Tag: social media

The General Election Donkey Derby

As a fun way to track how the party leaders are doing in the battle to reach 10 Downing Street and form the new UK government at Westminster, 

 NetVoucherCodes.co.uk are hosting a digital donkey derby by using their Twitter listening tool to measure the number of mentions of the main political parties in election tweets.

The 2019 UK General Election is set to be the most digitised ever, with the major political parties pouring more time, effort and money into online campaigning than any previous national vote.

Social media such as Twitter is at the forefront of politicians’ efforts to get noticed and generate engagement, in a bid to improve their polling numbers before the 12th of December.

The 2019 tweet race features all of the UK’s leading donkeys (thoroughbreds, surely? – Ed) – the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon, the Conservatives’ Boris Johnson, the Liberal Democrats’ Jo Swinson, the Brexit Party’s Nigel Farage, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, the Green Party’s Siân Berry, Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price and the DUP’s Arlene Foster.

To view the #ElectionDerby, please visit: https://www.netvouchercodes.co.uk/election-derby2019.htm

Social social media messaging can lead to significant health benefits for young people, research finds

A new study led by a research team from Queen’s University Belfast, in partnership with University of Southern California, has found social media messaging, such as Facebook posts and sponsored ads, have a significant positive effect on a range of teenage health behaviors. Continue reading Social social media messaging can lead to significant health benefits for young people, research finds

Online Abuse: kick hate crime out of football

As the Chair of Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC), I and the organisation take any form of racism seriously.  It is deeply saddening to see  such awful language used in regards to the football game. There is absolutely no excuse for this language on or off the pitch or anywhere. 

Continue reading Online Abuse: kick hate crime out of football

Martin Lewis, Citizens Advice and Facebook launch major initiatives to fight scam ads

Two major initiatives launch today to combat online scam adverts as a direct result of a campaigning defamation lawsuit by Martin Lewis.  

On 23 January 2019, he agreed to settle his case out of court, in return for Facebook making a binding commitment to donate £3m to set up a new anti-scams initiative, and create a scam ads reporting tool, unique to Facebook in the UK.  Continue reading Martin Lewis, Citizens Advice and Facebook launch major initiatives to fight scam ads

Scottish Government announces investment in social media support

New steps to support young people’s mental health.

Steps to improve the mental health of young people, and directly target the impact of social media and body image on mental wellbeing, are to be supported through a new package of measures.

This includes £90,000 of funding to produce advice on the healthy use of social media and screen time, which will be created in partnership with young people.

In addition, a review of evidence on the effects of screen use on sleep and the implications of this for mental health will be commissioned.

The announcement follows the publication of new research from the Scottish Government which identifies social media, sleep disruption, body image and school pressures as potential factors in the reported worsening of mental wellbeing among adolescent girls in Scotland (see report below).

Minister for Mental Health Clare Haughey returned to her former school, Trinity High School in Rutherglen, to meet with pupils and discuss the research.

Ms Haughey said: “We know that many young people in Scotland, particularly girls, are unsatisfied with their physical appearance, and that high levels of social media use may be detrimental to mental wellbeing. We also know that adolescent girls in Scotland report higher levels of social media use than boys.

“Social media does have the potential to be used in a hugely positive way, but we want to ensure young people are properly informed on how social media promotes unrealistic expectations.

“During Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week we announced that we will be producing advice, specific to Scotland, on the healthy use of social media and screen time. We are now committing £90,000 to carry out this work as part of a package of measures to give young people the support they need. We want all young people to be able to grow up in a modern Scotland with good mental wellbeing.”

Exploring the reported worsening of mental wellbeing among adolescent girls in Scotland report:

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Can taking a social media holiday benefit your mental health?

Today’s world is dominated by social media and it plays a significant role in our lives – both at work and at home. There are an estimated 2.3 billion social media users globally. But has our need to keep people updated on our every move or thought gone too far? Continue reading Can taking a social media holiday benefit your mental health?