One Kilo of Clout Please?In the Digital Era, Dating to Increase Your Social Capital Has a Name: ‘Throning’ Throning prioritizes influence and clout over shared interests and values, meaningful connection, and emotional intimacy. By Devrupa Rakshit
Feelin' Lucky‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ – The Newest Manifestation Trend That Sets Us up for Failure The trend implies that everyone -- irrespective of their socio-economic privileges -- has the same shot at being "lucky." By Devrupa Rakshit
Meow!Social Media Is Enabling Fans to Manufacture Celeb ‘Catfights’ Based on Likes, Follows With only likes, views, and follows to rely on as evidence, netizens have played a part in actively feeding a flame that may not even exist. By Devrupa Rakshit
Code Strings Over Our HeartsHow the Internet Ruined Our Passion for Politics — And How We Can Get It Back If we blame each other, we’re looking the wrong way. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
we musk flag misinformationTwitter Discontinuing its Covid19 Misinformation Policy Distorts Free Speech The move, the latest under Elon Musk's tenure as "chief twit," brings into question how the powerful elite shape the idea of free speech. By Amlan Sarkar
Right Ideas LeftHow Tech Turned Away From Progressiveness A movement whose ideological renaissance happened during the hippie movements of the 60s became a tool for authoritarianism, inequality. How did we get here? By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Unclean TrendHow Social Media Perpetuates Toxic Diet Culture Food and nutrition content are popular on TikTok and Instagram — but experts are missing from the conversation. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Change is a muskAs Twitter Transitions Into a New Era, Users Contemplate Migrating Away Hate speech has risen and verification may no longer be free since Musk’s takeover, prompting questions about what Twitter was fundamentally about. By Amlan Sarkar
Recommended For YouYouTube Shorts Is Pushing Transphobic Content, Creators Allege Despite content moderation guidelines, social media platform recommendations carry implicit harmful biases. By Ananya Singh
An Unequal CostChildren’s Social Media Addiction Is Linked to Inequality, Finds Global Study Across 43 countries, children in economically deprived contexts engaged in problematic social media use -- pointing to a public health crisis. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Ideological Immunization‘Pre‑bunking’ Fake News on YouTube Helped Curb Misinformation, Shows Study “We can in a very apolitical way help people gain resistance to manipulation online." By Saumya Kalia
Bigger PictureWoe Is Me! “My Best Friend Only Posts Unflattering Pictures of Me. Do I Confront Her?” A series in which The Swaddle team indulges your pity party with advice you'll probably ignore. By The Swaddle Team
Unlikable ChangesInstagram’s Pivot to Video May Forever Turn Our Lives Into Content The shift toward video over photos means we now have to be better at "performing" authenticity too. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
internet addictionStudy Finds Links Between Social Media Addiction and Sexual Dysfunction "[M]ore experimental studies are needed to test if sexual function is improved by spending less time on social media or by avoiding negative emotions that social media can trigger." By Amlan Sarkar
Unheard MenaceAnti‑Amber Heard Campaign One of the Worst Instances of Cyberbullying: Report “It's our opinion Twitter didn't do enough to mitigate the platform manipulation and did very little to stop the abuse and targeted harassment.” By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Seeing Through the Black MirrorHow to Know if You’re Living in an Online Echo Chamber, According to a Study A new study points out how the language used online serves as red flags to spot if one is living in a digital bubble. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Going For A Detox. Bye!Just a Week‑Long Break From Social Media Can Reduce Anxiety, Depression: Study "Scrolling social media is so ubiquitous that [we] do it almost without thinking from the moment we wake up to when we close our eyes at night." By Devrupa Rakshit
Trial By MemeThe Johnny Depp‑Amber Heard Trial Bolstered Meme Pages as the New Mass Media In no other significant event have meme pages intervened as much to actively drive the narrative and shape public opinion; sparking a concerning trend. By Rohitha Naraharisetty