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Recent research suggests older generations are actually more avid users of social networks than their younger counterparts, and that parents are more likely to be active on such networks than non-parents. There is evidence that these digital experiences can have negative effects. Frequent social media use is also a risk factor-one of many, of course-for depression. Sarah Coyne, a psychologist at Brigham Young University, found that new mothers often compared themselves with other mothers on social media, and that this behavior was in turn associated with "higher levels of maternal depression." Annual surveys conducted by The Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg show that, since 2012, people feel increasingly ignored by others in their own family households because of smartphone use.

Even in America, there are different ways people speak English from different parts of the US. This article talks about some of the linguistic differences of people speaking in the US. There was a survey conducted by Harvard linguist Bert Vaux in 2003 to understand some of the differences in the way people talk. Generally, people in Atlanta call a sweetened carbonated beverage "coke" whereas in the Midwest, it's called pop, and it's called soda everywhere else. In New York, people say waiting "on line" rather than saying "in line." And the term "anymore" means different things in different parts of the country. Some people use it to mean "nowadays" and some use it to mean "already." In some parts of the country, there is a term for when it rains while still being sunny. People in the Northeast call it a "sunshower," but Southerners call it "the devil is beating his wife" and most of the rest of the country has no name for this at all. Finally, the northern half of the country is more likely to pronounce the second "a" in pajamas like "jam" whereas the southern half of the country is more likely to pronounce the second "a" in pajamas as "jam." This information is supposed to be useful in helping to figure out where the lines are between different American dialects and can also help to predict where someone is from.

Social media-from Facebook to Twitter-have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic)-and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill. Social interaction matters. Loneliness and being alone are not the same thing, but both are on the rise. We meet fewer people. We gather less. And when we gather, our bonds are less meaningful and less easy. The decrease in confidants-that is, in quality social connections-has been dramatic over the past 25 years. In one survey, the mean size of networks of personal confidants decreased from 2.94 people in 1985 to 2.08 in 2004. Similarly, in 1985, only 10 percent of Americans said they had no one with whom to discuss important matters, and 15 percent said they had only one such good friend. By 2004, 25 percent had nobody to talk to, and 20 percent had only one confidant.

This articles talks about how social media has affected the way college students communicate with one another. What I found interesting was the statistics they found in the college students with 39% of the people who took the survey feeling closer to their friends because of social media, and 26% saying that they have more friends because of it. It was surprising to see the positive effect that social media had on people rather than all the negative affects it has.

Born between 1995 and 2012, teens are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the Internet. There is compelling evidence that the devices we've placed in young people's hands are having profound effects on their lives-and making them seriously unhappy.. Some interesting (and disturbing) findings: 1. A 2017 survey of more than 5,000 American teens found that three out of four owned an iPhone. 2. While teens are physically safer than they've ever been, they're also more isolated and more subject to psychological harm. Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. In addition, the number of teens who get together with their friends nearly every day dropped by more than 40 percent from 2000 to 2015; the decline has been especially steep recently. It's not only a matter of fewer kids partying; fewer kids are spending time simply hanging out. 3. Teens who spend more time than average on screen activities are more likely to be unhappy, and those who spend more time than average on nonscreen activities are more likely to be happy. 4. Girls have also borne the brunt of the rise in depressive symptoms among today's teens. Boys' depressive symptoms increased by 21 percent from 2012 to 2015, while girls' increased by 50 percent-more than twice as much. The rise in suicide, too, is more pronounced among girls. While boys tend to bully one another physically, girls are more likely to do so by undermining a victim's social status or relationships. Social media give middle- and high-school girls a platform to ostracize and exclude other girls 24/7. 5. Sleep deprivation: nearly all teens sleep with their phones in close proximity, and the devices are interfering with sleep: Many teens now sleep less than seven hours most nights. Sleep experts say that teens should get about nine hours of sleep a night; a teen who is getting less than seven hours a night is signific

"Many refer to Hawai'i as the melting pot of cultures, and along with that comes a wide range of languages. A recent U.S. census survey looked at languages spoken here in the islands and for the first time Hawaiian Pidgin English was included on that list." Ugh, bad reporting: surely the US Census Bureau meant Hawai`i Creole English (HCE)? But still, interesting that it's receiving federal validation as a bona fide language...

Journalist Nicholas Kristof explores contemporary buzzwords and changing social sensibilities regarding language and journalistic style norms, for example, the shift from "women" to "people with uteruses" or "homeless" to "houseless." Kristof examines the reasons behind these recent adoptions, but also raises the issue of how some peopleʻs use of well-intentioned, more sensitive, and "inclusive" language may ironically be alienating other sectors of society. For example, while the media and corporate (white) America mayʻve adopted the term "Latinx," a Pew survey found that only 3 percent of Hispanics themselves use the term.

Interesting article looking at cell use in college classes and the impacts that has on learning.

This study, published in the acclaimed science journal _Nature_, examined how age and exposure to different types of COVID-19 (mis)information affect misinformation beliefs, perceived credibility of the message and intention-to-share it on WhatsApp.

This article describes a linguistic experiment that took place in Antarctica in 2017-2018. Scientists going to Antarctica were surveyed on their pronunciation of specific words, and by the end of the four month trip, the team pronounced one of the words in a different way to their individual original pronunciation. This illustrates that accents form through prolonged social and geographical isolation.

The author of this article discusses the study she conducted that explored how punctuation is used in texts to convey tone. The participants in the study consisted of 122 college-aged students (mostly from Boston College), and they were surveyed to gather data and responses. The discussion of the study shows trends in how text messages are interpreted and how subtle changes in text punctuation can alter the meaning or tone of the message.

This article discusses how "trendy slangs" are becoming more appealing to foreigners wanting to learn english. In the UK a survey was conducted to determine the type of slang these foreigners are hearing amongst social media platforms. This article relates how many slangs have a root in Multicultural London English (MLE) or African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). This article informs those learning english the type of slangs to use and when appropriate to do so. The slangs range from an older generation to current-ish slangs.

This article explains trends surveyed Advanced Placement (AP) and National Writing Project (NWP) teachers noticed in students' writing due to digital technology. There are many impacts, both positive and negative.