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A study among Facebook users found that those who tend to ruminate and to compare themselves to other users are more likely to experience loneliness. The findings were published in the journal Heliyon.

People are increasingly reporting a lack of social connection in their lives, prompting scholars to suggest that loneliness is becoming a public health concern. The growing use of social media may be a contributing factor to this increased loneliness. These platforms, which were ironically created to facilitate social networking, may inadvertently be leaving users feeling more disconnected.

Study authors Bridget Dibb and M. Foster say that empirical research has offered mixed findings on the topic, with some studies suggesting that social media reinforces loneliness and others suggesting that it alleviates loneliness. The researchers aimed to investigate whether rumination and social comparison might play a role in the connection between social media use and loneliness.

Dibb and Foster opted to focus their study on Facebook and recruited a sample of 214 Facebook users, the majority of whom were female (81%) and White British (88%). The participants, who ranged in age from 18 to 72, completed an online questionnaire that included measures of loneliness, depression, and the tendency to ruminate.

The surveys also asked participants how often they engaged in active activities (e.g., posting comments) and passive activities (e.g., scrolling through the news feed) on Facebook and whether they tended to make upward social comparisons (comparing themselves to others who seem better off) and downward social comparisons (comparing themselves to others who seem to be doing worse) on Facebook.

A regression analysis revealed that participants who reported making upward social comparisons on Facebook tended to experience greater loneliness. In line with previous studies, this suggests that comparing oneself to other Facebook users who seem better off coincides with feeling more lonely. Interestingly, the tendency to make downward social comparisons was not significantly related to participants loneliness.

Contrary to previous studies, the way that users engaged with Facebook active versus passive use was not significantly linked to loneliness.

The analysis also revealed that participants who reported a greater tendency to ruminate (i.e., to think deeply about something for an extended period of time) were more likely to feel lonely. Previous research suggests that mindfulness training can effectively reduce rumination. The study authors propose that mindfulness may be a helpful tool for lowering rumination, and, in turn, reducing loneliness, among social media users.

Ultimately, Dibb and Foster write, this study has provided an explanation for how Facebook, the online social network designed to connect people with their friends and family, is paradoxically associated with a rise in loneliness within society.

The researchers suggest that action can be taken by social media platforms to mitigate the experience of loneliness among users. For example, Facebook could promote mindfulness tips throughout the news feed to help reduce rumination. Additionally, the platform could publish reminders to users that the content that people post online reflects their best moments and does not reflect real life.

The study was limited by its cross-sectional design, and the researchers note that they cannot rule out the possibility that loneliness contributes to depression, rumination, and the tendency to make upward social comparisons. They say that future longitudinal studies will be needed to shed light on the ordering of these variables and determine whether Facebook use is causally associated with loneliness.

The study, Loneliness and Facebook use: the role of social comparison and rumination, was authored by Bridget Dibb and M. Foster.

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Facebook users who ruminate and compare themselves to their friends experience increased loneliness - PsyPost

Even in 2021, I still hear people saying, "Open source is somehow suspicious, or it's not good for business." Multi-billion-dollar Chinese companies know better. Bilibili has joined other Chinese technology powerhouses such as ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, and its rival Kuaishou, in joining the Open Invention Network (OIN).

The OIN is the world's largest patent non-aggression consortium. It protects Linux and related open source software and the companies behind them from patent attacks and patent trolls. The OIN recently broadened its scope from core Linux programs and adjacent open source code by expanding its Linux System Definition to other patents such as the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and the Extended File Allocation Table exFAT file system.

The OIN does this by practicing patent non-aggression in core Linux and related open source technologies by cross-licensing Linux System patents to one another on a royalty-free basis. Patents owned by OIN are similarly licensed royalty-free to any organization that agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux System. Any company can do this by simply signing the OIN license online.

So, why is a company that makes its money from giving its young content creators a platform allying with open source? For the same reason, almost all companies rely on open source for their software. It makes good, hard financial sense.

As Wang Hao, Bilibili's VP, explained, "We are committed to opening and sharing technologies and providing positive motivation in the innovation field of playback transmission, interactive entertainment, and cloud-native ecology through open source projects. Linux and open source are important software infrastructures that promote business developments. Our participation in the OIN community demonstrates our consistent and ongoing commitment to shared innovation. In the future, we will also firmly support Linux's open source innovation."

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Bilibili, China's YouTube, joins the Open Invention Network - ZDNet

SYRACUSE, N.Y. and BETHLEHEM, Pa., Nov. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --With millions of mostly international users around the world, Lomotif (the short form video social media application owned by a joint venture of ZASH Global Media and Entertainment (ZASH) and Vinco Ventures, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBIG) (Vinco)) is already a stronghold of international users, but has faced questions about its potential to engage a domestic U.S. user base. On the weekend of October 22nd, Lomotif leveraged its partnership with EDC Las Vegas as a proving ground in the U.S. cultural landscape, eyeing a U.S. launch in 2022. Partnering with megastars Lil Nas X and The Kid Laroi, Lomotif used its reach and frequency tool under AdRizer for a broad reach into U.S. social media culture and cross platform pollination, outperforming expectations across every metric and delivering record engagement. Vinco and ZASH recently announced a letter of intent to acquire AdRizer.

The EDC activation and partnership was Lomotif's biggest domestic push to date to build awareness of the Lomotif platform. Lomotif tested cross platform pollination between Lomotif and other major social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram. The number of users reached and engaged far exceeded Lomotif's expectations:

During the EDC festival, Lomotif also arranged surprise appearances and performances from headliner superstars Lil Nas X and The Kid Laroi, as Ted Farnsworth (Chairman of Lomotif parent company ZVV Media Partners, LLC, a joint venture of Vinco and ZASH) and Olivia Rudensky (CEO and Founder of FANMADE) made the 11th hour arrangements for the artists to perform for fans live, with millions able to share the experience remotely. At showtime, Lil Nas X was charting as the #1 artist on US Billboard Hot 100 and the #3 artist on Billboard's international Top 200, while The Kid Laroi was charting #1 internationally on Billboard and #2 on Billboard's US Hot 100. Lil Nas X shared a video of his performance on TikTok using #lomotif; that video alone recorded 7.5 million views on TikTok. Lomotif was chosen as an official streaming partner for the world's largest EDM festival alongside YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and Roblox. Lomotif streamed all performances on kineticFIELD, the main stage at EDC, including the performances by Lil Nas X and The Kid Laroi.

Beyond the cultural impact of the Lil Nas X and The Kid Laroi performances, EDC was a large scale testing ground for different initiatives through Lomotif and other companies within the ZASH ecosystem. ZASH tested cross platform pollination on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, bringing cultural awareness to Lomotif as well as pointing the users of more entrenched platforms to Lomotif through exclusive content initiatives, including exclusive behind the scenes interviews with Lil Nas X, The Kid Laroi and other leading artists. After activating 150 top influencers during EDC Las Vegas, ZASH and Lomotif are continuing to build relationships with top artists and influencers across all platforms, who are expected to work in complement to the [social media accelerator platform] under AdRizer to amplify and substantiate Lomotif's reach.

"We received 57 million views on Instagram - all EDM or Lil Nas X fans, users that share similar interests," remarked Mr. Farnsworth. "This is the beginning of a powerful, engaged community on Lomotif," Mr. Farnsworth continued.

ZASH's beta test was also done in partnership with Socialkyte, one of the largest social media platforms for influencers in India and surrounding regions, and home to over 90,000 leading influencers. Socialkyte hosted a live streaming party at Bo Tai Switch in New Delhi, promoting Lomotif's EDC live stream to hundreds of millions of users. This was the first time Socialkyte has engaged with a US company to test any type of social media reach and frequency for a live streamed event, driving record engagement across the platform. Socialkyte's fan base spans 1.3 billion users across the globe, with the majority coming from India and surrounding nations.

Lomotif believes its social media accelerator, through AdRizer, will allow scalable monetization through this social media reach and frequency tool. This tool is expected to allow users to buy ads for as low as five dollars each to boost their personal pages, or for small businesses to market to hyper specific demographics and geographical regions anywhere in the world. Lomotif expects that advertisers on Lomotif will be able to control of how often the ads are served to different target audiences, when and where the ads will be served, and the ability to track their results and quickly adjust to real-time data.

"There's still work to be done to bring this tool to market, but knowing we can reach both broad and hyper specific demographics with peak reach and dynamic frequency, we believe this reach and frequency tool will facilitate advertisers to share their stories powerfully on our platform, as well as become an integral part of advertisers reaching users through other social platforms and digital advertising platforms and SEO optimization," continued Farnsworth. "We believe this is an industry leading, highly adaptable advertising tool that we expect will enable robust and scalable revenue streams, as we continue to expand our global reach."

Lomotif's EDC partnership and its associated reach and frequency beta test come in pursuit of greater engagement and are expected work hand in glove feeding potential advertisers to have the greatest relevance, reach and cost efficacy in their ad campaigns.

Lomotif also utilized its partnership with EDC to launch LoMo TV -an entertainment and lifestyle network offering original programming within the Lomotif app. During EDC, LoMo TV featured exclusive backstage content and interviews at the concert, as well as an exclusive performance from Lil Nas X and a new song debuting from the superstar artist. As a full time entertainment and lifestyle TV network, LoMo TV will run on Lomotif and plans to launch on linear TV. LoMo TV featured social media personality Matt Peterson (mattpeterson_), and hundreds of popular digital influencers backstage at EDC giving viewers exclusive interviews and content throughout the weekend.

LoMo TV is Lomotif's most recent brand extension, following the launch of LoMo Records, the L.A. based independent immersive record label. Continuing its mission to empower independent artists and creators, LoMo Records is partnering with artists and creators to provide expert label services and global distribution to breaking new talent from the Lomotif platform and work with other music labels. LoMo Records leverages ZASH and Lomotif's entire ecosystem including significantly expanding the artists global reach through their social media accelerator platform under AdRizer. LoMo Records bridges the gap between the traditional music standards and the emerging creator economy.

Lomotif is a popular video-sharing social networking platform. One of the fastest growing video-sharing social networking platforms in its category over the last three years, there are currently 225+ million installations of the Lomotif app globally in 200+ countries in 300+ languages. Over 300 million videos are watched on the platform per month and over 10 billion atomic clips (User Generated Content (UGC)) have been used to create more than 740+ million videos on the platform since its launch. To watch EDC 2021 on the Lomotif platform, users can download the app on the Apple Storeor Google Play for Android.

About Lomotif

Lomotif is a video-sharing social networking platform that is democratizing video creation. Since the company was co-founded by video enthusiastPaul Yangin 2014, Lomotif has been granted three technology patents focused on empowering creators to share and watch short videos with ease through remix and collaboration. Yang's vision is to build the world's largest video vocabulary to accelerate the world's transition to video-first expression. Lomotif, available in the Apple and Google stores, is a downloadable app that has grown worldwide as a grassroots social community with dedicated users spanning from Asia to South America to the U.S.For additional information about Lomotif, please visit Lomotif's website atwww.lomotif.com.

About Vinco Ventures, Inc.

Vinco Ventures, Inc. (BBIG) ("Vinco") is focused on the development of digital media andcontent technologies. Vinco's consolidated subsidiary, ZVV Media Partners, LLC, a joint venture of Vinco and Zash Global Media and Entertainment Corp. ("Zash"), has an 80% ownership interest in Lomotif Private Limited. Vinco and Zash have announced their plan to complete a merger transaction. For more information visitinvestors.vincoventures.com.

Forward-Looking Statements and Disclaimers This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are based upon beliefs of, and information currently available to, Vinco's management as well as estimates and assumptions made by Vinco's management. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historic or current facts. When used in this presentation the words "estimate," "expect," "intend," "believe," "plan," "anticipate," "projected," and other words or the negative of these terms and similar expressions as they relate to the applicable company or its management identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current view of Vinco with respect to future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors relating to Lomotif and ZASH's industry, operations and results of operations. Such factors include, but are not limited to, uncertainties as to the completion and timing of the merger between Vinco and ZASH and Vinco's expected acquisition of AdRizer, the expected financial benefits of Lomotif's acquisition of and partnership with AdRizer, the expected financial benefits of Lomotif's participation in and partnership with live entertainment events such as EDC, and such other risks and uncertainties described more fully in documents filed by Vinco with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors discussed in Vinco's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2020 filed on April 15, 2021, and Vinco's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed thereafter, which are available atwww.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ significantly from those anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended, or planned. Although each company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, the companies cannot guarantee future results, performance, or achievements. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws ofthe United States, neither company intends to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.

SOURCE Lomotif

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Lomotif and ZASH Beta Test Social Media Reach and Frequency Tool in Partnership with EDC Las Vegas, Exceeding Expectations - PRNewswire

The Off-Facebook Activity tool addresses privacy concerns.

If you haven't been using theOff-Facebook Activityprivacy feature, now's the time to start. The tool, introduced by Facebook in 2019, lets you see and control data that apps and websites share with the platform -- and monitor the kind of information third-party apps can access.

With the privacy feature, you can clear the history of apps and websites that have shared your data. You can also toggle off Future Off-Facebook Activity, which tells Facebook to disconnect any information the company has shared from your account. Or you can selectively choose which companies you want to stop sharing your activity, and it'll stop showing those targeted ads.

Here's how to get a better grip on your Facebook privacy.

The Facebook tool allows you to control which sites share your information.

Using Facebook's business tools, you can see what information apps and websites have sent to the company. From there, you can clear the information from your account and turn off future "off-Facebook activity" tracking from your account. You'll be able to control this for all apps and websites so they'll no longer be able to share your search activity with Facebook.

To get started, go toSettings & Privacy > Settings >Your Facebook Information > Off-Facebook Activity. From there, you can manage your Off-Facebook Activity, clear all history and turn off Future Off-Facebook Activity for your account.

Once you clear the activity managed by the tool, Facebook will remove your identifying information that the apps and websites share. That means Facebook won't know which websites you visited or what you looked at, so you won't see targeted ads from those sites.

Turn off your activity.

If you'd like to control which ads you see (or don't) on Facebook, go to your Settings on your phone or desktop and select Ad Preferences.

Under Advertisers and Businesses, you can see which advertisers have run ads using a list uploaded to Facebook containing your information. If you select a company and chooseDon't Allow, you won't see ads from advertisers when they use a list from that company.

Learn smart gadget and internet tips and tricks with our entertaining and ingenious how-tos.

You can also go to Ad Settings and turn off ads based on data from partners, ads based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere and ads that include your social media actions. However, doing this won't delete any data and you'll still see the same number of ads as before. The Off-Facebook Activity feature is the best way to remove your data.

If you're an iPhone user, a feature introduced in iOS 14.5 called App Tracking Transparency requires you to give permission to apps including Facebook before they can use your data for targeted ads. (Here's how to use App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14.5.)

Want to know how to further control your privacy online? Here's how to find and delete your Google data now and thebrowser privacy settings you should change immediately. Plus, what digital security experts wish you'd do to protect your phone app privacy.

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Take control of your privacy online with the Off-Facebook Activity tool - CNET

RIO DE JANEIRO Shortly after President Donald J. Trump was banned from Twitter early this year, Brazils like-minded leader made a plea to his millions of followers on the site.

Sign up for my official channel on Telegram, President Jair Bolsonaro requested.

Since then, Telegram, an encrypted messaging and social media platform run by an elusive Russian exile, has racked up tens of millions of new users in Brazil.

Its growing popularity in Brazil and elsewhere is being fueled by conservative politicians and commentators for whom it has become the most permissive disseminator of problematic content including disinformation in a social media ecosystem facing mounting pressure to combat fake news and polarization.

While WhatsApp remains by far the dominant messaging platform in Brazil, Telegram is making inroads fast. By August, it had been installed in 53 percent of all smartphones in Brazil, up from 15 percent two years earlier, according to a report.

Founded in 2013, Telegram has become a tool coveted by activists, dissidents and politicians many in repressive nations like Iran and Cuba to communicate privately.

But Brazilian government officials and experts worry the app could become a powerful vector for lies and vitriol before next years presidential elections a tense political moment in the country.

Mr. Bolsonaro, his re-election prospects endangered by his diminishing popularity, has followed the Trump playbook and begun sowing doubts about the integrity of Brazils voting system, raising the possibility of a disputed outcome. His unfounded claim that electronic voting machines will be rigged has unnerved the opposition and the countrys top judges, who say the abundance of disinformation in Brazilian politics is doing lasting damage to its democracy.

We know that systemic disinformation is produced by structures that are very well organized and financed, said Aline Osrio, a secretary general at Brazils electoral court who heads its program against misinformation.

Ms. Osrio said the court had established constructive working relationships with executives from other social media companies that have become vehicles for misinformation campaigns. But its efforts to reach Telegram, which is based in Dubai, have been unsuccessful.

Telegram has no representatives in Brazil, and this has made it difficult to establish a partnership in the same way weve done with other platforms, she said.

Telegram did not respond to a request for an interview. Press queries are submitted through a bot on the platform.

Experts say political content and conversations have migrated substantially to Telegram in recent years in Brazil and other countries, largely because of the apps capacity to mass-reproduce content.

Group chats can include up to 200,000 users, exponentially more than WhatsApps limit of 256. WhatsApp curbed users ability to forward messages after coming under criticism in Brazil and elsewhere for the role it played in misinformation campaigns during recent elections.

In addition to group chats, Telegram hosts channels, a one-way mass-communication tool used by corporations, artists and politicians to distribute messages, videos and audio files. Mr. Bolsonaros channel surpassed one million followers in recent weeks, putting him among the worlds most followed politicians on the platform.

While rival apps have adopted stricter and more clearly defined policies on abuse and disinformation, Telegrams guidelines are vague, and the service takes a hands-off approach to content in individual and group chats.

That makes it a safe space for incendiary figures, including politicians, who have been banned from other platforms. In Brazil, the Twitter and Instagram accounts of a lawmaker, Daniel Silveira, and a conservative journalist, Allan dos Santos, were suspended as part of a Supreme Court investigation into disinformation campaigns that included threats against justices.

But Telegram remains a portal to their followers. That has enabled Mr. dos Santos to raise funds for his legal defense and call the justice who got him banned from other sites a psychopath.

The network is clearly benefiting from the removal of users from other platforms, Fabrcio Benevenuto, a computer science professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said of Telegram. Politicians have noticed it makes no effort to remove accounts, so it is becoming an appealing network for more radical groups.

Farzaneh Badiei, an internet governance expert who published a paper on Telegram at Yale Law School this year, said that Telegrams founder, Pavel Durov, had been unwilling to meaningfully grapple with the problem of disinformation that goes viral.

Their approach is very disorganized and very opaque, she said. We dont see a systemic approach to solving these problems.

Mr. Durov left Russia in 2014 after battling government efforts to censor content on the social networking site he founded, VKontakte. He has said he designed Telegram as an ultra private means of communicating based on the persecution he says he endured in his native country.

Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube played critical roles in Mr. Bolsonaros stunning victory in 2018, and the far-right leader has continued to rely heavily on social media to energize his base, attack opponents and make false claims that go largely unchallenged.

But in recent months, the platforms that enabled Mr. Bolsonaros rise have reined him in over his false or misleading claims about measures to contain the coronavirus. Social media companies put him on notice by taking down a handful of videos and tweets that they deemed dangerous.

Mr. Bolsonaro and his followers have railed against those removals as forms of censorship. In September, he argued that disinformation was now a permanent feature of politics and dismissed it as a trivial issue.

Fake news is part of our life, he said. Who has never told a little lie to their girlfriend?

Telegram has drawn critical scrutiny in Brazil for more than its disruptive role in politics. Investigations by news organizations found that it was hosting illegal arms networks and enabling the distribution of child pornography.

Brazilian lawmakers are debating legislation that would require platforms like Telegram to have legal representation in Brazil or risk being banned. However, users have easily circumvented such bans in countries like Iran and Russia by using software that lets them disguise their location.

Diogo Rais, a professor at Mackenzie University in So Paulo and a co-founder of the Digital Freedom Institute, called blocking apps a drastic measure that would be ineffective.

We need to deal with digital challenges realizing that our laws are from 2009 and limited to our physical territory, he said. The digital world has no such limit. This is a global challenge.

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Brazils Far-Right Disinformation Pushers Find a Safe Space on Telegram - The New York Times