Is Social Media Making us Anti-social?

 

With a billion Facebook users worldwide, over 250 million twitter members, and new social networks emerging every week; social media has never been so popular. But is social media actually making us anti-social?

 

Yes – Jamilia

So often I see groups of friends out together in a bar or restaurant but instead of chatting to one another, they are all tapping away on their phones. It seems such a shame that rather than enjoying one another’s company, they are talking to people that aren’t even there. I find it really rude if I’m out with a friend and they whip out their phone mid-conversation. I’ve even been out for a meal with friends and they insist on taking photos of the meal to put online – it’s ridiculous!

 

I think children in particular are losing important social skills because of so-called ‘social’ media. Instead of playing with friends, they all seem to prefer sitting in their bedrooms using their computers. Not only are they missing out on real-life friendships but they are missing out on fresh air and exercise too. In addition, it seems that social media is very competitive – it’s all about how many ‘likes’ or ‘re-tweets’ people can get. I don’t think this obsession with gaining approval from others is healthy and it would be much better to invest time in real-life friendships which are much more supportive.

 

It seems ironic that so many people are happy to spend hours typing messages to people they don’t even know over the internet but then say they don’t have the time to visit their relatives. Real-life relationships are being sacrificed at the expense of virtual friendships that simply are not fulfilling or built to last.

 

 

No – Jan

My granddaughter taught me how to use Facebook and quite honestly, my social life has never been so busy since I started catching up with my friends online. Thanks to Facebook, I’ve had invites to lots of different social occasions in real-life that might not have happened without social media. At the age of 62, it can be hard to track down old friends but social media has made it really easy. I can talk to people that I was at college with and even keep in touch with friends who have moved to the other side of the world. Without social media my circle of friends would be so much smaller.

 

Social media provides a great support network for people of all ages too. When I was going through a difficult time recently I was able to find people on the internet who had experienced similar challenges in life and they provided the help and support I needed. Without social media, I would have felt very alone. I’m sure there must be lots of young people going through difficult times who can find help through the internet too.

 

The best thing about social media is that it gives me a way to chat to friends and relatives on a weekly basis who I probably wouldn’t get chance to call or visit. It keeps the lines of communication open with people that I might otherwise drift away from. Social media has definitely made me more sociable – in the real world as well as the virtual world.

 

Categories: anti social, life friendships, Media, nbsp, people, Real Life, social, Social Media, social nbsp

How to Send Sexy Pictures Without Being Outed Online

When did flirting become so hazardous? What started off as love notes and cheeky texts has become the threat to your romantic and professional wellbeing that is sending naked pictures of yourself to your significant other. You’ve heard a horror story of someone – usually female – who sent a naked photo for the private viewing of one individual, and yet this photo ended up on some porn site or social media. Whether your partner’s email account is hacked, or your ex wants to get their own back, the internet is forever, and so is your shame. With that in mind, we spoke to sexual health and wellness writer Mary Stringer, for her sexting guidelines.

 

1. Don’t Send Naked Pictures: According to Stringer, ‘I wouldn’t encourage sexting, even between consenting adults, as I’ve heard one too many negative sexting sagas.’ That said, when you’re all loved up, it’s hard to listen to such sage advice. So, if you do decide to strip off for your camera phone, at least consider the following…

 

2. Think Before You Click: ‘Before you send a photo, think to yourself: would I be happy with everyone I know seeing this?’ Stringer advises. ‘My parents, friends, colleagues? When in doubt, picture a beloved grandparent’s face if they saw the photo. If it’s a heart-attack face, delete and don’t send. If it’s a “Well she’s shamed the family but it is at least tastefully done” face… this is better.’

 

3. Be a Big Tease: Stringer would ‘never normally advocate being a tease, but when it comes to sexting it’s a surprisingly effective and enticing way to spice up the exchange without compromising your dignity,’ she says. ‘Send an image of a stockinged leg or a strategically posed partial nude. Far sexier than full frontal, and you’ll be less devastated about it winding up online.’

 

4. Check the Room For Giveaways: ‘Got any photos of yourself scattered around?’ asks Stringer. ‘An embarrassingly identifiable The Only Way Is Essex duvet cover or an exotic fraying wall-hanging from your gap year? These things will make it much harder to deny to friends and family that it’s you in the picture. Also – tidy up! Dirty laundry on the floor and an overflowing bin are not sexy.’

 

5. Don’t Pull a Porn Face: Stringer notes, ‘You’re not a porn star. Pull a face like Jenna Jameson and, if the images wind up online, people might assume – unfairly – that you put those snaps up yourself. Your best bet is to look away from the camera, as if you’ve seen something cool and interesting out of shot. An innocent ‘who me?’ face might also work well. But your best bet, other than NOT TAKING NAKED PICTURES is to not have your face in the photo at all…If the incriminating photo does eventually wind up online, then it’s just another naked body. But if you have distinctive moles or tattoos then, seriously, don’t bother.’

 

6. Use Good Lighting: ‘The type of light you use can make the difference between a trashy, unflattering snap, and a classy sexy shot,’ Stringer asserts. ‘Soft sexy lighting will help to obscure your features and soften the snap. Camera flash: off.’

 

7. Don’t Think You’re Safe: Stringer warns, ‘Don’t think you’re safe on Skype or Google chat. A video exchange can be screenshot or even filmed. Don’t do it, but if you do, keep your face covered or out of shot.’ The same goes for Snap Chat or any other app designed to delete sexts after they’re seen. It’s 2014; people know how to get around technology.’

Categories: face, naked, naked pictures, nbsp, photo, safety tips, sexting, Social Media, stringer, ve heard

Work(Out) Buddies: Why Corporate Wellness is Getting Social

Recently, the city of Charlotte issued a challenge to its employees: log your workouts on a website that tallies points for each department. Amongst City Hall, trash talk ensued. Christina Fath, the city’s wellness administrator, recalls that, if Human Resources was in the lead, ‘Budget would come back with a reply-all, saying “We’ll walk at lunch.”’ The six-week challenge garnered the participation of 469 municipal employees, which is twice the number of people involved compared to other years. The 8,800 hours of exercise logged by this year’s group is equal to almost half an hour per employee per day – and now more employers want a piece of the wellness action. According to John Tozzi a corporate wellness writer for Bloomberg Businessweek in New York, ‘Tying workplace wellness programmes to online games or social media lights a fire under workers as no number of posters in the break room can.’

 

But why does social media work so well in corporate wellness programmes? Brad Bell, an associate professor of HR at CornellUniversity, explains, ‘That social aspect creates some level of accountability. You know that if you don’t show up, people are going to notice.’ Tozzi adds that this motivational aspect is no small thing. ‘Getting staff to take care of themselves isn’t easy,’ he says. ‘In a recent survey of 512 employers by Towers Watson (TW) and the National Business Group on Health, companies called workers’ bad habits their biggest challenge to keeping health benefits affordable and cited lack of engagement as the toughest obstacle to changing employee behaviour.’ Perhaps this is why Charlotte isn’t the only town that has put its faith in the social aspects of corporate wellness programmes.

 

San Francisco start-up Keas runs a website where its clients’ employees can form online teams of up to six players and compete to earn points. Like in Charlotte’s city hall, workers do this by working out more, but Keas takes it one step further by asking employees to also eat better and manage stress. Participants are also rewarded for taking surprisingly addictive online health quizzes. Keas co-founder Adam Bosworth comments, ‘People would literally spend hours a day taking tens and tens of quizzes. The HR people, frankly, were not thrilled to see people spending an hour a day learning about their health…At the end of the day, it’s the social support of the game that keeps people playing.’

 

Tozzi details, ‘Fitbit, a San Francisco company that makes a pinky-size wireless gadget that helps people track their walking and other activity, didn’t target the corporate wellness market but quickly got pulled into it. In early 2010, six months after the $99.95 Fitbit went on sale, semiconductor company Tokyo Electron bought one for each of the 1,100 employees at its U.S. subsidiary. Since then, Fitbit has supplied hundreds of employers, including 25 Fortune 500 companies…The novelty factor draws in employees who wouldn’t ordinarily participate, especially gadget-happy men…A study in progress involving staff at one insurance company suggests participants take 40% more steps six months into the programme. And the website encourages competition without forcing workers to get too personal.’

 

Then you have a company like HealthPrize Technologies, who draw on the same psychology that gets people to play slot machines or join airline loyalty programmes. When employees refill prescriptions or log on to record taking their daily dose, they are rewarded with points that go up on a leaderboard. While those at the top of the leaderboard gain prizes such as a $100 gift certificate to Starbucks or Amazon, Katrina Firlik, the neurosurgeon that co-founded HealthPrize Technologies, asserts that employees are more concerned with the gaming and social aspect of the programme. She even recounts, ‘There was a woman who was going to have major surgery the next day, and she e-mailed us that she was worried she was going to slip in her rankings.’

Categories: city hall, corporate wellness, corporate wellness programmes, employees, healthprize technologies, motivation, people, san francisco, social aspect, Social Media, Wellness programmes

Fakebook: Is the Internet Getting in the Way of Friendships?

These days, there are plenty of articles about taking care of your wellbeing through diet, exercise and enhancing your relationship and sexual health, but what about friendships? Why do you stop talking about making friends once you reach adulthood? Forging and maintaining real bonds has been proven to be vital to your health and happiness, but, according to wellness writer Meirav Devash, you’ve lost sight of how to do it.

 

Devash details, ‘The last time I checked, I had 643 Facebook friends and 1124 Twitter followers. To me, it feels like a pretty exclusive group. But when a lazy evening rolls around and I realise there’s no one I can invite over for an impromptu TV night, I pine for when I may have had only a half-dozen friends but saw them often and in person.’ This is no singular case, says Andrea Bonior, an adjunct professor of psychology at Georgetown University, US, and writer of Psychology Today’s Friendship 2.0 blog. According to Bonior, research has shown that we are ‘collecting more acquaintances but don’t really have time for true friendships. We’re actually starting to get lonelier.’

 

The internet has made it easier to stay in touch with people, but a touch – or “poke” –  is really all you get. A recent poll by digital marketing firm Performics found that nearly 40% of us feel more comfortable socialising online than face-to-face. Bonior asks, ‘How many of the friends hanging around in your feed would you bother to ask to brunch?’ Not only is there something nice about meeting in person rather than chatting online; it’s good for your health. Devash notes, ‘Numerous studies have shown that hanging with the gals can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of depression and create a sense of wellbeing.’ So how do you step up your friendship game?

 

1. Don’t Let Online Friends Take Up All Your Time: Carlin Flora, author of Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are, comments, ‘Checking Twitter and Facebook can eat into time you might have otherwise spent with a close friend.’

 

2. Follow Up Sooner: You don’t end a great date by saying “We should do it again sometime,” and then letting it go for three months, so why do you do that with your friends? Life coach Shasta Nelson, author of Friendships Don’t Just Happen!, points out, ‘It takes six to eight connections with somebody before we start considering her a friend.’ This means that if you meet up once a month, it’ll take over half a year before you consider yourselves close. Nelson enthuses ‘But if you meet with the same person over and over again, chances are high that you’ll forge a meaningful friendship.’

 

3. Make the Gesture: ‘Meaningful actions can mark you as a great friend, so jump in and be the one who throws her a 35th-birthday bash or drives four hours to attend her aunt’s funeral,  Devash advises. ‘When former publishing executive Rachel Guidera’s home and most of her possessions were damaged by a cyclone, her friend Corrine Butler Thompson immediately started a fundraising campaign to help out – and raised more than $10,000.’

 

4. Pick Up the Phone: Flora recommends, ‘Force yourself to have one long, meandering, laughter-filled phone call with a close friend at least once a month, whether she lives close by or far away.’ Studies show that this can lower your body’s levels of the stress hormone cortisol and increase your levels of anxiety-reducing hormone oxytocin. Seeing as stress is the gateway to a myriad of health problems, it seems like one phone call is worth the effort!

Categories: close friend, Friend, Friends, Friendships, Health Benefits, nbsp, Social Media, time

Not Just for Schools: How to Prevent Cyberbullying at Work

As someone who’s no longer in high school, you may think cyber bullying won’t affect your wellbeing. However, this dark side of technology poses a threat to corporate wellness, infiltrating workplaces at an alarming rate. According to Rachel Clements, BSc Hons, M Psych, MAPS, co-founder and Director of Psychological Services and Principal Organisational Psychologist at the Centre for Corporate Health, ‘Over the past year, here at the Centre for Corporate Health, we have noticed a distinct increase in workers’ compensation claims resulting in workers taking time away from work. One of the major causative factors to these workers’ compensation claims is repeated harassment via digital media platforms.’ So what is cyber bullying, and how can you prevent it?

 

The Safe Work Australia Preventing & Responding to Workplace Bullying Draft Code of Practice 2013 defines workplace bullying as ‘Repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety.’ This means any behaviour that is victimising, humiliating, intimidating or threatening, be it from one person or a group. But where does cyber bullying come in? Clements explains, ‘This specific “brand” of bullying occurs using technology and platforms such as email, SMS, social media sites, blogs, discussion forums, websites and even computer screensavers. Individuals who feel disempowered in the “real world” may resort to bullying behaviour which they would not ordinarily feel comfortable doing without the pseudonym protection provided by social media avatars.’

 

The problem with social networking is that it provides a certain level of anonymity, meaning you can attack someone without them knowing who you are, and without really seeing them as a real human being. According to Clements, ‘Social networking can encourage antisocial behaviour and a lack of empathy…Perpetrators of cyberbullying have been labelled in the social media world as “trolls”. A victim’s response to bullying cannot be witnessed. The depersonalized medium social media can offer also give rises to a “group think” mentality, where any form of harassment can easily gain momentum and as a group, the bullying seems okay as “everyone is doing it”.’  However, cyberbullying is not okay; it can lead to a number of psychological problems. This includes:

 

• Depression and anxiety


• Psychosomatic symptoms,


• Suicide


• Interpersonal difficulties (both at home and at work)


• Decreased work performance and increased absenteeism


• Psychological injury claims


• Bystander impact (low morale, poor job satisfaction, team dysfunction)

 

Cyberbullying, then, needs to be stopped, but how do you go about it? Clements notes, ‘To effectively prevent and manage workplace bullying, it is important to ensure that your workplace has the correct policies and procedures in place to set the foundation for a holistic approach to be effective. This approach needs to encompass organisational, managerial, team and individual factors, with an emphasis on organisational culture and constructive leadership.’

 

1. Organisational Strategies: This means defining acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour with regards to the internet, training your employees in and communicating these policies effectively, and making sure your leaders are exemplifying these policies. ‘Revisit your recruitment and staff selection process,’ Clements advises. ‘Organisations that use psychological inventories and behavioural interviewing are more likely to select an employee that will interact with colleagues in a cohesive and like minded manner.’

 

2. Managerial Strategies: Clements details, ‘We, at The Centre for Corporate Health, believe prevention is better than reaction, so providing training for managers to assist them in developing constructive leadership styles, is a great place to plant the seed of a healthy and nurturing culture at work. It’s important to provide ongoing coaching for managers to ensure they are equipped to handle sensitive issues such as bullying.’

 

3. Team Strategies: ‘It’s imperative to provide employees with the opportunity to develop their interpersonal relationships by connecting with the team, scheduling regular meetings and networking opportunities to support each other,’ Clements asserts. ‘Providing training to staff via skills based learning is also a great technique to prevent workplace bullying, as it gives individuals the skill set to understand individual differences, know effective ways to problem solve, as well as knowledge on how to build respectful relationships.’

 

4. Individual Strategies: Clements argues, ‘Providing employees with Emotional Resilience Training (mindfulness/positive psychology based training) gives them the ability to be less affected and strengthens their psychological hardiness. This type of training reduces the risk factors which contribute to the decline in personal resilience often resulting in an employee suffering a workplace psychological injury.’

Categories: compensation claims, corporate health, cyber bullying, Cyberbullying, depression, prevention, psychological injury, Social Media, social networking, strategies clements

Why The Thigh Gap is a Risky and Impossible Goal

A new weight loss trend has caused wellness experts to speak out about the risks and low probability of achieving such a goal. Specialists are saying that women are putting their wellbeing at risk by attempting to become so slender that their thighs don’t touch even when their feet are together. Not only is trying to achieve a so-called thigh gap dangerous, specialist say it is virtually impossible. However, this doesn’t stop Tumblr pages, blogs and other social media sites flaunting photos of exceptionally thin models who have the gap, which is upheld as a beauty achievement.

 

According to Claire Mysko, who oversees teen outreach and digital media for advocacy group the National Eating Disorders Association, ‘The issue of focusing on a particular body part is very common. What is new is these things have taken on a life of their own because of the Internet and social media.’ This saturation of super-thin women in the media has warped our sense of what’s normal. In actual fact, the vast majority of people’s thighs tough when they stand with their feet together, whereas those whose thighs are so slim they don’t touch makes up a tiny percentage of the population.

 

It’s easy to blame social media for the recent rise in eating disorders, but research has actually found that peer pressure from social sites plays a significant role in girls’ warped sense of body image. In 2011, a study from researchers at the University of Haifa showed that teenage girls who spent the most time using Facebook were more likely to develop a negative body image and an eating disorder. Nancy Albus, chief executive officer of Castlewood Treatment Center, a suburban St. Louis facility that focuses on eating disorders, points out, ‘The intrusion and presence of social media in our lives really does make it very difficult. The important distinction about thigh gap is it gives you an actual visual to achieve, this visual comparison of how your body does or doesn’t stack up.’

 

Dr. Vonda Wright, a Pittsburgh-based orthopedic surgeon and fitness expert, notes that the spacing between your legs mostly comes down to your genes, and you may not be able to achieve a thigh gap even if you’re extraordinarily thin. In order to have a thigh gap, you need a specific body type; both skinny and wide-hipped. That said, Wright is quick to assert that a the elusive thigh gap isn’t a goal worth chasing. If you’re fit and healthy, you won’t have a thigh gap because your thighs will be muscular enough that they touch. Wright, who works with Division I athletes, explains, ‘Skinny does not mean fit or muscular. I cannot think of one athlete I deal with’ who has a thigh gap.

 

While experts do admit that they cannot know whether or not the pursuit of a thigh gap has caused any deaths, nor is it known how many eating disorders are blamed on the phenomenon, that is not to say that the link is not there. Mysko comments that, if you ask most experts, they will tell you that ‘exposure to online images of extreme beauty standards and the drive to compare does increase the risk of developing eating disorders.’ Therapist, Kim Callaway says she often encourages clients to avoid social media and even delete their Facebook pages. ‘It’s not uncommon for people to be on Facebook talking about what they ate today, posting pictures of their meals or writing about how they’re 10 pounds lighter than they were a month ago,’ Callaway notes. ‘The ability to be instantly connected to everybody and see what they look like and see them blog or talk about what they are eating and what they do for exercise – this makes it a lot more difficult for those with eating disorders.’

Categories: Body image, disorders, eating, eating disorders, Media, Risks, social, Social Media, thigh, thigh gap

Can Social Media Help You Eat Better?

Social media plays a huge role in many peoples’ lives. Unfortunately, many studies and reports focus on the negative aspects of the phenomenon, focusing on the ways social media can cause problems in our lives.

 

What many people fail to realize is that social media can actually have a positive impact on your life. Case in point? Your activities on Facebook, Twitter and even Pinterest can help you work toward a healthier diet and better overall wellness.

 

The Nutritionist Connection

In the past, most people got their nutrition information from their health care providers, traditional media, like magazines and television, or from other people. But unless they had a specific health condition that required them to work with a dietician, like diabetes, few people actually had access to their expert advice and opinions on an individual level.

 

 

Social media has changed that. By following them on Facebook or Twitter, individuals have the chance to interact directly with the experts, getting useful information directly from those who have earned a master’s degree in nutrition and wellness. For example, many grocery store chains schedule regular online chats or question-and-answer sessions with their in-house nutritionists, allowing customers to post their concerns and receive accurate information. In most cases, these professionals maintain Facebook pages or Twitter feeds where they share tips and ideas related to eating well — often with specific recommendations for products you can purchase in the store. By following these experts, you can learn more about how you can eat and feel better.

 

 

A Built-In Support System

Many weight loss and health experts note that having a support system when you are trying to lose weight or lifestyle can be a major predictor of success. Sharing your goals via social media can be an effective means to maintain accountability and gain the support you need to be successful. In fact, a study at the University of South Carolina even found that people who incorporated Twitter into their weight loss plan were more successful than those who didn’t, primarily because Twitter provided immediate access to advice and encouragement not available elsewhere.

 

 

Food Activism

These days, many people get their food news via social media, where information (and sometimes misinformation) spreads quickly. So-called “food activists,” people who are concerned about how food is being manufactured and sold, often bring light to issues via social media, allowing people to know exactly what they are eating and empowering them to make better choices. In addition, health professionals, like doctors and dieticians, are using social media to spread the word about food-related health issues, such as problems with school lunches, the dangers of particular foods and other social issues. The overall effect is more widespread awareness of what we’re eating — and more public pressure for food producers to be transparent and discontinue potentially harmful practices.

 

Sharing Ideas and Inspiration

While Pinterest is famous as a place to find recipes for foods that would make any nutritionist cringe, there are also thousands of pins of healthy foods and ideas on how to create better lifestyles. From new ways to prepare vegetables to tips on how to reduce fat and calories without sacrificing flavor, chances are you can find it on Pinterest.

 

 

And that’s one example of how people can share ideas on how to eat better on social media. People head to Facebook for recommendations on restaurants with healthier menu options or for thoughts on making certain foods more palatable to their kids. It’s social media’s environment of sharing and collaborating that makes it ideal to for starting a journey toward better eating.

 

 

That’s why, if you want to eat better, social media can play a significant role in that effort. Whether you need specific recipes for quinoa or Brussels sprouts, or you want reassurance that yes, your child is going to grow up just fine even though he’s eaten chicken nuggets and carrots for the last three days, or you want to know what your local grocery store has in terms of organic options, your Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest feeds can be the best places to start.

 

About the Author:

Sara Matthews writes about healthy living and wellness for her blog as well as for several magazines.

Categories: Eat, facebook twitter, Food, grocery store, Media, nbsp, nbsp nbsp, people, social, Social Media, Weight Loss

Could Your Attention-Seeking Friend be Mentally Ill?

We’ve all got friends who post their entire personal business on Facebook, Tweet embarrassingly emotional messages and seem to be constantly looking for attention through the medium of social media. Rather than thinking about the wellness or well-being of the person behind the messages, it’s all too easy to become irritated, and use tools on the social media to hide or block the person so that you can’t see them posting messages about themselves any more.

 

Before doing this, it might be worth considering whether or not your friend’s mental health could be in question. Facebook especially lends itself all too easily to being callous. We forget that the people behind the messages are human beings too, and we write them off all too easily.

 

In some ways, social media has driven a wedge between people rather than bringing them closer together. If someone shows signs of depression, it is often decried as ‘attention seeking’ and people are then more determined to ignore them than ever. Those who have suffered from depression often report that others steer well clear of them rather than helping them out, and that people are very nervous of things out of their preconceived idea of ‘normal’.

 

In truth, mental illness isn’t something that people can control. Although medicine and talk therapy (if the illness is diagnosed) can help to control the illness to a degree, it is still one of the most uncontrollable illnesses there is, and people often miss social cues or behave inappropriately, like sharing too much information or breaking down in public.

 

Whilst this lack of social barriers is normal for mental illness, it can lead to others thinking that you are an ‘attention seeker’, causing them to distance themselves from you. So, the next time you see an attention-seeking Facebook status and want to block the person, consider instead the fact that your friend could be mentally ill – and reaching out for some kind of help.

Categories: attention, attention seeking, illness, mental, mental illness, mentally ill, nbsp, people, social, Social Media

Would Young People Actually Want Social Media Sex Education?

Many wellness experts believe that modern teen sexual health problems require a modern solution; social networking. The theory goes, to talk to teenagers about their wellbeing, you have to speak their language – and these days that language involves a lot of YouTube videos and hash tags. However, according to a new study, published in the May issue of Reproductive Health Matters, those who wish to harness the power of Facebook for sex education should proceed with caution.

Because social media sites like Facebook and Twitter use a network of peers, it provides a great platform for sex education. Learning sexual information from peers is often argued to be more effective than learning from adults, and so researchers conducted focus groups with 22 young people, aged 16 to 22, in New South Wales, Australia, in order to better understand the sex education potential of social media.

However, the researchers found that the decisions young people make about the information they share, the comments they make, and the photos they upload are not made lightly, but often carefully considered in relation to an imagined audience. One participant explained, ‘With health information, I think it’s better if it’s anonymous because I don’t think everyone’s really comfortable about talking about that kind of stuff with random [people]… It’s something they want to keep to themselves.’ Another added, ‘It’s, like, you don’t really want that on your wall.’

The focus group explained that young people would be more likely to discuss sexual health issues via personal messaging or conversations among close friends, and the researchers noted that health educators and social media users therefore have conflicting agendas. While educators may want to get across a serious message, social media users are more likely to share and disseminate information that is self-created, adapted or subverted (for example, through parodies).

According to one participant, ‘No one wants to get a lecture while they are online and trying to do their social thing.’ Another suggested, ‘I think you need to have a funny element because if it’s just serious it’s going to scare people off. So I think you need to draw people in using funny and then maybe have like a serious kind of punch line at the end or something.’ However, the study authors warned that as humour is personal and subjective, without careful handling it could encourage stigma or shaming.

Categories: Research, sex education, Social Media

Firms Need to Invest in HR to Establish Employer Brand

The rapid rate at which the workplace environment has changed over the last two decades has left many businesses struggling to catch up. In just a few short years, digital inventions such as social media has left even the biggest of corporations floundering as their executives take time to consider how to harness these new platforms.

Employer branding has perhaps taken a back seat. Most big businesses still retain the services of a human resources (HR) department but smaller firms have tended to outsource that activity to save money. And this has led to a vacuum where those companies’ employer branding should be.

Even a well-staffed HR department can struggle to handle the demands of a daily social media presence designed to keep their company’s brand in the public eye and provide a positive image for the employer, not only for customers but also for potential recruits.

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn do allow a company a certain degree of autonomy within the confines of the platform but it takes time to build up a following online and it takes patience and skill to send out regular messages that engage and interest those following.

The problem has been well documented: in 2011, a survey of HR managers in the US revealed that the top challenge for those attempting establishing a employer brand was finding the budget to maintain that brand. It is simply not enough to expect the HR department to add the burden of establishing and maintaining that brand without financial and IT support from either elsewhere in the organisation or from outwith the company.

Getting the brand right is essential for companies selling themselves to current customers and potential customers and more firms don’t stint on their marketing budget. Siphoning some of that cash to HR departments to get the employer brand right, too, should become a priority for companies that want to be progressive and positive.

Categories: employer brand, HR, Social Media

Concerns Grow About Schoolchildren"s Mental Health

As funding cuts dig deeper into the educational sphere, there have been growing concerns that teachers are now feeling subdued in classes with students exhibiting bad behaviour. As a result, teachers and schools are struggling to cope.

A survey conducted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) reported worries that the growth of bad behaviour in schools was equal to a rise in emotional, behavioural or mental health problems in children.

Some within the association commented that this was due to the violent verbal assault and sexual content that is gradually rising in social media, which is resulting in deteriorating behaviour. It wasn’t necessarily the social media that was brought into question so much as the attitudes that were becoming popularised through it.

It was revealed earlier this month that two-thirds of local authorities had reduced their funding for children’s mental health services since the political coalition in 2010. A freedom of information request by the YoungMinds charity found that 34 out of 51 local authorities which responded said their budgets for children’s and young people’s mental health services had been cut, one by a shocking 76%. With services now acting with a skeleton crew however they can, it is no surprise that children’s mental health is now starting to show a significant rise.

It means that teachers now have to struggle and cope with disorders that are unique, complex and impossible to understand at a glance. With 90% of teachers reporting that they have been abused verbally, mentally or physically; with no outlets or assistance, children and their overseers are being put through motions that are beyond them, with no help from any other sources.

The backlash caused by the numerous cuts are starting to take their toll. With such shocking displays of indifference, there is a question of what futures are being held for schoolchildren across the UK.

Concerns Grow About Schoolchildren"s Mental Health

Categories: Children, Education, health, health services, local authorities, mental, Mental Health, Mental Health Problems, Social Media, Teachers

How To Use Emotion On Social Media

There is one universal truth about engaging with your audience on social media: you have to use emotion. With businesses it can often be overlooked in a rush to push the sales message of the brand first. But in social communications emotion works and it needs to be a major part of what you’re saying.

The emotions can be positive or negative emotions. Happy thoughts like fun, enthusiasm and intrigue can be very effective, but so can anything that makes you angry, frustrated or feeling challenged. The massive majority of people who use social media are not the ‘trolls’ that we are constantly reminded of on the news. Generally they are happy to offer help and advice – they just need to be asked in the right way.

This is very evident in the small business social networking space. In this environment many social groups’ members jump in and help out to support other small business owners. It is the strength of these emotional bonds that will improve your standing within social networks and the business environment that you work within.

Once you have made a social connection that is tied based on an emotion it will lead to a stronger connection that is sustainable in the long-term. Although it’s possible that weak ties can form in both communities and social networks, a strong tie is built up in business communities only through a powerful emotional connection.

That means that often your most valued and strongest ties will have started from a weak tie, pulled together through a shared emotion or a set of values. This is where looking at the psychology of social networks can give the insight to the depth of what and why is really happening in social media.

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How To Use Emotion On Social Media

Categories: business, emotion, Social Media

Tweet Delete: Do Social Media Fitness Boasts have to go?

There’s no denying that fitness is a positive thing. Going for a jog here and there or hitting the gym can help you lose weight and improve your overall wellbeing, which is something we all know. However, if you have friends who fill up your news feed with their fitness achievements, you’ll also be aware how annoying fitness can be.

In a survey of 1,793 people, a whopping 53% said their most annoying contacts on social media are the ones who constantly post updates on their fitness and latest diet. Those who posted pictures of their dinner irked 45% of respondents, while another 36% would happily do without friends posting news about their babies, though this was surprisingly only fifth on the top ten of social media irritants.

Moreover, the survey, commissioned by Sweatband.com, found more than half the respondents reduced their social media use to block the irritating notifications. So what’s our problem with hearing about wellness updates? Sweatband.com’s Maz Darvish said, ‘We all have those friends who tell us about every single calorie they burn. Whilst social media has given us a great way to keep in touch, it’s also given us another way to bombard people with things they just don’t care about.’

Tailing behind fitness freaks and foodies were the self-consciously enigmatic, who write mysterious status updates to get their friends’ attention. Vague updates that beg for people to ask questions, and are answered with ‘I don’t want to talk to about it’, irritated 42% of respondents. In between cryptic status writers and pushy parents were online game players, loathed by 37% of respondents. No, we do not want to send you a cow to keep your Farmville going.

In at number six were social media users who aren’t afraid to share incredibly personal details (36%), followed by users who check in at every single place they go to, irking 26% of respondents. 25% reviled event spammers, who invite you to every event they can think of, even when you don’t live in the same city as them. At number nine, constant commenters, who like and engage with every post they see, annoyed 22% of the survey participants, and, finally, self-promoters, or small business owners who treat every friend or follower like a prospective customer brought up the rear with 19%.

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Tweet Delete: Do Social Media Fitness Boasts have to go?

Categories: Fitness Status Updates, Research, Social Media