In February, Patrice Motz, a veteran Spanish teacher at Great Valley Middle School in Malvern, Pa., was warned by another teacher that trouble was brewing. Some eighth graders at her public school had set up fake TikTok accounts impersonating teachers. Ms. Motz, who had never used TikTok, created an account. She found a fake profile…
Wearable wrist weights, which once seemed relegated to the dustbin of fitness history, are seeing a resounding resurgence on social media. The one- to three-pound cuffs first gained popularity during the fitness boom of the 1980s, when exercisers strapped on models made from fabric and filled with sand. But by the early 2000s, they had…
TikTok, the popular video app facing a new law that could lead it to being banned in the United States, released details Thursday about numerous confidential meetings with top federal officials as it tried to address concerns about the company’s Chinese ownership. The details of those interactions, TikTok said in a court filing, show that…
Snap. Crack. Pop. These sounds, once used to sell a popular breakfast cereal, are now enticing people to visit the doctor thanks to a wave of chiropractic videos sweeping social media. The most popular videos follow a familiar template: A patient enters with a debilitating condition. A chiropractor maneuvers the patient’s limbs and joints in…
The tables were filling up at Urban Tandoor, a British curry house wholesome enough for a family meal and elegant enough for a low-key first date. Painted flowers twist up its entrance and lights adorn the colorful walls inside, a homage to Bristol’s artistic reputation. The local haunt in southwest England promises an array of…
TikTok can add a new skill to its résumé: disco time machine. The social platform, normally populated with an endless scroll of Gen Z-ers dancing — mostly in short choreographed routines that have been practiced and perfected — has recently been infused with the energy of a surprising demographic: their Gen X parents. In the…
TikTok said on Thursday that it was introducing new measures to limit the spread of videos from state-affiliated media accounts, including Russian and Chinese outlets, as the company deflects criticism that it could be used as a propaganda tool in a major election year. The company in 2022 started labeling state-affiliated media accounts — like…
As protests over the war in Gaza unfolded blocks away, last week’s Met Gala was largely devoid of political statements on the red carpet. That the organizers of fashion’s most powerful annual spectacle (one for which tickets cost $75,000 this year) achieved this proved surprising to many observers. Less than two weeks later, though, a…
As it is in the United States, TikTok is popular in Taiwan, used by a quarter of the island’s 23 million residents. People post videos of themselves shopping for trendy clothes, dressing up as video game characters and playing pranks on their roommates. Influencers share their choreographed dances and debate whether the sticky rice dumplings…
Emma Lembke did not know what an algorithm was when she started using social media. The then-12-year-old was thrilled when her parents gave her permission to join Instagram. She quickly followed all kinds of accounts — from Kim Kardashian to Olive Garden, she said — and was soon spending five to six hours a day…
