Social Media

Reading through posts and comments on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter can make it easy to convince yourself that social media is just a giant echo chamber where users with specific political views talk to each other and different viewpoints are ignored. That may not always be the case. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, being exposed to differing views via social media can sometimes cause people to rethink how they view a political issue. The Pew study found that 20% of those surveyed reported that their stance on a social or political issue was changed because of something they saw on social media, and 17% said that social media had changed their views about a specific candidate.

Many college advisers are suggesting that applicants create elaborate LinkedIn profiles to submit with their college applications. The thinking is that it adds polish to the list of activities and accomplishments submitted to admission boards. For high school students, going this route is partly a defense mechanism against college admissions officers who snoop on applicants’ public Facebook and Twitter activities — without disclosing how that may affect an applicant’s chance of acceptance. A recent study from Kaplan Test Prep of about 400 college admissions officers reported that 40 percent said they had visited applicants’ social media pages, a fourfold increase since 2008. Some students, though, point out that college admissions people will not get to know them on a more personal basis viewing only these “sanitized” postings.

Many college advisers are suggesting that applicants create elaborate LinkedIn profiles to submit with their college applications. The thinking is that it adds polish to the list of activities and accomplishments submitted to admission boards. For high school students, going this route is partly a defense mechanism against college admissions officers who snoop on applicants’ public Facebook and Twitter activities — without disclosing how that may affect an applicant’s chance of acceptance. A recent study from Kaplan Test Prep of about 400 college admissions officers reported that 40 percent said they had visited applicants’ social media pages, a fourfold increase since 2008. Some students, though, point out that college admissions people will not get to know them on a more personal basis viewing only these “sanitized” postings.

Twitter has been a pioneer in real-time social media, allowing first responders to tweet about severe weather warnings such as movements of tornados and hurricanes and, in the past, even giving the world a play-by-play version of the raid on Osama Bin Laden. But Twitter is in trouble, recently announcing it will cut 9% of its global workforce. While Twitter has been at the forefront of social media, the company has struggled to reign in increasing abuse on the service. 

The barrage of online harassment is one reason the company has fallen flat with several buyers, according to reports. Rumors have circulated that Disney may buy the company, but previously the organization declined to pursue Twitter because of the platform's well-publicized issues with trolls, such as the case with Milo Yiannopolous, who harass users.

Instagram has decided to let users block comments that contain objectionable language from appearing on their posts. If someone (or some bot) adds a comment containing a keyword you have decided to block, the post will be automatically hidden from your feed, even though it may still be included in the comment count under the photo. Take a look at How to Clean Up Instagram Comments for advice on how to set up filters for your feed.

Instagram has decided to let users block comments that contain objectionable language from appearing on their posts. If someone (or some bot) adds a comment containing a keyword you have decided to block, the post will be automatically hidden from your feed, even though it may still be included in the comment count under the photo. Take a look at How to Clean Up Instagram Comments for advice on how to set up filters for your feed.

Facebook users will be able to search locally for items for sale with the new Marketplace "shop" icon on Facebook's app. This new feature puts Facebook up against eBay and Craigslist with local listings that include large images and the user option of adding filters for price, location and category.

Facebook users will be able to search locally for items for sale with the new Marketplace "shop" icon on Facebook's app. This new feature puts Facebook up against eBay and Craigslist with local listings that include large images and the user option of adding filters for price, location and category.

More teens are on YouTube than any other social network, according to research from the National Cyber Security Alliance and Microsoft. Their poll of 13-17-year-old internet users found that 91% say they use YouTube, compared to 66% who use Snapchat, 65% who use Instagram, and 61% who use Facebook. Their heavy use of the site is one of the reasons that YouTube stars have more influence over teen purchase intent than traditional TV and movie celebs. Interestingly, the second most-used platform was actually Gmail, with 75% of teens reporting they use the email app.

More teens are on YouTube than any other social network, according to research from the National Cyber Security Alliance and Microsoft. Their poll of 13-17-year-old internet users found that 91% say they use YouTube, compared to 66% who use Snapchat, 65% who use Instagram, and 61% who use Facebook. Their heavy use of the site is one of the reasons that YouTube stars have more influence over teen purchase intent than traditional TV and movie celebs. Interestingly, the second most-used platform was actually Gmail, with 75% of teens reporting they use the email app.