinjiang aim to help a small number of people affected by terrorist and extremist ideologies and equip them with skills, so that they can be self-reliant and re-integrate into society."

However, international rights groups charge that Chinese authorities are actually engaging in mass arbitrary detention, torture and mistreatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang. Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit group based in New York, has alleged "rampant abuses," including torture and unfair trials of the population.

On TikTok, which is typically known for ever-evolving in-jokes, lip syncs, dance trends and challenges, and is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, that has been accused of censoring content that shows China in a bad light, the hashtag "Uighur" has been viewed more than 154,000 times and the alternative spelling "Uyghur" has been viewed more than 869,000 times.

TikTok did not immediately provide NBC News with a comment about censorship or people making videos about the alleged Uighur Muslim re-education camps.

Some, like Aziz, have used misdirects in an attempt to Trojan horse the message of awareness into their videos, while others like William Temple, 17, of Arizona, have used existing trends like dancing to encourage people to educate themselves about the issue.

Temple said he first learned about the camps detaining the Uighur Muslims through various news outlets, and decided to make a TikTok about it.

"It's like shocking because of how big the situation is and how helpless we are as a people to do anything for them," Temple said.

Temple has created a chain of dances - a chain on TikTok is known as a duet - which he captioned by saying he'll dance every day until the Uighur Muslims are freed. He said initially it started as a joke, but when he saw some of the images from inside the camps, he began to take the issue more seriously.

"I remember seeing the photo of everyone bound and blindfolded with everyone's head shaved, so that made me think about doing it," Temple said.

Roze Dautova, 22, of New York, who is a Uighur Muslim, made a more straight-forward TikTok, sharing information about the issue with text over her face about the situation in Xinjiang.

"TikTok is a wider platform ... and I thought it was a great way to spread awareness," Dautova said. "I have people contacting me and commenting on the video saying this great I'm spreading awareness and that they had no idea this was going on."

Dautova said it has been heartening to see other people on TikTok not only learn about Uighur Muslims, but also take up the cause and help share information about the situation in China.

"It's unbelievable, because a few years back people didn't know what Uighur was at all and now I see non-Muslim people making these videos and spreading awareness. It's unbelievable. It's just great," she said.

Temple and Dautova said they don't fear being censored by TikTok, with Dautova adding that if her account is suspended, she'll just make another and continue posting.

"I'm not really fearful of the Chinese government doing anything to me. I know there's a lot of people that are Uighurs that are scared to say anything because they're scared for their families that are in China," Dautova said. "I'm going to keep doing TikTok videos and spreading awareness."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teens, young adults are using TikTok to raise awareness for Uighur Muslims

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At the beginning of her TikTok, Feroza Aziz promised her viewers she'd show them a trick to get the longest eyelashes. Aziz, 17, looks into the camera and tells the viewer to pick up an eyelash curler - then the tone of the video completely shifts.

# data[].attributes.headline
How instagram ruined someones wellbeing- Lily Lucero

# data[].attributes.subject
How instagram ruined someones wellbeing- Lily Lucero

# data[].attributes.body
Kashlee talked about how the effects of instagram ruined her life. She said that while it was fun starting to post pictures she then felt the need to have perfect posts and instagram. She continues to say how she was no longer enjoying her trips and was spending 5+ hours on the app.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This post may have affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) if you choose to purchase through them. Here's our Disclosure & Privacy Policy for more info.

Last Updated

Related

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kashlee on The Doctors : "How Instagram Almost Ruined My Life" - Travel Off Path

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This post may have affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) if you choose to purchase through them. Here's our Disclosure & Privacy Policy for more info. Last Updated Related

# data[].attributes.headline
Cyberbullying Leads Child to Commit Suicide

# data[].attributes.subject
Cyberbullying Leads Child to Commit Suicide

# data[].attributes.body
Mallory was a 12 year old girl that was mercilessly cyberbullied on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. She was constantly told that she was a loser and had no friends. At one point a cyberbully said," Why don't you kill yourself"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New Jersey family to sue school district after 12-year-old daughter’s suicide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mallory Grossman killed herself after classmates cyberbullied her, her family says. They intend to sue the New Jersey school they say should have stopped it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social media saves Texans lives during hurricane Harvey. (Travis Nguyen) 

# data[].attributes.subject
Social media saves Texans lives during hurricane Harvey. (Travis Nguyen) 

# data[].attributes.body
In 2017, Texas and many other U.S southern states had to face the hurricane Harvey. Many people lost their homes and were in danger. In the article below, a woman named Renee had posted on Twitter about a family of seven people were stranded in the middle of the flood and their address. Fortunately, the family had been rescued, thanks to social media.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
So many calls came into 911 in the Houston area this past weekend - more than 56,000 within 15 hours - as Hurricane Harvey socked so many parts of Southeastern Texas that first responders were simply overwhelmed, leaving many people stranded in waist-deep flooding and desperate for help.

Related: Hurricane Harvey: 50 counties flooded, 30,000 people in shelters, 56,000 911 calls in just 15 hours

Not knowing where else to turn for help, many turned to strangers and the only place they knew someone would be listening: social media.

Rescue efforts by local, state and federal agencies continued Monday even as online platforms like Facebook and Twitter allowed outsiders to step in more immediately and move people to safety.

Related: Hurricane Harvey: Here's how to help the people of Texas

Here are five ways social media and other platforms became a lifeline to Harvey-flooded areas in Texas:

People posted their addresses on Twitter

Calls for help accumulated on Twitter where information can flow in real time and is open for anyone to access. Some people posted their address, while others posted the address of a relative or a friend in need of help.

Here, three individuals tweeted the address of locations where people were stranded and needed help. As of Monday, the three groups of people below were all reported safe and rescued.

https://twitter.com/resiliencebabe/status/902237022965944320

https://twitter.com/jl_z1/status/902180274636718081

https://twitter.com/DCashAye/status/902170616333205504

Volunteers join efforts through Facebook

Facebook Groups also became another go-to source for people seeking rescue or those offering to help. One such group called Hurricane Harvey Texas Rescue allowed Facebook users to post their addresses. Others with boats offered to help.

The Facebook Page for the Louisiana Cajun Navy also encouraged people to reach out for help.

Instagram heroes step up to offer shelter, other resources

Thanks to Instagram's technology to geo-locate images anywhere in the world, people were able to post messages to offer help or ask for it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYWMP6unIe1

People crowdsourced requests on an online map

An online map labeled "Harvey Relief" used technology similar to Google Maps to allow people to drop a pin on a location and request help. The map crowdsourced rescue requests through Twitter and Facebook, and it also allowed people to post relief resources. The site's "About" page described it as a "people powered mega-list of hurricane Harvey relief shelters, resources & volunteer opps powered by you."

https://twitter.com/jskdecker/status/901592572354637824

People turned their homes into shelters through

Airbnb facilitated a way for people to turn their homes into shelters free of cost. The vacation-rental website said it was waiving fees to those who evacuated the affected areas between Aug. 23 and Sept. 25.

https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/902314237258633216

It's unclear how many people used social media to ask for help, or how many actually received help as a result of it, but agencies still encouraged people to dial 911 to report life-threatening emergencies or to call the Coast Guard.

https://twitter.com/USCG/status/901958734724915200

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.
Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @RunGomez Read The Conversation on Flipboard.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hurricane Harvey: 5 ways social media saved lives in Texas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
So many calls came into 911 in the Houston area this past weekend - more than 56,000 within 15 hours - as Hurricane Harvey socked so many parts of Southeastern Texas that first responders were simply overwhelmed, leaving many people stranded in waist-deep flooding and desperate for help.

# data[].attributes.headline
Houston Rockets Twitter Account Shoots Down Dallas Mavericks (Travis Nguyen) 

# data[].attributes.subject
Houston Rockets Twitter Account Shoots Down Dallas Mavericks (Travis Nguyen) 

# data[].attributes.body
In the article below, Houston Rocket's twitter posted an offensive and cross-the-line joke toward Dallas Mavericks team. Even though some people thought the joke was casual, many other people thought that the joke is somewhat offensive and unprofessional. As a result, the staff of Houston Rockets, who posted the joke, was fired. Hence, this is an example of how social media can create an unprofessional and negative image of a brand, and it also result in someone got fired.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We hear a lot of stories and stats on how social media can benefit organizations by helping them connect with customers online. As a matter of fact we put together 3 great examples of online customer service that every small business should aspire to.

However, the same social media tools can also have the opposite results for organizations: negative aura surrounding the brand. How is this possible? For one, no one can control the flow and spread of content online - if people start sharing something you cannot stop them from doing so. Screenshots, clippings and saved information make it impossible to bury something away. The best way for your business to avoid becoming part of a wide-spread bad social media marketing fiasco is to be aware of digital do's and dont's.

Let's take a look at and break down actual, historical examples from some well recognized brands and how their social unawareness led them to negative out-lash (so that your business doesn't do the same):

1. DiGiorno Pizza Ends Up On the Wrong Side of a Social Rights Movement

Social media platforms have become great networks for spreading the word about social rights movements. They're able to amplify the voices of those who usually wouldn't be able to have one. As an example, in the early 2020s we have Greta Thunberg taking on the world by highlighting climate change injustice for the younger generations. A few years before that there was a #WhyIStayed movement helping give a voice to women of domestic violence. Unfortunately, someone at DiGiorno Pizza (well recognized frozen pizza brand) saw the trending hashtag as an opportunity to promote their pizza. Why was this a bad move? It was a touchy subject - they did not use it to show empathy to vicitms nor did they meaningfully contribute to the movement. It was intended as a selfish promotion. You can see the difference of tone in the tweets between actual victims vs. DiGiorno below:

Shortly after coming to light (as a result of negative backlash from the online community) DiGiorno had to go on an apology spree that cost them. Trying to save face in the light of a serious subject matter:

What is the lesson to be taken away from this specific example? If your organization is going to participate in a trending rights-related topic, or a global pandemic (like COVID-19 happening right in 2020), make sure that you're contributing in a meaningful way as opposed to trying to capitalize on a trending topic to simply promote your products or services. Better yet, avoid using trending hashtags that have nothing to do with your business. These topics have their intention, so if you're selling pizza it probably isn't relevant to domestic violence unless your organization is donating to a charity that supports victims. And even then - it shouldn't be used for promotional purposes.

2. Houston Rockets Twitter Account Shoots Down Dallas Mavericks

This series may be long behind us (for all the non-NBA fans: Dallas Mavericks faced the Houston Rockets in the opening round of Western Conference playoffs in 2015), but there is another story that developed out of the Rockets' 4-1 series victory: their social media manager. Why?

Well if you're familiar with the Godfather movie series, the below tweet will make sense:

If it wasn't enough that the Dallas Mavericks were getting beaten in the opening round - they had to put up with the above. But it wasn't only the Mavericks who had concerns, there was a number of animal activists who found the icons offensive (horse getting shot in the header; you can see the reference to Godfather on your own if you're really interested).

A lot of people would argue this is just friendly/competitive banter - one team out competing another and simply letting them know. Actually, the office Dallas Mavericks page responded in a classy way (after the Houston Rockets officially apologized of course):

The employee eventually got fired and got some publicity from the whole event, eventually landing another job. But the question remains, why was this an issue for the Rockets and other audiences?

It's good to be different and push the limits to differentiate your brand. However, you have to be careful not to step over the line and clearly for some people this tweet was stepping over the line. While the argument can be made that "it wasn't so bad" others thought it was - which resulted in the employee losing his job and the Rockets getting some negative publicity online.

3. "Luxury" Cake Store's Facebook Meltdown

Alright, if you thought the above example was not bad at all, just look at the interactions below. Unfortunately I did not include all of the screenshots (which were gathered from Mashable's original post) but the below clearly showcases the meltdown of this company.

NOTE: This is a bakery company which was featured on Gordon Ramseys' Kitchen Nightmares show and afterwards, the following transpired on Facebook, Reddit and other online communities (brace yourself):

Oh boy! How did it ever get this far? Well after people found out that their Bakerys was just buying cheap cakes and re-purposing them as "luxury" at a much higher price, they confronted them on social media. No one likes to be deceived.

It simply picked up and people started giving bad reviews (even their own employees spoke out) based on previous experiences (hence why they were on Kitchen Nightmares show, things weren't going that great) and taking advantage of the deception.

What went wrong here for the brand?

They lashed out immediately, instead of admitting their mistakes and apologizing to everyone who was affected they went out and said MANY inappropriate things, tried to cover up their tracks and even threatened the audience with references to a deity (God) and legal action (lawsuit). The more they threatened and spoke back, the worse the comments got. Eventually the sharing became huge that people from other countries joined in - there was no way to control the levels of comments coming in ( Amy's Bakery tried to control who says what, which is not how the digital world works).

Remember: honesty, taking responsibility for your actions and actually admitting that you may have done something wrong are not seen as weaknesses or shortcomings. If the Houston Rockets can do it, this much less known brand can (and should have) as well. Perhaps they should have hired a professional to deal with their small business social media crisis instead of doing it on their own.

PS. Saying that your accounts have been hacked after flipping out will not get you anywhere either!

4. HMV's Uninformed Top Brass

CD sales have significantly declined since the introduced of MP3 players & iPods. Which, for HMV among other music album companies, spelled trouble: declining sales, letting go of employees, etc.

What made it slightly more troubling? An employee (intern) who was responsible for social media got a hold of the Twitter account once they found out that majority of employees will be getting laid off and proceeded to send the following updates:

Why did it get to this point?

The Director of Marketing doesn't know how to "shut down" Twitter. As a matter of fact, he didn't even know who was managing it. Imagine giving your entire brand perception into the hands of someone you do not know, or something you do not understand. Yikes!

First off all, all levels of the organizations should be familiar with who is responsible for managing social media profiles. Regardless of their position, title or seniority.

Secondly, the Director of Marketing should have been at least somewhat familiar with Twitter as this is a powerful marketing tool. You do not dive into something without trying to understand (the basics at the very least) how it works and how you can step in if need be.

Be aware, be proactive and know who is doing what! Social media is not just a fad, but a fundamental part of everyday business. Hopefully the above examples help you understand the importance of social media and how NOT TO BEHAVE online should any uncomfortable situation arise.

Ask questions, answer to best of your abilities, apologize if necessary and/or seek professional help if it gets overwhelming. The long-term health of your brand could be at stake!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bad Social Media Marketing Examples: 4 Real-Life Brands

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We hear a lot of stories and stats on how social media can benefit organizations by helping them connect with customers online. As a matter of fact we put together 3 great examples of online customer service that every small business should aspire to.

# data[].attributes.headline
social media helps save many lives during a hurricane- Lily Eugenio

# data[].attributes.subject
social media helps save many lives during a hurricane- Lily Eugenio

# data[].attributes.body
In this article it list 5 ways people were able rot help others during Hurricane Harvey. The first example is how people posted their addresses so other people could send help. Facebook groups also united so they could rescue you this in need of help. On instagram people posted place where you were able to get shelter. They also created a online map that helped others to pin a location in emergency. Lastly some people opened there homes for airbnb purposes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
So many calls came into 911 in the Houston area this past weekend - more than 56,000 within 15 hours - as Hurricane Harvey socked so many parts of Southeastern Texas that first responders were simply overwhelmed, leaving many people stranded in waist-deep flooding and desperate for help.

Related: Hurricane Harvey: 50 counties flooded, 30,000 people in shelters, 56,000 911 calls in just 15 hours

Not knowing where else to turn for help, many turned to strangers and the only place they knew someone would be listening: social media.

Rescue efforts by local, state and federal agencies continued Monday even as online platforms like Facebook and Twitter allowed outsiders to step in more immediately and move people to safety.

Related: Hurricane Harvey: Here's how to help the people of Texas

Here are five ways social media and other platforms became a lifeline to Harvey-flooded areas in Texas:

People posted their addresses on Twitter

Calls for help accumulated on Twitter where information can flow in real time and is open for anyone to access. Some people posted their address, while others posted the address of a relative or a friend in need of help.

Here, three individuals tweeted the address of locations where people were stranded and needed help. As of Monday, the three groups of people below were all reported safe and rescued.

https://twitter.com/resiliencebabe/status/902237022965944320

https://twitter.com/jl_z1/status/902180274636718081

https://twitter.com/DCashAye/status/902170616333205504

Volunteers join efforts through Facebook

Facebook Groups also became another go-to source for people seeking rescue or those offering to help. One such group called Hurricane Harvey Texas Rescue allowed Facebook users to post their addresses. Others with boats offered to help.

The Facebook Page for the Louisiana Cajun Navy also encouraged people to reach out for help.

Instagram heroes step up to offer shelter, other resources

Thanks to Instagram's technology to geo-locate images anywhere in the world, people were able to post messages to offer help or ask for it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYWMP6unIe1

People crowdsourced requests on an online map

An online map labeled "Harvey Relief" used technology similar to Google Maps to allow people to drop a pin on a location and request help. The map crowdsourced rescue requests through Twitter and Facebook, and it also allowed people to post relief resources. The site's "About" page described it as a "people powered mega-list of hurricane Harvey relief shelters, resources & volunteer opps powered by you."

https://twitter.com/jskdecker/status/901592572354637824

People turned their homes into shelters through

Airbnb facilitated a way for people to turn their homes into shelters free of cost. The vacation-rental website said it was waiving fees to those who evacuated the affected areas between Aug. 23 and Sept. 25.

https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/902314237258633216

It's unclear how many people used social media to ask for help, or how many actually received help as a result of it, but agencies still encouraged people to dial 911 to report life-threatening emergencies or to call the Coast Guard.

https://twitter.com/USCG/status/901958734724915200

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.
Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @RunGomez Read The Conversation on Flipboard.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hurricane Harvey: 5 ways social media saved lives in Texas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
So many calls came into 911 in the Houston area this past weekend - more than 56,000 within 15 hours - as Hurricane Harvey socked so many parts of Southeastern Texas that first responders were simply overwhelmed, leaving many people stranded in waist-deep flooding and desperate for help.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Burger King baby" finds her mom (Gabie Proffitt)

# data[].attributes.subject
"Burger King baby" finds her mom (Gabie Proffitt)

# data[].attributes.body
In 1986, a newborn baby girl was left at a Burger King. 27 years later She decided she wanted to find out who her biological mother was. She went to Facebook posting a photo of her holding a sign that essentially said she is looking for her birth mother and when and where she was born. It went viral on Facebook and her biological mother was able to find it and they were able to reunite together.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This whopper of a tale has the happiest of endings.

The "Burger King Baby" has reunited with her birth mother, 27 years after they were separated at an Allentown, Pa., fast-food restaurant.

"It's so surreal; never in a million years did I think this was going to happen," Deprill said.

Pochek was raped at age 16 and secretly birthed her child in her bedroom before leaving the two-hour-old baby wrapped in a red sweater in a Burger King bathroom.

The healthy baby girl was adopted by Brenda and Carl Hollis, who told their daughter the truth of her beginnings at the age of 12.

Last month, as a mother-of-three herself, Deprill posted on Facebook a plea for help in finding her birth mother.

"You just wonder where you come from," Deprill said Thursday. "I would never want to replace (my adopted family) but being adopted, a part of you is missing and unless you've been adopted, you really just don't understand that."

Pochek came forward three weeks later and the two met for the first time since September 1986.

"I was extremely nervous," Pochek said on "Today." "I was at the advantage because I had seen interviews she'd done. I was so proud of her, how articulate she was in expressing her feelings and grateful for her mom for a beautiful childhood she gave her."

Brenda Hollis, who raised Deprill, encouraged her daughter to seek out her biological mother. She mentioned putting a message out on Facebook, but "never in a million years" expected such a quick response.

Birth mother and daughter had both lived in Allentown all this time and had strange coincidences over the years.

Deprill was named "Katherine Ann" by Hollis - eerily similar to Catherine Ann Pochek's full name. Both now drive the same model and color of car. And Pochek even babysat Deprill's husband years before they married.

The women cried as they expressed how grateful they are for having each other now in their lives.

While some people may look down on Pochek's decision so many years ago, she said she hopes coming forward with her story of fear and misdirection can make a difference for somebody else.

"The way I look at it, if we can help some other girl that was in situation I was in, it's worth a little bit of judgement that people bring upon us, even if it's just one girl we can help," Pochek said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'Burger King Baby' reunited with birth mother after nudge to search from adoptive mom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This whopper of a tale has the happiest of endings. The "Burger King Baby" has reunited with her birth mother, 27 years after they were separated at an Allentown, Pa., fast-food restaurant. "It's so surreal; never in a million years did I think this was going to happen," Deprill said.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social media use may play important role in youth suicide, expert says

# data[].attributes.subject
Social media use may play important role in youth suicide, expert says

# data[].attributes.body
Joe Gramigna talked about how social media can effect mental health. He talked about how studies showed suicide is most common between 10-24 years. Many people say that while it is fun to communicate with friends, it is also very degrading. In the article he continues to talk about how there is lots of cyberbullying.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Source/Disclosures

Source:

Zelazny J. The changing demographics of youth suicide - Is social media to blame? Presented at: American Psychiatric Nurses Association 34th Annual Conference; Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2020 (virtual meeting).

Disclosures: Zelazny reports no relevant financial disclosures.

ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

Digital experiences among adolescents may significantly impact their mental health and well-being, according to a presenter at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Annual Conference.

Jamie Zelazny, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, noted that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among individuals aged 10 to 24 years. Further, suicide rates have tripled among youth aged 10 to 14 years, as well as among girls, and suicide rates are significantly higher among African American children younger than 13 years.

Rising suicide rates in these demographic groups have coincided with rising rates of social media use.

"A study published in 2015 found that the threshold for where kids start to have more mental health problems is the 2-hour mark," Zelazny said during the presentation. "Teens who reported using social media sites more than 2 hours a day were much more likely to report poor mental health outcomes like distress and suicidal ideation. A study done the following year found that problematic internet use resulted in poor mental health outcomes longitudinally, and these were mediated by poor sleep."

Other study results suggested that social media use among teens is linked to low self-esteem, poor body image and risk-taking behaviors. Moreover, social comparison and cyberbullying have been associated with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among adolescents.

In an ongoing pilot study that is part of a larger project to assess the potential of a social media monitoring intervention, Zelazny and colleagues analyzed data of 15 suicidal teens recruited from an intensive outpatient program at Western Psychiatric Hospital in Pennsylvania. The teens participated in three focus groups and completed questionnaires in which they provided feedback on positive and negative consequences of social media use.

Results showed 67% of participants reported feeling worse about their own lives because of social media. Further, 73% felt pressured to post content that boosted their appearance to others, 60% felt pressured to tailor content for popularity and likes and 80% reported being affected by social media drama. However, 73% reported feeling supported on social media through challenges or tough times, 53% felt more connected to their friends' feelings and 93% felt more connected to their friends' lives.

Social media risks identified via qualitative interviews included heavy and problematic use; interference with sleep; cyberbullying; exposure to self-harm/suicidal content; inauthenticity/being untrue to oneself; negative upward social comparison; and thwarted belonginess/unmet need to connect to others. Protective factors identified via qualitative interviews included getting support and encouragement from social media; feeling connected to friends; social engagement or encouragement to participate in social interaction; and personal expression or ability to speak freely.

Zelazny noted limitations of the study, including its small sample size and that it consisted of severely ill teens who were receiving treatment in an intensive outpatient program.

"We really have to routinely assess the impact of social media use, and when I say that, I don't mean we need a special assessment or questionnaire, but to actually think about it when we're assessing any symptoms that kids are presenting with," Zelazny said.

ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Social media use may play important role in youth suicide, expert says

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Digital experiences among adolescents may significantly impact their mental health and well-being, according to a presenter at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Annual Conference. Jamie Zelazny, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, noted that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among individuals aged 10 to 24 years.

# data[].attributes.headline
How social media is used to help refuges and disaster survivors - Patrick Gulley

# data[].attributes.subject
How social media is used to help refuges and disaster survivors - Patrick Gulley

# data[].attributes.body
One organization that uses social media to help refuges is the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency), who uses Facebook to answer questions of where and how to seek asylum, good locations to stay to keep safe, and how to get other things like the right to work in a country.

The missing maps project also exist, where both a dedicated team led by groups like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, as well as volunteers through "mapathons" on their mobile app allow people to sort through satellite imaging of disaster prone places. This allows accurate redrawing of maps so medical supplies and services can be easily handled compared to the problems of using 10+ year old maps that no longer work due to a natural disaster happening.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Social media and the prevalence of smartphones is changing communication in times of disasters. Instead of consulting printed casualty lists, survivors now check social media to see whether their friends and loved ones are safe. Similarly, social media has given people and communities affected by disasters the means to communicate directly with disaster responders.

In Mexico for example, the UN refugee agency UNHCR answers questions from refugees and migrants via Facebook, such as where to find shelter, how to apply for asylum or how to get the right to work. "Since 2015 we have noticed that a very large number of people were travelling with mobile phones and using Facebook and WhatsApp; mainly so that they could tell their families that they were ok," explains Mónica Vázquez from UNHCR Mexico. "So we decided that we needed to be on Facebook as well and help them find good information." Privacy and information security have been a major concern for the organization from the beginning, which is why UNHCR answers most questions via Facebook messenger, rather than the public Facebook page. One unexpected result of this personal approach: "People really stay in contact and let us know how they are doing, where in the asylum process they are. It's as if they are talking to a friend," says Vázquez. Over the last 14 months she and her team have answered close to 1,200 questions via Facebook messenger. The UNCHRS's help page " Confía en El Jaguar" - "Trust the jaguar" receives 1.3 million visitors each month.
A Crowdsourcing approach to humanitarian action

MapSwipe crowdsources satellite image analysis to support disaster response and development programs

Social media and crowdsourcing can also help close gaps in the information that is available to humanitarian and development organizations. The Missing Maps Project, which is led by Doctors without Borders, the Red Cross and the Humanitarian Open StreetMap Team, combines online and real-world action. During on-the-ground "mapathons" and through a dedicated mobile app, users can help analyze satellite images of disaster prone areas, for which comprehensive maps don't yet exist. The information is then used to plan activities such as the distribution of bednets to fight malaria. The information is also added to OpenStreetMap and can be used for free by anyone in the world. Since 2016, 27,000 users have mapped close to 600,000 km² in this way, assisting 154 humanitarian and development projects.

During rapidly developing crises, such as earthquakes and storms, volunteer organizations like the Standby Taskforce, as well as newly developed algorithms, help disaster responders categorize information into themes such as requests for shelter, food, water or medical assistance. This can be done using hashtags on Twitter, for example. Countries like the Philippines, which have been using this approach for many years, have so far reported mixed results. Partly because many people forget to use the recommended hashtags on Twitter when faced with a crisis, partly because retweets often drown out new posts, and partly because users seldom post when they have been assisted or rescued, meaning that disaster responders have no way of knowing whether needs have already been met or whether somebody still needs help.
Reassurance via Facebook

Facebook's crisis response group: Community members can request for help or offer assistance

Unlike Twitter, Facebook data is more difficult to analyze, because a lot of the information on Facebook is not public - for example posts in closed groups or status updates shared with friends. Because of this limitation, Facebook has developed a set of dedicated tools for crisis response: Facebook's "Safety Check," for example, allows users to quickly inform friends and relatives that they are well, if Facebook detects that they are currently in an area affected by a disaster. According to the company, 35 million people used this feature in 2018 to reassure their loved ones. In the aftermath of a crisis, Facebook also provides special groups through which affected communities can coordinate assistance and even ask for donations.

In addition, the company provides partners such as the Red Cross and some NGOs and UN agencies with access to custom Disaster Maps. These maps show anonymized and aggregated Facebook data to help analyze the situation on the ground. This includes data on where groups of people are or where they have moved to, information that can be important for disaster responders who are trying to make sure that aid gets to the right places. For example, when wildfires in California filled the air with smoke and ash making it hard to breathe, the US organization "Direct Relief" used information from Facebook's Disaster Maps to plan their distributions of breathing masks. Facebook emphasizes that the data cannot be used to identify or track individuals.
Predicting outbreaks of violence with social media
But in the online world as in the offline world, not everyone has good intentions. In South Sudan, hate speech on social media has become such a big problem that the UN has warned that certain platforms are playing a key role in pushing the country farther along a path of ethnic violence. One way to address this issue is by trying to use social media to predict where violence is likely to erupt. "If hate speech goes up this week, violence will go up next week," explains Althea Middleton-Detzner, Director of the Hate Speech program for the NGO Peace Tech Lab. Her organization has just published an updated lexicon of South Sudanese hate speech that can help civil society organizations tackle the issue.

Peace Tech Lab's lexicon of hate speech

In addition, Peace Tech Lab is currently working on using the lexicon to train an algorithm that will be able to predict where violence is most likely to erupt, based on the location of social media posts. This project is supposed to be operational later this year. While the system currently only works at the state level, Peace Tech Lab is working on increasing the accuracy to the city-level and even show which ethnicities are more likely to be targeted. The analysis will then be shared with the UN in South Sudan as well as other groups who are present on the ground.

One thing is clear: Social media is changing how people communicate during emergencies. Instant communication and real time data helps humanitarian organizations and survivors to respond and recover faster and more safely. At the same time, misinformation and disinformation can increase insecurity for vulnerable communities. Institutional disaster responders need to learn how to proactively deal with these challenges, while media and information literacy programs in disaster prone countries can play an important role in helping journalists, community leaders and survivors access vital information and identify misinformation. Better informed communities can make more informed decisions about their future. In the aftermath of an emergency, that can be the difference between life and death, between recovery and deterioration.
Timo Lüge is a senior humanitarian communications consultant who focuses on improving the flow of information between the affected population and disaster responders in emergencies. He has previously worked for the UN, the Red Cross and multiple NGOs. He tweets under @timolue.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Saving lives with social media: The power of the crowd in emergencies | DW | 16.04.2019

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Social media and the prevalence of smartphones is changing communication in times of disasters. Instead of consulting printed casualty lists, survivors now check social media to see whether their friends and loved ones are safe. Similarly, social media has given people and communities affected by disasters the means to communicate directly with disaster responders.

# data[].attributes.headline
SnapChat Location Feature Saving lives and tracking damage during hurricane Harvey 

# data[].attributes.subject
SnapChat Location Feature Saving lives and tracking damage during hurricane Harvey 

# data[].attributes.body
SnapChat has a feature called snap maps allowing others to see your location if allowed by you. People during the hurricane would use this feature to be found or they can also see the damage of the hurricane in that area. -Walton Gaunce

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Image: screen grabs/snapchat

Snapchat is turning out to be a major resource for people trying to keep tabs on what's happening on the ground in Houston.

Snapchat users are turning to Snap Maps to keep tabs on flooding and other damage across Houston neighborhoods in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Introduced earlier this year, Snapchat's Snap Maps overlays publicly-posted Snaps onto a map so others can view what's happening in other cities.

As the damage from Harvey, which is now categorized as a tropical storm, continues to unfold, the feature is becoming an important way for people to keep tabs on what's happening in different parts of the city.

"Its [sic] been really helpful seeing what the rest of my town looks like," wrote one Reddit user on a thread encouraging Houston residents to use Snap Maps to check how different neighborhoods were faring.

Others said they used the feature to check on their homes and those of friends and family.

"By checking the snaps we know the water hasn't come into the first floor," wrote one poster, who said he hasn't been able to check on his house since the floods started. "Such peace of mind for now."

"I've been worried about not hearing from my best friend in hours. According to the map, it seems like she's okay," wrote another.

Snap Maps is also proving to be a powerful tool for those outside of the Houston area, providing an unfiltered, up-close, look at how the city is being impacted by the storm and subsequent flooding.

Somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 Snaps were submitted to Harvey-related Our Stories between Thursday morning and Sunday evening, according to a Snapchat spokesperson. All that amounts to an extremely detailed look at what's happening on the ground across the sprawling city.

Image: screen grab/snapchat

By swiping around the Houston area on Snapchat's map, you can zoom into different neighborhoods to get an up-close look at how the storm has impacted people over the last 24 hours.

Snapchatters are using the tool to document flooding locations, rescues, and rain-soaked roads, as well as more light-hearted moments showing teens playing in flooded streets and how they're passing the extended time indoors.

Image: screen grab/snapchat

In addition to what's on Snap Maps, Snapchat also rolled out one of its curated news-style Stories highlighting the effects of Harvey on Sunday. The company added a new donation feature to the Story as well so Snapchat users could donate to relief efforts directly from the Story by swiping up on individual Snaps.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
This Snapchat feature can help you keep tabs on Harvey's devastation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Snapchat is turning out to be a major resource for people trying to keep tabs on what's happening on the ground in Houston. Snapchat users are turning to Snap Maps to keep tabs on flooding and other damage across Houston neighborhoods in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

# data[].attributes.headline
Racist Video Goes Viral and Prevents Teens from Getting into Dream College- Hannah Kaufmann

# data[].attributes.subject
Racist Video Goes Viral and Prevents Teens from Getting into Dream College- Hannah Kaufmann

# data[].attributes.body
A couple from Georgia made a TikTok video including a racial slur and many racial stereotypes. The students were oblivious to the harm the video would cause. As the video caught more attention, other TikTok users were not happy. The video was shared to many other platforms including Twitter, where it eventually was sent to her top college choice. She begged for people to stop, but she ended up being punished for the harmful video the couple made.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In a widely shared TikTok video that has since been removed, a teenage couple said black people "rob people" - "specifically whites" - don't make "good choices," and "go to jail." It also featured a racial slur.

In a statement on Friday, their school district in Carrollton, Georgia, announced that both students were no longer enrolled at Carrollton High School.

An Instagram account that appeared to belong to one of the students in the video said, "I'm sorry to any blacks that got offended."

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

After a racist TikTok video that includes a racial slur was shared widely and led to the expulsion of the two teenagers who posted it, one student is pleading for people to "stop sharing" it.

In the video, a piece of paper with a racial slur written on it is shown in a sink. A girl explains that they're demonstrating the "making" of a black person, and the boy says the slur. The two pour cups of water into the sink to indicate the addition of traits including "don't have a dad" and "eat watermelon and fried chicken."

The two go on to say that black people "rob people" - "specifically whites" - and don't make "good choices." The final step in their racist recipe is "go to jail."

The video has been removed from TikTok, but another student at their high school in Carrollton, Georgia, posted it on Twitter on Thursday. As of Tuesday, it had close to 9 million views.

Screenshots from an Instagram Story of an account that appeared to belong to the girl from the video said, "For the love of God, stop sharing the video and my name and picture."

The Instagram Story said that the racist video was her boyfriend's fault and that "he slowly normalized his racism on me." It included a plea for people not to contact her college because "one mistake should not ruin a life."

-Hey all you cool cats and kittens! (@Dnellicious) April 18, 2020

An Instagram post from the account said, "I'm sorry to any blacks that got offended."

Insider is not naming the two students directly, as they appear to be minors.

The student who posted the TikTok on Twitter said in a subsequent tweet that this was "not an isolated incident" and that she was "shocked by the amount of openly racist people" she'd met in her town.

The high school's student body is 29% black, according to the Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement.

A member of the school board, Gil O'Neal, who is black, told The New York Times that the incident "never should have happened in this day and age" and that the community would "heal" and learn from it.

In a statement on Friday, the school district announced that both students in the video were no longer enrolled at Carrollton High School.

Superintendent Mark Albertus said the video did not uphold the district's standard for respect. "The racist behavior observed in the video easily violates this standard," he said, adding, "This incident does not reflect the culture of Carrollton City Schools."

Insider's message to the girl in the video was not immediately returned on Tuesday morning, and the boy in the video could not immediately be reached.

The incident is just one of many where students have posted racist videos on social media and been swiftly "canceled," with other users mobilizing to notify others of their behavior - frequently leading to consequences like losing a job or being expelled from school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A high schooler who posted a racist TikTok is pleading with people to stop spreading it, claiming the video was sent to her top college choice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In a widely shared TikTok video that has since been removed, a teenage couple said black people "rob people" - "specifically whites" - don't make "good choices," and "go to jail." It also featured a racial slur. In a statement on Friday, their school district in Carrollton, Georgia, announced that both students were no longer enrolled at Carrollton High School.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Someone's Life was Saved  Over Facebook

# data[].attributes.subject
How Someone's Life was Saved  Over Facebook

# data[].attributes.body
Mariah, an everyday Facebook user, once came in contact with a person who seemed just a bit off. She received messages upon messages from this person, until the third message finally caught her attention. it said, "I EXPECT MORE . . . BUT YOU MAY HVAE TO BE INCARCERATED," Mariah stated that she had barely even knew the person, and they were nothing more than two college students who lived down the hall from each other. Soon after she noticed posts just kept coming, and she felt that doing doing nothing felt very wrong. She then decided to step in, and she fired off messages to those who are close to her.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It was the third message that finally got my attention. "I EXPECT MORE . . . BUT YOU MAY HAVE TO BE INCARCERATED," it screamed on the networking site LinkedIn last November. "FOR YOUR OFFENSE TO OUR CROWN . . . DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONAL."

At this point, I was beginning to take it personally. The author - a vague acquaintance - had been sending me nonsensical messages on social media since 2012. "Bad time to say this, but what is going on for real?" the first Facebook message read. "Nevermind, let me have a couple of dreams, not like that . . . just a vision. You Mariah?"

From the beginning, I didn't respond. I barely knew the woman; more than a decade ago she lived down the hall from me at college. We were little more than acquaintances. I don't know where she lives and have no way to contact her beyond social media. I figured the gibberishy message had been sent in error and soon forgot about it.

[When psychiatrists are on Facebook, their patients can get a case of TMI]

Then, after a lull of two years, she reemerged with another Facebook message sent directly to me: "BEWARE!!!" she wrote, apropos of nothing. It startled me enough to click over to her profile, which, to put it mildly, was distressing. The page was plastered with ramblings that when decipherable at all suggested paranoia and delusions of grandeur. There were videos, too, in which my acquaintance stared blankly into the camera for minutes at a time.

If the Internet is a public forum, then social media is the megaphone installed at the center of it. Certainly it attracts oversharers, the ones who hash out breakups in Facebook statuses and live-tweet their days in embarrassing detail. We lurk in the cyber shadows and tsk and snicker - this is modern voyeurism at its most entertaining. But then there are people like my acquaintance who seem to be in a different, more dangerous kind of distress that seems private but is broadcast, intentionally or not, to a wide network of onlookers. It looks suspiciously like mental illness.

From the start, I was reluctant to respond to the messages. What would I say? I felt strange intruding on what seemed like a private matter. Surely someone who knew my acquaintance better would see her Facebook posts and intervene.

[This new approach to mental health care could save lives]

No one did. As I watched her profile with mounting concern - the posts just kept coming and her thousand-some Facebook friends remained silent - doing nothing felt increasingly wrong. I thought of the infamous 1964 Queens murder of Kitty Genovese, in which more than a dozen people were reported to have witnessed or heard the fatal stabbing attack but failed to come to Genovese's aid. While many of the claims about people unwilling to act were later proved to be exaggerated, the media fallout from the original story sparked interest in a social psychological phenomenon known as the "bystander effect," which postulates that the more bystanders there are to a crime, the less likely that any of them will help. A larger crowd, it seems, diffuses the individual's sense of responsibility.

Now, I feared that I was experiencing a bystander effect for the modern age.

I thought of another friend from college who began behaving erratically on Facebook a few months after graduation. His breathless posts - he would sometimes publish 10 of them in a five-minute span - featured anything from religious rants to commentary on the latest Beyoncé single. I didn't think much of it at the time, but things were much worse than they seemed.

"Basically, in 2009, I started getting more and more energy, sleeping less and less," he told me over the phone recently, asking to have his name withheld to preserve his privacy. "I started getting more religious, and then it got to the point where I decided I needed to administer to the homeless." He began picking up homeless people and buying clothes and other necessities for them.

[Who would fake a tragedy on Facebook just to get sympathy and attention?]

"It was coming from a good place, but it was very dangerous," he said. "I wound up smoking crack with some homeless people, and then I decided that I was the second coming of Jesus Christ, and it was my mission to bring about the Revelation. I did actually act a lot like Jesus - I was kind and selfless and that stuff. But I was also crazy."

Alarmed by his behavior, my friend says his parents took him to specialists, who ultimately diagnosed bipolar disorder and got him help. Since then, he's had a few manic episodes, often manifested on the Internet.

When he looks back at some of what he wrote, he says, "it's just crazy. I'm like, 'I'm so embarrassed, I can't believe I did that.' It's stuff I don't even remember."

He does remember, however, that several friends reached out, some messaging him to express concern: "People saying, 'I'm praying for you.' That kind of stuff is nice to hear, but it didn't help me get better, you know?" But he wishes these friends had contacted his relatives, who weren't following him that closely on Facebook, when they noticed how odd his posts had become.

Given his history, I worried that responding directly to my "BEWARE" acquaintance would be a waste of time. Instead, I fired off Facebook messages to three people who appeared to be related to her. I explained who I was and that I was concerned about her recent online behavior. "I just want to make sure her family is aware and able to help her, should she need help," I wrote. I received no responses.

[Her murder became the stuff of legend. But everyone got the story wrong.]

I contacted Facebook for guidance. Policy communications representative William Nevius directed me to a company blog post about Facebook's newest mental health initiative, which allows family and friends to tag troubling posts. According to Facebook, teams around the world review the posts - prioritizing the most serious, like those threatening self-injury - and send help to the distressed party: contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, for example, and suggestions to chat with a friend about their feelings.

But my acquaintance's messages and status updates didn't seem a fit for the Facebook tool. When I tried to use it, it asked if my acquaintance's posts were threatening, violent or suicidal, or whether they referenced graphic violence, vandalism or drug use. My answer was no. There were no buckets for posts that were strange, jumbled, plain worrisome or otherwise out of character. When I asked if another tool might better fit my purposes, I got no response from Nevius.

Still looking for answers, I called Keris Myrick of the Center for Mental Health Services at the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA. Myrick suffers from schizoaffective disorder, which is similar to schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Despite her diagnoses, she has said that she has developed coping mechanisms that help her live a rich and productive life, including the cultivation of a supportive Twitter community that knows her triggers.

Informing friends, online or otherwise, of symptoms to look for is important, Myrick said. "I can say, 'I'm not really feeling well,' or something that maybe doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense, and people will say, 'Hey, what's going on?' " she said of past Twitter interactions. Even in the midst of an erratic episode, Myrick said, messages of concern can get through and motivate a person to get help.

That said, Myrick has been conflicted in the past about whether to reach out to a troubled person. Mental illness varies greatly from person to person, she said, and there's not always a clearly right thing to do. Still, Myrick said, there are some best practices.

"Many of them are things like not being judgmental, and reaching out and engaging the person in conversation," she said. "Remind a friend that mental illness is treatable and recovery is possible."

Myrick also suggested calling SAMHSA's National Helpline, which offers referral and information services in English and Spanish 24 hours a day. (The phone number is 800-662-HELP and related website.)

I called. The dispatcher told me that she gets calls all the time from people like me who are concerned about individuals they barely know, although the social media twist was a new one to her. Regardless, she explained, my options were limited, given that I didn't know where my acquaintance lives. Even if I did, the recourse might be as drastic as trying to get her committed to a mental health facility. This frightened me, and I said as much.

Being concerned is "a very kind thing to do, and I honor you for doing that," she replied. "But you can only give people information, and they're going to do what they want with that." She suggested I send my acquaintance a message expressing concern and including a link to the help line's website. "If it were me personally, that's what I would do."

So that's what I did in early April. For a month I nervously scanned my inbox. And then one day, a reply: "THANK YOU . . . THE ENTIRE NETWORK MAY NEED TO CHANGE," it read. "I WROTE BECAUSE MANY WERE FAILING TO RESPOND. BUT, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE CONCERN."

And then the floodgates opened. My acquaintance began barraging me with links to strange YouTube videos, and she made jumbled pleas to speak with me on the phone about topics unrelated to her mental state.

I was distraught and confused. I asked myself: Do I further involve myself? Do I have the power to help her at all? What have I gotten myself into? In the end, I repeated my previous suggestion that she call the hotline. And then I logged off.

In all, the experience left me feeling bleak. I'd done the best I could, but that didn't feel like enough. It's clear that current tools designed to help people with mental illness don't account for situations like the one I encountered with my college acquaintance. But given the ubiquity of social media, my gut tells me that there are more people like her out there than ever.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
When a cry for help rings out on Facebook, who answers - and how?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It was the third message that finally got my attention. "I EXPECT MORE . . . BUT YOU MAY HAVE TO BE INCARCERATED," it screamed on the networking site LinkedIn last November. "FOR YOUR OFFENSE TO OUR CROWN . . . DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONAL." At this point, I was beginning to take it personally.

# data[].attributes.headline
Hannah Roper- Why Instagram is the worst social media for mental health. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Hannah Roper- Why Instagram is the worst social media for mental health. 

# data[].attributes.body
Teens took a survey and it proved that Instagram led to increased depression, anxiety, bullying, and the feeling of being alone.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Instagram Is the Worst Social Media for Mental Health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Instagram and Snapchat are the worst social media networks for mental health, according to a new survey of teenagers and young adults.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teens Sharing stories about being bullied on SnapChat- Walton Gaunce

# data[].attributes.subject
Teens Sharing stories about being bullied on SnapChat- Walton Gaunce

# data[].attributes.body
These teens were bullied and harasses on snapchat by other kids their age. Some of them even harassed by people that were very close to them such as their boyfriend. `

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
While studying for her Algebra exam, Hayley*, 18, noticed she had 16 missed calls from her best friend. Upon answering, she was informed that her boyfriend shared topless photos of her on his personal Snapchat story. In less than an hour, the photo had circulated to most of her classmates. Hayley said, "I felt really anxious, hurt, and betrayed. Ever since that photo was shared, my self-esteem has not been the same."

Hayley immediately confronted her boyfriend. He claimed that he thought it wouldn't get back to her because "[he] always paid close attention to the people both watching and screenshotting the story." He had felt protected by the same function that had made Hayley so vulnerable. Still, content that should have remained private was spread across the internet. Hayley told him this was a violation of her privacy and the consequences of his actions were unforgivable.

Snapchat, launched in 2011, was originally designed to streamline confidential communication between friends. Today, according to a spokesperson for Snapchat, the app reaches 90% percent of all 13- to 24-year-olds in the US with more than 203 million daily active global users. According to a Pew Research poll, about 35% percent of 13 to 17 year olds say they're active on Snapchat more than any other social media app. It's no secret that Snapchat continues to shape the way young people communicate with one another, but it also has another impact - it also shapes the way they bully each other.

In the weeks following her private photo being shared, Hayley's peers continued to turn to social media to gossip about the photos. In group threads on Snapchat, they also discussed her breakup with the boy who shared the photos. Hayley said that on any given school day, she gets more than 50 messages on Snapchat - but when "drama like this happens" she receives far more. "There is something about Snapchat that feels private, so people say things they wouldn't say to anyone's face," Hayley said. "We are the most real with each other, but also the cruelest to each other. I don't think I'll ever get over what happened to me on Snapchat." Although Snapchat certainly isn't the only private messaging platform (see: or ) to appeal to young people, Snapchat draws millions of teens together by allowing them to communicate through expiring messages that simultaneously notify users when their messages are screenshotted.

Samantha*, 17, said, "I feel the closest when talking to my friends on Snapchat because I can say what's on my mind. I don't have to be self-conscious." Ben*, 18, spoke to a similar sentiment: "I find Snapchat cathartic." It is the nature of these messages that make young people feel comfortable sharing their deepest thoughts and feelings. However, the disposition of self-destructing words can also incite hate, harassment, and bullying. Out of 10 teenagers who talked to Teen Vogue, only one claimed they had not been on the receiving end of harassment on Snapchat. Nine reported instances where their private messages had been shared without their consent. Grace*, 18, said, "I screenshot Snapchats by taking pictures on my computer of my phone and then I just send those pictures to my friends. This is the way my friends and I get away with sharing Snaps."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Not-So-Secret World of Snapchat Bullying

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find out what these young people have to say about Snapchat bullying, and why they still have no plans to stop using the app.

# data[].attributes.body
This article is written by a student who interviewed Tik Tok users a their school. The author talked about how users of the app felt very bad about their bodies because of all the people on Tik Tok who seemed perfect. If you look at people who fit society's standards of beauty, you start to question whether or not you look good enough for people to like you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In August of 2018, a Chinese social media platform called 'TikTok' launched into the United States market. Two years later, six out of every ten teens in the US are using it. The explosion of the short form video app is unsurprising, considering that ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, spent over one billion dollars advertising their brand in 2018 alone. After flying under the radar, the app started being attacked by concerned parents and teens worried about presumed negative mental and social effects on youth. My experience on TikTok is limited, as I've never downloaded the app, but I've spent three or four hours in total watching TikTok videos over the shoulders of friends or in messages sent to me. All that said, after talking with some students at Berkeley High School (BHS), I am unable to ignore negative trends on TikTok and I cannot suggest that anyone downloads it.

Simply put, TikTok isn't good for body image. The first thing that stands out when browsing TikTok is the number of conventionally beautiful people. While beauty is subjective, it does not feel like a stretch to say that the 'For You Page,' a personalized page of posts compiled by TikTok's algorithm, is dominated by people who could be models. This is not unusual across social media, but that doesn't mean it is ever okay. Kids, preteens, and teens are especially vulnerable to issues with body image, as their brains are still forming and what they see online can really stick with them. They are also still growing and developing physically. When conventionally attractive people are shown getting millions of views worth of attention, it can start to take a toll. The dangerous part comes when, conscious or not, a connection forms between looking a certain way and getting the attention that so many young people crave.

I interviewed four girls from BHS on their experiences using TikTok. They all brought up body image issues or unhealthy eating habits as something they had seen handled irresponsibly on the app. Alexandra Baird-Doughty, a junior in Academic Choice (AC), went as far as to say that she felt that "...they have an algorithm that pretty much blocks plus sized people." She believes that this can be "really harmful." In an article for NBC, author Sarah Kaufman stated that, "the app is particularly dangerous for people who are susceptible to an eating disorder relapse. Even if a minority of TikTok users experience this it is still an issue and an environment that tugs at these insecurities is not one that I want to recommend."

Another quality of the app that could exacerbate these issues is its addictive nature. This is in part due to the app's extremely entertaining content, making it hard to look away. While social media often comes under fire for getting people "hooked," science tells us that there is a basis for this claim. A 2018 Harvard study compared social media to gambling with slot machines or using drugs like cocaine, in that they all affect the same reward centers of the brain. Specifically, TikTok uses a scroll feature, providing an essentially infinite amount of content. Its algorithm seems to have nailed a perfectly targeted feed that's hard to escape and keeps us coming back for more. Among the students I talked to, multiple mentioned the app's time sucking ability, or even it's addictive qualities, which led some to periodically delete it. To make matters worse, the shelter-in-place order to combat COVID-19 only amplifies this by forcing teens into a situation where their social lives are primarily online. This has led to TikTok serving as a makeshift peer group, where group norms are developed and enforced within the community. With a bigger role in the lives of teenagers, the app can have the negative influence of peer pressure, with the distanced and anonymous nature of the internet. TikTok is a perfect storm for the spread and influence of problematic ideas and harmful standards. An app that is difficult to resist while simultaneously being a danger to mental health can cause a lot of damage to the teenage psyche.

All in all, while TikTok is entertaining, and can even have meaningful content at times, its negatives when it comes to body image and overuse cannot be ignored. The simplest way to avoid TikTok's problems is to not download it in the first place. If it's an app you already have that doesn't improve your life, then why keep it? At the end of the day, it may just not be worth it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Dark Side of TikTok: Exploring the Dangers Posed to Today's Teens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In August of 2018, a Chinese social media platform called 'TikTok' launched into the United States market. Two years later, six out of every ten teens in the US are using it. The explosion of the short form video app is unsurprising, considering that ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, spent over one billion dollars advertising their brand in 2018 alone.

# data[].attributes.headline
Facebook helped a 22-month-old leukemia patient find the perfect donor-Ella Gruneisen

# data[].attributes.subject
Facebook helped a 22-month-old leukemia patient find the perfect donor-Ella Gruneisen

# data[].attributes.body
Lona Stratton was a 22 month old that had been fighting leukemia since birth.Unfortunately with her half-Chinese and half-English descent, her parents could not find a bone marrow donor. Her parents used Facebook and they eventually found a rare donor from Australia for their daughter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You don't really need to read about how all pervasive Twitter, Facebook and all the rest of these sites has become. We experience it on a daily basis. From updates about new born babies, weddings, and jobs, to just dumb revelations and explanations, the things we see range from the brilliant to the bizarre, but mostly trivial. But at times these social networks have been the difference between life and death, and no I'm not talking in metaphors here.

Here are a few tales of how the Internet came to the rescue of these people.

1. Twitter helped rescue a missing snowboarder from the Swiss Alps.

Jason Tavaria went on a ski trip to the Swiss Alps and was separated from his group during a snowstorm. A member of their team used Twitter to get his phone number and then used Google locations to track him down.

2. Facebook helped a 22-month-old leukaemia patient find the perfect donor.

22-month-old Lona Stratton had been suffering from leukaemia since birth. Unfortunately, due to her half-Chinese half-English descent, her parents could not find a suitable bone marrow donor. However, her parents' appeal on Facebook helped them find a rare donor from Australia for their daughter.

3. An ambulance immediately came to the aid of an old lady after she fell down and updated her status on Facebook, asking for help.

Lois Shelton, a 75-year-old woman accidentally took a hard fall on the floor which left her paralyzed. Fortunately, she somehow managed to reach her laptop to put up a status on Facebook, asking for help. Her daughter-in-law read her status and immediately notified Lois's neighbours who called for an ambulance.

4. Facebook friends of a mother helped her understand her daughter's disease after she uploaded her picture on the Internet.

In March 2014, Tara Taylor posted her daughter Rylee's picture on Facebook, where her left eye was glowing. Most of Tara's friends assumed that the glow in Rylee's left eye was because of the camera's flash light and ignored it. However, two of her friends recognized the symptoms and recommended an immediate consultation with a doctor. She was later diagnosed with Coats disease.

5. Facebook helped save the life of this 16-year-old boy who planned to commit suicide.

In early April 2009, a 16-year-old boy let known his intentions about committing suicide while chatting on Facebook with his friend, who was sitting 5600 miles away in Maryland. Worried, his friend informed her mother, who directly phoned the police of the boy's area and controlled the situation.

6. A 20-year-old friend donated her kidney to this man after learning about his health problems through Facebook.

Diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, Nick Fosnot had to undergo an emergency operation to remove both his kidneys. Janine Pape Sansom, Nick's 20-year-old friend from school looked him up on Facebook one day and learnt about his condition. They hadn't met in 20 years but Sansom stepped up and donated one of her kidneys to Fosnot.

7. Twitter came to the aid of this biker who crashed in the woods.

While participating in a mini-triathlon, in July 2010, 36-year-old Leigh Fazzina was separated from her team when her front wheel bumped into a tree and she crashed in the woods. Unable to make any movements, she tweeted: "I've had a serious injury and NEED Help! Can someone please call Winding Trails in Farmington, CT tell them I'm stuck bike crash in woods." Within minutes of her update, an ambulance arrived.

8. Doctors could not help this woman but Facebook did, as she posted the pictures of her son's swollen face and figured out his disease.

Deborah Kogan noticed rash and fever on her 4-year-old son Leo and rushed him to the hospital. However, the doctor could not diagnose him properly and his condition only worsened. Feeling helpless, Deborah uploaded pictures of Leo's swollen face on Facebook and received help from her friends who realised what the condition was. He was suffering from a rare disease called Kawasaki.

9. A Facebook status helped this mother and son escape a 5-day-long sexual and physical assault by her own boyfriend.

On 25th December 2011, Erica Carver signed into her Facebook account and came across a weird status by a Facebook friend reading: "Hello. Is anyone out there? I am having a serious problem and me and (my son) will be dead by morning." Erica immediately called her husband who was a colleague of this woman. On failing to reach her phone, he reported the matter to the local police, who helped this woman and her son escape a 5 day long brutal abuse by her own boyfriend .

10. A Facebook alert helped police find the kidnapper of a baby who was abducted from the hospital just minutes its birth.

On May 26 2014, Melissa McMahon gave birth to her daughter Victoria at a hospital in Quebec. Just after her birth, she was abducted by a hospital nurse who took the baby to her car and drove away. Only a few minutes later, an alert for the missing baby was issued on Facebook with the suspect's photo. The post went viral and one of culprit's neighbours provided the police with her address details. Later, Victoria was found at the same address provided by the neighbour and was safely handed back to her mother.

11. Facebook friends from 6 different states came to the rescue of this handicapped man who updated an incoherent status on Facebook.

On July 15 2015, 28-year-old Chris Thomas, who is restricted to his wheel chair, accidentally fell down on the floor and hit his head hard against linoleum. After, partially regaining consciousness, he attempted to put up a status on Facebook reading "I neet he kl p m==#]Please /fc" 'ff: ' 933,91++". After reading his incoherent status, his friends sitting in 6 different states co-ordinated with each other and arranged an ambulance for his rescue.

12. This 10-year-old girl uploaded a short video on Facebook, pleading for help for her father who was trapped under a fallen tree during storm. Her plea was answered immediately.

During a thunderstorm, on 12 June 2014, Gregory and two of his friends were trapped under a tree struck down by the storm. His 10-year-old daughter Brianna wanted to help her father and uploaded a video on Facebook saying, "The lightning crashed and hit a tree by our porch and my dad's almost dead. He needs an ambulance please. Please call one for us if you have a signal. We live in a yellow house." Rescue officials immediately arrived at the spot and helped them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
12 Times Facebook & Twitter Actually Helped Save People's Lives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You don't really need to read about how all pervasive Twitter, Facebook and all the rest of these sites has become. We experience it on a daily basis. From updates about new born babies, weddings, and jobs, to just dumb revelations and explanations, the things we see range from the brilliant to the bizarre, but mostly trivial.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social Media spreading awareness about important and big issues. -Caroline Holbrook 

# data[].attributes.subject
Social Media spreading awareness about important and big issues. -Caroline Holbrook 

# data[].attributes.body
A positive thing about social media is that it helps to raise awareness for big issues.A lot of these issues include racism, abuse and domestic violence, social injustices and much more. Without social media, these peoples' stories and issues wouldn't see the light of day. We want people to feel like they have a voice, and social media gives them one.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A number of these experts wrote about both sides of the story, taking the time to point out some of the ways in which digital life is a blessing and a curse. A selection of these mixed-response anecdotes follows.

James M. Hinton, an author, commented, "Having grown up in the pre-internet era, my childhood was spent in a substantial monoculture. There was a single shared set of values and beliefs that everyone was expected to conform to. As someone who did not fit into that set of shared expectations (and only grew further apart from them as I aged) this created a substantial sense of isolation and even oppression. The advent of internet technologies - and particularly the ability to communicate instantly, inexpensively, across the planet - has given me access to like-minded individuals who have eased that sense of isolation. This makes it sound as though my answer should have been that these technologies have created, and will continue to create, a substantial improvement for my well-being. However, the very technologies that have created these opportunities have exposed me to even more of the general hostility of the surrounding culture to those like myself. Rather than a small, local community isolating me, now there is sense that a substantial portion of the world, establishment and orthodox belief systems are actively opposed to my positions. Perhaps, to take things to a bit of an extreme, I could compare it to being sent to the Warsaw Ghetto. I am, at last, surrounded by a large number of people like myself, but with an impending sense of dread at what is waiting just beyond the fence to eventually come down and wipe us out."

Technology improves the lives of people who can avoid being dominated by it and forced into debilitating addictions to it. Frank Kaufmann

Frank Kaufmann, a scholar, educator, innovator and activist based in North America, commented, "Technology improves the lives of people who can avoid being dominated by it and forced into debilitating addictions to it. Technology allows me to grow and benefit from loving relationships among friends and family who can now be close despite geographical distance. Tragically it prevents the addicted from growing and benefiting from the most exquisite types of encounter, namely being in the physical and personal presence of another."

Eric Royer, a professor based in North America, said, "Digital technology has fundamentally reshaped higher education, to the point where lectures are being replaced with online courses and information is readily available at the click of fingertip. This means that knowledge is no longer the domain of the 'Ivory Tower'; however, I hold concerns over the effect of the internet on actual learning and a love for education itself. As a consequence of digital technology, education has become a commodity, and students view it as a means to an end."

Sasha Costanza-Chock, associate professor of civic media at MIT, said, "On the one hand, digital technology has been used by progressive social movements to rapidly organize an enormous mobilization wave after the election of Trump. We've seen digital media used as a key tool to turn out hundreds of thousands of people with very short notice to protest the Muslim ban, attacks on LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, the Women's March, #MeToo, continued #BlackLivesMatter mobilizations, and more. At the same time, digital media are also used to surveil social movement actors in increasingly sophisticated ways; to propagate well-funded disinformation campaigns; and they are also used by far right movements."

Barry Chudakov, founder and principal of Sertain Research and Streamfuzion Corp., wrote, "As a researcher with colleagues in the communications sphere, I hear a recurring conversation about the new world realities of 'Me, Inc.,' made possible by ubiquitous digital technology. The good news is that concept-generation, creativity, programming, publishing or musical performance is no longer in the hands of indifferent gatekeepers - the greybeard editors of various industries who decided which voice and talent was worthy. But this coin has another side.

"Digital technology has, in many areas, hollowed out apprenticeship and expertise. Anyone with a tool (a digital camera or smartphone, editing software, some programming chops) can now be an expert and build an app or a reputation. Older communicators may marvel that newer digital tech tools enable fresh ideas, ingenious approaches and direct versus staged or canned presentations. On the other hand, in the 'Here Comes Everybody' world of digital tool mayhem, just having the tool is readily equated with expertise. Many people see in this the breakdown of 'guild wisdom' - learning a craft that took years of mentorship and trial and error, which results in reduced standards of excellence and quality. Often there simply are no standards. When there are no real experts, everyone can present her/himself as an expert.

"The impact on workers' well-being is profound: from relying on buzz words to explain approaches that are highly conceptual but lack experience, to relying on data summations that cannot be clearly articulated as beneficial to outcomes but provide a cloud of information that appears to be relevant - I see a high degree of insecurity and a struggle for clarity and standards. Whether you call yourself a designer, a programmer, a social media expert, a storyteller, a data analyst, a market research professional - you can now go through any door that is near you to get a job or build a career. But the mentors, for many, are gone. You will come up with brilliant insights that were ho-hum years ago; you will propose fuzzy solutions that appear to you clearly superior but are hollow as a dead tree; you will eventually consider your career and brand far more important and worth spending time on than your client's job - following the dictum that 'Me, Inc.' means Me First.

"My friends' lives in regard to well-being feel permanently insecure. The framework of progression, succession and apprenticeship is gone. 'Me, Inc.' rules. It's me and my software and my digital technology. But, of course, a new apprenticeship will likely appear and then gatekeepers and filter governors will once again be part of the scene, albeit in different form - probably algorithms. This is because newer digital tools enable cooperation and increased socialization, even if it happens through screens, platforms and crowds."

Richard Jones, an investor based in Europe, wrote, "Prior to 2010 I used physical newspapers, watched scheduled entertainment, used a voice phone which could also send texts, used a map to navigate. I used to get frustrated waiting for Windows to boot up. As of 2018, I expect instant service when I ask a voice assistant to play me music, to adjust the heating, to read me books, to adjust the lighting, to display directions and choose the route to drive anywhere. I have a continually curated email subscription list, I have several newspapers on my devices, I no longer use physical diaries on my tablets or other display devices and my handwriting has due to non-use deteriorated. I can switch between devices almost seamlessly, I expect - through the cloud - to continue wherever I am and to use the best screen physically available locally. I physically and mentally sense a torrent of information which I navigate through and, even though I feel some confidence relative to my peers that I'm staying on top of it, I sense youngsters' greater ease with some of it and a greater bewilderment as to where to focus. I guess this is due to the continuous split-second choices and discarded or simultaneous deep-dive leads presented by the networked nature of hyperlinks. We are all on personal journeys as we navigate these choices and attempt to prioritise effectively. This opens the door to effectiveness but also stress. Life could typically have been much more aligned with one's peers in previous decades. For instance one would study the same syllabus at university. One might go to broadly the same holiday destinations. But nowadays the opportunity to self-curate one's education by increasing access to material presented by the best educators, to go off piste [the beaten trail] in research, to use drone footage of holiday resorts not only to select but to remotely experience holidays through high resolution YouTube videos on huge screens in high definition is marvellous. I am particularly interested in the developments about to enrich the lives of elders' living arrangements: the potential to physically monitor their well-being (IoT sensors based on motion, heat, pulse and analysed by algorithms identifying exceptions to norm) or voice-controlled calls for help. I definitely suffer stress to do with feeling out of control or discomfort because whereas I typically lead a single-focus style of life I now lead a much more immersive style of life. Deep-dive focus with the associated memory capacity and recall used to be a good approach. Now, as search engines augment our recall and the information available is so vast, Edward de Bono's 'experience blotting pad' becomes to me the only viable way forward; that means submitting to accelerated information throughput, letting the brain rank the leads by depth of import and relevance, and cross-correlate the hodgepodge into useable conclusions."

Seth Finkelstein, consulting programmer at Finkelstein Consulting, wrote, "When the Net was younger, many users of it were easily able to have *substantive* open forums where anyone could join. I very much enjoyed being able to have discussions with people who were at a status level far greater than I could have communicated with beforehand. On the other hand, that meant people at a correspondingly higher status level could be personally offended by what I wrote. In retrospect, for me, the trade-off was not worth it. This is now writ large in social media today. There's much more of a potential for becoming internet-famous, which can be a blessing or a curse. But it's possible that there are many more and powerful curses around than blessings."

Christian Huitema, a technology developer/administrator based in North America, appreciates the internet but commented that being disconnected is still occasionally quite important, "We now have a new checklist item before going out to dinner: We make sure that none of us is carrying a phone."

Our greatest strength can also be our greatest weakness, and our human relationship with technology is a classic testament to that. Andie Diemer

Andie Diemer, journalist and activist user, wrote, "I use technology in almost every aspect of my life, as everyone I know does. It helps me make quicker, more-informed decisions and it can connect me to anything or anyone at any given moment. However I've also noticed the compulsions that come along with having technology so engrained in my life; the dopamine hit when you see you are receiving likes, the soothing feeling that can come from looking at photos of baby animals. Technology can make us feel anything whenever we want - all we need to do is hit search. As much as it's great to plug in and be connected and feel limitless, there is no real total opposite of that in our society anymore. There is no way to totally shut it off or opt out. Most jobs require you to be computer-literate or to have a cellphone that can be on your person at all times. Our greatest strength can also be our greatest weakness, and our human relationship with technology is a classic testament to that."

Colin Tredoux, a professor of psychology at the University of Cape Town, commented, "The advantages of digital technology are clear, but there are also disadvantages. One memorable advantage was being able to track and keep in contact with my two young children, ages 12 and 7, when they were lost on a train in Germany. I was able to get them to approach passersby, and get them onto a train that would get them to a designated location even though I was in Cape Town at the time. However, I can also tell stories about how much the ubiquity of digital technology has made everybody feel unsafe - the slightest disappearance of children or friends or adults from instant communication makes everybody highly anxious, almost always for no good reason (last year my daughter, now 20, went offline in Paris, and we spent six hours fretting, worrying, etc.). In other words, we need to weigh up the cost of worrying versus the benefit of making safe. My sense is that the former occurs with 100-times-greater frequency than the latter, so then the important question is what weight to put to the two."

Simeon Yates, professor of digital culture at the University of Liverpool, wrote, "Digital life can be dominated by email and time-management tools. Even using these well leads to a significant increase in workload. This is not matched by changes in organisational structure and management practice to address this workload. This has long-term health impacts. But digital life is also good. Nearly everything we do for enjoyment has been helped by tools and apps: Going climbing (using an app for route guidebook), reading (endless access to books), music (endless access to music), film (endless access to film and TV), keeping in touch with friends and family, organising time together. All of these are much easier."

Daniel Schultz, senior creative technologist at the Internet Archive, commented, "This morning I rolled out of bed to see a note from a constituent on Twitter, an email from a public school think tank about the extreme need for more effective communication with parents, I logged onto Slack to catch up on notes from my coworkers and friends, and received a FaceTime from my daughter downstairs as a reminder that it was time to eat breakfast with her. The end of this story actually captures both the benefits and risks of technology. I was immediately drawn into my phone after waking up - I got information, some of it adding to my pile of tasks and increasing my stress, some of it enabling human connection, but it was also at the expense of spending my first moments with my family. My life would not exist in its current form without digital technology. I work from home, and as a result I am able to see my family any time of the day. My professional collaborations are coordinated and executed online. A large portion of my civic engagement and advocacy is done through the creation or use of technology to share a message or make a point."

Leora Lawton, lecturer in demography and sociology and executive director of the Berkeley Population Center at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote, "In positive ways I have close friends that I met online through email lists, colleagues that I communicate with and the ease of doing business or personal matters no matter where I am in the world. I love being able to check things in Google on my iPhone as the thought occurs. I like apps on my phone. I get to listen (or watch) baseball and other sports anywhere. However, I dislike the continuing demise of radio and print newspapers. Online sources are a different experience. They have their pluses, but there's a reason why people still like vinyl over CDs. I feel the same way about radio. I take 25 hours off each week from the digital world - sometimes more - for religious reasons. Without the religious imperative I'm not sure I would do it, but I'm so glad I do. It's such a relief! My co-religionists all agree. Even the teens often agree (not always of course, but they are teens)."

Daniel Berleant, author of "The Human Race to the Future," commented, "We all remember the days when any group was subject to interruptions as someone's cellphone rang. Text messaging and email have made communication even easier, while alleviating the interruption factor imposed by a ringing phone. At the same time, it has presented a disadvantage: people often will not answer a phone call, especially young people. This has produced an adjustment problem in my own experience, whereby I would sometimes like to call a family member on the phone, but cannot get through because they prefer a text message that does not interrupt them. I, and others, need to adjust expectations and tactics to the realities of modern cellphone-based communication."

Charles Ess, professor, department of media and communication at the University of Oslo, said, "An obvious example is the use of digital technologies to communicate with family and friends around the globe. On the one hand, all of this makes it wonderfully easy and convenient to stay in touch - including during critical life moments such as the birth of a new grandson, a sibling's loss of a job, a serious illness or death, et cetera. At the same time - as someone who grew up writing letters, e.g., the ones I wrote to my parents while working and then traveling through Germany and Europe in 1971 - I'm acutely aware of what is NOT communicated through digital channels (researcher Sherry Turkle addresses this more eloquently). First of all, such a letter demanded extended attention and focus - and, as research over the past 10 years or so has confirmed, the process of handwriting slows one down so as to open up silences and spaces for reflection that we elide quickly over if only using a keyboard. There is also the materiality of the letter. To not only see the words - but to hold in one's hand a piece of paper that existed with me and then with those close to me at a specific time and place decades ago - is utterly distinctive. I receive hundreds of emails a day and write 10 to 20 or more. My professional and personal life turn on them, along with many other digital and communication technologies, of course. But I strongly doubt that my children will be interested in or find much value in trawling through even just the emails sent to them after I am gone. While they have their own affordances - first of all, speed and convenience - they also suffer from a kind of immateriality and, usually, brevity. By contrast, I suspect they'll find my physical letters to be far more valuable and precious. I don't think this is just nostalgia. Rather, it resonates with the so-called 'death online' research, which - alongside evidence for the many benefits of grieving and mourning via social media, memorial sites, etc. - also documents how for some number of people, precisely young people, there is the discovery that grief requires embodied co-presence. This is ramified by the unpleasant sides of online grief, e.g., postings from 'friends' who ignore you the next day, etc. Again, there is some indication of not necessarily rejecting 'the digital' entirely in favor of 'the analogue' (with all the caveats those terms require) - but rather of attempting to find a better balance."

Nathalie Coupet, an internet advocate based in North America, said, "My first thought in the morning, having just awaken, is: 'Do I have any emails?' The internet has taken over my life and made me a 24-hour-a-day-connected pod to its mother ship. Without my smartphone, I dare not venture in the Big World out there. What if someone was trying to contact me? Ironically, I still remember the day when, sitting comfortably in a tram in Zurich, I had vowed to never carry a cellphone with me. To jealously safeguard my independence. To daydream in peace and be deliciously idle. Not to be so engaged all the time in a stressful awareness of place and time, people and events. To be left alone. It has now become a goal."

Craig J. Mathias, principal for the Farpoint Group, wrote, "I've benefitted from email, other messing services including voice and video communications, access to a wide array of information via the Web, and access to many services I use regularly, like banking and health care. All of these are good, but I do worry about security and privacy, which still receive far too little attention. Stronger penalties are required for those who compromise these vital requirements."

Kathleen Hayes, a technology specialist based in North America, commented, "For the good, my 91-year-old mom checks emails and uses her tablet when she travels so she can stay connected. She uses the caller ID on her home phone to ward off robo calls. For the not-so-good, on her new car some of the controls were difficult for her to figure out. What used to be a knob is now a screen with a vague description of what it may or may not do."

A professor at a major U.S. state university said, "I am able to share information with my family who live in other states more easily. We are able to see photos and share news to groups that would have taken longer in the past. I do often wonder if we really want photos of our children online, however. I feel concern about safety and well-being of children."

Theodora Sutton, a Ph.D. candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute, wrote, "... Digital technology is interwoven into my daily life as it is with everyone I know. The first thing I do when I wake up is usually check my iPhone for messages and news or scroll through Twitter on my laptop to help wake myself up. I find it to be an extremely useful and relaxing way to see what's happening in the world without necessarily engaging. I also often use resources online when I'm struggling to fall asleep, as there is a rich library of calming content and most of it is free. A problem that I have with my digital technology is the way that boundaries are blurred. For example, context collapse on social networking sites, which make posting content a minefield, and can cause unnecessary anxiety. Another way that similar boundaries are blurred is in the activities I use the laptop for - both working and relaxing can be provided by the same 'portal' of my laptop screen, which I find unhelpful, as when I'm working there is always a distraction available, and when I'm relaxing it's always possible to quickly check my work email, both things which can hinder the task at hand."

Richard Padilla, a retired system administrator, said, "Tech has changed the development of the lives of everyone. A need to refine its processes for better growth is now the requirement."

Michele Walfred, a North American communications specialist, said, "I have witnessed family members unable to join conversations, sit at a table and not bring their phones with them, etc. Social media platforms have provided everyone with a forum to express views, but, as a whole, conversations are more polarized, tribal and hostile. With Facebook for instance, there has been a huge uptick in fake news, altered images, dangerous health claims and cures, and the proliferation of anti-science information. This is very distressing and disturbing. People are too willing to share without doing their due diligence and fact-checking first. People now get their news from sources that are only aligned with their belief systems or 'tribe' and freely shut out any information that they don't like or agree with. On a positive note, if one is interested in diverse opinions and views, the ability to make informed opinion and decisions is at one's fingertips. I learn something new on the internet every day. GPS, maps, navigation have transformed my personal transportation. It has changed the way I shop, source local materials, find out what is going on in my own community, or - when I travel - immediately connect me to inside information about a new town or city. I used to bring along a Rand McNally map. Now I use Google Maps and, while I miss looking at maps, the technology now is so accurate and convenient. I am an avid photographer, and the multitude of editing apps is astounding. I have 40 installed on my iPad and they have transformed my artistic efforts. My grandson lives three and a half hours away in a very large city - not a pleasant drive for me, so being able to FaceTime him is a development I treasure."

Timothy Leffel, a research scientist at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, one of the largest independent social research organizations in the U.S., said, "I probably spend more waking hours looking at a screen than not. And this seems to be the new normal, which is a bit jarring. If you'd told me 10 years ago that this is what everyday life would be like today, I'm not sure what I'd think. I'm not sure what I think today, even. I have superficial knowledge of any topic at my fingertips, which is incredible. But with that knowledge comes a highly addictive and hidden reward system that probably leads me to overestimate the positive impact of computers on my life."

Bouziane Zaid, an associate professor at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, wrote, "Changes in quality of life, whether positive or negative, cannot be reduced to our uses of technology. It is a human tendency to idealize a past that probably was never as good as we think it was. Well-being is improved and lessened due to hyperconnectivity."

Kathleen Harper, an editor for HollywoodLife.com, said, "GPS has changed my life - for the better. It sounds dramatic, but I honestly don't know what I would do without it. I am what they call 'directionally challenged,' and I'd forever be lost without my handy-dandy smartphone (and my backup portable charger of course). Living in New York City can be intimidating, and it's quite easy to get lost. Without step-by-step GPS and my subway app, I definitely wouldn't be able to explore the city, attend events, and try new things as much as I do. Playing devil's advocate though, maybe without it, I'd be forced to actually learn and/or memorize the city, which would in turn expand that part of my brain and make me a more well-rounded person."

Mark Richmond, an internet pioneer and systems engineer for the U.S. government, wrote, "Twenty years ago my daughter met a man 8,000 miles away. Yes, it was via internet. They married and she has lived there ever since. Despite the distance we are able to stay in regular contact, including routine video chatting. My other children and grandchildren use social media either very little, or sometimes way too much. It helps to keep up with what everyone is doing, the joys and pains in their lives, but it also exacerbates things, especially for the younger ones. Every minor disagreement seems to be a major production, lived out on a stage. I am hopeful that as they learn, they will also learn moderation."

I love meeting many new people from across the world through digital mediums. But I have noticed culturally a decrease in actual face-to-face human interaction or even a voice phone call with emotion and true connection, accuracy and depth. John Senall

John Senall, founder of Mobile First Media Group, said, "Digital technology has offered additional career opportunities and advancement to me. However, the type of career opportunities for me and countless others usually involve sitting at a computer screen, working more hours and being stuck to a smartphone. All have made communication more seamless and constant, but have, in part, played a role in decreasing my health quality. I love meeting many new people from across the world through digital mediums. But I have noticed culturally a decrease in actual face-to-face human interaction or even a voice phone call with emotion and true connection, accuracy and depth. I ponder what it all may mean for my young children and their friends and classmates, down the road when there will be deeper technology and more communication changes. The benefits of a hyperconnected life are amazing and rewarding. Yet, I think many of us yearn, at least occasionally, for a simpler, less digital time."

William J. Ward, president of DR4WARD, said, "After spending a lot of time on digital I found my physical and mental health declining. I now spend much less time on digital and much greater time doing physical activity like yoga to counteract the damage to the body that spending too much screen time inevitably causes. I also invest more time in face-to-face and social activities and finding a balance where digital is helpful but does not distract from relationships."

Cliff Zukin, a professor and survey researcher at Rutgers University, commented, "The only way I can reach my children is by texting; this is disjointed asynchronous communication, not conversation. However, I can walk out of the house not knowing how to get where I'm going or needing a map, which I love."

Christopher Wilkinson, internet pioneer, wrote, "I do not agree with the epithet 'hyperconnected.' We are far from it. Life-changing events: 1) Word processor spell/grammar checkers in several languages. 2) Sending SMS by Skype (disgracefully discontinued by Microsoft). 3) Negative: Demise of the handwritten letter."

Llewellyn Kriel, CEO of TopEditor International, said, "Humans will grow into the future - a next step in evolution. It is inevitable and unavoidable. The process will be painful and discomgoogolation [sic] will be the ubiquitous bedfellow of digitality. I have experienced a multitude of changes personally, but the digital world has proven immensely less stressful than the personal one. As a long-time sufferer of major depressive disorder, I find the interactive world much more accessible and, indeed, easier to manage - even control - than the unpredictable, capricious, vindictive and volatile world of conventional human interactions. That is a world where personal control does not exist for people such as me; where direct bullying is far more harmful and traumatic than anything I've experienced on the internet. But I have had to learn to assert myself digitally. This is what people will have to learn. It dictates new power dynamics, new ways of sifting wheat from chaff, right from wrong, malicious from inconsequential. It is far easier in the digital world to identify that which matters from that which does not."

A selection of anonymous responses

An internet activist from Europe said, "Great for keeping in touch across oceans, but across the city people's tendencies to substitute text for voice is not always good. It is great to be able to look things up instantly, but this may lead to shallow understanding of answers."

An internet pioneer and social and digital marketing consultant commented, "On one hand, I can be in close communication with my 12-year-old daughter and not have to wonder where she is as she goes about her day, and can remind her to bring things home from school. I can also be in contact with friends through social media, which helps as I live in a city where I don't have many social outlets. On the other hand, I've found that too much time spent online, particularly on Facebook, can make me feel depressed. Either I catch myself comparing my life to the posts that others make, or I get overwhelmed by the toxic political atmosphere currently playing out."

A senior lecturer in media studies wrote, "There are both positive and negative consequences from being always-on. Being always-on means that I can be in constant contact with my family who live on the other side of the world, but it also means that I receive work emails all throughout the day."

A senior lecturer based in Southeast Asia said, "Time wasted on social media is negatively affecting well-being; positively, social media helps to bring people close, so that it helps to make a lively environment with intimate people. In education, it has been a good platform as well as a resource."

A chief of staff for a nonprofit organization wrote, "FOMO (fear of missing out) is a problem, but digital life is also useful for communicating with loved ones far away."

A retired professor and research scientist said, "Good impacts of digital life: Immediate and extensive answers and how-to advice; quick, easy access to books and movies. Bad impacts: Reduced conversations with wife, especially at mealtime - just Google it."

A vice president at a major entertainment company in the United States commented, "Clearly, collective action (good or bad) happens with much more ease and speed. I marvel at the ease of organizing things that result in greater connectivity with my family - from renting a house in a far-away place for vacation to helping my children."

A user-experience researcher commented, "It has both profound positive and negative affects [sic]. On the profound positive side, there was the time my son called me from an ambulance after taking a bad fall on a ski mountain. I was on a chairlift; he called me from his cellphone to mine. He was only 10 years old. I immediately skied down and met him at the hospital. It turns out he was fine, but as a parent, it was important to me to know about this right away. On the profoundly negative side, whenever I am with my teenage children they spend much more time texting and playing with their phones than they do talking to me. I feel it makes it easier for them to separate themselves from their parents."

A research scientist said, "On the one hand, I can communicate with friends who decades ago I would not be able to stay in touch with. On the other hand, we have a white supremacist in the White House."

A professor of English wrote, "What has been positive is the ability to follow along with positive facets of others' lives - birthdays, anniversaries, etc. This has been positive. Yet, again, a birthday card, a phone call, a conversation would be more meaningful."

A futurist based in North America wrote, "Generally, very positive is the access to information. It is easier to do research, find out about current events, etc. Among the negatives are kids immersed in digital devices; staring at a screen as an acceptable activity."

A professor from North America said, "I've cut off from lots of digital media. I realized it was consuming lots of my time. It didn't make me feel good - what I was seeing and reading made me mostly angry and depressed. It was feeding negativity. I am happier without it. However, a friend who has a child with a chronic medical condition has monitoring so that medical personnel are notified when parameters are exceeded so interventions can occur rapidly. The child gets fast feedback, too, so they can change behavior or take action in a way that would not have been possible five years ago."

An entrepreneur based in North America wrote, "I feel like technology has made our life better (instant access to information) and worse (instant access to entertainment)."

A professor based in Europe wrote, "When I replaced my mobile I gave the used, but still quite powerful one to my granddaughter aged 10. She made nice pictures with it, which I appreciated. But she also got obsessed with certain internet games, leading to conflicts."

An assistant professor of political science at an Ivy League university wrote, "As a parent this is easy. My kids (ages 4 and 7) are steeped in technology. They have iPads in their classrooms (which help with engaging them and I think are a net good), but they also want to be on iPads at home (which may not be as good). They think every screen is a touch screen. Even at 4 years old, my son's first instinct when he doesn't know something bit of information is to Google it or ask Siri. My kids love to read books on Kindle (and much prefer it to paper books) so even the educational activity of reading is now deeply intertwined with technology. In some ways that is good, on Kindle they can highlight the words they don't know as they read and - something that has proven very important for my 7-year-old - they cannot see how thick the book is, so they tend to read more without lamenting about length. At the same time, they have little interest in libraries and miss out on books that are not available via Kindle. They can FaceTime family who live far away, but sometimes they see that as a substitute for actual visits. In short, there is good and bad but there is little doubt that technology structures our daily life in profound ways."

An executive director of a tech innovation firm said, "Looking at my kids; they're connected and informed. And they spend too much time online."

A director of technology based in North America wrote, "In a positive way it has allowed me to keep in touch more easily with friends that live far away. In a negative sense it has provided a distraction to what is happening in the moment."

A professor based in Europe wrote, "My working days are longer! I wake up and check email and I am habituated like one of Pavlov's dogs to check my email regularly throughout the day and into the evening. Even though my boss has banned us from sending work emails after 6 p.m., I still check my email. As a result, I never truly feel disconnected from work - even during vacations."

A professor from North America said, "For me (in my 50s) digital life has been positive - a way to keep up with old friends. However, for my teens, it can create sadness and feelings of being/having less than peers."

An associate professor at a U.S. university said, "My ability to stay connected to family and friends brings me great joy. And I'm able to connect to other academics when I am not on campus, which is more often than not. However my husband feels that I am too connected! In this regard it may be hurting our relationship. At times using technology can border on addiction. For me that is."

A North American researcher wrote, "Technology has changed my life because I now work for a company in a different state. My contributions are made at my home, via telecommuting. This is both good and bad - on the good side, I'm able to help take care of my disabled son and to help my wife through a battle with cancer. But, on the down side - there's no opportunity for the water cooler discussions that can speed up development work. There's no opportunity for facetime with managers and VPs to get that all-important rapport with senior management. In other words, there are no opportunities to exercise and grow the 'soft skills' necessary to progress in the organization."

A college student based in North America wrote, "Technology is the biggest culprit in my life and my friends' and family's [lives] when it comes to interfering with normal sleep patterns. Our phones keep us up much later than we should be. Before I had my phone, I never had the distraction of apps, social media, and more to keep me from sleeping. The more we ignore that, the more we will lose our creativity. However, the connectivity has been wonderful for when I am at college to video chat with friends and family when I miss them, which is lovely. Also, social media has helped my family and I connect with friends that we lost touch with years ago, and I was able to make my own website to share my work with the world. It is also a way for me to get feedback on the book I am writing as I write it. Digital life increases our stress levels anytime we misread or read too much into a message. Sending a text is not the same as talking face-to-face or on a phone - you do not get to hear the sincere emotion from the voice behind the message. I have learned to never argue via text and to clarify in real life what someone meant to say to me before I blow it out of proportion."

An anonymous respondent wrote, "It has made work communication easier but often less thoughtful since constant connectivity fuels the expectation of an immediate response. It also has diminished the opportunities to disconnect from work for a proper break, but it does give me flexibility to not be tied to my office."

A college student said, "I am not too proud to admit that I also suffer from the FOMO (fear of missing out) that comes from living a hyperconnected lifestyle. I hold lengthy Snapchat streaks with friends to bond with them, I check my social media accounts for approximately three to four hours daily. Daily I catch myself peering at my phone the moment I awake to learn about the events I may have missed while I slept. While my Snap streaks do provide a satisfying, quick dopamine hit each time I respond, overall, I cannot say that living a hyperconnected lifestyle has enhanced my life in any way. But I would also argue that it has not hurt my mental well-being either. While I am willing to admit I struggle in certain areas to balance my digital distractions with the important things in life; overall, I don't think that it has had a negative effect on my life. I do think that some people are negatively impacted, but most will work to find a balance after some trial and error as new tools for digital life continue to appear and we adjust."

A clinical assistant professor at a major U.S. university wrote, "I am old enough to see the effects that cellphones have had on family dinners. In a positive light, some arguments are resolved more quickly - Wikipedia can often provide resolution to many debatable points and repair faulty recollection, leading to much more productive conversations. More negatively, the interruptions caused by text messaging and email often divide the attention of those dining together and can sometimes diminish the quality of time spent together."

In the negative, the 'always-on' capabilities are big triggers for my anxiety around perfectionism and performance. In the positive, when working with my therapist on ways to bring myself more forward in relationships, social media was a key tool. A teen library specialist

A teen library specialist wrote, "I have had both positive and negative impacts in my personal mental health courtesy of hyperconnection of digital connectivity. In the negative, the 'always-on' capabilities are big triggers for my anxiety around perfectionism and performance. In the positive, when working with my therapist on ways to bring myself more forward in relationships, social media was a key tool. She described Facebook (at the time that was the dominant tool) as disastrous for her work with narcissists but a dream for working with folks like me. I have grown more comfortable with expressing myself and I feel more visible in this format than in others within my communities. And I don't mean that I have more friends online than I have in the real world. I mean my 'real-world' relationships are richer because I share with the people in my workplace or family or church via social media in a way I never before did and still rarely do face to face."

An anonymous respondent commented, "We are able to keep in touch with family all around the globe. On the other hand, our family wouldn't have been so spread out in the first place without the internet."

An academic leader based in Australia wrote, "Digital technology has provided unthinkable access to information. Systems for doing business have enabled us to perform tasks and obtain and share information like never before. At the same time, digital transformation has meant each individual spends a lot more time navigating systems and doing work that previously would have been performed by other experts."

A North American social justice advocate commented, "Email emboldened me: to appreciate academic essays, to question journalists, to comment politically, and when those strangers wrote back I felt very good. Email has kept me in touch with close relatives in ways that would have otherwise seemed burdensome. My handwriting isn't pretty, and keeping up with a flow of ideas by hand wore out my muscles. Word processing was a tool to write letters to newspapers, [to] journal, [to] take reading notes. Websites now encapsulate news for me; search answers questions so easily that I can indulge my curiosity. Technology enables me to honor my introversion without becoming isolated. On the other hand, much of my email is spam and getting worse. At holiday times and election times the requests for support are so overwhelming that I ignore them all. Social networking seems inefficient and entrapping. I use the desktop and telephone tools to silence as much of it as I can. And I have turned off the sound on my landline and cellphone. However, home computers and then email reshaped my life by enabling more participation in ways that I found comfortable."

A principal research technologist who works for the U.S. government commented, "In general, I find that easy access to Facebook, podcasts, blogs and other endless content increases my stress level as I strive to take it all in and feel 'caught up.' I am never caught up. It is not possible to be caught up. I have started setting aside 'screen-free' days (or at least half-days) where I do not drink from that fire hose. I find that my mood improves, my stress declines, I notice the world around me and I am overall happier. I read more books, write letters and find other ways to entertain myself and connect with friends and loved ones. It's surprising how it takes a conscious effort to step away from the screen and rediscover these options. [The good:] I have more frequent (but more shallow) contact with distant friends than I could ever have imagined. I get to 'eavesdrop' on my friends' adventures through Facebook without having a conversation. In some ways this feels strange; I'm better informed but less connected."

There is so much pressure to publish research even when it's greatly flawed... Moreover, in many ways our techniques and standards of rigor have improved over time, so I don't want to sound completely hopeless about scientific progress in my field. A research scientist based in North America

A research scientist based in North America commented, "I'm 26, so the internet changed pretty much everything, right? It grew up with me, more or less. In fifth grade, I remember writing a research report about the gray whale. We had to go through all these crazy steps - finding books, writing down facts on notecards, putting them in those little clicky boxes that held notecards. Now, when was the last time you saw one of those? We were allowed to have internet sources, I think, but there were all these requirements about what constituted an appropriate source, as well as strict limits on how many internet sources could be used. The assumption was that somehow, finding information on the internet did not constitute real research, and this was our teacher's way of preparing us for the research we would be doing in the future. Fast forward to now, where I'm finishing up my Ph.D., and I do research practically every day. Do you know how often I have to seek out resources that I can't find online? It's never. Literally never. My dissertation uses about two, neither of which I sought out - just some books my advisor just unceremoniously handed me one day. Admittedly, my academic field is quite young comparatively, and there may be fields with more emphasis on works that cannot be found online, but still, this is mostly a good thing for my well-being, as well as for the productivity of my field. However, there are also more insidious consequences of the increased volume and availability of research. The most prominent consequence I observe is that there is simply more research than we as a field are able to deal with. There is so much research that is redundant or contradictory, and our field doesn't currently have the structure in place to reconcile it all. Hundreds of papers are published every day, and most of these will never be read, let alone cited (and that's assuming people are actually reading what they cite - ha!). There is so much pressure to publish research even when it's greatly flawed, as well as to frame every finding with a theoretical impact it cannot actually have. Instead of a gradual forward trajectory, we're sitting on an unmanageable mound of contradictions. This research machine I live in is so unimaginably wasteful, with such deeply entrenched and utterly misguided incentives that I do not know how we will ever overcome it. This is not to suggest that this is entirely the fault of digital technology, although it certainly has enabled this trend. Moreover, in many ways our techniques and standards of rigor have improved over time, so I don't want to sound completely hopeless about scientific progress in my field. I think to an outside observer my field is flourishing, and we have much to offer the world. However, if we do not find ways to restructure and rethink what progress looks like, we will be crushed by our own weight."

A solutions consultant based in North America wrote, "Hyperconnection via text messaging has helped in a world where physical proximity and time constraints make it more difficult to connect. For me, a quick text, letting my husband know that I'm thinking about him or giving him a heads-up on something important - is amazingly positive, and helpful. And it does so without detracting from my day. Same when I communicate with my son, who spends 50% of his time at his father's house, and 50% with me. It helps us stay in touch and positively connected. But we also do not overuse it - perhaps we are not as 'hyperconnected' as other users of technology, although, my mother, who is 80, says that the text messaging is 'just too much!' She believes that is hyperconnectivity."

A research engineer at one of the top universities in the U.S. commented, "Personally the internet has been my entire career (starting from ARPANET [Advanced Research Projects Agency Network] days), so this isn't really a fair question for me. I will say, though, that even I get nervous if I leave the house without my smartphone. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but I certainly never thought it would happen to me."

An anonymous respondent wrote, "Twitter is the greatest time-sink ever but a great source of interesting news and entertainment. However, I waste too much time on it when I could be reading the newspaper or a book."

A post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University commented, "My family and I use our smartphones to send photos, video chat and send text messages on a daily basis, allowing us to stay in contact more frequently we did back when letter writing and telephone calls were our ways to stay in touch. On the negative side, I look at headlines way too much as a form of stimulus any time I have a second to spare - even when I'm with my children. I'd say I'm less present, less able to focus on reading long form text, than I was before my smartphone came into my life."

A series of scenarios tied to potential future concerns of digital life

Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz, owner-operators of Pathfinding Smarter Futures and participants in this canvassing, submitted in response to the request for anecdotes the following series of scenarios they wrote in 2005 in order to spark discussions of potential issues.

Auto Angel I: Your commute co-pilot

You're yawning as you slowly merge into the through lane on the long ride home. Your comfy biofueled hybrid-electric car is programmed to keep you alert and relaxed. The new ATM (autonomous traffic management system) keeps everything flowing smoothly without slow-downs or jam-ups, but you still have miles to go before you sleep. The music seems to keep pace with the flow of traffic, and you slip into a kind of driving flow state. The ATM is intelligent, but not smart enough to have autonomous lanes to do the driving for humans, nor do most people want that. Crack! The burst of sound and light, and the gentle spray on your face, with the aroma of peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary, brings you back to full alertness. Damn! You'd nodded off again. Fortunately, it was only a second, thanks to Auto Angel, your co-pilot on the two-hour commute from the agile economy enterprise zone to the only affordable housing in the tri-county area. Too bad your insurance doesn't cover that latest wakefulness drug that's all the rage.Auto Angel advises you to pull over as soon as possible and take a short power nap. You can set Angel's alarm so you won't sleep longer than 20 minutes and get groggy. You start looking for a safe place to stop and rest.

Auto Angel II: The high price of Drowsiness

The e-alert from your doctor's office is surprising."We're concerned. Please come in at your earliest convenience. Press star for an immediate appointment." What could possibly be the matter? What do they know that you don't?At the clinic, you're confronted with a stark, unforgiving choice. Auto Angel has reported one too many instances of drowsiness for your automobile insurance company to allow you to continue to drive under your existing policy. Either you must get the much more expensive hazardous driver rider or be treated immediately for "driving drowsiness" (suspected narcolepsy or sleep apnea, now on your medical and insurance e-records).If you're actually diagnosed with narcolepsy, your doctor must report it to the department of motor vehicles. You'll be subject to random monitoring for treatment compliance.Your health insurance doesn't fully cover this treatment because driving is now considered an elective activity. There are drugs available, but they're not on your formulary list. You're advised to take public transportation.Of course, some can still afford fully private transportation, just they can afford health care and higher insurance premiums. You're not one of them. And the public transit system doesn't extend all the way out to your community yet.

HealthGuardian

You're in Mexico City on your way to your next business appointment. "Señor, amigo, come with us - NOW! You're at risk for a heart attack. We're from HealthGuardian. We'll get you to the hospital pronto." Your HealthGuardian biosensors are supposed to provide alerts of impending medical emergencies.Uniformed men with insistent voices grab you by both arms and hustle you toward an official-looking van. Are they really from your HealthGuardian monitoring service, or are they kidnappers? How can you verify their identity? Are you really in danger?!?Your heart races and your head spins. You feel pressure in your chest, and it's hard to breathe. What's going on?!?

Alexi, ever-faithful e-valet

Soft chimes announce his voice. "Sir?" Alexi, your e-valet, continues close to your ear. "May I suggest that you eat something soon? You're moving into your danger zone." His interruption irritates you as you walk briskly along the crowded sidewalk. "Sir, the bistro four doors up on the right fits your dining profile and has two very nice specials today. Or I can recommend the Thai restaurant around the next corner." Your blood sugar level is dropping precipitously close to where even deciding to eat, let alone where, is becoming a chore. "Sir?" "OK, OK, Alexi," you say to yourself. Your gait slows, you check the bistro menu in the window, and go inside. What ever would you do without Alexi's constant and respectful attentiveness?

Your privacy - priceless!

Your doctor half-jokingly calls your new medication an "executive enhancer."It helps you think fast and clearly, keeping you alert, mentally flexible, relaxed, and emotionally unflappable. You always feel refreshed and ready for anything.Just the edge you need in your highly competitive business - better living, decision-making, and higher profits through chemistry. And who knows how it will enhance your performance in other ways?At the pharmacy, you pay cash to keep the transaction anonymous. The pharmacist assures you at check-out that the routine RFID [radio-frequency identification] tag deactivator and the special privacy bag he sells you give you dual layers of privacy and protection. You're confident and satisfied.Ten days later the first whispers appear online, speculating that your company may be in trouble. Nothing too specific. Rumors, innuendo. Your communications people are monitoring the situation and say there's nothing to worry about.Unattributed stories about your impaired capacity are next, suggesting that you may be unreliable or even unstable, and within 24 hours, you're smeared with the charge that you're taking a powerful psychiatric drug for an undisclosed but probably serious condition.Your company's stock price drops 60%.

Scrambling your identity

At WuMart's self-service checkout, you're fuming. You've ducked into the store on your lunch hour to pick up a few essentials for this afternoon's flight, and you're in a real hurry. Nothing is scanning right. The dental care travel kit scans as reading glasses, vitamin C as laxatives, and deodorant as antacid. You call loudly for a supervisor. The young man sighs. "Yeah, it looks like somebody in the store hacked our RFID tags again and scrambled the data. It'll get straightened out when the machines go through their data consistency and reliability power cycle in about 10 minutes. Sorry about that." He puts an obviously used, dog-eared "Out of order - please try again later" sign on the scanner. "If you'll just step through the electronic gate over there, we'll have you on your way in no time." You stride through the metal archway with your goods, and the human checker enters the products numbers to ring up your purchases. The finger touch system debits your account. Finally! You have just enough time to get back to the office. Later, when you try to enter the restricted area to get the data reports you need for your trip, you're stopped cold. Your implanted VeriChip doesn't properly authenticate your identify, and security forces are there in moments. Missing your flight will be the least of your problems.

The mall knows you better than you do

As you stroll through the environmentally controlled mall, your mobile flashes a steady stream of personalized messages from nearby merchants. "Jeans tops - 30% instant discount!" "Free skin-care consultation!" "Shakira CDs all on sale!"The automated ads have no way of knowing that the RFID-tagged jeans, derma-repair cream, and pop diva CD in your shopping bag are purchases for other members of your extended family. You're not interested in more purchases like them or to go with them. You're done.Nearby, the animated window display of dancing cookware catches your eye, and you linger a few moments, watching with great amusement. Flying frying pans? Flipping spatulas? Spinning plates? What were they thinking?!? The mall looks more like an amusement park every time you come here.But now the stream of messages is all for cookware, tableware, stemware, cooking schools, and related products and services. You're beginning to feel you're being stalked instead of enticed with great offers. How did they know what you were looking at? What else do they know about you? And how do they know it?!?This is creepy.

Who is responsible?

The distinctive ring on your mobile is your daughter's. "Waaah! The bus didn't come, and it's our last practice before Saturday's big match! You've gotta drive me NOW. Plueeease???" Just then the mobile beeps twice. "Just a sec, sweetie." It's an automated request for you to approve entry of your new drug prescription into the GVS Registry database. You'll deal with that later. "OK, I'm back. I'll try to get someone to cover for me. Pick you up in 15 minutes, OK?"The next evening in a heavy rainstorm, a drunk driver ploughs into your Viridian hybrid. As they stabilize you on the way to the Trauma Center, the EMTs read your implanted VeriChip to get your updated medical information.In the ER, your condition suddenly worsens in a most peculiar way, and the doctors suspect a bad drug interaction. But how could that have happened? Did the EMTs make a mistake? Were you taking something they didn't know about?Right now they'll save your life. What happened and who's responsible will come later.

Shopper's Revenge

"Undecided shopper's discount! Pick up prod, put back 2x, RFID shelf reader -> instant 25% off coupon." Intrigued by this alert from Shopper's Revenge ("Don't get mad - get bargains!") on your mobile screen, you check for something you actually want, walk over to the right shelf, pick it up, and put it back. Rinse, repeat. Voila! This is too easy. ... A month later, the store catches on and raises the bar. You still get the coupon if you pick up the product, wait for over a minute, and put it back three times. A little tedious, but worth it for some pricier items. That works for three more weeks. A few days later, your Shopper's Revenge e-coach tells you to vary the pattern so you'll look more "natural" - to fit the store's learning agent's evolving model of an undecided shopper. Thanks to Shopper's Revenge, you're saving money, outwitting the technology, and looking more and more like a very hesitant shopper every day.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Stories From Experts About the Impact of Digital Life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A number of these experts wrote about both sides of the story, taking the time to point out some of the ways in which digital life is a blessing and a curse. A selection of these mixed-response anecdotes follows. James M.

# data[].attributes.headline
Adidas insensitive comment about the Boston Marathon.  - Lillian 

# data[].attributes.subject
Adidas insensitive comment about the Boston Marathon.  - Lillian 

# data[].attributes.body
After people finished the Boston Marathon in 2017, Adidas emailed people by saying congrats you survived the Boston Marathon. This insensitive comment caused the company to have lots of backlash.

# data[].attributes.headline
Apple employee fired after posting a rant about apple products. Farris Grau

# data[].attributes.subject
Apple employee fired after posting a rant about apple products. Farris Grau

# data[].attributes.body
In 2011a apple employee was fired because he posted all of the issues that apple had on his Facebook. Samual Crisp did not like this and decided to take this to an employment tribunal. He lost and Samual was fired.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Our time is the time of social media. So many of us can't imagine our day without at least glimpsing at the likes of Twitter or Facebook feeds, scrolling through Tumblr dashboards or staring at the colorful photos on Instagram. And while for the most part posts on social media just seem like a minuscule part of our lives, sometimes a single message at the wrong place and wrong time can start a horrible domino effect that can topple entire lives.

Unfortunately for the people on this list, all it took for their lives to be turned upside was a single (or more) post on social media. Either a rant about their job, a misplaced joke or a distasteful photo, was all that was needed for things to go south really quickly. Be it your boss or an angry mob online, if your posts get seen by the wrong people, there's no turning back from the consequences. So learn from these examples and pay better attention to what you post online, as one can never know who might see it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
23 People Who Didn't Think Before Posting On Social Media And Ended Up Losing Their Jobs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our time is the time of social media. So many of us can't imagine our day without at least glimpsing at the likes of Twitter or Facebook feeds, scrolling through Tumblr dashboards or staring at the colorful photos on Instagram.

# data[].attributes.headline
Claire Newman- Social media cost a star athlete his division I scholarship

# data[].attributes.subject
Claire Newman- Social media cost a star athlete his division I scholarship

# data[].attributes.body
A high school football player was offered a division I scholarship to a college. This player started a YouTube channel wnating to talk about funny life experiences. His use of foul language and speaking about a time he tresspassed caused him to lose his scholarship.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An athlete's athleticism on the field will get them recognized and perhaps earn a college offer. However, an athlete's character and actions off the field-and on social media-also can get them recognized, but for the wrong reasons.

One high school football player learned this the hard way and is looking to use his experience to help educate others.

Shedrick "Shed" McCall III, a star running back at L.C. Byrd (Chesterfield, Va.) started a YouTube channel in hopes of beginning a YouTube career. He wanted to talk about funny experiences and things he has been through in life.

Unfortunately, McCall was unaware that his use of foul language and actions in these videos would have huge ramifications for him.

College scouts don't just look at the player and their abilities on the field, but also how the player, the person, acts off the field; even what they post on social media.

For McCall, it was one YouTube video in particular. He talked about an incident in which he was trespassing. That video went viral.

Soon after the video was posted, McCall received a phone call that his offer to play Division I football at Old Dominion-to school he had been committed to for six months-was revoked.

All of his hard work to receive a Divison I offer was gone, because of a video he posted to YouTube.

For many, social media is part of our daily routine: checking Twitter, posting to Facebook, liking photos on Instagram and even uploading videos to YouTube.

Social media platforms have given people the opportunity to post their thoughts and express their opinions to a large audience.

McCall's latest YouTube video has a different, positive message, and one for athletes of all ages. He wants to share his experience to prevent other athletes from harming their futures because of social media.

"Another kid is going to walk the same path I walked, I don't want to see that happen," he said in a new video posted to his YouTube channel.

McCall wants to educate young athletes about the powerful effect of social media.

"For my young kids out there just please... just please understand, just watch what you put on social media, just watch what you post," he said.

McCall won't be defined by this mistake. After losing his scholarship to Old Dominion, he received an opportunity to play for Norfolk State, where he represents one of the most talented recruits the school has had in recent years.

One post, one tweet, one video is all it takes to ruin the future you have worked so hard to build. McCall's story is a powerful reminder that every accomplishment can be overshadowed by one bad decision, and that athletes need to think carefully about what they share on social media.

PARENTS: NEED MORE RESOURCES?

Get USA Football's FREE parent guide with practical tips on how to prepare your player for the gridiron.
GET THE GUIDE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
he's trying to use his own mistakes to help others.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Social media cost this star athlete his Division I scholarship-now he's trying to educate others

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An athlete's athleticism on the field will get them recognized and perhaps earn a college offer. However, an athlete's character and actions off the field-and on social media-also can get them recognized, but for the wrong reasons. One high school football player learned this the hard way and is looking to use his experience to help educate others.

# data[].attributes.body
Lucie was in 10th grade and couldn't go to a party. She was upset and posted something immature on her spam account. Later many of the people that went to the party started talking about her and posting rude things about Lucie. She told her mom what was going on and they notified the school about what was going on. The school had a talk about cyberbullying and she went to a summer camp to get a way from it all. When she came back the people apologized and both sides are now learning from this.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
My Name is Lucie, I am in 10th grade and I am writing this to share a story about my cyberbullying experience so that other people can see that they are not alone and hopefully learn from my experience.

In January, there was a big party at a place called LIFE that a lot of the girls and boys in my grade were going to. I really wanted to go but had other plans made for that night. I was so upset that I couldn't go, I wrote a mean post on my spam account on Instagram that was immature, angry and rude directed to some of the people going to this party. Rather than accepting that I couldn't go, I made it seem like I didn't want to go in the first place. About a month later, a girl in my grade somehow came upon this post and shared it with other kids in our grade. People started to say terrible things about me while I was within earshot. Hearing this, I decided to go up to 4 or 5 of the girls and apologized immediately for the post and tried my best to make things right. They all said that they understood and that was the last I heard of it for the time being.

Fast forward 6 months later and I posted a photo of myself on Instagram with the caption "Life is good". A bunch of people including a boy I previously was hanging out with attacked this post with really mean and rude comments about me. I was so upset that I privately texted the girl who seemed to be leading these comments asking her why she was writing these hurtful things and she replied by saying "it's a joke and we are just having fun." She then continued to write more mean things about me and even made a post about me on her spam account, purposefully so I could see it. She threatened me saying "I deserved this" and that she would hurt me and live stream it for other people to watch. I was scared and devastated when students from my grade who I thought were my friends commented about how funny she was and how annoying I was. People from other schools that I didn't know even chimed in! I felt attacked and all alone. My close friends tried to comfort me privately, but no one had the courage to actually defend me on social media. I had this horrible sinking feeling of everyone hating me and talking about me behind my back. Some of my sympathetic friends even wrote to me that they would "hang themselves" if people were writing these kinds of things about them. I was so confused and sad that I decided the right thing to do was tell my mom and my family. My mom reached out to my school advisor who reminded us that my school has a code of conduct policy that includes a cyberbullying section that all student sign.

It states - "Definition - Bullying is the creation of a hostile environment by conduct or verbal threats, intimidation or abuse that has or would have the effect of unreasonably and substantially interfering with a student's educational performance, opportunities or benefits, or mental, or emotional, or physical well-being; or conduct, verbal threats, intimidation, or abuse that reasonably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause a student to fear for his or her physical safety. Cyberbullying, including electronic comments posted in e-mails or instant messages, or on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter, or in blogs, etc. The School encourages all members of the school community to report all incidents of bullying, regardless of who the offender may be. The School will take prompt, reasonable action to prevent, investigate, and remedy bullying. Any student who believes that he or she has been the victim of bullying shall report the incident(s) to the Principal, Grade-Level Dean, Advisor, Counselor, School Nurse, or School Psychologist."

We all came to the decision that this was actual cyberbullying and decided to report this incident to ensure my safety and to try and better our school community and educate others about cyberbullying.

I then left for summer camp for 3 weeks without my phone and got to escape the toxic social media world. When I returned, I learned that the school had contacted the mother of this girl. She defended her actions by sharing with them a screenshot of the mean post that I had written way back in January. Although I didn't know it, what I had written came back to haunt me and she said it is the reason she decided to write those terrible thing about me on social media.

I have thought about this a lot and realize now how important it is to be careful about what you put online. I have learned that even though people forgive and forget, things stay on the internet forever and can come back to haunt you later in life. It is my hope that my story will help other people to understand that even if you feel like an innocent victim, there are always two sides to every story. The internet is definitely not the right place to let your emotions and angry feelings towards a person or situation out. I was very hurt by this experience and I know many of the other people involved have also been hurt and upset. Recently, the girl who wrote all those things about me and I got together. She apologized to me for the things she had posted and we decided that moving forward we would both do our best to look out for each other and only spread kindness out on social media. To anyone going through this, remember you are not alone. Don't be afraid to ask for help and to share your story, look at your own actions and do not say negative things on the internet and get caught in the moment. It can and will get better I promise.

If you are affected by bullying online we can help! Visit our Cyberbullying and Online Abuse Help Center or you can use our Total Access Support section to find the best way for us to help you for your particular problem. For further information about Cybersmile and the work we do, please explore the following recommendations.

Have you been involved in a cyberbullying situation similar to Lucie? Tweet us @CybersmileHQ or email your story to [email protected].

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Lucie shares her own cyberbullying story which highlights the importance of thinking carefully about what you post because, once it's out there - you can never take it back.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social media post that ruined cuteeeee and reputations- Lily Eugenio

# data[].attributes.subject
Social media post that ruined cuteeeee and reputations- Lily Eugenio

# data[].attributes.body
In this article it gives many examples on why you should be careful what you do and especially what you post. It shows 23 posts that ended people’s jobs and careers. One example is when an Apple employee was fired after posting numerous rants about their own Apple products on his Facebook page.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Our time is the time of social media. So many of us can't imagine our day without at least glimpsing at the likes of Twitter or Facebook feeds, scrolling through Tumblr dashboards or staring at the colorful photos on Instagram. And while for the most part posts on social media just seem like a minuscule part of our lives, sometimes a single message at the wrong place and wrong time can start a horrible domino effect that can topple entire lives.

Unfortunately for the people on this list, all it took for their lives to be turned upside was a single (or more) post on social media. Either a rant about their job, a misplaced joke or a distasteful photo, was all that was needed for things to go south really quickly. Be it your boss or an angry mob online, if your posts get seen by the wrong people, there's no turning back from the consequences. So learn from these examples and pay better attention to what you post online, as one can never know who might see it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
23 People Who Didn't Think Before Posting On Social Media And Ended Up Losing Their Jobs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our time is the time of social media. So many of us can't imagine our day without at least glimpsing at the likes of Twitter or Facebook feeds, scrolling through Tumblr dashboards or staring at the colorful photos on Instagram.

# data[].attributes.headline
7 Real Life Cyberbullying Horror Stories-Michael Barnett

# data[].attributes.subject
7 Real Life Cyberbullying Horror Stories-Michael Barnett

# data[].attributes.body
Megan Meier is a young girl who had suffered from depression from the age of 8.  A female neighbor of hers wanted to mess with her by creating a MySpace account and pretending to be a boy.  At first, the messages between the two and them were private,  but then her neighbor started sharing the messages making them public and saying that the world would be better without Megan.  She started believing that that world would be better without her, and at the age of 13, she took her own life right in her bedroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 Real Life Cyberbullying Horror Stories - Family Orbit Blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cyberbullying might be your teenagers worst nightmare. Learn how this can happen through 7 real-life horror stories and protect your children in due time.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Charities Are Using TikTok to Raise Funds

# data[].attributes.subject
How Charities Are Using TikTok to Raise Funds

# data[].attributes.body
A man named Chris Franklin, post content showing his many farm animals including Chris the Billygoat and Coco and Eli, the donkeys. He does this not only for entertainment, but to raise awareness about the farms activities. The farm on with these animals are raised in a normal farm, it is Caenhill Countryside Center that is a charity that teaches children about farming, animals, and the countryside. He uses social media, such as TickTok, to publicize this charity that it's done so much good for this community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Every day, in the wee hours of the morning, Chris Franklin, a 61-year-old farmer living in Wiltshire, England, opens the doors to his barn and let a parade of squawking ducks, geese and roosters enter the yard. He films the scene and uploads it on TikTok, where it's regularly met with thousands of views and likes.

This series of "rush hour" videos is just a small part of the content Franklin publishes daily on the Chinese social media platform. From Chris the billy goat to the donkeys Coco and Eli, there's always a bounty of endearing animal-themed clips on the TikTok account of Franklin's farm.

He doesn't make and upload the videos just because they're objectively irresistible but also to raise awareness about the farm's activities. The thing is, this isn't a regular farm: it's the Caenhill Countryside Centre, a charity that teaches children about farming, animals and the countryside.

Obviously, not all charities can mobilize testimonials as heartwarming as Cuthbert the Goose for their engagement efforts on TikTok. Nevertheless, the Chinese social media is being looked at with interest by an increasing number of communications professionals working in the nonprofit sector. Will it become the next go-to platform for organizations that want to boost online donations and engagement rates? ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, certainly hopes so.

In November, they organized an event for the charitable sector, with the aim of informing British charities about the potential of the social media for their work. As reported by Charity Digital News, Matt Griffiths, the CEO of Youth Music, a charity supporting music-making projects for young people, explained to the 100+ attendees how his organization partnered with the app for their "mind-blowing" campaign #MusicShapedMe that saw 15 million engagements over just three weeks. The campaign asked users to share videos on how music changed their lives, helping them power through challenging circumstances.

Along the same lines, Elizabeth Kanter, TikTok's Public Policy Director, discussed how, in November, the social media supported #Movember, a yearly initiative to raise awareness on men's health issues, by donating a total of £10k for clips created as part of the hashtag challenge.

All in all, what emerged from the event is that ByteDance's household name, with its billion of active users spread across 150 markets, can potentially be a great venue for organizations that want to engage with their younger supporters (around 41% of TikTok users are aged between 16 and 24), especially if they want to create awareness around specific causes.

Given the young age of most users, what is yet to be understood is whether the platform will work mainly as a social amplifier or it will actually drive digital donations (research indicates that around 60% of GenZs are inspired to donate to charity by social media).

More in general, TikTok itself is so "young" (the app was launched in the international market in September 2017) that is still largely terra incognita with a series of problems (from privacy issues to its potential role in the U.S.-China trade war) that still needs to be fully addressed. It may then not (yet) be the ideal ground for charities that want to avoid reputational hazards at all costs.

What is certain is that many big tech companies, from the Facebook conglomerate to Amazon and Youtube, are developing and constantly fine-tuning fundraising tools to make charitable giving as easy as online shopping (in 2018 alone, over $1 billion in donations was raised through Facebook Fundraisers). TikTok or not, digital donations and online fundraising seem the way to go.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Charities Are Using TikTok To Raise Funds

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Every day, in the wee hours of the morning, Chris Franklin, a 61-year-old farmer living in Wiltshire, England, opens the doors to his barn and let a parade of squawking ducks, geese and roosters enter the yard. He films the scene and uploads it on TikTok, where it's regularly met with thousands of views and likes.

# data[].attributes.headline
There are plenty of downsides to social media, and a big one is teenage mental health. -Caroline 

# data[].attributes.subject
There are plenty of downsides to social media, and a big one is teenage mental health. -Caroline 

# data[].attributes.body
Teenagers all over the world are connected through social media. But that isn't always a good thing. Recent studies have concluded that social media does more harm to the adolescent brain than it does good. social media is full of toxic expectations, hate, negative comments, bullying, racism, etc. When teens are consuming themselves with this 8 or so hours a day, it can start to take a toll on that teens mental health. Now, 1 IN 5 adults suffer from mental health issues and also 1 in 5 teenagers suffer from mental health issues! That number is a lot higher than it was 10 or so years ago.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
People should be aware of the ways social media can harm their mental health , especially as the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns have further increased social media usage .

Mental health issues have risen significantly over the last decade, and nearly one in five adults in the United States have a mental illness. That finding parallels exponential growth in social media use , and recent studies suggest that the rise of social media might be increased mental health issues.

That's not to say social media is inherently bad. The ability for people to share media of police violence against Black Americans has sparked important debates and protests. Social media can be useful, but it can also negatively affect users' mental health.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, 72% of U.S. adults used at least one social media site, the Pew Research Center found. Whether people are actively using social media, the apps are there from the moment someone wakes up to the moment they fall asleep, said Ashley McGirt, a licensed mental health .

Comparison is the thief of all joy. When you don't know the full story behind something, your mind makes up those stories.

The problems with social media use are varied, according to experts. Users may struggle to present an idealized view of themselves, become addicted to the instantaneous feedback and develop a tendency to compare themselves to others.

This altered perception of reality magnifies s ocial media's negative impact, since users compare themselves to carefully-curated images of their peers and of celebrities, McGirt said.

"Comparison is the thief of all joy," she said. "When you don't know the full story behind something, your mind makes up those stories."

The more time people spend on social media, the greater their mental distress, said Roger McIntyre, a professor of psychiatry at University of Toronto and CEO of AltMed Capital who recently completed a of social media use and mental health in China . The effects that excessive social media use has on mental health and wellbeing can partially be blamed on the many anonymous, unsafe and negative interactions on the platforms, he said.

Humans have evolved to spend time with people who share similar beliefs and desires, McIntyre said.

"Social media doesn't do that," he said. "Social media brings together different groups and tribes of people."

Spending so much time living in a fantasy world may also make people feel anxious when faced with reality because they're not accustomed to confronting adversity, said Hans Watson, a psychiatrist at University Elite PLLC .

Social media also caters to different human needs , said Gerald Nissley Jr., a licensed clinical psychologist .

"With social media, we can consistently find any purpose out there that we are looking for," he said. "Many things we may not be looking for."

When people's primary motivation for using social media is for something other than social connection - such as branding and voicing dissent - social media use is more likely to lead to negative emotions, Nissley said. In those cases, other users are more likely to react negatively to their posts, further alienating and polarizing the poster, he said.

Social media can also cause people to present themselves in an idealized way, which creates two problems. Users who go to great lengths to present themselves in the best possible light may feel anxiety as the gap between their real selves and their social media personas grows, Nissley said. They may also feel insecure about their self-image after seeing others' glossy posts.

Moods and emotions expressed on social media may also be contagious. A negative post on Facebook triggers more negative posts from that user's friends, said Nissley, referencing a from the University of California at San Diego.

People forget that social media is a highlight reel, and people depict an extremely exaggerated version of their lives, said Dmitry Ostrovsky, staff psychiatrist at Brooklyn Minds . Users fe el that their own accomplishments aren't enough, which leads to the development of increased anxiety, particularly during social interactions, Nissley said.

"When we view ourselves and our relationships negatively, that's a recipe for mental health concerns," he said.

Users can get addicted to social media, Ostrovsky said. Psychiatrists have yet to develop specific diagnostic criteria for identifying social media addiction, but research shows that of online users in the U.S. ages 18 to 22 years reported feeling addicted to social media.

Scrolling through social media and refreshing the feed can be very similar to pulling on a slot machine, Ostrovsky said. The uncontrollable urges to compulsively check and use social media can cause people to devote so much time and effort to the activity that it interferes with their daily lives, he said.

"You never know what you're going to get, and it kind of exploits the intermittent reinforcement system to get people addicted to social media," he said.

The rise of social media has made everyone little fishes in a big pond, Ostrovsky said. As a result, people are realizing much earlier in life that they're mediocre, making them more susceptible to low self-esteem and low self-worth if they're not mature enough to handle that realization.

This effect has also caused people to think of social media as a ne cessity. T hree people complimenting a person's outfit in person is incomparable to 2000 likes on Instagram, he said.

The venting, the feeling of perceived anonymity and the freedom that comes with that by most people is misjudged.

Unfortunately, trivial matters such as how many likes, comments or followers people have are also becoming more important because of the social validation it provides, he said.

"It diminishes the relative importance of real and meaningful relationships," he said. "You get more reach but much less depth of connection."

Digital relationships on social media can also harm a person's mental health because self-disclosure potentially occurs much faster, Ostrovsky said. People are more likely to share intimate details about their lives on social media with people they've never met.

"The venting, the feeling of perceived anonymity and the freedom that comes with that by most people is misjudged," Ostrovsky said. " You don't understand how much everything that you say is actually recorded a nd can and one day may be used against you when you're an adult."

Social media is not inherently good or bad, but people should be aware of its negative effects on their everyday mental health, McIntyre said .

"It's about moderation and portion control," he said. " Many people who would have a glass of wine would say, 'Hey, I like it. It enhances my quality of life. I see friends. I have a drink. It's lovely.' Others drink alcohol to excess or operate a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, which I don't think is healthy."
Jenna Wirth is a junior studying magazine journalism. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at jwirth@syr.edu . She can be followed on Twitter at @jenna__wirth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Opinion | Social media harms students' mental health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
People should be aware of the ways social media can harm their mental health , especially as the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns have further increased social media usage . Mental health issues have risen significantly over the last decade, and nearly one in five adults in the United States have a mental illness.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social media use can be positive for mental health and well-being

# data[].attributes.subject
Social media use can be positive for mental health and well-being

# data[].attributes.body
In this article he talks about there  being some positives of social media. The article mentions says "Social media may provide individuals with a platform that overcomes barriers of distance and time, allowing them to connect and reconnect with others and thereby expand and strengthen their in-person networks.'' As the article goes on the list goes on for the positives over social media.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
January 6, 2020- Mesfin Awoke Bekalu, research scientist in the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discusses a new study he co-authored on associations between social media use and mental health and well-being.
What is healthy vs. potentially problematic social media use?
Our study has brought preliminary evidence to answer this question. Using a nationally representative sample, we assessed the association of two dimensions of social media use-how much it's routinely used and how emotionally connected users are to the platforms-with three health-related outcomes: social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health.

We found that routine social media use-for example, using social media as part of everyday routine and responding to content that others share-is positively associated with all three health outcomes. Emotional connection to social media-for example, checking apps excessively out of fear of missing out, being disappointed about or feeling disconnected from friends when not logged into social media-is negatively associated with all three outcomes.

In more general terms, these findings suggest that as long as we are mindful users, routine use may not in itself be a problem. Indeed, it could be beneficial.

For those with unhealthy social media use, behavioral interventions may help. For example, programs that develop "effortful control" skills-the ability to self-regulate behavior-have been widely shown to be useful in dealing with problematic Internet and social media use.
We're used to hearing that social media use is harmful to mental health and well-being, particularly for young people. Did it surprise you to find that it can have positive effects?
The findings go against what some might expect, which is intriguing. We know that having a strong social network is associated with positive mental health and well-being. Routine social media use may compensate for diminishing face-to-face social interactions in people's busy lives. Social media may provide individuals with a platform that overcomes barriers of distance and time, allowing them to connect and reconnect with others and thereby expand and strengthen their in-person networks and interactions. Indeed, there is some empirical evidence supporting this.

On the other hand, a growing body of research has demonstrated that social media use is negatively associated with mental health and well-being, particularly among young people-for example, it may contribute to increased risk of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Our findings suggest that the ways that people are using social media may have more of an impact on their mental health and well-being than just the frequency and duration of their use.
What disparities did you find in the ways that social media use benefits and harms certain populations? What concerns does this raise?
My co-authors Rachel McCloud, Vish Viswanath, and I found that the benefits and harms associated with social media use varied across demographic, socioeconomic, and racial population sub-groups. Specifically, while the benefits were generally associated with younger age, better education, and being white, the harms were associated with older age, less education, and being a racial minority. Indeed, these findings are consistent with the body of work on communication inequalities and health disparities that our lab, the Viswanath lab, has documented over the past 15 or so years. We know that education, income, race, and ethnicity influence people's access to, and ability to act on, health information from media, including the Internet. The concern is that social media may perpetuate those differences.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Social media use can be positive for mental health and well-being

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A new study assessed the association of two dimensions of social media use-how much it's routinely used and how emotionally connected users are to the platforms-with three health-related outcomes: ...

# data[].attributes.headline
Snapchat helped a kid save a life- Zach Grigalis

# data[].attributes.subject
Snapchat helped a kid save a life- Zach Grigalis

# data[].attributes.body
In this article a little boy saves a girl who is about to commit suicide on Snapchat. The little boy texted his mom saying that he was worried about this girl and his mom told him to call the authorities. When he does this they reach out to the girl and he saved her life. The girls parents were so happy that he saved her life.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Social media led an 11-year-old to take action to save the girl's life.

A young boy is being credited with saving his friend's life from across the country with the help of social media.

Soon to be 12-year-old Gabe Rongier from Pennsylvania befriended a young girl living in Texas via Snapchat. The girl had become part of a Snapchat group with Gabe and his friends from school.

Lori Rongier, Gabe's mother, was out running errands when she received a panicked text from her son explaining that a friend of his had sent him distressing messages on Snapchat that made him scared and he was worried for her, she told ABC News.

Lori was leery, wondering if this person and messages from across the country were real. She and her husband Fred thought someone may be playing a joke. Both parents advised their son not to call authorities.

However, Gabe truly felt that he needed to take action, and not knowing exactly who to contact, he called a suicide hotline number.

The hotline then connected Gabe with local authorities, and by the time Lori got home, Gabe was already on the phone with the Grand Saline Police Department.

Officers were then able to take action. With a little investigation, police were able to track down the girl and get her the help she needed.

Lori said she and her husband are so thankful Gabe followed his intuition and heart. "Most parents want their kids to listen to them, we're grateful he didn't listen and trusted his instincts," she told ABC.

The Grand Saline Police Department sent Gabe a letter thanking him for what he did for his friend, saying they could not have done their job without his help.

"It takes a big man to do what you did," Grand Saline K9 Officer Chandler wrote to Gabe. The police department included a police patch and 'challenge coin' in their appreciation package to Gabe.

"It's reassuring to know there are kids out there like Gabe, that go out of their way to help someone else, and through his actions showed bravery and heroism, and we are all very proud of him at the Grand Police Department," Jeremy Barker, the department's public safety director said in an interview with ABC News.

Grand Saline police officers said from their understanding, the young girl is doing well.

For anyone who may find themselves in a similar situation as Gabe, Barker encouraged people to "do something," even if you are not sure exactly who to contact.

He said there are resources available and authorities that know how to get in touch with the appropriate people.

Gabe's parents are happy and proud of his courageous actions.

"Gabe is showing his character, he is very soft spoken, he has shown everyone he can have a big impact, he has a big heart," Lori said.

To other parents with children on social media, Lori said, "Don't necessarily jump to conclusions, especially if your child feels strongly that it is not a hoax."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
11-year-old Pennsylvania boy saves life of suicidal girl in Texas using Snapchat

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Social media led an 11-year-old to take action to save the girl's life. A young boy is being credited with saving his friend's life from across the country with the help of social media. Soon to be 12-year-old Gabe Rongier from Pennsylvania befriended a young girl living in Texas via Snapchat.