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By now everyone knows that scrolling social media isnt exactly good for you. But did you know it might be making you sweat? Researchers from the psychology department at Durham University tracked the physiological responses of scrolling on social media and found a rather strange side effect. The researchers asked 54 young adults to browse Instagram for 15 minutes while monitoring their heart rate and their skin conductance (which would tell how much sweat they produced). Compared to reading a news article on a phone, they found scrolling Instagram made peoples heart rates slow down and, simultaneously, made them sweat more. From the control group, who just read the news article, they could tell it was not being on the phone or reading that was causing this response. It was something about social media. Researchers found that the physiological responses were present in all participants, regardless of how they scored on a questionnaire that assessed the symptoms of social media addiction. When participants were purposefully interrupted from their scrolling, rather than snapping out of the excitement and returning to a calmer state, participants continued to sweat and their heart rates increased. When they were asked to completely disconnect, participants reported being stressed and anxious. They even reported having cravings for social media at that moment. Such bodily and psychological stress responses are similar to those addicts experience when going through substance withdrawal. Most Americans dont need another reason to want to cut down on screen time. Over half (53%) of Americans say they want to cut down on phone usage in 2025 (33% more than in 2023), with people spending an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes per day on their phonesa 14% increase from the 4 hours and 37 minutes people reported in 2024. While researchers didnt attempt to answer the question of whether weve developed a physical addiction to social media, the study does suggest that social media indeed has addictive elements. My screen time couldve told you that.
Category:
E-Commerce
HSBC on Monday downgraded U.S. equities, citing uncertainty around tariffs, while turned bullish on European stocks following boost from Germany loosening its fiscal reforms. The brokerage lowered U.S. equities to “neutral” and raised rating on European stocks, excluding UK stocks to “overweight” from “underweight.” The Trump administration’s massive moves on trade and other policies have injected uncertainty, while a proposed $1.2 trillion European fiscal bazooka and the emergence of China as the tech race leader are marking a potential turning point for investor capital away from the United States. The S&P 500 has pulled back about 6.1% from its February 19 record high on worries that the trade war will hurt corporate profit and slow growth. “It is important to stress that we are not turning negative on US equities but tactically, we see better opportunities elsewhere for now,” said HSBC’s Global Equity Strategist Alastair Pinder said. Morgan Stanley Equity Strategist Michael Wilson believes the S&P 500 could fall another 5% to 5,500 points by mid-year, before ending the year at around 6,500, which is a 12.7% upside from the benchmark index’s last close. “The path is likely to be volatile as the market continues to contemplate these growth risks, which could get worse before they get better,” Morgan Stanley’s Wilson said in a note on Monday. Kanchana Chakravarty and Medha Singh, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
Detroit-based fintech platform Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT) has reached an agreement to acquire the Seattle mortgage services company Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN) in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.75 billion, the companies announced on Monday. Each Redfin share will be exchanged for 0.7926 shares of Rockets Class A common stock, with the deal expected to close in mid-2025, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. Following the announcement, Redfins stock soared nearly 70%, reaching $9.91 in premarket trading. This surge came after Rocket Companies agreed to acquire Redfin for $12.50 per share, representing a premium of 63% over Redfin’s recent average price. On the other hand, Rockets stock dropped around 13%. Forming a real estate-lending powerhouse The acquisition brings together two major players in real estate and mortgage lending. Redfin, founded in 2004, operates one of the nations most visited real estate platforms, with nearly 50 million monthly users and a network of over 2,200 agents. Rocket Companies, known for its mortgage and financial services, views the deal as a step toward streamlining the home-buying process. Rocket and Redfin share a unified vision of a better way to buy and sell homes, said Rocket CEO Varun Krishna. Together, we will enhance the experience by connecting traditionally separate steps of the search and financing process with leading technology. The acquisition is expected to drive Rockets mortgage growth, giving Redfin users direct access to Rockets financing products. Rocket anticipates over $200 million in synergies by 2027, including cost savings and new revenue opportunities.
Category:
E-Commerce
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