New survey says Gen Z prefer Instagram and TikTok for shopping
Research by influencer marketing company GRIN indicates that Gen Z prefer to shop on social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok rather than Google. A new study by influencer marketing firm GRIN has found that Gen Z shoppers tend to prefer TikTok and Instagram over more traditional online...
Current in Social
Why did South Sudan ban social media recently?
Last week, the South Sudanese government imposed a social media ban in an effort to curb the circulation of violent content related to the ongoing violence against its nationals living in Sudan. South Sudanese authorities gave a 30-day ban on social media to control ongoing tensions between South Sudan and...
Facebook hoping to bring back Gen Zers with ‘OG’ callback
In an investor call this week, Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook was looking to return to its roots in order to reconnect with Gen Z. The platform has steadily lost favour with young people over the last decade or so. Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has indicated...
What Reddit vs X says about internet groupthink
Multiple subreddits are banning X links in protest of Elon Musk’s salute at the presidential inauguration. The implosion of ideological groupthink online highlights the fascinating potential of digital community. Elon Musk was one of a number of tech-giants who took center stage at Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration. The X...
TikTok may be back but influencers are not
How far will content creators go for fame and money? Ahead of the short-lived TikTok ban, audiences found out with the "one more secret" trend. Credibility on social media has always been a hot topic. While some people trust that the influencers they follow maintain their integrity despite their fame, there...
Opinion – Life online is losing its appeal
As we review the digital habits of the last few years and question what they might look like going forward, several factors point to a future in which we aren’t quite so wrapped up in the virtual world. Isn’t it strange to recall a time when social media didn’t exist? For...
Trans youth are turning to TikTok for support
In uncertain political times, America’s young LGBTQIA+ community are using social media as a vital crowdfunding tool. The day after the 2024 US presidential election, thousands of trans youth across the country woke to a sense of a dread. Iris, a 20-year-old Black trans woman living in Texas, was one of them. ‘This changes everything’ she told Wired. ‘If I stay in the state now that going to...
Owner of the ‘UK Nightlife’ TikTok account has been arrested
A new era of public exposure has landed us here. A 27-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of stalking and harassment after covertly filming women on nights out and uploading the videos to TikTok and Instagram. The clips, often titled ‘Manchester nightlife’ or ‘Liverpool nightlife’ were uploaded daily, and featured women walking around the city unaware they were being filmed. Despite garnering millions of views, the account remained active for months...
This year’s Spotify Wrapped is the most immersive yet
Each year, Spotify boosts the metrics and features included in its annual ‘Wrapped’ feature. In 2024, it’s utilised AI to take things up a notch while launching an immersive experience near one of London’s busiest tube stations. It’s the time of year that all Spotify users look forward to most: Spotify Wrapped day! First launched in 2016, Spotify’s personalized yearly round-up of user listening habits quickly became a fan favourite. Wrapped...
Everything you need to know about Bluesky
Does Jack Dorsey’s new Twitter-alternative mark the end of Musk’s X? The word ‘Bluesky’ first popped into the public consciousness when Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey launched the app last summer. But as Twitter (now X) becomes increasingly inundated with far-right rhetoric, and Donald Trump’s election launches X owner Elon Musk into the political limelight, a mass exodus of the social media app has given Bluesky its proverbial moment in the sun. For...
