Social Media
TikTok Shop’s pushy ad strategy, explained
Since TikTok Shop’s US launch last fall, users have been complaining that they’re seeing too many product ads. | Ezra Acayan/Getty Images If you’ve opened TikTok recently, you’ve probably seen an ad for a product sold in the new, in-app TikTok Shop, which made its official US launch last September. In fact, you’ve probably seen the same TikTok Shop ad multiple times. With a sigh, you swipe away, but a few swipes later, there it is again. Judging by the complaints strewn over the internet about the ads, people are not fans of so much advertising disrupting the flow of endless scrolling. In a series of unscientific tests using my…
The Supreme Court also handed down a hugely important First Amendment case today
BATH, UNITED KINGDOM – APRIL 20: In this photo illustration a smartphone screen displays a image of Donald Trump's page on the Truth Social app on April 20 2024 in Bath, England. Former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump’s social media business became publicly listed recently however the value of the stock has fallen dramatically in recent weeks. (Photo by Anna Barclay/Getty Images) If you spent Monday morning following each of the cases handed down by the Supreme Court, you’re probably experiencing a bit of whiplash. The biggest news out of the Court on Monday, of course, is a sweeping decision holding that former President Donald Trump was effectively…
The Supreme Court hands an embarrassing defeat to America’s Trumpiest court
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 07: U.S. President Joe Biden greets Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson before delivering the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on February 7, 2023 in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The speech marks Biden's first address to the new Republican-controlled House. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images) The Supreme Court handed down a stern rebuke to some of the most right-wing judges in the country on Wednesday, holding that no, judges do not get to micromanage how the Biden administration speaks to social media companies. The vote in Murthy v. Missouri was…
Misinformation is winning the war on misinformation
In this illustration photo a person looks at anti-vaccine "pure blood" movement websites and Facebook groups in Los Angeles, January 20, 2023. – Vaccine sceptics refusing transfusions for life-saving surgery, closed Facebook groups inciting violence over "tainted" blood and a global campaign to connect unvaccinated donors — surging Covid-19 misinformation has spawned a so-called "pure blood" movement. (Photo by Chris Delmas / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images) Misinformation on the internet has never been worse. Or at least that’s my analysis of it, based on vibes. People on TikTok are eating up videos saying a bunch of inaccurate things about the dangers of sunscreen, while the platform’s…
What a social media warning label can’t do
A teenager gazes at her cellphone. The case that social media is hurting America’s children gained more momentum this week after Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for warning labels on social media platforms. If the news gave you déjà vu, that’s understandable. Just a year ago, the same surgeon general issued a lengthy advisory about social media and youth mental health. But as much as the surgeon general’s new call to action, a guest essay published by the New York Times, catches our attention, a warning label alone won’t rescue young people from the damaging effects of social media. Several states enacted legislation to tackle social media’s harm on young…
This is your kid on smartphones
It seems that every generation laments the state of the youth at some point in their evolution into oldness. But what if — and just hear me out for a second — the kids are actually not all right? There’s quite a bit of data piling up on the mental health of young people and the picture is worrisome. Whether you look at anxiety or depression or suicide or even quality of friendships, the trends are not good, and this seems to be true in many different countries at the same time. So how should we make sense of that? Jonathan Haidt is a professor at NYU and the author…
The backlash against children’s YouTuber Ms Rachel, explained
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 29: Ms. Rachel attends the Sesame Workshop 2024 Benefit Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on May 29, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) Donning a pink headband and blue overalls, Ms Rachel — a.k.a. the internet’s favorite child care educator — starts most of her videos by waving excitedly at the camera with her usual greeting: “Hi, friends!” In one video, she opens jumbo-sized plastic crayons to reveal small toys inside that match the color of the crayon, describing each toy slowly and enthusiastically. In another, she’s visiting a doctor’s office and explores with childlike curiosity what to expect at…
Why lying on the internet keeps working
Conservative demonstrators who allege that the government pressured or colluded with social media platforms to censor right-leaning content under the guise of fighting misinformation protest outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, March 18, 2024, as the Court hears oral arguments in the case of Murthy v. Missouri. The case stems from a lawsuit brought by the Republican attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri, who allege that government officials went too far in their efforts to get social media platforms to combat vaccine and election misinformation. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) About a month ago, I wrote about a viral book…
Is TikTok breaking young voters’ brains?
I don’t remember looking for anything in particular when I opened TikTok one February evening. What I do remember was one video that dared me to examine my digital diet. “Check your TikTok screen time,” user @katherout challenged me. “Then check how many hours last week you actually hung out with your friends. It should not be similar … It’s very possible that you spend more time with people you don’t know on TikTok and YouTube, than people you do know in real life.” And so I checked. At my peak, I was using TikTok — a social media platform famous for user-uploaded short-form videos — for a little over 10…
Congress’s online child safety bill, explained
In this photo illustration, the Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook apps are being displayed on a smartphone screen in Athens, Greece, on May 1, 2024. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images) It’s tough to feel urgency about something that progresses in slow motion. Bear with me, though, because it is time, once again, to care about the Kids’ Online Safety Act, otherwise known as KOSA, a federal bill that was designed to protect children from online harms. The bill has been hanging around in Congress in some form since 2022, when Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced their bipartisan response to a series of congressional hearings and…