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COVID-19: Social media use goes up as country stays indoors

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For weeks health officials across the country have been urging Canadians to stay inside and practise social distancing to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Social inclusion plays a big factor on a person’s mental well-being, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. Research suggests that when people don’t feel they belong socially, their mental health is often affected, stated CMHA.

“Therefore, while we’re being advised to participate in ‘social distancing’, it’s important for our mental health to remain socially connected while maintaining a physical distance,” read a release from CMHA.

This is why Canadians are now relying on social media to stay connected more than ever before, sharing texts, memes and often arranging routine video chats with friends to stave off feelings of loneliness that come with long-term isolation.

According to Facebook’s analytics department, overall messaging is up more than 50 per cent over the last month in countries that have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. In those same locations, voice and video calls have more than doubled on Messenger and WhatsApp.

Across all social media platforms, WhatsApp is experiencing the greatest gains in usage as people look to stay connected. Overall, WhatsApp has seen a 40 per cent increase in usage, according to Kantar.com — a leading data, insights and consulting company.

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People are also turning to new platforms such as Zoom, a popular app among video chat users. The Zoom app is currently the top free app in the Apple App Store and new data indicates that daily usage was up more than 300 per cent compared to before the pandemic forced workers into their homes, according to MarketWatch.com.

READ MORE: Kelowna takes action to protect businesses from crime during COVID-19 pandemic

Edwin Hodge, an assistant sociology professor at the University of Victoria said he’s already seen the sociological implications that social distancing has had on B.C. as people begin to normalize these extraordinary circumstances.

Hodge said he’s seen a change in how people approach one another physically. He states that when social distancing recommendations were put into place, people would be awkward about it, often giggling over the obscurity of the physical distance during their interaction.

Now, when you watch people walking around, they keep the social distance without even thinking about it anymore, said Hodge — it’s become normal.

“We adapt to changing conditions quickly and develop new norms. We now see it as rude or even dangerous for people to step within that two-metre space.”

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Physical interactions are being warned against by both the provincial and federal governments, this has prompted a new emergence in the urgency to maintain social networks and connections through social media, according to Hodge.

“We know that we can’t go out and spend time with our friends and we know that people when we begin to isolate, issues with anxiety and depression begin to spike,” said Hodge.

“All you have to do is go on (social media) and you will see people dealing with issues (surrounding social isolation). These networks were designed for fun, but now we’re using them in a very earnest and serious way to maintain connections that we might otherwise be losing.”

While the theory is hypothetical in question, Hodge said that the world would be in a much different place without social media, stating that people living alone might be more vulnerable at this time.

“I think for a lot of people (living alone) they would shelter in place as they’ve been told before, but if something went wrong with them it would be less likely that they’d be discovered,” said Hodge.

READ MORE: Outbreak of COVID-19 at West Kelowna agricultural business; 14 cases confirmed

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Looking ahead, it appears as though Canadians will continue to live in social isolation for months to come. On Tuesday, March 31, the province’s top health officials said B.C. will likely remain under strict pandemic-related restrictions until at least the summer as a vaccine is still up to 18 months away.

Hodge believes that long-term social distancing may have negative repercussions.

“We can pretend that this is normal for only so long before people begin to grow anxious,” said Hodge.

“This is one of the tightropes that health authorities are aware that they’re walking.”

He states that while social distancing is having a positive effect on slowing the spread, the longer it goes on, the more frustrated and anxious people will get. He states that social science indicates when people get frustrated they start acting out in anti-social ways.

“We are intensely social beings. As a species, we need to be around each other and we need to associate with one another. These kinds of crises really test that.”

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Daniel Taylor

Reporter, Kelowna Capital News

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Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

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Facebook Problem Again

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

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During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.

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We asked ChatGPT what will be Google (GOOG) stock price for 2030

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We asked ChatGPT what will be Google (GOOG) stock price for 2030

Investors who have invested in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) stock have reaped significant benefits from the company’s robust financial performance over the last five years. Google’s dominance in the online advertising market has been a key driver of the company’s consistent revenue growth and impressive profit margins.

In addition, Google has expanded its operations into related fields such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence. These areas show great promise as future growth drivers, making them increasingly attractive to investors. Notably, Alphabet’s stock price has been rising due to investor interest in the company’s recent initiatives in the fast-developing field of artificial intelligence (AI), adding generative AI features to Gmail and Google Docs.

However, when it comes to predicting the future pricing of a corporation like Google, there are many factors to consider. With this in mind, Finbold turned to the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to suggest a likely pricing range for GOOG stock by 2030. Although the tool was unable to give a definitive price range, it did note the following:

“Over the long term, Google has a track record of strong financial performance and has shown an ability to adapt to changing market conditions. As such, it’s reasonable to expect that Google’s stock price may continue to appreciate over time.”

GOOG stock price prediction

While attempting to estimate the price range of future transactions, it is essential to consider a variety of measures in addition to the AI chat tool, which includes deep learning algorithms and stock market experts.

Finbold collected forecasts provided by CoinPriceForecast, a finance prediction tool that utilizes machine self-learning technology, to anticipate Google stock price by the end of 2030 to compare with ChatGPT’s projection.

According to the most recent long-term estimate, which Finbold obtained on March 20, the price of Google will rise beyond $200 in 2030 and touch $247 by the end of the year, which would indicate a 141% gain from today to the end of the year.

2030 GOOG price prediction: Source: CoinPriceForecast

Google has been assigned a recommendation of ‘strong buy’ by the majority of analysts working on Wall Street for a more near-term time frame. Significantly, 36 analysts of the 48 have recommended a “strong buy,” while seven people have advocated a “buy.” The remaining five analysts had given a ‘hold’ rating.

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1679313229 737 We asked ChatGPT what will be Google GOOG stock price
Wall Street GOOG 12-month price prediction: Source: TradingView

The average price projection for Alphabet stock over the last three months has been $125.32; this objective represents a 22.31% upside from its current price. It’s interesting to note that the maximum price forecast for the next year is $160, representing a gain of 56.16% from the stock’s current price of $102.46.

While the outlook for Google stock may be positive, it’s important to keep in mind that some potential challenges and risks could impact its performance, including competition from ChatGPT itself, which could affect Google’s price.


Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.

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This Apple Watch app brings ChatGPT to your wrist — here’s why you want it

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Apple Watch Series 8

ChatGPT feels like it is everywhere at the moment; the AI-powered tool is rapidly starting to feel like internet connected home devices where you are left wondering if your flower pot really needed Bluetooth. However, after hearing about a new Apple Watch app that brings ChatGPT to your favorite wrist computer, I’m actually convinced this one is worth checking out.

The new app is called watchGPT and as I tipped off already, it gives you access to ChatGPT from your Apple Watch. Now the $10,000 question (or more accurately the $3.99 question, as that is the one-time cost of the app) is why having ChatGPT on your wrist is remotely necessary, so let’s dive into what exactly the app can do.

What can watchGPT do?

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