Bearing News

TikTok sounds: TikTok influences popular music, changes industry

Allison Kim, Op/Ed Editor • March 9, 2022

TikTok, the short-form video social media platform owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has seen massive growth in the past four years since the app’s launch in 2017. TikTok was the most downloaded...

Normalization of everything: misapplication of language creates confusion, ineffective activism

Allison Kim • November 2, 2021

In the past five years, “normalization,” as a word and idea, has gained currency throughout social media discourse, with people very quickly applying its use to facets of politics and activism. The term has since evolved to hold the influence it carries today as a mantra for issues calling for social reform.

Viewers’ perception of social media impacts health

Anjali Noel Ramesh • February 28, 2021

A clear and exact definition of body image, according to the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC), is “a person's perception of their physical self and the thoughts and feelings, positive, negative or both, which result from that perception.” This impression is usually formulated by internal judgements, but can be impacted by external factors in the process.

Clubs use social media platforms to leave lasting impacts

Shruti Gautam • December 30, 2020

Wvery school year, posts from student-run accounts flood Instagram, each representing a club or organization at RBHS. Social media is a way to connect with the world and share information about events, and RBHS clubs avidly take advantage of this method.

Web combats global isolation during pandemic

Anjali Noel Ramesh • December 28, 2020

In response to decreased face-to-face contact, the global population turned to various social networking platforms to communicate with each other, leading to a 10% increase in world-wide social media usage from January to July of this year, according to research institution DataReportal.

Play that pays the bills: Child social media stars subject to exploitation, harm

Allison Kim • December 14, 2020

As social media has become a more dominant source for social interaction, many parents are sharing content involving their children, launching their kids into internet stardom, and essentially exploiting them for money and fame.

Social media

Bailey Stover • March 31, 2020

Senior Isaiah Spellman describes how he used to use social media, why he stopped and his reasons for re-downloading Instagram during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social media’s falsified depiction of natural beauty cultivates damaging mindsets

Sarah Mosteller • January 31, 2020

I have a responsibility as a photographer to stop supporting acne stigmas by editing out the pimples in senior photos or family photos, but everyday consumers also have a duty.

Agents of socialization forge identity

Anjali Noel Ramesh • January 23, 2020

Toddlers knows barely anything of civilization beyond the walls of their home as they begin to walk unsteadily and babble to their heart’s content. Their understanding of happiness, sadness and anger depends on the actions of their parents and guardians, according to The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning at Vanderbilt University.