Young people are not just experimenting with the app – they are spending a significant amount of time on it, gorging on TikTok videos. The average UK smartphone user spent 36 hours and 3 minutes per month scrolling TikTok in 2023, according to Data.AI’s estimates. That number rose to 46 hours and 12 minutes for 18 to 24-year-olds. (Field, The Telegraph)
Read MoreRetail experts say these young shoppers have helped malls bounce back after the downturn brought on by the pandemic, in part because the digital space has turned Gen Z into a generation that expects instant gratification. The immediacy of touching, trying out and buying products may be the thing driving them to physical stores. (Ahn, Los Angeles Times)
Read MoreTen percent of all reported hate crimes that occurred in 2022 happened at a school or on a college campus, according to a newly released report by the FBI, making centers of learning the third most common location where hate-motivated acts took place. (Legare, CBS News)
Read MoreAmericans’ ratings of nearly all 23 professions measured in Gallup’s 2023 Honesty and Ethics poll are lower than they have been in recent years. Only one profession -- labor union leaders -- has not declined since 2019, yet a relatively low 25% rate their honesty and ethics as “very high” or “high.” (Brennan & Jones, Gallup)
Read MoreHolocaust remembrances ring differently for many this year, in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attack. "It is not the Holocaust," says Richard Hirschhaut of the American Jewish Committee, "but there are very clear connective threads that remind us of the Holocaust because of the experience of October 7th – a pogrom really." (DeRose, NPR)
Read MoreFive years after allowing churches to leave with their properties if they disagreed with the direction the denomination was heading on human sexuality, the results of the split are in, and they reflect larger political patterns to a substantial degree. (Shimron, Religion News Service)
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