The world turns upside down as people use TikTok to stop procrastinating, Google goes on a banning spree and Marcus Rashford is honoured with a giant mural.‍

This week on Serotonin, the world turns upside down as people use TikTok to stop procrastinating, Google goes on a banning spree and Marcus Rashford is honoured with a giant mural.

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Study group on TikTok? Just say when.

Who would have thought you could use TikTok to stop procrastinating. Certainly not students; but thanks to Yehya Mougharbela, almost half a million are using the platform to aid their revision. The business and marketing student from the University of Surrey has created a virtual study group by fluke after he began live streaming his studies to hold himself accountable. “My main reason for doing the streams was for myself - for keeping me on track to get my work done. But once I saw people using it, then it just became a win-win.” Now, he is watched by nearly 500,000 people, who  join him, his calming playlist and his stuffed bear Herbert to revise. And he’s a pretty good group leader. From sending his followers notifications ahead of his revision periods to using the famed Pomodoro technique to structure their time and engaging with them during the breaks, he may just be a modern day superhero.

Google cracks downs on dangerous ads

Google has removed billions of ads and banned millions of advertiser accounts from its Google Ads network in an effort to protect its users. In a newly released report on Ad Safety, the search giant said it was working around the clock to prevent the malicious use of its advertising network, to make it safer for people, businesses and publishers. In 2021 alone, it claims to have removed over 3.4 billion ads, restricted over 5.7 billion and suspended over 5.6 million advertiser accounts, as well as introducing a multi-strike system for repeat policy violations and updating policies and restrictions for advertisers and publishers. “When we make decisions about ads and other monetised content on our platforms, user safety is at the very top of our list, which is why we prohibit content that we believe to be harmful to users and the overall advertising ecosystem,” it explained. Moving forward, it said it will continue to address areas of abuse across its platforms and networks and provide more transparency and control over the ads people see with a new ‘About this ad’ feature which will explain why an ad was shown and which advertiser ran it. 

Marcus Rashford honoured with giant mural

A new mural of Marcus Rashford has gone up in the centre of Manchester. The artwork, created by local artist Reuben Dangoor with Beats by Dre, was designed as a message of support for the Manchester United forward, who has experienced a torrent of online abuse and scrutiny in recent years. It features a peaceful looking Rashford, surrounded by an array of emojis and social media comments, which he drowns out with his trusty Beats and the comment ‘Form is temporary; class is permanent’ written below him. “The piece was created to try to show the two worlds that Marcus is currently dealing with. On social media, he is both abused and celebrated. It was nice to see Beats show support to Marcus, acknowledging his unique situation and highlighting the abuse and achievements that he receives,” Dangoor said of the work. The mural is painted on the side of the Hare & Hounds pub in Shudehill.

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