It seems anything you do or anywhere you visit is worthy of a selfie, whether that’s standing on the edge of a cliff or going for a coffee. But a new study has revealed our need to capture the perfect selfie comes with a price — the price being 250 deaths. The study published by the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care investigates how many of us social media addicts are dying to feed our Instagram. Hard Fork? Hard Fork. HARD FORK Between 2011 and last year, Dr. Agam Bansal, analyzed news stories (since coroners are unlikely to write “selfie” as the main caused of death) and found a grand total of 259 people had died worldwide as a result of selfie related accidents — something Bansal cleverly named “selficides.” The rise of the “extreme selfie” phenomenon involves photographing yourself “in the most extreme environments. That apparently includes river rafting, parachuting, or posing in … [Read more...] about People keep dying taking selfies, this study reveals how
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Viral video of woman pouring bleach onto manspreaders is staged Kremlin propaganda
On September 25, a viral video filmed by Anna Dovgalyuk showed a Russian “feminist” pouring bleach on men’s crotches in a protest against manspreading. Except it wasn’t bleach, it was water, and also Kremlin propaganda. Have you visited TNW's hype-free blockchain and cryptocurrency news site yet? It's called Hard Fork. TAKE ME THERE Dovgalyuk’s film, FIGHTING MANSPREADING… WITH BLEACH!, shows bleach attacks on numerous manspreading men on Russian subway trains. It quickly went viral worldwide but the original video has been removed from Dovgalyuk’s YouTube channel. Along the way, it picked up over 6.4 million views on In The Now — a social media channel owned by Russia Today. At the time of the video’s release, Dovgalyuk said: “Men demonstrating their alpha-manhood in the subway with women and children around deserve contempt.” The 20-year-old self-proclaimed … [Read more...] about Viral video of woman pouring bleach onto manspreaders is staged Kremlin propaganda
WhatsApp’s Brian Acton left $850m on the table in his rush to exit after Facebook takeover
Brian Acton, the co-founder of cross-platform messaging app WhatsApp, has largely been out of the public eye since he left Facebook more than a year ago. In a wide-ranging interview with Forbes, Acton spoke candidly about his time with Facebook after Mark Zuckerberg's social network bought WhatsApp, going as far as to admit he was a "sellout" for agreeing to the acquisition of WhatsApp.The interview delves deep into how Facebook and WhatsApp were never a natural fit. The former is a huge social network that doubles as a lucrative advertising platform based on extensive mining of user data. The latter was an instant messaging service that prided itself on a lack of advertising and protection of user data.As Acton tells it, he essentially walked out the door when it became clear Facebook wanted to monetize WhatsApp in ways that went against the app's original vision. Facebook wanted targeted ads and ways for businesses to get WhatsApp user data. Acton ended up losing $850 million from … [Read more...] about WhatsApp’s Brian Acton left $850m on the table in his rush to exit after Facebook takeover
New report shows the positive ways young people are using social media
Remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014? It was when people across the world poured a bucket of ice water over their heads and posted it on social media, before encouraging other people to do the same and donate to the ALS Association. This is one of the biggest instances of online social activism, and it led to a major breakthrough in research regarding ALS, also known as motor neuron disease. It was also an example of how social platforms can gather people together for a shared cause, something we’ve also seen in recent years with #MeToo and the Women’s March in the wake of the Trump election. Yet, with the social media scandals we’ve faced in recent months, most notably the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica drama, it's easy to forget that good can come from the online world. Young people haven't forgotten this, however. According to a new report by think tank Demos, supported by Facebook, the youth of today believe that social platforms are essential for achieving … [Read more...] about New report shows the positive ways young people are using social media
This startup wants to become the Facebook of death
Social media has changed how we live, and surprisingly, how we die. Mortality used to be an intimate affair shared between families and close groups of friends, but that’s no longer the case. People now broadcast the passing of their loved ones across the internet to an audience of potentially billions. This raises an interesting question: are social media platforms, which are rife with trolls and aggressive advertising, appropriate vessels for collective grieving? Here be gadgets Not here exactly, but on our new hardware site Plugged. Here Mark Alhermizi, founder and CEO of Everdays, has his doubts. These concerns, combined with research that dragged him to funeral director conferences worldwide, led him to launch a social service that connects people in mourning. Everdays, Alhermizi explained, is a platform that connects people during what he euphemistically calls “milestone life events.” By that, he means death. “We could very loosely be described as … [Read more...] about This startup wants to become the Facebook of death