When faced with the modern-day, first-world societal issues, people have different methods of coping. Some decide to pick up new hobbies, take time off work, or pursue further education. Others decide they are not suited for working in a capitalist society and figure they’re better off not working at all. These people have become known as “NEETs.” The NEET phenomenon, an acronym for “Not in Education, Employment, or Training,” is a classification of people who, from the ages

Most people have made friends over the internet or social media, whether it was due to similar interests, conversations, or just wanting to talk to someone entirely new, it’s become easy to become social in online communities. The idea of online communities and forming relationships with people we meet online isn’t a new concept, but online interaction has only become more mainstream, accessible and available through video games, online platforms and social media. Online vide

Following most popular musicians, actors, athletes, public figures, politicians, influencers or content creators can often be found their legion of adoring, if not somewhat obsessed, fans—or “stans.” While some of these stans simply admire from afar, there are many cases when they can physically follow, violate the privacy of, and become preoccupied with every personal fact about their favorite celebrities, as if they know them personally. Originating from Eminem’s song “Stan

At the end of the day, Vanessa Jaramillo arrived home from work and decided she wanted to watch videos on YouTube. As Jaramillo was scrolling through her favorite channels, she was looking for a theme park video since that was the type of content she enjoyed the most. As she viewed the video, Jaramillo started to think about how the people she watched were fans just like her but had obviously decided to take their love of theme parks to the next level. “It is amazing to me th

It seems almost impossible at this point to think about a world that did not have the internet. Especially now that the convenience and ease to search for information in the vast endless void of cyberspace has been a fixture of our culture for nearly 30 years, and continues to shape our society in so many ways, for better and worse. But it has only been since the mid-1990s that digital communications was seen as a viable possibility, when dial-up modems first started filling

“Ziooon! Zion auto!” exclaimed Tommy, a “breaker” from the collectible sports cards store Cards and Coffee in Los Angeles. It was 1 o’clock in the morning, and he was transmitting live on Instagram from the store’s stockroom to an audience of over 200 viewers. Tommy had just ripped open a new pack of high-end collectible basketball cards. Each pack holds a random assortment of current and former players, and inside this one was the elusive Zion Williamson rookie card autograp

Playing with miniature things like Easy Bake Ovens, Polly Pockets, and dollhouses let many children think of what life would be like when they got big. Over time, however, most kids eventually outgrow these little childhood accessories. But not always. Beginning at some point during 2019, adults on TikTok started purchasing tiny food toys from various brands, such as ZURU Mini Brands, Totally Tiny, Shopkins Real Littles, to name just a few, and then began posting ‘unboxings’

It is not easy being a parent to an 8-month-old baby boy, while working 40 hours a week and balancing a full-time student schedule with the intentions of earning a Bachelor’s Degree this Spring. My dense schedule has left me exhausted and lethargic to the point that when I finally have time for myself with my wife, going to the store for essentials or making dinner is an insurmountable endeavor that neither of us unwilling to take. However, thanks to our smartphones and the w

Journaling, lathering your face with the best quality skincare, and eating the healthiest of breakfasts is what being “that girl” entails—and that’s only before the rest of the world has opened their eyes. The viral trend, “that girl,” is meant to inspire one to “become your best self” and promote peak wellness by encouraging an immensely “productive” lifestyle. Beginning in the summer of 2021, numerous people, the majority women, started posting Pinterest and TikTok content

I can hardly remember a time before waking up and immediately grabbing my phone from my nightstand to check my social media feeds for innocuous information that barely satisfies the hit of dopamine I need in order to function as a productive human being. This sense of displaced happiness is indicative of a rodent constantly gorging itself with pellets unaware of the scientists conducting a controlled experiment. My addiction to social media has been a gradual experience that

Across the internet and social media, people are increasingly sharing extreme opinions and political ideologies that have the potential to radicalize people’s beliefs, especially those exposed to these ideas at a young and impressionable age. This is a particularly problematic trend as more and more of the younger generations, including children and young teenagers, share and consume so much media content on social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Sna