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The platforming of our lives on social media apps like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is usually met with criticism. Interactive technologies, like video games and social media, were told, make us anti-social. Now, as a result of social distancing efforts in response to the coronavirus pandemic, online social networks and video conferencing platforms like Zoom are redefining what it means to be social through our technologies.

In a less-than-ideal situation, the Zoom conferencing platform has become central to many peoples everyday life during the crisis. Quarantining has forced us to move our social gatherings online; hangouts with friends and family have, for the past month, become virtually possible thanks to new media. My family, like many others, participated in a Zoom Passover seder this year.

Video-sharing apps like TikTok also help us to relieve boredom. The platforms dance challenges and lip-syncing memes provide a sense of fun and comic relief.

Social media networks and conferencing platforms may be compensating for the loss of social life in a moment of crisis, but perhaps we are getting more than we bargained for.

Working from home, and homing while at work, has become part of the routine for many white-collar workers: work life and family life are blending into one.

A couple of weeks ago, my five-year-old son wandered into my home office during a Zoom meeting. This embarrassing scenario is something now familiar to many of us working remotely via Zoom or other video conference platforms. An hour later, both of my children logged onto Zoom meetings of their own for a session of remote schooling.

Work-life balance was hard enough before the crisis. Now, social media is blending private life and work. For parents and caregivers, the extension of the office into personal space can be an added cause of stress. With no separation, we are forced to do it all at once.

The double duties of care and work, what feminists refer to as the double shift, isnt new. But bringing the office space into the home while managing care and the health crisis can be daunting.

Zoom may enable work life during the crisis. But is this really the best way to use our social technologies and media? Maybe this situation gives us an opportunity to see the problems of our culture differently through the prism of social technology.

Social isolation may have changed the way we interact online, but apprehensions about social media and other cloud-based social interaction technologies and platforms are justified. Not only do we fear the anti-social effects of social media, many of us are also worried about online surveillance, manipulation and trolling.

Zoom, too, is not exempt from these kinds of security fears. Like other cloud-based technologies, Zoom is not immune to the threat of data mining and surveillance, even from other platforms.

Using social technologies as a lifeline during the ongoing crisis helps us to see beyond the anti-social aspects of the technology. Looking past the interface, we should interrogate online anti-social behaviour less as a problem with the technology and more as having to do with the broader culture of neoliberal capitalism.

Like all media, platforms amplify the social, political and economic conditions in which they are used. Since corporate platforms profit from our usage and data, they all have an interest in keeping our attention and our active participation. This is what makes data mining, for instance, essential to all platforms.

Data has become a staple resource for the new economy of 21st century capitalism. And algorithms are designed to keep us plugged in, whatever the emotional cost.

As critical media scholars have said for years, if the product is free, chances are the commodity is you.

Scholars point to communicative capitalism or platform capitalism to identify the harmful aspects of platforms and social media. Platforms rely on user-generated content and data mining as part of their profit models.

Like traditional news media and communicative technologies, platform conglomeration risks limiting information freedom and media democracy. Already, Zoom appears to have cornered the market for video conferencing platforms.

The context of using social technologies during the coronavirus crisis should therefore force us to question the future of our media. Will platforms like Zoom help us to enhance our social relationships and the public good, or will they do more to amplify the needs of platform and neoliberal capitalism?

Against the background of the COVID-19 crisis, we see just how essential social networking platforms and online communication technologies have become for our social life. At the same time, these technologies extend and embed work into the home.

Can we imagine social media networks and apps designed for the public good? What might it look like if we removed platforms and social media from their corporate setting? Perhaps a social media that lived up to its name.

Given the ways were using social technologies and platforms to maintain our social lives during the crisis, we should reconsider our relationships to technology. Maybe technologies and social media dont make us anti-social, after all, and the cause of the problem lies in a culture that prioritizes profit making over people making.

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Who's Zoomin' who? How the coronavirus crisis is finally putting the 'social' into social media - The Conversation CA

Now Poppy Olah has been recognised nationally for her expertise in teaching virtual classes during the Covid 19 lockdown using TikTok, the video-sharing social networking service that has become across the world.

Poppy's innovative and inspirational teaching has featured in the Times Educational Supplement and is helping tutors across the UK to enhance their remote teaching while students are remaining quarantines in their own homes.

Poppy has shared her teaching methods, the technology she uses, alongside photos and video clips, in an informative blog post in TES, the respected education publication for teaching professionals.

She has written how her Advanced Vocational students have embraced the opportunities for creativity afforded by working at home and overcoming every challenge with wide-ranging support from college, from providing IT equipment and wi-fi connectivity, to tutorials on how to make the most of the extensive Google for Education Tools.

Poppy said: "When we got the news that college would be closing because of coronavirus, I was heartbroken.

"My students had been working tirelessly towards their dance showcase, which could no longer happen.

"But, as a department, we were determined they would not have to stop doing what they love most: dancing and performing.

"Two weeks before the official lockdown notice, we anticipated that we may no longer have the option of face-to-face contact. We discussed how units could be taught from home using the Google for Education tools, and created remote learning assessments on Google Forms.

"We are fortunate that all our students actively use these and are tech-savvy when updating and organising assignments.

"However, they were unfamiliar with communicating over Google Hangouts and video conferencing."

Burnley College provided laptops and wi-fi dongles and Popptyorganised remote learning trials with her classes when she was in college.

She added: "It was easy to see how it would all work for their theory assignments. But the real challenge would be finishing choreography, technical training and maintaining fitness levels while distance learning.

"In order to give students autonomy over their own dance practice, a remote learning timetable was created and I scheduled one-to-one video calls with each of my students to give assistance on assignments, as well as to monitor their mental health something we never anticipated would need as much focus as it has.

"As staff, we agreed that it was important to maintain daily contact and scheduled video chats to touch base as well as weekly divisional meetings, chaired by curriculum managers.

"This gave us the motivation and support to facilitate this new way of teaching. The college provided some excellent preparatory training to ensure that all staff were ready for the inevitable remote learning scenario. "

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Perfect timing by Burnley dance tutor who is using latest social media craze to teach students online during Covid 19 lockdown - Burnley Express

As Morris County continued its self-isolation due to the coronavirus outbreak, here's what we saw from a safe social distance. March 24, 2020. Morristown Daily Record

A 19-year-old man faces attempted aggravated sexual assault and other criminal charges after he was arrested Tuesday at a Morris Plains park, where police say he planned to meet an 11-year-old girl.

Robert Murphy was expected to be released Thursday from the Morris County Correctional Facility, where he was jailed on chargesthat included criminal intent and endangering a minor, facility staff said.

Morris Plains police did not specify the charges following their investigation of what they term "an isolated incident." The girl's age was identified byCol. Pat Callahan of the New Jersey State Police.

According to the police report, the parents of the underage girllearned of her plans to meet Murphy at an unidentified local park in the tiny borough of 532 residents. They told police she met him online through a social-networking application.

Police intervened before the meeting occurred. The suspect and the girl never had any physical contact, police said.

Murphy also was charged with violating stateexecutive orders regarding social distancing. His arrest was discussed during the state daily press conference on Wednesday.

Morris Plains police followed the arrest report with a public advisory for parents "to strongly emphasize the role that parents should play in their childrens internet activity."

Parents are reminded to continuously monitor their children's online behavior and should speak with themfrequently about safe and responsible use of the internet, police said. "Conversations are especially important now when our children are spending more time at home with technology, seeking the social interactions they are missing while not in school and unable to spend time with friends."

Desperate daughter: Plasma plea for Parsippany grandfather on ventilator goes viral

Morris health: NJ coronavirus: Morris County has had 324 fatalities, 171 of them from nursing homes

William Westhovenis a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community,please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email:wwesthoven@dailyrecord.comTwitter:@wwesthoven

Read or Share this story: https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/2020/04/23/police-man-tried-meet-11-year-old-girl-morris-plains-park/3014256001/

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Police: Man tried to meet 11-year-old girl in Morris Plains park - Daily Record

During the last 6 weeks of lockdown within the United States, small and large media outlets have posted numerous videos of athletes creating innovative workouts and means to stay healthy. This includes makeshift weights, unique workout machines, and even completing marathons in small spaces like driveways, balconies, and treadmills.

Americans are resilient, creative, and social; what pulls all of these things together is the connection to fitness and wellness, and ultimately a connection with each other.

As the weight of our new reality sets in, it becomes more imperative that people follow Social Distancing guidelines to keep themselves and others healthy. But how do you keep yourself physically active and healthy while protecting others from the spread of the Coronavirus?

Luckily, there are a lot of resources that provide tips and guidelines, and Sportable has been collecting articles from all media and publishing them within its own social network to open its users to this information. The Sportable Team frequently posts articles from leading running, biking, and swimming publications showing how athletes can maintain a healthy and safe fitness regimen during this tumultuous time. Posting weekly and sometimes daily updates to help its users stay active while staying safe is a core value in Sportables mission.

To limit the spread of the virus, athletes are limited to at-home fitness schedules and fitness applications. Sportable provides its user base a variety of Sports App connectors to help pull all fitness and activity data into a single location. Sportable supports connectors to Peloton, Apple HealthKit, MapMyFitness (which includes MapMyRun, MapMyWalk, MapMyRide, and MyFitnessPal), Strava, Fitbit, ClassPass, Mindbody, and Active.

The integration between the Apple Health app allows me to sync my activity that my Apple Watch tracks to Sportable. Sportable not only lets me track my goals via the Bucket List functionality, but also allows me to share my goals and results with friends and family. Seth (Male, 25)

Whether running around your neighborhood (or balcony) using Strava, taking a walk using Fitbit, spinning on Peloton, or taking a virtual Mindbody class, Sportable has you covered. By simply pressing the Connect button and entering your credentials, you can pump all your real-time and historical workouts into Sportable to monitor and track your progress and prevent any further fitness atrophy. And with features like Medal Rack and Bucket List, you can organize and share all your accomplishments and goals with your friends, no matter how distant you may be.

Staying physically healthy is extremely important during any quarantine, but staying mentally healthy is also a primary focus. Enter Sportables network that promotes encouraging and empowering connections to help athletes stay focused and informed. The apps Starting Line Search and Messaging features allow users to keep close connections to one another when Social Distancing is in order.

It is a great way to set goals and track them. The information from all my sports apps are located in 1 area and I especially use it to compare training sessions with friends (which has definitely kept us motivated during quarantine). Debbie (Female, 39)

The Sportable apps easy-to-use interface, seamless integration with third-party sports applications, and unique networking and messaging features are a necessity for novice and experienced athletes alike to stay safe, healthy, and connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Athletes Social Network is staying true to its mission of delivering a safe place for users to connect, collaborate, encourage, and empower while delivering an arsenal of must-have features to keep home-bound athletes focused and motivated.

Opinions expressed here are the opinions of the author. Influencive does not endorse or review brands mentioned; does not and can not investigate relationships with brands, products, and people mentioned and is up to the author to disclose. VIP Contributors and Contributors, amongst other accounts and articles, are professional fee-based.

Published April 23, 2020

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How the Sportable App Is Helping Athletes Stay Fit and Social During COVID-19 - Influencive

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Sometimes a tweet can be very popular and start a retweet conversation at the same time, and Twitter is now experimenting with a way to more easily find those comments within a thread.

Twitter understandably likes to keep things simple, which is why we've only got three main options to react to a tweet with: Like, Retweet, and Comment. But opting to retweet unlocks two options, either just a plain retweet or a retweet with comment. As The Verge reports, Twitter is experimenting with highlighting retweets that include a comment.

Multiple users have confirmed via Twitter that their accounts now differentiate between retweets and retweets with comments by splitting them into two separate counts. This is clearly an experimental feature as users are seeing different implementations of the same feature. For example, @divacaroline sees a breakdown of retweets with and without comments just below the Retweets heading on Twitter, where as @mehedih_ has an extra line of text below the Likes and Retweets count which says "X Retweets with comments."

For the more popular tweets, it's sure to be a welcome feature allowing the comments to be more easily and quickly viewed in their own thread with the click of a button or tap of the screen. However, there's no guarantee Twitter will decide to roll it out as a standard feature of the service. Experiments happen all the time, but very few make it past the public testing phase.

Jane Manchun Wong, well known app reverse engineer, suggested Twitter was working on such a counter back on April 16. Internally, it looks as though the feature is being referred to as a "quote_count" and a way of easily viewing quoted tweets.

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Twitter Is Testing a 'Retweets With Comments" Counter - PCMag UK