#social-media

The submitted content appears to be a partial, out-of-context statement referencing rapper King Von's death.

The city of Boston is suing Meta and other social media companies, alleging their platforms are designed with addictive features that harm students' mental health and disrupt the educational environment.

A new study suggests that social media may reshape how the brain evaluates mental effort, potentially reducing tolerance for cognitively demanding tasks. Researchers found that frequent digital media consumption could recalibrate the brain's cost-benefit analysis, making sustained focus feel more costly and less rewarding.

Truth Social remains an outlet primarily for Trump's own posts, while other administration officials continue using X. The platform functions as a blog-like channel for Trump's messages rather than a genuine social network competitor.

The article discusses the importance of word count for social media posts, explaining that different platforms have optimal post lengths for maximum engagement. It provides guidelines for ideal character counts on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, noting that shorter posts often perform better by capturing attention quickly and improving readability.

Roost is a social networking platform that allows creators to build and manage their own community spaces, offering tools for content sharing, member engagement, and monetization.

Coin Bureau reports that X.com links only function properly for users who are not logged into their accounts, indicating a potential access restriction or technical issue affecting logged-in users.

A new study published in PNAS finds that as social media users become more differentiated in their interests and social circles over time, their posting becomes less positive. Analyzing millions of posts, researchers observed a gradual erosion of positive sentiment driven by social differentiation processes, challenging the notion that negativity spreads simply through contagion.

Kunal Shah, an Indian entrepreneur known for founding the payments app Cred, has been appointed as the new head of WhatsApp in India. He will take over the role amid ongoing regulatory challenges in the country, including issues related to data privacy and fake news. Shah's appointment marks a leadership change for the Meta-owned messaging platform in its largest market by user base.

A report examines the rise of AI-generated "slop" on TikTok, detailing how low-quality, algorithm-manipulating videos are flooding feeds and frustrating users. It outlines common slop types and the platform's moderation challenges.

The post contrasts early Twitter and Facebook, which focused on casual status updates like "what are you doing," with today's platform climate dominated by opinions on topics like politics and tech. It asks how Twitter could be made friendlier, suggesting possible approaches such as making it more visual or requiring real names.

The article explores the hypothetical concept of a social media platform designed to minimize user time spent online, contrasting it with current platforms that prioritize engagement and prolonged usage to maximize advertising revenue.

STMZ Kinetic is an AI-powered social media workspace that integrates writing, image generation, brand memory, scheduling, and collaboration tools into a single platform, designed to help businesses and creators manage their content workflows without relying on multiple separate tools.

Holos Social is a self-hosted Fediverse client designed for Mastodon, Bluesky, and AT Protocol servers. It offers granular content filtering, multiple "Home" feeds for different contexts, and full control over data and connections. The app is available as a free download on the AltStore.

The article examines how YouTube's algorithmic feed prioritizes engagement, often pushing extreme content. It explores the shift from subscriber-based to algorithmic recommendations and societal impacts like filter bubbles and misinformation.

On World Social Media Day, Hacker News users shared their platform preferences. HN and Reddit were praised for text-based communities, while many criticized YouTube for AI-generated content and unwanted recommendations. Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat saw less use among respondents, with Pinterest noted as popular among female users.

Waag, a Dutch research institute, moved its Bluesky data to Eurosky, a European-hosted alternative, citing concerns over data sovereignty and the desire to keep data under European jurisdiction rather than U.S. corporate control. Eurosky runs on the same AT Protocol as Bluesky but is hosted in Europe.

The article discusses the concept of a personal activity feed designed for a single user, emphasizing self-tracking and individual productivity monitoring rather than social sharing. It explores how such a feed can help one person log, review, and analyze their own daily activities privately.

A study examining the relationship between social media use and student well-being found that the impact depends on usage patterns and contexts, with passive use linked to lower well-being and active, meaningful engagement associated with positive outcomes.

A study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies finds that the relationship between social media use and well-being among students is nuanced, with effects varying by usage type, context, and individual differences, rather than social media being uniformly harmful or beneficial.

A data analysis by Pieter Levels indicates that negative posts on social media receive approximately 2.5 times more views than neutral or positive content, highlighting the engagement advantage of negative sentiment online.

A post on Hacker News argues that AI systems like LLMs are designed to trap users in a loop by extracting their knowledge, selling it back to them, and profiting from their attention, rather than generating new knowledge independently. The author describes this as a cycle where users are both victims and raw material for the AI industry.

Meta used contractors posing as teenagers to test rival AI chatbots, prompting them with queries about sensitive topics like suicide, sex, and drugs to see if competitors block harmful content that Meta’s own platforms have been criticized for allowing.

A developer reflects on ten years since launching a website, noting how terms and conditions pages have evolved in complexity and length over that decade, driven by changing legal requirements and business practices.

The article explores how LinkedIn is changing as many eccentric and abrasive users leave the platform, creating a more sanitized but strangely hollow professional environment. It argues that without these controversial figures, the network feels less engaging and more predictable, prompting questions about what makes social platforms feel lively and authentic.

The article argues that individuals and businesses can thrive without Facebook, highlighting how reliance on the platform poses risks like algorithm changes, data privacy issues, and loss of control. It advocates for building independent digital presences through personal websites, email lists, and other decentralized tools.

The United States has fewer restrictions on social media compared to other countries, but a growing movement of families, lawmakers, and advocates is pushing for reforms to address harms to children, including measures like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and age verification laws.

Polymarket, a prediction market platform, was found to have featured accounts that appeared to be earning large sums of money from bets, but these gains were later revealed to be fake or based on unrealized trades, raising concerns about the authenticity of displayed profits and the platform's transparency.

Despite Australia's ban on social media for under-16s, 85% of children still use platforms like TikTok and Instagram, often with parental support. Critics argue the ban fails by targeting age restrictions rather than platform design and corporate accountability.

The article reviews the best Reddit apps for Android in 2026, highlighting top options like Infinity, Relay, and Boost, each offering unique customization, ad-free experiences, and improved moderation tools. It compares features such as theming, gesture navigation, and multi-account support to help users choose the best app for their Reddit browsing needs.