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When it comes to sales, when it rains it pours. Amazon announced its Big Spring Sale earlier this week, and quickly, other major retailers announced their very own sales. Target and Walmart have already come out with their own competing sales launching next week. But if you want to pregame the Amazon Big Spring Sale, Best Buy's Tech Fest is a good place to start.
Running through Sunday, March 23, Tech Fest encompasses nearly every category at Best Buy. The tech giant has major savings on laptops, TVs, tablets, headphones, and much, much more. Shop Best Buy's Tech Fest now for all the deals.
Best laptop deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M2 chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $749 at Best BuyWith the recently announced Apple MacBook Air with M4 chip, the previous generation of laptops are on sale. You can find the Apple MacBook Air with M2 chip down to $749 from $999 during Best Buy's Tech Fest.
The MacBook Air with M2 chip is an incredible laptop with an efficient battery that will last all day as you stream, browse, work, and game. It's already one of Apple's more affordable devices, coming in under $1,000, but with this deal you'll save $250 for 25% off.
More laptop dealsLenovo IdeaPad 1i 15.6-inch (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $329.99 $599.99 (save $270)
HP Envy 2-in-1, 14-inch (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $449.99 $799.99 (save $350)
Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4 chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $949 $999 (save $50)
ASUS Rog Zephyrus G16, 16-inch (Intel Core Ultra 9, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,379.99 $1,999.99 (save $620)
Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4 chip, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,399 $1,599 (save $200)
Tablets can do so much, offering the power of a laptop in a portable size. And while you can stream your favorite shows and play your favorite games on a tablet, it's also a great e-reader. The Apple iPad Mini is the perfect size for reading. It's about the same size as a hardcover book, and won't strain your wrist for the hours of reading you have ahead of you. And once you're done with your book, it does much more than a Kindle, as you can turn on a movie or browse social media from the same device.
Launched in the back half of 2024, the Apple iPad Mini got an upgrade to the A17 chip. While it usually starts at $499, it's 20% off, bringing it down to $399. That saves you $100 during Best Buy's Tech Fest.
More tablet dealsAmazon Fire HD 10 (32GB, WiFi) — $94.99 $139.99 (save $45)
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (64GB, WiFi) — $169.99 $219.99 (save $50)
Apple iPad, 10th generation (A14 chip, 64GB, WiFi) — $279 $349 (save $70)
Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M3 chip, 128GB, WiFi) — $549 $599 (save $50)
If you want the ease of connectivity from AirPods, but don't want their price tag, look to Beats. The original headphones from Apple offer top-notch sound with the breeze of automatic connectivity with iOS devices. But unlike AirPods, Beats also easily connect to Android devices.
The Studio Pro headphones are the top tier model in Beats line-up. Normally $349.99, they're over 50% off, down to $169.99. That's $180 in savings for long battery life and active noise cancellation.
More headphone dealsBeats Solo 4 headphones — $129.99 $199.99 (save $70)
Beats Studio Buds+ earbuds — $129.99 $169.99 (save $40)
Bose QuietComfort earbuds — $149 $179 (save $30)
Beats Fit Pro earbuds — $169.99 $199.99 (save $30)
Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds — $219 $299 (save $80)
Bose QuietComfort headphones — $249 $349 (save $100)
Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones — $249.99 $349.99 (save $100)
Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones — $349 $429 (save $80)
Apple AirPods Max with USB-C — $479.99 $549.99 (save $70)
Big sales are always the best time to buy TVs. While we're not sure what Amazon's Big Spring Sale has in store, we can confidently say that Best Buy's Tech Fest deals are already great. Right now you can get a 4K OLED TV from Samsung for 17% off for $300 in savings.
If you need a TV that you can watch from any angle without picture distortion, you need an OLED model that produces crystal clear picture whether you're sitting directly in front of it or are way off to the side. Samsung's 65-inch S90D Series OLED 4K TV is down to $1,399.99 from its usual $1,699.99 during Tech Fest, so don't miss out on the savings.
More TV dealsLG 65-inch UT70 Series LED 4K TV — $349.99 $599.99 (save $250)
Samsung 65-inch DU6900 Series UHD 4K TV — $349.99 $469.99 (save $120)
Roku 55-inch Pro Series QLED 4K TV — $539.99 $899.99 (save $360)
LG 48-inch B4 Series OLED 4K TV — $599.99 $699.99 (save $100)
TCL 55-inch NXTFRAME QLED 4K TV — $699.99 $999.99 (save $300)
Sony 65-inch Bravia XR X90L UHD 4K TV — $949.99 $1,199.99 (save $250)
LG 65-inch C4 Series OLED 4K TV — $1,399.99 $1,699.99 (save $300)
TCL 98-inch Q6 Series UHD 4K TV — $1,499.99 $2,999.99 (save $1,500)
Samsung 85-inch QN90D Series QLED 4K TV — $2,199.99 $2,999.99 (save $800)
Speaking of spring, with the changing seasons, it's time for a refresh. After a winter inside, it's time for a deep clean. If you want to a true refresh, start from the floors up. If you need a new vacuum, your hunt can start (and maybe end) at Best Buy's Tech Fest.
Right now, find the Dyson V15 Detect Extra Cordless Vacuum for just $599.99. It comes with 10 accessories so you can get in all the nooks and crannies to banish pet hair and dust bunnies. You'll save $200 on this vacuum during Tech Fest, for a sweet 25% off.
More vacuum dealsShark Matrix Robot Vacuum — $299.99 $499.99 (save $200)
Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum — $329.99 $479.99 (save $150)
Roborock S8 Robot Vacuum and Mop — $399.99 $749.99 (save $350)
Dyson V11 Plus Cordless Vacuum — $449.99 $569.99 (save $120)
Apple has only just recently fully ditched Lightning in favor of USB-C, but there might be some more charging chicanery on the way.
Specifically, it sounds like Apple wants to eventually make at least one iPhone model that doesn't have a charging port at all. The big obstacle there would most likely be the European Union, which is the entity that forced Apple to adopt USB-C to begin with. However, according to 9to5Mac, that won't be a problem. An EU spokesperson confirmed to 9to5Mac that Apple can legally sell a device with no charging port in EU countries.
SEE ALSO: Apple's iPhone 17 might come with a big selfie camera upgradeAs for when Apple would actually do this, no one can say for sure. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently reported that Apple considered making the rumored iPhone 17 Air portless, but ultimately decided against it. Just this past week, dummy models for this year's new iPhones leaked, which included a new thin model thought to be the Air. In other words, it doesn't seem like this is something anyone needs to worry about for 2025.
But for 2026 and beyond, this is yet another weird Apple thing to look out for.
Falling stock prices, plummeting car sales, protests, vandalism – it's all just another day in the year 2025 for Tesla now.
Backlash against the company has become the norm, Musk's relationship with the Trump administration and his increasing involvement with right wing politics has made him very divisive. In turn, people are taking out their frustrations on Musk's golden goose, his EV car company Tesla.
But, among all of Tesla's now-everday woes, a brand new issue has seemingly just emerged.
Tesla is apparently missing $1.4 billion.
According to a new report from the Financial Times, there's nearly one and a half billion dollars missing from Tesla's coffers. The report looked into Tesla's cash flow statements and capital expenditures over the last 6 months of 2024 and compared it to the company's valuation of the assets it had acquired. The report found anomalies, namely the missing $1.4 billion.
SEE ALSO: Tesla recalls nearly all of its Cybertrucks yet againIn the third and fourth quarter of 2024, Tesla reportedly spent $6.3 billion on “purchases of property and equipment excluding finance leases, net of sales” according to its cashflow statements. However, on Tesla's balance sheet for the same period, the company reported that the gross value of property, plant and equipment went up by only $4.9 billion to $51 billion.
That's 1.4 billion that's, as the Financial Times puts it, "gone astray."
There are legitimate reasons to explain this. For example, asset sales or foreign exchange-related issues could account for the $1.4 billion gap.
However, according to the report, Tesla didn't report any of these issues. The company just left the $1.4 billion unaccounted for.
Mashable has contacted Tesla for comment, but has yet to receive a response.
We don't know why the money is unaccounted for, but the report certainly should make Tesla investors ask questions.
SAVE $30: As of March 20, get the Google Nest Cam for $69.99, down from its usual price of $99.99 at Amazon. That's a 30% discount.
Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Nest Cam $69.99 at AmazonKeeping an eye on your home and property is important, but you can't be everywhere all at once. That's why it can be useful to add security cameras to your home tech stack. And you can get a great wired one today with this Amazon deal on a reliable cam that you can control with the rest of your smart home tech.
As of March 20, get the wired Google Nest Cam for $69.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $99.99. That's $30 off and a discount of 30%. This price applies to all colorways, including Fog, Linen, and Snow.
This wired camera offers 1080p HDR video with night vision as well as 3 hours of free event history, so you don't have to pay to see what's going on around you. Though you can pay extra for a Nest Aware subscription for an additional 60 days of history. If you happen to lose your internet, it'll also store an hour of events so you're not totally out of luck.
It has built-in AI intelligence to help determine the difference between humans, animals, and cars that pass your home to send you special alerts, as well as 24/7 access by way of your app. And if you want to talk to someone or communicate somehow when something goes down outside, you can do it from the built-in speaker and camera via the camera on your Google Home app.
For less than $100, this is a feature-rich camera that you can use in a variety of cases, so be sure to get yours while it's still affordable.
We're just five days away from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, which runs from March 25 through March 31 — and the deals are ramping up. We're keeping our eyes on the mega retailer each day leading up to the sale and rounding up the best ones to shop. As of March 20, many popular brands are showcasing epic discounts — including DJI, Blink, Roku, and Amazon itself.
Here are our top picks for the best Amazon deals of the day if you want to get a jumpstart on saving. If none of these are your cup of tea, check out our picks from yesterday, March 19. Many of those deals are still live, including a record low price on the Google Pixel 9 Pro.
Our top pick: DJI Osmo Action 4 Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Osmo Action 4 Essential Combo $199 at AmazonIdeal for content creation and vlogging, the DJI Osmo Action 4 "makes a good argument for buying an action camera that's not a GoPro," our friends at PCMag (also owned by Ziff Davis) said in their review of the camera. It can handle the elements (freeze resistant, waterproof up to 159 feet), has a clean interface, lasts up to 2.5 hours on a charge, has excellent digital stabilization, and excels in low light situations. We featured it earlier this month when the price had dropped from $289 to $209, but as of March 20, it's another $10 cheaper. That marks its best price to date at 31% off.
Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus $64.99 at AmazonIf you're seeking a basic tablet that won't break the bank, it's hard to beat the Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus — especially since it's on sale for just $64.99 (46% off). It's recently been replaced by a new Fire HD 8, but that'll cost you another $35. If money's tight, the older HD 8 Plus will still get the job done. It'll last you up to 13 hours per charge, offers USB-C charging support, features a strengthened aluminosilicate glass display and hexa-core processor that's 30% faster than the previous model, and packs an extra gig of RAM. As our friends at PCMag (also owned by Ziff Davis) put it: "It won't wow you, but it doesn't need to."
Read our full review of the Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus.
Roku TV Wireless Soundbar with Wireless Bass Opens in a new window Credit: Roku Roku Wireless Soundbar and Wireless Bass $139.98 at AmazonIf you own a Roku TV, you can crank the sound quality up a few notches by pairing it with the Roku Wireless Soundbar. It's not the fanciest soundbar on the market, but it pairs seamlessly with your Roku TV sans cables to "drastically improve the sound," as our friends at PCMag (also owned by Ziff Davis) put it. As of March 20, it's bundled with the Roku Wireless Bass for only $139.98 (50% in savings). Together, the two can add depth and dimension to your music and movies, bringing the theater directly to your living room. It can also seamlessly slip into your setup for an extra bass kick.
Luna wireless controller Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Luna controller $44.99 at AmazonWhile it's technically optional for the Amazon Luna gaming experience, our sister site PCMag reviewed the Luna controller and found it to be a "must-have." The gamepad upgrades the Luna game-streaming experience with its separate WiFi connection that reduces input lag as you play. It also looks sleek, is comfortable to hold, and features precise and responsive controls. As of March 20, it's down to just $44.99 at Amazon — that's 36% in savings.
Blink Mini 2 Opens in a new window Credit: Blink Blink Mini 2 (2-pack) $37.99 at AmazonReleased last year, the Blink Mini 2 improves upon its predecessor's performance in low light settings, offers a wider field of view, adds a built-in LED spotlight for night view in color, and enhances image quality overall. Plus, with the separate purchase of the Blink weather resistant power adapter, it can now be used both indoors and outdoors. It's typically $39.99 for one camera, but as of March 20, you can pick up two for just $37.99. That's 46% in savings.
None of these deals catching your eye? Check out Amazon's daily deals for even more savings.
ChatGPT, like many chatbots, is known for sometimes getting things wrong or even fabricating information. However, a new privacy complaint alleges that OpenAI’s chatbot went a step further by falsely accusing a user of murder, causing serious consequences.
The privacy rights group Noyb is supporting a Norwegian man who claims that ChatGPT repeatedly returned false information, stating that he had killed two of his children and attempted to murder a third. The complaint concerns the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
"The GDPR is clear: Personal data has to be accurate," said Joakim Söderberg, a data protection lawyer at Noyb, in a statement to TechCrunch. "If it's not, users have the right to have it changed to reflect the truth. Showing ChatGPT users a tiny disclaimer that the chatbot can make mistakes clearly isn't enough. You can't just spread false information and, in the end, add a small disclaimer saying that everything you said may just not be true."
SEE ALSO: AI search tools are confidently wrong a lot of the time, study findsThe complaint stems from a simple question: "Who is Arve Hjalmar Holmen?" The response, generated by ChatGPT, included a fabricated account of a murder case involving two children. TechCrunch reported that Noyb has filed the complaint with the Norwegian data protection authority, hoping it will spark an investigation into the matter.
Chatbots like ChatGPT and other AI tools have been criticized for their inability to reliably deliver accurate information, with a disturbing tendency to invent false claims.
For instance, a recent study from the Columbia Journalism Review found that AI search tools got information wrong 60 percent of the time when asked to identify an article's headline, original publisher, publication date, and URL via an excerpt of the story. That's a concerning level of mistakes for such a simple task.
In light of these issues, it’s important to remember: don’t believe everything you read on the internet, especially when AI is involved.
SAVE $120: As of March 20, get the Google Pixel Tablet for $279, down from its usual price of $399. That's a discount of 30%.
Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Pixel Tablet $279 at AmazonWant a new tablet but don't want to pay iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab prices? There are tons of options out there, but one in particular you should absolutely check out is part of Google's lineup. You can save a great deal on it today, in fact, thanks to a discount from Amazon.
As of March 20, get the Google Pixel Tablet for $279, down from its usual price of $399. That's $120 off and a 30% discount. This sale applies to both the Hazel and Porcelain colorways.
This 11-inch tablet comes packing 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage packed into a lightweight, attractive case. With a crisp screen and bright colors, it's perfect for watching your favorite shows and movies or gettigng work done. In fact, productivity is its strong suit, with the option to use split screen to tackle multiple things at once.
Plus, this tablet is ready to work with Google Gemini to bring AI tasks to your everyday needs, whether you need to search for something inside an app, edit your photos in the blink of an eye, or even brainstorm ideas to get a work session going.
If you don't want to do any of that, you can even use the tablet as a hub for our smart home devices, as it allows for voice and in-app control for your lights, thermostat, cameras, and more.
If you're looking for a tablet that can do it all, this is a great option for less than $300, but you'll likely want to act quickly on it.
Imagine recalling a supposedly tough truck so many times that we've ran out of headlines to highlight it. Tesla Cybertruck has been recalled for the eighth time, with several of those recalls being for nearly every Cybertruck that's ever been sold.
Again, this is not one of those software recalls that can easily be fixed with a firmware update. According to a new notice by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla is recalling all Model Year 2024 and 2025 Cybertrucks (that's the vast majority of them, given that serial production in a very limited capacity started in November 2023).
SEE ALSO: Early Tesla investor calls for Elon Musk to resign amid stock slumpThe reason given, this time, is the cant rail: "an assembly comprised of an electrocoated steel stamping joined to a stainless steel panel with structural adhesive." According to the NHTSA, "The cant rail stainless steel panel may delaminate at the adhesive joint, which may cause the panel to separate from the vehicle." That, in turn, can create a road hazard for drivers behind a Cybertruck (as if having to watch the thing drive isn't punishment enough).
This is the same issue that we've covered a week ago, as it apparently caused Cybertruck deliveries to stop.
Because of this issue, Cybertruck owners are invited to visit a Tesla service center where the cant rail assembly will be replaced, free of charge.
Scientists using two enormous telescopes — one on Earth and the other in space — have detected oxygen in the most ancient known galaxy, a star-scape beaming light just 300 million years after the Big Bang.
The galaxy, discovered with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in 2024, is called JADES-GS-z14-0. In new observations involving the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile, or ALMA, two separate groups of researchers not only measured its extraordinary distance with precision, but confirmed signals that oxygen was present.
The finding, along with other mounting evidence, has rocked the research community, challenging prior thinking that galaxies this long ago — when the universe was only two percent its age of 13.8 billion years — would not have had many elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Before Webb, other telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope and computer simulations suggested oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen didn't come about for perhaps another 200 to 400 million years.
The new studies, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics and The Astrophysical Journal, suggest the distant galaxy has about 10 times more heavy elements than expected, forcing scientists to rethink how early galaxies could have formed and evolved so quickly.
"Before the advent of JWST, we primarily observed 'nearby' galaxies, which provided a snapshot of an evolved universe," Stefano Carniani, a researcher at Scuola Normale Superiore in Italy and lead author of one of the studies, told Mashable. "Our understanding of the early universe was based on these observations, and we [had] assumed that this scenario remained unchanged across cosmic time."
SEE ALSO: If the Webb telescope detects these molecules, they may point to life The ancient galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 is located in the Fornax constellation. Credit: ALMA / S. Carniani et al. / S. Schouws et al / NASA / ESA / CSA / Brant Robertson / Ben Johnson / Sandro Tacchella / Phill CargileThe difference scientists are seeing between how galaxies mature now versus back then is that gas — the fuel of star formation — flows continuously and smoothly in contemporary galaxies, leading these stellar neighborhoods to grow steadily over long periods of time, Carniani said. But observations of ancient galaxies like JADES-GS-z14-0 suggest that gas flows were far more chaotic. These galaxies sometimes appear to have accumulated vast reservoirs of gas.
"Even if only a small fraction was converted into stars, their rapid growth and evolution were inevitable," Carniani said.
The leading theory used to be that the first stars — the confusingly named "Population III stars" — were formed in the early universe, mostly before elements heavier than helium existed. Those original stars are thought to have been extremely massive, luminous, and hot. Eventually, they would have died in violent supernovas, blasting out new types of chemical substances.
Heavier elements are forged in the cores of stars, only to be scattered across interstellar space after the stars explode. Those outbursts would seed the universe with the first heavier elements, but astronomers thought it would take several generations of stars before galaxies were brimming with enough oxygen and other such elements to be detectable.
But another thing to consider is that very massive stars don't live long — at most, a few million years, Sander Schouws, a researcher at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands and lead author on another of the papers, told Mashable. That might explain how heavier elements could have flooded the galaxy rather quickly back then.
So far Webb has revealed that, in fact, many bright galaxies existed at cosmic dawn, a period between 100 million years to 1 billion years after the Big Bang. Some scientists have posited that perhaps galaxies in this era formed stars more efficiently, leaving behind little extra gas and dust. If there were too much gas, it would essentially dilute those heavier elements, making them hard to detect.
Others suggest that powerful starlight forced gas and dust out, making the galaxies seem brighter because less material was available to obscure them. Still, some theories propose that supermassive black holes powering enormous jets could explain the galaxies' brightness, though the studies of JADES-GS-z14-0 have not found evidence of one.
Images of the ancient galaxy have shown its brightness to be spread out across 1,600 light-years, indicating that most of its light comes from young stars and not a concentration of black hole emissions at its center. If the estimates are correct, the galaxy is several hundreds of millions of times the mass of the sun.
The James Webb Space Telescope, along with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, are homing in on the most ancient galaxy known in the universe. Credit: NASA-GSFC / Adriana M. Gutierrez (CI Lab) illustrationSchouws points out another factor that could complicate astronomers' interpretation of what's going on in this old galaxy: A phenomenon called bursty star formation could make it appear as if it's forming a lot faster than it really is.
In bursty star formation, galaxies become intermittently bright. That could make it seem in a single snapshot as if the galaxy is growing a lot faster than if scientists were to average that brightness over a longer period of time. Rather than making stars at a steady clip like the Milky Way does, for instance, these galaxies churn out stars inconsistently, with a proliferation all at once, followed by stagnant periods sometimes stretching millions of years.
The thinking is that a burst of stars, all of the same generation, form and then die off in supernovas a few million years later at about the same time. The gas may then be recycled to form new stars, but the process is irregular at best.
"This is an effect that we need to account for," Schouws said, "but that can be tricky."
Netflix's limited series Adolescence, co-created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, has critics and viewers talking about more than its extraordinary technical prowess. A show that begins when a young boy is arrested for the murder of his classmate, Adolescence sparks a conversation Graham told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show on Wednesday the production team intended people to have.
“As a collective, we didn’t want it to be a whodunnit, we wanted it to be more of a why,” Graham told Fallon. “I read an article in the paper. It was about a young boy who stabbed a young girl to death. A couple of months later on the news there was a piece about a young boy who stabbed a young girl to death. And these were at opposite ends of the country. If I’m really honest with you, Jim, it hurt my heart.
"I just think what kind of a society are we living in at the moment where young boys are stabbing young girls? And you know that beautiful saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child?’ Well, I just thought, what if we’re all accountable? The education system, parenting, the community, the government," Graham said. "I'm not blaming anyone, I just thought maybe we're all accountable and we should have a conversation about it."
There was once a time when memes and internet-born jokes were a novelty enjoyed by relatively few people – the kind who would describe themselves as Extremely Online. Maybe you'd take pride in quoting a niche Vine that only a few select IRL friends will have seen and spent your evenings connecting with mutuals on Twitter or scrolling niche fandom accounts. Crucially, you had an understanding of internet culture that the average person probably didn't. But in 2025, it's very difficult to make that claim.
Because while internet trends and buzzwords were once an inside joke, it's now practically impossible to keep anything on social media a secret. This feels particularly pressing in the wake of BRAT summer, a concept which was cool for, approximately, five minutes and is now being referenced by Facebook mums as part of their daily vocabulary and was used in Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. Similarly, seven or eight years ago, had Jools Lebron shared her "very demure" video on Vine, rather than on TikTok last year, it might have had potential to be a private gag between you and your other very online friend, rather than the concept for at least four fashion brands' autumn campaigns. All of this to say, the idea that you can be more online than anyone else with an iPhone and an Instagram account is ostensibly extinct.
SEE ALSO: Jools Lebron, the creator of 'very demure, very mindful,' might not own its trademarkPlus, many people who once made their internet usage a personality trait called Twitter their home. But since the site has been taken over by Elon Musk and renamed to the aptly apocalyptic-sounding X, a lot of internet veterans are struggling to find a place where they can share the memes and internal monologues they once relied on the little blue bird for. Even those who migrated to TikTok are now facing the fact that the app might not exist for much longer, with the new ban in the U.S. looming on April 5 and many creators looking for alternative ways to share content online.
This doesn't mean that people aren't spending time on the internet anymore. If anything, the opposite is true, with Gen Z spending an average of 4.5 hours per day on social media, according to a report from consumer research platform GWI published in 2023. But finding online spaces or communities that feel specific to you or private in any sense is far more difficult than it was once. So, even if your feeds do feel individualised and personalised to you, it's hard not to feel that, in one way or another, you're consuming more or less exactly the same content as anyone else.
The main reason for this is, simply put, algorithms. You've probably noticed that the way you're served content on almost every social media app — be it TikTok, Instagram or X — nowadays has changed. Where once you'd see posts created by people you chose to follow, now apps mainly serve up recommended content based on people and things it thinks you might be interested in. "The platform’s algorithms base their recommendations on content you have liked and engaged with," explains Dr. Carolina Are, social media researcher at Northumbria University’s Centre for Digital Citizens.
There are benefits to this, of course, in that it might help you come across content that you really enjoy and wouldn't have discovered otherwise. This also explains why meme culture has become so widespread, as if a fairly small group of people are enjoying a particularly funny meme, the algorithm will push this out to a much wider number of people very quickly. "This has become a faster, more efficient and more economic, if not always accurate, way of governing swathes of content worldwide," Are says.
SEE ALSO: 'The White Lotus' Season 3, episode 5 monologue is already becoming a memeBut it also means it's very hard to form and maintain small communities based on common interests or experiences online nowadays, as they're often catapulted to far more people than intended, whether they're the correct audience or not. Plus, remaining part of a digital community can be difficult when you're being served so much new content rather than the posts created by accounts you follow.
"It feels like the algorithm wants you to see stuff you don't like."Izzy, who is 27 and lives in London, has been using social media since 2009 and spent most of the 2010s very engaged with what was then Twitter. "I used to tweet hundreds of times a day," she says, adding: "I've definitely always considered myself to be very online. I do enjoy being that person that knows every internet reference and meme." However, Izzy recently decided to stop using X and her decision was based on the app's algorithm: "It feels like the algorithm wants you to see stuff you don't like so that you engage with it and it also shows your stuff to people who won't like it," she says, explaining that this was making her experience of using social media almost entirely negative.
This is in stark comparison to the way Izzy and many other very online people would use apps like Twitter in the early to mid 2010s, connecting with mutual followers you probably considered genuine friends and finding a safe space of sorts on the internet. Often when you're scrolling now, it probably feels less like you're engaging with real people or friends, given that so many brands have such an active presence on social media nowadays. And not to mention influencers who, although are undoubtedly real-life people (unless you count the AI influencers), don't always necessarily feel like it when you consume their content through your screen.
"Algorithms like TikTok's For You Page push popularity and not network building, encouraging users to engage as ‘the public’ rather than someone to have a meaningful interaction with," Are says. "The follower is no longer a peer, they’re the audience, while the creator is more similar to a conventional, mainstream media broadcaster than to an independent creator."
"My social feeds are dominated by influencers and personalities.""My social feeds are dominated by influencers and personalities," says 27-year-old Charlotte, who now works on social media but, like Izzy, was very online throughout her teenage years. "You do create this parasocial relationship where you feel like you know them," she adds. Izzy agrees that this has been one of the biggest changes in her experience of using social media during the past decade: "I do think brands and influencers dominate my social media a lot more - it's constantly ads on my feed. I choose to follow my friends and often I don't see their stuff," she says.
SEE ALSO: What are parasocial relationships?This is one of the main shifts we've seen in the content that's posted and consumed on social media now and one of the reasons why those very online communities have disintegrated over the years. "The sense of community can be lost while celebrity is gained and content becomes about selling instead of connecting," Are says
"Ten years ago, I made friends through twitter and even though there were some people who would feel unattainable in a way, it was nothing like it is now," Charlotte says. In this way, the death of being very online goes a lot further than just the dissemination of meme culture and the lack of inside internet jokes. It reflects the lack of space for genuine interaction and meaningful communities online right now, something that was once considered to be one of the main plus sides of social media.
"There aren't really niche internet jokes anymore..."And given that social media is so heavily commercialised nowadays, with ads taking up every other post on apps like Instagram and X, and influencers, even smaller creators, actively trying to monetize their content, it feels as though it's lost any sense of playfulness and fun. "There aren't really niche internet jokes anymore because you have trend forecasters and people whose jobs it is to hop on these trends and make it about a brand," Izzy says adding: "The memes aren't as funny when you know they're going to be co-opted."
No one scrolling through Tumblr in 2014 or tweeting about One Direction in their teenage bedroom would have predicted that they were living through the golden age of social media, but that might just be the case. It's certainly safe to say that millennials who once considered themselves very online were certainly having more fun on social media than young people probably are now, with 30 percent of young people aspiring towards a career as an influencer, undoubtedly spending their time scrolling thinking about how they can monetise their favourite meme and figuring out how to hack the algorithm to promote their content.
So, even though you might lament the fact that you don't have a hold over internet culture anymore and that even trying to do so can be depressing, be thankful that now is probably the best time to become very, very offline.
Like fellow late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers, The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper used a segment on Wednesday night's show to unpack the current backlash against Elon Musk, from Tesla vandalism to federal worker protests to heated town hall meetings.
The Tesla CEO, Trump ally, "special government employee," and head of the government's recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has seen enough bad news over the last few weeks that the president ran a Tesla ad for him on the White House lawn and Musk lamented anti-Tesla sentiments on Fox News with Sean Hannity.
But as Klepper points out, "It's not about the Teslas."
“I don’t think people are mad at you because of the Teslas, Elon," said The Daily Show host. "If I were to hazard a guess about why they’d be mad it might be because in the last several weeks you fired tens of thousands of federal workers, you made cuts to veterans care, lifesaving foreign aid, and food banks, you cancelled important medical research... Yeah, people might get a little upset if you stop their medical trial halfway through them."
SAVE $50: As of March 20, the 11-inch Apple iPad Air (M3, WiFi, 128GB) is on sale at Best Buy for $549. That's 8% off its list price of $599.
Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple 11-inch iPad Air M3 $549 at Best BuyRevealed at the start of March, the brand new iPad Air with the M3 chip is already enjoying a nice discount at Best Buy. If you've been hoping to get this upgraded tablet as a springtime treat, now's a great time to do it.
Best Buy has knocked the price of the 11-inch Apple iPad Air (M3, WiFi, 128GB) down to $549, $50 off its list price of $599. Considering this iPad was only just released this month, this is a great discount to take advantage of. Purchasing it will also set you up with Apple Fitness+ for free for three months if you're a new subscriber, up to three months of Apple Music for free if you're a new or returning subscriber, up to three months of Apple Arcade for free if you're a new or returning subscriber, and Apple TV+ for free for two months if you're a new or qualified returning subscriber.
SEE ALSO: The best Apple deals ahead of Amazon's Big Spring Sale: New iPads and M4 MacBook Airs are already on saleThe biggest addition to this iPad Air is the M3 chip, which Apple claimed in their announcement of the tablet is, "nearly 2x faster compared to iPad Air with M1, and up to 3.5x faster than iPad Air with A14 Bionic." This particular model comes with an 11-inch Liquid Retina display for crisp, clear screen quality and 128GB of storage so you can stock up on plenty of apps.
Don't miss out on $50 off the brand new 11-inch Apple iPad Air (M3, WiFi, 128GB) right now at Best Buy.
If you're looking for more iPad deals, Amazon's also offering quite a few ahead of its Big Spring Sale next week. Have a look through our roundup of some of the best iPad deals available ahead of the Big Spring Sale to see some more great picks on sale right now.
THREE MONTHS FREE: As of March 20, Amazon's offering Amazon Music Unlimited for free for three months if you're a new subscriber.
Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Music Unlimited Amazon Music Unlimited: 3 Months for Free Get DealAmazon's Big Spring Sale is next week, but there are still some great offers to check out from the retailer as we wait for the sale event to officially kick off. One of the best offers that Amazon is dropping is on Amazon Music Unlimited, and you can take advantage of it right now ahead of the Big Spring Sale.
For a limited time, Amazon's offering the Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plan for free for three months. According to the terms and conditions, this offer only applies to new subscribers. After the three months is over, it'll go back to its usual price of $11.99 per month (or $10.99 per month if you've got Prime), but this is still plenty of time to give the service a test run.
SEE ALSO: 200+ of the best Amazon deals live ahead of its Big Spring Sale, hand-picked by Mashable's team of expertsWith Amazon Music Unlimited, you can listen to an abundance of songs and podcasts ad-free. You can also listen to one audiobook each month, which makes it a great deal for book lovers, too. And if you're still on the fence about this service compared to its streaming competitors, we have breakdowns of Amazon Music Unlimited vs. Spotify Premium and Amazon Music Unlimited vs. Apple Music so you can learn a bit more about each platform.
This limited-time deal won't last for long, so make sure to take advantage of an Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plan for free for three months to enjoy some new music, podcasts, and audiobooks this spring.
There's so much to look forward to in Amazon's Big Spring Sale. If you want to see even more deals available right now, check out our roundup of the best deals under $25 ahead of the sale event to see a few of our favorites.
SAVE OVER $30: As of March 20, the Beats Fit Pro are on sale for $169 at Amazon. That's a 15% saving on the list price.
Opens in a new window Credit: Beats Beats Fit Pro $169 at AmazonAmazon's Big Spring Sale is just around the corner, but you don't need to wait for the official launch to find great deals and discounts on top products. In fact, as of March 20, you can find my favorite pair of Beats earbuds on sale for their lowest price this year.
Beats has long been known for its incredible sound quality, and that's exactly what you get with the Beats Fit Pro. Right now, you can save 15% on these earbuds, down to $169. And in my opinion, they're worth every cent.
SEE ALSO: Headphones and speaker deals live ahead of Amazon's Big Spring Sale: Save on Sony, Bose, Sonos, and moreFor sound quality you're getting next to none. It's immersive and powerful, and some of the best I've experienced. You can play around with the noise cancellation, with several options of how much you want to block out surrounding noises (full cancellation, transparency, etc.) This is great for outdoor activities such as running when you want to hear your music, but also stay aware of those around you, and one of my favorite features in these earbuds.
The Beats Fit Pro also boast a seriously impressive battery life, with a single charge lasting days (sometimes weeks).
For sports enthusiasts, these are a great option. The silicon tip slides into your ear seamlessly, lodging in your ear and staying put for all types of activity and all intensities. I've tested these during all kinds of activities, with varying degrees of intensity from HIIT workouts to Pilates, and each time they remain secure.
This deal won't be around for long, so head to Amazon now to save.
SAVE $150: As of March 20, the Dyson V15 cordless vacuum is on sale for $599.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 20% on list price.
Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson V15 $599.99 at AmazonWhether it's a vacuum or a hair styling product, with Dyson you know you're getting a high-quality product. That's why when it comes to Dyson discounts, we just can't let them slide. And with Amazon's Spring Sale fast approaching, you can expect to see a whole host of Dyson deals popping up. Much like this early deal on the Dyson V15, a stellar cordless vacuum that received great scores when our reviewer tested it out.
And as of March 20, you can save $150 on this model, now down to $599.99. Not only is this a great deal, but it's the lowest this model has been priced all year.
SEE ALSO: 10+ self-emptying robot vacuums on sale ahead of Amazon's spring saleA high-tech model, the V15's most notable feature is the laser dust detection system that illuminates dust on hard floors, so you won’t miss any dirty spots. This model also benefits from an LCD screen that gives real-time updates on dust it has picked up, battery life, and some handy maintenance alerts. Yep, even vacuums are benefiting from smart screens now.
You can expect up to 60 minutes of run time before it needs to be charged. And if you have pets, you'll really love the hair screw tool. This one is great for sucking up pet hair, and the anti-tangle conical brush bar can remove stubborn hairs from pet beds, car seats, stairs, and more tricky spots.
This deal is only available for a limited time at Amazon, so don't miss out.
SAVE $20: As of March 20, the Amazon Fire Stick 4K is on sale at Amazon for $29.99. That's a 40% discount on list price.
Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon's Fire Stick 4K $29.99 at AmazonWe're big fans of Amazon's Fire Stick here at Mashable. And as of March 20, you can take home the handy device for less. Ahead of Amazon's Spring Sale (live from March 25-31), you'll find the Fire Stick 4K on sale for $20.99, saving you $20.
A handy little device, this product can turn nearly any TV into a smart TV for much less than buying one outright. It's a streaming device that plugs into your TV (or laptop) and lets you access platforms including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and more. It comes with a remote with Alexa built-in and is currently less than $30.
SEE ALSO: 200+ of the best Amazon deals live ahead of its Big Spring Sale, hand-picked by Mashable's team of expertsAnd there's no complicated setup for this device. These handy remotes are so simple to use that anyone can do it. Just pop the device into your TV's HDMI port, and that's it. You'll have instant access to a range of streaming platforms as well as many live channels.
And with the Fire Stick 4K, you can enjoy incredible 4K Ultra HD visuals with advanced HDR formats like Dolby Vision and HDR10+. This model also boasts a much more powerful processor and enhanced Dolby Atmos support than its predecessor, ensuring a smoother performance and better quality sound.
This deal is only available for a limited time, so move fast so you don't miss out.
SAVE $170: As of March 20, the Dyson Hot+Cool AM09 Jet Focus heater and fan is available for $299.99 at Amazon. That’s $170 off its regular price of $469.99.
Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Hot+Cool AM09 Jet Focus heater and fan $299.99 at AmazonI want my house to be the perfect temperature at all times. I also don’t want a clunky space heater or an ugly fan messing up my vibe. Dyson apparently understands my struggle because the Hot+Cool AM09 Jet Focus does both heating and cooling without looking like an eyesore. It’s normally $469.99, but Amazon just dropped it to $299.99, which makes it a lot easier to justify this level of climate control.
I think Dyson’s Air Multiplier technology is what makes this stand out. Instead of blasting hot or cold air in one direction like an old-school space heater, this thing amplifies the surrounding air and creates an uninterrupted airflow that actually feels nice. No more sitting directly in front of a heater just to feel something. Plus, Jet Focus control lets me pick between a focused mode for warming up my personal space or a diffused mode to heat an entire room.
SEE ALSO: LG’s 48-inch B4 OLED TV is down to under $500 at Best BuyI could probably live without the magnetized remote, but I’ll admit it’s a nice touch. No more digging through couch cushions just to turn up the heat.
Price: $299.99 $469.99
Retailer: Amazon
Special Features: Remote control, bladeless, oscillating
Color: White/Silver
Power Source: Corded Electric
Heating Method: Electric
Heat Output: 2000 Watts
Oscillation Angle: 70°
Modes: Focused and Diffused
At $299.99, this is one of the best Dyson deals I’ve seen in a while. It’s a heater and fan in one sleek package, and it’s $170 off. I don’t need it, but I kind of need it.
Scientists at China's Beihang University developed a tiny morphable robot to explore the ocean's depths — and it's now taken a dive into the Mariana Trench. The team successfully demonstrated that its creation can swim, crawl, and glide untethered at a depth of 10,600 meters (34,776 feet) in Earth’s deepest oceanic trench, located in the Pacific Ocean.
Separately, the researchers also developed a soft gripper, which can be attached to a rigid robot. It was tested in the South China Sea, where the team attached it to an arm on a submersible, which they sent 3,400 metres (34,776 feet) deep. There, the gripper collected small marine creatures, such as starfish and urchins resting on the seafloor.
SEE ALSO: The deep sea footage scientists filmed in 2024 is jaw-droppingAbout 70 percent of our planet is covered by oceans, but only a fraction has been explored, and some of the reasons for that lie in the challenging environment of the deep seas, such as extreme cold, perpetual darkness, and crushing pressure.
The advancement of technology is helping overcome some of these obstacles. Today's existing deep sea exploration craft, most of which are operated by humans on board, can disturb the fragile ecosystems they’re sent to study.
Beihang University’s novel creation can generate movement by using swap-through motion to switch between two stable states. Here’s how it works: the robot contains incompressible components, such as tail fins for swimming, a set of legs for crawling, and foldable pectoral fins that enable gliding. These can store elastic energy at high pressures, which the robot can then use for faster movement once submerged at greater depths. If the robot repositions its legs when moving, it can switch between different modes of locomotion.
Deep sea robots have so far helped scientists spot previously uncovered marvels of the ocean world, including the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s 2024 expedition in the waters near Chile, in which the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian spotted an epic migration of crabs, a shimmering, psychedelic marine worm, life flourishing around deep methane seeps, and possibly 60 new species.
So, after Beihang University’s successful tests in the Mariana Trench and the South China Sea, the researchers are hopeful that the tiny machines can contribute to an improved understanding of deep-sea environments and the weird and wonderful life that thrives in this dark realm.
SAVE $422: As of March 20, the Samsung 70-inch Q60C QLED 4K Smart TV is available for $677.69 at Walmart. That’s $422 off its regular price of $1,100.
Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 70-inch Q60C QLED 4K Smart TV $677.69 at WalmartI want a massive TV. Not because I need one, but because Walmart just knocked $422 off this 70-inch Samsung Q60C QLED, making it just $677.69. This is a QLED TV for well under $700, which is basically unheard of unless you’re willing to roll the dice on a random off-brand. I’m suddenly trying to figure out how much bigger my TV stand can get before it becomes a safety hazard.
I think this is one of the best budget QLED deals I’ve seen in a while. 100% Color Volume with Quantum Dot technology means the colors pop, and Quantum HDR adds contrast that actually does justice to whatever cinematic masterpiece (or trashy reality show) I’m watching. Samsung’s Dual LED backlights automatically adjust the warmth and coolness of colors, which is great since I am never going to manually tweak my settings like some home theater perfectionist.
SEE ALSO: LG’s 48-inch B4 OLED TV is down to under $500 at Best BuyI also want smooth motion, and Motion Xcelerator makes sure fast-moving scenes don’t turn into a blurry mess. Object Tracking Sound Lite adds a 3D surround effect, which means the sound follows what’s happening on screen. I like the idea of feeling like I’m inside the car chase instead of just watching it from my couch.
Price: $677.69 $1,100
Retailer: Walmart
Display: 70-inch QLED, 4K UHD
Processor: Quantum Processor Lite
HDR: Quantum HDR
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Audio: Object Tracking Sound Lite, Q-Symphony 3.0
Smart TV: Samsung Tizen OS
Gaming Features: Samsung Gaming Hub, Motion Xcelerator
HDMI Ports: Multiple HDMI ports
Samsung’s Gaming Hub is another win. No console? No problem. I can just stream games directly to the TV, which might be the push I need to start using my Xbox controller for something other than scrolling Netflix.
At $677.69, this is one of those deals that makes me question everything. A 70-inch QLED TV at this price? My current setup suddenly looks very small and very inadequate.
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