The Devastating Impact Of Instagram Ads On Body Image: Perception Vs. Reality

The popular Instagram app may sound like fun and games at first but a new study proves how its ads can truly affect one’s body image.

Thanks to a new study taken from the Journal Of Psychology, we are getting some further insights about the role of Meta’s popular app ads and how they can negatively influence females’ self-esteem.

The research proved how the effect was greater on those women who wanted to be on the extreme of the body mass spectrum. And by that, we mean either too thin or too curvy.

Ads featuring models of this body type on Instagram had people second-guessing their confidence and whether or not they were good enough to fit into society’s image of perfection. And that led to a greater desire to take on drastic measures to appear a certain way.

As one can expect, nothing positive was to come out of such an endeavor. People were ready to compromise their health to look a certain way thanks to these ads that promised to drastically alter one’s looks.

Instagram is one app that’s not only visually appealing but it’s also used as a great medium for interaction purposes. Therefore, people claim they follow the platform religiously and take on the ideal goal of a perfect body image and beauty standard.

So the consequences were studied in detail of such ads on females arising in the late adolescent age bracket.

The beauty standards of society usually have a lot to do with different body types and that is exactly what such ads display, the study showed. However, the main purpose of the research was to see what effect on girls’ body image arose when such ads were frequently encountered. Similarly, it looked at women’s eagerness to take part in actions to get such ideals in place.

Researchers added how they became motivated by a huge concern linked to the negative effect of ads on body image and that too those who had young minds that could be convinced easily.

As it is, studies from the past spoke about how displaying ideal body figures in the media led to more people getting depressed about their own bodies, and hence taking drastic measures to look a certain way.

The authors who do hold marketing degrees added how they’ve also seen the effect of ads on people’s minds and the latter was true for women who were younger in age. But the data regarding the effect that ads have on the Instagram app is not a lot. And that is what motivated the authors to carry out this particular study in detail.

A total of 284 women who were aged between 17 to 19 took part in the study after being allocated via a participant pool so that they met particular criteria for inclusion. Hence, you would need to be a regular app user and shouldn’t have any kind of eating disorder either.

The study proved how women who were exposed to ads featuring models that were either too thin or too curvy via the app were generally inclined to like that kind of body type. And that means such ads have a huge influence on a person’s preference for a body type and also who they consider to be ideal body goals as well.

Young women were also ready to take part in all the actions that were required to attain such a body type, the study added. So if you like the thinner models, you’d be taking measures to get thinner. It could mean taking on drastic surgery or extreme diets to get that body goal. Similar was the case for curvy models featuring bigger breasts and wider hips.

Lastly, the authors noted how body dissatisfaction was a major deciding factor too. The unhappier lot were more inclined to take on such extremes than the rest.

Moreover, women who made physical comparisons with such models were generally more affected by such ads featuring models that were thin or curvy. And that motivated them further to alter their appearances at any cost.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Google Delists Over 48,000 Facebook URLs After Europe’s New Privacy Guidelines

Europe is often at the forefront of user privacy because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up protecting its citizens from companies that want to use their data for profit. In an analysis conducted by Surfshark, it was revealed that Facebook turned out to be the most widely delisted site of all, with Google removing approximately 48,600 URLs from that site across 29 of the 31 countries that were studied.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, other social media platforms and major websites faced a similarly widespread spate of delistings with all things having been considered and taken into account. All in all, 100,000 pages were delisted from Google’s SERP, and while nearly half of them belonged to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were also hit pretty hard.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Europe’s new right to be forgotten law might be at the heart of these goings on. Germany and France were the strictest nations of all in enforcing this new regulation, delisting 20k URLs each. They’re followed by the UK where 13,000 URLs ended up getting delisted, indicating that many European nations are wasting no time before adhering to the policy guidelines that have been set by the European parliament.

One way to look at this data is to compare the number of delisted URLs based on the average population of the country in question. If we were to focus solely on this metric, the Netherlands comes out on top. 57 URLs were delisted for every 100,000 people living in the Netherlands, which is the highest proportional URL removal by far.

While most major tech sites are getting delisted, their overall rate of delisting is lower than average. 40% of the top three sites faced delisting, which seems to suggest that they are being given at least a little bit of leeway that would allow them to survive more easily than might have been the case otherwise in the future.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

80% of Gen Z Use YouTube Every Month, But Other Platforms Aren’t Far Behind

The battle for the attention span of Gen Z is arguably the most important focus for social media companies around the world. It turns out that as many as 80% of Gen Z reported using YouTube each and every month. In spite of the fact that this is the case, other platforms such as TikTok and Instagram reported same levels of usage, which seems to suggest that the attention span of people between the ages of 15 and 26 is being split rather evenly between them.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 use five social media platforms on a monthly basis. As for adult Gen Z, namely those between the ages of 18 and 26, they used six platforms on average.

84.8% of teen Gen Z use YouTube, with 79.4% of adult Gen Z said the same. Interestingly, adult Gen Z were more likely to use Instagram, albeit by a very slim margin of 77% to 77.9%. TikTok saw a relatively similar proportion split between teen and adult Gen Z as well, with 77.9% and 76.8% respectively. As for Snapchat, 65.2% of teen Gen Z said that they use it monthly, with 66.2% of adult Gen Z saying the same.

This seems to suggest that Snapchat is marginally less attractive to teen Gen Z, but nothing can be compared to the plummeting fortunes of Facebook with all things having been considered and taken into account. While 58.4% of adult Gen Z reported using Facebook on a monthly basis, just 38.2% of teen Gen Z said the same.

The same disparity can be seen with Twitter, with 46.3% for adults and 34.8% for teens, and Reddit, with 28.1% and 19.1% respectively. This indicates that older platforms are falling out of favor, although YouTube has managed to maintain its hold on the younger population which might help the Google owned video streaming and social media service to survive for much longer than its legacy counterparts.

H/T: Insiderintelligence

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

New Study Proves You Can Extend Battery Life Of Your Smartphone And Laptop With A Cheap Piece Of Tape

There’s truly nothing more daunting than having to deal with an electronic device with a limited battery life. Be it your laptop or your smartphone, it’s one of the most annoying things because, in today’s modern world, it’s hard to function without them.

Imagine being at the airport in a foreign country with a phone whose battery just died. Clearly, it’s not a pretty situation to be in. But wait, a new proof that you actually can fix the matter through an affordable and convenient hack.

And that includes replacing the usual tape that covers lithium batteries with another cheaper option.

The study comes to us thanks to researchers at Canada’s Dalhousie University in Halifax. They’ve found a great means of extending battery life for the most important electronics that we make use of on a daily basis.

As per the report, research teams found how the usual PET tape that keeps battery parts in place has the tendency to dissolve. And it’s commonly due to some kind of chemical reaction taking place in the battery which leads to it self-discharging with time.

In case you have charged your battery and you’ve left it idle for a few days, you’ll notice that the battery life has gone down the drain to some extent, if not completely. And as expected, the frustration is on a whole new level altogether. But wait, don’t lose hope.

The fix is simple and it involves replacing PET tape with PP tape in such batteries can prevent it from dissolving. Moreover, the great news is that PP tape costs similar to PET tape so no need to worry about the financial burden that comes into play during the manufacturing process.

Coming down to the benefits, research teams find that battery levels in devices with PP tape were greater than 10%. Meanwhile, devices were self-discharging less with this tape as compared to the classic one.

Clearly, it’s a no-brainer for obvious reasons and it’s not wrong to mention how you can make the switch with ease.

The study was even evaluated by a leading professor from the university’s physics department. They called it something that was really incredible and the fact that all of this detective work was brought into the spotlight now instead of before is worth a mention.

Moreover, it does take some talented individuals to really unravel such a finding, he added, referring to it as something that was super impressive.

To really get down to the bottom of this and recognize connectivity amongst so many other things can really help individuals identify connections amongst other leading things taking place in their necessary electronic devices.

This particular research paper has been published in the famous Natural Materials journal and so far it’s getting positive feedback because it’s like unraveling a mystery that not even scientists have done.

We don’t see how such a change would even require manufacturers to drag their feet in terms of making this change because it’s more than possible. The cost is the main factor that has people talking and in this situation, we’re saying hello to minimal change as it’s the same price point as the usual tape covering lithium-ion batteries.

But again, more research is definitely required and the process of scrutiny has also begun to see how positive the findings are for others who test it out. But if that also goes as planned, it won’t be long before laptop and mobile producers make the tape switch for all products that exist in the market today.

Photo: Unsplash/Amanz

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New Survey Endorses Apple’s Mac Computer As The Most Secure Option For IT Departments

Tech giant Apple is always at the front of the race when it comes to marketing its products as the best and most secure technology out there today.

The Cupertino-based giant raves about the best combo of hardware and software in the industry and trust us when we say that it’s not only talk. Apple has proven to be a leader as so many companies have chosen Mac for usage in IT departments, in comparison to other arch-rivals in the industry.

Today, a new survey promoted by Apple is shedding light on that same aspect and how 76% of IT firms keep the Mac as their top preference when compared to others in the market. The reason is linked to how strongly they feel it’s more secure than others.

Apple promoted across the new IDC report, which was seen on Enterprise, how nearly half of the companies that took part in the research opted to take Mac into the IT department. And that’s because they felt it was so much more secure.

Meanwhile, the survey also highlighted how more people plan on adopting Macs in the IT sector because of how simple it is in terms of usage and managing tasks.

Both Mac and macOS are putting out plenty of security features that keep getting praised by a long list of enterprise clients. The following features were discussed as strengths of taking on Apple’s Mac against all others.

The device management for APIs makes sure the company’s devices are controlled through the first boot. Secondly, the firm’s APIs for detecting endpoints give IT professionals a chance to ensure all products are secure and maintain the best performance of users.

Thirdly, Apple also puts out identity integrations featuring SSO frameworks that are built into the device. Moreover, it works with the help of modern IDps so that firms can very simply scale up the device and achieve connectivity to Ping and beyond.

Similarly, the Touch ID function remains local on this device so that people can trust it. But this combined with the best software/hardware in the business ensures IT firms get the best of both worlds.

The IDC survey also delineated some more reasons as to why macOS is the best option in a corporate setup. This includes offering the best control of malware thanks to the long list of security layers that are designed to ensure third-party apps run well.

Moreover, each app that’s present on Apple’s Mac App Store gets thorough evaluation and review as well as certification from the company. Moreover, most firms can even restrict app installations through other leading sources as well.

And if apps get distributed in places other than the App Store on Mac, there would be a notarization system that’s designed to stop any kind of unwarranted apps from functioning.

Meanwhile, another huge advantage that comes with macOS over other leading operating systems is how swiftly the device may launch software updates and new security changes for users of Apple macOS. And in case you’re worrying about the costs attached, well, there are no additional or hidden charges for doing so.

Additionally, all Apple services including iMessage and iCloud are protected through E2E encryption for the best kind of security and to ensure data that’s sensitive stays guarded and protected at all times.

For years, Apple has called out the security factor as one that has been its most valuable asset to date. As per this survey, most people did agree in terms of why they were choosing Mac and how a lot of it had to do with the robust security advancements in place and how smooth-running the whole ecosystem is. As a result, it greater lessens the burden.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Linktree Creator Report 2023: Key Findings and Insights

Popular app Linktree has just announced its latest Creator Report which includes data taken from a whopping 40 million people with emphasis on websites, new ventures, and content planning that have arisen in the past year.

While we’re all well aware of how Linktree is a popular name when it comes to the creator economy world, the new report is allocating more space for a bigger ecosystem. Moreover, this economy is very diverse, and with a staggering 200 million people competing to attain attention from the masses, it’s understandable that people feel more overwhelmed than others.

Today, the company has nearly 40% of all individuals feeling pressure because of the huge amount of options available on the web. And the approximate attention span for people today is just one-third of what it was in the year 2004.

It makes absolute sense why this firm sees itself as the leading antidote when it comes to a viewer’s experience that’s overstuffed with too much statistics and data. The service that’s up for grabs links several platforms in a particular location and this way, creators make use of this tool that unites a whopping 7.5 million webpages.

In this particular report that was rolled out by the company, data highlighted how just 25% of the 100 million links from Linktree produced at the start of last year were going to the bigger apps out there.

But seeing the company sending out reminders to users about how its functionality goes beyond apps like Instagram and YouTube is certainly a smart decision. Both these tech giants really end up uplifting their specific first-party linking mechanisms that have sprung up this year. And Linktree surely sees value in this type of cross-platform promotion.

The report says the most popular accounts attain traffic through nearly 12 different sources. And by the year 2022, restrictions for COVID were lifted and the event came back to normal. Moreover, a lot of the links were directed in the entertainment and ticketing sector, the research showed.

But this year was a little different from others, it’s all about creators getting back to their usual work. Similarly, several destinations having the greatest YoY bumps included the likes of Patreon, Substack, and even Typeform.

Meanwhile, links for merchandise platforms such as Shopify and even Spring were seen as they continued to dominate as relevant and drove up to 38 million clicks on the app in the past year.

Both TikTok and YouTube platforms are some of the most popular links out there today. And it makes sense why they’re no-brainers for Linktree’s stats which proved how there was a massive increase in the figure for creators aiming to reach a more community-focused app such as Substack.

Here is where creators have been working hard to combat the repercussions linked to an attention economy that has been oversaturated for quite some time now. But whatever the case may be, it’s destined to give rise to some authentic relationships that push it forward through such an algorithm.

The entire Creator Report by Linktree has been up for grabs through the webpage so you can attain further insights from there. Furthermore, Linktree is also shouting for users to come forward and advise every creator to take on an approach where they can be their respective algorithms.

In case users of Linktree do end up following such advice, we can see how the firm will attain more clicks by the end of next year.

Photo: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Over Two Thirds of Companies Have Increased Mobile Ad Budgets in 2023

Mobile app marketing has been undergoing a period of growth for the past few years, and it turns out that nearly 65% of companies, or 64.7% to be precise, plan to increase the amount of spending they put towards mobile ad budgets in 2023. This proportion is even higher in the UK, where 67% of companies said that they are doing the same. Furthermore, budgets for mobile ads in UK based companies have seen a 29% increase overall this year.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there are a wide range of reasons why companies are diverting so many of their resources towards mobile ad budgets. For starters, 40.9% of companies stated that they were able to obtain a far greater quantity of users than might have been the case otherwise thanks to a widespread mobile ad campaign.

It’s not just new users that are on the table either. 24.2% of higher ups at companies that responded to a survey conducted by Moloco said that they were able to get high quality users. Such progress is important because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up increasing the value of each user instead of just blindly driving downloads that wouldn’t end up going anywhere.

Performance marketing is the name of the game this year, with 45.7% of companies saying that they are making it one of their biggest priorities instead of the biggest one of all. By comparison, brand marketing was selected by 41.4% of survey respondents.

One thing that this represents is that the landscape of marketing is shifting in ways that few if any could have expected in the past. 58.2% of companies that are investing in performance marketing said that they are doing so specifically due to how it can lead to a proportionally higher rate of investment, especially when they compare it to the performance of brand marketing. This just goes to show that marketing is going to continue to change as the years go by.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World