Lower-Income Teens Rely on Facebook More Than Wealthier Peers
*By Amanda Weston*
Teens whose families earn $30,000 or less a year are more likely to rely on Facebook than their wealthier peers. [A Pew Research Center survey](https://qz.com/1355827/do-teens-use-facebook-it-depends-on-their-familys-income/) reported 70 percent of teens in lower-income households still use the platform, compared with only 36 percent of teens in the $75,000 and up bracket.
"A lot of them have to do with resilience and how teens use Facebook to kind of get ahead," said Hanna Kozlowska, a reporter at Quartz. "So they use it for networking for example, because they might not have as much resources as wealthier teens."
About half of all teenagers use Facebook, but Kozlowska said that lower-income students who may not have as much access to resources turn to the social platform to get in touch with teachers, ask for homework help, and create a support network. Their older relatives are also more likely to be on the platform.
The teens who are still on Facebook may not want to spend as much time there as they do, said Kozlowska, and their numbers could dwindle if the adults they usually connect with age or abandon social media.
"Facebook isn't actively doing anything to kind of help them, to elevate them," Kozlowska said, and that the company didn't respond specifically to the Pew study. "They said, 'Oh, yeah, this is just an example of how an ad-based free network is good' right? They didn't particularly elaborate on that," she said.
Facebook had the biggest differences between three income brackets. Instagram and YouTube were the most consistent.
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjIxODQ=).
Jack Dorsey is stepping down as CEO of Twitter. In a statement, he says he is leaving because the company is ready to move on from its founders. Twitter's chief technology office Parag Agrawal will take over as CEO. Ian Sherr, editor at large at CNET, joins Cheddar News to talk about the announcement.
Visitors in Santa Monica are now getting a whole new look into the new metaverse world. Starting on December 1st, the Downtown Santa Monica District Is Getting Fully Immersed in AR and VR. It's All in Partnership with 'Flick Play' which is the first-ever 'Play to Earn' Metaverse App that Basically Takes the Gamification of 'Pokemon Go' and combines It with more social aspects of an App like Tiktok. Founder of the FlickPlay App Pierina Merino, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
On a platform as massive as TikTok, there are bound to be some negative implications. While we know that social media sites can have harmful health effects for teens and adolescents, the research on TikTok's health effects is slim to none. Skye Barbic, assistant professor at the University of British Columbia joins Cheddar News.
If your kid was on Santa's "nice list" this year, maybe you're willing to shell out $1,900 for Tesla's new Cyberquad. The automaker's all-electric ATV for children 8 years old and up is available to order now and is expected to begin shipping in two to four weeks.
Grab, a Southeast Asia-based ride sharing, e-wallet, and delivery service, made its public debut on the Nasdaq via SPAC merger. CFO Peter Oey joined Cheddar's Brad Smith to talk about the IPO and why it was an ideal time for the company to go public. Oey noted that while Grab operates in 465 cities in eight Southeast Asian countries, there is still more opportunity to grow and expand while balancing profitability and growth.
Voltus is going public by combining with a special purpose acquisition company, Broadscale Acquisition Corp., in a deal that values the electricity market technology startup at about $1.3 billion dollars. The company aims to deliver less expensive, more reliable, and more sustainable electricity to its more than 600 customers, including Home Depot, Coca-Cola, and Simon Property Group. Gregg Dixon, co-founder and CEO of Voltus and Andrew Shapiro, chairman and CEO of Broadscale Acquisition Corp., joined Cheddar News to discuss the deal.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Kemtai Co-Founder breaks down how computer vision and artificial intelligence can improve your workout form; Wove Co-Founder explains how it's creating a one-of-a-kind engagement ring design process; A look at Curiosity Stream's 'History By The Numbers.'
Mike Telem, Co-Founder at Kemtai, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how the platform is using computer vision and artificial intelligence as a virtual personal trainer through a laptop's camera, and how this technology can be adapted for physical therapy.
Fintech company Square, led by the now-former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, will undergo a name change to Block as it expands its product offerings and goes beyond just a payment processing platform into blockchain and crypto spaces.
