Latest news with #Influencers
GSM Arena
5 days ago
- GSM Arena
Realme P4 Series teased as 'the choice of the youth,' coming soon
Sagar, 08 August 2025 The last smartphone that Realme launched under the P Series was the P3 Ultra, which was unveiled in March. Now the Chinese brand is preparing to add a new smartphone to the P Series, and it has already kicked off the promo campaign for this upcoming device. Realme P3 Ultra 128GB 8GB RAM ₹ 23,887 ₹ 23,887 256GB 8GB RAM ₹ 25,479 Realme has posted a short video clip featuring Indian YouTubers and influencers on X, showcasing their impressions of the upcoming P Series phone's performance, including BGMI gameplay. HYPER-VISION: ACTIVATED. Know More: — realme (@realmeIndia) August 8, 2025 Whether or not the phone is as impressive as these folks say it is or if they are following the script provided by Realme as a part of paid collaboration is something we'll find out when we test the handset ourselves, but the X post has caption "HYPER-VISION: ACTIVATED," and while it doesn't mention the phone's name, the URL to the promo page set up by Realme on its Indian website reveals it's the P4 Series. There's no official confirmation on how many P4 Series smartphones Realme is planning to launch and what they will be called, but we know its target audience will be young users since the banner on the promo page says "The Choice Of The Youth." While we await more details from Realme about the P4 Series, a Realme device bearing model code RMX5116, expected to be one of the P4 Series smartphones, has appeared on Geekbench with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 SoC, 12GB RAM, and Android 15.
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Malay Mail
Obsessed with perfect sleep? Experts warn viral ‘sleepmaxxing' craze may worsen insomnia, anxiety
WASHINGTON, Aug 8 — From mouth taping to rope-assisted neck swinging, a viral social media trend is promoting extreme bedtime routines that claim to deliver perfect sleep — despite scant medical evidence and potential safety risks. Influencers on platforms including TikTok and X are fuelling a growing wellness obsession popularly known as 'sleepmaxxing,' a catch-all term for activities and products aimed at optimising sleep quality. The explosive rise of the trend — generating tens of millions of posts — underscores social media's power to legitimise unproven health practices, particularly as tech platforms scale back content moderation. One so-called insomnia cure involves people hanging by their necks with ropes or belts and swinging their bodies in the air. 'Those who try it claim their sleep problems have significantly improved,' said one clip on X that racked up more than 11 million views. Experts have raised alarm about the trick, following a Chinese state broadcaster's report that attributed at least one fatality in China last year to a similar 'neck hanging' routine. Such sleepmaxxing techniques are 'ridiculous, potentially harmful, and evidence-free,' Timothy Caulfield, a misinformation expert from the University of Alberta in Canada, told AFP. 'It is a good example of how social media can normalise the absurd.' Another popular practice is taping of the mouth for sleep, promoted as a way to encourage nasal breathing. Influencers claim it offers broad benefits, from better sleep and improved oral health to reduced snoring. But a report from George Washington University found that most of these claims were not supported by medical research. Experts have also warned the practice could be dangerous, particularly for those suffering from sleep apnea, a condition that disrupts breathing during sleep. Other unfounded tricks touted by sleepmaxxing influencers include wearing blue- or red-tinted glasses, using weighted blankets, and eating two kiwis just before bed. 'Damaging' 'My concern with the 'sleepmaxxing' trend — particularly as it's presented on platforms like TikTok — is that much of the advice being shared can be actively unhelpful, even damaging, for people struggling with real sleep issues,' Kathryn Pinkham, a Britain-based insomnia specialist, told AFP. 'While some of these tips might be harmless for people who generally sleep well, they can increase pressure and anxiety for those dealing with chronic insomnia or other persistent sleep problems.' While sound and sufficient sleep is considered a cornerstone of good health, experts warn that the trend may be contributing to orthosomnia, an obsessive preoccupation with achieving perfect sleep. 'The pressure to get perfect sleep is embedded in the sleepmaxxing culture,' said Eric Zhou of Harvard Medical School. 'While prioritising restful sleep is commendable, setting perfection as your goal is problematic. Even good sleepers vary from night to night.' Pinkham added that poor sleep was often fuelled by the 'anxiety to fix it,' a fact largely unacknowledged by sleepmaxxing influencers. 'The more we try to control sleep with hacks or rigid routines, the more vigilant and stressed we become — paradoxically making sleep harder,' Pinkham said. - Beauty over health - Many sleepmaxxing posts focus on enhancing physical appearance rather than improving health, reflecting an overlap with 'looksmaxxing' — another online trend that encourages unproven and sometimes dangerous techniques to boost sexual appeal. Some sleepmaxxing influencers have sought to profit from the trend's growing popularity, promoting products such as mouth tapes, sleep-enhancing drink powders, and 'sleepmax gummies' containing melatonin. That may be in violation of legal norms in some countries like Britain, where melatonin is available only as a prescription drug. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended against using melatonin to treat insomnia in adults, citing inconsistent medical evidence regarding its effectiveness. Some medical experts also caution about the impact of the placebo effect on insomnia patients using sleep medication — when people report real improvement after taking a fake or nonexistent treatment because of their beliefs. 'Many of these tips come from non-experts and aren't grounded in clinical evidence,' said Pinkham. 'For people with genuine sleep issues, this kind of advice often adds pressure rather than relief.' — AFP
The Sun
6 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Instagram reposting and new location-sharing map features explained
INSTAGRAM has officially launched its repost feature, allowing users to share public Reels and grid posts directly to their feeds, a similar function to retweet in X. The launch from the social giants went global on August 6, with the aim of boosting engagement for creators, businesses, and brands, Meta says. The reposts will appear on friends' and followers' feeds, as well as a separate reposting tab added to users' profiles to ensure the shared content can easily be tracked. The repost feature allows users to reshare public posts and Reels with added personal text, appearing in followers' feeds like regular posts. What does this mean for content creators? For influencers it broadens their audience and reach as it means celebrities or brands can repost their content. Though feeds could cluttered with second-hand content due to the overuse of this function which could lead to a loss of a audience. So it will be a balancing act on how often and for what this function should be used as if its over used it could feel like Twitter. 1 What does it mean for Brands? For brands it create a new area of lost-cost revenue. Any fan, partner or employee can repost branded content into their own network and it will no longer have a 24-hour expiry date with original links preserving. Reposted content is also eligible to be recommended to new audiences outside the brand's followers base. This function has a low plagiarism risk with logos and handles credited and visible. Though the platform has emphasised the importance's of respecting the original creators' rights to avoid copyright issues. What is the location and Instagram map function? In the US, Instagram users can share their location on the Instagram Map, which will allow users to share their last location with specific accounts they desire to share it with. Meta have said there is an option to turn it off at anytime. Another element of the shared location is user can explore location-based content which could be restaurant spots that are in friends Instagram reels.
Arab News
6 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
Dangerous dreams: Inside Internet's ‘sleepmaxxing' craze
WASHINGTON: From mouth taping to rope-assisted neck swinging, a viral social media trend is promoting extreme bedtime routines that claim to deliver perfect sleep — despite scant medical evidence and potential safety risks. Influencers on platforms including TikTok and X are fueling a growing wellness obsession popularly known as 'sleepmaxxing,' a catch-all term for activities and products aimed at optimizing sleep quality. The explosive rise of the trend — generating tens of millions of posts — underscores social media's power to legitimize unproven health practices, particularly as tech platforms scale back content moderation. One so-called insomnia cure involves people hanging by their necks with ropes or belts and swinging their bodies in the air. 'Those who try it claim their sleep problems have significantly improved,' said one clip on X that racked up more than 11 million views. Experts have raised alarm about the trick, following a Chinese state broadcaster's report that attributed at least one fatality in China last year to a similar 'neck hanging' routine. Such sleepmaxxing techniques are 'ridiculous, potentially harmful, and evidence-free,' Timothy Caulfield, a misinformation expert from the University of Alberta in Canada, told AFP. 'It is a good example of how social media can normalize the absurd.' Another popular practice is taping of the mouth for sleep, promoted as a way to encourage nasal breathing. Influencers claim it offers broad benefits, from better sleep and improved oral health to reduced snoring. But a report from George Washington University found that most of these claims were not supported by medical research. Experts have also warned the practice could be dangerous, particularly for those suffering from sleep apnea, a condition that disrupts breathing during sleep. Other unfounded tricks touted by sleepmaxxing influencers include wearing blue- or red-tinted glasses, using weighted blankets, and eating two kiwis just before bed. 'Actively unhelpful, even damaging' 'My concern with the 'sleepmaxxing' trend — particularly as it's presented on platforms like TikTok — is that much of the advice being shared can be actively unhelpful, even damaging, for people struggling with real sleep issues,' Kathryn Pinkham, a Britain-based insomnia specialist, told AFP. 'While some of these tips might be harmless for people who generally sleep well, they can increase pressure and anxiety for those dealing with chronic insomnia or other persistent sleep problems.' While sound and sufficient sleep is considered a cornerstone of good health, experts warn that the trend may be contributing to orthosomnia, an obsessive preoccupation with achieving perfect sleep. 'The pressure to get perfect sleep is embedded in the sleepmaxxing culture,' said Eric Zhou of Harvard Medical School. 'While prioritizing restful sleep is commendable, setting perfection as your goal is problematic. Even good sleepers vary from night to night.' Pinkham added that poor sleep was often fueled by the 'anxiety to fix it,' a fact largely unacknowledged by sleepmaxxing influencers. 'The more we try to control sleep with hacks or rigid routines, the more vigilant and stressed we become — paradoxically making sleep harder,' Pinkham said. Melatonin as insomnia treatment Many sleepmaxxing posts focus on enhancing physical appearance rather than improving health, reflecting an overlap with 'looksmaxxing' — another online trend that encourages unproven and sometimes dangerous techniques to boost sexual appeal. Some sleepmaxxing influencers have sought to profit from the trend's growing popularity, promoting products such as mouth tapes, sleep-enhancing drink powders, and 'sleepmax gummies' containing melatonin. That may be in violation of legal norms in some countries like Britain, where melatonin is available only as a prescription drug. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended against using melatonin to treat insomnia in adults, citing inconsistent medical evidence regarding its effectiveness. Some medical experts also caution about the impact of the placebo effect on insomnia patients using sleep medication — when people report real improvement after taking a fake or nonexistent treatment because of their beliefs. 'Many of these tips come from non-experts and aren't grounded in clinical evidence,' said Pinkham. 'For people with genuine sleep issues, this kind of advice often adds pressure rather than relief.'
Al Jazeera
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
Beat the press – Why Netanyahu sat down with the Nelk Boys
Tel Aviv nightlife and the Burger King order of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were among the talking points of a viral podcast interview with the Nelk Boys. Influencer-driven podcasts are seeing a broader trend of interest in friendly interviews from world leaders and politicians, from Donald Trump to Kamala Harris. What happens when the powerful speak to massive new audiences without journalism?
