Tag: media

Social Media Is Fueling a Scary Trend for Teen Anxiety

Instagram, Twitter, and smartphones can amplify fears and block out reality.

Experts in teenage mental health say social media is a significant factor in a rising tide of anxiety among teenagers and adolescents.

Some victims are so seized with anxiety they can’t go to school or perform basic tasks – and untold thousands more could grow up unable to cope with the complexities and challenges of everyday life, according to a comprehensive new feature on teen anxiety from the New York Times.

There’s a wealth of hard evidence: Between 1985 and 2016, the number of UCLA freshmen reporting feeling “overwhelmed” surged from 18 percent to 41 percent. Nationally, rates of “overwhelming anxiety” among college students spiked from 50 percent in 2011 to 62 percent in 2016.

Social media is just one of many factors emerging in the latest trends, with others including perfectionism and over-commitment among privileged kids, and the often all-too-real threat of violence and instability for poor and working-class teens.

But technology may be turning some of those age-old problems into more powerful fuel for teen insecurity. Apps like Instagram let teens present the rosiest possible picture (literally) to their peers, while leaving out the inevitable low points of real life. In fact, Britain’s Royal Society for Public Health recently found that Instagram was the social media platform with the worst consequences for youth mental health. One teen patient, in intensive therapy for his anxiety disorder, told the Times that he “[would] constantly be judging my self-worth online” during high school.

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The design of apps themselves can also be detrimental, particularly for those at risk for anxiety. Many apps, gadgets, and media platforms are carefully designed to manipulate our brains by hijacking pleasure centers, which young people have less ability to resist. Some neurological research indicates such systems may have long-term impacts on developing young brains.

But the Times points out that smartphones can also be detrimental when they filter out stimuli – specifically, those of the real world. One anxiety expert warns against the “illusion of control” smartphones can provide to teenagers seeking to insulate themselves. While it may help them cope in the short term, it can keep them from developing the resilience and coping skills necessary to thrive.

The atrophy of those skills, reporter Benoit Denizet-Lewis found, has left a disturbing number of teens unable to stomach even the everyday anxieties involved in going to school. One of his subjects ultimately dropped out of high school to pursue a G.E.D.

At least some experts told the Times that the solution to anxiety is to stop treating adolescents like babies – to insist that they face challenges and handle everyday tasks themselves, rather than coddling them. That ethos has been formalized in what’s known as “exposure therapy” exercises that force anxious teens to push their boundaries, and which have proven effective.

But therapy can be costly, and few parents have access to residential treatment programs like the one at the heart of the Times story. But they may find that making positive change is relatively easy when it comes to the technology part of the equation. In a recent, broader study on teen mental health and technology, researcher Jean Twenge cited potentially large benefits from limiting screen time to less than two hours a day, and letting the rest of the world in.

Tech

Social Media Is Fueling a Scary Trend for Teen Anxiety

Instagram, Twitter, and smartphones can amplify fears and block out reality.

Experts in teenage mental health say social media is a significant factor in a rising tide of anxiety among teenagers and adolescents.

Some victims are so seized with anxiety they can’t go to school or perform basic tasks – and untold thousands more could grow up unable to cope with the complexities and challenges of everyday life, according to a comprehensive new feature on teen anxiety from the New York Times.

There’s a wealth of hard evidence: Between 1985 and 2016, the number of UCLA freshmen reporting feeling “overwhelmed” surged from 18 percent to 41 percent. Nationally, rates of “overwhelming anxiety” among college students spiked from 50 percent in 2011 to 62 percent in 2016.

Social media is just one of many factors emerging in the latest trends, with others including perfectionism and over-commitment among privileged kids, and the often all-too-real threat of violence and instability for poor and working-class teens.

But technology may be turning some of those age-old problems into more powerful fuel for teen insecurity. Apps like Instagram let teens present the rosiest possible picture (literally) to their peers, while leaving out the inevitable low points of real life. In fact, Britain’s Royal Society for Public Health recently found that Instagram was the social media platform with the worst consequences for youth mental health. One teen patient, in intensive therapy for his anxiety disorder, told the Times that he “[would] constantly be judging my self-worth online” during high school.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

The design of apps themselves can also be detrimental, particularly for those at risk for anxiety. Many apps, gadgets, and media platforms are carefully designed to manipulate our brains by hijacking pleasure centers, which young people have less ability to resist. Some neurological research indicates such systems may have long-term impacts on developing young brains.

But the Times points out that smartphones can also be detrimental when they filter out stimuli – specifically, those of the real world. One anxiety expert warns against the “illusion of control” smartphones can provide to teenagers seeking to insulate themselves. While it may help them cope in the short term, it can keep them from developing the resilience and coping skills necessary to thrive.

The atrophy of those skills, reporter Benoit Denizet-Lewis found, has left a disturbing number of teens unable to stomach even the everyday anxieties involved in going to school. One of his subjects ultimately dropped out of high school to pursue a G.E.D.

At least some experts told the Times that the solution to anxiety is to stop treating adolescents like babies – to insist that they face challenges and handle everyday tasks themselves, rather than coddling them. That ethos has been formalized in what’s known as “exposure therapy” exercises that force anxious teens to push their boundaries, and which have proven effective.

But therapy can be costly, and few parents have access to residential treatment programs like the one at the heart of the Times story. But they may find that making positive change is relatively easy when it comes to the technology part of the equation. In a recent, broader study on teen mental health and technology, researcher Jean Twenge cited potentially large benefits from limiting screen time to less than two hours a day, and letting the rest of the world in.

Tech

Want to Make Money Fast? Try Unlimited Press Release Distribution

Promoting a business isn’t easy by any means. There are so many options, so many choices to make, and only so many dollars to devote to the cause. You probably can’t afford a trial-and-error mentality, right? We thought so. So what do you? You could waste time thinking about the issue, or you could take action and promote your business with a time-tested method: the press release.

Press releases get the word out about your business, fast. You can reach a huge potential customer base with a press release because you aren’t just reaching out to the media outlets who receive your release. There’s a trickle-down effect at work here: You send your release to media outlets, they broadcast or print the information for their audiences to see or hear. But it doesn’t stop there. Those audience members, if they find something of value in the release, could potentially spread the word even further by word-of-mouth to their friends and associates. That’s a pretty far reach for one release, wouldn’t you say?

Press releases don’t just sit back and drink margaritas. Oh, no! They are very hardworking little things. If you can draft a good one, there is the potential for it to be printed and reprinted virtual ad infinitum. You can increase your bottom line significantly just by distributing one release if you do it properly.

When you are choosing a company to help you with your press release distribution, take good care. Some companies will offer services that have limits as to the number of media outlets you can send your release to. That’s not what you want. For true success with your press release, look for a company that offers unlimited press release distribution services. Those companies, such as uSocial.net, will offer you the best chance at generating business from your release.

USocial will offer you truly unlimited press release distribution. You can send out as many releases you want to as many media outlets as you can, within 30 days. Once that 30 days is over, you can do it all over again! With the right unlimited press release company by your side, you can reach and almost-endless number of people with your release. And that spells the potential for a huge return on that investment.

Curious about where to learn more about unlimited press release distribution? Check out some info on this first-rate press release distribution service right here.

Some Lucky Consumers Might Benefit From The Satellite Direct For Pc Software Option.

There are many consumers that are likely to benefit from a piece of software called satellite direct for pc. This article is not only going to explain what type of consumers are most likely to appreciate this service, but it will also provide a handy review that helps the consumer understand what this program is. People that have not cable or dish services in their area, might want to read further.

As previously mentioned, many consumers live in very remote areas that do note receive service from cable or dish television providers. A lot of these areas have internet however; this is because internet is far more accessible. The program being discussed in this article uses a person’s internet connection to access a wide selection of dish broadcasts.

All that a person needs is a modern pc and a connection to the internet. After installing this program, they will be able to watch dish based television right away. There is a very effective user interface that serves all of the purposes that a remote control typically would. The software is not complicated at all, and most people should be able to master its interface quickly.

The bad thing about most of the television services that are sold to consumers, is that the consumer only gets a set amount of stations from his or her area. This program accesses dish channels from all over the globe, so the consumer has the widest possible selection. These channels would never be accessed through a traditional dish or digital cable service.

Many people might be reading this review, but will fell a little reluctant to try out this program because they feel as if it would be hard to set up. Not only is this program very easy to set up, but it can be set up in under one minute! This means that as soon as a person installs it, they need only invest a minute of their time before they are watching dish stations from all around the globe.

There are certain fees associated with traditional dish setups. A client typically has to pay for the equipment, and there is typically an installation fee to install the equipment into a home. To top all of that off, there is typically a very hefty monthly service fee. The only fee associated with this program, is the initial cost of the software. This program require a one time investment that is just under $50.

The reader should now be more familiarized with some of the advantages that are found through using satellite direct for pc. People that live in rural areas are very likely to appreciate a program like this one for obvious reasons.

Get inside info on the many benefits of satellite direct for pc now in our guide to all you need to know about satellite direct .

Does Satellite Direct Really Work and Offer a Web TV Money Back Guarantee?

According to a review and test by InternetTvDotCom that addresses the question ‘does Satellite Direct really work’, shows this Web TV software had a 16% failure rate. This test was conducted from 6/23/2010 to 9/20/2011 with about 60 sales and 9 refund requests. But who’s to say it still has an 84% success rate.

There might be a bit of skepticism here when thinking the application only had one short successful period. Who’s to say that success remained the same throughout the year — no extensive test was revealed. In rare cases, Satellite Direct has been known to fail on some computers that are compatible.

As far as the latter, this could happen for a couple of reasons. One being the software fell short of the user’s expectation and the other where it just didn’t work. But again, no one can really say the application is a dud because the video demo shows that it does work.

Of course, there’s the matter of having the right Internet connection (preferably broadband) and meeting all system requirements that play into a workable product.

Once all the basic requirements are met, it still leaves a question will the application work with any Windows or MAC machine. What this comes down to essentially is trial and error, whereas these services are indirectly telling consumers either take it or leave it.

There is a free trial offer in place, but it’s more like looking under the hood of a new car where you can’t turn on the engine. In other words, the demo only lets you maneuver through the TV player to see channels that don’t play, countries, and feature enhancements.

After all of this, you are still left with does it work or not. Seemingly, there’s no way to tell for sure but there is way to get closer to the answer.

There is a work around to this that you want might try, and that is testing an actual free trial software similar to this one, before making a purchase.

This is an indirect way of testing and doesn’t exactly tell you whether the SatelliteDirect software will work, but it can reveal whether or not your computer is indeed compatible with similar products.

When downloading an ‘actual’ free trial this allows you to play all the available channels and radio stations, you get to see them in action. Not only that, but you will see the picture/video quality also. One downside is a blurry picture or ‘choppy’ video once in a while.

Also, there will be times when some channels (out of 1000s) will come and go — due to temporary down times by their providers or broken links, to name a few. But this issue is easily corrected by features that let you automatically scan for and update channels, as well as give you the ability to find and add your own within the TV player itself.

Seeing how the software (or TV player) delivers tons of channels as well as how well they play and appear on ones computer screen, go a long ways in determining whether or not to pay the small one-time fee for a top brand.

While taking the time to research this product further, it was discovered that it’s the #1 top seller out there, and rightly so — meaning it has the most worldwide searches, and yet it’s the most controversial.

Maybe the small one-time fee that comes with a 60 day money back guarantee by Clickbank is the deal clincher, even though newcomers still want to know does Satellite Direct really work.

Rest assure, Clickbank is a very reputable sales/refunds’ processor that makes the guarantee iron-clad and has a no-questions-asked policy to go with it

If you would like to see the Satellite Direct TV in action as well as get a review, go to Satellite Direct Review.

Direct PCTV – How to Watch Web TV on PC

One service on a list of many that allows people to create a super TV system using a laptop, desktop, PDA, or mobile phone is Direct PCTV.

As technology continues to spit out new types of set-top boxes, cell phones, portable and mobile devices, where all of them can connect to the web, software and hardware increases our ability to bring everything together.

Now that the future of television is really here, there are more television options available today than there were yesterday.

For computer junkies who spend a great deal of time working, studying or playing on their computers, perhaps watching television while it’s playing in the background can be beneficial. This is part of what’s causing many to download Web TV software.

There is a huge number of TV on PC services out there, but many of them can’t deliver over 9,000 worldwide channels to PC laptops and desktops like this popular service.

With the streamlining, organizing and delivery of 1000s of free media across the globe, the software makes it happen instantly. That means surfing the web for free channels is no longer necessary, and neither is saving many websites to a computer to watch different shows.

Once the application is downloaded, the end-user can stay in one location to watch a vast majority of programs from the Internet. What this does is it puts an end to spending time and effort surfing online, because everything is delivered instantly ones devices.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to set everything up since there’s no equipment, antenna, set-top box or wiring to install. Not only that, but there’s no monthly fees to pay to get tons of live/on-demand channels.

While there are many perks, one will probably think the initial cost is high. However, for the one-time fee that’s slightly under $40 USD, it’s quite affordable and comes with a lifetime service package of support, upgrades, etc.

To simply say this software and others like it are flawless isn’t truthful. Common issues associated with these products can occur such as, blurry picture, ‘choppy’ video, channels coming and going, from time to time.

But the feature enhancements included can resolve some of these issues, along with having a broadband Internet connection (higher the speed, better the quality). Even if the channel’s picture is somewhat subpar, most of the time it’s still viewable.

Granted, these products/services are not for everyone, but more so for those who like to benefit in having the next best thing to Satellite and Cable or need an extra television for work, college, home, or traveling.

For those who are bilingual, multilingual or studying a new language, there are over 100 countries with many different languages — just select the genre and country then watch the show.

Now that live sports, movies, on-demand episodes and other media can be seen online, there’s nothing stopping anyone to explore them since they are all free.

Direct PCTV may or may not be a godsend, but for individuals living without Cable and Satellite or no service in the area, here is a legal workable that brings the best of free Web TV and other media instantly to a desktop, laptop, mobile phone, or PDA.

If you don’t have Cable or Satellite for some reason, Direct PCTV offers the next best thing. Here’s a Direct PCTV Review to help you understand more.

Make It Easy To Buy From Your Website

Convincing your prospects to buy from you is really a hard job, but have you ever thought that you are making the procedure twice as hard for both parties if your prospective customers are convinced but don’t know how to purchase from you? No matter how great you’re at convincing your prospective customers, they won’t buy if they find the procedure cumbersome.

First, you will want to check that people can find your order form effortlessly and hassle-free. You can write a clear, concise paragraph to direct your prospects to your order type so that you can minimize the chances of them getting lost. You can also reduce the chances of losing prospects by putting a prominent link to your order page from every other page on your site.

Also, do you provide multiple payment choices? Some individuals may really feel comfortable paying via Paypal, some might only wish to pay with their credit card and others might wish to send a cheque. The more options you provide, the better your probabilities of covering your prospects’ desired payment technique. Right after all, it wouldn’t make any sense to sell hard to a prospect only to find that they will not have the ability to pay you once they wish to.

On the other hand, you will wish to prove that you are a credible merchant. Is your order form secured using encryption technology? You would want to look into SSL for this. You can also offer a money back guarantee so that individuals will really feel confident about buying from you. How about after sales support? Who do they get in touch with once they have issues right after purchasing?

Alternatively, you can add customer testimonials, your contact information, address, and so on to boost your prospects’ confidence. Make them feel safe about buying something from you, a total stranger to them on the other end of the Internet.

As a conclusion, it would be very pitiful if you sold hard and sold well to a prospect and something goes wrong when he or she is ready to pay. Eliminate any probabilities of that to maximize your profits!

Carol Lee is an expert author specialized in web design and development.

Enhance Usability of Your Website

No matter how brilliant your website design is, if it’s hard to reach the content of your website then your website is as useful as an empty shell. Here are some tips to improve the usability of your website to ensure it serves its functions optimally.

The first technique is to make sure the typography of your content is suitable. If you have large blocks of textual content, make sure to use CSS to space out the lines accordingly. The longer a single line of textual content is, the greater the line-height of each line should be. Also, make sure the font size of your text is large enough to read effortlessly. Some websites have 10-pixel-tall textual content in Verdana font; while that may look neat and tidy, you need to really strain your eyes to read the actual textual content.

Make it easy for visitors to find content that they want on your site. If you have thousands of articles on your website and a certain visitor wants to find one single article from that pile, you need to provide a feasible means to enable guests to do that with out hassle. Be it an SQL-driven database search engine or just a glossary or index of articles that you’ve, providing such a feature will make sure your guests can use your website with ease.

Ensure that your website loads fast if you don’t wish to lose guests. Most internet users will leave a website if it doesn’t load completely within 15 seconds, so make sure the crme de la crme of your website is delivered to the guests as soon as possible to retain their attention.

Last of all, test each and every link on your website before it goes online. There is nothing more effective in tarnishing your professional image than broken links, so be extremely careful about that.

Carol Lee is an expert author specialized in web design and web development.