Impact of Social Media Use on Children

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October

2021

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5 Ways Social Media Affects Teen Mental Health

Nowadays, children are heavy users of social media compared to the previous generations. In the US, 98 percent of children from an age of 0 to 8 years have access to Internet-connected devices in their household and spend at least 2 hours a day (or more) on digital media and screens. As a result of the current pandemic, this amount has increased significantly due to the precautions to flatten the infection curve. Families and children now heavily depend on their digital technologies for online learning and work meetings, e.g. Zoom, FaceTime, and Microsoft Teams. (Vanderloo et al., 2020)

In the UK, the children’s digital rights charity proposed a code to well-known platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, to complain about their design tricks and nudging strategies. Children are unconsciously forced to share their location details and receive personal advertisement due to data-driven features. The algorithmic recommendation systems leading to harmful online materials on these platforms, turn out to provoke eating disorders, self-harm, suicide, and inappropriate actions online. (Murgia, 2021) A research conducted by Kelly et al. (2018) shows that symptoms of depression are shown in children using social media heavily compared to non-users (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Percentage of depressive symptoms as a function of social media use (Twenge, et al., 2021)

Figure 1 shows the urgency of social media use to be reduced amongst children, but also the prevention measurements that social media platforms should adopt. While various platforms implemented the aforementioned UK code on children’s digital rights, problems still occur. For example, Apple does not prevent users that are below the age restriction of 18 to download adult-only applications. This is due to the fact that no prove is needed of a parental consent. Leading to young children to get access to information that could be harmful. (Twenge, et al., 2021)

What is your opinion upon the information that is widely accessible on the internet? And the fact that algorithms align the information you see based on your preferences that were unconsciously generated? Does the information that you consume have an influence on your mental health?

References:

Murgia, M. (2021, 8 oktober). Dozens of leading apps accused of putting children in danger. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/bed30c91-03b2-4508-b708-8073b5ec8462

Kelly, Y., Zilanawala, A., Booker, C. & Sacker, A. Social media use and adolescent mental health: fndings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. EClinicalMedicine 6, 59–68 (2018).

Twenge, J. M., Haidt, J., Joiner, T. E., & Campbell, W. K. (2020). Underestimating digital media harm. Nature Human Behaviour4(4), 346-348.

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From Physical to Virtual Items: AI in the Fashion Industry

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October

2021

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According to Andresen (2020), Artificial Intelligence (AI) is referred to as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines”. Nowadays, the technological tool is used in an increasing scope of industries to process and interpret large data sets and accordingly translate that information into human simulated actions. Besides agriculture and healthcare, the demand for AI to, among other applications, minimize excess inventory in the fashion industry has risen (Jin, 2020). According to the Finance Market Research Report conducted in 2021 (source), the global expenditure in AI in the fashion industry is expected to grow from 229 million USD in 2019 to 1260 million by 2024 (Zou, 2021).

AI as a technological tool in the fashion industry not only is applied for forecasting of demands, it also is applied for personalized styling services based on machine-enabled algorithms and creating designs (Jin, 2020). The AI-enabled tools can be applied in four manners: selling, styling, design and buying. At first, the technology can recognize clothing items from pictures that customers upload. Also, algorithms can make recommendations in combining certain pieces, e.g., Alibaba offers a tool in which the customer receives outfit recommendations and compositions on the checkout page for cross-selling. (Zou, 2021) Also, the French AI startup Watiz offers the ‘Shazam of Fashion’ by suggesting similar clothing items identified from a picture on the consumer’s phone (Maguire, 2021). Secondly, AI can assist customers in styling their fashion items. For example, Amazon applies the technology for an online service that helps a customer in combining the right items by choosing from uploaded pictures of possible outfits. Thirdly, AI is applied for online shopping experiences in which customers can virtually fit the apparel. Moving further upon this, 3D versions of fashion items have been created to initiate a produce-on-demand business model to limit the number of physical products which could lead to overproduction. At last, the technology can assist businesses to predict the consumer behavior by adjusting selling strategies, react quicker to market trends and optimize prices. (Zou, 2021)

Despite the promising applications that AI offers, the rapid technological advancement also brings its problems and challenges. According to the most prominent individuals in the fashion industry, creativity of human being is irreplaceable.

“Haute Couture gowns possess the unique individuality of an object d’art. They are among the last items made by hand, the human hand, whose value is irreplaceable, because it gives its creations that which no machine can ever give poetry and life. – Christian Dior

Not only do machines have no ability to express human-like emotions, the investment in time, talent and finances of creating apparel would face legal obstacles for designers. Designs that were assisted by AI-tools are not solely created by humans and therefore designers would not be considered as the only creator of the items. (Dennis, 2019) Looking at these potential applications and associated challenges, the traditional fashion industry will change disruptively within the digital age where physical products will be exchanged for virtual products.

Could you visualize yourself buying your clothes by looking at a 3D avatar of you wearing the items you are interested in instead of trying it on physically?

References:

Andresen, S.L (2002). John McCarthy: father of AI, IEEE Intelligent Systems Magazine, Volume: 17, p. 84, 85 [Accessed September 14, 2021]

Jin, B. E., & Shin, D. C. (2020). Changing the game to compete: Innovations in the fashion retail industry from the disruptive business model. Business Horizons63(3), 301-311.

Maguire, L. (2021, 7 oktober). Paris fashion-tech startups on luring luxury: fashion “Shazam” to virtual try-on. Vogue Business. https://www-voguebusiness-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.voguebusiness.com/technology/paris-fashion-tech-startups-on-luring-luxury-fashion-shazam-to-virtual-try-on/amp

Zou, X., & Wong, W. (2021). fAshIon after fashion: A Report of AI in Fashion. arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.03050.

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