Instagram is teeming with these conspiracy theories, viral misinformation, and extremist memes, all daisy-chained together via a network of accounts with incredible algorithmic reach and millions of collective followers—many of whom, are very young. These accounts intersperse TikTok videos and nostalgia memes with anti-vaccination rhetoric, conspiracy theories about George Soros and the Clinton family, and jokes about killing women, Jews, Muslims, and liberals.
A BBC investigation has found extreme material encouraging and glamorising eating disorders on the social media platform Instagram.
It's disappointing to see people and organisations who should know better, sharing alarmist misinformation about Momo - again. I thought we'd dealt with this last time it appeared in our timelines on socialmedia.
However, if you believe a child is vulnerable, could easily be pursuaded by strangers to take their own life, and does not receive ongoing guidance and support from a parent or carer, then seek professional help for that child immediately.
The following article provides a clear overview of the Momo issue.
...And a flyer for parents by National Online Safety is here
A study from researchers at the University of Vermont and the University of Adelaide found that access to as few as eight of our contacts is enough to enable predictive or machine learning technologies to achieve up to 95% accuracy in guessing what a person will post.
From an abstract of the study, titled “Information flow reveals prediction limits in online social activity” and published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour on Monday:
Information is so strongly embedded in a social network that, in principle, one can profile an individual from their available social ties even when the individual forgoes the platform completely.
The Children’s Commissioner for England, working with Tes and Schillings, have produced three teaching packs to help young people become more empowered digital citizens.
These packs include lesson ideas and simplified T&Cs for five major social media sites: Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube.
Girls’ much-higher rate of depression than boys is closely linked to the greater time they spend on social media, and online bullying and poor sleep are the main culprits for their low mood, new research reveals.
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