Social Media

Of the 118 members of the Illinois House, 20 had verifiable, nonprivate TikTok accounts they used personally or as representatives as of Jan. 22. There were nine verifiable accounts found for state senators.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is seeking to enforce state consumer protection laws to stop the platform from capitalizing on young users, and wants to hold the defendants accountable for “unfairly and deceptively designing, operating, and marketing the TikTok Platform to ensnare and addict young users in Illinois.”

Illinois Board of Elections public information officer Matt Dietrich presented information on cybersecurity threats and social media manipulation as the November election nears. Dietrich said the election itself is secure, but many have had their confidence in the system shaken.

Residents of the McLean County village of Colfax helped send off one of their own on a cross country mission. Ben Tracy is running from San Francisco to Maryland over the next four months. His mission is to warn kids about the dangers of social media.

The U.S. Surgeon General says he wants social media platforms to have warning labels about the adverse mental health effects they can have on youth. Elizabeth McCormack with the McLean County Center for Human Services said she is on board.

Researchers at the University of Chicago analyzed hundreds of TikTok videos on sinus infections in a 24-hour period and found that 44% had inaccurate information.

A high school student from Normal helped pass an Illinois law to protect the money young vloggers and so-called "kidfluencers" can make online.

As a member station, WGLT has opted to follow NPR’s lead and stop posting fresh content on Twitter.

University High School student Shreya Nallamothu played a key role in getting state legislation to protect child influencers.

Founded in mid-March of 2020, the "We're in this together, Bloomington-Normal!" Facebook group was envisioned as a short-term effort to connect people in the early days of the pandemic. Its founder, Michele Schulz, who has since passed on administrative responsibilities to others, said at the time the community was "living in a world we've never known before."