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Rhona Tarrant

Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism presents its annual Marie Colvin Distinguished Lecture in the Wang Center Theater, 100 Nicolls Road Stony Brook on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. with a reception at 5:30 p.m.

Guest speaker Rhona Tarrant, Executive Editor of CBS News Confirmed, will present a lecture titled The New Battlefield: Open Source Investigations Into Conflict and Disinformation.

Social media has transformed conflict reporting, elevating open-source investigations to a core part of modern journalism. These techniques allow journalists to verify events in real time, supporting the indispensable work of on-the-ground reporting.

At the same time, state-backed disinformation campaigns have become increasingly sophisticated, blurring the lines of reality and driving greater demand for rigorous fact-checking and verification.

Tarrant will examine the rising prominence of open-source verification in conflict reporting and outline the critical tools required for the next generation of journalists.

The event is free and open to the public. All are welcome. No reservations necessary, but encouraged by clicking here. For more information, call 631-632-7403.

 

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Pixabay photo

On Jan. 19, the popular social media platform, TikTok, displayed an error screen, halting many of the app’s 150 million American users’ mid-scroll. “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now,” the screen read. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.” 

TikTok is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance and gained prominence on an international scale in 2017. Its Chinese ownership caused former President Joe Biden to sign a law dictating that if TIkTok weren’t sold to an American company, then it would be banned from American devices, leading to the error message. 

This isn’t the first time TikTok was under threat of a ban, but it is the first time it has gotten this far. TikTok users across the country closed their apps for what they thought was the last time, reflecting on how the app fits into their lives, and how it will change their future habits. 

TikTok was out of commission for 12 hours, giving many Americans a chance to contemplate its absence. Were we glad that the icon was no longer on our phone screens, tempting us to click on it? Or, did we regret that we didn’t have the breadth of advice, entertainment and information it avails? 

The app offers endless opportunities, giving platforms to anyone who creates an account. Many small-business owners, artists, song-writers, comedians, food-bloggers, musicians and book-reviewers gained a foothold in their industry by joining the expanding ranks of “Tiktok influencers.” Numerous current professionals, especially creatives, used the short-form videos to their advantage. Lil Nas X, the recipient of two Grammy Awards, is one of the most notable artists who gained popularity by advertising his song on the app. 

However, the very draw of the app–representation of a wide range of communities, allowing anyone to have a platform–can be contorted to manipulate the user’s perspective on reality. Besides the constant risk of spreading inaccurate information, the sheer amount of content can be anxiety-inducing. Literally swiping away anything distressing can condense a person’s world, the specialized “For You Page,” an echo-chamber. The casual, friendly videos can become a crutch, with scrolling from video to video becoming less of a conscious action and more of a comforting, self-soothing habit. 

During those hours without TikTok as an active factor shaping our view, we were given the distance needed to evaluate its place retrospectively in our lives. Did we use it when we were bored? Stressed? Angry? Why and when will we miss it? Taking healthy breaks provides the unaffected clarity to make these determinations. 

TikTok is back for now–President Trump issued a 90-day extension for ByteDance to sell–but let’s use the temporary ban as an opportunity to examine our social media usage.

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Social media applications. Pixabay photo

By Toni-Elena Gallo

According to News12 Long Island, thirteen Long Island school districts are suing social media companies Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook, citing increased mental health concerns among students.

South Huntington, Kings Park and Port Jefferson are just three of the school districts taking part in the class-action lawsuit.

South Huntington Union Free School District superintendent, Vito D’Elia, commented on his school district’s decision to join the lawsuit in a notice on the district’s website, saying, “We know the damage it’s doing to our students. We see it. We’re dealing with it. We see students that are more focused on their interactions on social media as opposed to their education. And, the ramifications are extremely dangerous.”

This stance was, recently, corroborated by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, when he said that “it is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms,” citing found evidence that more than three hours per day on social media can double the risk of poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Social media use is a major component of the vast majority of adolescents’ lives. According to data obtained by Pew Research Center in 2022, up to 95% of youth, ages 13 to 17, use at least one social media platform, and more than a third use social media “almost constantly.”

A prime motive for joining the lawsuit is hiked mental health service costs, as students have been showing symptoms of internet overexposure.

South Huntington school district is seeking increased funding to employ more mental health professionals, as well as implement “social emotional learning lessons more,” including assemblies and workshops, on safe digital use.

Social media harm to students’ psyches has forced the school district to revamp their curriculum in recent years, with teachers having to focus on things “other than their actual lesson plans,” explained South Huntington Board of Education president, Nicholas Ciappetta, who added that the board’s decision to join the lawsuit was unanimous.

“There are costs associated with [our plans],” he said.

The lawsuit is also asking for the social media companies to implement appropriate and stricter safeguards including improved age verification, parental notification upon sign-up, improved management of age appropriate content and the design of their algorithms.

Ciappetta did add that the purpose of social media is not completely negative, or in vain.

“We’re not trashing social media,” he said. “[The school district] certainly uses it as a way of getting our message out. But if you look at any of the platforms, there’s a lot of negativity on there. And I think the negative always gets amplified. So you need a little more positivity and you need a little more kindness. And that’s something that the social media companies can invest in too. They can partner with us to promote that message.”

Joining the lawsuit comes at no cost to the school districts. Lawyers taking on this case will get a percentage of a monetary recovery, if any, that comes out of this legal challenge.

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METRO photo

By Aidan Johnson

The world has drastically changed in the recent decades, with one of the leading transformations being the rapid evolution of technology. In a short span of time, smartphones and social media have become seemingly permanent fixtures in society. However, this new technology brings about new challenges, such as anxiety heightened by prolonged interactions on social media and cellphone use.

Theresa McKenna, clinical health psychologist and director of Psychology Services at St. Charles Hospital. Photo courtesy of St. Charles Hospital

Theresa McKenna, clinical health psychologist and director of Psychology Services at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, discussed how social media and the overuse of cellphones can lead to increased anxiety, especially in adolescents and teens — and how to combat these feelings, stressing that a more nuanced approach is often necessary.

Curing emotions brought about by use of technology is not as simple as painting social media as purely evil, as it can allow people to easily connect with others, and even build groups and communities around shared hobbies.

However, McKenna explained, there are still plenty of issues that social media can create.

“If you’re looking at what your friends are doing, especially with younger people … you might have gotten wind that [there was] a party,” she said, describing how if an adolescent didn’t previously know about that, seeing pictures of it online, along with being able to know who was there can create a feeling of being left out, which can increase the risk of depression, isolationism and anxiety.

This also contributes to a problem of a lack of boundary setting for oneself with the amount of social media usage, along with the amount of information shared.

“They know where their friends are, they could track them down easily. It’s like there’s no unspoken time,” McKenna said.

“You wouldn’t want all of your time taken up with one person in person either, because that wouldn’t be healthy. You don’t want that time taken up with social media so frequently,” she added.

However, screen time usage has also been made more complicated by the global pandemic. While a sense of normalcy has returned, with many COVID-19 era policies and mandates ending, there has still been a lingering shift to remote work. 

In a March 2023 Pew Research Center survey, around 35% of workers who had jobs that had the ability to be done remotely were done so full time, as opposed to just 7% before the pandemic.

“For younger people, especially people coming into working age, they’re losing some of that ability to have mentorship [or] even just to meet people different than themselves in a lot of ways, because they’re not in a work environment,” McKenna indicated.

She said that people struggling with overuse of cellphones try to engage in a “digital detox,” in which they start to use cellphones and other smart technology less. One of the biggest steps that she suggested was to keep smartphones away from the bedroom.

In talking to one patient, McKenna said it was admitted that even though the person goes to bed at 10 p.m., the phone is used for another two hours.

“The stimulation that comes from playing a video game before you go to bed causes an irritable type of sleep, so even if you fall asleep easily, it’s not a good type of sleep,” McKenna added.

Instead of being on a smart device before going to bed, she stated that reading or doing activities such as crossword puzzles would be a better alternative. In lieu of using a phone as an alarm clock, buying a cheap alarm clock would do the trick

Additionally, McKenna suggested downloading meditation apps on the smartphone such as Calm. There are also special wellness apps for those in specific communities, such as Chill Drills, a free mindfulness app released by the Department of Defense for the military community.

Smartphone overuse does not just affect adolescents and teens, which is why McKenna stressed the importance of parents and adults to model good phone usage.

While tech advances have certainly made some aspects of life easier, such as the abundance of information and the ability to connect with those far away, it is important to be mindful of how much a cellphone is being used on a daily basis. While it isn’t necessary to completely cut it out of everyday life, it is imperative to set boundaries and have a good balance between screen time and other activities.

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File photo.

By Aidan Johnson

The Democratic congressional candidates for District 1 — Nancy Goroff and John Avlon — attended a meet the candidates night at C.P. La Manno’s restaurant in Miller Place April 30. During the debate, Goroff and Avlon discussed issues such as foreign aid, social media, Social Security and more. The congressional seat is currently held by Nick LaLota (R-NY1).

Introductions

Avlon, who served as an anchor on CNN before deciding to run for Congress, said that he joined the race because he “didn’t feel like this was a time for talking, I think this is a time for doing.” He also described being frustrated that the district was being seen as a battleground swing district, and that it was important to win both Democrats and Independents “to build the broadest possible coalition to defend our democracy, defeat Donald Trump [R] and win back the House.”

Goroff, who has formerly served as chair of the Department of Chemistry at Stony Brook University and previously ran for the congressional seat in 2020 against former Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY1), described how she co-founded a nonprofit called the Long Island Strong Schools Alliance, along with a nonpartisan political action committee to get “good people elected to the school board.” According to LISSA’s website, its mission is “to support policies that strengthen education in our public schools, with a focus on critical thinking skills, civic engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion.” Goroff said that LaLota has “not been there for the people of this district.”

Social Security and Medicare

Goroff described Social Security and Medicare as being “two of the most successful programs this country has ever had.” She said that Medicare’s age should be lowered from 65, and that the income level tax cap for Social Security, which currently stands at $168,600, should be increased.

Avlon also supported raising the income tax cap for Social Security. “The one thing we got to do is make sure we’re rebuilding and strengthening the middle class, and making sure that people have a path from the working class to the middle class, and making sure that we’re keeping our promise on a federal level with Social Security and Medicare,” he said. 

Social media

Avlon supports the law that will force ByteDance, a Chinese technology company, to divest itself of TikTok or have it banned in the United States, saying, “If you’re owning a major media platform or company, it’s reasonable that you’re not being owned by a hostile foreign power that’s trying to propagate its own disinformation.”

Goroff pointed out the distinction between “keeping platforms free and open for fair information and banning people on those platforms,” stating that having TikTok either banned or sold is about not subjecting people to disinformation, with this issue also extending to making sure that other platforms, such as Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, are “fair and open platforms.”

Ukraine and Israel

Avlon said that he would “absolutely” support funding for Ukraine. For Israel, he said that when seeing “a vicious act of terrorism like October 7, I believe instinctively and deeply that we need to stand with the victims of terrorism and not blame the victims of terrorism.” He also stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it difficult to have more broad and bipartisan support for Israel, due to his policies and the level of civilian casualties, along with “the hamstringing of humanitarian aid.” Avlon called for a two-state solution with a demilitarized Palestinian state.

Goroff also supported aid for Ukraine. For Israel, she stressed that the conflict is very complicated, with its history extending far past the current conflict. She explained that Hamas is a terrorist organization that is “absolutely not helping the people of the Palestinian communities.” However, she said that the Palestinian National Authority is not helping either, due to extensive corruption that provides no alternative to Hamas. Additionally, she said that Netanyahu has “done everything he can” to strengthen Hamas against the Palestinian National Authority. Overall, Goroff called for a regime change in Israel, and a legitimate government in the West Bank, along with Israel increasing trade with its bordering countries, and for these countries to increase trade and stop worrying about uprisings within their populations.

Water quality, septic systems and sewers

Avlon called cesspools and septic systems a “fundamental issue of infrastructure and investment that needs federal dollars.” He said that it is necessary to protect the Long Island aquifers, which will require federal investment, some of which “has already been allocated to expand our sewer system and get us off septic.” If elected to Congress, Avlon would want to serve on the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, in order to help bring solutions to these issues.

Goroff said that water quality was an extremely important topic: “Voters across the political spectrum care about what our coastline looks like and what the water that comes out of our tap looks like.” She noted that there are places on Long Island that need sewers, which could bring opportunities for businesses, but there are also some places where sewers would not make financial sense. 

The Democratic primary is on Tuesday, June 25.

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METRO photo

By Fr. Francis Pizzarelli

Father Frank Pizzarelli

These are polarizing times. The days of civil conversation around delicate issues are long gone. Social media is a blessing and a curse. As a graduate school educator, it is a blessing if you need to have evidenced-based research in an instant. It is a curse because so much of what is posted is opinion, at best masquerading like it is evidence-based research.

Critical thinking is a thing of the past. Too many people believe whatever they see online, especially if it supports their own position. What happened to the days of genuine give and take conversation? What happened to agreeing to respectfully disagree?

We are still reeling from the pandemic; especially our young people. Mental health and human relations have really been impaired.

No one was prepared for the pandemic’s aftermath. We are still not well equipped or trained to navigate into the future. This present generation of young people is profoundly wounded mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We are failing to prepare them to deal with the divisive world we have created and are living in. 

 Our schools are central to empowering the next generation to wellness and wholeness. Instead of always ripping at our schools and our teachers, we need to work harder at collaboration. We need to be committed to a holistic approach to learning — body, mind and spirit.

Our children should be exposed to evidence-based material in every subject area. We need to be more conscious of the impact, for better or for worse, of the smart phone. That little device can build people up or with the push of a button destroy someone.

At what age should children have a cell phone? What restrictions should be imposed? Should elementary and middle school students have cell phones in class? Should we create universal guidelines in this regard?

The other issue that needs to be addressed is how parents parent their small children with tablets to keep them busy. How and where do our children learn about human connections? How do they learn about their feelings and how to express them?

There has to be a partnership between parents, school and community. Together we need to foster positive human connections grounded in love, respect and radical inclusiveness which our nation is founded on. 

Father Francis Pizzarelli, SMM, LCSW-R, ACSW, DCSW, is the director of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.

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Trustee Lauren Sheprow, left, and Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden. Photo by Raymond Janis

The Village of Port Jefferson is nearing a crossroads.

Residents will enter the polls this Tuesday, June 20, to decide on a successor to Mayor Margot Garant. After 14 years leading the administration, the incumbent is stepping down to head the Democratic ticket for Town of Brookhaven supervisor against Deputy Supervisor Dan Panico (R-Manorville).

Garant’s seat is being contested by Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden and trustee Lauren Sheprow. In an exclusive office debate spanning nearly two and a half hours, the mayoral candidates pitched their respective visions to the voters.

Introductions

Defeated by just four votes in her first bid for trustee in 2018, Snaden won election to the board the following year and has since secured several liaison posts before taking over as deputy mayor in 2021.

She said she first ran for office “to be the voice” of the people, bringing their wishes to Village Hall and putting their priorities into action. 

“I am ready to run for mayor because I want to use all of that institutional knowledge, all of my experience, to do even more for the community,” she said.

Sheprow entered the board 10 months ago, unseating former trustee Bruce Miller during last year’s village election. She has since helped establish multiple advisory committees while serving as commissioner of communications, among other liaison positions.

She said she is running to take the village government in a new direction.

“I have been hearing a lot from residents and how they would like to see a fresh start for Port Jeff,” she said. “That’s what I was responding to when I decided to run.”

Petitions

This year’s mayoral contest took an unusual plot twist very recently, on May 30, when the Suffolk County Board of Elections opted to remove Sheprow’s name from the June 20 ballot over faults in her petitions.

“I take full responsibility for not putting my cover sheet on the petition submission,” Sheprow said. “But you know what? I don’t care. I’m running a write-in campaign. I would never stop fighting for the people of Port Jefferson.”

Snaden, whose campaign brought about the charges, said using the Freedom of Information Law to assess the opposition’s petitions is standard practice.

“We all have to follow the same rules,” she said. “It’s our job as candidates to know the laws and follow the laws.”

Budget

The candidates offered competing perspectives on the village’s present finances.

Snaden regarded the current fiscal health as “excellent,” noting the relatively low-interest rates the village pays when borrowing money.

She acknowledged “the budget can always use some tweaking,” adding, “there are some needs that I believe need an increase in budget.” 

Chief among them are salaries, Snaden said: “Bringing those numbers up would be imperative for getting the highest quality employees we can.”

Sheprow suggested the village’s Moody’s rating, a measure that calculates an organization’s relative credit risk, “can be improved,” saying her administration would strive for a AAA bond rating [compared to the current Aa3].

The trustee proposed instituting an advisory committee of certified public accountants and other financial professionals to assist the village board in preparing its budget.

“A zero-based budget is so important,” Sheprow said. “Also, having that budget committee [will help] create a budget that is responsible to the taxpayers.”

Revenue

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced new regulations targeting existing power plants, placing a cloud of uncertainty over the Port Jefferson Power Station.

With questions surfacing about the possible decommissioning of the plant, the candidates were asked whether the village should begin preparing for further losses of public revenue.

Sheprow again advocated for expert consultation.

“I think we need to include the Advanced Energy Center at Stony Brook University,” she said. “Maybe we can come up with ideas about how to bring advanced energy initiatives into that location.”

Snaden said continued collaboration with wind power companies, such as Ørsted and Eversource, would remain pivotal in “bringing green energy to Long Island through the Village of Port Jefferson.”

To account for potential losses in public revenue, she also proposed “increasing our tax base through responsible development.”

Staffing

Both candidates agreed the administration is understaffed but departed on possible solutions.

Snaden emphasized hiring a planner for the building and planning department and additional personnel for the code enforcement department.

She indicated the practice of assigning multiple administrative titles to a single staff member is “absolutely not” sustainable.

“I think that’s where the budget needs to be enhanced — to hire the right people to head up these departments and divide up more of the tasks,” she said.

Sheprow maintained the hiring process should follow “a [human resources] system and policy.”

“The idea that I have, should I become mayor, is to bring in someone to take a deep dive into the organizational chart of the village,” she said. “I find there are some conflicts of interest for these positions and roles for people who wear multiple hats.”

Public meetings

To boost attendance at public meetings, Sheprow supported overhauling the village’s municipal website.

“It is not responsive,” she said. “If there’s a village board meeting coming up, it should be on the front page on the carousel of the website.”

She also favored a more dynamic social media presence on behalf of the village, with suggestion boxes and other modes of “active responsiveness” between board members and residents.

“I think we need to set up — here we go again — another committee to hear and review complaints and take [them] forward to the Board of Trustees.”

Snaden discussed the value of live streaming public meetings.

“Bringing the meetings to [residents] in their living rooms, recorded so they could watch at a later date, was key” during the COVID-19 public health emergency, Snaden said, proposing to expand and enhance these methods post pandemic.

She also touched upon the role of the Port eReport in dispersing information to the public.

In welcoming more citizens into the local decision-making process, Sheprow expressed pleasure at the reformation of the Port Jefferson Civic Association, saying, “That means the people care, that the people in the community want to get involved.”

She said the chance for more frequent communications between residents and trustees during board meetings is “a huge opportunity for us.”

Snaden said, “Regular meetings with whoever wants to have a voice,” combined with an active social media presence, would be crucial for welcoming more residents into the process.

“I also believe there’s an aspect of people going to meetings when there’s a negative issue or problem,” she added. “As a person who always looks for the positive in things, I like to believe that a portion of the people not coming to meetings are very happy with what’s going on.”

Open government

Another central administrative function is the swift distribution of time-sensitive documents, such as public minutes and agendas.

Snaden returned to hiring when asked about expediting the release of these materials.

“That rests now on the clerk’s [Barbara Sakovich] responsibility list,” she said. “She’s just overwhelmed with the amount of work,” adding, “I believe we could help by bringing in more people to divide up those duties to get [those documents] out there.”

Sheprow favored implementing a “proactive communications system,” including an internal newsletter, to bring the information to staff and the public more expeditiously.

“We need somebody who’s creating content,” she said. “The content would include a press release after every meeting [saying] here’s what happened.”

Building density

During the May 1 public hearing on possible zoning code changes for the Maryhaven Center of Hope property, several community members voiced concerns about increased villagewide building density.

Sheprow raised objections of her own.

“The proposals and the sketches that have been drawn for this space are looking like we’re bringing city life into a transitional [not entirely commercial nor residential] area of Port Jefferson,” she said. “The surrounding communities are horrified by the prospect of seeing four stories from their backyards.”

Snaden noted, “Density is already here,” referring to some existing apartment and condominium developments neighboring Maryhaven.

In moving through the building and planning stages, she said, it will be necessary to continue consulting traffic and environmental studies, which she indicated are “always done as a matter of course.”

“Residential use has been proven to be the softest use, environmentally speaking,” the deputy mayor added. “My concern is that if we don’t move ahead with … some type of a code change, then as of right, an office park could move in, causing more issues for the neighboring community.”

Parking garage

The village is also working to mediate longstanding parking issues, with both candidates detailing how a proposed parking garage could offset shortages.

“There has to be a careful balance with that — without overbuilding but creating the parking spaces that are needed,” Snaden said of the parking structure.

She also supported continued public-private partnerships for shared parking agreements.

Sheprow called for establishing a parking committee, composed primarily of business owners, to help manage the village’s municipal parking apparatus.

She referred to the proposed garage as “an idea I think residents need to hear and weigh in on.”

Flooding

During a recent climate resilience forum at Village Hall, local architect Michael Schwarting shared alarming projections of more frequent and intense flood events in Lower Port. Each candidate was asked how the village could mitigate these concerns.

“Utilizing an engineer or planner to lead that process,” coupled with a new grant writer to help underwrite new projects, could “move the village forward conceptually,” Sheprow suggested.

Snaden proposed daylighting hidden underground water bodies to offset increases in flood load. “I would like to continue building bioswales,” she added, “making gardens in conjunction with these bioswales.”

Concluding remarks

Sheprow expressed appreciation for the residents throughout the campaign process.

“I’m having a lot of fun talking to people and learning more about everyone in our community,” she said. “There’s a lot of love for this community, and I would just be grateful to represent them and have their trust put in me.”

Snaden reiterated her past experiences in positioning her for the responsibilities of mayor.

By “voting my opponent in as mayor, you lose me entirely — you lose my experience, knowledge and love for this community,” Snaden said. “However, if you vote for me, Lauren stays on as a trustee, and you have us both.”

Voting information

The public will be the ultimate arbiter of these two mayoral candidates on Tuesday, June 20. Voting will take place at Port Jefferson Village Center, where polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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H. Andrew Schwartz Photo from SBU

By Daniel Dunaief

Ideally, doctors would like to know about health threats or dangers such as diseases or chronic conditions before they threaten a person’s quality of life or expected lifespan.

On a larger scale, politicians and planners would also like to gauge how people are doing, looking for markers or signs that something may be threatening the health or safety of a community.  

Researchers in computer science at Stony Brook University have been designing artificial intelligence programs that explore the language used in social media posts as gauges of mental health.

Recently, lead author Matthew Matero, a PhD student in Computer Science at Stony Brook; senior author H. Andrew Schwartz, Associate Professor in Computer Science at Stony Brook; National Institute on Drug Abuse data scientist Salvatore Giorgi; Lyle H. Ungar, Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania; and Brenda Curtis, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania published a study in the journal Nature Digital Medicine in which they used the language in social media posts to predict community rates of opioid-related deaths in the next year.

By looking at changes in language from 2011 to 2017 in 357 counties, Schwartz and his colleagues built a model named TrOP (Transformer for Opioid Prediction) with a high degree of accuracy in predicting the community rates of opioid deaths in the following year.

“This is the first time we’ve forecast what’s going to happen next year,” Schwartz said. The model is “much stronger than other information that’s available” such as income, unemployment, education rates, housing, and demographics.

To be sure, Schwartz cautioned that this artificial intelligence model, which uses some of the same underlying techniques as the oft-discussed chatGPT in coming up with a model of ordered data, would still need further testing before planners or politicians could use it to mitigate the opioid crisis.

“We hope to see [this model] replicated in newer years of data before we would want to go to policy makers with it,” he said.

Schwartz also suggested that this research, which looked at the overall language use in a community, wasn’t focused on finding characteristics of individuals at risk, but, rather at the overall opioid death risks to a community.

Schwartz used the self-reported location in Twitter profiles to look at representation of a community.

The data from the model, which required at least 100 active accounts each with at least 30 posts, have proven remarkably effective in their predictions and hold out the potential not only of encouraging enforcement or remediation to help communities, but also of indicating what programs are reducing mortality. Their model forecast the death rates of those communities with about a 3 percent error.

Both directions

Schwartz explained that the program effectively predicted positive and negative changes in opioid deaths.

On the positive side, Schwartz said language that reflected a reduction in opioid mortality included references to future social events, vacation, travel and discussions about the future.

Looking forward to travel can be a “signal of prosperity and having adventures in life,” Schwartz said. Talking about tomorrow was also predictive. Such positive signals could also reflect on community programs designed to counteract the effect of the opioid epidemic, offering a way of predicting how effective different efforts might be in helping various communities.

On the negative side, language patterns that preceded increases in opioid deaths included mentions of despair and boredom.

Within community changes

Other drug and opioid-related studies have involved characterizing what distinguishes people from different backgrounds, such as educational and income levels.

Language use varies in different communities, as words like “great” and phrases like “isn’t that special” can be regional and context specific.

To control for these differences, Schwartz, Matero and Giorgi created an artificial intelligence program that made no assumptions about what language was associated with increases or decreases. It tested whether the AI model could find language that predicted the future reliably, by testing against data the model had never seen before.

By monitoring social media in these specific locales over time, the researchers can search for language changes within the community. 

Scientists can explore the word and phrases communities used relative to the ones used by those same communities in the past.

“We don’t make any assumptions about what words mean” in a local context, Schwartz said. He can control for language differences among communities by focusing on language differences within a community.

Schwartz recognized that fine refinements to the model in various communities could enhance the predictive ability of the program.

“If we could fully account for differences in cultural, ethnic and other variables about a community, we should be able to increase the ability to predict what’s going to happen next year,” he said.

With its dependence on online language data, the model was less effective in communities where the number of social media posts is lower. “We had the largest error in communities with the lowest rates of posting,” Schwartz explained. On the opposite side, “we were the most accurate in communities with the highest amounts” of postings or data.

Broader considerations

While parents, teachers and others sometimes urge friends and their children to limit their time on social media because of concerns about its effects on people, a potential positive is that these postings might offer general data about a community’s mental health. The study didn’t delve into individual level solutions, but these scientists and others have work that suggests this is possible.

As for his future work, Schwartz said he planned to use this technique and paradigm in other contexts. He is focusing on using artificial intelligence for a better understanding of mental health.

“We hope to take this method and apply it to other outcomes, such as depression rates, alcohol use disorder rates,” post traumatic stress disorder and other conditions, Schwartz said. “A big part of the direction in my lab is trying to focus on creating AI methods that focus on time based predictions.”

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Stock photo

Social media has enabled people to connect and reunite with each other. Unfortunately, it also has provided another outlet for scam artists.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, “More than one in four people who reported losing money to fraud in 2021 said it started on social media with an ad, a post or a message.”

An event organizer in the TBR News Media coverage area recently discovered that someone had set up fraudulent social media accounts pretending to be a representative from their organization. When they took to their Facebook and Instagram accounts to warn the public, they found their name wasn’t the only one being used to scam local residents.

There are countless scammers out there impersonating not only other people but companies and nonprofit organizations. In the incidents occurring in the TBR coverage area, people set up social media accounts promising vendors that they could secure their spots at future events of the organizers through the account by using PayPal.

The incidents are just another reminder that navigating social media is the same as the web: You can’t take anyone at their word.

The best thing to do when anyone approaches you over social media asking for money — just as you would over the web and phone — is to ask if you can get back to them. If they keep insisting that you pay now, odds are they’re not who they say they are.

Anyone who is legitimately representing a business would have no problem with you jotting down their number and getting back to them. Of course, when calling or emailing a company back, if you are handing over money, you’ll want to make sure you look up the contact information before calling. Many times, scammers will go as far as answering the phone by saying the company’s name or setting up email accounts that make it look as if they are associated with the business.

Some may ask that a person pays through PayPal or Venmo and similar payment apps which may make a person feel better since a credit card number is not being given out. The bottom line is that money is still being stolen and most likely will never be recouped. It’s important that payors do their research.

Facebook’s help center also advises that users be wary if someone asks you “to move the conversation off Facebook to a less public or less secure setting, such as a separate email.”

Other things to look out for are unverified pages claiming to represent a large organization or public figure, or a page that contains messages or posts with poor spelling and grammar.

The most important advice to heed is that if you think you have been scammed, file a police report by calling the Suffolk County Police Department at 631-852-SCAM (7226) and notify the platform on where the fraudulent account is set up.

Social media has provided a whole new world for interaction. With a bit of caution, it can be a pleasant experience instead of a dangerous one. Just some extra care goes a long way.

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Pixabay photo

Many have asked what has happened to us as a society.

As we prepare to remember the victims of 9/11 in just a few weeks, we are reminded of a time 20 years ago when our communities came together to help each other. We applauded our first responders, offered our shoulders to those who were crying and all of us came together as one. The amount of empathy Americans, as well as those around the world, showed for the victims and their families was awe-inspiring. While 9/11 was a day to remember, 9/12 was just as important because it showed that we could be unified. 

However, the tragedies and issues caused by COVID-19 have left us more divided than ever. Many scratch their heads wondering why people won’t follow the guidance of medical professionals, who last year simply asked us to wear masks and social distance while they figured out the best line of defense against the virus. Despite the significant strides made in medicine over the last few decades, a new form of a virus can still take time to figure out. And then this year, finally the vaccine that we all were waiting for was released, but yet many have refused to get it to help the common good and themselves.

It seems at times we have become selfish and self-absorbed, not worrying about anyone but ourselves. Then again, we shouldn’t be surprised. Look at our roads. More and more drivers engage in reckless driving, whether speeding down the road, weaving in and out of traffic, not pulling over for emergency vehicles or blowing through red lights and stop signs.

In the days of social media, we see too many people believing that their way is the only way and that those who think differently to them are evil or stupid to a point where we don’t respect our fellow citizens.

We have become so selfish and judgmental at times that we forget when we step out our door it’s no longer about us. The world does not revolve around one person, not even one family or social circle. As we navigate through the day, while our feelings and beliefs are valid and should be respected, the same goes for respecting others. We should also listen to each other. Really listen. It can be difficult at times to balance our wants and needs with the desires of others, but it’s the only way we can live together in peace.

Many have said they don’t want a new normal — they just want normal. Yet, it seems as if a new normal is needed, one where people’s actions show that they care about those around them.

It’s been said that learning about our history is important, so we don’t repeat the mistakes of past generations and benefit from the good elements, too. Now, let’s remember the tragic event of 9/11 and its aftermath in order to be reminded of how we united and moved forward during one of the most difficult times in American history.

We did it then and we can do it again — together.  

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