#Snapchat Strategies

[codehunger]

How other social media platforms are useful in growing our website?

Various social media platforms can be instrumental in growing your website by increasing visibility, driving traffic, and engaging with your audience. Here’s a breakdown of how some popular social media platforms can contribute to the growth of your website: 1. Instagram: Visual Storytelling: Ideal for businesses with visually appealing content. Instagram Stories and Reels: Engaging features…

[chelseasasimmer]

I spend a stupid amount of time watching Snapchat videos, and there’s this one I saw of this girl on tiktok with hair down to her knees or some shit (which, as someone who’s never had hair longer than like boob length, is genuinely terrifying. Like the amount of money she must spend on shampoo/conditioner/other hair products must be insane).

But anyways, the clickbaity title thing for the video is like ‘her hair won’t stop growing 😱’. Which is like no shit Sherlock. Most people’s hair ‘won’t stop growing’. That’s how hair fucking works. You think hairdressers exist just for shits and giggles?

[lawlormediagroup]

How Snapchat Sells as an Antidote to Social Media?

Social media has become an essential part of our lives, but not everyone sees it as a positive tool. Many people feel overwhelmed by the constant influx of information. Snapchat, however, has emerged as a fresh antidote to this problem. Its unique approach to social media helps users experience a more focused and engaging platform. In this article, we will explore how Snapchat offers an alternative to traditional social media platforms. We will also look at how PR Agencies NYC, such as Lawlor Media Group, use Snapchat in their strategies.

The Simplicity of Snapchat

Snapchat has a simpler format compared to other social media platforms. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Snapchat focuses on instant communication. You can send photos and videos that disappear after being viewed. This creates a sense of privacy and intimacy that other platforms lack. Users don't feel the need to post perfect, curated content. Snapchat encourages raw, real-time sharing without the pressure of maintaining a public profile.

This simplicity appeals to a wide range of users. Many people are looking for an escape from the polished, often unrealistic images seen on other social media sites. Snapchat’s format promotes natural interaction, which is refreshing in a world full of heavily edited photos. The app’s design supports quick, fleeting moments, making it a great tool for users who seek spontaneity.

Privacy and Disappearing Content

One of the main features that sets Snapchat apart is its disappearing content. When you send a Snap, it vanishes after the recipient views it. This encourages more genuine sharing without the fear of long-term consequences. Many users appreciate the privacy this provides. On other platforms, posts remain visible indefinitely, creating a sense of permanency. Snapchat’s temporary content gives users the freedom to be more authentic.

In an age where privacy concerns are growing, Snapchat’s disappearing messages offer a unique solution. People can share moments without worrying about them being permanently recorded. This creates a more relaxed and enjoyable experience on the platform.

Focus on Authenticity Over Perfection

Social media often promotes an unrealistic standard of perfection. Platforms like Instagram, with their filters and polished photos, can make users feel inadequate. Snapchat counters this by embracing authenticity. There is less emphasis on perfection and more on raw moments. This approach allows users to share their true selves.

The idea of authenticity is also reflected in Snapchat’s filters and lenses. While users can enhance their photos and videos, it’s still about fun rather than idealized beauty. This makes Snapchat appealing to those who feel disconnected from the perfectionist culture of other platforms.

Short-Form Content

Snapchat also capitalizes on short-form content. Unlike YouTube or Facebook, where videos can run for minutes or even hours, Snapchat limits videos to just 10 seconds. This brief format encourages quick, digestible content. It makes Snapchat easy to use in busy, fast-paced environments.

The short-form nature of Snapchat helps users stay focused. There is no need to scroll endlessly through long videos. The app’s design supports short bursts of entertainment and information. This aligns with today’s trend of quick consumption in the digital world.

A Safe Space for Brands to Connect

Brands are also discovering the benefits of Snapchat. Through features like Snap Ads and Story Ads, brands can communicate with their audience in a more personal and authentic way. Unlike other social media platforms where ads can feel intrusive, Snapchat’s ad experience is seamlessly integrated into the app’s format.

Snapchat also allows brands to create unique content that feels organic. For example, interactive filters and lenses enable users to engage with branded content in a fun way. This approach helps brands build a connection with their audience. It’s not just about pushing products; it’s about creating experiences that resonate with users.

How Lawlor Media Group Uses Snapchat for Brand Strategy?

PR Agencies in NYC, such as Lawlor Media Group, have recognized the power of Snapchat in shaping brand strategies. As a Brand Strategy Agency New York, Lawlor Media Group helps businesses craft messages that align with their audience’s needs. Snapchat offers a great platform for creative storytelling. PR Agencies leverage Snapchat’s unique features to engage audiences and build brand loyalty.

Through Snapchat, Lawlor Media Group helps brands develop content that feels fresh and authentic. By using the app’s interactive tools, they create immersive campaigns that attract attention. Snapchat's fleeting nature works in their favor, allowing brands to run short, impactful campaigns that leave a lasting impression.

Crisis Management and Reputation Building on Snapchat

Online Reputation Management New York is an essential service offered by agencies like Lawlor Media Group. In times of crisis, brands must act quickly and thoughtfully. Snapchat’s real-time sharing capability is a key tool in these situations. During a crisis, companies can use Snapchat to communicate directly with their audience in an immediate, unfiltered way.

This immediacy helps brands address issues before they escalate. Snapchat allows for quick, authentic messages that can help rebuild trust. For businesses, this is crucial in maintaining a positive reputation. PR agencies use Snapchat to send messages that appear genuine and transparent, a valuable asset in crisis management.

The Future of Snapchat in Social Media

Snapchat continues to innovate, offering new features and tools to keep users engaged. While other platforms focus on likes, comments, and shares, Snapchat’s focus remains on real-time sharing and private interactions. This unique model has helped Snapchat maintain its position as a leading platform, especially among younger users.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, Snapchat’s simplicity and authenticity are key factors in its continued success. Brands and PR Agencies NYC will likely continue to embrace Snapchat as a tool for creative campaigns and crisis management. By staying true to its original concept of short, disappearing content, Snapchat provides an antidote to the often overwhelming world of social media.

Conclusion

Snapchat has become a refreshing alternative to traditional social media. It offers a simpler, more private, and authentic way to share content. For users tired of the polished perfection of other platforms, Snapchat provides a space for real-time, unscripted moments. Brands, with the help of PR Agencies in NYC like Lawlor Media Group, are taking advantage of this unique approach to engage audiences in a more genuine way. As Snapchat continues to innovate, it will remain a powerful tool for both personal and brand communication in the world of social media.

[digitalmarketingagencyindiausa]

Advertising in the Age of Social Media: Trends and Innovations

Amidst the ever-evolving digital realm, advertising has experienced a profound transformation, driven by the pervasive impact of social media. As platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn continue to dominate online interactions, businesses are leveraging these channels to connect with their target audiences in innovative ways. In this article, we delve deep into the trends and innovations shaping advertising in the age of social media.

The Rise of Influencer Marketing

One of the most notable trends in social media advertising is the rise of influencer marketing. Influencers, individuals with a significant following and influence on platforms like Instagram and YouTube, have become powerful brand advocates. By partnering with influencers whose values align with their own, brands can reach highly engaged audiences authentically. From sponsored posts to product endorsements, influencer marketing offers a dynamic approach to online advertising.

Video Content Dominance

In the realm of social media advertising, video content reigns supreme. With the rise of platforms like TikTok and the continued popularity of YouTube, consumers are consuming video content at unprecedented rates. Brands are capitalizing on this trend by creating engaging video ads that capture attention and drive conversions. Whether it's short-form videos for Instagram Stories or long-form content for YouTube, video advertising allows brands to tell compelling stories and connect with their audience on a deeper level.

Personalization and Targeting

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all advertising. In the age of social media, personalization and targeting are paramount. With advanced dataanalytics and audiencesegmentation tools, brands can tailor their advertising efforts to specific demographics, interests, and behaviors. Whether it's retargeting website visitors with dynamic ads or delivering personalized recommendations based on past purchases, socialmediaplatforms offer a wealth of targeting options to ensure that ads resonate with the right audience.

Ephemeral Content and FOMO Marketing

Ephemeral content, such as InstagramStories and SnapchatSnaps, has become increasingly popular among socialmediausers. Brands are leveraging this trend to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity through FOMOmarketing (Fear of Missing Out). By offering limited-time promotions, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and exclusive deals, brands can drive engagement and sales while tapping into consumers' fear of missing out on something exciting.

User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) has emerged as a powerful tool for socialmediaadvertising. By encouraging users to create and share content featuring their products or services, brands can leverage the authenticity and credibility of peerrecommendations. Whether it's reposting customer photos on Instagram or hosting user-generated content contests, brands can harness the creativity and enthusiasm of their audience to amplify their advertising efforts.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing socialmediaadvertising in myriad ways. From algorithmicoptimization to chatbot interactions, AI-powered tools are enabling brands to streamline their advertising processes and deliver more personalized experiences to their audience. Whether it's using AI to analyze audience data and identify trends or leveraging machine learning algorithms to optimize ad performance in real-time, brands are harnessing the power of AI to stay ahead of the curve in social mediaadvertising.

Conclusion

In conclusion, advertisingin the age of social media is characterized by trends and innovations that continue to reshape the digital landscape. From the rise of influencer marketing to the dominance of video content, brands are finding new and creative ways to connect with their audience on social media platforms. By embracing personalization, ephemeral content, and user-generated content, brands can create meaningful connections with their audience and drive tangible results. With the role of artificial intelligence continuing to evolve, the future of social media advertising promises to be even more dynamic and impactful. As a leading provider of social media marketing services in India and the US, we specialize in helping businesses enhance their online presence and drive revenue growth. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business thrive in the digital age.

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[fitnessitaliano]

Snapchat Marketing - Raggiungere un pubblico giovane

Snapchat per le Aziende: Guida Completa per Raggiungere un Pubblico Giovane e Creativo Ciao! Se sei un’azienda che cerca di connettersi con un pubblico giovane e sfruttare la creatività delle piattaforme social, Snapchat potrebbe essere il tuo alleato perfetto. In questo articolo, esploreremo le strategie vincenti per utilizzare Snapchat in modo efficace per promuovere il tuo marchio Snapchat:…

[inthesocialmediaspace]

A Digital Odyssey: Navigating the Seas of Social Media Together

🌟 Welcome, Fellow Adventurers! 🌟

Greetings, wanderers of the digital realm! 🌐✨ Whether you're a seasoned social media explorer or embarking on your maiden voyage, this corner of the internet is your safe haven for all things social media and social media marketing.

🚀 Embarking on a Shared Journey 🚀

Step aboard as we set sail on a grand adventure into the ever-evolving world of social media. 🛳️ Our ship is more than a blog; it's a community where we gather to exchange ideas, insights, and inspiration. Here, we believe that our collective experiences are the wind in our sails, propelling us forward toward new horizons.

🌐 Unveiling the Social Media Tapestry 🌐

Through this blog, we'll unravel the intricacies of social media platforms, decoding algorithms, and crafting content that captivates. 🧩 Let's dive into the art of engaging storytelling, the science of eye-catching visuals, and the magic of forging authentic connections in a digital landscape.

📣 Amplifying Voices, Together 📣

In the sea of social media noise, our mission is to uplift and amplify each other's voices. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a content creator, or simply someone passionate about sharing stories, this is your harbor. 🏞️ Let's learn from one another's triumphs and challenges, celebrating victories and offering support during stormy seas.

🌈 A Rainbow of Possibilities 🌈

Our blog isn't just about facts and figures; it's a kaleidoscope of creativity. We'll explore vibrant strategies, brainstorm imaginative campaigns, and discuss the latest trends. 🎨 Let your creativity flow freely as we collectively shape the digital landscape.

🌟 Join the Crew! 🌟

Are you ready to embark on this voyage with us? If you're eager to navigate the intricacies of social media marketing while embracing the spirit of togetherness, then consider yourself part of our crew! 🤝 Follow this blog, engage in discussions, and let's chart a course for success, learning, and memorable connections.

To infinity and beyond, dear adventurers! 🚀🌍 Let's harness the power of pixels and passion to create something truly extraordinary. Get ready to immerse yourself in all things social media and set sail on a journey that promises growth, camaraderie, and a sprinkle of digital magic.

Welcome aboard! 🌊🌟

Warmest wishes, Merah

[herkonular]

FEYON - DEVASA+ (3)

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[lunas-side-anime-blog]

Modern College Student/BF Eren Yeager Headcanons

Armin version: HERE

Changed his major so. many. times.

Tried premed bc of his dad but then realized he had to take a lot of math and was like “lol no”

Was a business major for a bit but he didn’t have enough tact or strategy so dropped that pretty quick

Philosophy was next but he has such black and white way of thinking, he always got into arguments with the professors

Ethics was ruled out after like a week bc of…well, obvious reasons

Joined Armin’s major for like a month but it took so much studying and memory that he quit

Tried psych with Mikasa but yeah every teacher kept telling him to go to therapy??? And he was like “no thank you.”

Eventually i think he will land in something like sport communication or management, bc the competition really gets him fired up and he’s only good at something if he’s passionate about it

also feel like he’d be a college athlete with some scholarships so yeah, it makes sense

Not a great student tbh

Type of bitch to say “c’s get degrees.”

Really its only his public speaking skills that are keeping his grade afloat bc his presentations are sooo hype and get the class all inspired n shit

His essays and quizzes tho? Yeah, not so good

Bad at attending classes too, for sure will be like “srry my grandma died.”

And the teacher is just like “you’ve used that excuse already?twice??"

And hes just like “ugh fine you got me, I was tired and hungover”

Def tried to join a frat but Armin and Mikasa threatened to not be friends with him 

Still hangs with the frat boys a lot and is always partying with them

Pregames wayyy too hard tho, wasted before the party even starts

Unironically dances to lmfao and pitbull at college parties like “party rockers” is his fucking jam

Casual pothead, has a bong he def like nicknamed the “titan” cuz it’s so fucking huge

Will share his stash with you but like next time you got alc or bud just know he’s hitting that shit

High Eren is just really philosophical about freedom but with the munchies

Diet consists of instant ramen, mcdonalds and box mac n cheese, probably alot of redulls too

Thank god he’s athletic w a high metabolism 

Is fucking rocking the man bun and will fight you if you say otherwise

Games often with Jean, Conny and Sasha

Rage quits all the time and yes, Jean has recorded most of them for blackmail

Still uses snapchat streaks and will be so salty if one of his friends broke it

“You know nothing of loyalty. It’s one snap a day! How fucking hard was that?”  

Smells like irish spring body wash, old spice deodorant and weed

Also mint? I feel like he’s always chewing gum

One of those smokers who think he can just splash cold water on his face and chew on some gum and it wouldn’t be obvious that he’s high af

Carmex lip balm is the only slightly self care item he owns

Really into anime, loves the boss fights

I feel like he’d really like Naruto, Demon Slayer, Bnha or jojo’s bizarre adventure

You know anything with a lot of fights or training 

Ppl say he’d like Deathnote bc light but honestly I think he would get lost with all the twists and be like “why tf aren’t ppl just punching each other???”

Loves rap if he’s feeling good or screamo if he’s angry, like there's no in between lmao 

For sure listens to his music way too loud even with air pods

“Max volume isn’t enough, I wanna fuck the song” type of dude

I feel like him and Conny at one point prob tried to make a youtube channel where they like react to stuff 

Jean is the top commenter…..too bad it’s hate comments lol

Is one of those guys who has such a high body temp that even if it’s like december and snowing out, he’s still in basketball shorts and a short sleeve shirt 

Progressive bc Armin taught him how sex doesn’t equal gender, and pronouns are to be respected

Still a dick tho

“He’s such a fucking- wait hold up what are your pronouns?  They? K cool was just gonna talk shit about you but wanted to be respectful about it, thanks.”  goes back to his other conversation like, “They are such a fucking worthless cunt.”

As your bf

Probably met off tinder or something bc he is just a fuckboy looking to get his dick wet

But after fucking he just keeps hanging out with you? Or like if u get ur period or don't feel like sex he’s like, “it’s okay we can just watch a movie or something😀”

So ur not quite sure if you guys are fuckbuddies or not?

It becomes kinda obvious tho if he like ever sees you with another guy and gets all up in his face like “wtf are u doing with my girl/boy?”

U guys don’t have a clear anniversary bc he never asked u to be his, it was just kinda silently agreed upon?

Clingy lil bitch after sex like will follow u to the bathroom if u let him

Needs to shower with you, otherwise you both aint showering cuz he will turn off the water 

“Now we both stinky, bitch.”

Gives me the vibe of a guy who learned sex stuff thru porn

He goes really hard, fast and will put you in crazy positions

If u have a vagina you prob will have to like teach him about clit stimulation and literally take his hand and lead it there, he’s a fast learner though 

Will pull your hair but if you dare pull his?

He'll flip you over and spank you 

Wants sooo bad to be called daddy, up to you though if u wanna call him that but you can tell he tries to lead you to say it sometimes

Not really controlling or anything, actually loves an independent partner who has their own goals 

Is insanely jealous though, the only time he’s all up on you is if he thinks another guy is trying to get on you

If you fight tbh I think Eren can be a lil brat but I think he always has a time limit 

Like..he’s the type of guy that has about three days in him of being an asshole or being in silent treatment mode before he just breaks and knocks on your door begging for forgiveness

A little toxic but again, more so about others than actually controlling you

The type to start a fight in your insta comments if anyone other than him or your besties call you hot

Will try to be cool and say “wear whatever you want, I can fight”

And he will but like will he also cry later? Yes. 

Dates with him aren’t really dates? I think his love language is quality time so he’s the type to just try to hang out and make everything a lil “date”

Lots of late night car rides where you guys just talk and share songs (also car sex if ur up to it), lazy days where you two watch movies and cuddle in bed, also I think he’s the type of bf to try to tag along with you everywhere you go and offer to get you food afterwards

Only for like birthdays or anniversaires will he try to take you out for a fancy dinner, even then you might have to drop hints that you want a nice date bc honestly he’s totally okay getting mdconalds with you and pigging out

Overall he’s kinda a scary dog privellage as a boyfriend

Whose mainly all bark and no bite

(mostly)

Fav nicknames: Babe, babygir/babyboy, sexy, shortie 

Songs that fit the vibe: 505 by Arctic Monkeys, Cherry Waves by Deftones, Daddy Issues by the Neighbourhood

“I’d probably still adore you wth your hands around my neck”

“I’ll swim down with you, is that what you want?” 

“I tell you that I’m thinking about, whatever you’re thinking about”

[suenitos]

A point for point summary of dream's drituation talk from 11/10/2023 stream under the cut

(disclaimer: this is not a transcript. a lot of this is taken from his words, but with some clarifying wording from me and some shifting i did of certain points he made to create a more structured and detailed summary. i recommend watching the vod to hear it from his voice and his wording because there are some details i left out, but this is basically what he said if you dont feel comfortable approaching the topic through audio.)

1. he didnt groom her. there's lots of complications in talking about it because its a very intense/serious thing to accuse someone of.

2. it's very scary to talk about for him because its such a real issue and anything you say in defense can devalue other victims from having their voices heard. but, she is a liar, and manipulated the situation. its scary for him to say that because it can devalue victims and come across as accusatory

3. because people made accusations of this sort to other people close to him (sapnap, bad) he was the first person to jump to their defense so he had to handle this very differently as the one in the hot seat. he told people not to publicly jump to his defense.

4. because she did not end up going to the police/legal route, suing her to prove he didnt send her any messages on snap or IG at all would be very difficult. defamation is insanely hard to prove because it involves having to prove the person you're suing is lying, lying on purpose, and with malicious intent.

5. for first few months, lawyers told him to wait and just countersue if she did go through suing, and sit tight. nothing moved at all from her side, so nothing ended up happening. he feels more comfortable to talk about it because enough time has passed and she has done nothing to go forward with her accusations. on her end, she only proved he messaged her privately but did not provide strong evidence of grooming. deleted messages of her own, apparently had a bf and fake accounts he doesnt really know exactly what happened

6. timing thing- he has to think of public opinion and his reputation because unfortunately a lot of this hinges on his reputation as dream. him and his lawyers had to think about the "strategy" of talking about it with timing, and he was busy with other stuff, and now that he's becoming more active again content wise he feels it's appropriate to address it.

7. plans to make a video on dreamxd in the future to talk about it

more details:

-he downloaded snapchat data to reveal that she doctored stuff, he questions her choice to not do that in order to prove her accusations

-didnt know she was a stan (which he admits sounds ridiculous), deleted the whole chat from instagram multiple times (swiped out of inbox, but until you block someone on instagram the messages stay forever). chatted about music and only had friendly messages becuase he thought she wasnt as big a fan/wanting to get into streaming because she asked him about that

-he has 3 snaps: priv priv snapchat (close friends family), private public snapchat (mod team, editors, old irls, csgo lobbies etc) <- the one she was on, the Public snapchat (that everyone can add him on, dreampublic)

questions from chat:

-why did you add her on snapchat? talking about music, wanted opinions outside of friends, and wanted to share on snap (deletes messages after 24 hours because she could leak it from ig and he didn't trust her)

-but she was a fan? didnt think she was that big a fan, also he tried to get her out of the inbox many times. assumed she was a small cc or a fan but not a stan

-why on personal snap? WASNT personal snap, it was front facing but it wasnt his public public one

-sexting: he thought she was 18 which doesnt really matter BECAUSE nothing he "wanted" from her was sexual. he never sexted her, her story takes place during the faceless era and that he added her on snap and then a week and a half of "talking" sent her a dick pic

-what proof does he have to show dishonesty: timeframes, intentions, snap data, transcripts of IG dms, she deleted a lot of messages that made her look weird that were showed in her video

-gift cards: grooming often involves gift giving and this is something people weaponized against him because he gave her a gift card as she said it was her birthday. she had said it was her birthday and he gave her one (he gave a gift cards to his mods etc for christmas and had a lot left over), not grooming just him being nice

-the meetup: the only person he met up with while faceless was sapnap, he didnt meet up with anyone during that era

-bikini comment: (apparently) he said she was gorgeous after she sent him a picture of her in a bikini when she was 18. he said saying that compliment probably wasnt far fetched from him but that message wasnt there on snap data, proving he didnt say it. he also thinks given the fact he is a massive figure who was faceless this entire time that it makes no sense for him to be so careless about who he's meeting up with or messaging and he always has to be careful about how he approaches messaging people who are under 18 or who he doesnt know. considering he had never even showed one of his best friends his face before meeting up with him, it makes no sense that he would be so risky about being "intimate" with someone he isn't that close with.

final comments:

-it affected him more than anyone knows. he was a victim in a situation but he doesnt want to victimize himself. he cares more about actual survivors and he wants to be respectful of that and be careful of what he says because it could come across as harmful or triggering to survivors

-there are factors of this situation that are out of his control like her (she can just say "believe victims" and people will be quicker to jump to her defense due to her positionality), and he wants this to die off as much as possible. he's talking about this against the advice of his management but as dream it's never going to die down so might as well talk about it.

-he understands as a controversial and flawed figure, the only way to convince people and get through to people is through compassion when people are spreading misinformation or malicious information against dream -> then he moved on to a conversation about general misinformation and how he thinks we as an audience can help mitigate toxicity and increase compassion and kindness from the community

reiterating this again: this is not the only time he's talking about this. he plans to make a video on dreamxd providing more concrete proof and actually going into depth more than this stream.

[blissfullyecho]

Hello! I really love your account!

Can you share here some tips about how to become a blogger/influencer? Or can you share about your journey and experience about blogging? What’s your ig content is about? :)

I really want to start blogging in insta but I doubt myself, especially at the beginning of it 😅

Honestly I grew on TikTok by posting a few lip syncing videos lol. Then I started documenting my life and making silent “vlogs” and people got super interested in those and I grew even more. I didn’t have a strategy for TikTok.. I guess it’s because my life is much different than most and people like to see that. I used to go live a ton doing grwm’s and that helped me grow too. But I gained my first 300,000 or so just by posting videos of myself with sounds, then I gained the rest by “vlogging” and going live. I make branded content a few times a week on tiktok but I’m selective with who I partner with. I have a minimum $ amount that I’ll work with and I only work with brands that I like.

My Instagram grew but I was basically just posting pictures of myself. I grew and brands started working with me so eventually all of my content on social media was branded and I got sick of it because I never really posted my authentic self. Instagram was just a giant catalog for my followers to buy from. That’s a huge reason why I took a break from IG for a while and posted on my stories a few times.

My social media blew up from luck alone. I never really worked on getting high numbers, it just sort of happened. On Instagram I had to work a million times harder to stay relevant, but TT is super easy.

I also became a creator on Snapchat but I had to post a million stories a day. That was a ton of work but Snap paid me a ton back then… I have no idea if SC would pay nearly as much as I was getting paid before.

But social media isn’t easy. There’s a reason why I turned to healthcare and then real estate and yacht sales lol.

[mariacallous]

The latest in a series of duels announced by the European Commission is with Bing, Microsoft’s search engine. Brussels suspects that the giant based in Redmond, Washington, has failed to properly moderate content produced by the generative AI systems on Bing, Copilot, and Image Creator, and that as a result, it may have violated the Digital Services Act (DSA), one of Europe’s latest digital regulations.

On May 17, the EU summit requested company documents to understand how Microsoft handled the spread of hallucinations (inaccurate or nonsensical answers produced by AI), deepfakes, and attempts to improperly influence the upcoming European Parliament elections. At the beginning of June, voters in the 27 states of the European Union will choose their representatives to the European Parliament, in a campaign over which looms the ominous shadow of technology with its potential to manipulate the outcome. The commission has given Microsoft until May 27 to respond, only days before voters go to the polls. If there is a need to correct course, it may likely be too late.

Europe’s Strategy

Over the past few months, the European Commission has started to bang its fists on the table when dealing with the big digital giants, almost all of them based in the US or China. This isn’t the first time. In 2022, the European Union hit Google with a fine of €4.1 billion because of its market dominance thanks to its Android system, marking the end of an investigation that started in 2015. In 2023, it sanctioned Meta with a fine of €1.2 billion for violating the GDPR, the EU’s data protection regulations. And in March it presented Apple with a sanction of €1.8 billion.

Recently, however, there appears to have been a change in strategy. Sanctions continue to be available as a last resort when Big Tech companies don’t bend to the wishes of Brussels, but now the European Commission is aiming to take a closer look at Big Tech, find out how it operates, and modify it as needed, before imposing fines. Take, for example, Europe’s Digital Services Act, which attempts to impose transparency in areas like algorithms and advertising, fight online harassment and disinformation, protect minors, stop user profiling, and eliminate dark patterns (design features intended to manipulate our choices on the web).

In 2023, Brussels identified 22 multinationals that, due to their size, would be the focus of its initial efforts: Google with its four major services (search, shopping, maps, and play), YouTube, Meta with Instagram and Facebook, Bing, X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Amazon, Booking, Wikipedia, Apple’s App Store, TikTok, Alibaba, Zalando, and the porn sites Pornhub, XVideos, and Stripchat. Since then, it has been putting the pressure on these companies to cooperate with its regulatory regime.

The day before the Bing investigation was announced, the commission also opened one into Meta to determine what the multinational is doing to protect minors on Facebook and Instagram and counter the “rabbit hole” effect—that is, the seamless flood of content that demands users’ attention, and which can be especially appealing to younger people. That same concern led it to block the launch of TikTok Lite in Europe, deeming its system for rewarding social engagement dangerous and a means of encouraging addictive behavior. It has asked X to increase its content moderation, LinkedIn to explain how its ad system works, and AliExpress to defend its refund and complaint processes.

A Mountain of Laws …

On one hand, the message appears to be that no one will escape the reach of Brussels. On the other, the European Commission, led by President Ursula von der Leyen, has to demonstrate that the many digital laws and regulations that are in place actually produce positive results. In addition to the DSA, there is the Digital Markets Act (DMA), intended to counterbalance the dominance of Big Tech in online markets; the AI Act, Europe’s flagship legislation on artificial intelligence; and the Data Governance Act (DGA) and the Data Act, which address data protection and the use of data in the public and private sectors. Also to be added to the list are the updated cybersecurity package, NIS2 (Network and Information Security); the Digital Operational Resilience Act, focused on finance and insurance; and the digital identity package within eIDAS 2. Still in the draft stage are regulations on health data spaces and much-debated chat measures which would authorize law enforcement agencies and platforms to scan citizens’ private messages, looking for child pornography.

Brussels has deployed its heavy artillery against the digital flagships of the United States and China, and a few successful blows have landed, such as ByteDance’s suspension of the gamification feature on TikTok Lite following its release in France and Spain. But the future is uncertain and complicated. While investigations attract media interest, the EU’s digital bureaucracy is a large and complex machine to run.

On February 17, the DSA became law for all online service operators (cloud and hosting providers, search engines, e-commerce, and online services) but the European Commission doesn’t and can’t control everything. That is why it asked states to appoint a local authority to serve as a coordinator of digital services. Five months later, Brussels had to send a formal notice to six states (Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Poland, Portugal, and Slovakia) to urge them to designate and fully empower their digital services coordinators. Those countries now have two months to comply before Brussels will intervene. But there are others who are also not in the clear. For example, Italy’s digital services coordinator, the Communications Regulatory Authority (abbreviated AGCOM, for Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni, in Italian), needs to recruit 23 new employees to replenish its staff. The department told WIRED Italy that it expects to have filled all of its appointments by mid-June.

The DSA also introduced “trusted flaggers.” These are individuals or entities, such as universities, associations, and fact-checkers, committed to combating online hatred, internet harassment, illegal content, and the spread of scams and fake news. Their reports are, one hopes, trustworthy. The selection of trusted flaggers is up to local authorities but, to date, only Finland has formalized the appointment of one, specifically Tekijänoikeuden tiedotus- ja valvontakeskus ry (in English, the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Center). Its executive director, Jaana Pihkala, explained to WIRED Italy that their task is “to produce reports on copyright infringements,” a subject on which the association has 40 years of experience. Since its appointment as a trusted flagger, the center’s two lawyers, who perform all of its functions, have sent 816 alerts to protect films, TV series, and books on behalf of Finnish copyright holders.

… and a Mountain of Data

To assure that the new commission is respected by the 27 states, the commission set up the DSA surveillance system as quickly as possible, but the bureaucrats in Brussels still have a formidable amount of research to do. On the one hand, there is the anonymous reporting platform with which the commission hopes to build dossiers on the operations of different platforms directly from internal sources. The biggest scandals that have shaken Meta have been thanks to former employees, like Christopher Wylie, the analyst who revealed how Cambridge Analytica attempted to influence the US elections, and Frances Haugen, who shared documents about the impacts of Instagram and Facebook on children’s health. The DSA, however, intends to empower and fund the commission so that it can have its own people capable of sifting through documents and data, analyzing the content, and deciding whether to act.

The commission boasts that the DSA will force platforms to be transparent. And indeed it can point to some successes already, for example, by revealing the absurdly inadequate numbers of moderators employed by platforms. According to the latest data released last November, they don’t even cover all the languages spoken in the European Union. X reported that it had only two people to check content in Italian, the language of 9.1 million users. There were no moderators for Greek, Finnish, or Romanian even though each language has more than 2 million subscribers. AliExpress moderates everything in English while, for other languages, it makes do with automatic translators. LinkedIn moderates content in 12 languages of the European bloc—that is, just half of the official languages.

At the same time, the commission has forced large platforms to standardize their reports of moderation interventions to feed a large database, which, at the time of writing this article, contains more than 18.2 billion records. Of these cases, 69 percent were handled automatically. But, perhaps surprisingly, 92 percent concerned Google Shopping. This is because the platform uses various parameters to determine whether a product can be featured: the risk that it is counterfeited, possible violations of site standards, prohibited goods, dangerous materials, and others. It can thus be the case that several alerts are triggered for the same product and the DSA database counts each one separately, multiplying the shopping numbers exponentially. So now the EU has a mass of data that further complicates its goal of being fully transparent.

Zalando’s Numbers

And then there’s the Big Tech companies’ legal battle against the fee they have to pay to the commission to help underwrite its supervisory bodies. Meta, TikTok, and Zalando have challenged the fee (though paid it). Zalando is also the only European company on the commission’s list of large platforms, a designation Zalando has always contested because it does not believe it meets the criteria used by Brussels. One example: The platforms on the list must have at least 45 million monthly users in Europe. The commission argues that Zalando has 83 million users, though that number, for example, includes visits from Portugal, where the platform is not marketed, and Zalando argues those users should be deducted from its total count. According to its calculations, the activities subject to the DSA reach only 31 million users, under the threshold. When Zalando was assessed its fee, it discovered that the commission had based it on a figure of 47.5 million users, far below the initial 83 million. The company has now taken the commission to court in an attempt to assure a transparent process.

And this is just one piece of legislation, the DSA. The commission has also deployed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a package of regulations to counterbalance Big Tech’s market dominance, requiring that certain services be interoperable with those of other companies, that apps that come loaded on a device by default can be uninstalled, and that data collected on large platforms be shared with small- and medium-size companies. Again, the push to impose these mandates starts with the giants: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, ByteDance, and Microsoft. In May, Booking was added to the list.

Big Tech Responds

Platforms have started to respond to EU requests, with lukewarm results. WhatsApp, for instance, has been redesigned to allow chatting with other apps without compromising its end-to-end encryption that protects the privacy and security of users, but it is still unclear who will agree to connect to it. WIRED US reached out to 10 messaging companies, including Google, Telegram, Viber, and Signal, to ask whether they intend to look at interoperability and whether they had worked with WhatsApp on its plans. The majority didn’t respond to the request for comment. Those that did, Snap and Discord, said they had nothing to add. Apple had to accept sideloading—i.e., the possibility of installing and updating iPhone or iPad applications from stores outside the official one. However, the first alternative that emerged, AltStore, offers very few apps at this time. And it has suffered some negative publicity after refusing to accept the latest version of its archenemy Spotify’s app, despite the fact that the audio platform had removed the link to its website for subscriptions.

The DMA is a regulation that has the potential to break the dominant positions of Big Tech companies, but that outcome is not a given. Take the issue of surveillance: The commission has funds to pay the salaries of 80 employees, compared to the 120 requested by Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton and the 220 requested by the European Parliament, as summarized by Bruegel in 2022. And on the website of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), Adam Kovacevich, founder and CEO of Chamber of Progress, a politically left-wing tech industry coalition (all of the digital giants, which also fund CEPA, are members), stated that the DMA, “instead of helping consumers, aims to help competitors. The DMA is making large tech firms’ services less useful, less secure, and less family-friendly. Europeans’ experience of large tech firms’ services is about to get worse compared to the experience of Americans and other non-Europeans.”

Kovacevich represents an association financed by some of those same companies that the DMA is focused on, and there is a shared fear that the DMA will complicate the market and, in the end, benefit only a few companies—not necessarily those most at risk because of the dominance of Silicon Valley. It is not only lawsuits and fines, but also the perceptions of citizens and businesses that will help to determine whether EU regulations are successful. The results may come more slowly than desired by Brussels as new legislation is rarely positively received at first.

Learning From GDPR and Gaia-X

Another regulatory act, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), has become the global industry standard, forcing online operators to change the way they handle our data. But if you ask the typical person on the street, they’ll likely tell you it’s just a simple cookie wall that you have to approve before continuing on to a webpage. Or it’s viewed as a law that has required the retention of dedicated external consultants on the part of companies. It is rarely described as the ultimate online privacy law, which is exactly what it is. That said, while the act has reshaped the privacy landscape, there have been challenges, as the digital rights association Noyb has explained. The privacy commissioners of Ireland and Luxembourg, where many web giants are based for tax purposes, have had bottlenecks in investigating violations. According to the latest figures from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), 19,581 complaints have been submitted in the past five years, but the body has made only 37 formal decisions and only eight of those began with complaints. Noyb recently conducted a survey of 1,000 data protection officers; 74 percent were convinced that if privacy officers investigated the typical European company, they would find at least one GDPR violation.

The GDPR was also the impetus for another unsuccessful operation: separating the European cloud from the US cloud in order to shelter the data of EU citizens from Washington’s Cloud Act. In 2019, France and Germany announced with great fanfare a federation, Gaia-X, that would defend the continent and provide a response to the cloud market, which has been split between the United States and China. Five years later, the project has become bogged down in the process of establishing standards, after the entry of the giants it was supposed to counter, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Huawei, and Alibaba, as well as the controversial American company Palantir (which analyses data for defense purposes). This led some of the founders, such as the French cloud operator Scaleway, to flee, and that then turned the spotlight on the European Parliament, which led the commission to launch an alternative, the European Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud, which counts among its 49 members 26 participants from Gaia-X (everyone except for the non-EU giants) and enjoys EU financial support.

In the meantime, the Big Tech giants have found a solution that satisfies European wishes, investing en masse to establish data centers on EU soil. According to a study by consultancy firm Roland Berger, 34 data center transactions were finalized in 2023, growing at an average annual rate of 29.7 percent since 2019. According to Mordor Intelligence, another market analysis company, the sector in Europe will grow from €35.4 billion in 2024 to an estimated €57.7 billion in 2029. In recent weeks, Amazon web services announced €7.8 billion in investments in Germany. WIRED Italy has reported on Amazon’s interest in joining the list of accredited operators to host critical public administration data in Italy, which already includes Microsoft, Google, and Oracle. Notwithstanding its proclamations about sovereignty, Brussels has had to capitulate: The cloud is in the hands of the giants from the United States who have found themselves way ahead of their Chinese competitors after diplomatic relations between Beijing and Brussels cooled.

The AI Challenge

The newest front in this digital battle is artificial intelligence. Here, too, the European Union has been the first to come up with some rules under its AI Act, the first legislation to address the different applications of this technology and establish permitted and prohibited uses based on risk assessments. The commission does not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. Mindful of the launch of the GDPR, which in 2018 caused companies to scramble to assure they were compliant, it wants to lead organizations through a period of voluntary adjustment. Already 400 companies have declared their interest in joining the effort, including IBM.

In the meantime, Brussels must build a number of structures to make the AI Act work. First is the AI Council. It will have one representative from each country and will be divided into two subgroups, one dedicated to market development and the other to public sector uses of AI. In addition, it will be joined by a committee of technical advisers and an independent committee of scientists and experts, along the lines of the UN Climate Committee. Secondly, the AI Office, which sits within Directorate-General Connect (the department in charge of digital technology), will take care of administrative aspects of the AI Act. The office will assure that the act is applied uniformly, investigate alleged violations, establish codes of conduct, and classify artificial intelligence models that pose a systemic risk. Once the rules are established, research on new technologies can proceed. After it is fully operational, the office will employ 100 people, some of them redeployed from General Connect while others will be new hires. At the moment, the office is looking to hire six administrative staff and an unknown number of tech experts.

On May 29, the first round of bids in support of the regulation expired. These included the AI Innovation Accelerator, a center that provides training, technical standards, and software and tools to promote research, support startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises, and assist public authorities that have to supervise AI. A total of €6 million is on the table. Another €2 million will finance management and €1.5 million will go to the EU’s AI testing facilities, which will, on behalf of countries’ antitrust authorities, analyze artificial intelligence models and products on the market to assure that they comply with EU rules.

Follow the Money

Finally, a total of €54 million is designated for a number of business initiatives. The EU knows it is lagging behind. According to an April report by the European Parliament’s research service, which provides data and intelligence to support legislative activities, the global AI market, which in 2023 was estimated at €130 billion, will reach close to €1.9 trillion in 2030. The lion’s share is in the United States, with €44 billion of private investment in 2022, followed by China with €12 billion. Overall, the European Union and the United Kingdom attracted €10.2 billion in the same year. According to Eurochamber researchers, between 2018 and the third quarter of 2023, US AI companies received €120 billion in investment, compared to €32.5 billion for European ones.

Europe wants to counter the advance of the new AI giants with an open source model, and it has also made its network of supercomputers available to startups and universities to train algorithms. First, however, it had to adapt to the needs of the sector, investing almost €400 million in graphics cards, which, given the current boom in demand, will not arrive anytime soon.

Among other projects to support the European AI market, the commission wants to use €24 million to launch a Language Technology Alliance that would bring together companies from different states to develop a generative AI to compete with ChatGPT and similar tools. It’s an initiative that closely resembles Gaia-X. Another €25 million is earmarked for the creation of a large open source language model, available to European companies to develop new services and research projects. The commission intends to fund several models and ultimately choose the one best suited to Europe’s needs. Overall, during the period from 2021 to 2027, the Digital Europe Program plans to spend €2.1 billion on AI. That figure may sound impressive, but it pales in comparison to the €10 billion that a single company, Microsoft, invested in OpenAI.

The €25 million being spent on the European large language model effort, if distributed to many smaller projects, risks not even counterbalancing the €15 million that Microsoft has spent bringing France’s Mistral, Europe’s most talked-about AI startup, into its orbit. The big AI models will become presences in Brussels as soon as the AI Act, now finally approved, comes into full force. In short, the commission is making it clear in every way it can that a new sheriff is in town. But will the bureaucrats of Brussels be adequately armed to take on Big Tech? Only one thing is certain—it’s not going to be an easy task.

[hazwani1]

Week 7: Social Media and Public Health: A Platform for Dialogue or One-Way Messaging?

Social media has revolutionized the way public health campaigns communicate with the public. Social media refers to online social networking sites and is a broad example of Web 2.0, such as Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, Instagram, WhatsApp, and blogs. It is a new and ever-changing field. Access to the internet, social media platforms and mobile communications are all tools that can be leveraged to make health information available and accessible. (Kanchan & Gaidhane, 2023). But are these campaigns truly leveraging the interactive potential of these platforms, or are they simply using them as digital megaphones?

The One-Way Messaging Approach

Many public health campaigns still rely on traditional, one-way communication styles. These campaigns are typically centered around disseminating important messages, such as promoting COVID-19 vaccinations or raising awareness about mental health. For example:

The CDC’s Instagram posts during the pandemic often delivered visually appealing infographics and key health tips but rarely engaged directly with audience comments.

Similarly, campaigns like #EatHealthy often feature polished content that informs but doesn’t always invite interaction.

This approach ensures consistent messaging and allows organizations to maintain control over the narrative. However, it risks missing the mark in fostering trust or addressing specific concerns of the target audience, particularly in diverse or skeptical communities.

The Interactive Potential of Social Media

Conversely, campaigns that embrace social media as a platform for dialogue often see greater engagement and impact. Interactive features like polls, live Q&A sessions, and user-generated content can transform a campaign into a two-way conversation. Examples include:

The #ThisIsOurShot campaign, where doctors and nurses answered vaccine-related questions through live streams and short TikTok videos. This approach directly addressed misinformation and empowered users to engage with trusted professionals.

Mental health awareness campaigns like #BellLetsTalk use platforms like Twitter to encourage people to share their stories, creating a sense of community while driving the campaign's message.

These methods invite users to participate, ask questions, and share their perspectives, making them feel heard and valued.

Challenges to Fostering Dialogue

Despite the potential for interaction, creating two-way communication isn’t without its challenges. For one, public health organizations may struggle with the volume of responses and questions, especially during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the onset of COVID-19, incidents of racism and xenophobia have been occurring globally, especially toward people of East Asian appearance and descent. In response, this article investigates how an online Asian community has utilized social media to engage in cathartic expressions, mutual care, and discursive activism amid the rise of anti-Asian racism and xenophobia during COVID-19 (Abidin & Zeng, 2020). In the era of COVID-19, SAT has developed into a congregational Facebook hub for the Asian diaspora. SAT's 1000+ daily posts from its members have quickly shifted to reflecting on what it means to be "Asian" during the pandemic, from promoting "quarantine trends" (such as homemade dalgona coffees that require the effort of whipped coffee and milk but are Instagram worthy to simulate the café experience; and recommendations of Korean dramas in every genre to soothe the soul) to making fun of Asian mothers' pseudo-scientific anti-COVID remedies.

Additionally, misinformation and trolling can disrupt meaningful conversations.

To mitigate these issues, organizations can use strategies such as:

Employing community managers to monitor and respond to comments.

Partnering with influencers who align with the campaign's goals and can engage directly with their followers.

Providing clear guidelines for respectful dialogue to maintain a positive online environment.

The Sweet Spot: Balancing Information and Engagement

The most effective public health campaigns strike a balance between delivering essential information and fostering meaningful interaction. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) frequently uses Instagram Stories to post health tips while also utilizing the "Ask Me Anything" feature to respond to followers' queries in real time. This dual approach ensures that their messages are both informative and engaging.

In conclusion, while many public health campaigns on social media remain rooted in one-way communication, the potential for meaningful dialogue is immense. By leveraging the interactive features of these platforms and actively engaging with their audience, public health organizations can not only amplify their messages but also build trust, address concerns, and foster lasting behavioural change.

References

Abidin, C., & Zeng, J. (2020). Feeling Asian Together: Coping With #COVIDRacism on Subtle Asian Traits. Social Media + Society, 6(3), 205630512094822. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120948223

Kanchan, S., & Gaidhane, A. (2023). Social Media Role and Its Impact on Public Health: a Narrative Review. Cureus, 15(1), e33737. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.33737

‌ Kwai, I. (2018, December 11). How “Subtle Asian Traits” Became a Global Hit. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/11/world/australia/subtle-asian-traits-facebook-group.html

[emlovesredbull]

the main 4 as teenagers

or how i imagine them at least....

stan marsh

-tried to stay away from weed to avoid being like randy (it doesn't work)

-he's not addicted, he just has easy access to weed and likes the feeling it gives him

-massive alcoholic

-he doesn't enjoy going to parties, but there's free alcohol there so he usually takes a stash to the bathroom or a more private area to be alone

-smokes with kenny behind the school when he gets bored with class

-dyed his hair blonde after his dad called stan his mini-me

-has really shaggy bangs, but his hair is weirdly soft (he accidentally used shelley's shampoo one time and now he can't stop)

-mostly c's with a few b's

-always listening to music during class and then proceeds to complain about never knowing what's going on

-the quarterback of the football team and actually very good at it???

-pretty tall, about 6'1

-has a notebook filled with song ideas, but never records/performs the songs he writes

-drives a slightly beat up ford bronco

-wears a lot of baggy clothes, especially sweatshirts

-has a VERY bad depression room (lowkey me too)

-coaches kid's football over the summer for extra cash

kyle

-very smart, 4.0 gpa (he won't rub it in your face though)

-amazing at basketball but underestimates himself and gets very bad anxiety every single tryout season

-slight germophobe

-pretty clean person, likes a tidy room, but whenever he gets busy it gets a little messy sometimes

-tallest of the friendgroup, 6'4, but nobody knows where it came from because both of his parents are super short

-very bad at all of the videogames and always comes last when the boys play

-doesn't smoke, but he drinks occasionally

-not a party boy, he'd much rather stay in, but sometimes kenny and stan drag him to functions

-he stands by the snack table and somehow always ends up helping a really drunk person

-gained better anger management strategies, but it's still fairly easy to make him tick

-drives a white subaru legacy

-sheila makes sure he always looks presentable, so he wears a lot of sweaters and jeans

-he still wears a hat to cover up his curls

-took up guitar a couple years after his guitar hero phase, but it usually sits in the corner untouched

-cancels plans a lot because sheila makes him pick up ike

kenny

-shows up to everything high (asked randy how to grow weed and started a little garden in his backyard)

-mostly c's with a few d's s

-usually leaves in the middle of the school day to go work one of his jobs

-pulls up to random snapchat functions with stan (and kyle)

-is the drummer in a band

-has very shaggy and somewhat long hair

-has a reputation as a playboy

-karen is always painting his nails different colors

-drives a beat-up truck he found in the junkyard (kevin helped him hotwire it)

-secretly really enjoys romcoms

-also enjoys the playboy magazines he sells to the middle school boys

-has been kicked out of target 34 times

-his clothes are kind of old and torn, so he adopted a grunge style so it looked natural

-treats girls surprisingly good because of his experience with his little sister

-speaking of karen, he saves a little bit of every paycheck to buy her something special

-spends the night in his car (with karen ofc) sometimes after his parents fight

-is 5'11

cartman

-worked at kfc but got fired for eating the skin off of people's chicken and then serving it to them

-throws parties sometimes and people only go to them to trash his house

-surprisingly gets straight a's

-varsity bench rider for football, but by the way he brags about it you'd think he's starting (he's a linebacker btw)

-genuinely believes he has abs (he does not, and the girls would like him to put his shirt back on)

-is famous on twitch, youtube and twitter for his gameplay and commentary (he's like a teenage boy trisha paytas)

-has the ice cream tiktok boy hairstyle and thinks it makes him look cool

-is like 5'8

-has a very basic style, and pretty much only wears nike

-runs an anonymous advice tiktok account and gaslights people into believing his bad advice

-drives a red convertible he BEGGED liane for

-doesn't really smoke, but he likes vaping and alcohol

-listens to edm music and everyone else despises it

-pretended to be a serial killer one time because he thought it was funny

-the teachers hate him because he's super loud and disruptive in their classes, but he's super smart effortlessly

-doesn't use deodorant

-or shower multiple times in a week

-his hair is very greasy

-definitely has a discord kitten because none of the girls at school like him

[xoxovalerie-c]

Blog Post Week 2: Due 9/6

How can modern social media platforms better amplify diverse voices to foster a more inclusive environment? 

What strategies can be employed to ensure that stories are being given a fair representation?

Social media has a long and evolving history, continuously shaping and impacting society in numerous ways. In the book, News for all the people: The story of race and the American media, by Joseph Torres and Juan Gonzalez. Discussed how racial segregation has been a prominent topic in media coverage. Writers would publish their works with the intent of reaching a targeted audience. For instance, if the general population was white people, stories portraying non-whites as dangerous were often propagated to justify and enforce new government policies. It’s important to note that the spread of such news often led to changes that were designed only to protect one specific racial group. Minority groups were marginalized, so they decided to take action by starting their own small newsletter businesses to speak out about the issues they were facing. This made a significant impact, as people from other groups began reading these newsletters for alternative perspectives. Today, this is one of the reasons so many newsletters exist. In the industry, professionals are taught the importance of telling stories that resonate nationwide, as it helps bring greater attention to important issues. In the hope of creating an inclusive environment on social media.

How does the concept of critique of domination and exploitation described by Fuchs manifest in the business practices?

Critical thinking has been essential for social media because it helps users spot fake information and avoid being misled. It also allows for social users to understand how recycled information works because media ownership is a huge thing. Once users see information in numerous sites they confirm the information as factual. It enables people to have a more meaningful and respectful discussion by questioning and considering different viewpoints. In the article, Social Media a critical introduction, by Christian Fuchs, mentions the different roles that critical thinking sets up for media. One dimension of critical thinking theory is critique of domination and exploitation. Domination means that one group benefits at the expense of others and has the means of violence at hand that they can use for upholding the situation where the one benefits at the expense of others. Exploitation is a specific form of domination, in which one group controls property and has the means to force others to work so that they produce goods or property that they do not own themselves, but they owning class controls (Fuchs, 2014). I think Instagram is a clear example of this theory in action. It offers a variety of features similar to those found on  other platforms—such as stories like Snapchat, videos like YouTube, and short clips called Reels like Tik Tok. However, it can be likely that Instagram can collect users data and sella it for targeted advertising. Users may not even realize their content is being used for marketing purposes and do not receive compensation for it.

How can increasing awareness of domination and exploitation help users today?

Today it affects the world as many of us are users of many different platforms. It can help us be more informed on how our privacy is being invaded or how we are choosing to put it out there. Overall, this awareness helps us navigate the digital landscape more responsibly and advocate for better practices in social media and digital content creation.

Gonzalez, J., & Torres, J. (2021). News for all the people. Power and Inequality, 223–231. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315201511-28

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social Media: A Critical Introduction. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446270066

[yourflowersfirst]

day 1,460- june 30. exactly 4 years.

trigger warning

pages 272-280

imagine, for a few minutes, that you’re me. maybe not the best thing to imagine. do it anyway, humor me a bit. 

you’ve been a girl on the internet since you were 10 years old, due to loneliness and boredom since you live in ohio. you have few friends and feel some deep rooted desire to be special to someone. it’s genetic. since that age, you’ve been both restricting how much food you eat and a thing for adult men to enjoy sexually. that second thing started when you were 6, actually, but that’s a small detail. unimportant for now.

so, you’ve been an object from the day you gained consciousness. you eventually go into middle school and you’re ugly, the ugliest bitch to walk the earth. you have crooked teeth, glasses, and stupid red hair. not to mention too many freckles. boys ask you out as a joke or as a dare, or straight up call you ugly to your face. you play minecraft a lot and listen to pierce the veil or sleeping with sirens or bring me the horizon. you play clarinet. you have some friends, and men online still like to call you a cumslut and tell you that you have “fuck me” eyes. so maybe it's not all bad. at least you're attractive to someone. even if they are in their 30’s.

high school starts and you don’t gain any weight during puberty. you grow taller but you stay 93 pounds. you grow out your bangs and stop begging your mother to let you dye your hair. the red hair is okay, you decide. not pretty, but okay. you love marching band (specifically bass clarinet now) and horseback riding, and start dating some men and women in band but they’re all terrible to you. one in particular plays tenor drums and begs you to send nudes to him every other night on snapchat. you say yes to keep him happy, and for a time, this strategy works. he’s funny in a self deprecating way, but the deprecation gets old really fast. he's your first kiss but it's kind of disgusting. you’re 14 and a half. he dumps you over text months later. 

you date a girl a year later who also doesn’t like eating. you’re forced to consume calories by the eating disorder clinic you’re forced to go to. your mom sneaks ensure shakes into your food. you still aren’t gaining weight- between marching band and purging, you stay 93 pounds as you turn 16 and begin driving. you have to be hospitalized and a tube is forced in your nose. you do finally gain a bit of weight- 93 morphs into 99. the doctors at the eating disorder clinic cheer and tell you its progress; you want to carve your skin off.

said girl is triggering you, constantly. she's losing weight and encourages you both to not eat- inadvertently. you’re toxic together but you love her a lot. your band friends are sick of hearing you bitch about these things, so you two eventually break up. men resume taking advantage of you and you’re an object once again.

you do have some good memories from high school- mostly from band, mostly the trombones and your younger sister being your family and loving you when you cannot love yourself. you treasure them and miss them all the time years from now, even though they probably don't think about you much.

as you get closer to graduating high school, you date some older guys for a time. boys in your school don't look at you twice. you’re never truly happy with them; they keep hurting you over and over. physically and mentally. your mom cries because of you a lot. your grades, your mental illnesses, the boys you date. they all hurt her heart, and yours is almost nonexistent anymore.

you graduate high school and move 2,500 miles away. it feels freeing, you love it. you can starve yourself in peace but the birth control you were forced on makes you gain weight despite eating close to nothing. you love the palm trees and cacti and dutch bros coffee. your freckles get dark due to all the sun. you get an A in your criminology seminar. you lose your virginity in the back of your shitty car to a man who swears up and down he loves you, then ghosts you 2 weeks later. you start doing online sex work. if you’re gonna be objectified and exploited, might as well make money off it. you meet vincent, one of your best friends. you and him go to local bands house shows all the time, and enjoy getting coffee and playing star wars MMORPGs together. covid happens.

you move back to ohio during quarantine, spending march-august of 2020 stuck in the rural midwest. the summer approaching is still. quiet. almost dead. cicadas cry out every night and you lay out in the grass of your childhood home's backyard, hoping to sink into the dirt.

you turn 19. you start dating kyle, someone you kind of knew a few years ago but reconnected with via instagram once covid hit. he is sweet and good and has adorable cats. though you're allergic to said cats. he is tall and big and kisses you good. you two mostly drive around exploring springfield, yellow springs, dayton. or you’re napping together, which is way less fun. your ‘96 chevy malibu always smells like smoke and warm motes of dust. the sun is out often. you and your sister are best friends and hang out as frequently as possible.

something shifts. it’s subtle, hardly noticeable. but there’s an unease, like something is about to snap. your boyfriend judges you, ignores your wants, and makes off putting comments, but it’s not too bad, right?

kyle is no longer sweet and good. somehow you missed the signs, or maybe he manipulated you expertly, who knows? something shifted in him weeks after you began dating; he is now demanding and cruel. he yells at you and calls you a whore, a bitch, a dumb anorexic. he wants things from you. always wanting and taking, never giving anything in return. his bedroom stinks like kitty litter and sweat. he tells you to stop being friends with every guy you know or else he’ll “do something about it”. you’re suddenly isolated and friendless altogether, scared shitless of your own boyfriend. one of your friends is deployed in the navy. your other friends don’t hear from you for hours, days, weeks. you disappear. if you disobey and text someone- especially a man, kyle yells at and threatens you. every time you try to break up with him, he drives to your house with a bat or knife. sitting, waiting. you tell no one. you’re terrified he’ll make good on one of his threats.

one day, he does. you’re crying at his place over your weight- is 110 pounds fat? kyle starts kissing you and feeling you, he’s getting hard. you’re not reciprocating, you’re too distraught, too full of self loathing. he starts initiating sex with you; you try to wiggle out of his grasp, but he pins you down. you say “no”. he forgets what “stop” means. he isn’t listening to you begging him to get off you, to get out of you. he’s twice your size, and he has crawled in and infected any goodness you have left, pinning you down and leaving gross marks. this is the first of many times this will happen.

when you try to get away next time, a few days later, he grabs one of his smaller knives and digs it into your back. you’re crying. he’s still fucking you. it hurts. you’re bleeding from your groin and your lower spine. he doesn’t care. he spits down at you, sneers, grabs your hair so hard it gets ripped out.

you’re glad you’re on birth control now. it’s the first week of july, 2020, and you live and die at kyle’s words. whatever he wants, he gets, whenever he wants it. never mind that he lives 40 minutes away in his grandparents' garage. every time you try to leave him, he drives to your house, threatens you and your sister. the police, you knew, won’t believe a word you say. so you wait and endure, despite the permanent damage he will do to you.

you’re raped at least once a week. any sexual desire you once felt was gone, bleeding out on the floor over and over again. you have bruises everywhere except your face. your parents raise their eyebrows but don’t ask questions; you’re an adult now and can handle this alone. you have 2 friends: your sister and a girl you knew from band. that’s it. kyle looks at your activity and location, always. if you’re online but ignoring his texts, he calls you. tells you he’s coming over. tells you he wants to marry you. tells you that you’re his and no one else’s. tells you that he just doesn’t trust you to be friends with anyone else. makes you cry so often that when you go to his house, you bring your makeup to touch up when your mascara and eyeliner run. 

finally, august rolls around. you have to go back to asu, go live with vincent. kyle lets you leave, but promises to book a flight every 4 weeks to make sure you're on your best behavior. you sneakily don’t tell him your apartment’s new address. the day you board the plane to go to tempe, you block kyle on everything, tell your sister to keep an eye out. he, thankfully, stops driving to your childhood home. he is out of your life.

you are finally free. 

except you’re not.

a few weeks later, the nightmares begin. violent, visceral, ultra realistic. constantly reliving the assaults. online classes are impossible to focus in when you keep having flashbacks and are very sleep deprived. you wake up screaming every other morning. you never want to date a man again. not after kyle was so sweet in the beginning, but so monstrous near the end. you blame yourself. it’s your fault. you should have fought harder, screamed louder. it wasn’t “real” rape. maybe you are just a stupid slut. maybe you asked for it, maybe you should have known better and seen the signs, maybe you like it rough, maybe you provoked him. you feel dirty and used, more than you ever did at 6 years old. you have multiple panic attacks a day. your grades slip. once you had all A’s, now you’re lucky if you manage a C. you rarely get out of bed. you’re scared of most men but feel stupid for being so scared. when you do leave your bedroom, you’re half dead, a zombie. thick bags under your eyes, classes dropped, no hobbies other than watching tv and movies. no friends minus vincent, your roommate.

you get a dog named fuji who helps you tremendously. she is obnoxious and has her problems but you love her. she gives you a reason to not kill yourself, though you desperately want to. you stay alive only for fuji and your little sister. you cut yourself again, the same way you did in high school. you’re punishing yourself for being a slut, but at least you aren't dead yet. it's 2021. the scars eventually white over and fade over time, but they have still not gone away completely.

a year goes by, then 2, then 3. it does get easier- you try therapy, but it’s expensive. time, your friends, and the dry heat has healed you the most. you tell your family about what kyle did, and they don’t know what to say. they’re not outraged or weepy the way families of rape victims are on tv shows. maybe they don’t care or understand. you slowly repair old friendships he destroyed, and you build new ones from scratch, too. it feels good to know they’re safe from him. you consider pressing charges but know you won’t be believed, not by the police, prosecution, or a jury. the defense will claim you just like rough sex and want revenge after a bad breakup by falsely accusing him. plus you're a sex worker and will never get the benefit of the doubt. "where's the evidence?" people will ask, and it makes you nauseous to think that your story isn't evidence enough. you grow your hair out, continue doing said sex work, and it makes you a good amount of money. plus, it helps your confidence, and you know you’re safe in this environment. this is sex on your own terms, and you can say “no” whenever you want and know you won’t get in trouble. it's just a job- 99% acting, but there's a release in it. it’s weirdly cathartic. people judge you all the time, you get death threats from strangers. your skin grows incredibly thick. you’re not hurting anyone and you’re making money from what is all acting and making social media posts- the death threats are laughable. nothing in your mind could be as bad as kyle.

you do try to date again, a year and a half after you escaped kyle. to no avail. men still don’t want you. girls don’t notice you. this is a fact that never seems to change, even today. men lead you on but they always eventually leave, or they show their true colors and you need to leave them. many judge you for being raped or for doing sex work, or both. you make your peace with this. someday, you hope, you won’t be alone romantically. when the time is right and you meet the right person. someone nonjudgmental, someone totally safe and reassuring, warm, someone who makes you laugh and feel pretty. someone who will respect and still love you when you say “no”. you still have hope. for now, you are content to love your friends, family, dog. you do wish someone would hold you, though. someone to hold you with no undertones of violence, no threat of them leaving you like others have.

it has been 4 years since kyle first raped you. you feel mostly okay most of the time. you eat at least one meal a day, you go for runs, you got contact lenses, tattoos you designed, and hair extensions. people from middle/high school say you’re so pretty now, most likely not as a joke the way it was when you were 12. you laugh. they didn’t notice you then, and you don’t notice them now. many from high school still live in rural ohio, most stayed right in central ohio. you listen to ethel cain and it reminds you of them and that town.

your college grades have improved a lot the past 2 years. in person classes resuming and the time to heal from kyle helped you tremendously. you make the dean’s list in the spring of 2024. you only have panic attacks once or twice a month, and you only have nightmares about kyle once a week, maybe less. it’s still achy and painful but a lot less so. the wounds are slightly more cauterized. you sometimes dissociate pretty badly during consensual sex but you’re working on it. sometimes these regular sexual encounters end up physically hurting, too, leaving you painfully sore and tender between your legs. leftover damage that hasn’t healed completely from how violently kyle assaulted you. but you take some tylenol and deal with it. you write about your life and it is better than therapy; getting it all out of your system is a giant wave of helpless relief. you have a good group of friends (you think), and you’re looking to rent a new apartment now. you still have your dog and your job and you graduate college in 5 weeks. you will probably start your "real" job at terros health not long after that.

you’re nosy. one day in 2024, you look up kyle’s instagram on your shitpost account. he has a new girlfriend and a son now. the kid is about a year and a half old, and you pray to god he turns out nothing like his father. 

okay, you’re no longer me now. all of that is my truth, laid out and bare. you can ignore it if you want. i just need to write it down or else i’ll go fucking crazy. today marks exactly 4 years since kyle raped me for the first time. and i want anyone out there reading this to know they’re not alone. you’re so loved by me. you’re not dirty or disgusting, you’re holy and perfect and clean. i will take care of you, i will treat you gently. show me the darkest parts of your soul and i’ll show you how it still shines like precious gold. no one took care of me and it almost destroyed me; now i have to give what i was denied. just because you endured horrible things doesn’t mean you’re broken. hell, look at me. i nearly died a bunch of times and i’m still here; my heart regrew and is bigger than ever these days, no longer nonexistent. that’s something, isn’t it? i bare my teeth without meaning to. i try to be gentle. i apologize, for now my love leaves scars. as fragmented, imperfect beings, mine is a never ending quest. a quest to find my purpose knowing my end is assured. to find the strength to continue when all strength has left me. i'm stronger than you'd think. it takes a hell of a lot to find joy even when darkness descends and, amidst deepest despair, my light everlasting.

i didn’t deserve what i went through.

no one deserves anything like this. all i can do is cope with what happened to me against my will, exhale, and try to go on living.