Latest news with #Herring
India Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
Are you victim of 'emoji bullying'? Inside gen z's hidden language of harm
Once playful and innocent, emojis have become the visual shorthand of the digital era, used in billions of online conversations each day. But behind their cheerful colours and cartoon charm lies a troubling trend that's growing rapidly among younger this World Emoji Day, while most celebrate the creativity and connectivity emojis offer, a more uncomfortable reality must be acknowledged: emojis are being used to bully, harass, and isolate, particularly by and against members of Gen NEW LANGUAGE OF SARCASM AND HARMFor many, a smiley face emoji still conveys friendliness. But in Gen Z's digital vernacular, it often means the opposite. An academic study 'Benign or Toxic? Differences in Emoji Interpretation by Gender, Generation, and Emoji Type' by Zhukova & Herring (2024) from Indiana University found that emojis like the smiley face and thumbs-up are often perceived as passive-aggressive or sarcastic by younger users, especially in peer group contrasts sharply with older generations, who typically interpret these emojis as positive or neutral. The loudly crying face is used to show ironic sadness or laughing too hard. The Skull emoji sarcastically used something cringe, dumb or something hilarious."The interpretation of emoji is not fixed," the authors note. "It is highly context-dependent, influenced by age, identity, and platform norms."This creates fertile ground for subtle digital aggression. A bully no longer needs cruel words, just the right combination of emojis sent at the wrong time can deeply undermine someone's HARMLESS BECOMES HARMFULIn Tik-Tok comments, Instagram DMs, and group chats, emojis are being used as visual code -- covert, cutting, and might look like a string of light-hearted symbols could actually signal mockery, toxic bravado, or even threats. Some emojis have taken on especially sinister second lives:The pig-face emoji is often used to insult someone's peach emoji may be used flirtatiously or to make jokes about someone's smiling face can be used sarcastically in tense devil face suggests playful menace or bullying intent. World Emoji Day:A single emoji can carry many meanings depending on tone, timing, and the relationship between the sender and receiver. In certain school-related incidents, students have faced suspension or police enquiry after sending fire, bomb, or gun emojis in ways interpreted as veiled threats even without accompanying visual nature of the message makes it all the more unsettling and, for adults and moderators, harder to from the Cyberbullying Research Centre, a reputable organisation focused on online harassment, confirms that emojis like the 'peach' have increasingly been weaponised in digital bullying, underscoring the need to understand the evolving meanings behind these VOICES: WHAT EMOJIS REALLY MEANadvertisementWhile emoji bullying often hides in plain sight, young users are acutely aware of its impact.'Some random guys would comment on just the peach or eggplant under my photos. Once someone even sent cherries in DMs. They didn't say anything, but it felt creepy -- like they were trying to say something dirty without using words," said Rhea, a 19-year-old experiences like Rhea's reveal how emojis can be used to send veiled, uncomfortable messages that aren't always caught by moderators - but are definitely felt by IT'S HARD TO MODERATEOne reason emoji-based bullying often goes unnoticed is because algorithms and adult supervision miss the context. A single emoji can carry many meanings depending on tone, timing, and the relationship between the sender and systems that scan for hateful words may overlook a sarcastic smile or a teasing peach. Even when flagged, many adults struggle to interpret the underlying tone being context-dependence is exactly what makes emojis so potent and so dangerous in digital bullying. World Emoji Day:Emojis are small, but their meanings and their impact can be huge. advertisementSOLUTIONS: LITERACY OVER CENSORSHIPRather than banning emojis or policing every post, experts recommend building a better understanding of digital visual language, especially among youth and digital literacy that includes emoji pragmatics, how meaning changes across age groups and open dialogue at home and in schools about how emojis are used today, both playfully and moderation tools on social media platforms to recognise harmful emoji patterns, repetition, or young users to speak up when subtle harassment occurs. Just because it's wrapped in colourful symbols doesn't mean it's harmless.A CALL TO REFLECT THIS EMOJI DAYEmojis are small, but their meanings and their impact can be we celebrate the joy and connection emojis can bring, we must also be aware of their evolving use as weapons of exclusion, sarcasm, and this World Emoji Day, let's reflect not just on how we express ourselves, but on how we make others feel, especially when hurt comes with a smiling by Yashika Pawar- Ends
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Like Papa Noel, Grand Isle guy delivers by the bag full
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — He's on his way like Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. But without reindeer and with no need for a sleigh. This guy's got his 2018 pickup truck. WGNO Good Morning New Orleans features reporter Bill Wood says this guy's got his own bags filled with goodies. His name is Nathan Herring, and he's got oysters in the bag. He delivers them to restaurants and bars around New Orleans. The oysters he delivers are his that he grows in floating cages in the Gulf, down on the farm. His oyster farm is a couple of hours from New Orleans in Grand Isle. Herring grew up in Mississippi and has a college degree in Wildlife and Fishery Science. 'The whole reason I got started with this was learning about all the good environmental benefits the oysters provide, so habitat, erosion protection in the water,' said Herring. He worked for a couple of years in the parks department in New York City. That's before he decided to parallel park his truck, and his life, in Louisiana. He calls his business Bright Side Oyster Company. 'We are putting oysters in places where they might not otherwise grow. In these places like Grand Isle, where we are seeing so many people leave and not come back. Something interesting in a place a lot of people don't get to see,' by day with Super BUCK Moon by night for Thursday Judge Seeber bridge to fully close for repairs: DOTD Walmart recalls about 850,000 water bottles after 2 people blinded Three fall into water at Glacier National Park while taking photo: rangers Iconic cereal maker WK Kellogg selling to Ferrero for $3B Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NBC News
08-07-2025
- Climate
- NBC News
Texas officials give few answers to growing questions about response to deadly floods
The catastrophe left Kerr County residents such as Marvin Willis, 67, wanting answers. 'I didn't get one alert,' said Willis, a magazine publisher who lives a mile and a half from the Guadalupe and typically receives them on his phone. 'I haven't talked to anyone I know who's gotten one.' He said complete transparency from leaders is needed: 'If you don't know what happened, you don't know how to fix it.' Even Kerrville's mayor, Joe Herring, said he received no emergency alerts early Friday and was only awakened by a call from City Manager Dalton Rice at 5:30 a.m. 'If they had come,' Herring said of the alerts, 'and we had a chance to save all the people we've lost and are missing — absolutely, we should have had them more. We should have had a warning.' Herring said Tuesday on MSNBC that government leaders take threats from natural disasters seriously but that the events unfolded so rapidly. 'The question is, 'Do I wish we had warned those people?' Absolutely. The question is, 'Do I hope we warn people better in the future?' Absolutely.' Abbott, in a separate news conference later Tuesday, reiterated that the focus remained on the search and rescue effort and said officials would get into the whys and hows of the disaster after that phase was over. Asked what local officials knew early Friday as the flood was bearing down, Abbott, a Republican, said: 'You'd have to ask them.' Ronnie Barker, who has lived in the unincorporated community of Hunt in Kerr County for 23 years, said he was among the residents who didn't receive any alerts early Friday. But he's looking at the positives, such as how first responders have mobilized. 'People from all over the country and the world, everybody wants to come in and do something,' Baker said. 'We've just been flooded with people helping.' Another resident, Rena Bailey, who has lived in Hunt since 1990, got alerts but said they could have been worded stronger. 'I've got notices all the time about whatever. There was no urgency in what I got,' Bailey said. While she recalled one alert saying the weather was 'life threatening,' she said people may have needed more guidance, particularly in a place where flooding is a way of life. 'If they had said there's a wall of water coming or evacuate,' Bailey said, 'but I didn't take it that way. And they can blame me, but don't blame me, because I live here, and I know what I get all the time.'
Bangkok Post
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Texas flood's toll tops 100
TEXAS — The weary mayor of Kerrville, Texas, the United States, warned residents to expect a 'rough week' as chances faded on Monday of finding anyone still alive from catastrophic flooding that killed at least 100 people across central Texas. Ten girls and a counsellor were still missing from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp, which said at least 27 of its young campers and staff members did not survive the surging waters from the nearby Guadalupe River. Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr said rescue crews would push forward with their searches, slashing through debris and downed trees even as they braced for the possibility of more downpours and flash flooding. 'We need your prayers,' Herring said at a news conference Monday. Harrowing stories have emerged across the Hill Country, including accounts of rescues and reunions. In Kerr County, the hardest-hit area, the victims from Camp Mystic included girls as young as 8 years old, as well as counsellors and the camp's director. Officials faced new rounds of questions on Monday over whether more should have been done to give warning and evacuate areas around the river. Lt Gov Dan Patrick of Texas acknowledged that flood-warning sirens might have saved lives if they had been along the river. He added that they needed to be in place by next summer. Kerr County officials had considered installing them but balked at the price tag. Patrick, speaking on Fox News on Monday, said that if local governments could not afford it, 'then the state will step up.' Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said there would be a 'careful examination of what happened' to prevent the same loss of life in the future. 'Next time there is a flood, I hope we have in place processes to remove especially the most vulnerable from harm's way,' he added. President Donald Trump was tentatively scheduled to travel to Texas on Friday, said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. The visit was being coordinated with local officials to ensure it does not disrupt recovery efforts, she said. Trump criticised President Joe Biden last year for not immediately visiting North Carolina, also to avoid interfering with relief efforts, after disastrous flooding there. Sen Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, asked the acting inspector general for the Commerce Department to investigate whether cuts and staffing shortages at the National Weather Service had contributed to the large death toll in Texas. The New York Times reported this past weekend on vacancies within the agency. Much of central Texas, including the Hill Country, was under a flood watch on Monday, and there was a chance of more flash flooding through the day and overnight. The Weather Prediction Centre cautioned that 'any storms that move across this extremely vulnerable region will rapidly cause flash flooding.' On Sunday, heavy rainfall led to a minor rise in the Guadalupe River, which has seen the worst devastation, prompting a brief pause in search-and-rescue operations. River levels later returned to normal, said Jason Runyen, a meteorologist at the weather service office for Austin, San Antonio, and the surrounding areas. Risk of further flooding 'is there again today,' he said Monday. 'If the heavy rain happens to be in the Guadalupe river basin, we could see some minor rises on the river.'
USA Today
07-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
5-time Pro Bowl free agent CB urged to join Rams
The Los Angeles Rams still need some cornerback help after an offseason where they returned their entire 2024 lineup. L.A. also didn't draft any new cornerbacks or trade for any veterans despite interest in Jalen Ramsey, who ended up being sent to the Pittsburgh Steelers. There are a few other options out there for the Rams if they want another veteran, including five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro Stephon Gilmore. While it's unclear if Gilmore or the Rams are interested in each other, former Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Warren Herring urged Gilmore to come to L.A. on a recent episode of "The Money Down Podcast." 'Come over to LA. We like you in the blue and gold," Herring said. "You did it to us once. Now, get us one. You owe us one. We need some veteran presence in the room. We'd love to have you.' Herring is referencing the 2018 Super Bowl, when Gilmore and the New England Patriots beat the Rams, 13-3. Gilmore had an interception and five tackles in that game. While Gilmore, who'll be 35 in September, didn't say which teams he's interested in signing with, the veteran noted that "it's got to be the right situation for me. So, I'm not just going to sign anywhere." Gilmore, who's played for the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers over the past four years, has 32 career interceptions, 149 defended passes and 617 combined tackles in 180 games over 13 NFL seasons.
