Fifteen-year-old Halley started crying. Through her tears, she confessed to me, “I was so obsessed about if I looked good enough and how many Likes I had, that I made it my whole life. I would come out of my room after scrolling through Instagram and TikTok, angry at the world because I was depressed… Continue Reading →
“Fat” is an emotion, according to Facebook
As a new member of Facebook, I frequently find myself flummoxed by its strange ways. Someone “liked” my “status”? I’ve been invited to play “Candy Crush”? Someone has “poked” me? Usually, with much grumbling and cursing in Yiddish, I find some way to adapt to the world of countable likes, crushes on inanimate objects, and… Continue Reading →
Facebook, give me a break from your dieting ads
Yesterday as I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, I was treated to an ad that Facebook had decided was relevant to my life as a high school female. The words “Skinny Confidential” headed the advertisement; below, the post expanded, informing me: “‘1 Summer Weight Loss Trick:’ This Secret Was Designed to Lose Weight and… Continue Reading →
Facebook falls flat in fighting gender-based hate speech
I am an avid Facebook user (is anyone reading this not?); it is an integrated part of my everyday life. So when I heard that Facebook had agreed to better control the content on their site and eliminate gender-based hate speech, I was thrilled. Or so I thought. When I learned that they had only… Continue Reading →