1 . Millennials (千禧一代) may have been the first generation to come of age online, but their Gen Z successors (接替者) have truly grown up with it — and hardly ever log off.

A 2018 Pew Research Center survey found that 95 percent of teenagers have access to a smart phone; 45 percent say they use the Internet almost constantly. For many of them, social media has been a space for self-expression, entertainment and connection.

But as social media use has risen among teenagers, so have rates of depression, and anxiety. Though it is not a direct relationship, there is evidence that some platforms have worsened young people’s meatal health issues; for instance, research documents from social media showed that Instagram worsened body-image issues for one in three teenage girls.

A March 2022 study published in the scientific journal Nature found that the relationship between social media use and mental health varied by age, but that there were two windows where social media use was more likely to have a negative effect on the well-being of adolescents: at the start of puberty (青春期) and again around age 19.

Emma Lembke, a 19-year-old student at Washington University in St. Louis, experienced those negative efts firsthand. That’s why she started the Log Off Movement in June 2020. The project aims to encourage dialogue among young people who are feeling the negative effects of social media and want to adjust their relationship to it. In a phone interview, Ms. Lembke spoke about the movement she started, the upsides and downsides of social media, and how she has worked to loosen its hold on her well-being.

3 . The best racecourses (赛马场) are in all corners of the country, which means it’s accessible for all fans of the sport.

There are big festivals throughout the year, but nothing comes close to excitement levels when the Cheltenham Festival is approaching. It is the home of National Hunt racing, and every year millions of fans are glued to the racing on the track watching the competition. The biggest race of the meeting is the Cheltenham Gold Cup, held annually on the Friday of the meeting.

While the biggest National Hunt meeting of the season takes place at Cheltenham, it could be argued that the race that draws the inexperienced viewers to the sport is the Grand National. The race is an important part of British life, as everyone makes a habit of watching the race annually with friends and family.

For lovers of flat racing, Ascot meetings are a must. The biggest of the season is Royal Ascot, which is one of the most unique of the season as Queen Elizabeth attends it herself. There are 26 days of racing throughout the year at Ascot, which also includes National Hunt meetings as well as flat. However, one of the other big race days comes as the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes takes place. This is one of the most fashionable race days on calendar, as all visitors entering certain zones must be wearing a top hat.

There are two racecourses at Newmarket, the Rowley Mile and the July Course. The mentioned course is the home of one of the biggest races of the season. The July Course is only in operation during July and early August, with the featured race being the July Cup.

In my first attempt to get control over my technology use, I set my phone to vibrate rather than ring. Soon after, another problem appeared. The act of continually checking the phone became a habit. I knew then that using only tips to permanently reform digital life is difficult. We should go past the notification settings (通知模式) on our devices or apps and consider the more essential topic of why we use so many apps in the first place. What all of us who are struggling with these challenges need is a technology usage philosophy, something that explains from the ground up which digital tools we allow into our lives, why, and under what conditions.

Cal Newport, a professor of computer science, defines Digital Minimalism (极简主义) as a “philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected activities that strongly support the things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else.”

To do so, however, we cannot passively allow the tools and apps provided by the internet age to control how we spend our time or how we feel. Instead, we must take steps to draw the positive aspects of these technologies while sidestepping the negative aspects.

5 . Recently, Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta. The company said it would better include what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality (VR). The CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the existing brand could not possibly represent everything that they’re doing today, let alone in the future. He also revealed the company’s plans to build a “metaverse (元宇宙)” — an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment.

The term “metaverse” was invented by author Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, a science fiction published in 1992. In the work, the metaverse is a sort of 3D virtual world. It’s not simply a virtual reality game but is a persistent and shared virtual world. Or rather, the metaverse is a whole universe of shared virtual spaces seemingly linked together — you could, essentially, teleport (瞬移) between them.

Metaverse combined at the very least five technologies — they are social media, online game, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and cryptocurrency (加密货币). Those technologies will bring users to an interactive world. AR and VR are vital for Metaverse. VR serves to present the virtual world visually and then AR will provide the audio and sensors for people to be able to interact. With Metaverse, Facebook will offer not only a texting service but also a multi-perspective virtual touch that feels like a real thing.

Facebook said that it plans to create 10,000 jobs in Europe over the next five years to work on metaverse-related endeavours (活动). The company also has introduced Oculus-branded virtual-reality headsets, and it joined with Ray-Ban to develop smart sunglasses that went on sale for $299. “Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” Mark Zuckerberg said. “I view this work as critical to our mission because delivering a sense of presence — like you’re right there with another person — that’s the highest goal of online social experiences,” he said.