Plus: We avoid Instagram images that make us insecure, study says.
Teens in circle holding smart mobile phones – Multicultural young people using cellphones outside – Teenagers addicted to new technology concept
The new No. 1 app on Apple’s App Store asks teens to give each other compliments through poll questions.
The Gas app is intended for people in the user’s high school, friends they add and “friends-of-friends.”
An example of a poll question is “most likely to be famous.”
The service is free, but there are paid upgrades. Users can pay to see who gave them compliments or to hide their profile from others.
Why it matters: Gas looks promising as a new social network, but we have some general questions. Can a positive network be a better place young users will actively use? Will the social network introduce ads or additional paid options to the service? We’ll keep our eyes on what comes next here for businesses as the app gets a larger rollout.
How educators are fighting online misinformation
Educators are taking a proactive approach to find solutions to misinformation.
Recent McGraw Hill research showed that three in four college students now look to social media for study help.
But as the demand for educational content has grown, questions remain on how much information is accurate.
TikTok removed more than 113 million videos for violating guidelines in the second quarter of 2022, but less than one percent of those videos were banned for violating its integrity and authenticity guidelines that contain rules about misinformation.
So McGraw Hill and individual educators are proactively using online educational tools to provide accurate information to students.
McGraw Hill has found success with its Sharpen app that walks students through textbook material with videos that play in rapid succession and short quizzes that are rewarded with congratulatory screens.
“Around eight minutes they get a celebration screen, and then they get a five-to-eight-minute gamified quiz, which reinforces everything they’ve just learned,” said Justin Singh, chief transformation officer at McGraw Hill. “And just like TikTok or Instagram Reels, if they’re in the zone, they can just keep going.”
Sharpen is free in the Apple app store and includes lessons for 18 different courses, from anatomy and business to music, with 50 more slated to be added to the service.
Why it matters: Educators are doing some amazing things here and brands can learn lessons from their efforts. Social networks are continuing to change their algorithms to emphasize video. Communicators should take advantage by posting videos that explain their product/service/cause and directly answer questions from their audience on short-form media services where they are.
This article was written for PR Daily by Chris Pugh.
Read the full piece here.
