TikTok's Impact on Adolescents: Study Finds Severe Mental Health Issues for Addictive Users

A new study published in Psychiatry Research talks about how TikTok and other short form videos impact the lives of adolescents and young people. The study talks about three types of users who watch TikTok and other videos. These users are categorized as non-users, moderate-users and addictive-users. According to the study, addictive users are the ones who have the most negative impacts on their physical and mental well being. These impacts include bad physical health, poor academic performance, strain in relationships and their social life as compared to other users.

In this digital era, many adolescents rely on TikTok and other short form video apps for their entertainment. There have been many researches on impacts of social media on adolescents, but not many studies have been made on how watching engaging yet short videos affect their mental health. This study was done by differentiating between moderate and addictive users first. The watching pattern of addictive users was studied with different psychosocial patterns.

The researchers wanted to know if TikTok and other videos are only entertainment for youngsters or are there greater effects on their mental health and relationships. The research was done by categorizing 1346 adolescents in China as non-users, moderate users and addictive users. These people were assessed based on their mental health, academic performances, relationships with parents and experience with bullying. All of these factors made it easier for researchers to study short-form video platforms usage among adolescents and its effects on them.

It was found out that addictive users had higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Moreover, these adolescents were not good in their academics and were victims of bullying too. Their relationship with family was also poor, and they mostly suffered from negative parenting styles and their parents were not well-educated. Compared to this, moderate-users were more similar to non-users. The only difference they showed were their negative family environments.

Even though this research is quite useful for understanding adolescent behaviors, it still has some limitations like it is only based on Chinese adolescents and cannot be applied to adolescents of the rest of the world. The researchers also asked people to not generalize addictive-users loosely because more research is needed for other cultures and age groups to understand this more.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

WhatsApp is Working on Two New Features that Will Help Maintain Privacy of Users

Meta-owned WhatsApp messaging app is working on two much-needed security and privacy features for users. The first feature is adding a secret code feature to locked chats for extra privacy of web users. Right now, that feature is under development and will be soon available for WhatsApp Web. This feature will help users maintain their privacy and security when they have opened their WhatsApp on the web. As per WBI this feature is still in the development phase, and the platform might add it in the future updates of the web client.

When the user opens their locked chats on WhatsApp web, they will be asked to enter a code/pin in order to see the chats. This was always a need because adding a code to locked chats was the only way a user could keep his conversations secure. This feature is highly advantageous if the user is sharing their WhatsApp on the web in an office setting. By adding a pin, users can easily keep their private chats hidden.

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The second feature WhatsApp is working on is blocking screenshots of profile pictures on WhatsApp. Five years ago, WhatsApp stopped the profile picture download option for users’ privacies. But, it wasn’t enough as anyone could take screenshots of pictures without the consent of users. In WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.4.25 update, taking screenshots of profile pictures has been restricted. Although you can still take a picture from another device, this feature was important to discourage taking unconsented screenshots of profiles. Now, when someone tries to take a screenshot of a user’s profile picture, a notification will appear saying that “Taking screenshot has been restricted”.

This feature is now available for beta testers in a new update and will soon roll out to more people in the coming days. Both of these new features are a great initiative from WhatsApp to maintain their users’ privacy to give them a secure experience on the app.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Did TikTok Breach Online Content Rules? New EU Investigation Set To Grill Social Media Giant

The EU is known for its stringent regulations and for making sure social media giants stay in check. And the latest target in this regard seems to be ByteDance’s popular app TikTok.

New reports have alleged how evidence has been found regarding TikTok breaching online content regulations. The latter were designed to ensure children remain protected at all times and that advertising stays transparent as confirmed by one official familiar with the matter on Monday.

He says that this might put the social media app instead of heavy fines that serve as punishments.

As confirmed by the industry’s chief, he mentioned how a decision was taken after analysis of a short video that assessed the risks involved in such reports. It featured plenty of replies for data as confirmed by one story by Reuters.

As revealed on X, the chief for industries in the EU, Thierry Breton mentioned how he was analyzing short videos, and only then did he choose to move ahead with this investigation.

He says that the board has great obligations to make sure minors remain safe at all times when they are online. But with TikTok carrying on with this behavior, it’s getting harder to do so and that is why it’s going to be under more scrutiny.

The goal is to protect minors and ensure they have limited screen time that their age is verified and that the app has the right privacy settings as default in place. As confirmed by the DSA, it also mentioned how it’s going to apply to a wide array of online apps so that it could better tackle unlawful content and any risks to the general public along the way.

The head of TikTok says the app that hails from parent firm ByteDance might face fines that go up to 6% of the overall global turnover. And that’s if the company is termed guilty of breaking DSA regulations.

The leading app has rolled out a response on this front and how it’s likely to continue working with professionals in the industry. And that the leading tech giant of the industry is doing everything in its power to ensure minors remain safe at all times. It looks forward to providing greater explanations on how the work will roll out in detail when you look at the EC.

TikTok then boasted about how it has pioneered features so that teens remain safe and those below 13 are well away from the app as they’re too young. It’s an issue that TikTok feels not only it but many other leading platforms are forced to deal with.

The current investigation will ensure the focus of the app’s system including a wide array of algorithm systems that stimulate addictions and give rise to rabbit-hole effects.

TikTok would similarly be probed on whether or not it has the right measures in place to ensure privacy and safety remain for minors. Another point of concern that investigators will be looking at is whether the app has installed the right database for ads to function, whereby researchers can better scrutinize any online risks taking place.

This is the second time that we’ve seen the DSA investigate leading tech giants that have a huge fanbase when it comes to the younger user population. We’ve already seen them put the leading app of Elon Musk, X, formerly Twitter, in the hot seat after finding evidence of similar breaches of the DSA in December of last year.

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Read next: Concerns On The Rise As Generative AI Tools Predicted To Steal Google’s Market Share
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Concerns On The Rise As Generative AI Tools Predicted To Steal Google’s Market Share

Generative AI might be one of the most revolutionary technologies to erupt in recent times. And while it’s useful for some, others aren’t too impressed as it’s bound to serve as serious competition.

A new report from tech analyst firm Gartner says traffic from search engines toward user websites will fall by 25% in the next two years. And it’s generative AI that is to blame.

The reason why it’s being looked upon as a big deal has to do with the simple fact that both PPC and SEO are very valuable. And when it comes to companies working in this domain, search traffic can result in revenue and profit and anything impacting this is a big deal.

It can convert traffic into sales revenue or any other kind of conversion that is significant to a brand.

Moreover, this is why the popularity linked to generative AI has the world talking and raising serious concerns that even Google’s Search Generative Experience could steal traffic allocated to a website. And that also signals a serious rise in costs for those involved in advertising. And if those concerns were already too much, many people feel ChatGPT is grabbing a massive hold of Google’s market share, a shock because it’s been dominating for years.

This kind of prediction has led many of us to imagine how generational AI conversational assistants would much prefer to use classic search engines. And if that’s the case, it would mean huge shifts in strategies allocated for search marketing purposes. This is both organic as well as paid. In the same way, Gartner predicted how search volume is set to fall by a whopping 25%, and search market share would similarly decline against chatbots and virtual agents.

So more and more and more individuals would be turning toward generational AI chat assistants instead of classic search engines. And if that’s the case, it would result in massive shifts when it comes down to strategies linked to search marketing.

But remember, predictions are just like calculated guesses. These are designed to inform the world about what could happen if things go in the direction they are right now.

So many respective firms feel the pressure when the guesses they make turn out to be something that they’re not. After all, rarely do people go back and check. In one recent example, we saw another surprising prediction including how 50% of all users would restrict engagement by leaving out social media by 2025 altogether. But in fact, they did walk it back a little.

As far as predictions for 2028 are concerned, we’re talking about organic search traffic falling by nearly 50% or even greater. The news comes as consumers are all set to embrace change in the world of AI-based search. This was based on findings arising from surveys that showed how 79% of responses arose from those using AI-based search in the upcoming year. Similarly, 70% of all users had some kind of trust in search results based on Generative AI.

For such predictions, the firm is advising brands to make way for disruptions linked to AI-related searches. Plenty of market leaders place heavy reliance on brands and SEO. This is why they need to allocate the right materials and carry out respective tests to diversify.

This is all never guaranteed and it could mean Gartner is actually accurate with its predictions. But the real truth can only be unveiled in the year 2026 so until then, let’s wait and watch.

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Read next: Analysis of Android Phone Usage Highlights Data Sent to Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Surprising Levels to TikTok
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Analysis of Android Phone Usage Highlights Data Sent to Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Surprising Levels to TikTok

Ernestas Naprys tried an experiment with a brand-new Android phone. He installed the top 100 free apps from the Google Play Store, gave them permission to do what they asked, and left the phone alone for a day. Naprys used a special internet service to see where the phone sent information.

The apps were chosen in Lithuania, Europe. The experiment showed the phone sent a lot of information to different places without being used. The phone sent data 6296 times in three days. Some of this data went to servers in Russia 39 times and China 15 times. This was surprising because the phone didn't have any apps from those countries that you might expect to send data there.

The phone sent a lot of information to Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. Almost half of all data went to them. TikTok sent even more data than those three, which was unexpected.

Even when the person wasn't using the phone, it still used a lot of data. In one day, it used 553MB, but only 20MB were sent out from the phone. Apps like TikTok and Temu used a lot of data too.

The phone eventually started closing some apps on its own because they were slowing it down. Despite this, TikTok still managed to use a lot of data in the background.

The researcher from Cybernews says it's normal for apps to talk to servers, but it can be a privacy risk. Especially if the data goes to countries where the government might look at it without permission. Some apps ask for too much access to your phone, and once they have it, they can connect to any server they want.

The experiment shows that your phone can send data all around the world, even when you're not using it. This could be a privacy concern, especially for certain people like journalists or activists.

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Read next: Financial Stressors Differ by Generation, Study Highlights Concerns Over Inflation and Retirement
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

Financial Stressors Differ by Generation, Study Highlights Concerns Over Inflation and Retirement

Many Americans think that to reach financial happiness, it is important that they have 1.2 million dollars. 71% of Americans believe that having more money is equivalent to having fewer problems. This makes us wonder are Americans content with the money they make? Even though many Americans say that their happiness is linked to money, only 17% believe that one must have some specific amount of money to find happiness.

70% say that paying their bills on time is the key to finding their financial happiness while 65% say that they can reach their financial happiness goal by avoiding debt. It is really hard to manage bills and avoid debts nowadays and people find it difficult to budget their finances. That's the reason that 42% of Americans believe that an extra $25000 can only help them for 6 months, no more than that.

Americans are trying to find happiness in other things and not in how they manage their finances, but more than half of Gen-Z and Gen-X are disappointed with how their finances are turning out. Many financial stressors don't let people be content with their finances. The biggest stressor, 73% of Americans agree, is inflation. However, thoughts are different in every generation. The older generation thinks that the things that are blocking their financial happiness are their worries about politics and their retirement. Millennials and Gen-Z are more worried about being laid off from jobs and increases in property prices.

The younger generation says that they can be safe from financial stress if they get a proper financial education (80%). 65% say that they didn't receive good financial advice and that's why they couldn't reach their financial goals. 56% are still waiting for a piece of good financial advice that will help them in their life. Financial planning is three times better than having no financial planning, and people with more financial planning tend to be more content with their finances.

Almost all people want financial happiness and most of them can do anything for it. That's why a quarter of the Americans in the survey said that they are ready to give up social media for their financial happiness while 25% can even give up their love for it. Financial happiness helps individuals become more goal-orientated. It makes life worthwhile and that's why every individual out there wants to achieve financial happiness.

H/T: Empower / VC

Read next: These White Collar Jobs Will Be the Most Affected by AI
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

These White Collar Jobs Will Be the Most Affected by AI

Tech disruptions have been making jobs obsolete for quite some time now, but the current AI revolution is actually quite different with all things having been considered and taken into account. For one thing, it will create a situation wherein white collar jobs will end up becoming redundant rather than blue collar ones. According to a report released by the Society for Human Resource Management, three sectors in particular will be heavily affected by AI in the future namely finance, legal and tech.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that these changes will affect a number of jobs in these niches. Loan and mortgage brokers might see their numbers dwindle, as would accountants, and legal aids working in offices might decrease as well. What's more is that tech jobs that involve data processing and hosting services as well as computer programming were described as being at risk of becoming obsolete.

It bears mentioning that blue collar workers on factory floors will barely be affected by the AI revolution, making this the first time that the seismic shifts will impact white collar workers far more than their blue collar counterparts. In spite of the fact that this is the case, there is a chance that the reduction in jobs may not have a long term negative impact on employment.

Having AI perform certain jobs that used to only be done by humans would be a great way to reduce payroll expenses. Such a change might be beneficial because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up setting money aside for new paid roles down the line. However, the short term outlook for a number of white collar professions is not quite as bright as some would have hoped, so it will be interesting to see if the predictions become true. We might be looking at a white collar work force that will be greatly diminished especially if you look at it with a relatively short time frame in mind.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World