#good news network

[aquitainequeen]

Wildflower meadows are beautiful; so beautiful in fact that a village in Britain has found they act as natural speed traps from motorists slowing down to look at them.

The village of Long Newnton in Gloucestershire has a problem with fast moving through-traffic between nearby towns. Almost all drivers moving through areas they frequent will break posted speed limits, and neither a 30 mile per hour limit, nor warning signs made any difference.

Officials first planted flowers along the roadside during the pandemic to help improve biodiversity.

But they noticed that as well as attracting more wildlife, motorists also slowed down when they passed the flowers.

#good news #good news network #wild flowers #meadow #speeding #Long Newnton #Gloucestershire #the article says that people might be slowing because they realise they're in an area that's being cared for #but I like to think they want to see the flowers better #'And then my heart with pleasure fills' #'and dances with the daffodils' #biodiversity #oh brave new world

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

by Andy Corbley | Some West Midlands cat lovers are planting roots of good merit through a beautiful and unique rescue operation. Shropshire Cat Rescue in Shrewsbury takes in homeless, stray, abandoned, and unwanted cats and kittens and organizes veterinary care for feral felines in the area...

#Good News Network #uplifting #positive #Retirement Cat Village Where Elderly Strays Live Out Their Days in Mini Cottages #goodnewsnetwork.org

[thanatophobia-thoughts]

#good news network #wholesome sunday #endangered species #endangered animals #good news #endangered species act

[zonetrente-trois]

#Humpback Whale #language #Good News Network #Andy Corbley

[gnnpictures]

#flowers #good quotes #good things #good #good news network #good news

[reasonsforhope]

"It's easy to lose touch with friends, especially when you live far apart. And sometimes the longer you've gone without speaking to someone, the harder it feels to pick up where you left off. However, a new study suggests that reaching out to pals—especially ones that you have not talked to in a while—is even more appreciated than initially thought.

“People are fundamentally social beings and enjoy connecting with others. Yet, despite the importance and enjoyment of social connection, do people accurately understand how much other people value being reached out to by someone in their social circle?” the study asks. To answer this question, the authors gathered 5,900 participants and put them through a series of experiments.

In one scenario, half of the participants were asked to remember the last time they contacted a friend they had fallen out of touch with, then estimate on a seven-point scale how appreciative the person was (with one being the lowest score, and seven being the highest). Then, the other half of the participants were prompted to recall a time when someone had reached out to them and assign a number to how grateful they were. When these two groups were compared, the researchers found that people greatly underestimated the value of reaching out to someone.

“Across a series of preregistered experiments, we document a robust underestimation of how much other people appreciate being reached out to,” the authors continue. “We find evidence compatible with an account wherein one reason this underestimation of appreciation occurs is because responders (vs. initiators) are more focused on their feelings of surprise at being reached out to. A focus on feelings of surprise in turn predicts greater appreciation.”

In another experiment, participants were told to send a note and small gift to a friend they had not interacted with for a long period of time. They were then asked to estimate on a numerical scale how thankful the person would be because of the contact. Additionally, the receivers of the gifts were asked to rank their feelings upon accepting the gift on the same seven-number scale. Once again, the gift-givers greatly underestimated how much their gesture meant to the other person.

The study concluded that reaching out to people—particularly those that you've lost contact with—is almost always appreciated. It can seem challenging to maintain healthy social interactions, especially due to an increased amount of people working from home and a lack of opportunities. But clearly, the evidence suggests that a little extra effort is worth it.

“For those treading back into the social milieu with caution and trepidation,” the study adds, “feeling woefully out of practice and unsure, our work provides robust evidence and an encouraging green light to go ahead and surprise someone by reaching out.”"

-via My Modern Met, 7/31/22

#friendship #psychology #psych stuff #sociology #social connections #social anxiety #socializing #communication #social networks #good news #hope

[leulahart]

School days in District 12

Personally I love pre-canon Everlark because on one hand you have Peeta who has been crushing for 11 years straight, and on the other hand Katniss pretends she doesn't notice him but really she does. I was inspired by this Katniss design for her outfit!

#personally obsessed with school everlark i need more fanfic of it stat #save me the project by Ronja-R. the project by Ronja-R save me #also tried a new coloring process and WOO BOY its so good and fast i had so much fun #my art #everlark #katniss everdeen art #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #peeta x katniss #everlark art #thg #thg books #thg fanart #the hunger games #art #fanart #artists on tumblr #network #i am still working on the toasting piece but lighting is hard

[hellenhighwater]

I'm on a work trip--it's a class of people in my field picked from all over the country, so I don't know anyone else here--and the info packet I got basically said "people have told us they wish they'd been given a chance to meet everyone else before the class starts, so if you want to do that, show up to the hotel bar at this time and look for people who look like lawyers."

and I know. that I should go do this, because networking good. but also. this is weirdly stressful. how do I make sure that a group of random lawyers knows I am also a lawyer while still being casual and chill but not dressed formally at all

am i going to have to take off my combat boots for this

#and put on regular heeled boots instead which is fiiiiine but ugh #i have zero anxiety on a normal basis so when i do have some level of anxiety i am tormented by it #and also ive been flying about all day and im kinda tired #but networking damnit #I am almost always wearing a tiny scales of justice #which were handed down from my mother #so that's probably a good indicator but you have to get pretty close. the urge to just pin my Bar card to my shirt.... #like. this is fine. but meeting new people always takes Effort #especially with lawyers who tend to be a bit more conventional and also frequently older than me

[bi-krama-dick-ya]

since i have to do every damn thing around here

and hes also the youngest

#france #destiel #destiel meme #destiel news network #lgbtq #homosexuality #gay #meme #gay memes #lgbtq memes #first gay french pm in history #news #important #good news #positive news #finally some good fucking news #lmao #gay meme #queer #queer news #queer rights #lgbtq+ news #queer joy

[aquitainequeen]

FAS, a group of manufactured chemicals commonly used since the 1940s, are called ‘forever chemicals’ for a reason. Bacteria can’t eat them; fire can’t incinerate them; and water can’t dilute them. And, if these toxic chemicals are buried, they leach into surrounding soil.

Now, Northwestern University chemists have done the seemingly impossible. Using low temperatures and inexpensive, common substances, the research team developed a process that causes two major classes of PFAS compounds to fall apart—leaving behind only benign end products.

The simple technique potentially could be a powerful solution for finally disposing of these harmful chemicals, which are linked to dangerous health effects and may be common in your water supply.

#pfas #forever chemicals #northwestern university #chemistry #science #oh brave new world #good news network

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

When 3-year-old Waylon Saunders arrived at the hospital, he was already legally dead and had been for a while. Found face-down in an icy backyard swimming pool, the Ontario toddler’s body temperature was so low that paramedics’ thermometers couldn’t get a reading, and he had no pulse...

#Good News Network #For 3 Hours Doctors Continued CPR on Toddler with No Pulse–Until Life Returned #goodnewsnetwork.org

[finchers-ipad]

someone put Fincher’s dvd commentary’s on Spotify!!! this is a wonderful day!! (it includes the ‘Fight Club commentary with Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter) here’s a playlist with all of them:

#actually amazing news #WOOO MY 3 HOUR DAILY COMMUTE JUST GOT BETTER #i started listening to the social network one this morning and it’s good quality #ALSO THE GAME HAS A COMMENTARY TRACK??? it must be on the blue ray #david fincher #dvd commentary #se7en #the game #fight club #the game (1997) #panic room (2002) #panic room #zodiac (2007) #the curious case of benjamin button #the social network #the girl with the dragon tattoo #tgwtdt #gone girl #gone girl 2014 #Spotify

[thanatophobia-thoughts]

She is a saint. 

#wholesome sunday #good news network #good news #Auri Katariina #cleaning #cleaning tips #yes cleaning tips are also in the article

[capn-twitchery]

tagging some art reminded me. i think it's the animator in me but it's my favourite thing in the world to see artists draw their oc simplified down to their barest shapes & details

i love it when people draw their ocs like this. like yes!!! tell me what features define them, hand over their basic shapes, give me the tools to make them a more animation friendly design Immediately in my brain!!!

it's so fun to me. i'm half a step away from making a flondon oc cartoon in my brain i swear

#i cannot look at a character design without considering if it would be good to animate #this probably makes zero sense i've just been itching to try and draw in simple cartoon styles lately #like the 2000s cartoon network type stuff #& i'm about 2 seconds away from making a whole concept for a show that doesn't exist #twitch's high zee hijinks but also i think every oc deserves to pop up #a really fun project would be trying to find a cartoon style that works for me and trying to draw other people's ocs in it #but i know i am so very bad at finishing projects #in related news btw i got my adhd meds. which is probably why i now want to concept an entire nonexistent show #fredspeaks #calling myself an animator is a stretch actually i haven't animated in years FDHFJFK but it counts xD

[minecraftnewsnetwork]

Happy Life Day!

MCNN is thrilled to be back for the next season! And we're kicking things off with a very special episode recapping all the new information on what BDubs was up to in his version of Limited Life.

#MCNN #Limited Life #Limited Life SMP #24Lsmp #LimLife #Trafficblr #Life Series #MCYT #Limited Life Recap #Minecraft News Network #YouTube #Traffic Life SMP #reporter joju #It's good to be back #cat and co absolutely killed this one #and we have some new faces! #Youtube

[reasonsforhope]

"Is social media designed to reward people for acting badly?

The answer is clearly yes, given that the reward structure on social media platforms relies on popularity, as indicated by the number of responses – likes and comments – a post receives from other users. Black-box algorithms then further amplify the spread of posts that have attracted attention.

Sharing widely read content, by itself, isn’t a problem. But it becomes a problem when attention-getting, controversial content is prioritized by design. Given the design of social media sites, users form habits to automatically share the most engaging information regardless of its accuracy and potential harm. Offensive statements, attacks on out groups and false news are amplified, and misinformation often spreads further and faster than the truth.

We are two social psychologists and a marketing scholar. Our research, presented at the 2023 Nobel Prize Summit, shows that social media actually has the ability to create user habits to share high-quality content. After a few tweaks to the reward structure of social media platforms, users begin to share information that is accurate and fact-based...

Re-targeting rewards

To investigate the effect of a new reward structure, we gave financial rewards to some users for sharing accurate content and not sharing misinformation. These financial rewards simulated the positive social feedback, such as likes, that users typically receive when they share content on platforms. In essence, we created a new reward structure based on accuracy instead of attention.

As on popular social media platforms, participants in our research learned what got rewarded by sharing information and observing the outcome, without being explicitly informed of the rewards beforehand. This means that the intervention did not change the users’ goals, just their online experiences. After the change in reward structure, participants shared significantly more content that was accurate. More remarkably, users continued to share accurate content even after we removed rewards for accuracy in a subsequent round of testing. These results show that users can be given incentives to share accurate information as a matter of habit.

A different group of users received rewards for sharing misinformation and for not sharing accurate content. Surprisingly, their sharing most resembled that of users who shared news as they normally would, without any financial reward. The striking similarity between these groups reveals that social media platforms encourage users to share attention-getting content that engages others at the expense of accuracy and safety...

Doing right and doing well

Our approach, using the existing rewards on social media to create incentives for accuracy, tackles misinformation spread without significantly disrupting the sites’ business model. This has the additional advantage of altering rewards instead of introducing content restrictions, which are often controversial and costly in financial and human terms.

Implementing our proposed reward system for news sharing carries minimal costs and can be easily integrated into existing platforms. The key idea is to provide users with rewards in the form of social recognition when they share accurate news content. This can be achieved by introducing response buttons to indicate trust and accuracy. By incorporating social recognition for accurate content, algorithms that amplify popular content can leverage crowdsourcing to identify and amplify truthful information.

Both sides of the political aisle now agree that social media has challenges, and our data pinpoints the root of the problem: the design of social media platforms."

And here's the video of one of the scientsts presenting this research at the Nobel Prize Summit!

-Article via The Conversation, August 1, 2023. Video via the Nobel Prize's official Youtube channel, Nobel Prize, posted May 31, 2023.

#social media #misinformation #social networks #social #algorithm #big tech #technology #enshittification #internet #nobel prize #psychology #behavioral psychology #good news #hope #Youtube #video