Communications Major

One of the largest instances of mass digital snitching in history took place following the Capitol riots on January 6, when internet users began combing through the astoundingly large amount of photo and video evidence generated by the event in order to identify those who’d stormed the Capitol.

"Say you go out with a dude. It’s great or okay. You hook up. That’s great or okay. You never talk again. Eight-hundred miles and seven years later, they’re gone forever, right? Or so we thought till last summer, when Instagram Stories debuted..."

As it continues to be the gatekeeper for more than 2 billion active users’ data, one has to wonder: What if we, and not Facebook, were the ones in the digital driving seat? What if we bought out social media platforms from the Zuckerbergs of the world and owned them ourselves, or simply demanded to know how our data is being used? What if we even owned and could sell our data for personal profit, treating it as an income stream, instead of handing it to tech firms?

A new study reports cell phones may be making us hypersocial, rather than antisocial as previous research suggests.

Steps to regain control over smartphone addictions :

• Relax and celebrate the fact your addiction reflects a normal urge to connect with others!
• Turn off push notifications and set appropriate times to check your phone intentionally.
• Create “intentional protocols” with friends, family and work circles to set clear expectations on when to communicate.

Over the next year, we’ll start spending less time on Facebook. Those of us who used it to catch up on the news will find less of it to read. We’ll watch fewer videos, and we’ll see fewer advertisements. In theory, Facebook will make less money off us — or, at least, the rate at which it makes more and more money off us will slow.

Had you presented this scenario to Facebook executives a year ago, it would have been cause for alarm: evidence that something had gone deeply wrong on the platform, and a situation that called for an immediate solution. And yet as of today, it’s the company’s stated ambition: Facebook wants to shrink.

Twitter's experiment with doubling the maximum tweet length was apparently a success. The social network is expanding support for 280-character tweets to all users.

You can be fined up to $99 for looking at your phone while crossing a street.

For many of us, they are the last thing we look at before sleep each night, and the first thing we reach for upon waking.

Smartphones have altered the texture of everyday life, digesting many longstanding spaces and rituals, and transforming others beyond recognition.

Whether you first knew # as a number sign, the pound symbol, or a tic-tac-toe board, its incarnation as the hashtag has changed language for millions.

The gay meet-up app Grindr releases a new set of 500 trademarked emoji, including bear, otter and handcuffs.

We’re witnessing the stirrings of a national popular movement aimed at defeating the policies of the president.

Moderation in our digital world should be the hallmark of a healthy relationship with technology.

The world gained more details about Sen. Ted Cruz's jaunt to Cancun during his state's power crisis and weather emergency via his wife's group text chain. Someone on the chain leaked some damning information, leading us to explore this "most intimate and sacred forms of communications."

Do smartphones provide filmmakers with the opportunities to organically incorporate technology into their stories? How has the evolution of phone communication changed and driven plotlines?

Digital nomadism and van life lie at the heart of today’s work aesthetics. These trends may create liminal experiences within job markets....

A new book presents a 30 day program for handling cell phone addiction.

The one category among these that feels like a genuine trend—one not bolstered by Apple’s own apps or APIs—is mental health and mindfulness. As its Editor’s Pick in this category—and, on top of that, its App of the Year—Apple selected Calm. The app, which debuted in 2012, includes guided meditations ranging in time from three to 25 minutes, “Sleep Stories” to wind you down at the end of the day, breathing exercises, and music selections to help you relax, focus, or sleep.

Russia was involved.

Instagram influencers Bianca Valle, Charlotte and Sophie Bickley, and Zach Weiss explain how to master the planned candid photo in this video.