If you're an entrepreneur or freelancer, building a personal brand and credible reputation is no longer optional if you want to grow your business. A personal brand helps you stand out in a saturated market and establish yourself as a trusted authority, and in turn, helps to drive more revenue. Social media is a key way to build your personal brand and reputation.
Like a pub roast or a needless apology, a car boot sale is a quintessential British pastime; a staple weekend activity for those willing to venture into a field at 6am to flog old DVDs from the boot of their car at 50p a pop. But the Balham organisers, like others across the country, have rebranded the British car boot to represent something slightly more en vogue.
Social-media influencers push self-improvement trends year-round: The spring has " glow up" challenges, as does the summer. Soon after, the high-discipline " Great Lock-In Challenge" and " Winter Arc" videos begin, many of them urging people to get ahead of the "new year, new me" crowd. Or you can attempt a slew of other self-betterment regimens, whenever the spirit calls.
"If a new vaping product or soft drink hits the market and 1 in 20 consumers report suicidal thoughts, public outrage would be swift. Investigations would follow, regulations would tighten, and headlines would be flooded with concern for public health. But when political stress yields similar numbers, the reaction is far more muted; politics doesn't seem to register in the same way," says Smith.
When I was younger, I started an e-commerce grip socks brand called Alpha Grips. It failed, but that's what got me interested in business. I was 12. A lot of kids' first businesses is always something to do with e-commerce, like drop-shipping or clothing brands. Social media does saturate you with that "get rich quick" idea with drop-shipping or crypto. Although 90% of the time it's a scam, it still ignites an interest.
In 2025, the continent's top Facebook markets reveal where the largest user bases are and how gender shapes social media engagement. Despite increasing competition from short-form video platforms such as TikTok and X, Facebook's combination of low data consumption, wide smartphone compatibility, and deep integration with WhatsApp has preserved its dominance in Africa's digital ecosystem. Based on 2025 data from World Population Review, the African countries with the largest Facebook user bases are:
For years, the mostly closed-off lives of the nuns living in a retirement home in Raiano, a mountain village in Italy's Abruzzo region, followed much the same daily rhythm. They woke early, prayed, went to the chapel, had lunch, and perhaps whiled away the afternoon reading. But their routine switched pace when, under pressure from the eldest of the 22 women Sister Maria Chiara, 98 to liven things up, they broke out into social media.
"Sabre, who goes by Bottleneckloser on Instagram, recently posted side-by-side photos of herself on X depicting her pre- and post-transition. "God I love estrogen," she wrote. Almost three weeks later, Mace shared the post to her official X account and wrote, "Estrogen doesn't love you." She also shared the post on her personal X account and wrote, "Can we get @RobertKennedyJr on this? NO way is this healthy."
Social media lets us reach people more directly, through Twitter and Facebook and an ever-growing array of new platforms. It used to be B2B and B2C but now it's B2P, with P being people. Social media cuts across channels and is all about engaging with individuals, holding conversations not relying on press releases and launches. There are huge opportunities there, but the 24/7 scrutiny brings new threats, too.
On a Hard Forkin' Christmas, my true love gave to me 12 A.I. bubbles, 11 chimpanzinis, 10 Signal war chats, nine Meta reorgs, eight MechaHitlers, seven White House memecoins, six Roblox scandals, five Bum Bum creams, Bum, bum bum four Humane pins, three code reds, two robot pants, and a bot trained on all our I.P. That's intellectual property. Can Ezra Klein do that? I don't think so.
Non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) should be scrapped as they are no longer fit for purpose, police leaders will recommend to the home secretary. The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and College of Policing will publish a review into public order and hate crime laws next month, in which they will call for NCHIs to be replaced with a new common sense system, as reported by The Telegraph.
Our first-ever Social Media Dictionary offers a deep dive into the words that defined global conversations this year. And what was the word of the year? 'Aura' skyrocketed from relative obscurity to more than 31.9bn impressions, becoming a new cultural touchstone for millions. Boat dance 'Aura' originated in niche online communities, where it was used in early conversations about sports, fashion, and meme culture as a way to playfully talk about someone's vibe and presence.
The 38-year-old Denver resident gets makeup ideas from TikTok videos and other social media content, not salespeople at beauty counters. She uses an AI chatbot to get product recommendations that fit her budget and to see how a certain foundation or lipstick would look on her. When she buys, it's usually from Amazon. "I use Chat GPT as my personal beauty consultant," Kelsey said. "Department stores? I'll walk through one for the decor, but they've basically lost me unless I can get the same product-research experience there that I can get scrolling through my phone at home."
The 38-year-old Denver resident gets makeup ideas from TikTok videos and other social media content, not salespeople at beauty counters. She uses an AI chatbot to get product recommendations that fit her budget and to see how a certain foundation or lipstick would look on her. When she buys, it's usually from Amazon. I use Chat GPT as my personal beauty consultant, Kelsey said.
Threads already launched another podcast-oriented feature in recent months the ability to link to a show on a profile and have it open in Apple Podcasts, iHeart or Spotify and the company hopes that luring podcasters could foster community around their shows. If podcasters engage with the service, it could make Threads more compelling to listeners and viewers as a place to gather virtually to discuss episodes, said Connor Hayes, head of Threads.
These statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused,
It's Christmastime, which means peace on Earth and goodwill toward others. But do ALL others deserve such generosity? What if one of those other people is your adult daughter? And what if your daughter, the cruel wretch, decided not to invite you to her wedding? Well, if you're 59-year-old Laura Wellington, you do what any right-thinking American would: You create multiple social media accounts with the handle "Doormat Mom" that are dedicated to publicly dragging your child into the gutter with you:
Laura Wellington is estranged from one of her adult daughters. The Connecticut 59-year-old is somewhat famous for this, in fact, or anyway famous for her response to it. Across Tiktok and Instagram, under the name "Doormat Mom," Wellington's railing against the supposed injustice done to her by a daughter she calls an "ungrateful little bastard" has brought her some 140,000 total followers.
I love Mo Salah. In fact, shortly after he joined the club in the summer of 2017, my Liverpool fandom reached new heights. Where I'm from, college basketball is king. I'm a born Louisville Cardinals fan. I've lost sleep, broken smart phones, and cried tears of joy in response to Cards basketball. For 25 years, it was unfathomable that any other team could impact my life the same way.
It comes after sumo's elite professionals captured hearts in October when they visited from Japan for a grand tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They were pictured wholesomely visiting Horse Guards Parade, enjoying Platform 9 at King's Cross station and riding Lime bikes around London. Fans greet sumo star Takayasu Akira as he exits the Royal Albert Hall after the final day of Grand Sumo Tournament in October. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
