If you’re not familiar with the concept of BookTok, it’s a communal space for the readers of TikTok where books are recommended and discussed between users. It has benefited people all over the world. I’m not ashamed to admit that when looking for a book recommendation, BookTok is the first place I check, and it’s…
Features
Social Media: most of us use it, but at what cost?
The most successful people in life always turn their phone on silent. And I say this without a grain of evidence. Think of it as more of a belief, than a proven fact. It makes sense though, right? After all, phone calls from your parents in the middle of that interview for that dream job,…
Arts
The art of observation for a hyper-digital generation
Attention is a commodity for all providers of service. Where restaurants rely on customers buying their food, and where musicians rely on listeners buying albums, tickets to gigs, and subscriptions to music streaming sites, social media providers rely on consumers giving their attention to their platforms to generate custom. Unlike other services, immediate attention is…
Arts
Interview with Youtube’s u m a m i
Justin Tomchuk, AKA u m a m i, is one of YouTube’s rising stars. At 252K subscribers and counting, he makes moody, surreal animations that draw on everything from classic advertisements, fine art and sci-fi to Thomas the Tank Engine and Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup. He does the bulk of the art and animation…
Sport
Anti-Social Media: Will a Boycott Help?
The players and staff of Championship side Swansea City are set to boycott social media for one week. This decision was taken following a number of footballers, including several of the club’s players, being racially abused via the platforms in recent weeks. The Welsh club, in announcing their collective social media blackout, released the following…
Sex Survey
Sexual assault is never a joke, even in your group chats
Whilst this issue of Concrete is certainly a fun one to create, write and read it is equally important we discuss the negatives around the “sex” and, importantly, our vocal relationship with “sex” or how “sex” is discussed in our society, and particularly in the University Society. Warwick, Derby, Durham, Coventry and Sheffield universities have…
Music, Venue
Wellerman singer Nathan Evans talks going viral on TikTok and reaching number one over hero Ed Sheeran
If you’ve used TikTok at all during the past two or three weeks, you would have seen the sea shanty craze currently sweeping the platform. Creators on TikTok are currently videoing themselves singing the likes of ‘Leave Her Johnny,’ ‘The Scotsman,’ and ‘The Drunken Sailor,’ with videos reaching hundreds of thousands of views with ease….
Fashion
Performative authenticity: Influencer sponsorships and consumerist culture
Once celebrated for being authentic reviewers of products, influencers have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years with regard to their reliance on paid promotions. More often than not it seems that influencers are promoting items they have little interest in, and it’s easy to understand why when the influencer marketing industry is set to…
Fashion
Instagram’s commercial priorities: what has the app become?
Picture this: it’s 2011. You’ve just downloaded a new app called Instagram. You post a vignette-filtered picture of a sunset and get 7 likes: you are happy. Instagram still is, by and large, a photo and video sharing social network, but a recent update has shown users what Instagram has been slowly integrating for the…
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