Meta’s Threads hits 100m Users – What is it?

Signing up with Threads

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, officially launched Threads, its competitor to Twitter.

Threads has amassed over 100 million sign-ups in less than a week. It’s the fastest launch ever for a social media platform. Everyone from famous brands, celebrities, journalists, and other notable accounts has joined the platform. It’s like a new shiny store has opened and everything is rushing in to see what the hype is about. Will this replace Twitter? Become another social media monster on its own? The timing couldn’t be better as Elon Musk has many twitter users feeling uneasy the social giant seems to move as Elon feels.

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Tik Tok Announces new Family Safety Mode for Parents

Tik Tok Logo Family Parent Restriction

TikTok announced a family-safe feature that allows parents to limit their children’s screen time. This would allow parents to set a time limit for video views. Previously parents could only use this time limit on themselves, but now they can do it for their entire family.

The Family Safe Mode also allows the restriction of inappropriate content as well as restrictions on who they can send direct messages to.

This is now available in UK but plans are to roll this out to other countries soon.

Parents rejoice. Children’s cry. But parenting is parenting.

Enough? Not enough? What kind of screen control would be the most ideal?

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Youtube to ban disturbing children videos… finally.

https://mashable.com/article/youtube-bans-disturbing-kids-videos/
IMAGE: THOMAS TRUTSCHEL / GETTY

Youtube announced this week that they will no longer allow videos that target children that include certain disturbing content. For years, youtube had been criticized for allowing disturbing content targeting children to be circulated.

The policy notes describe disturbing content as “… that contains mature or violent themes that explicitly targets younger minors and families in the title, description and/or tags will no longer be allowed on the platform…”

You can read more: Youtube bans disturbing kid videos

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Vitaminwater offers $100,000 for being off the smartphone for a year

Smartphone Addiction Train Station

No smartphone for $100,000?

Could you live without your smartphone for a year? Vitaminwater has $100,000 that says you cannot.

Unfortunately, only one contestant will be chosen and considering the press they are looking for, I would venture to guess they will select a young millennial. Vitaminwater will select a contestant around January 22nd. The contestant will be given a phone from the 90s and for a year will not be allowed to use any smartphones or tablets, whether it is their own or someone else’s. They will be allowed to use their desktops and laptops.

In case you were wondering about loopsholes… the contestant will be required to take a lying detector test at the end of the contest year.

Want to enter?: Enter the Smartphone Contest

Read more here: Vitaminwater is offering $100,000 if you can stay off smartphones for a year

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Video “gaming disorder” now an official mental health condition

Teen Game Controller - Gaming Disorder

Video “gaming disorder” now an official mental health condition

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced “gaming disorder” as a new mental health condition in it’s latest edition of the International Classification of Diseases.

Dr. Vladimir Poznyak, a member of the WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, was the one to propose the inclusion of this diagnosis to the World Health Assembly. Dr. Poznyak said part of the purpose was so health professionals will be more “alerted to the existence of this condition” and can get help as needed.

Gaming disorder has been defined “as a pattern of gaming behavior characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interest and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences”.

For gaming disorder to be officially disagnosed, the “behavior pattern must be sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning and would normally have been evident for at least 12 months”

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Apple’s Screen Time app to help curb screen addiction

Apple Screen Time iPhone Addiction

Apple’s Screen Time to Help iPhone Addiction

At the latest WWDC 2018 Conference, Apple announce a few upcoming iOS 12 apps to help curb our iPhone screen addiction. Screen addiction and it’s negative affects on both children and adults is widely documented. It’s also not as well known that many tech execs including Steve Jobs severely limited their own kids from using their own devices due to it’s addictive effects.

The new Apple Screen Time App will allow you to see how much time you are spending on your iPhone and what you apps you are spending time on. It will also allow parents to limit their children’s use of apps by putting specific time limits for individual apps. For example you can put an hour limit on Facebook or an hour limit on Snapchat or a game app. You can also designate “downtime” where the device will be blocked and can only be used if they request permission. Of course you can do it for yourself as well!

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New app rewards discounts for not looking at your phone

We all know we stare at our smartphones a little too much. Ok, perhaps a LOT too much. We know it’s hard because everything about our smartphones from notifications, to the itch to check statuses and emails is difficult to fight against.

Then comes this new, fun idea. An app that rewards you for NOT looking at your phone. Intrigued?

Growing Smartphone Addition

We’ve documented quite a bit on Clean Cut Media about the various studies that have shown the adverse affect of screen time and the impact of smartphones on our generation. We’ve also provided some great solutions to help curb or limit internet use and avoid the dangers of the internet through solutions like covenant eyes.

It’s a growing problem that have robbed a generation of social abilities, abilities to cope with life demands, shorter attention spans, happiness while causing greater game addiction, cyber-bulling, suicides and loneliness.

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New teen study shows more phone use leads to unhappiness

Anti-social teenagers on phones

New study on teenager phone usage and unhappiness

A new study on teen smartphone usage from San Diego State University showed that teens who spent more time on their smartphones were markedly unhappier. Professor Jean M. Twenge, Gabrielle Martin and W. Keith Campbell analyzed data of a survey given to more than a million U.S. 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. This survey asked the youth about their phone, tablet and computer usage as well as various questions about their happiness, relationships and social interactions. The study showed that teens who spent more time on the screen, whether playing games, browsing the internet, using social media, or watching videos, were considerably less happy than those who spend more time playing sports, reading books or participate in other face to face social activities.

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Check Out the Social Media Marketing World [Conference]

Hey all,

Just wanted to put in a plug for this social media marketing world conference. For those who are interested in understanding the world of social media, this is a great conference to attend. 100+ workshops and sessions led by leading marketers from top brands including the likes of IBM, Cisco, San Diego Chargers, Experian, Tyson Foods, SAP, Priceline, Dell and so on.

SOME GOOD REASONS TO CHECK IT OUT:

1) Find practical workshops to help you setup and measure social strategies for your company/blog/website.

2) Don’t waste money testing things that you can learn from experience learned the hard way by those who went ahead of you.

3) Meet leading social strategist and marketers – pick their brain, go get those nuggets of wisdoms that will save you a ton of time and effort.

4) Dude, it’s San Diego. In April. Take a few days to go relax on the beach!

5) Full recording of EVERY SESSION available to you after the conference. This I think is the money items as you can review or go through sessions you missed. Share it with colleagues, get people on your company on board.

Ticket prices go up as time goes by so read more about it quick and sign up quicker if interested:
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

SOME GOOD SPEAKERS:

Guy Kawasaki (author, The Art of Social Media)
Mari Smith (co-author, Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day)
Michael Hyatt (author, Platform)
Chris Brogan (co-author, The Impact Equation)
Jay Baer (author, Youtility)
Amy Porterfield (co-author, Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies)
Mark Schaefer (author, Social Media Explained)
Joe Pulizzi (author, Epic Content Marketing)
Ann Handley (author, Everybody Writes)
Michael Stelzner (author, Launch)
Brian Solis (author, What’s the Future of Business?)
and more!

See Full Speaker List Here >> LINK HERE

SOME GOOD TESTIMONIALS!

Testimonials from some high caliber stars in marketing. This video is crazy long though.

SOME GOOD HIGHLIGHTS SHOTS

And here another crazy long video showing scenes from the last summit. Pretty cool, but as I am also a videographer, I think this video is way too long! ha! You guys need a consultant?!

>> READ MORE ABOUT THE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING WORLD HERE <<

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More Advertising Leading to More E-Cigarette Use Among Teens

E-cigarettes - Vaping by Teens

Did you know that almost 7 in 10 middle and high school students are exposed to e-cigarette ads. E-cigarettes are now the most popular tobacco product among children. E-cigarette advertising dollars have risen from $6.4 million in 2011 to $115 million in 2014. In high school the use of e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days have gone from 1.5% to 13.4% during that timeframe.

A 2015 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that teens who saw a e-cigarettes ad on TV were 43% more likely to say they would try e-cigarettes than were teens who did not see the ads.

“It is unacceptable that e-cigarette advertising remains unrestricted,” American Heart Assn. Chief Executive Nancy Brown said in a statement. “Kids are encountering these ads virtually everywhere – in stores, online, in newspapers and magazines, and on television and in movies. And the sad truth is, it’s working.”

“The U.S. Surgeon General has found that tobacco and nicotine are not safe, and nicotine negatively impacts adolescent brain development and has been associated with lasting cognitive and behavioral impairments, including effects on working memory and attention in youth.”

E-cigarette Teen Use - Advertising

In a survey of 41,551 high school students in 377 schools around the country, 8th and 10th graders were twice as likely to have used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days then regular cigarettes. Not only do these e-cigarettes come in fun flavors like cotton candy and apple pie, it’s popularity may have been spurred by popular perception among teens that e-cigarettes do not harm their health. For example among 8th graders, only 15% viewed e-cigarettes to be harmful for them versus 62% believed regular cigarettes had harmful effects.

E-cigarette advertising is still not regulated. This has to change.

Everyone should be mindful that that e-cigarettes are very prevalent both in high school and in middle school. E-cigarettes do not leave the smell of “smoke” thus it would be easy for parents to be unaware of it’s use by their children. It is also important that parents educate their children on how harmful nicotine is to their brain development.

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California Governor Signs ‘Right to Die’ Legislation

Governor Jerry Brown California

It’s done. California has passed legislation that will allow terminally ill patients to legally choose to end their lives using doctor-prescribed drugs. Jerry Brown an announcement today (OCT 5th) that he has signed this bill.

Governor Brown released a statement that says he decided to sign this bill because it is “what I would want in the face of my own death.” As a professing Catholic, Gov Brown chose to sign the bill after a long personal struggle, and 10 months of hotly contested debates by many different groups.

Opponents of the bill are worried that this will legalize premature suicides. There is also deep concern that this introduces a dangerous options for those who have low income or cannot afford health care for their disabilities. Supporters on the other hand emphasize counter the premature suicide argument by stating that this option is only available to those who are terminally ill and are not depressed or impaired in anyway.

Right to die legislation CaliforniaCalifornia is the fifth state to pass such a bill, the other four being Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont. New Mexico also had previously allowed this practice until this past August when the appeals court over turned that ruling. Several states have similar bills currently stalled or going through the legal system for approval. This California bill will take effect in 2016.

  • What are your thoughts on this issue?
  • Does a person have a right to end their lives?
  • Where does such a right come from?
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Cecil the Lion – Walter Palmer’s Non-Apology

Dentist Cecil Lion

In light of the terrible “apology” by Walter Palmer for killing Cecil the lion, I wanted to share this great little piece by Jake Flanagin about what I call a “non-pology” – Where Sorry is not Sorry.

Non-pology is where a person seems to apologizes but carefully crafts their words to not take any responsibility for what had happened and thus maintain their innocence and their pride. Politicians do it all the time. So do athletes. So do many ordinary people. We hear it all the time, though we might not always catch it. Some examples:

“I am sorry this happened”
– Are you sorry you did it, or are you sorry that things turned out the way it did. That you got caught. That you are sorry this happened.. to you?

“This is not characteristic of me.. lapse in judgment”
– This is totally not me. What I said is not a reflection of who I am but just a slip of the tongue. I didn’t say the racist remark because I am racist. It was a slip. Don’t know what happened there. I did not rape/hurt/beat that woman because I was angry/dumb/have issues/evil. It was a lapse in judgment.

“I apologize if I offended anyone”
– I am sorry if what I did, happen to offend those who are overly sensitive to this.

Some quotes uttered by real people. I will leave out the names.

  • “I am sorry that statements taken out of context have had such repercussions.”
  • “You have my apologies for offending you for thinking I was being serious instead of accurately realizing I was mocking you”
  • “Our cover illustration last week got strong reactions, which we regret. […] Our intention was not to incite or offend.”
  • “I am truly sorry for the loss of your son” (by someone who shot and killed a teen)
  • “If anything I said this morning has been misconstrued to the opposite effect I want to apologize for that misconstrued misconstruction. “
  • “I feel bad if her feelings were hurt.”

and of course Walter Palmer himself in his letter to his patience

  • “I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion…”

Can you fit any more justifications in one sentence? In other words “I am sorry that my love for something good ended up this way.” The blame lies in his love for his hobby. Ignore the fact they lured the lion out of a protected area in order to “legally” shoot it. To be clear, I think the kind of hate & bashing going on to this man is wrong in itself as well. The kind of scary and hurtful threats people make and the things they post is just as wrong and people should be called out for such hate. Hate is hate. But apologies like these don’t help and only stoke the fire. Just say what you did was wrong. Take responsibility.

Have you heard other good “non-pologies”? Share it the comments below.

 

Cecil Lion Dentist Apology
Em.. you call that an apology? That was weak bro.

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