Social Media

Two people at a night club wear masks.
4 min 0 300

Serial killers are not Halloween costumes

Peak Web October 26, 2026

By: Nejdana Houshyar, Staff Writer During Halloween season, streaming services, like Netflix, and social media platforms heavily promote “true crime” content. The “true crime” genre refers to a “narrative that recounts real-life criminal events” with an emphasis often given to the story of the person who committed the crime rather than to the victims and their communities. On TikTok, the hashtag “true crime” has over 3.5 million posts. Big social media platforms have been exposed as using violent content to boost themselves within the attention economy, which means companies earn money from people’s attention and thus constantly compete for it.…

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A person films themselves with their phone as they study.
5 min 0 982

StudyTok promotes a problematic approach to learning

Peak Web September 7, 2026

By: Maya Barillas Mohan, Staff Writer You may have heard of StudyTok. It’s a niche community with guides on creating effective flashcards, instructions for prettier handwriting, and all-nighter study marathon timelapses. University life has long been romanticized online. Education is…

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ILLUSTRATION: A university student with a bunch of papers trying to study, but with a laptop open, an ipad playing Modern Family or some other comfort show, and the student looking at their phone rather than the papers
5 min 0 1838

Breaking free from the screen

Peak Web May 19, 2025

By: Zainab Salam, Staff Writer In this digital age, screens are central to nearly every aspect of our lives: work, education, entertainment, and socialization. While technology offers unprecedented convenience and connectivity, it also brings the risk of screen addiction. While…

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Illustration of a person sitting inside a box holding a phone. Speech bubbles surround the person representing an echo chamber.
7 min 0 1829

A practical guide to combating internet echo chambers

Peak Web January 20, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Social media is a wonderful place. It’s a convenient location where views that reflect your own converge; a little bubble of like-minded users, if you will. But, have you ever wondered why everyone seems…

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Woman standing in a dark room scrolling on a tablet. Behind her, there are multiple computer screens with code on them.
3 min 0 1246

I checked my phone to get my MFA code, and now I’m spiralling down the social media rabbit hole

Peak Web November 10, 2024

By: Hailey Miller, Staff Writer I have a love-hate relationship with multi-factor authentication (MFA). OK, mostly hate. It’s a pain in the ass, but at the same time, it fends off the hackers . . . or so they tell…

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A cell phone on the Instagram login screen.
7 min 0 2720

Opinions in Dialogue: Should we worry about performative activism?

Peak Web July 23, 2024

By: Yasmin Hassan, Staff Writer, and Olivia Visser, Opinions Editor Content warning: brief mentions of death and police brutality. Performative activism refers to actions taken by someone to project a persona of allyship without true dedication to the cause in…

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A femme-presenting East Asian person lifting dumbbells among a group of people
4 min 0 2240

Fitness misinformation proliferates online

Peak Web June 12, 2024

By: Yasmin Hassan, Staff Writer Content warning: mentions of dieting and eating disorders. If you’ve been active on social media in recent years, you might remember seeing (or even doing) those at-home workouts that got so popular back in 2020.…

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A shelf with vegetables. In focus are green onions and bunches of carrots.
4 min 0 1573

Wellness influencers should prioritize fact over fad

Peak Web May 30, 2024

By: Olivia Visser, Opinions Editor Content warning: discussions of diets and eating disorders. In an effort to improve my health by reducing symptoms like fatigue and digestive discomfort, I recently began paying more attention to my diet. I know I…

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Illustration. Someone using their smartphone against a black background. The phone light illuminates their face, which displays an exhausted expression. Surrounding them are illustrative emojis and notifications.
6 min 0 3245

Opinions in Dialogue: Is social media helpful or harmful?

Peak Web May 25, 2024

By: Jin Song, Peak Associate and Michelle Young, Copy Editor Social media use has skyrocketed in recent years. What once felt like a novelty is now commonplace, as it’s become increasingly rare to meet someone who doesn’t use any form…

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A white ceramic mug holding a liquid inside. A book is besided the mug, all resting on textiles.
6 min 0 1922

Productivity is a trap

Peak Web September 18, 2023

By: Olivia Visser, Copy Editor Content warning: mentions of car accidents and brain injuries. The other day, I made a post on my Instagram story saying that your productivity isn’t defined by how many activities you do each summer. The…

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