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Journalists are no longer the gatekeepers. The reality is that many young people are now bypassing the websites and apps of traditional news outlets and seeking information on social media platforms, including TikTok. It’s the ‘fastest growing social network’, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, and new research has found that 20% of 18-24 year olds use the app solely to find their news. While a massive 44% of that age group use the short-form video hosting service for any and every other purpose. The younger generation have “little interest in many conventional news offers oriented towards older generations’ habits, interests, values, and instead embrace the more personality-based, participatory, and personalised options offered by social media”, said Reuters Institute director Rasmus Nielsen. Under 18s are big users too, so for parents whose teens get their news via TikTok, what do you need to understand about the social network and the evolution of digital media literacy? What is TikTok? Every so often a new app emerges and redefines the way we use social media. It’s what TikTok went and did in 2016. Starting as a small niche social media network – founded by Chinese tech giant Zhang Yiming – that attracted lip-synching teens as a short-form video hosting site, it almost knocked Facebook off its perch, and blew up during the coronavirus pandemic to a mega global platform. Do news organisations share news on it? Yes, they do. In many ways, traditional news organisations were forced to join TikTok to avoid being left behind, reach new and younger audiences and ensure they are continuing to find creative ways to pivot in a constantly evolving digital space. “Given the popularity and high engagement level, it’s not surprising that TikTok has become an important news platform for younger audiences, and it makes sense that news organisations are using it,” said Mark Brill, a senior lecturer in Future Media at Birmingham City University. “This, however, is a continuation of an existing trend. For well over a decade social media such as Facebook has been the primary news source for under 25s.” Anna Lee, founder at the Fr. App, added: “We can see that Gen Z individuals are turning to TikTok for any and all searches. While the funniest sound bites and newest dance trends will always have a home on TikTok, you can also equally expect to find videos explaining an arbitrary housing act.” How is it shared? There are various types of videos that can be shared on TikTok. Alongside the short bite-sized videos sharing the latest news, you can share trending sounds, things creators have posted, or videos with friends, family, and your larger community within TikTok or through other social media platforms. Videos can also be shared directly to other users, as long as the user has allowed for it. How do algorithms work? The TikTok algorithm is a recommendation system that determines which videos will appear on your (unique and highly personalised) For You page, which is also known as the homepage. Brill, who has 25 years of experience applying emerging technologies to engage audiences, said: “Much of the success of TikTok is the way that their algorithm decides which videos to show their users. TikTok’s system is based entirely on their interests and previous viewing. “This ‘more of what you like’ approach means that users spend more time each month in TikTok than any other platform. In the UK it adds up to over 27 hours per user per month and 23 hours globally. It shows how the platform’s algorithm can be highly addictive.” Is it OK that TikTok is how young people learn about what’s happening in the world? Some experts believe it is important for young people to be taught digital literacy at an increasingly earlier age – especially with the prevalence of fake news and artificial intelligence and its ability to forge fake articles and pictures. “Users of TikTok and all other social media apps must understand how to evaluate every piece of information they come across,” Lee said. “All parents worry about their child viewing harmful content on the internet. However, most leading internet providers provide extensive parental controls, including blocking and filtering unsuitable content.” Should they be encouraged to look elsewhere? For Brill, there are both benefits and challenges from using social media as a news source. He also cites the recent Reuters Institute report, which noted that TikTok users tend to look for good-news stories, avoiding the ‘doom scrolling’ found in web-based internet sites, which can have a negative impact on mental health. “The big question with social media sources, however, is that of veracity. A lack of fact checking and or acknowledgment of authoritative sources makes it difficult to identify fake stories and information. The short-form video format does not bring an in-depth analysis, where opinions are often presented as fact,” he said. “Perhaps the biggest challenge for TikTok users is with the algorithm itself. By giving more of what they like, it leads to confirmation bias that reinforces existing perceptions.” While child and behavioural expert Amanda Jenner, would encourage parents to tell their children to look elsewhere. “I am not a believer in directing children to learn through TikTok at all. Children can easily become addicted to social media and [it] can quickly escalate and [they could] be looking at other things they shouldn’t be watching. “I genuinely do feel parents need to be worried. I would encourage parents to set an age where it’s acceptable to have TikTok (over the age of 13 preferably) and have a parental control app so you can monitor and control what both they are seeing and the amount of time they spend on [it]. They need to be safeguarded.” Who knows what social network will be the next big thing but right now it’s difficult to get young people to migrate to another platform. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How to take care of pets in the heat Struggling with menopause symptoms in the heat? An expert shares tips Men and women with migraine both have increased risk of stroke – study

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Halloween is here, but many A-list celebrities kicked off the spooky celebrations early over the weekend. While this year’s Halloween falls on a Tuesday, several famous faces stepped out in some extravagant costumes all “Halloweekend” long. Some celebrities paid homage to fellow pop culture icons, while others tried their best to follow new costume guidelines issued by SAG-AFTRA. Last week, the guild prohibited members from dressing up as popular characters from major studio content. Instead, they were encouraged to wear costumes inspired by generalised characters, like ghosts, zombies, or witches. This meant that celebrities needed to put their creative costume skills to the test, and many succeeded - apart from Megan Fox, who defiantly hit out at SAG-AFTRA when she dressed up as Gogo Yubari from Kill Bill. From Paris Hilton to Kourtney Kardashian Barker, here are the best celebrity Halloween costumes of 2023. Adele The Grammy winner celebrated the spooky holiday with a performance at her Las Vegas residency, “Weekends with Adele”. She dressed up as Morticia Addams from The Addams Family for the occasion, complete with a long black wig, a floor-length black dress, and dramatic smokey eye makeup. Ariana Grande and Elizabeth Gillies Longtime friends Ariana Grande and Elizabeth Gillies continued their Halloween tradition of acting out scenes from their favourite movies. This year the pair dressed up as characters from the 1995 film, Showgirls. Grande played Elizabeth Berkley’s character, Nomi Malone/Polly Ann Costello, while Gillies was Gina Gershon’s Cristal Connors. Last year, the Victorious co-stars reenacted scenes from Christopher Guest’s 2000 mockumentary, Best in Show. Austin Butler and Kaia Gerber Elvis star Austin Butler and his girlfriend, Kaia Gerber, went all out as Andy Warhol and 1960’s model Edie Sedgwick for Halloween. The celebrity couple, who have been dating since late 2021, attended the 2023 Casamigos Halloween party hosted by Gerber’s parents, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber. Chloe Bailey Singer Chloe Bailey pulled out all the stops as Daenerys Targaryen, aka Mother of Dragons, from HBO’s Game of Thrones. The 25-year-old shared photos of her medieval costume to Instagram, where she posed in a gold-plated dress with Khlaeesi’s signature long blonde hair. Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch, and Lili Reinhart The Riverdale co-stars reunited this Halloween to become characters from the DC comic, Gotham City Sirens. Mendes appeared as Catwoman, Petsch was dressed as Poison Ivy, and Reinhart opted for Harley Quinn. Demi Lovato Camp Rock alum Demi Lovato went back to her Disney roots when she dressed up as Snow White for Halloween. The “Sorry Not Sorry” singer channelled the Disney princess with her signature blue, white, and yellow mini dress. Lovato made the look her own by adding a low-cut, leather corset top over the bodice. Ice Spice Ice Spice turned heads this Halloween when she shared photos of herself as the cartoon character, Betty Boop. The 23-year-old rapper posted photos to Instagram wearing Betty Boop’s signature black curled hair, along with a red strapless mini dress. Justin and Hailey Bieber Justin and Hailey Bieber took couples costumes to a whole new level when they coordinated in matching looks from The Flintstones. The singer and model attended Vas J Morgan and Michael Braun’s Halloween Party in Los Angeles dressed as the characters Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm from the cartoon series. The Rhode Beauty founder also shared photos of her separate Halloween costume: a white, lace underwear set inspired by Carmen Electra’s from the 2000 parody film, Scary Movie. Keke Palmer Halloween was a mother-son affair for Keke Palmer and her nine-month-old son, Leodis “Leo” Andrellton. The duo paid homage to Frankenstein, as the Nope star dressed up as the Bride of Frankenstein and her son as Dr Frankenstein. “He gave me LIFE,” she captioned her post on Instagram. For her second Halloween costume, Palmer dressed up as Tyra Banks’ character Eve in the 2000 movie Life-Size starring Lindsay Lohan, in which the doll Eve comes to life. Kendall Jenner Much like older sister Kim Kardashian did at the 2022 Met Gala, supermodel Kendall Jenner also channelled Marilyn Monroe with her Halloween costume this year. The 27-year-old wore a short, curled blonde wig and black turtleneck, as she dotted her left cheek with Monroe’s signature beauty mark. “Happy birthday mister president,” Jenner captioned her Instagram post. Kelsea Ballerini It was a Barbiecore Halloween this year, and country music singer Kelsea Ballerini went all out as Cowgirl Barbie from the Barbie movie. She shared photos to Instagram of her Halloween costume, which featured a hot pink vest and matching bell bottoms covered in stars. Ballerini completed the look with a pink paisley ascot around her neck and a white cowboy hat, straight from the summer blockbuster. Kim Kardashian and North West Famous mother-daughter duo Kim Kardashian and North West took a page out of the 1995 teen movie classic, Clueless, with their Halloween costumes. The Skims founder dressed up as Alicia Silverstone’s character of Cher Horowitz, complete with her iconic yellow plaid skirt and jacket, with a matching yellow vest and long blonde hair. Meanwhile, her 10-year-old daughter channelled Cher’s best friend, Dionne. Kourtney Kardashian For her Halloween costume this year, Kourtney Kardashian Barker took a page out of Kim Kardashian’s fashion archive. The Poosh founder recreated her sister’s floral-printed Givenchy gown she wore to the 2013 Met Gala when she was pregnant with her first child, North West. Now, Kardashian Barker is pregnant with her fourth child and first baby with husband Travis Barker. “Freaky Friday,” she wrote on Instagram. The soon-to-be mother of four also shared a photo of her couples costume with the Blink-182 drummer. Kardashian and Barker dressed up as actors Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder in the 1988 movie, Beetlejuice. Their elaborate outfits resembled the ones worn during the scene in which Beetlejuice (Keaton) convinces Lydia (Ryder) to marry him. “I’m the ghost with the most, babe,” Kardasian captioned her post, quoting a line straight from the horror film. Lizzo The “Truth Hurts” singer turned into fellow musician Tina Turner with her Halloween costume. In photos posted to Instagram, Lizzo wore a leather mini dress with sparkly fringe, along with a Turner-inspired blonde wig. “Honouring Tina Turner,” she captioned her post. The queen of rock ‘n’ roll died earlier this year at age 83. Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly The Jennifer’s Body star hit out at SAG-AFTRA guidelines when she and her fiancé, Machine Gun Kelly, dressed up as characters from the 2001 film, Kill Bill. Fox wore a costume inspired by the schoolgirl assassin, Gogo Yubari, while MGK wore the iconic yellow jumpsuit Uma Thurman’s character wore in the film. Taking to Instagram, Fox tagged the official account for SAG-AFTRA in her caption, simply writing: “@sagaftra” Paris Hilton and Jessica Alba In honour of Britney Spears’ newly released memoir, The Woman in Me, Paris Hilton paid tribute to her longtime friend when she wore a replica of the blue flight attendant dress Spears donned in the “Toxic” music video. “Icons support icons,” Hilton wrote on Instagram, alongside photos of the iconic costume. Meanwhile, Jessica Alba also honoured the legendary pop star with her Halloween costume. She attended the star-studded Casamigos party in Los Angeles donning a blonde wig and nude, sparkly bodysuit - resembling another notable look Spears wore in the 2004 music video for “Toxic”. As for Heidi Klum, the queen of crazy Halloween costumes, she teased her upcoming look for her annual Halloween party. Taking to Instagram, the supermodel posed nude on a fluffy pink couch as she wrote in her caption: “The calm before the storm. “Three days to #heidihalloween2023,” she added. “My motto this Halloween: GO BIG OR GO HOME”. Last year, Klum broke the internet when she dressed up in a head-to-toe worm costume. Speaking to People, she explained that when it comes to Halloween costumes, Klum tries to “find things that people naturally wouldn’t do.” “Most people do nurses or police officers, but I was always looking for something that I hadn’t seen,” she said. While Klum is keeping this year’s costume close to her chest, she did previously describe it as “epic”. Read More 11 best kids’ Halloween outfits that will scare and delight 9 best horror stories to read this Halloween and beyond Kourtney Kardashian’s skeletons and other celebrity inspiration for Halloween Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals trick for limiting children’s Halloween candy hauls Kim Kardashian criticised for ‘tone-deaf’ Halloween decorations Jessica Alba and Paris Hilton pay tribute to Britney Spears for Halloween

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