7 BEST MESSAGING APPS PERFECT FOR YOU!

By Vivien Yuan

With the internet, it is easier to keep in contact with friends and acquaintances with a tap of a button. Our message can be sent virtually to people close to us by feeling or proximity, yet the opposite is applicable! The conversations can now be decorated with stickers or emoticons that can make one’s chats more colorful and interesting! Different applications can offer different features, but why one gives the best offers? Here, in this article, you will find out one of the best messaging apps that might be the one for you and me!

 

 

• WhatsApp

 

 

As one of the most used messaging apps among the list, it offers great features such as it is user friendly and free to set up. Also, many of your information are safely secured thanks to the end to end encryption. However, to send a message it requires wifi or data, but that’s the case for most other messaging apps. Don’t worry, you can also share your daily dose of memes and GIFs to your friends on this app.

 

 

• Discord

 

Despite being advertised as a chat for gamers, anyone can use because of its various neat features. It already includes the basic features that makes one messaging app such as video calls, GIFs, etc. But, the add of channels, bots and the fact you can have your messages permanently deleted makes things so much better, but it is the fact you can makes your own emojis that takes the cake! Miam! Be careful, try not to get overwhelmed by all the functions they offer you on the app, it might confuse you!

 

 

• Messenger

 

Messenger is considered as one of the leading and popular messaging apps worldwide, so there’s a higher chance you find your friend on it. It lets you use a lot of various cute and hilarious stickers that are free! (unlike some messenger app…) Easy to use and accessible both in the computer and phone, there’s almost nothing wrong about this app that many people like using, but you can never take back your words.

 

 

• Line

 

If you want a app that allows your to send cute filtered pictures of yourself, this is the perfect place to get on with your friends: Line! They also have cute stickers, but unfortunately you have to pay for it… (But it’s worth it.) Back to advantages, you have free calls between the users of Line, and the number of users go over 170 million, and you can trust the safety of the end to end encryption in Line like in WhatsApp. It also act like a social media like Instagram as you can post on your wall to share your activities to friends and acquaintances. If you have a huge social life, you can invite up to 200 friends in one conversation.

 

• Skype

 

This apps existed for a quite a while, and probably the oldest to date in this list, but it doesn’t lessen its quality. It was one of those popular apps back then for being free and easy to use, and the messages were sent and received instantly. We can all enjoy a good old classic.

 

 

• Instagram

 

It is more of social media app than a messaging app, but it still serves the function with additional stuff like moments, since you can send time limited messages to either only once, twice or forever. What makes it better, it is that you can permanently delete your messages you regret like those cringey memes or nudes you send to your ex by accident. The huge downside is that you can only use the messaging function on the phone.

 

 

• WeChat

 

 

Across the other side of the globe where there is no such thing of Messenger, but we find WeChat. Most of the users are Asian, and it can put to an advantage for asian-focused commerce. Depends on where you live, it might be the hottest messaging app or decently popular, but it gives to the users neat features other than the usual (like messages, pictures, videos) like deciding who can view your posts and comments.

 

I’m probably not the only one that wonders this about their foreign side of their family. I’ve heard my friends talk about the members of their family also using this method to communicate with each other no matter where in the world they are.

If you come from a migrant background, your mom probably added you to the family’s group chat of one side of the familiy, also to another group consisting of the same members but without your drunk aunt, and to another one with the other side of the family, but just the cousins. Plus, either you’re constantly checking the multiple pictures they send of their gatherings, trips, and food, as well as keeping up with their political disputes or, like me, you mute them for a year and use it just when your mom reminds you that it’s someone’s birthday.

WhatsApp is without a doubt, the best way to connect immigrants with their fellows back home. Whether it’s Syrian refugees flooding into Europe, Mexicans who have crossed the border to the US or the wave of Venezuelans landing in Miami, they all share the same language: WhatsApp.Even people who leave their countries voluntarily in search for jobs have shared how WhatsApp has eased the feeling of isolation that has become a must in the life of immigrants. 

 

The app has thankfully remained simple all along, skipping the #like4like and, the cringe-worthy; #follow4follow. After being bought for $19 by Facebook in 2014, the app hasn’t been exposed to many changes, giving it a sense of familiarity and simplicity that won’t overcrowd the often-instable connections between countries.

Families are usually made up of children, grandparents, adults, teenagers, etc., so the best way to link them all together is through an app that they can all use effortlessly no matter if they have iPhones, Samsungs or LGs, as long as there’s wifi, they’re connected. Apps, such as Instagram and Snapchat, have shown to cause bugs and glitches thanks to their complex network of users and passwords, which often make them too complicated for people of all ages to use as they’re mainly marketed for teenagers and young adults. They also take over a large amount of memory and are used mainly for publicity, reputation and putting one’s self out there. WhatsApp, instead, keeps it straightforward with a phone number, making it much more private and secure when it comes to having conversations, as well as making it easy to call one another for free without the need of prepaid plans, cards, etc. Another important aspect of WhatsApp that differs it from other social networks is the fact that ads aren’t constantly popping up and interrupting your activities. You see, the app doesn’t make money from advertising, on the contrary, Facebook uses it as a source of data to improve its social network, for which ad revenue is the core business (not shocking).

 

WhatsApp is capable of handling over 200 members interacting at the same time without crashing the system, something that comes particularly handy when large families are torn apart because of a crisis back home. The situation of a country can lead many of its citizens to escape in search of a better lifestyle. Sadly, not all of them gather in the same places, so they are scattered everywhere in the world instead.

This is not an easy process as starting a new life all by themselves has never crossed their minds before. Sacrificing what they already had for the unknown future in an unknown land is scary; therefore, keeping touch with each other through a reliable and easy media is the best support and help one can often receive in these circumstances.

 

Sources:

https://www.google.ca/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2017/07/28/whatsapp-one-billion-daily-users

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/technology/for-millions-of-immigrants-a-common-language-whatsapp.amp.html

          The dark web is so funny, scary, disturbing, and strange, all at once. It’s like a place for our hidden desires that you don’t even want to know you have. You can honestly be laughing at the strangeness of some sites and cry at others, like child pornography or something #iamchildpornvictim. Honestly, it’s just so cool to go on the web and see all you can find. Still, there are many things that you NEED to know before you go on the deep web for the first time. There are lots weird things you can find, like so dark or really weird. Here are the most important ones and the ones you should be wary of. 

What is the Deep Web and why should I care?

By definition, the dark web is anything that cannot be accessed by normal search engines like Google or Bing. It’s really weird because it seems you can find everything on Google like YouTube and Facebook. Well, actually, 96% of sites are not indexed by normal search engines. So, the average internet user only uses a fraction of what the Internet has to offer, and completely overlooks the invisible net as we call it. There are actually some differences between the dark and the deep web; the dark web is much darker and edgier, and it uses a different Domain Name System (like .com). 

Use Protection!!!

Yeah, it’s not “.com’’ anymore, the rules have changed. If you want to go on the deep web, you have to find active “.onion’’ sites. But be wary, you should use protection! These sites can be hard to find because the dark web is not politically-correct at all!  Because of that, “.onion’’ sites are hidden by TOR (The Onion Router), a center for anonymous traffic and communication. You basically just want to get on TOR to go on the deep web. If you do that right, your identity will be protected. But just to make sure, get a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to hide your dark internet activities. It’s not the best idea to have a webcam looking at you if you go on the deep web or someone could be looking at you (like, actually).

WEAPONS? CHILDREN? OH YEAH!

It’s completely fucking crazy what you can find on here; weapons, porn accounts, child pornstars (#likeseriouslystopchildporn), or children. This can be so interesting and disturbing. You can buy anything, it’s crazy. There are two markets that are the most popular: Valhalla Market and Dream Market. Most people often buy illegal drugs and weapons like snipers or something (sorry I don’t know a lot about guns LOL). Actually, illegal markets are the most frequent way people use the deep web.

The relationship between Bitcoin & the Dark Web :0!

Since it became the big thing, Bitcoin has been helping the Dark Web a lot. It became the eBay of drugs and weapons or children. It literally became a virtual online market with bitcoin being its currency. If you’re up for that, go on Silk Road, a site where you can buy all of that anonymously. As said above, you can also use bitcoin for weapons as there are a lot of sites dedicated to that. Bitcoin makes that possible. And our Lord knows we need that in America to protect ourselves so this is pretty helpful sometimes.

WARNING!!!

I know it sounds fun and all, but like when I say dark, it’s really dark. There are some sites that are here just to fuck up your mind. Like puzzle websites with some strange things happening. If you haven’t exposed yourself to the Dark Web, don’t but if you really want to, I am telling you: Just like Alice – the deeper you go, the more trouble you could find yourself in.

Sources:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/06/beyond-the-valley-understanding-the-mysteries-of-the-dark-web.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Deep-Web-The-Internets-Dark-Side-The-2010684

-Nicolas Poblete

Continue reading “THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE ENTERING THE DARK WEB!!!!!!” →

Since 2010, Instagram has been used in many different ways. Some use it for #OOTD ’s, others for #foodporn.

Here are 5 different ways people have been using Instagram 

by Rachel Zhang

1. The Health Fanatic

Are you busy, a little fat and bored? Joe Wicks aka The Body Coach has an Instagram feed just for you. Wicks presents workout posts and how-to videos of his food which makes you hungry, and excited to start eating healthier. Through his quirky and witty post, he encourages a way to achieve a “better you” (although we know you can’t give up on those nice and salty hot Cheetos).

2. The Know-it-all

Ever wondered how to do an Acid Reflux Surgery? @insiderscience is going to be right-up your alley. It shows all type of content ranging from how-to videos of surgeries to new technologies. Now you will know how to perform all kind of surgeries on your friends when they are asleep. 

3. The Photographer

Want to know how the other side of the world looks like, instead of all those #selfies? @Chrisburkard will change the way you see the world as he invites you to enjoy the scenery in Earth’s most breathtaking locales. Since you probably don’t have his skills and possibilities to travel around the world, you can live his journeys through his pictures…FUN!

4. The Show-Off

You know those kind of people who just have THE PERFECT LIFE? Well @Danbilzerian is absolutely that person who just have everything. Bilzerian is a millionaire poker player whose ultimate playboy life in half naked women, yachts, private planes is a social media dream. Again… live the perfect life through other’s pictures!

5. The Human-Ad

ads ADS AAADDSSSSS…@kyliejenner, the 20-year-old self-made billionaire, is THE human-ad. She does not only promote sponsored products on her social media, but she also continuously ATTACKS us with her #omg #New makeup line. If you are not tired already of all those ads on the streets, you need to follow her #ASAP.

sources:

1. 1. https://www.esquire.com/uk/style/news/g6291/richest-men-instagram/
   2. http://mediakix.com/2017/05/famous-photographers-on-instagram-millions-followers/#gs.1vYRmD4
   3. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-50-best-fitness-instagram-accounts-to-follow-in-2018-2017-12

 

Thanks to Instagram, a social networking service, celebrities not only share pictures of their daily lives with fans, but also give them hilarious captions. Here are the five captions that will make you go LOL. You might even laugh till you cry!

5. Jade Thirlwall, a member of Little Mix, and her food                                                                                            Sober me left drunk me a snack in my clutch bag for when I got hungry on my night out and I couldn’t be prouder of sober me #thank me #whatwouldIdowhitoutme

Even though Jade’s schedule is hectic, she makes sure to plan ahead since she never knows when crisis will strike. In the caption, Jade takes the time to thank herself. It is funny since she is overly proud of her accomplishment. The hashtags used demonstrate the feeling of pride quite well.

4. Blake lively and her look                                                                                                                                                                                                              Eternally trying to nail JLo red carpet eyes. This is more like deer who’s a big fan of JLo, but currently is caught in headlights, while still trying to stay dedicated to giving those damn eyes. That’s what I was going for…

We all know that Jennifer Lopez is in a league of her own, but that does not stop people from trying their best to be like her. For Blake Lively, emulating the Latina artist did not give the desired result. We expect Blake to end her Instagram caption with eyes, but she does not. She decides to elaborate further on her look. Indeed, she compares it to a deer. What makes it even funnier is the fact that she sees herself as a deer in headlights. Are you able to see the resemblance?

Since this is a ranking of the funniest Instagram captions, I have to include Chrissy Teigen, aka the queen of captions.

3. John Legend and his fashion                                                                                                                  Simultaneously unpacking and filing for divorce

Chrissy has a great amount of love and respect for John Legend. However, that does not stop her from poking fun at the love of her life in her Instagram captions, especially when it comes to fashion. The caption above is funny because Chrissy over exaggerates the degree of John’s poor fashion sense in the past. It is so bad that she wants to have a divorce.

2. Halloween is exciting for a new parent since he/she chooses the costume of the baby. In 2016, Chrissy did not miss her chance. She dressed Luna, her daughter, as a hot dog.                                                                                             Have you ever seen a more “why me” face?

First of all, isn’t Luna Legend freakin adorable? Secondly, the caption chosen is hilarious because it perfectly describes what Luna is feeling. Chrissy’s baby is not thrilled to be wearing a hot dog costume. She has a dejected look on her face. Obviously, she just wants to take it off as soon as possible. The use of the words “why me” perfectly captures the lack of excitement.

Drumroll please! The number one spot belongs to none other than the husband of Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds aka the king of captions.

I may have three older brothers, but only one Jeff. You were the first friend I ever had. If there was ever a fire and I had to choose a family member to save, obviously it’d be me. But if I had time to save one more… and I knew it was safe to re-enter the burning building, you can be damn sure I’d call the fire department. They’re experts in the field and have top quality safety gear. Not to mention experience in these matters. I love you. Happy birthday.

The caption chosen is really funny since it runs counter to our expectations. We assume that Ryan will eventually say that he will save his brother Jeff from the fire since he starts off with kind words. Instead of doing that, he puts importance on himself ,and then elaborates on the fact that the members of the fire department are better equipped for this kind of task. The fact that his birthday post goes against the conventions makes it hilarious.

Hopefully, the captions above made you go 

By Rania Nejat

https://www.buzzfeed.com/elliewoodward/times-celebrities-were-actually-really-damn-funny-in

https://www.buzzfeed.com/elliewoodward/shes-not-even-his-anyway

“We all die!  You either kill yourself or get killed, *dope beat* what u gonna do *dope beat* what you gonna do?” 

As referenced by this great Vine, all of our lives will end sooner or later, and for some of us, the end came sooner than expected.  We can all remember Vine, the glorious six-second app that helped us all procrastinate our way through the hard grind that are midterms.  As of 2018, it is public knowledge that the app got shot down after a lack of  revenue and because of Twitter’s indifference towards the application.

After Vine’s tragic end, we were all at great loss, mourning the disappearance of the faithful app that kept us company during those lonely winter nights.  Many people went to seek refuge on Twitter, demanding the resurrection of the app.  After quite some months of hearing the people’s plea, Dom Hoffman, creator of the platform, released a statement regarding Vine.

The breaking news brought joy to the entire community.  Vine was to be reborn as Vine2.

Although many were happy about this declaration, others were doubtful of the app’s relevancy anymore.  In fact, the majority of the most famous Viners decided to enter the world of YouTube after the collapse of their initial platform.  From this sudden, although not so unexpected, migration, two main concerns arose.

The first concern was the controversy surrounding ex-Vine stars such as Logan and Jake Paul, Lele Pons, TheGabbieShow and so many others.  If Vine should be reborn and the drama of it all were to happen again, would we really want to be accountable for a second generation of problematic youth?  Probably not.

The second concern, the most important out of the two, is the quality of the Vines.  We can all agree that a dupe, a copy of a fantastic creation will never beat the original one.  Do we really want to put at risk the memory we have of Vine.  The real question being: Do we really want to ruin Vine’s legacy by creating a platform that will never be able to surpass, even equal, such an authentic and historic segment of modern-day pop culture.

No matter how hard Vine 2 will try, many are convinced that it will never top the gems our society has now acquired and which are archived on the internet forever.  It has recently been announced that the project has been put on hold and maybe it is for the best.

Let us rejoice in the loving memory of some of the greatest works of Art of our generation.

Singing Kermit

Truly an Icon, the voice of our generation.

Adam 

How could such a face of despair, of raw emotion be ever topped.  The cinematographic technique is unbeatable, no doubt.

FR E SH  A VOCA DO

This is it, this is the pinnacle of comedy, step aside John Mulaney.

The opposite of gaydar 

Fellas, is it gay to be chilling five feet apart in the same hot tub.

This bitch empty, YEET!!!

There are no words to express how this Vine changed language as we know it.

 

Thus,

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

Sources:

https://makeagif.com/gif/kermit-sings-usher-full-original-video-goodbye-vine-ohS7r2

https://gfycat.com/fr/gifs/search/adam+smoke+fail

https://gfycat.com/fr/gifs/search/fresh+avocado

https://makeagif.com/gif/this-bitch-empty-yeet-lv1ZKm

https://tenor.com/view/vine-hot-tub-two-bros-gif-10355782

https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/28/13456208/why-vine-died-twitter-shutdown

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5157105/Is-Vine-set-make-comeback-Founder-tweets-logo-V2.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Alexia Perillo

Did you know snapchat has awesome features? Did you know that you could take a picture and draw on it? Or that you could have a one-on-one conversation with your friend and it won’t save? 

Here are 5 reasons why snapchat is the best app you could use

1. Filters: Everyone these days LOVES using different types of filters for a certain picture. On snapchat, there are tons of filters you could choose from. Funny ones too. This includes seasonal filters, colourful filters etc. If you’re having a bad hair day and pictures are not for you during that day, you’ll think filters for a picture will be acceptable for another human to see. Mostly every social media has different types of filters, but they don’t beat snapchats.

2. One-on-one: Snapchat gives you the option to send a picture or have a conversation with someone but to only that one person. Which is cool. If you don’t want your whole snapchat list to see what you’re doing, you’re able to send a video to just your friend of you being silly, for example. If gives us the opportunity to send directly to a specific person. Or if you’re super drunk at a club, you could totally send that to your bestie without your snapchat list knowing what you’re doing.

3. Capture pictures quickly: Using the snapchat app, you could always take pictures and capture them quickly if you’re on the app, by pressing the middle button. For example, you’re on snapchat checking out what your friends are doing and you see a fight lash out, you could totally video tape that super fast. Instead of going to your camera on your phone, you could videotape it from snapchat and it gives you the ability to save it. The snapchat app also doesn’t flip your face. You know how taking pictures through your phone’s camera flips the image completely, snapchat doesn’t do that, and therefore you’re able to take a picture through snapchat and save it into your picture gallery.

4. Snapchat “Stories”: You could post videos or pictures for your whole snapchat list to see on something called a “Story”. This story only lasts 24 hours. It’s pretty cool because, if the night before you were too drunk and posted something for everyone to see then that story disappears after 24 hours and nobody will be able to show their friends what you were doing that night, dancing and drinking with all your friends and laugh about it.

5. Being artsy: Everyone loves to be artsy and draw funny things on an embarrassing picture. The snapchat app gives you the option to draw funny things or write certain captions on the picture you took. On the top right corner of the app, they give you options of choosing a light crayon or a dark crayon to draw on the picture, as well as caption boxes to write something on the picture. It’s pretty fun because you could show your friends your artistic abilities. Sketching something funny, or being bored so you draw on the snapchat app. It’s super fun.

And that is all folks! 5 reasons to have fun on the snapchat app.

Sources:

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/6-reasons-snapchat-best-form-social-media

https://www.thetoptens.com/reasons-snapchat-is-better-than-other-social-media-apps/

https://www.missmalini.com/2014/05/12/10-reasons-snapchat-awesome/

You know that everywhere, everyone watch Youtube now a day. Even Asia they watch Youtube and they have a lot of Youtubers. I’ll let you guys know some youtubers that you guys should know about them.

 

1. The World of Dave (1.68 million)

He is American who live in South Korea. He touches all areas comedy and satire to cultural videos. His most famous video is compare the pronunciation of each country. For example Korea, U.S, Japan, and China or Spain. He introduce Korean cultural. You can get more close about Korea.

https://www.youtube.com/user/davetehdave

2. Banzz (2.2 million)

 He is the one of the most popular mukbang youtuber in Korea which is eating show youtuber. He eats so much food at the same time and because he eat a lot, he do the workout 12hrs everyday.

https://www.youtube.com/user/eodyd188

3. Ssinnim (159 million)

Ssinnim is the one of the popular korean beauty youtuber. She can change her face with her makeup skill. She is really well on cover makeup. She often pulls and curses ugly faces, to make her videos comedic as well as informative.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Hines382

4. Korean Englishman (28.6 million)

Korean englishman is from U.K, he is typical British young man. The videos of Josh and his friend Ollie which is Korean englishman, bring their friends or sometimes they have a nice time with Hollywood actors and actress. Also, they bring Korean cultural to British and educated Korean viewers on British culture. Their videos show the difference between British and Korean culture.

https://www.youtube.com/user/koreanenglishman

5. Great Library (189 million)

He is the most popular game youtuber in Korea. He is consistency, entertaining game character voices and game tips. He changes his voice whatever the character it is and he also has a good reactions.

https://www.youtube.com/user/BuzzBean11

 

Five reasons why you could benefit from deleting social media accounts

By Katya Kredl

Social media has become a huge part of our society, and it’s easy to get caught up scrolling mindlessly through pictures, tweets, videos, etc. There’s something addictive about social media accounts, and this can eventually lead to social media anxiety disorder. This means that people who spend too much time on their phones become dependent and have a tough time doing daily tasks without checking their notifications.

Taking a break from our phones comes with many benefits, and here are five reasons why you should give it a try!

1. Deleting Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. allows you to get a sense of how much time you actually spend on your phone. You’ll be surprised how much time you suddenly have on your hands when you delete these accounts. It doesn’t have to be a permanent deletion, but even one week off of social media can help a person realize they have choices to make about how to spend their time. This frees up time for friends and family, hobbies, studies, and more! 
2. You can pay more attention to the people you are physically with! Sherry Turkle, who has written multiple books about the effects of technology on human interactions, says that we miss out on the full experience of conversation when we can’t engage with another person face-to-face, and with full attention. She says that the presence of a phone, even if it isn’t being used, is a distraction because there is always a possibility of receiving notifications. Simple solution? Delete those distracting apps!    
3. Face-to-face interactions become a lot more meaningful if you aren’t comparing a person to their tweets or Instagram pictures. Kate Feldman, a Liberal Arts student from Dawson College who deleted all of her social media accounts, says “When I meet someone for the first time in person, I can form my opinions of them based on how we interact instead of how I view their social media pages”. She also says that not having social media accounts pushes her to make plans with friends and listen attentively to their stories, since she isn’t keeping track of their daily Snapchat or Instagram stories.      
4. It eases off on the pressure to measure your life by the number of likes you get. This is especially beneficial for teens and young adults who are at a place in their lives when insecurities are at an all-time high and feeling good about yourself can be delicate. Studies have shown that receiving likes online activates the same responses as eating food or receiving a compliment, meaning that people see social media as a quick solution when they’re feeling down. In the big picture, this is a pretty superficial way to measure one’s own worth.             
5. You’re able to live in the moment and enjoy the beauty of your surroundings without feeling as though you need to take a picture. It’s very easy to get caught up taking that “perfect photo” for your Instagram feed, but this means you’ll barely remember seeing it in real life. It’s important to take a step back from the images on our phones and take a real look at the world around us.

Sources:

1. https://adaa.org/social-media-obsession 
2. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/oct/18/sherry-turkle-not-anti-technology-pro-conversation
3. https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/feeding-the-addiction.aspx