Lifestyle
Louis Sullivan
Housing designer in the Johnathan Hay Centre that provided a "culturally specific living" for laborers and migrants from the countryside.
TikTok:
Addiction or Attraction?
Addiction or Attraction?
May 2022
In reality, the TikTok content in Armenia greatly differs from the TikTok content in the U.S. Checking what is happening in Armenian TikTok, one cannot differentiate whether it is Odnoklassnik or TikTok as what is happening there is bizarre and beyond moral norms. Many Armenians curse one other on Armenian TikTok and make cursing videos, which are against moral standards. However, despite the strangeness of the videos, there are still people that, even realizing the abnormality of TikTok videos, unconsciously become addicted to it, which in turn leads to adverse effects.
This app is, of course, primarily popular among teenagers since their interests can be easily found on TikTok. Ranging from transformation videos to singing, lifehacks, music, and the occasional odd Armenian videos, the platform serves every teen's interest. As a result, it creates and triggers addiction to mindless scrolling. Nowadays, the problem is that sometimes, people use TikTok just to fill time, and this creates to be addictive both physically and psychologically.
This app is, of course, primarily popular among teenagers since their interests can be easily found on TikTok. Ranging from transformation videos to singing, lifehacks, music, and the occasional odd Armenian videos, the platform serves every teen's interest. As a result, it creates and triggers addiction to mindless scrolling. Nowadays, the problem is that sometimes, people use TikTok just to fill time, and this creates to be addictive both physically and psychologically.
Scrolling through TikTok without understanding its function has become a favorite activity for people of different ages, mainly teenagers, during the last two years, which led some people to addiction and showed its toxic effects.
Tiktok's presence in the world changed how people communicate through phones. Indeed TikTok is frequently used for showing some talents like drawing, dancing, and doing magic tricks, which makes people addicted to this app. The algorithm of TikTok makes people be
in the habit of using this, as it sends attractive notifications and takes control over the users.
Tiktok's presence in the world changed how people communicate through phones. Indeed TikTok is frequently used for showing some talents like drawing, dancing, and doing magic tricks, which makes people addicted to this app. The algorithm of TikTok makes people be
in the habit of using this, as it sends attractive notifications and takes control over the users.
Karine is 14 years old but has an addiction to TikTok. She is constantly trying to be in trend on TikTok and often makes numerous dancing videos that are not suitable for a 14-year-old girl. Ashkhen, Karine's mother, stated, "one day when I entered Karine's room, I saw her dancing a TikTok dance Toxic by Britney Spears; oh my God, I at that time felt so bad, as I couldn't believe that my 14 years old child is dancing such an unpleasant dance."
"TikTok use made Karine include in her behavior mood modification, the ever-increasing use of TikTok over time, we also started to disagree with each other a lot because sometimes I restrict Karine to use TikTok," said Ashkhen. "This is all TikTok, which made Karine addicted to that," and Ashkhen added, "besides that, she is dancing such dances at home; when I restrict or stop using TikTok, she also starts to experience unpleasant physical and emotional effects."
"TikTok use made Karine include in her behavior mood modification, the ever-increasing use of TikTok over time, we also started to disagree with each other a lot because sometimes I restrict Karine to use TikTok," said Ashkhen. "This is all TikTok, which made Karine addicted to that," and Ashkhen added, "besides that, she is dancing such dances at home; when I restrict or stop using TikTok, she also starts to experience unpleasant physical and emotional effects."
Ashkhen said that when Karine is restricted from using TikTok for two hours, her mood immediately falls, and she becomes depressed. Karine and Ashken began to have conflicting arguments lately.
"I don't understand what is the problem with TikTok; I just like dancing and watching dancing videos, so I have my TikTok account and post my dancing videos there," said Karine. As she said, she gets stressed when her mother restricts her from using TikTok. She can't stop watching TikTok because "every minute there are updates," and she always wants to be in trend. Karine stated, " I don't permanently make videos; I just watch them, and daily I watch TikTok for 6 hours, I checked it."
"I don't understand what is the problem with TikTok; I just like dancing and watching dancing videos, so I have my TikTok account and post my dancing videos there," said Karine. As she said, she gets stressed when her mother restricts her from using TikTok. She can't stop watching TikTok because "every minute there are updates," and she always wants to be in trend. Karine stated, " I don't permanently make videos; I just watch them, and daily I watch TikTok for 6 hours, I checked it."
As Karine said, “ I feel pleasure when I receive a notification, such as a like or comment.” Ashkhen said that the way Karine reflects on the likes and comments of her posted videos on TikTok gives her happiness; it seems she lives with all those likes and comments. When the notification comes to her phone from TikTok, she immediately wants to know what it is.
Undoubtedly, Karine is suffering from TikTok addiction. Seeing as this addiction is treatable, Ashken and Karine are taking steps to do so. The school psychologist is working with Karine to solve the issue. Karine is trying to balance the screen time of TikTok and consciously starts to see not only the advantages of TikTok but also its disadvantages. As Ashkhen stated, "what is important now is that my daughter is starting to be emotionally stable, and we try to get along with each other."
Undoubtedly, Karine is suffering from TikTok addiction. Seeing as this addiction is treatable, Ashken and Karine are taking steps to do so. The school psychologist is working with Karine to solve the issue. Karine is trying to balance the screen time of TikTok and consciously starts to see not only the advantages of TikTok but also its disadvantages. As Ashkhen stated, "what is important now is that my daughter is starting to be emotionally stable, and we try to get along with each other."
Nare Baghdasaryan
Photo taken by Nare Baghdasaryan
Louis Sullivan
Housing designer in the Johnathan Hay Centre that provided a "culturally specific living" for laborers and migrants from the countryside.
Problems and Benefits
of Smoking Restrictions
in Cafes and Restaurants
of Smoking Restrictions
in Cafes and Restaurants
May 2022
Recently, there were changes in the policy of smoking law. Just a little over a month ago, people could smoke different types of cigarettes in cafés and restaurants. However, now, it is banned to do so. These restrictions started on March 15, 2022. There are mixed reactions regarding the restriction towards this restriction. On one hand, there are those in praise of the ban, seeing as a healthier atmosphere can be created in cafés and restaurants. Another reason for being in support of the ban is that people breathe cigarette smoke unconsciously, and as a result, they are "passive smokers." In addition, most people state that they are paying to eat decent cuisine, not to be turned off by foul odors. They say cafes or restaurants are not made to cover people's desire to smoke. There are different cigarette smoking zones and cafes where you can go and enjoy your smoking. However, many people argue and disagree with the restrictions for several reasons:
The majority make the point that leaving a café every 15 minutes in order to smoke outside causes a great deal of discomfort. Furthermore, they argue that the restrictions only welcome people who don't smoke, and it is not fear against people who smoke. In disagreement with the misconception that there are many smoker friendly places, they argue that this is not the case. Because of Armenian traffic jams and traffic conditions we all cannot spend time getting to the cafe where it is allowed to smoke. In addition to that, people prefer to get to the closest restaurant to our workplace and have a cup of coffee and smoke during our break. However, the closest cafe is not always the one where it is allowed to smoke.
Samvel Karapetyan, a CEO of a cafe located in the city center of Armenia, responded to this debated topic and gave some perspective from the. When asked how these changes affect business and income, he replied that the changes caused a severe toll on both aspects. " Imagine how many people stopped coming to the cafes because of not being allowed to smoke and drink a cup of coffee." Samvel continued," We highly encourage that the cafe's environment should be well organized for everyone. Therefore, we have separated our cafe into smoking and non-smoking areas, and we were not having problems with the client about the smell of smoke." He concluded with the phrase that “the cafe industry will suffer because of not having enough clients due to this change.”
Ashot Minasyan, the CEO of an open restaurant around the opera theatre, spoke about the devastating problems in the cafe industry as summer approaches. When asked about the affects of the newly implemented law, he said, "These changes will cause severe issues to people who are running cafe and restaurant business. I have been in the cafe industry for almost seven years, and I am not sure I can handle these changes. The main problem is that our cafe is a specific place where people enjoy having a great cake, smoking cigars, and drinking Armenian "Ararat" brandy. He concluded “that even though the "system" requires to follow the rules and do not allow smoking in the territory of a cafe, he is not going to restrict it fully. Otherwise, he will be in need to close the cafe.”
To provide a more clear conclusion, maybe change this to "The core point provided by both business owners is that there is a great amount of hope that this law will be overturned. That being said, there seems to be a long way ahead before there can be certainty of any changes
Ashot Petrosyan
Louis Sullivan
Housing designer in the Johnathan Hay Centre that provided a "culturally specific living" for laborers and migrants from the countryside.
Getting Prettier
vs.
Getting Disfigured
vs.
Getting Disfigured
May 2022
In the last ten years, girls and not only brought a new trend to our society– Cosmetology. People today in Yerevan not only use it for medical purposes like prevention of acne or various skin problems but for better looking. However, sometimes, these magical interventions have a negative impact. There are many cases when less informed or even uninformed girls, instead of becoming beautiful, have become disfigured because of inadequate and wrong "professionals," if we can name them like that.
We see different girls with the same facial features walking on Yerevan's streets. Sometimes girls who decide to do this magical therapy become addicted to them and cannot stop themselves from new procedures. These procedures include botox, cheek lift, lip fillers, skin boosters, face thread lift, etc.
Anna Gevorgyan, a 22-year-old-student at Yerevan State University, became a victim of cosmological procedures. She said that sometimes when she watches Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok, she sees ideal girls with perfect skins with perfect shapes and facial features, which makes her feel uncomfortable and nervous in her own body. "Did you see Kendall Jenner or Angelina Jolie? They are perfect, and every girl dreams of having a face and body like them." She also added that she dreamed about this since her school years as she got bullied because of her tiny lips and round face.
Anna Gevorgyan, a 22-year-old-student at Yerevan State University, became a victim of cosmological procedures. She said that sometimes when she watches Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok, she sees ideal girls with perfect skins with perfect shapes and facial features, which makes her feel uncomfortable and nervous in her own body. "Did you see Kendall Jenner or Angelina Jolie? They are perfect, and every girl dreams of having a face and body like them." She also added that she dreamed about this since her school years as she got bullied because of her tiny lips and round face.
As Dr. Babayan highlighted, it is the biggest mistake of girls when they decide to pay less money for doing this kind of serious procedure on their faces and bodies. Nevertheless, it is not only consumers' fault as many "cosmetologists" are advertising themselves very convincing and showing their procedures look much better than they actually are.
Now Anna is struggling to bring back her face."If I have a chance to change something, I will first of all change my mindset as I can't understand how I gave much more attention to cost than the quality." she added.
Now Anna is struggling to bring back her face."If I have a chance to change something, I will first of all change my mindset as I can't understand how I gave much more attention to cost than the quality." she added.
"After one hour, I understood that I could not feel my lips at all, and it was hard to speak. My mouth was paralyzed, and my whole face started to burn and blush." After Anna sent her pictures to the cosmetologist, the cosmetologist said that it was not her mistake and Anna had probably done something wrong and then blocked Anna on Instagram.
Anna decided to visit a specialized clinique which cost her more than she paid to her previous cosmetologist. As Dr. Kristina Babayan mentioned, the products they removed from Anna's lips were probably expired. "It is inevitable not to face problems when choosing cheap botox. There are many side effects of cheap botox and fillers. Uneven/asymmetrical results, over-injected (frozen) look, treatment injected into a blood vessel, damage to facial nerves, higher risk of infection, Botulinum toxin flowing through the bloodstream, etc."
Anna decided to visit a specialized clinique which cost her more than she paid to her previous cosmetologist. As Dr. Kristina Babayan mentioned, the products they removed from Anna's lips were probably expired. "It is inevitable not to face problems when choosing cheap botox. There are many side effects of cheap botox and fillers. Uneven/asymmetrical results, over-injected (frozen) look, treatment injected into a blood vessel, damage to facial nerves, higher risk of infection, Botulinum toxin flowing through the bloodstream, etc."
Zhaklin Sahakyan
Louis Sullivan
Housing designer in the Johnathan Hay Centre that provided a "culturally specific living" for laborers and migrants from the countryside.
Comebacks in Fashion Trends
May 2022
Fashion trends have become an indispensable part of everyone's life. Many people, especially women, like to follow fashion "rules" and always remain trendy. A number of famous designers are creating trends and styles and making people follow them.
One primary rule in fashion is that trends always need to be changed. So, a popular thing in changing trends is fashion comebacks. Almost everyone knows that fashion trends repeat every 20-30 years; this is what we call "fashion comebacks." There are different explanations and opinions on why some trends come back. If asked, most people will say that trends come back because the generation is being changed.
Marianna is holding a fashion blog on Instagram and often shares some exciting and stylish trends because her followers are always asking her about the trendy styles; she confessed that while sharing some trends, she often refers to fashion comebacks. "Latest fashion comeback was 90s fashion, like platform heels, crystal mesh dresses, bright colors, etc. I shared it with my lovely followers as that's my personal favorite fashion comeback cause I adore sparkly things. Also, platform shoes throw me back into the embrace of childhood, whereas I was watching a movie called Bratz, and the heroines were all wearing platform heels," she said. Additionally, the blogger highlighted that she was surprised cause all the responses from her followers were positive, and everyone agreed that platform shoes give memories from childhood. "This is one thing that I like about fashion comebacks; it often can mentally take us to our childhood and give beautiful memories," Marianna noticed.
Marianna Asatryan, popular with the nickname "Malisiesta," a 21-year-old girl who is a famous fashion blogger on Instagram, considers fashion comebacks important. In a question about why fashion trends come back, she replied that fashion houses are often getting inspired from previous years and creating new on the basis of the old, which most of the time causes a commotion among fashionistas. Marianna also added that inspiration is one of the essential tools in fashion. So, besides the fact that designers are getting inspired by previous trends, some people are being inspired by their parents' or grandparents' looks and want those trends to come back again.
Anna Shahnazaryan
So, fashion comebacks are essential, and they give people good vibes. If they were not important and had a huge role in fashion in the fashion schools and universities, this topic would not be taught.
Natalie Baghdasaryan is a 20-year-old girl who is a student at Marangoni Fashion Institute in Milan, Italy. Marangoni Institute is considered one of the best fashion design institutions all over the world. Natalie is a second-year student at Marangoni, and she said that they often refer to fashion comebacks in their studies. "Comebacks in fashion trends are very popular these days, and we often talk about them during our classes," she said. She added that one day they discussed that trends are not coming back just because people are getting inspired by old trends, but because people are often unable to create totally new trends and take some details from the old trends. In a question is it necessary to follow fashion comebacks to be considered trendy, Natalie answered that there are no forces in the fashion. What she meant is that no one can tell you whether you should wear a specific thing or not. If a person like a trend, they will follow it. In a question about why fashion comebacks are so famous, she replied that many people have favorite celebrities from an early age, and they became to dress like them, and their looks are becoming fashion comebacks. "For example, these days, many young girls try to dress like Princess Diana at her times, and this makes fashion comebacks. When looking at this year's comebacks, you will see that most of the trends are inspired by Princess Diana," Natalie concluded.
