How Cosmic Kids Yoga became a lockdown sensation
The YouTube channel has achieved daily viewing figures of up to a million by attracting harried parents.
BySocial Media
Find here all of the New Statesman’s comment and analysis about social media and the digital age.
Covid-19 has caused a major spike in anti-Chinese and anti-Semitic hate speech
Exclusive data given to the New Statesman shows that the pandemic has led to an extraordinary increase in hate speech,…
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The Reddit fiction series How To Survive Camping is my lockdown salvation
These anonymous supernatural stories have nothing to do with our quarantined world, but the rules to survive camping aren’t so different…
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How the alt-right is pivoting to TikTok
The video-sharing app was praised for banning Tommy Robinson and Britain First, but what about the other alt-right figures flying under the…
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Why we need “informational distancing” during the coronavirus crisis
Stepping back and taking time to consider the media we consume could help to slow the spread of misinformation about…
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Is the Houseparty app really hacking your phone?
Video-calling app Houseparty has shot up in popularity during the pandemic. But now the company is being dogged by hacking smears…
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Incels are celebrating lockdown because attractive people can’t have casual sex
On popular forums like 4chan and Reddit, involuntary celibates are flocking to rejoice at people forced to live sexless lives – like…
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How neighbourhood app Nextdoor is driving both community aid and conspiracy theories
Though widely applauded as a hub to organise local initiatives, the social media platform has also become riddled with false information and bogus science…
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The mystery of the Spectator Index, one of the internet’s biggest news sources
On Twitter it's bigger than the Times or Good Morning Britain, but this news source has no reporters, no fact-checkers –…
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Teenagers are turning to TikTok not just for dance clips, but for urgent political debate
TikTok has become a hotbed of political debate, social issue advocacy and policy arguments – and most recently, a battleground…
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On TikTok, coronavirus is just another way to gain clout
By falsely claiming to have tested positive for the disease, teens across the video app are going viral and gaining…
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When brands like Yorkshire Tea take part in online outrage, it’s never a fair fight
While we herald a brand for a funny dunk, we forget that a real person becomes the collateral damage.
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As long as online cruelty remains cool, it won’t be solved by hashtags, T-shirts or even censorship
Society at large still has a playground mentality – niceness and kindness aren’t valued or rewarded.
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Disunited fandom: how the royal split created turmoil online
The British monarchy captivates and entertains a vast international fandom, but the drama of the Sussex split has riven a…
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What Jean-Jacques Rousseau can teach us about Twitter
When a corporate will manages to masquerade as a general will, a society marked by entrenched inequality will find itself…
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The strange case of Paul Zimmer, the disgraced video star who rebranded himself as a boy
Twenty-four-year-old Zimmer posted pictures and videos as Troy Becker, losing only his trademark frosted tips hairstyle and tell-tale adult stubble.
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I is for Instagram: How one app changed the way young people see the world
“Can you guys help me pick a filter? / I don’t know if I should go with XX Pro or…
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All the parties are being dishonest online – but the Conservatives are better at it
On the eve of polling, we are getting an idea of just how dishonest the election campaign has been. And…
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Political advertising has embraced the memefication of everything, including Love Actually
Would you answer the door to Boris Johnson? A woman in suburbia certainly would, based on the Conservatives’ latest political…
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How the language of our new politics is crisscrossing the Atlantic
The similarities between US and UK politics are hard to ignore. Both countries are run by blond populists with a…
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