In our fast-moving world young people are being tempted with new ways to better their lives … LA is home to a growing number of social media stars. We now live in the era of the influencer, young creatives uploading videos on everything from shopping to make-up tips or just sharing their lives on-line. These influencers promote their perfect lifestyles and flawless looks uploading their content daily to millions of followers around the world … Why are so many young people prepared to go under the knife? Reggie Yates Meets World s1e4: Influencers, MTV 2019
When I was there I always felt like fundamentally it was a force for good. I don’t know if I feel that way any more. The Social Dilemma, Netflix 2020
Is social media making your child depressed? ibid. news
Plastic surgeons have coined a new term for it – Snapshot Dysmorphia – when you patients want surgery so they can look more like they do in filtered selfies. ibid.
Today I want to talk about a new agenda for technology. And why we want to do that is because if you ask people what’s wrong in the tech industry right now, there’s a cacophony of grievances, and scandals, and they stole our data, and there’s tech addiction, and there’s fake news and there’s polarization and there’s some elections getting hacked – but is there something beneath all these problems? ibid. Tristan Harris
Jaron Lanier: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. ibid.
‘How much of your life can we get you to give to us?’ ibid. Tim Kendall
‘We now have markets that trade in human futures at scale. And those markets have produced the trillions of dollars that have made the internet companies the richest companies in the history of humanity.’ ibid. Professor Zuboff
‘We’ve created a world in which online connection has become primary … We’ve put deceit and sneakiness at the centre of everything we do.’ ibid. Jaron Lanier
You are being programmed at a deeper level. And you don’t even realise it. ibid.
‘Even knowing how these tricks work, I’m still susceptible to them.’ ibid. expert
‘Everyone in your news feed sounds just like you.’ ibid. Roger McNamee
It’s a disinformation for money business model. ibid.
These things have become digital Frankensteins. ibid.
These markets undermine democracy and they undermine freedom and they should be outlawed. ibid. President Zuboff
A hospital administrator has made legal history as the first man to be jailed in Britain for using an internet blog to stalk a woman.
Stephen Andreassen, 38, compiled up to 35 website blogs in which he insulted Rebecca Pattinson after she ended their month-long relationship.
The couple met in 2006 through friends and began dating three years later when Miss Pattinson, went to see Andreassen perform on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of the ‘one and other’ exhibition by the artist Antony Gormley. Miss Pattinson, 36, a mother of two and a mature university student, ended the relationship after four weeks when Andreassen asked her to view a flat with him.
Andreassen began bombarding Miss Pattinson with calls, emails, texts and messages over Facebook begging to be taken back.
She threatened to call police and tightened security on the social networking site and got Andreassen removed from her contact details.
When she deactivated her Facebook account, Andreassen set up a series of blogs posting messages about her ‘warning all men’ and listing links to his other websites giving his account of their affair. The Telegraph online article 10th March 2011, ‘Spurned lover is first person jailed for stalking by blog’
Merseyside Police allowed a sex offender to ‘slip away’ and murder a teenager he had befriended on Facebook, an inquiry has found.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) concluded inadequate resources resulted in the poor management of Peter Chapman.
The PC in charge of the case had not received proper training in monitoring sex offenders.
Chapman murdered Ashleigh Hall, 17, in County Durham in October 2009. BBC online article 24th August 2011
4 gang members chased down 17-year-old rival gang member Marcel Addai … who kicked, punched and stabbed him 14 times. When Kids Kill s2e4: Gang Wars, Channel 5 2016
An ongoing war on social media. ibid.
It’s being billed as the biggest change to the way we live, work and play since the birth of the internet. The creation of a network of 3-D worlds styled the Metaverse. But it comes with a dark side … We investigate reports of extreme racist and virtual sexual assault in this brand-new frontier. We reveal children are especially at risk. Dispatches: Inside the Metaverse: Are You Safe? Channel 4 2022
A new frontier: a virtual universe where using headsets we can all interact in real time in three dimensions by creating virtual versions of ourselves. ibid.
Manchester 2020: Murdered on the streets of Manchester – in the days after a group of his friends joined a Telegram chat to vent their anger and grief. 18 months later a court was told that the ten members in the chat were members of a violent and brutal gang who plotted a revenge attack. The trial would result in all ten being sent to jail for a total of 131 years. Untold, Jailed Over a Group Chat, Channel 4 2022
Every single minute 500 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. And at the top some of the world’s biggest are quitting, crying at being cancelled. Yet despite this, there are still 113 million other channels of people giving everything to try and make it big. And may just end up screaming into the void. Untold: The Cost of Being a YouTuber, Channel 4 2023
Showing the challenges facing creators asking if this is a viable career and showing the cost of being a YouTuber. ibid.
Have you ever wondered if your partner would cheat on you? Well you’re not the only one. If you have your doubts, Ticktockers around the world are willing to try the ‘honeytrap your partner’. Untold: Cheat Detectives: Loyalty Test, Channel 4 2022
‘She did say that she wanted to travel. She was saying she was doing it by herself. I thought that was very cool.’ The Social Media Murders s1e1: The Murder of Grace Millane, social media friend, ITV 2023
1st December 2018: The night before her 22nd birthday Grace arranges a Tinder date … The following morning Grace doesn’t return to her hostel. ibid. captions
… I remember putting Grace in the suitcase. I was just in shock the whole time … ibid. Kempson to rozzers
‘The teenager’s body was found here on Ashley Mill Lane in the village of Ashley, Friday morning at 8 o’clock.’ The Social Media Murders s1e2: The Murder of Alex Rodda, ITV 2021
‘He just kinda said I’ve been speaking to this boy [Matt Mason] and he’s asked to meet me.’ ibid. friend
‘Matt Mason lied. He had a girlfriend for two years.’ ibid. mum
‘He’s took him into the forest, he’s got this spanner behind his back … and he’s gone and hit my brother repeatedly over the head.’ ibid. brother
You know that boy that I was speaking to when I was like in a bad way, we carried on speaking and I finally got to meet him … The Social Media Murders s1e3: The Murder of Molly McLaren Molly to friend, ITV 2021
Joshua Stimpson launched a brutal and frenzied attack on Molly McLaren, stabbing and slashing at her more than fifty times. ibid. TV news
Josh and Molly both matched on Tinder. ibid. friend
They both had some sort of mental health problem. ibid.
Chelmsford, Essex, 1st February 2022: Ashley Wadsworth who was 19 and from Canada, she was found stabbed to death at the property behind me on Tuesday afternoon. The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth: The Social Media Murders s2e1, TV news, ITV 2023
Ashley had been stabbed at least ninety times in her chest area … she had also been strangled. ibid. rozzer
She was going to go to England no matter what. ibid.
‘Hi there, I just need a bit of advice really. I split up with my boyfriend about three months ago. He’s been sending me a lot of messages even though I’ve asked him not to contact me. I know that he’s hacked into my Facebook and also my phone … The Social Media murders s2e2: The Murder of Alice Ruggles, ITV 2023
Gateshead 13th October 2016: Police have launched a murder investigation after the body of a Leicestershire woman was discovered in Gateshead. ibid. news
An act of utter barbarism. ibid.
We just didn’t realise the danger she was in. ibid. dad
He inserted himself physically into her life. ibid. friend
I can’t just turn her off in my head. ibid. Harry to rozzer