CNET: Don’t Stress, but ‘Permacrisis’ Is the 2022 Word of the Year. “Over the last few years, it’s seemed like the ‘new normal’ keeps getting weirder and darker as historical events pile up. This month the Collins Dictionary acknowledged our apparent spiral into ever darker timelines by naming ‘permacrisis’ its 2022 Word of the Year.”
RMIT University: Nine in 10 adults have been cyberbullies, study finds. “Educated and married people, irrespective of their gender, are most likely to commit cyberbullying more frequently, according to the research, but demographics are not the only factors at play. The study found other characteristics such as being outgoing or deceptive ultimately contributed to a person’s likelihood of becoming a cyberbully.”
Swansea University: Samaritans And University Report Reveals Dangers Of Social Media’s Self-Harm Content. “Social media sites are still not doing enough to tackle self-harm content being pushed to users on their sites, says Samaritans. The warning comes as new research from the charity and Swansea University found 83 per cent of social media users surveyed were recommended self-harm content on their personalised feeds, such as Instagram’s ‘explore’ and TikTok’s ‘for you’ pages, without searching for it.”
CNET: Swamped With Election Campaign Text Messages? Here’s How to Stop Them. “According to robocall blocking software company RoboKiller, Americans received 1.3 billion political campaign phone and text messages in October 2022. Fortunately, there’s a solution for the political ads bombarding your Facebook feed, mailbox or text message inbox.”
Purdue University: Developing game-based tech to detect and intervene against stress and anxiety. “A high-tech startup that uses game-based interventions to help users identify stress- and anxiety-related events in real time and receive a personalized intervention has been awarded a federal grant to partially develop its technology through research at Purdue University’s College of Engineering.”
Penn Today: The language of loneliness and depression, revealed in social media. “By analyzing Facebook posts, Penn researchers found that words associated with depression are often tied to emotions, whereas those associated with loneliness are linked to cognition.”
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Behind TikTok’s boom: A legion of traumatised, $10-a-day content moderators. “Horrific videos such as these are part and parcel of everyday work for TikTok moderators in Colombia. They told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism about widespread occupational trauma and inadequate psychological support, demanding or impossible performance targets, punitive salary deductions and extensive surveillance. Their attempts to unionise to secure better conditions have been opposed repeatedly.”
UCLA: There’s a lot of hate in the world. UCLA’s scholars are asking why and what can be done. “UCLA is launching the Initiative to Study Hate, an ambitious social impact project that brings together a broad consortium of scholars to understand and ultimately mitigate hate in its multiple forms. Supported by a $3 million gift from an anonymous donor, researchers will undertake 23 projects this year. The three-year pilot spans topics that examine the neurobiology of hate, the impact of social media hate speech on kids, the dehumanization of unhoused individuals, racial discrimination in health care settings and more.”
EurekAlert: Social media damages appearance satisfaction. “New research has discovered that social media engagement is associated with lower appearance satisfaction, and engaging with posts by friends and family is more damaging than engaging with content posted by celebrities.”
University of Bristol: Good Grief announces first mini-festival about ‘Grief + Memory’. “The hugely popular Grief Channel, a spin-off from the original Festival, now has its own YouTube channel, with all its content free to access and share…. In another development, later this year the team will launch a new website, the Grief Hub, providing curated resources and signposting to a host of organisations and content from charities and groups across the UK.”
Google Blog: Take a wellbeing break, and dive into the Rhythm Of Nature. “In Rhythm Of Nature is a digital wellbeing experience inspired by the Carl Linnaeus Flower Clock. Linneaus was a renowned 18th century botanist and taxonomist who developed a modern system to identify, name, and classify living things. His unique garden designs captured the natural circadian rhythms of different plants that would open and close their blooms in relation to the time of the day. In Rhythm With Nature aims to establish an intimate connection between humans and nature through a series of beautifully crafted breathing exercises timed by the flowers opening and closing. Essentially you are breathing with flowers that open according to your time of the day.”
PsyPost: Talking with a virtual human might help to reduce negative emotions. “There is a common idea that technology can replace humans in regard to workplace labor, but could they take over the task of emotional support? A study published in Computers in Human Behavior suggests that people felt support and closeness after speaking to a virtual human.”
MakeUseOf: The 6 Best Employee Review Sites to Learn More About a Company . “You can learn first-hand from employees currently working for the company or who are past employees. Some sites have rankings based on various categories, such as the best companies that practice diversity or the best companies for jobs in particular industries.”
WIRED: Success on Twitch No Longer Comes on Twitch. “Burnout is inseparable from the platform’s identity. Streamers toil for the approval of audience and algorithm. Even Pokimane, one of the site’s famous faces, has had to take extended time off. Smaller streamers burn out too, anonymously: only an extraordinary few earn enough to make a living. Of the 6 million people who create content on the platform, more than 90 percent stream to fewer than six viewers; 25 percent of the top 10,000 highest-paid streamers make less than minimum wage.”
University of Connecticut: Sorting Through the Noise of Mental Health Apps. “Currently, there are more than 10,000 mental health and wellness apps available in the app store. And that number just keeps on growing. But these apps are largely unregulated, making it difficult for consumers to know what might offer them the greatest benefit. Sherry Pagoto, a clinical psychologist from the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, sheds light on the differences between apps, what people should look for before they download, and when it’s time to seek professional help.”
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