9781422273906

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook and is wildly popular both in the United States and abroad. It has all but replaced the old-style SMS (short message service) texts; SMS used to cost money every time you used it, whereas WhatsApp has always been free. Reddit. Using the slogan, “the front page of the Internet,” Reddit is an aggregator of news, images, and discussions on a seemingly limitless number of topics. Certain threads (called “subreddits”) became infamous during the 2016 election for their far-right, often racist content, but that is just a small part of the site. One especially popular post format is called an AMA, short for “Ask Me Anything.”

“With social media we’ve created a stage for constant artificial high dramas. Every day a new person emerges as a magnificent hero or a sickening villain. It’s all very sweeping, and not the way we actually are as people.” —Jon Ronson

Teen Guides to Health & Wellness: Social Media and the Internet

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