Breaking up is hard to do, especially with social media. But thousands of people are doing just that, and with the new year and its inevitable resolutions just around the corner, it might be a good time…
“Booze pages” on Facebook that have as many as 10m “likes” have been blamed for promoting excessive drinking through giveaways and posts that suggest things like drinking early in the morning. Alcohol…
The Arab Spring protests have presented interesting examples of the complex power relations between traditional and new methods of social media reporting in times of crisis. Traditionally, global crisis…
Human beings have long been easily influenced by the opinions of others but the social media networks that have come to dominate our lives may be making this “social proof” a problem. A recent study in…
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, are developing an algorithm that aims to identify whether you’re a hipster, a goth or a punk, just from the cut of your social media jib. The team…
Emily Darling, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Scientists are increasingly turning to social media to publicise their research. While some see Twitter and Facebook as a bit of fun, others find online tools are becoming integral to their work. In an…
Our awareness of food waste is increasing all the time, yet we continue to throw away vast amounts of produce even when we don’t need to. We are getting tired of being lectured on our habits so its time…
The democratising potential of social media have long been heralded. Successive government ministers, starting with Helen Coonan, Stephen Conroy and now Malcolm Turnbull, have all talked up the marvels…
Twitter has become the latest online tool to be used to monitor the spread of disease. Researchers are looking at whether health providers can identify the locale of a disease outbreak by monitoring the…
Twitter is awash with trolls, spammers and misanthropes, all keen to ruin your day with a mean-spirited message or even a threat that can cause you genuine fear. It seems all too easy to set up an account…
International reporting on China is dominated by stories of the Chinese government’s propensity to block access to a number of foreign online media outlets, search engines and social media forums. There…
Completing a PhD is no small feat. It requires both high intellect and a great deal of tenacity. But it can be lonely at the top, with many PhD students struggling with stress, feelings of isolation and…
Social media can help raise awareness of health issues, engaging people in discussion and encouraging them to take action. But thoughtless adherence to such trends has the potential to cause harm. New…
These days, social media and online apps have become a major source of disaster information and warnings. But how much can we trust them? Today, more than 82% of Australians use the internet and 76% can…
Now that the US government is back in business, all “non-essential” services will resume. For 15 days we went without NASA’s full operation, US Antarctic research and federally-funded clinical studies…
Recent events, such as inaccurate claims made by The Sun newspaper about the number of murders committed by the mentally ill, have shown us once again that the media has a large part to play in social…
Our relationships with music are deeply personal and intimate. But we shouldn’t forget that music is also an incredibly powerful social tool capable of bringing people together to share in an experience…