Latest news with #Slop
Sydney Morning Herald
11-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Many in the sunburnt country still like the look from feeling the burn
A good tan was once the ultimate look, until research linked bronzed bodies with cancer and the beach look became uncool for generations. Now despite all the known risks, in a new era Australians are recklessly worshipping the sun. More than one in four young adults are getting sunburnt and rising numbers expose themselves to high levels of cancer-causing UV radiation with little protection. According to the Cancer Institute NSW's latest Sun Protection Behaviours Report, almost 26 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds reported being sunburnt in the previous four weeks, more than any older generation and significantly higher than the 14.8 per cent reporting sunburn overall. The survey of 11,297 adults in 2022 found that almost half of young adults reported frequent sun exposure (48.7 per cent versus 41.4 per cent in the overall population), and they were less likely to wear protective clothing, sun-safe hats and sunglasses. The Herald 's health editor Kate Aubusson reports social media has attracted new sunbathers, with influencers proudly displaying their tan lines and sunburnt skin. They also monitor UV ratings to time their sunbathing sessions for maximum UV exposure, and market apps that tailor tanning regimens powered by AI. The place of sunscreens once seemed obvious, but TikTok influencers somehow made SPF lose its shine. The finding last month by consumer advocacy group Choice that some of Australia's most popular sunscreens fell short of skin protection, with 16 of 20 products tested not meeting SPF claims on the packaging, has not helped either. Loading The 1981 Slip, Slop, Slap campaign was the start of many similar campaigns to combat skin cancer across the country. The initial campaign played a key role in the dramatic shift in sun protection attitudes and behaviour over several decades. Yet Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, with an estimated 169,000 cases diagnosed in 2024. More than 2000 Australians die of skin cancer every year. The stark statistic and the undeniable link to the sun and sunlamps seems to have evaded most young Australians. Nationally, Cancer Council research found nine in 10 Australians aged 18 to 30 intentionally or unintentionally sunbathe. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that 24 per cent of young women aged 15 to 24 were more likely to try to get a suntan than 15.3 per cent of young men from the same cohort.
Bloomberg
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Bloomberg
TikTok Isn't the Reason We Watch ‘Slop.' Burnout Is.
Social media is often the scapegoat for just about everything wrong in modern society. The latest thing it's getting blamed for is 'Slop.' Originally, the term refers to the pervasiveness of low-quality AI-generated content that is flooding social feeds, but it has turned into a catch-all for much of today's subpar products and content. Laying all of this at the feet of social platforms is a mistake, though. Slop is not a new phenomenon. Each generation can point to moments in which the old guard decried that the latest media or gadget was brain-rotting sludge. In my lifetime, it's been everything from Hip-Hop and Grunge music to the rise of reality television to violent video games, such as Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, to the Blackberry — which was so addictive it was nicknamed Crackberry.
