Medium Magazine, Issue #2 (2022)

edium agazine

Exploring Digital Culture

CONTENTS:

DigitalExploringCultures

The History of Social Media

By Lloyd Bravo

Photo by Gian Cescon on Unsplash

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 started in the days of Myspace to the current time-waster TikTok. But, why have I been so fickle over the years that I routinely change my favorite platforms to the latest trending fad within a few years? Regardless of our inhumane consumption of information, the platforms that the media is distributed on have been constantly changing to quicker exchanges of data that have blurred the lines of reality.

Like most who first delved into the void of cyberspace, I began with Friendster, started in 2002, which enabled users to develop profiles and provide content for their friends who would showcase photos of themselves or personal experiences. The company would have 150 million followers during its popularity and would decline a massive offer from Google to purchase the website. Although the website was the standard in social online interaction, the tides quickly changed as Myspace not only offered a personal internet room, but the ability to share your media with members around the world.

In 2004, Myspace became the reigning provider of social media content that enabled users, like myself, to post unrelenting music in the background and have the ultimate status indicator with our top friends list to be displayed for all who visited our page. This interface was more intuitive and user friendly that gave members control to customize their pages for their friends to envoy. After

a $580 million purchase from News Corporation in 2005, Myspace was signing 200,000 new users a day by 2006. Unfortunately, due to a lack of innovation, Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg would reestablish social networking by developing Facebook and ending Myspaces’ run.

Once known only throughout Harvard and other Ivy League universities around Boston, The Facebook was initially used to utilize student profiles to make easier connections with peers on campus. However, in 2005, “The” was dropped and Facebook was launched globally and by 2008 had 100 million users and 1 trillion page views. The website was concise and clean that made interacting with the platform so simplistic that mothers around the world began to infiltrate their children’s profiles to lurk through past posts and keep tabs. The ability to seemingly share videos, pictures and messages made the website the benchmark in social media, garnering one billion users in 2012.

Facebook is still one the largest social media websites in the world by establishing continued influence among older generations. However, the influx of parents and grandparents that have inundated the website has prompted a mass exodus among many youthful users. This helped the app Instagram to become a highly proficient adversary that would limit the social media experience to photos and comments while maintaining the rush of information and clout that members enjoyed.

Developed in 2006, the once niche notion of locating bourbon bars would eventually evolve into Instagram founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. By 2010, the app that focused primarily on images of 1:1 aspect ratio and 640 pixels would eventually have 10 million followers and, by 2018, reach one billion. Instagram broke away from the long format of writing about a user’s day, by simplifying the actions with images that could be manipulated through filters provided by the app to make

Photo by Adam Ay on Unsplash

food look more delicious or sunsets more saturated. The Instagram trend would eventually become an issue as these filters began to cause unrealistic beauty standards and equate posts of beaches and vacations as a conventional lifestyle. Zuckerberg would buy the app for one billion dollars in 2012, but even with their acquisition, a smaller expression of status was becoming a nuisance as social media would become louder one cyber tweet at a time.

Twitter was established in 2006 and its primary user experience consisted of microblogging, called tweets, that were 140 characters in length. This innovative idea paved the way for more instant messaging and faster information distribution, especially through news websites. The character restriction would be doubled to 280 by 2017 with the capabilities to post videos for 140 seconds in length. Tweeting became a predominant method of sharing information while shortening the public’s attention

span further.

More startups and companies began to try their hand at providing the next big social media platform, which included Snapchat and Vine. However, the most popular snatcher of time and cause of procrastination now belongs to the aptly named video-based media platform TikTok.

Tik Tok has become one of the most popular social media apps of 2021, with over one billion users since its launch in 2017. The Chinese-based platform was once envisioned as a lip sync and comedy app but has since become one of the most renowned and influential site since Facebook. This is due to its immensely proactive algorithm that targets the user’s interest by displaying video on subject matters that are watched the most by its members. The videos are anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes and cover a variety of different topics, including dating, dieting, health, comedy, sports and home organizing, to name only a few. The relentless algorithm has been a cause of addiction and attention span concerns. With the multitude of social media platforms that have come and gone, their consistent presence has considerably shaped our culture for better and worse. According to the Pew Research Center, 80 percent of Americans are currently using Facebook. This has given a voice to marginalized ideals that are interacted within the personal bubbles of each user’s friends group and has contributed to the increase in misinforma-

tion and conspiracy theory rhetoric online. This tremendous impact has influenced politics, in particular, as those who primarily get their news through social media are shown to be more susceptible to false claims and often less informed. Although instant communication has made it convenient for others to stay connected with each other across long distances, a lack of privacy is still a lingering threat that most do not realize is an issue until it is too late. The more information shared on social media also creates more opportunities for individuals to face identity theft, cyberbullying and stalking.

In just a few decades, the world of social media has changed the way we function and communicate as a society. Our daily lives are now immersed in our phones, our social media platforms, and our apps. Most even feel anxiety when they are separated from their phones, as if they were now appendages, and this dependence leaves many questions about where our attentions will be focused in the future. For now, though, I can hardly remember a time before needing to feel connected on social media but, at times, I do miss those simpler times.

By Alex Avila

Gaming Communities Aren’t Playing Around

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 somoene 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 video games are usually considered to be at the forefront of this movement, especially those of the Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) genre. MMOs have been a popular genre in gaming for decades, even prior to the age of the internet we are currently living in, with games from the 1990s such as “Neverwinter Nights” in 1991, and “Ultima Online” in 1997.

“Final Fantasy XIV” is currently one of the world’s largest and most popular online MMOs that’s currently being played by upwards of 40 million people worldwide with millions of players logging in daily. Initially released in 2010 and rebooted in 2013, it was developed by Square Enix and is in its 14th installment of the long-running role-playing series.

This is the company’s second venture into the MMO genre for the series, with their first being “Final Fantasy XI” originally released in 2003. Players are allowed to create their characters, adventure in the game’s fictional world, experience a story, fight monsters and more, all while playing with other players doing the same thing.

However, one of the major differences that make “Final Fantasy XIV” stand out from the competition, such as “World of Warcraft,” “Lost Ark,” or “Guild Wars 2,” is the sense of community and the possibilities they are given to have fun and interact with each other. While they can go on quests together, they can also just hang out and chat in the many areas of the world. Players are also able to purchase homes in the world, customize them to their liking, invite other players and show off their design skills. These homes are usually designed to be like their dream home or venues, like cafes, bars, libraries, clubs or other venues that attract people.

One of these people goes by the name of Endo Sai. Her character is designed as a ‘Miqo’te,’ one of the multiple races in ‘Final Fantasy XIV,’ which is a race of people with cat ears and tails. Sai spends most of her time interacting with her online friends, as well as

Photo ByAxville/Unsplash

real-life friends, in her home in ‘Final Fantasy XIV.’ Her home, which she named ‘Lounge Sai,’ was designed as a venue, mixing a bar and dance club.

Sai grew up using the internet ever since she was a child but has been particularly attracted to playing ‘Final Fantasy XIV.’ “It has so much to it that never grows old,” Sai said. “You can build so many communities and different social aspects.”

Known as Free Companies within the game, there are large communities of around 300 people who regularly get together to play. But how much real estate they can buy is limited to a set amount per world, which makes it very competitive and requires spending a lot of in-game money. Once players are lucky enough to purchase these venues in the game, though, they cherish them.

“I decided to create Lounge Sai because the first thing my real-life friend who got me into the game was to bring me to a venue,” Sai said. “I fell in love with the idea and had never seen anything like it before.”

But Sai realized early on that getting her own venue, making friends in the game and building a community would take a lot of time and hard work.

“I made connections in-game, played so many hours of its story and so much more to get a place to open one myself,” Sai said. “It took two years and endless effort.”

However, she believes the effort she put into the game is a major achievement. “I cherish it so much and wouldn’t trade it for anything, it’s by a love for the community that it came to be,” Sai said.

While the game offers a variety of play styles

for different audiences, the game centers primarily on the main storyline, fighting difficult enemies together and developing the multiple playstyles called ‘jobs’. However, the amount of players that commit to focusing on difficult tasks, dubbed ‘Savage’ and ‘Ultimate’ content, is a small percentage of the player base. “I do a very small bit of savage and ultimate content,” Said admits. “It’s nice to spice things up and try to actually be good at the game.” But, she says, “I usually just hang out and casually mingle.”

Sai believes it’s common for people who don’t regularly play video games or interact with others online to not have a clear sense of what this

kind of socializing can be or what it can mean to people.

“They don’t understand it, and they never will until they are a part of it,” she said. “I am doing something and it’s bring me the joy I want. This is where I can express myself to my fullest. Besides my closest friends in real life, I do find those who I interact [with] here in Final Fantasy are way more understanding to my real-life struggles and problems,” Sai explained.

‘Final Fantasy XIV’ has earned several awards and high critical ratings from publications and the fanbase. Such awards include ‘Best Ongoing Game’ and ‘Best Community Support’ from the ‘The

Game Awards’, the gaming equivalent to award shows like the ‘The Oscars’.

To continue playing the game they enjoy, whether casually or at a more hardcore level, players must pay an ongoing subscriptions. Currently, with its fourth expansion called “Endwalker,” the game is continuing to receive new updates frequently that keep players coming back for more and entices new players to join.

“The absolute in-depth possibilities, it’s never-ending and the creators have much more in store for us moving forward and truly do make something

for us that we love,” Sai explains about what keeps her playing Final Fantasy XIV over other MMOs.

However, Sai believes that until people try out the game themselves, they simply wouldn’t understand how much enjoyment players can get out of the experience or how valuable the friendships are that she has made in the game.

“You never know what you’ll love, or even what you’re missing out on, unless you try it,” Sai concludes. “You never know who you will meet, what journeys you’ll have, memories you’ll treasure, and friends you’ll make.”

Photo by Alexander Alvarez

The Next Phase of the Internet Enter the

By Lloyd Bravo

Photo by Jian Fan from Getty Images

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 our homes with the static sounds of connecting to the public internet.

Now the power of the internet is virtually in the hands of anyone with a smartphone, as the once clunky at-home service has become the main purveyor of how individuals are able to communi-

cate and gain access to almost any type of service, including food, transportation and entertainment. Yet, the idea of another phase of the internet probably seems as far-fetched now as the dial-up days of the ‘90s did back then, but a new version to our already well-established cyberspace has indeed started entering our public consciousness with a new vision known as the metaverse.

What exactly is the metaverse? The term has been used to describe an all-encompassing digital world that people can virtually immerse themselves into for work, travel, entertainment and commerce. However, this virtual reality has yet to be fully realized, as the prototypes are still in the early concept stages. Yet, this developing technology has been given extreme gravitas rcently with the introduction of Facebook’s new name “Meta,” along with Mark

Zuckerberg’s ambitious vision of the future of the internet, what he calls the metaverse. Zuckerberg explains that the metaverse will be a utopia where individuals can enjoy an enhanced version of their online experience in a virtual reality environment and a place where companies can make money off those environments. According to a report from CNBC International’s Sam Shead entitled “What is the metaverse, and why are billions of dollars being spent on it?,” the potential revenue that can be accumulated from the metaverse is estimated to be between $8-13 trillion by 2030.

It is hoped that the metaverse will provide individual users a more immersive experience by wearing a VR headset to enter virtual reality spaces, where they will be represented by avatars

to navigate these virtual environments. The goal is to merge the physical and digital worlds in a virtual setting that allows users more interactive involvement with the internet.

However, there remain questions about the public’s appetite to explore this new digital frontier. Matthew Dickey, a student at Long Beach City College, so far remains indifferent to the concept of the metaverse.

“It’s so early that I cannot see myself begin excited for something that is in its development stages,” Dickey said. “I think once there is more technology that caters to the concept of the metaverse, I will be more willing to appreciate the effort going into the product.”

Anticipating this possible shift in public attitudes toward virtual reality, tech companies have already invested in the early integration of hardware and software to utilize the upcoming technologies to be the first host to the metaverse. Facebook’s purchase of the visual reality firm Oculus in 2014 was a step in this direction, as it has since developed the Quest 2, a VR hub meant to become the first iteration of their version of the metaverse. However, with its large headset for viewing and wireless controls to simulate motion, Quest 2 has been seen more as a gaming system than a new wave of the internet since the technology used to incorporate the metaverse is still fuzzy at best.

Other corporations like Qualcomm, Valve, Epic Games and Apple are also currently working on their interpretations of the metaverse to lay the the foundation for their own virtual platforms. Although the notion of interoperability between operating systems is crucial for the metaverse to thrive, this may require the cooperation of major companies to sync together in order for people to move freely between these newly formed platforms. A feat easier said than done.

As the vision of the future is always unclear, the idea that the metaverse will reach the standards of science-fiction film “Ready Player One,” where virtual reality is where people work, shop and play together in one large universe, is still a fantasy.

Eric Ravenscraft of Wired explains in his article, “What is the Metaverse, exactly?,” that, “there’s no guarantee people will even want to hang out sans legs in a virtual office or play poker with DreamWorks Mark Zuckerberg, much less that VR and AR tech will ever become seamless enough to

Photo by Panchanok Premsrirut from Gertty Images

be as common as smartphones and computers are today.”

Even so, Nicolas Lotts, a student at California State University, Long Beach, is optimistic about the theory of the metaverse.

“I think this could be a game changer for people who want to utilize a new form of the internet and become early adopters to an immersive virtual world,” Lotts said. However, the aspiring teacher admits he is confused about the metaverse. “I honestly just like the idea, but I still do not fully comprehend the overall concept.”

One of the biggest concerns when it comes to the next phase of the internet is safety precautions that will be used to prevent scamming and security measures to protect children who enter the metaverse, particularly as rampant abuse, bullying, and the spreading of misinformation might be intensified due to its more immersive environment.

While it is not clear what exactly the metaverse is at the moment, the hope is that it becomes a user-friendly experience that people can shape as their own and use to further incorporate their digital and real lives in a comfortable and enjoyable way. Whether this concept of the metaverse is the one society fully utilizes, or it transforms into a version we may not have yet envisioned, the future of the internet seems virtually guaranteed to continue reshaping what we think is possible.

Photos by Thinkhubstudio from Getty Images

Photos by Kate3155 from Getty Images

Photo by Thinkhubstudio from Getty Images

Time to Cancel Stan Culture?

By Serena Sanchez

Photo courtesy of Afrocritik

Following most popular musicians, actors, athletes, public figures, politicians, infuencers 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,” which depicts an obsessive fan who, after sending letter after letter to his idol and not receiving a response, kills both himself and his pregnant girlfriend by driving off of a cliff, the term stans has become synonomous with obsessive fans of their celebrity of choice.

This stan community has always had the capability to become creepy and stalker-ish, especially when they are that attached to their favorite public figure, but the proliferation of social media has only increased the possibility. However, stan culture can also have positive connotations.

When Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, was accused of rape, his accusor revealed that she suffered also harassment from both Petty and Minaj. Fans of the rapper then put aside their support and called her out for it. Fans of Shia LaBeouf similarly withdrew their support for the actor after FKA twigs sued him for sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress during their relationship.

In these cases, stan culture held their idols

accountable for their wrongdoings, showing that just because stans want to look up to and exalt their favorite celebrity doesn’t mean they know everything about their personal lives or that these celebrities are necessarily perfect people just because of their performances. But this also highlights an issue with stan culture, the belief that they do know everything about their favorite celebrity when they really don’t at all.

An example of this that played out in front of the world was the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial that began on April 11, 2022. For weeks, the world was captivated by the legal spectacle and it wasn’t long before the stan wars between their celebrity followings began. Throughout the widely televised trial, there were hashtags, memes, and clips shared across social media platforms wanting justice for both actors involved, with neither side acknowledging the faults of each party.

But the main source of support was behind Depp, with his stans sharing the most-watched and live-streamed “fan edits,” which showed him as both the hero and victim of the trial. According to Mashable, these fan edits are “fan-made videos typically set to music that slice together clips of a celebrity or character.” While these fan edits are now being made the norm by many of these celebrities’ stan followings, putting clips together of a domestic violence trial poses the question of whether or not stan culture has gone a bit too far.

This extreme iteration of stan culture has

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been widely shared on Tik Tok, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, and the stan accounts on these platforms are quick to share their opinions about which sides they are taking during this trial.

“That j*nny d*pp shit is genuinely the greatest misinformation campaign I have ever seen on the internet btw lol have never seen so many well-meaning people fooled by Twitter stans in my entire life,” said BrosephSZN, an account on Twitter. Mculokii, a Twitter user, created a fan edit that depicted how Depp used humor during the trial while dealing with Heard’s lawyer. But because of the nature of the trial itself, it rubbed people the wrong way, such as TheNthDoctor, who criticized the edit by tweeting, “Can we all agree that making edits about a domestic abuse court case is very weird.”

Martin Thompson, a stan community veteran who is currently a senior at California State University, Dominguez Hills, has been on stan Twitter since August 2017. Initially joining to follow his favorite artists and make new friends, Thompson has seen firsthand the negative shift in stan culture, especially with the rise of cancel culture, which is when someone is cast out of social or professional standing if their actions are deemed unacceptable.

In October 2021, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Thompson attended a concert that had strict reminders to wear a mask everywhere. The next day, Twitter stans were debating whether the concert venue actually did require attendees to wear them and, to confirm they did, Thompson posted a link to the website. In response to his tweet, many people attacked him and even blocked him for sharing the truth.

“Cancel culture became prominent and is synonymous with stan culture,” Thompson said. “I feel like one does not live without the other. Many stans get canceled for something as simple as having a difference in opinions. This is what makes the energy of stan culture so toxic.”

The age of entering stan culture becoming earlier and earlier is another negative to the community that continues to grow.

“I joined when I was 16, and that was about the minimum age at the time. Now, there are some individuals who are 12 or 13 on there, trying to befriend people who are almost twice their age. This is something that I have found weird, and do my best to stay clear of people this young,” Thompson said.

It really begs the questions: How did stan culture become so invasive and when did we, as a society, become so desensitized to it? This Depp v. Heard trial isn’t alone in causing such conversation about whether we’re too comfortable sharing so much about our lives or knowing too much about others’ but it has shown how some have gone from genuine support for those they look up to and idolize, to a sometimes creepy obsession that takes on new, detrimental lengths.

“People consuming a trial like it’s a Netflix series, live-tweeting throughout it, making fancams and reaction videos from the footage, going to the courthouse like it’s a premiere, brands trying to capitalize on it on TikTok… This is not normal behavior. It’s unhinged,” Ahmad said on Twitter.

Still, Thompson can’t fully condemn the stan community, though, as he has also experienced the benefits it can offer.

“I do enjoy my time on [stan Twitter], and will forever cherish the friends I’ve made. I love supporting my favorite artists, and try to stay away from the toxicity as much as I can because that’s what I do in my normal life!” he exclaimed.

Though stan culture can oftentimes bring positivity, it’s not always healthy nor productive to fixate on the lives of celebrities they have no connection to, besides through their music, movies, or art. Maybe, once those who take stanning a little too far consider this, it’ll allow them to begin digging deeper into how overexposure to celebrities’ lives doesn’t necessarily equate to knowing them personally, or of ever really knowing what is really real.

Photo courtesy of The Michigan Daily

Alt-Right indoctrination on the internet

By Alex Avila

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 Tik Tok, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc.

Radicalization has been used to describe individuals who, after going through websites, read or discuss controversial topics with others that lead them down a rabbit hole to extreme views.

A significant thread of this comes from the “altright,” an ultra-conservative demographic that is also prone to white supremacy, ultra-nationalism, racism and violent ideologies. Their voices have become louder, spread exponentially and even infiltrated the conservative corporate and social media ecosystems, including Fox News, The Ben Shapiro Show, Jordan Peter-

son, Steven Crowder, PragerU, and Info Wars, among so many others.

Consumers of these platforms can quickly find themselves exposed to anti-feminist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and racist beliefs in a closed space of people who stoke and share these ideologies openly and loudly.

The alt-right audiences primarily consist of white males, believing the standards of men and white people are being attacked or decreased due to feminism, leftist movements, immigration, identity politics, and fears of a decrease in white masculinity.

Considered white supremacy and nationalist movements, numerous affiliated groups have been blamed for an increase in murders and terrorist attacks LGBTQ+, religious,and minority communities in public spaces.

Several attacks include the Quebec City and Christchurch mosque shootings, the 2019 El Paso shooting against Latin Americans, and the United States Capitol attack. Several of the perpetrators are known to be avid viewers of

Photo By Melany Rochester/Unsplash

content spread throughout the alt-right mediasphere and users of imageboards, websites and social media platforms, such as 4chan and 8chan, where many members of the alt-right anonymously express their hatred for minorities, feminism, and the LGBTQ+ community, among other grievances.

Their extreme views have even appeared on social media platforms like Youtube and Facebook, who’ve been criticized for featuring and monetizing Youtube channels associated with the alt-right pipeline, such as Jordan Peterson, Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro, and PragerU.

The channels attract younger viewers with their views on masculinity, conservatism, and ‘Old-American Values,’ respectively.

In reaction to the backlash, however, Youtube has removed the monetization of certain channels such as Steven Crowder’s channel; although, he is still able to keep the majority of his content up and continues publishing videos on the platform.

According to research conducted by the non-profit research firm Data & Society, Youtube hosted a variety of individuals or groups that featured other ultra-conservative and alt-right members with similar or even more hardcore beliefs.

PragerU, short for Prager University, is known for having its videos on Youtube and ad-

vertisements on other videos that share controversial opinions. Despite being named or advertised as such, PragerU is not an actual university and just an organization that has received criticism for sharing misinformation and disinformation.

Several false accusations were made including their beliefs that white privilege is a myth, fossil fuels are a safe energy source for the environment, and cherry-picking history to skew their thoughts on slavery to not be “that bad.” PragerU has even attempted to reach out to children with programs known as “PragerU Kids.”

Many criticize conservative groups for not outright condemning the altright or its extreme followers, such as Donald Trump, who was accused of refusing to condemn the members of the alt-right present in the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Earlier this year, there was the mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., where alleged shooter Payton S. Gendron killed several Black customers at a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood. Releasing a manifesto before the shooting, and live streaming it on the popular streaming service “Twitch,” the alleged shooter attributed his white supremacy beliefs from going on websites like 4chan, agreeing with posts revolving around blaming minorities for white issues and, in particular, the “replacement theory.”

The replacement theory is a racist ideology whose supporters believe the power and influence

Photo courtesy of North Texas Daily

Photo credit: ABC News

of the white ethnicity is being diminished, blaming it on non-white civilians by saying, in part, that immigrants are being brought to this country to be made citizens so as to “dilute” white culture and the power of white voters. Fox News personality Tucker Carlson has been criticized for embracing the theory. He was quoted as saying, “I know the left become hysterical if you use the term replacement, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World… because that’s what’s happening, let’s just say it. That’s true,” Carlson said. However, many groups have dedicated themselves to helping the youth who have found themselves to be radicalized, such as Parents for Peace, a group of families who have lost their family members due to extremism, former extremists, and are often, themselves, survivors of extremist violence. Their goal is to “Reduce stigma for those affected by extremism

and raise awareness of radicalization,” according to their website: parents4peace.org.

Understanding that social media and other digital platforms can be used to indoctrinate, spread hate and connect individuals with groups who harbor in abhorrent ideologies is just the beginning.

Members of the alt-right communities and white supremacist groups have already learned how to use these platforms effectively to both spread their messages and galvanize their audiences to act on these beliefs.

To further counter this trend, it will be up to society to become more media literate and use these same media platforms and tools to condemn these destructive ideologies, violent behaviors and hateful rhetoric through information and education, not disinformation and indoctrination.

Photo credit: Learningforjustice.org

Is a Pinterest-perfect Lifestyle the Answer to Happiness?

Waking up, drinking iced water, working out, 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 Tik Tok content with titles like “how to be ‘that girl’ in 2022” or “things you’ll find in my ‘that girl’ apartment.”

Scrolling through Pinterest and Tik Tok and seeing so many of these videos could give the impression that this year-old trend is as positive and productive as it claims. After all, eating more vegetables, making time for self-care, even being more organized, are all lifestyle choices that can promote one’s overall health and well being. And for a lot of people, seeing how their influencers make these lifestyle choices through Tik Tok videos could give them the motivation they need to make similar healthy choices so they can also be the best version of themselves.

However, this trend also sends the clear message that viewers can only become “that girl” if they copy everything they see in these videos and make all the same choices, which is neither feasible for everyone, nor very realistic. It also implies that, if you do not participate, you are the opposite of what “that girl” is—unproductive, unhealthy, and not up to par with society’s standards.

Although this trend isn’t inherently toxic or damaging, it can take a toll on someone’s mental health if they can’t fit into the green juice, yoga, well-rested-butawake-at-the-ass-crack-of-dawn lifestyle, for whatever reason. With social media being increasingly incorporated into people’s every day lives, too often are they also comparing their own lives with those they see being posted across social media platforms. The problem is that most of what is being posted is not real, so when people compare themselves to these posts, it can lead to disappointment, low self-esteem, depression, and unrealistic expectations.

By Serena Sanchez

“It can even be stressful for someone because maybe they will try to live that type of life but find themselves to be overwhelmed,” Jasmine Contreras, a senior at California State University, Dominguez Hills, said. “Personally, I would have a difficult time trying to be ‘that girl’ and it would affect my mental health. I already struggle with insecurities and knowing that I have to live up to this expectation can be scary and new to me. I would rather do things that make me feel good personally and not do all the things that are expected of me as a girl.”

Trends are exactly that, something that has become popular because everyone is taking part in it, in some way or another. Trying to perfect your life, especially because your favorite influencer is doing just that, can alter your life, and not necessarily in a good way.

“I think it can hinder someone’s mental health both positively and negatively,” Catalina Garcia, a senior at CSU Dominguez Hills, said. “For me personally, it made it worse because I felt I was living a lie. I am not the perfectly clean and put-together person that ‘that girl’ is.”

This trend isn’t exactly practical or even financially feasible for those who commute to work, or who might be full-time students or parents, but instead seems more suited for individuals with a more flexible schedule, like those who work from home and can work out, shower, eat, and read a book before 10 a.m.

“I tried to do the vegan/vegetarian diet to be healthier and workout every day while doing a full school workload,” Garcia said. “It just didn’t fit my lifestyle and the way I function. I think it just all depends on the lifestyle you live.”

Time management isn’t the only aspect of this aesthetic that comes off unattainable, it’s the individuals making the videos. Almost every one- to three-minute video is done by those who are skinny, attractive, white, and with access to the finest of things. Whether conscious or not, this not only invites comparisons but also looks like a trend not meant for everyone.

Jasmine Wallis of the Fashion Journal says, “That girl is the epitome of health and wealth. That girl is

attractive but in an effortless and natural way. And the algorithm tells us that with a little hard work, you can become that girl, too.”

Social media is a never-ending rabbit hole of deceased trends and aesthetics that have come and gone, and are inevitably thrown out by those who use them. There’s always a new diet fad or workout expert on YouTube that will promise to help you lose weight, and, though it has become the norm, it’s exhausting attempting to keep up with the latest, well, anything.

“It is so overwhelming to me because it is constantly changing. One day there’s a certain lifestyle trend going on and then it dies down and moves to the next,” Contreras said. “You’re just constantly trying to keep up and it can really burn you out. It really makes you question how your life is supposed to be and if you’re doing enough or not.”

This conveyor belt of new trends and ways to better your daily life can be immensely helpful and might bring attention to things you never considered previously. But some diet, exercise or lifestyle choices are not necessarily the best options for some people, especially for those who don’t have the time or economic resources to emulate these trends. A potential way to adjust your everyday lifestyle is to simply do what’s best for yourself instead of becoming overwhelmed with trying to follow every self-improvement trend out there.

“Take a step back and observe what is working and what is not working for you,” Garcia said. “Keep what is working and adjust what isn’t. It’s okay to try new things and admit they aren’t working. If they’re not, move on and try something else. To figure out what works and what doesn’t work, you have to endure some failures. Life is about trials and tribulations.”

Getting inspiration from social media trends might help people live their best lives, maybe even become more healthy, but no one else really knows what’s best for you. So while Pinterest and Tik Tok can give people ideas, not following those suggestions doesn’t make anyone less than those who do, and they can still be “that girl” by simply being themselves.

Photo courtesy of As Told By Ariel

The Unsocial Media: How Online Apps Rearrange Our Social Experience

By Lloyd Bravo

Photo by Dolphfyn from Getty

It is not easy being a parent to an 8-monthold 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 world wide web, these pesky chores are relegated to a button push and a delivery fee.

There is a certain luxury that comes from picking up your phone while comfortably laying on the couch, half paying attention to whatever television rerun is on in the background, ordering dinner delivered to your door through an app and not having to converse with anyone the entire time.

This modern convenience has demonstrated the effectiveness of our current technology as instant gratification becomes the key metric of success in any service app. This is due to a neurological response as our spending habits are not rational but emotional driven and online apps know how to manipulate our psyche to always want things now.

According to an article from BigThink.com entitled, “Instant Gratification: The Neuroscience of Impulse Buying,” author Stephanie Johnson explains, “Stress triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone that helps us respond quickly and effectively to threats in our environment. In the modern and developed world, the stressors we face often are not physical but psychological, and businesses capitalize on this.”

However, these types of services are also detrimental to our ability to develop social skills as the reliance on digital applications can make individuals more antisocial, which was seen during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doordash has been seeing an increase in revenue since 2020. The food delivery service app has been used by 20 million consumers, 450,000 merchants and made 816 million deliveries in 2020 alone, according to Morley Swindells of Earthweb

in

his article, “Doordash

Statistics: How Many People Use Doordash.”

The current trend has not subsided as the pandemic has led to an increase in hermit-like behavior that has quickly become the new normal within our current society. Regardless of services and delivery fees that increase the price of standard Taco Bell order from $10 to $25, the convenience charges outweigh having to start a car, and waiting in the drive-thru line.

Tiana Williams is a student at California State University, Long Beach, who has continually utilized the Doordash service to help her quell the nuisance of picking up her fast food.

“It is not the most responsible way to use my money, but I enjoy ordering food and having it at my door while I do other things around the house or if I just want to relax,” Williams said.

Williams also suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a neurological disorder that is a form of chronic pain that lasts indefinitely within her arms and torso. Services like Doordash help her mitigate extremely sensitive nerves from further pain caused by loud noises, wind and movement.

Although the disorder has been detrimental to her way of life, Williams can enjoy her favorite foods with minimal discomfort.

“It has been a struggle, but it is nice to have a comforting meal sent to me while I rest and get to watch my favorite shows uninterrupted,” Williams said.

In the last 25 years since its creation, Amazon has become the biggest ecommerce platform on the planet. The online store has about 213 million US visitors a month with a net revenue of $11.59 billion dollars, according to Christo Petrov of TechJury.

The worldwide distribution of home improvement products, with more than 12 million products to choose from, the need for essential products by leaving the house to a brick-and-mortar store is almost obsolete.

Kristina Williams is a new mother who has used the Amazon ecommerce platform in order to save time that she uses to take care of her newborn son. “It has become a lifesaver in most instances since I have very limited time to do anything else after I put my

Photo by Dilok Klasistaporn from Getty Images

baby to sleep,” Williams said.

Although William prefers to go to the store in-person, having a baby complicates trips or even trying to find time alone to go, since she is still being cautious during the ongoing pandemic.

“I would like to go to Target or the grocery store, but it’s hard to find time and have someone watch my baby boy since I don’t want to risk his exposure to COVID and want to keep him safe,” Williams said. “That is why I like Amazon to get quick essentials that I need for the house.”

The convivence of selecting food and products from an app has also given that same ease to the world of dating. The methods of confronting individuals in-person and becoming vulnerable by asking strangers to hang out at the movies has become a relic of the past.

Dating has never been easier with apps like Tinder and Bumble that have taken away the rigors of first-person impressions and quantified them with filtered pictures with brief descriptions of likes or dislikes. In 2021, the dating app industry made over $5 billion dollars in revenue and has over 323 million users across all the most popular platforms according to David Curry of Business of Apps in his article, “Dating App Revenue and Usage Statistics.” However, these apps that are more like couch potato speed dating and have been used to replace a form of physical validation. In a 2017 study of Tinder, over 70 percent of users said they had never met up with one of their matches in real life, and 44 percent said they used the app purely for

“confidence-boosting

procrastination.”

In her article, “Swipe Right for Loneliness: On the Gamifications of Dating Apps,” Nancy Jo Sales discusses the perils of addiction in dating apps and how the quick rush of acceptance can lead to unfulfilling relationships. “After your brain gets that little high of a dopamine spike, an inevitable dip follows; there’s a low; and so, it isn’t surprising that more than half of singles report feeling lonely after swiping on dating apps,” Sales writes.

The utilization of service apps has been a reactionary move that was normalized during the lockdown months and early stages of the emerging Coronavirus in 2020. However, this convenience has led to those reluctant to participate in society even more anxious to join as a need to commingle has been seen as unnecessary with our current trend of online services.

Kira M. Newman in her article, “How Pandemic Fatigue Has Made Us Antisocial,” describes that “Loneliness, rather than prompting us to connect, actually makes us withdraw, according to research. We start to feel unworthy of our relationships, worried that people are judging us or don’t enjoy being around us.”

The purpose of service apps is to ease the stress of everyday life and enhance one’s ability to thrive from the comfort of our own homes but they can also inhibit our ability to socialize. These service apps and the instant gratification lifestyle they afford may benefit the already introverted, but they can also discourage others from emerging from their cocoons to rejoin society because they make it easy not to have to.

Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash

When You Play Your Cards Right

By Nisvan Guzman

“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 autographed by the player himself.

Many in the sports industry consider Zion the second coming of Lebron James, so naturally, his rookie cards were considered extremely valuable to the sports card collecting “hobby” community. “So sick! Congrats!” commented user @23jordan707 as the live feed was flooded by floating, disappearing heart emojis.

Before Zion came along, there wasn’t much hype around sports card collecting. In 2018, one could easily walk into their local Target, stroll to the toy aisle, and find shelves stocked with an abundant amount of

boxes of the latest basketball, football, and baseball trading cards. They would sit on the shelves for weeks as people walked past them and didn’t even bother to look at the new products.

All of that changed in 2020, when the spreading COVID-19 pandemic kept people indoors for months and shut down the professional sports world. Then, in August 2020, news broke that a baseball card had set a record for the most expensive card sold to date ($3.93 million). It featured one of the best players in Major League Baseball (MLB0, Mike Trout. It was graded a “mint 9” by BGS, the toughest professional collectable grading company in the world. It was also autographed by Mr. Trout and one-of-a-kind in existence.

Seller Dave Oancea originally purchased the card for $400,000 in 2018. “I always think outside the box. Most people for $400,000 would want to buy a house, not me. I want to buy a baseball card,” he responded when asked on his personal YouTube channel about why he purchased the card.

The news attracted sport lovers, collectors, and people who just wanted to make a quick buck. Suddenly, the packs of cards sitting on the shelves of Target were getting scooped up faster than the hand sanitizer during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Oscar Gonzalez started going to Target every Monday through Friday hoping to catch the vendor who stocked the shelves with sports cards from Panini, the company that manufactures the cards). “One time, I showed up at 5 p.m. on a Wednesday and there was a line outside...I already knew it was for sports cards,” he said. “I waited for one hour, until I heard somebody say he’s not coming.” The store protocol for handling the restock was to make guests wait outside while the vendor filled the shelf. On this day, however, there was no vendor inside the store. People were simply waiting outside for the chance that he might show up that day so they could get first dibs.

One day, Gonzalez was able to get his hands on a couple packs but was hesitant to open them. “What if the cards inside are worthless? I could sell the unopened packs and double my money,” he thought. It’s true that a single card could be worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. But a large percentage of the cards end up being worthless because they are not rookie cards, or are of less successful players. Gonzalez ended up ripping open one pack of the cards, selling the rest on OfferUp for $100, pocketing a $60 profit. Target and other big box stores were not the only businesses affected by the surge in sports cards. Professional grading companies that grade cards and other collectibles were backed up for months and even had to suspend services because people were submitting their cards for authentication at such a record pace. The reason people send their cards for evaluation is, like fine art, to potentially increase their value over time. A card graded a “gem mint 10” is worth nearly three times more than an ungraded card.

Still, Gonzalez found himself constantly returning to Instagram to watch the live online feeds of people opening their card packs, known as “breaking the wax.” One feed, The Coffee Breaks, usually streamed late into the night, featured celebrity guests and regularly offered free giveaways. The livestream also connected likeminded collectors.

“What should I do with my brick cards?” post-

ed Gonzalez on the live feed. Brick cards refer to the cards that have little to no value. “Send them to me,” responded Jordan, another viewer. They both communicated and Jordan was willing to cover shipping costs if Gonzalez sent him the cards. Gonzalez agreed and was happy to clear some space in his closet. Jordan was happy to add the cards to his collection.

“Jordan and I became friends,” Gonzalez said. “We love talking about the latest releases, what we picked up that week, and about our favorite teams”. When Americans were promised stimulus checks during the pandemic, Gonzalez already knew what he was going to do with the money. As soon as the money hit his Chase account, he hit up eBay, where collectors can buy single cards, packs, boxes, even whole collections. He knew exactly which card he wanted, a 2017 Patrick Mahomes Optic rookie card. Gonzalez added the card to his watch list and 15 seconds before the auction ended, he placed his bid - $565.00 - nearly his entire stimulus check.

Gonzalez believed his purchase was an investment. Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs had already won their first Super Bowl and were on their way to another Super Bowl appearance. But things did not go as planned.

When the Chiefs made their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance in 2021, Gonzalez saw the value of his card quickly rise to nearly $1,000. He was tempted to sell his card, but hesitated. “What if they win the Super Bowl again and its value goes even higher?” he thought. Gonzelez decided to roll the dice and keep his card. It turned out to be a bad decision because Mahomes and the Chiefs lost that year to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ten months later, that card was selling for an average of $471. In 2021, the collectible card hobby really exploded when the record set by the Trout card was broken in January by a Mickey Mantle baseball card and then again in August by the 1909 Honus Wagner card, which sold for $6.6 million.

However, the demand and interest for collectible cards has slowed since the height of the pandemic, especially since sports are back in full swing and fewer stores are livestreaming packet reveals on Instagram. But many collectors are still buying card packs, keeping an eye out for any big reveals online, and hoping the next big thing to be found is still in the cards.

Photo courtesy of North

Turning Theme Parks Into Digital Playgrounds

By Jasmine Contreras and Tierra Booth

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 that the people I watch decided to create videos to express their enjoyment of a theme park,” Jaramillo said. “This is something I wouldn’t have thought about, I’m so used to being a fan that only buys merchandise or collects memorabilia.”

Back in the day, people who were part of fandoms were only able to show their support of a person or place by putting up posters in their room or purchasing memorabilia. However, the Internet and social media platforms changed all that, and fans now have the opportunity of creating something in a digital format to showcase their expertise and passion.

A platform often used by fans is YouTube, where they can upload videos for their audiences to watch. This platform allows people to become actual content creators, where they film a video, edit it and then upload it. While there is a diversity of videos on YouTube about things people are passionate about, there is a new category that is gaining attention: theme park content creators.

Cristal and Cris, a YouTube channel, is one ex-

ample of fans who took their strong interest in a theme park and decided to create a channel that revolves around that. The creators of this channel, who like to refer to themselves as Cristal and Cris, shared they are a couple with a history of going to theme parks together, specifically Universal Studios Hollywood.

“We live so close, and we actually got our annual passes almost four years ago, so we would go three to four times a week,” Cristal and Cris said. “It started to become our date nights. We grew up going to all the theme parks here in SoCal, but Universal became our favorite.”

For a while, Cristal and Cris would only go to Universal to ride their favorite attractions or eat the food they offered, but soon they came across videos of fans like themselves, filming their visits to the theme park. At that moment, the idea of creating their own YouTube channel started circulating in their minds but they were not sure about taking the next step.

“We contemplated starting a YouTube channel for Universal because we just didn’t know where to start, or what content we would make, and we weren’t always the most confident people,” Cristal and Cris said. “But we decided to start it based on our love for theme parks. It became a fun way to show everyone our adventure.”

After creating their channel in February of 2020 and uploading their first video the same year, Cristal and Cris were excitd to share their love for Universal with other fans and to create videos of a place they knew so well. Being newer content creators to the theme park community, Cristal and Cris expressed the happiness and fulfillment they get from sharing their love and knowledge of the park with others. Not only this, but they have fun creating ideas for different videos they want to film.

Another creator who has similar feelings towards theme parks is Mondo, from the Five Fires You-

Tube channel. Mondo, who likes to be referred to by his nickname, has grown to love a variety of theme parks in Southern California, such as Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios Hollywood, but creates the most content based on Disneyland.

Similar to Cristal and Cris, he recognized how fortunate it is for fans like himself to create content based on something they love, but realized there is something more to it.

Mondo started creating theme park content in 2015 by posting on social media and slowly transitioned into creating videos for YouTube. While doing this, Mondo was still balancing a job that he dreaded because he was not moving up the career ladder and it was the same routine every day.

“All the time I went to work, it almost felt like my soul was coming out of my body,” Mondo said. “As for YouTube, I looked at it as if I could do something I love. I could spend time at theme parks and I have the freedom to do whatever I want.”

This thought pushed Mondo to quit his job and become a full-time theme park content creator. When he would arrive at Disneyland or other theme parks with his camera, Mondo saw these places as lands of opportunities, where he can grow a career out of it while still enjoying what he does.

As of now, Mondo has grown a following of 126,000 subscribers on his channel and is getting income sufficient enough for him to have a comfortable lifestyle. He reflected on fans becoming media producers in this era.

“We’re in a time period where people can turn their passion or love for something into income, such as on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube,” Mondo said. “It is great. I love that people now have this opportunity to branch out.”

Besides both of these channels, many other theme park fans are creating their videos and other

digital work for audiences. As members of society, they are being given the opportunity to not only showcase their interests but can create a living out of it.

But content creators are not the only way the digital ecosystem is transforming how people see and experience theme parks.

Both Disneyland and Disney World started offering digital apps for their guests in 2015, allowing them to expand their services on a platform that was easily accessible to everyone, especially now that everyone has smart phones in their pockets. The app offers ride wait times, online reservations, showtimes, special events, etc. Introducing these features made the guest experience at these parks more enjoyable, ultimately letting them maximize their time while visiting.

Another way that Disney is utilizing digital technology is their new “Lightning Lane” experience. This service was created to offer guests a paid option of skipping the lines to get on rides faster.

Previously, park guests could use the “Fast Pass” system, which allowed them to skip the long lines but for free. Now, with the new “Lightning Lane,” visitors must purchase the service through the Disney app for an additional fee of $15-$20.

However, with this digital upgrade, Disney guests have had no choice but to incorporate more time on their phones at the parks. When visiting Disney parks today, if you take a quick look around you quickly notice that almost everyone is staring at their mobile devices. What was once known to be a place of fantasy to escape the real world is now a place where people are escaping the fantasy with digital technology.

While there is added convenience using these technologies to avoid long lines or make reservations, for some, this move to incorporate smart phones and apps seems to be detracting from theme park visitors’ overall experience. Only time will tell if going digital will keep theme park fans connected to the places they love.

The ‘NEET’ Phenomenon and Importance of Mental Health

By Alex Avila

When faced with the modern-day, firstworld 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 of 16 to 34, are not currently employed, pursuing their education, or in training.

The term coined in the United Kingdom from the late 1990s, but is now used in a more globabl context, including in countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and many others.

Some people refer to themselves as NEETS after becoming unemployed, dropping out of school, or who are just not doing much else after a long period of time.

However, for some, it’s also a life choice.

Official and self-defined NEETs, those who have come to embrace the term, often come together in online communities to help themselves or each other with advice, company,

to talk to each other about their experiences, or more generally to try to understand each other more.

While many NEETs often refuse to pursue a job or education, not every NEET is intentionally unemployed. Some have mental or physical disabilities, or they may have some form of trauma they’re living with.

Despite originating from the United Kingdom, NEETs have been identified worldwide, with Turkey, Columbia, and Mexico leading the majority of known NEETs. One estimate puts upwards of 26 percent of these countries’ youth to be considered NEETs.

Japan has also become a country to identify the issue through their media, such as TV shows, films, and comics involving NEETs. Popular Japanese media addressing the topic include the animated show “Osumatsu-San,” the sequel of a children’s

comic book series of sextuplets now grown up in their 20s who become NEETs still living with their parents. Another parody of NEETs is “Welcome to the NHK,” an animated series about the struggles the protagonist faces being a NEET and a shut-in.

Despite the popularity of the term in its media, only three percent of Japanese youth are considered to be NEETs, compared to countries like Turkey, with a total of 26 percent, and the United States, with 13.1 percent of youth being considered NEETs, according to The International Labour Organization database.

While NEETs typically come from different backgrounds, they can often find comfort online rather than through their real-life communities. Popular social media sites and programs for NEETs include Reddit, message boards, Twitter, and Discord. These platforms and apps allow them to connect and communicate with each other online.

Popular subreddits, meaning niche communities on the Reddit website, include r/NEET and r/AntiWork. These subreddits include over 29,000 members and 1.9 million members, respectively.

Members can post their trou-

named “‘Fellow NEETs’ how do you support yourself?” Responses include: ‘Family… otherwise I’d be homeless or dead,” the user, pistochio, said.

Unemployment and disability services are other sources of income NEETs rely on to survive. “Unemployment benefits and parents,” said the user NEET_by2027.

The issue has been identified and researched by journalists and doctors who have tried to better understand the phenomenon, why it’s become so common worldwide, as well as if there are any solutions.

Many attribute the phenomenon to hard expectations of the youth, poor working conditions, or past trauma regarding human interaction, such as bullying, harassment, abuse, or sexual assault.

One example includes a 21-year-old, who has been a self-identified NEET since they were 13 years old and who wishes to be anonymous. “I was homeschooled by my mom, [who] never helped me with anything, so I just gave up,” they said.

This NEET also points to mental issues as a primary result of their current lifestyle. “I struggle with agoraphobia, depression, and social anxiety,” they said.

The idea of reintroducing themselves to a normal lifestyle also leaves them unsure.“I’d like to be a normal functioning adult but I can’t see myself ever getting over my fears and actually contributing to society,” they concluded.

Although NEETs are commonly associated with young males, studies conducted by Eurostat, the Europe Statistical Office, indicate that women between 20-34 years of age make up 21.5 percent of NEETs in the EU, while men of the same age group only make up 13.8 percent of NEETs. The International Labour Organisation has also reported that 34 percent of women ages 15 through 24 worldwide could be identified as NEETs.

Currently, most NEETs do not know what to do with themselves and are typically forgotten by society, unseen by the majority as a small part of their communities.

Though many NEETS who choose this as a lifestyle find support with likeminded individuals online, the real question becomes whether societies are providing enough job and educational opportunities, as well as mental health support, in the real world so they don’t feel like their options are so limited.

Photo Credits: Finn/Unsplash

Fun-Sized Nostalgia

By Serena Sanchez

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 Tik Tok 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’ on their accounts. Unboxings are when these users would open and reveal their tiny products with as much excitement as if they were opening Christmas presents. Soon enough, there were accounts dedicated exclusively to displaying entire collections of tiny items for the viewing pleasure of their followers.

One of the many Tik Tok accounts whose content is devoted to tiny food toys is minisuperstore, where Ana Garcia ‘pretend plays’ with the hundreds of tiny toys she owns. Stocked onto little, wooden shelves, she has created her own mini grocery store, where people in her comments request specific items for her to ‘shop’ for them. Putting them into her also mini grocery cart, she pushes the cart to the toy cash register, where her doll is standing behind, and she proceeds to drop play money onto the counter.

Garcia’s Tik Tok hobby, which has gained her 1.6 million followers, has bled into her Instagram, where she also has just over 55,000. Not only does she grocery shop for these followers, but she also unboxes new items that add to her already-overflowing collection.

The most popular tiny food toy company, New Zealand-based ZUZU Mini Brands, which sells different mini grocery store staples, was created and introduced to the public in 2019. According to Forbes, the company, distributed in both Target and Walmart, sold

200,000 units during the first week of November 2019. Although meant for children, teenagers and adults were also drawn to tiny products, and popularized the brand by making videos of and collecting them.

“Micro play is both a play pattern for kids and a collectible for adults,” Zahn, deputy editor of the Toy Book and senior editor of the Pop Insider, told Forbes. “It taps into that same mentality like when dollhouses were so popular. People would craft these intricate miniatures that would fit into those worlds.”

While some like Garcia, such as solvilhouse, Marie’s Mini Toys, and littledreamtoys, collect tiny food toys, some have gone a bit further, making it more of a lifestyle. My Miniature Life on Instagram and Youtube, a mother-daughter duo, have created as they say, a miniature life with a cat, food, baby, and house—all fake, save for the food.

Yes, real, but mini, food. Dating back to April 6, 2020, these two have cultivated a small life, after building it for two years, where they have a fully furnished home and family, and manage to cook real food with portions that could fit in the palm of your hand. Some might say it’s being taken a bit far, but it can become addicting to watch and their real appliances are weirdly satisfying.

“I love miniatures,” My Miniature Life said on Reddit. “My daughter and I make mini cooking videos on Youtube. All edible food. It’s so much fun! We love the challenge! It all started with a dream...we are now bringing that dream to life. It’s a labor of love.”

Regardless of whether someone collects small, plastic food that they handle with extra care, or creates a miniature home that they share on the internet, everyone has something that floats their own boat. While some might ask, “Aren’t they a bit old to be playing pretend?,” there continues to be a growing appetite for miniature things, showing that when it comes to nostalgia for the little things in life, size does seem to matter.