Social media Archives - Queen's Journal

Social media’s mental health content is for self-education, not self-diagnosis

Written on January 25, 2022. Posted in Editorials.

Like many, I first viewed social media’s array of mental health content as a useful outlet for discussing mental health and connecting people through shared experiences. However, I’ve since realized there’s a fine line between enjoying thought-provoking content and seeking mental health advice from...

Exploring mental health and illness through social media

Written on January 18, 2022. Posted in Features.

While social media can generate critical discussion about mental health and mental illness, it can also lead many to self-diagnose and make people with mental illnesses feel misrepresented. The Journal sat down with Louisa Flock, ArtSci ’24 and members coordinator at Jack.org’s Queen’s Chapter, to...

Social media shouldn’t be our primary way of engaging with current events

Written on January 14, 2022. Posted in Opinions.

In 2020, 90 per cent of American millennials got their news from popular social media platforms. Looking at our habits of news consumption, the last piece of news most of us read or heard would have been on Instagram or Twitter. While social media is great for getting young people invested...

Casual Instagram is back—and it’s a breath of fresh air

Written on January 14, 2022. Posted in Lifestyle.

I’ve grown accustomed to the performativity of Instagram. I’m used to seeing gorgeous, obviously posed pictures of my friends and celebrities on my feed—and I’ve normalized scrolling through my camera roll for an hour, trying to pick the perfect mirror selfie to post. Insta-story filters shape my...

There's more value in discussing your ideas than posting them online

Written on November 19, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

Our personal and public lives have separated as we unwaveringly press forward into the digital age. However, this isn’t a diatribe on the rules of internet security or the dangers of opening yourself up to the world’s scrutiny—it’s also not about catfishing, data mining, or how Facebook and other...

It's up to all of us to stop online bullying

Written on October 29, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

Cyberbullying is on the rise. More parentsacross the world are reporting their children being cyberbullied. At first glance, you may assume this behaviour is an unfortunate consequence of a generation raised online. But it’s not other children setting the standard for modern cyberbullying. Instead,...

Instagram activism isn’t performative, you’re just not putting in the work

Written on October 22, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

Instagram’s previously apolitical feed is long gone, and you’ll be noticed for choosing to ignore it. Instagram activity took a turn in June 2020 when users began sharing and posting information, protests, and graphics centered on the Black Lives Matter movement and other initiatives calling for social...

We are all imperfect when it comes to media literacy—let’s acknowledge it

Written on October 1, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

Media literacy—the practice of critically evaluating all kinds of media and understanding how it shapes our lives—is a learned skill no one can expect to wield perfectly all the time. With social media’s rapidly evolving algorithms grabbing our attention with clickbait, it’s crucial we initiate a...

Instant gratification on social media is harming in-person relationships

Written on September 21, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

As humans, social connection has always been our lifeline. We’re wired to crave approval from the people around us. Throughout history, people sought the validation of their friends and family members who lived alongside them and helped them survive. Social media has hijacked the system in our brains...

Snapchat Spotlight gives TikTok a run for their money

Written on February 9, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

In the 2010s, Snapchat was one of the defining social media platforms. Popularizing filters, stories, and streaks, Snapchat quickly grew to be one of the favourite social media apps for teens and young adults. However, the rise of TikTok in the past two years has knocked Snapchat from its pedestal....

‘Cancel culture’ is an imperfect step toward necessary change

Written on January 22, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

The time to hold people accountable is now. Over the last few years, ‘cancel culture’ has become inescapable. A sudden rumble in our social landscape has since become a landslide of accusations from empowered victims. Many of the abusers now being held accountable for inappropriate behaviour are wealthy...

How social media use shapes your sense of self-worth

Written on January 22, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

The average person will spend a total of six years and eight months on social media in their lifetime—that’s a staggering commitment. Whether it’s looking through Instagram on the bus or watching TikToks before bed, most of us spend a considerable portion of our days plugged into social media. The...

The Capitol raid could change North American social media for good

Written on January 15, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle.

On Jan. 6, thousands of Donald Trump extremists and white supremacists who believed the 2020 presidential election had been ‘stolen’ from their candidate stormed the United States Capitol. Two days later, the president was permanently suspended from Twitter. The social media platform has spent the...

As we integrate more with technology, unplugging is no longer the solution

Written on November 26, 2020. Posted in Editorials.

Even before the pandemic, smartphones and laptops were attached to us by the hip. Over the past few months, this invasion of technology into our lives has only been exacerbated as we work from home or connect with loved ones online. We’re now constantly plugged into our devices—but is that really...

Despite good intentions, cancel culture has lost all meaning

Written on November 6, 2020. Posted in Editorials.

We often talk about being cancelled with a sense of finality, but ‘cancel culture’ isn’t ruining careers; it’s just a discursive shorthand. Public personae have always been dependent on popularity, and what is or is not deemed acceptable has never been static. Now, everyone has the ability to call...

‘The Social Dilemma’ excels as a documentary, but fails as a drama

Written on October 8, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Society has a social media addiction. Netflix’s new documentary-drama hybrid, The Social Dilemma, not only exposes this truth, but frames our dependency on smartphones as a reality on track to self-implode. The documentary-drama opens up with a series of interviews with former employees of Big...

We must be held accountable for our social media usage during the pandemic

Written on October 2, 2020. Posted in Opinions.

The “fake news” epidemic is more real than ever before. Typically, the accusation of “fake news” is used to discredit undesirable truths or by supporters when their favourite politicians are caught in an unflattering scenario. However, during COVID-19, fake news is directly facilitating the spread...

OnlyFans isn’t for Bella Thorne or any other celebrities

Written on September 11, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle.

In an age when the majority of social media platforms censor sex workers and challenge their livelihood, OnlyFans seemed like a saving grace—that is, until it was exploited by Bella Thorne. Since its creation in 2016, OnlyFans has offered a safe space for sex workers to subsist. Unlike several other...

Don’t cancel ‘cancel culture’

Written on September 3, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Cancel culture, like anything else, shouldn’t be exempt from criticism. But in calling for it to disappear, writers are participating in the same trend they were so quick to denounce. An open letter published this July in Harper’s Magazine condemning the widespread impact of ‘cancel culture’ has stirred...

TikTok is proof that we can't outrun toxic diet culture

Written on July 27, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle.

While traditional media may have eased up on the promotion of diet culture in recent years, social media allows anyone to grow a platform and advocate for dangerous standards of beauty. On TikTok, gaining that platform is now easier than ever. In 2020, TikTok has taken the throne as the new king of...

Balancing media consumption with artistic production

Written on June 29, 2020. Posted in Arts.

In the digital age, it’s easy to conjure up reasons not to make art and a lot harder to call yourselfan artist. Despite spending an average of five hours and 37 minutes on my phone every day, I have nothing to show for it. In all that time on my screen, I’ve hardly learned anything new or created anything...

It’s time to rethink our social media expectations

Written on February 28, 2020. Posted in Opinions.

Technology has granted us knowledge in seconds, but access to everyone else as well. There are countless memes out there about how we expect a response to a text a minute before we’ve even sent it. I’m guilty of it too. If I haven’t heard back from my mum after a few hours, I give her a ring just...

Analyzing how to become a TikTok superstar

Written on February 13, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

On Super Bowl Sunday,Sabra Hummus aired the most underwhelming commercial to grace 99.9 million screens. The supposedly star-studded commercial featured B-list celebrities like rapper T.I. and Teresa Giudice of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. There were also newer faces, like Megan Thee Stallion...

How to make social media a positive force in your life

Written on October 10, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

Social media can be a useful tool for keeping in contact with your family, completing schoolwork, and staying on top of the latest news. But if you overdo or misuse it, social networking sites can also have serious ramifications on your mental health. While it’s easy to believe that deleting your...

Climate crisis exposure on social media is the first step to saving the planet

Written on October 1, 2019. Posted in Editorials.

The same aspects of social media that make it so alluring to users also make it a powerful tool to promote meaningful climate action. At their best, social networking sites do more than overcome the limitations of time and distance. They can help close power gaps by offering everyone equal access...

Social media platforms need to do more to censor hate speech

Written on September 27, 2019. Posted in Editorials.

The Internet is an excellent forum for sharing ideas—until hateful dialogue across social media leads to violence in the real world. It’s time to hold websites accountable for censoring hate speech. Social media is a wonderful connective tool. Websites permit the instant exchange of videos, pictures,...

Today’s digital world hinders meaningful romantic relationships

Written on September 24, 2019. Posted in Opinions.

You’ve been there before: it’s Friday night, and you’re swiping mindlessly through Tinder with hundreds of possible hookups at your fingertips. It might seem like any independent young adult’s dream, but it’s one of many reasons our generation is less intimate, less sexually active, and less happy. I...

Breaking down why we’re obsessed with celebrity relationships

Written on September 5, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

The planet may be dying, Western politics may be at an extremist tipping point, and life-threatening weather may be ripping through the Bahamas, but celebrity breakups somehow still make national headlines. Why? Because the relationships of famous people tap into our most primal emotions. When Miley...

Through Hong Kong protests, social media has become a battleground

Written on September 4, 2019. Posted in Columns.

For the last five months, Hong Kong has experienced some of the largest protests in its history. Now, the battle is no longer taking place solely in the streets of Hong Kong—it’s moving onto social media. Demonstrations that began because of a controversial extradition bill have turned into a larger...

Point/Counterpoint: Should little kids use technology?

Written on January 29, 2019. Posted in Columns.

No In today’s increasingly digital age, we’re constantly plugged in and connected to everything around us. Because we’re surrounded by screens for much of our daily lives, it’s easy to stay immersed in social and data exchanges, and natural to feel overwhelmed and overstimulated by our devices. That’s...

Tag: Social media

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