social media Archives - News@91亚色 /news/tag/social-media/ Tue, 04 Jun 2024 19:11:47 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Mattering must be central in youth suicide prevention: 91亚色 expert /news/2024/05/29/mattering-must-be-central-in-youth-suicide-prevention-york-expert/ Wed, 29 May 2024 14:00:43 +0000 /news/?p=19827 Youth suicide is a growing concern in Canada, the U.S., and around the world, with some research suggesting this might be linked with excessive social media use in vulnerable teens. With Mental Health Awareness Month closing out this week, 91亚色 Psychology Professor Gordon Flett says he was motivated by a growing sense of alarm and frustration when undertaking a review of studies on mattering and youth suicide for his latest research.

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With rising suicide rates and evidence pilling up on dangers of excessive social-media use, 91亚色 researcher in mattering and 鈥榓nti-mattering,鈥 says letting adolescents know they matter is more important than ever

TORONTO, May 29, 2024 鈥 Youth suicide is a growing concern in Canada, the U.S., and around the world, with some research suggesting this might be linked with excessive social media use in vulnerable teens. With Mental Health Awareness Month closing out this week, 91亚色 Psychology says he was motivated by a growing sense of alarm and frustration when undertaking a review of studies on mattering and youth suicide .

Headshot of Professor Gordon Flett
Professor Gordon Flett

Mattering is feeling significant in the eyes of other people, which is further linked to feeling that people are noticing you and keeping track of you, and that you are contributing to other people鈥檚 lives. 鈥淎nti-mattering,鈥 a term coined by Flett to describe the feeling of not mattering, is the opposite: feeling unseen, unheard, and unimportant to others.

鈥淚t's shocking how many indicators there are of an increased problem with young people, including a study that was done in Canada, based on pandemic data last year,鈥 says Flett, Canada Research Chair in Personality and Health. 鈥淣o matter how you measure it, if you're feeling a sense of mattering, you're less likely to have suicidal ideation, less likely to have a plan less likely to have an actual attempt. But if you feel like you don't matter, it goes the other way.鈥

The paper, just published in the new journal Child Protection and Practice, is the first to review the scientific literature on youth suicide and mattering.  Flett took a look at the situation for younger people after seeing the benefits in his recent research on mattering and suicidality among university students.  For this article, he examined a dozen studies and found mattering to be central to protection against youth suicide, and the feeling of not mattering to be a central risk.

Flett says one reason for growing rates of youth suicide might be linked social media, with new research by Flett and colleagues linking excessive social media with fears and feelings of not mattering in youth. Negative interactions online or not feeling seen or heard might be extra risk factors for youth who are already vulnerable, although Flett says the feeling of mattering acts as a shield.

鈥淲e now have data confirming that both anti-mattering and fear of not mattering are linked with elevated social-media addiction scores. Youth characterized jointly by social-media addiction and anti-mattering will be quite vulnerable,鈥 says Flett. 鈥淗owever, people who are high in mattering are more interpersonally resilient. So if they get slagged online, for instance, they're not going to take it to heart as opposed to the person who will internalize.鈥

Some of the research on youth goes back decades and given the strong evidence, he argues the concept of mattering should become key to suicide-prevention policy.

Flett says that while 鈥淵ou Matter鈥 is a popular slogan in the U.S., the way our mental-health system operates can often send the opposite message to those who are seeking help. 鈥淚f you're a youth and you've actually taken the brave step of saying, 鈥楬ey, I've been having these thoughts, I need help鈥 and then you can't get treatment or even an assessment in a timely manner, it's like, 鈥榃ell, here's some evidence, again, that I don't matter as much as I should.鈥

While mattering is often confused with other concepts such as self-esteem or belonging 鈥 even in some of the literature Flett has reviewed 鈥 he says mattering is neither, and is robustly protective over and above many other factors.

鈥淲hile they are correlated, self esteem is essentially feeling like you're a likable person, sometimes in terms of talent, and getting things done, but mattering is the feeling that others essentially care about you,鈥 explains Flett. 鈥淎nd you can be part of a group, but it doesn't mean you'll be recognized or valued within the group. It can feel worse in a way if you belong but don鈥檛 matter.鈥

While mattering matters for everyone, Flett says some youth, especially racialized, LGBTQ+ and those with difficult family situations and living in poverty, need to hear this message more.

In the U.S, there has been an estimated increase of suicide rates by almost four per cent annually among males between 2009-2020 and almost seven per cent among females between 2007 and 2017. While there are no definitive studies for the most recent years for Canada as a whole, Manitoba reports a 42 per cent increase in youth suicides for 2022-2023 versus the previous reporting period, and the Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth鈥檚 office saw three times as many suicide attempts by young people in care versus the previous year.

For parents or others interacting with youth, Flett says spending time with them, listening to them and validating their feelings will help youth feel as if they matter.

Flett鈥檚 top advice: Show them they matter. Show them you care.

鈥淏ottom line is, if somebody knows that they matter to someone they care about, then they have a reason to not do something that's risky towards themselves. And then they can internalize that message, to start to matter to themselves.鈥

About 91亚色

91亚色 is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91亚色鈥檚 fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario鈥檚 Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contacts: Emina Gamulin, 91亚色 Media Relations and External Communications, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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91亚色 students cut out social media for a week. The results 鈥榓mazed鈥 researchers /news/2024/05/06/york-university-students-cut-out-social-media-for-a-week-the-results-amazed-researchers/ Mon, 06 May 2024 15:00:00 +0000 /news/?p=19697 The post 91亚色 students cut out social media for a week. The results 鈥榓mazed鈥 researchers appeared first on News@91亚色.

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Social-media break has huge impact on young women鈥檚 body image: 91亚色 U study /news/2024/04/30/social-media-break-has-huge-impact-on-young-womens-body-image-york-u-study/ Tue, 30 Apr 2024 20:00:00 +0000 /news/?p=19641 There鈥檚 a large and growing body of evidence pointing to potentially negative impacts of social media on mental health, from its addictive nature to disruptions in sleep patterns to effects on body image. Now, a new study coming out of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health found young women who took a social media break for as little as one week had a significant boost in self-esteem and body image 鈥 particularly those most vulnerable to thin-ideal internalization.

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Psychology prof says online exposure to idealized images creates 鈥榠nfinite鈥 opportunities for comparison  

TORONTO, May 01, 2024 鈥 There鈥檚 a large and growing body of evidence pointing to potentially negative impacts of social media on mental health, from its addictive nature to disruptions in sleep patterns to effects on body image. Now, found young women who took a social media break for as little as one week had a significant boost in self-esteem and body image 鈥 particularly those most vulnerable to thin-ideal internalization.

Headshot of Professor Jennifer Mills
Professor Jennifer Mills

鈥淭he statistician inside me was excited  鈥  we don't often see effect sizes this large in my area of psychology research because human behaviour is complicated and there's lots of variability,鈥 says Psychology Professor , co-author of the paper. 鈥淲e hope this study can be used to help protect young people and influence social media companies to give users more agency in how they interact with these platforms.鈥

The paper, out this week in the journal Body Image, is thought to be the first to look specifically at social-media breaks and body image. Mills, whose lab has been on the forefront of this kind of research, collaborated on the paper with graduate researcher Lindsay Samson and undergraduate Olivia Smith, both students at 91亚色. They expected that there might be recruitment challenges, but it turns out there was enthusiasm for taking a social media pause among the 66 first-year female undergraduates who participated. Half were instructed to continue their social media as per usual, while the other half were given instructions to refrain from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok and other social media use for one week. They conducted baseline surveys before the experiment, and tested the participants again after the week was over.

鈥淭here's natural variability in how people feel about their bodies and about themselves in general, so we took that into account statistically, and even after that there were still significant differences between the groups after one week,鈥 says Mills, who is also the director of clinical training for the graduate psychology program.

The differences in the social media landscape are remarkable compared to when Mills started researching eating disorders and the effects of media, like magazines aimed at women.

鈥淏ack then, you could only spend so many minutes or hours looking at fashion and beauty magazines and they only came out once a month. There was a finite amount of content that you would be exposed to. With social media it's infinite. It's always new and novel, which triggers our brain's reward system that makes us want more and more of something.鈥

Mills says the improvements found in this study might be explained both by women spending far less time engaging in behaviours known to have a detrimental effect, such as comparisons with others, but they may have also replaced social media with healthier behaviours.

鈥淚f we're spending more time in real life, socializing with friends, getting sleep, getting outdoors, getting exercise, there could be secondary behaviours that fill the void left by social media. Future research will try to disentangle that.鈥

About 91亚色

91亚色 is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91亚色鈥檚 fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario鈥檚 Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contacts: Emina Gamulin, 91亚色 Media Relations and External Communications, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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Social media use one of four factors related to higher COVID-19 spread rates early on /news/2021/06/09/social-media-use-one-of-four-factors-related-to-higher-covid-19-spread-rates-early-on/ Wed, 09 Jun 2021 18:00:16 +0000 https://news.yorku.ca/?p=16211 TORONTO, June 9, 2021 鈥 Researchers from 91亚色 and the University of British Columbia have found social media use to be one of the factors related to the spread of COVID-19 within dozens of countries during the early stages of the pandemic.

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TORONTO, June 9, 2021 鈥 Researchers from 91亚色 and the University of British Columbia have found social media use to be one of the factors related to the spread of COVID-19 within dozens of countries during the early stages of the pandemic.

The researchers say this finding resembles other examples of social media misinformation ranging from the initial phase of vaccine rollout to the 2021 Capitol riot in the United States.

Countries with high social media use leading to off-line political action prior to the pandemic, as surveyed before the pandemic by V-Dem (a database from the University of Gothenburg), showed the strongest trend toward a high R0 鈥 an indicator of how many secondary infections one infected individual is likely to cause 鈥 and a faster initial spread of the virus. For example, Canada when compared to the United States had a lower level of social media use leading to off-line action and a lower R0. A set of multiple factors, including social media, could explain the different outcomes between the two countries, although the findings do not imply causation.

鈥淲hat we found was surprising, that the use of social media to organize off-line action tended to be associated with a higher spread rate of COVID-19. This highlights the need to consider the dynamic role that social media plays in epidemics,鈥 says Assistant Professor of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science, who led the research with University of British Columbia Postdoctoral Fellow Edward Tekwa.

 

The research team examined national level demographic, disease, economic, habtat, health, social and environmental characteristics that existed before the pandemic across 58 countries, including Ghana, Canada and the United States. They broke those characteristics down into covariates and analyzed which ones had the strongest associations with vulnerability to the virus before government interventions were put in place.

鈥淭he world has changed to modify R0. Social media, for example, could help rather than hurt now that we have more reliable information to pass around. But some of the factors identified in our research have not changed and could be informative for the current and future pandemics,鈥 says Tekwa.

Kong and Tekwa found a country with an intermediate number of youth (between the ages of 20 and 34), an intermediate GINI inequality factor (the amount of income inequality across a population), and a population that primarily lives in cities of more than one million people were three additional factors with the strongest relationship to the rate of spread.

鈥淲e found that with a lower youth population, the spreading was very low, while a country with an intermediate level of youth population had the highest rate of spreading of COVID-19,鈥 says Kong of the Department of Mathematics & Statistics. 鈥淚nterestingly, we found that as the youth population increases, it was associated with a lower number of cases, rather than a higher number.鈥

Pollution, temperature, and humidity did not have a strong relationship with R0. The overall goal was to find baseline epidemiological differences across countries, shape future COVID-19 research, and better understand infectious disease transmission.

What鈥檚 Next?

鈥淒ifferent countries have different characteristics that predispose them to greater vulnerability,鈥 says Kong. 鈥淲hen we are looking to compare COVID-19 progression among countries, we need to take into account those pre-existing country characteristics. The reason being is that if you just do a simple analysis the result will be misleading.鈥

Understanding the聽initial phase will help聽account for pre-existing, intrinsic differences, as regions try to identify their own best management strategy going forward. Kong says they are already using this data to inform policymakers in Africa about which communities are most vulnerable.

The was published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

-30-

91亚色聽is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91亚色's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.聽

Media Contact:

Sandra McLean, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-272-6317,聽sandramc@yorku.ca

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Could the COVID-19 pandemic kill the influencer trend? /news/2020/04/27/could-the-covid-19-pandemic-kill-the-influencer-trend/ Mon, 27 Apr 2020 12:16:42 +0000 https://news.yorku.ca/?p=14779 91亚色 expert is available to explain how influencers are changing their game TORONTO, April 27, 2020 鈥 Influencers are known for using social media to flaunt their extravagant lifestyle of luxury trips, shopping hauls and fine dining but the COVID-19 shutdown has put a stop to most of their 鈥渁spirational鈥 posts, says Mangala Rao-D鈥橲a, […]

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91亚色 expert is available to explain how influencers are changing their game

TORONTO, April 27, 2020 鈥 Influencers are known for using social media to flaunt their extravagant lifestyle of luxury trips, shopping hauls and fine dining but the COVID-19 shutdown has put a stop to most of their 鈥渁spirational鈥 posts, says Mangala Rao-D鈥橲a, an influencer marketing expert in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Continuing Studies.

D鈥橲a, who is an instructor in 91亚色鈥檚 聽certificate program, says influencers, who earn money from brands by posting sponsored social media content, are having to pivot. With most people staying at home, paid influencers are switching it up to promote more of a back-to-basics lifestyle.

鈥淓veryone is on their screens right now and they鈥檙e hungry for content so influencers are capitalizing on this by creating different content,鈥 says D鈥橲a.

鈥淧rior to COVID-19, influencers were sharing a lot of aspirational content like travelling the world and showing how they are leading their best life,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hese influencers have now pivoted to more of a community focus and they鈥檙e sharing how they are leading their best COVID-19 life indoors 鈥 doing workout videos, cooking meals at home and giving back to their communities.鈥

The World Health Organization has even recognized the power of influencers. WHO has teamed up with influencers to spread safe practices to combat the virus and solicit donations to its COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

D鈥橲a says mega influencers, like celebrity Taylor Swift and media mogul Arianna Huffington,聽are also using their Instagram accounts to urge millions of their fans to practice social distancing and follow the recommendations from public health officials. Canadian influencers are helping too, she says, citing the example of actor Ryan Reynolds amplifying Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser鈥檚 Twitter call for medical supplies for front-line health care workers, which sparked a crush of donations.

For paid influencers, companies are still relying on them to keep their brands top of mind for consumers.

鈥淏rands are using influencers to stay relevant to people so that when the stay-at-home order is relaxed, influencers will show their followers how to come back to their favourite brands,鈥 explains D鈥橲a. 鈥淏rands still want to stay engaged and top of mind during this time with their community, but still in a way that is authentic to the brand.鈥

D鈥橲a is a senior marketing executive with more than 20 years of experience working in the food and retail sectors. She has an MBA in digital transformation and is an expert in influencer marketing, digital marketing and advertising

She can comment on:

  • How influencers are changing their game during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Why brands are still using influencers to promote their products and services
  • How mega influencers are using their voices to combat the virus
  • The difference between mega, macro and micro influencers and why it matters
  • How brands are planning to use influencers once the shutdown ends

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥 our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91亚色 Media Relations, 647-654-9452,聽vthomps@yorku.ca

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Why are youth flocking to TikTok to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic? /news/2020/04/02/why-are-youth-flocking-to-tiktok-to-cope-with-the-covid-19-pandemic/ Thu, 02 Apr 2020 12:52:10 +0000 https://news.yorku.ca/?p=14620 91亚色 expert available to explain impacts of digital overconsumption on youth TORONTO, April 2, 2020 鈥 Young people in isolation at home during the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming so immersed in social media that it could be damaging their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being, says Faculty of Education Professor Kate Tilleczek. With the COVID-19 […]

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91亚色 expert available to explain impacts of digital overconsumption on youth

TORONTO, April 2, 2020 鈥 Young people in isolation at home during the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming so immersed in social media that it could be damaging their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being, says Faculty of Education Professor .

With the COVID-19 school closures across Canada, youths are using their newfound free time to post TikTok videos of themselves complaining about the virus, lamenting about the healthcare crisis and doing choreographed quarantine dances.

Tilleczek, an expert on global youth well-being and the social development of youth, says the COVID-19 crisis has left many young people missing everything from cancelled sports games to human contact with their friends. She鈥檚 most concerned that they鈥檙e overconsuming 鈥渄igital junk food鈥 online to cope.

鈥淵oung people are using apps like TikTok to laugh, share, find joy and be social with their friends, but at the root of it, they鈥檙e looking for hope and a sense of belonging,鈥 says Tilleczek, who is Canada Research Chair in Young Lives, Education & Global Good.

鈥淏efore the COVID-19 pandemic, youth were already struggling to gain balance in this digital world. My fear now is that young people are glued to their phones longer and are consuming more online content that鈥檚 not educational, considered digital junk food, that will send them further out of balance in terms of their well-being,鈥 she says.

Tilleczek says there鈥檚 growing evidence that TikTok is not an open and equitable platform for young people and may have policies that encourage discrimination and bias.

She is urging youth to investigate the digital platforms they鈥檙e using, and take online breaks to reclaim their time, relationships and connections to nature. Digital cleanses from social media 鈥 even for just a few hours a day 鈥 are beneficial to their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being, she says.

Tilleczek has been examining how young people are living for the past three decades. As founder and director of the , she and her team led a in which they analyzed in-depth interviews with 185 young people, ages 16 to 24. Part of the study involved an experiment with youths living without their phones for a week.

Their study found that young people have a deep love-hate relationship with technology. They also have a deeply ingrained connection to their phones, while simultaneously feeling despair that technology is taking over their lives. Tilleczek鈥檚 research also showed that young people welcome the experience of a digital break to reclaim their time and relationships outside of digital spaces and screens.

She can comment on:

  • Why TikTok is so appealing to young people during the COVID-19 crisis
  • Tips for young people to survive digital breaks
  • Why taking digital cleanses are a good idea during the pandemic
  • How youths are spreading misinformation about the virus on TikTok
  • The best ways for young people to balance their real life and their digital world

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥 our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91亚色 Media Relations, 647-654-9452,聽vthomps@yorku.ca

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Why are youth flocking to TikTok to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic? /news/2020/04/02/why-are-youth-flocking-to-tiktok-to-cope-with-the-covid-19-pandemic/ Thu, 02 Apr 2020 12:52:10 +0000 https://news.yorku.ca/?p=14620 91亚色 expert available to explain impacts of digital overconsumption on youth TORONTO, April 2, 2020 鈥 Young people in isolation at home during the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming so immersed in social media that it could be damaging their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being, says Faculty of Education Professor Kate Tilleczek. With the COVID-19 […]

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91亚色 expert available to explain impacts of digital overconsumption on youth

TORONTO, April 2, 2020 鈥 Young people in isolation at home during the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming so immersed in social media that it could be damaging their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being, says Faculty of Education Professor .

With the COVID-19 school closures across Canada, youths are using their newfound free time to post TikTok videos of themselves complaining about the virus, lamenting about the healthcare crisis and doing choreographed quarantine dances.

Tilleczek, an expert on global youth well-being and the social development of youth, says the COVID-19 crisis has left many young people missing everything from cancelled sports games to human contact with their friends. She鈥檚 most concerned that they鈥檙e overconsuming 鈥渄igital junk food鈥 online to cope.

鈥淵oung people are using apps like TikTok to laugh, share, find joy and be social with their friends, but at the root of it, they鈥檙e looking for hope and a sense of belonging,鈥 says Tilleczek, who is Canada Research Chair in Young Lives, Education & Global Good.

鈥淏efore the COVID-19 pandemic, youth were already struggling to gain balance in this digital world. My fear now is that young people are glued to their phones longer and are consuming more online content that鈥檚 not educational, considered digital junk food, that will send them further out of balance in terms of their well-being,鈥 she says.

Tilleczek says there鈥檚 growing evidence that TikTok is not an open and equitable platform for young people and may have policies that encourage discrimination and bias.

She is urging youth to investigate the digital platforms they鈥檙e using, and take online breaks to reclaim their time, relationships and connections to nature. Digital cleanses from social media 鈥 even for just a few hours a day 鈥 are beneficial to their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being, she says.

Tilleczek has been examining how young people are living for the past three decades. As founder and director of the , she and her team led a in which they analyzed in-depth interviews with 185 young people, ages 16 to 24. Part of the study involved an experiment with youths living without their phones for a week.

Their study found that young people have a deep love-hate relationship with technology. They also have a deeply ingrained connection to their phones, while simultaneously feeling despair that technology is taking over their lives. Tilleczek鈥檚 research also showed that young people welcome the experience of a digital break to reclaim their time and relationships outside of digital spaces and screens.

She can comment on:

  • Why TikTok is so appealing to young people during the COVID-19 crisis
  • Tips for young people to survive digital breaks
  • Why taking digital cleanses are a good idea during the pandemic
  • How youths are spreading misinformation about the virus on TikTok
  • The best ways for young people to balance their real life and their digital world

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥 our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91亚色 Media Relations, 647-654-9452,聽vthomps@yorku.ca

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Is the 鈥淜im Kardashian鈥 influencer trend dying? /news/2020/01/13/is-the-kim-kardashian-influencer-trend-dying/ Mon, 13 Jan 2020 15:03:39 +0000 https://news.yorku.ca/?p=14214 91亚色 expert is available to explain the trend of ordinary people as influencers TORONTO, January 13, 2020 鈥 Celebrity influencer marketing is shrinking in favour of regular people endorsing brands to their social media audiences, says Mangala Rao-D鈥橲a, an influencer marketing expert in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Continuing Studies. D鈥橲a, who is an instructor in […]

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91亚色 expert is available to explain the trend of ordinary people as influencers

TORONTO, January 13, 2020 鈥 Celebrity influencer marketing is shrinking in favour of regular people endorsing brands to their social media audiences, says Mangala Rao-D鈥橲a, an influencer marketing expert in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Continuing Studies.

D鈥橲a, who is an instructor in 91亚色鈥檚 certificate program, says the聽 thousands of people who descended on Toronto鈥檚 Eaton Centre this month for an impromptu meet-and-greet with four influencers 鈥 all regular people made famous on the social media platform TikTok 鈥 is proof that the influencer trend is changing.

Celebrities like reality star Kim Kardashian used to rule influencer marketing with brands relying on their social media endorsements and product plugs to generate sales. But as celebrities are working less with brands and more on marketing their own products, D鈥橲a says the new trend is for marketers to use ordinary people, known as micro-influencers, who have small communities of engaged followers.

鈥淵our traditional celebrity would be someone on TV, in movies, or making music but nowadays your neighbour could be a celebrity influencer with over a million followers,鈥 says D鈥橲a. 鈥淚nfluencers started off as brand endorsers and then became brand collaborators to then transform into creators themselves.鈥

The social media platforms of choice for most influencers are YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, with growing use of newer platforms like TikTok, explains D鈥橲a. And it can be very lucrative. The 10 highest paid YouTubers in 2019 earned a total of $162 million U.S.

Topping that list is 8-year-old toy reviewer who earned $26 million in 2019. D鈥橲a says Ryan, YouTube celebrity makeup artist , and local celebrities like 16-year-old Toronto singer are examples of ordinary people who started as micro-influencers and became mega influencers with more reach than some celebrities.

D鈥橲a is a senior marketing executive with more than 20 years of experience working in the food and retail sectors. She has an MBA in digital transformation and is an expert in influencer marketing, digital marketing and advertising.

She can comment on:

  • The evolution of influencer marketing from celebrities to ordinary people
  • Why brands are using influencers and digital marketing, instead of traditional advertising, to sell to consumers
  • What it takes to be a successful influencer
  • How regular people become paid influencers
  • What strategies retailers use to encourage people to buy their goods and services

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥 our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91亚色 Media Relations, 647-654-9452,聽vthomps@yorku.ca

The post Is the 鈥淜im Kardashian鈥 influencer trend dying? appeared first on News@91亚色.

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Managing the pressure of the 鈥業nsta-perfect鈥 holiday: Do's and Don鈥檛s /news/2019/12/11/managing-the-pressure-of-the-insta-perfect-holiday-dos-and-donts/ Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:46:27 +0000 https://news.yorku.ca/?p=14180 TORONTO, December 11, 2019聽鈥揥hether it鈥檚 that perfect airbrushed closeup or table setting at a holiday party, or the pristine beach sunset picture, the flooding of images of holiday perfection can impact our mental health. The desire to have the perfect holiday can add undue pressure for some. Psychologist and associate professor at 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty […]

The post Managing the pressure of the 鈥業nsta-perfect鈥 holiday: Do's and Don鈥檛s appeared first on News@91亚色.

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TORONTO, December 11, 2019聽鈥揥hether it鈥檚 that perfect airbrushed closeup or table setting at a holiday party, or the pristine beach sunset picture, the flooding of images of holiday perfection can impact our mental health.

The desire to have the perfect holiday can add undue pressure for some. Psychologist and associate professor at 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health Jennifer Mills says the more time people spend on social media, the lonelier they feel, and social media adds another level of social pressure.

鈥淪ocial media now means that we can make infinite comparisons between our lives and what's happening in other people's lives,鈥 says Mills.聽 鈥淕enerally people only post the good or exciting stuff on social media, so we don't have a realistic comparison showing others doing mundane things or, even more realistically, feeling upset or lonely over the holidays. Photos are usually carefully curated to show people's lives at their best. We don't get to see the disagreements, messes, and credit card statements that would show the reality of most people's lives this time of year.鈥

 

Mills was recently featured on ABC's, speaking about her research that showed the impact of taking selfies on anxiety and body image. She is available for interviews on social media and pressure during the holidays and offers the following do鈥檚 and don鈥檛s on making sound choices:

Do:

  • Make sure to get up and moving every day and spend time face-to-face with people you like.聽 But be careful where you go - the benefits of walking around the mall may be undone by other stresses. Try to get outdoors ideally or, if the weather is really bad, somewhere indoors but away from shopping and the temptation to think that we always need to be acquiring more.
  • Be judicious on what you post during the holidays. Posting on social media can intensify anxiety and erode our confidence if we don't get positive feedback from others.聽Ask yourself, do you really聽飞补苍迟听to post something, or do you just think you聽蝉丑辞耻濒诲听be posting?

顿辞苍鈥檛蝉:

  • No selfies or body shots. The risk is that you'll start to ruminate over how you look in the photo instead of holding on to a happy memory. Posting photos of things like pets, festive scenes, or Christmas trees is fine.
  • Avoid looking at other people's photos of extravagant presents or exotic travel if it makes you feel bad.

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥 our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:聽Anjum Nayyar, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 44543,聽anayyar@yorku.ca

 

 

 

 

The post Managing the pressure of the 鈥業nsta-perfect鈥 holiday: Do's and Don鈥檛s appeared first on News@91亚色.

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Managing the pressure of the 鈥業nsta-perfect鈥 holiday: Do's and Don鈥檛s /news/2019/12/11/managing-the-pressure-of-the-insta-perfect-holiday-dos-and-donts-2/ Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:46:27 +0000 https://news.yorku.ca/?p=14180 TORONTO, December 11, 2019聽鈥揥hether it鈥檚 that perfect airbrushed closeup or table setting at a holiday party, or the pristine beach sunset picture, the flooding of images of holiday perfection can impact our mental health. The desire to have the perfect holiday can add undue pressure for some. Psychologist and associate professor at 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty […]

The post Managing the pressure of the 鈥業nsta-perfect鈥 holiday: Do's and Don鈥檛s appeared first on News@91亚色.

]]>

TORONTO, December 11, 2019聽鈥揥hether it鈥檚 that perfect airbrushed closeup or table setting at a holiday party, or the pristine beach sunset picture, the flooding of images of holiday perfection can impact our mental health.

The desire to have the perfect holiday can add undue pressure for some. Psychologist and associate professor at 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health Jennifer Mills says the more time people spend on social media, the lonelier they feel, and social media adds another level of social pressure.

鈥淪ocial media now means that we can make infinite comparisons between our lives and what's happening in other people's lives,鈥 says Mills.聽 鈥淕enerally people only post the good or exciting stuff on social media, so we don't have a realistic comparison showing others doing mundane things or, even more realistically, feeling upset or lonely over the holidays. Photos are usually carefully curated to show people's lives at their best. We don't get to see the disagreements, messes, and credit card statements that would show the reality of most people's lives this time of year.鈥

 

Mills was recently featured on ABC's, speaking about her research that showed the impact of taking selfies on anxiety and body image. She is available for interviews on social media and pressure during the holidays and offers the following do鈥檚 and don鈥檛s on making sound choices:

Do:

  • Make sure to get up and moving every day and spend time face-to-face with people you like.聽 But be careful where you go - the benefits of walking around the mall may be undone by other stresses. Try to get outdoors ideally or, if the weather is really bad, somewhere indoors but away from shopping and the temptation to think that we always need to be acquiring more.
  • Be judicious on what you post during the holidays. Posting on social media can intensify anxiety and erode our confidence if we don't get positive feedback from others.聽Ask yourself, do you really聽飞补苍迟听to post something, or do you just think you聽蝉丑辞耻濒诲听be posting?

顿辞苍鈥檛蝉:

  • No selfies or body shots. The risk is that you'll start to ruminate over how you look in the photo instead of holding on to a happy memory. Posting photos of things like pets, festive scenes, or Christmas trees is fine.
  • Avoid looking at other people's photos of extravagant presents or exotic travel if it makes you feel bad.

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥 our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:聽Anjum Nayyar, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 44543,聽anayyar@yorku.ca

 

 

 

 

The post Managing the pressure of the 鈥業nsta-perfect鈥 holiday: Do's and Don鈥檛s appeared first on News@91亚色.

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