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Kim Kardashian’s private island birthday mocked on social media

Yet, it also had a seemingly unintended consequence of unleashing the Internet’s wrath. For most on social media, her photos of the bash — which pictured plenty of people in her “closest inner circle,” all partying like it was 2019 — were about as out of touch as one could get during a pandemic that has killed more than 226,000 people in the United States.

“Happy birthday,” wrote the British actress Kelechi Okafor. “I hope someone got you an alphabet book as a gift, so you can learn to read the room.”

Indeed, many people have had little to celebrate this year, especially in the U.S. Besides the coronavirus, there are wildfires ravaging the West, unemployment at a high, the economy at a low, kids stuck at home for virtual schooling, college students stuck in lockdown on campus, and voters waiting for hours to cast their ballots in a bitter

Vacation

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October 28, 2020

Covid means Zoom, social media and streaming dominate our lives. The mute button is sanity.

Where I currently live, the TV goes on before 7 a.m. each day and stays on until 10 p.m. every night. The awkward staccatos of morning news cascade into an endless cacophony of cable —the dour melodies of WWII documentaries, the tinny early-Western gunfights, the crunch and wail of cop dramas audible in every room. This aural overload persists into the evening whether or not someone is watching, as if the TV were a scented candle or a clock rather than the roaring content waterfall that it is. Wherever I go, I hear it all, I receive everything, and I enjoy almost nothing.

Months of Zoom conferences punctuated by flushes and farts have shown that knowing how and when to press mute — on yourself, on others — has become a necessary social skill.

This isn’t my house, and shutting down the all-day noise buffet is not an option. Due

Recreation

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October 18, 2020

How social media played a critical role in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot

The federal government has charged six people with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, per newly unsealed court records.

Wochit

The 13 men charged Thursday in a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used Facebook and secure messaging apps to connect and plot their attack.

The group’s use of Facebook spans almost a full year. Members began to use the social media platform as a recruitment tool in November 2019, according to an affidavit filed by Brian Russell, a detective sergeant with the Michigan State Police.

“Once recruited, members communicated via a secure, encrypted messaging platform,” Russell wrote.

The group of 13 men, members or associates of the militia group known as the Wolverine Watchmen, used Facebook and at least two encrypted messaging platforms to plan their attack and to share videos, photos and posts, according to the criminal complaint on file in the U.S. District Court

Vacation

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October 10, 2020

Pamplin Media Group – County looking for input on transit additions

An online survey about country-wide transit issues is available, deadline for offering thoughts is Oct. 15

If you live in, work in or travel through Clackamas County, you’re invited to let the county know if several proposed transit additions or expansions would be useful for you.

An online survey is available through Oct. 15 right here: https://openhouse.jla.us.com/cctdp

Clackamas County transportation planners have been taking a first-ever look at countywide transit needs through creation of a Transit Development Plan. With seven organizations that provide local bus service in Clackamas County, there are still large areas of the county with no transit service, and existing service varies in frequency, access and connectivity.

Through an online survey in June, more than 400 community members shared their perspective on transit needs in Clackamas County. Using that information and data from technical studies, the project team developed several specific proposals for improving transit services.

Travel

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October 7, 2020

Social media and mental health: Being authentic on Facebook is better for you, researchers say

Whether you’re on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok, many people make huge efforts to curate the best version of themselves online.

But it might be better for your mental health not to craft an idealized view of yourself when using social media, according to a new study published Tuesday in Nature Communications.

There are psychological benefits associated with being authentic when it comes to Facebook posts and likes, a team of US researchers at New York’s Columbia Business School and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Chicago found.

“Being prompted to post in an authentic way was associated with more positive mood and affect, and less negative mood within participants,” the study said.

“Our findings suggest that all individuals regardless of personality traits could benefit from being authentic on social media.”

To reach this conclusion, the researchers did two things.

First, they analyzed the data of 10,560 Facebook users

Vacation

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October 6, 2020

Social media influencers drive retail sales in the pandemic

Tech analyst Pete Pachal on Facebook’s Instagram launching a new short video app named Reels.

Influencers are shaping the way people shop during the pandemic, as more people spend time on their phones and online.

In a year marked by working from home and staying inside, the influencer sphere has adapted to meet followers where they are. Influencers, or content creators who have built a reputation and following for their knowledge or expertise on a niche topic, have tapped into a new type of brand: relatability.

Gone are the days of travelling to luxurious resorts or dining at extravagant five-star restaurants.

Enter the era of dressing up living spaces, trying new home workouts and finding the best skincare products. Instagram photos of designer-label handbags and matcha lattes from the local barista are being replaced with yoga pants and home-cooked meal ideas.

Now that everyone can live like an influencer, platforms

Travel

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October 3, 2020

No News Is Good News: Media Willfully Ignore Hunter Biden Scandal

Last week, a Senate Intelligence Committee report detailed how the son of a major presidential candidate, who has an extensive history of shady foreign business dealings, received a $3.5-million wire transfer from the wife of a Russian politician. The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and most major media outlets didn’t cover the wire-transfer story at all. Four years ago, not reporting such a story was a possibility too absurd to even contemplate – but then again, no one would have predicted the candidate with the shady Russia ties is not Donald Trump, but Joe Biden.

People often talk about how Trump is responsible for destroying political norms, and that’s a valid concern. However, one of the truly frightening things about the Trump era is how institutions have exploited a perceived crisis in truth-telling to justify abandoning their own standards by blaming it on Trump. Increasingly, we see major

Hotel

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October 2, 2020

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