social media

37 million Instagram posts: why '2026 is the new 2016' became the defining trend — and what the nostalgia says about a culture exhausted by AI content.

March 10, 2026 · 2 min read

A wannabe YouTuber who asked his girlfriend to shoot him through a book, and a newlywed couple killed taking a train selfie — when going viral turns deadly.

July 11, 2017 · 1 min read

Plastic surgeons say selfies drive business as millennials seek surgery over what they see in their photos — while psychologists warn the pressure warps values.

October 13, 2015 · 2 min read

In the 2015 Delhi elections, a ten-student IIT-Bombay team built a sentiment-analysis tool that helped AAP read voter mood on social media — and win 67 of

February 9, 2015 · 2 min read

A 2015 survey of UK divorce lawyers found Facebook cited in over a third of cases — as evidence of infidelity, hidden finances, and rekindled old flames.

January 20, 2015 · 1 min read

In 2014, Suchitra Sharma asked why parents perform their children's achievements on Facebook. The humblebrag is older now — and bigger. From the TI archives.

October 18, 2014 · 2 min read

In September 2014, Facebook tested scheduled post deletion on iOS — borrowing Snapchat's core idea. TI's 2014 take on ephemeral social media, from the archives.

September 13, 2014 · 1 min read

By 2014, some parents had learned to reach teenagers by meeting them on social media. Why it sometimes worked — and why the platform was never the point.

September 5, 2014 · 1 min read

Facebook made us put our 'game face' on all the time — and a 2013 University of Michigan study found the more we used it, the worse we felt.

September 8, 2013 · 2 min read

Employers screen candidates on social media before hiring. Here's what to never post — and what actually helps your personal brand.

June 28, 2013 · 1 min read

During the August 2012 panic exodus, India blocked 250+ web pages accused of spreading morphed images — and pointed a finger at Pakistan.

August 20, 2012 · 1 min read

The 2012 internet loved 'never post this on Facebook' lists. The unasked question was harder: what is social media actually for?

June 30, 2012 · 1 min read

Researchers began building riot-prediction models from social media and economic data in 2012 — and civil-liberties advocates immediately raised alarms.

April 22, 2012 · 2 min read

A 2011 analysis of online emotion reportedly found anger peaking on Thursdays. The likely culprit: the accumulated frustrations of the working week.

July 5, 2011 · 1 min read

By the end of 2010, Facebook had crossed 500 million users and left MySpace behind. The network effect made leaving a genuine social cost.

January 13, 2011 · 1 min read

Facebook Addiction Disorder was a 2009 media invention, not a real diagnosis. Compulsive social media use is studied - but FAD was never in any manual.

January 6, 2011 · 1 min read