Rebecca Ruiz

San Francisco

Senior Reporter at Mashable

Senior reporter @mashable. I cover mental health & more. Soccer forever. Opinions my own. Tips? rebecca at https://t.co/bZbyczRRr2. Also at @rebeccaruiz.bsky.social

Articles

Do sleep products for kids actually help? We talked to the experts.

1 week ago | mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

Parenting a sleep-resistant child is a thankless task that can drive even the most mature, loving adults to desperation. There are only so many times a night that you can be woken from a peaceful slumber to rub a child's back, adjust their blankets, or walk them back to bed.
'Thunderbolts*' tries to tackle mental illness. It almost works.

1 week ago | me.mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

Thunderbolts* comes by its unexpected tenderness honestly. In the latest installment of Marvel's never-ending superhero saga, the disaffected but charming Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) feels adrift, unfulfilled, and bored. As her adoptive father Alexei "Red Guardian" Shostakov (David Harbour) observes, the light inside her has gone dim. What started as ennui now looks more like stifling depression.
AI companions for teens: Why experts say they're not safe

1 week ago | mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

Millions of people are drawn to generative artificial intelligence companions, like the kind that populate Character.AI, Replika, and Nomi. The companions seem impressively human. They remember conversations and use familiar verbal tics. Sometimes they even mistake themselves for flesh and bone, offering descriptions of how they eat and sleep. Adults flock to these companions for advice, friendship, counseling, and even romantic relationships.
'Thunderbolts*' tries to tackle mental illness. It almost works.

1 week ago | mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

Thunderbolts* comes by its unexpected tenderness honestly. In the latest installment of Marvel's never-ending superhero saga, the disaffected but charming Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) feels adrift, unfulfilled, and bored. As her adoptive father Alexei "Red Guardian" Shostakov (David Harbour) observes, the light inside her has gone dim. What started as ennui now looks more like stifling depression.
AI companions aren't safe for anyone under 18, states blockbuster report

2 weeks ago | mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

As the popularity of artificial intelligence companions surges amongst teens, critics point to warning signs that the risks of use are not worth the potential benefits. Now, in-depth testing of three well-known platforms — Character.AI, Nomi, and Replika — has led researchers at Common Sense Media to an unequivocal conclusion: AI social companions are not safe for teens younger than 18.
Distracted drivers text, read, and make social media content, survey says

3 weeks ago | mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

On many roads across the U.S., this is a familiar scene: Drivers talk, text, click, scroll, read, and even film themselves to make social media content — all while piloting what is essentially a dangerous, or deadly, machine. Maybe you are even among these drivers. After all, your phone and its apps are built to keep you engaged. And that console on your dashboard constantly needs your attention with its alerts about slowdowns, incoming calls, and missed messages.
Report: 1 in 7 teens exchange explicit images online for money or goods

3 weeks ago | me.mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

A new survey is a wakeup call for parents who believe their teen would never exchange sexually explicit imagery of themselves for money or other valuable items like gift cards, clothing, gaming currency, and social media followers and likes. Thorn, a nonprofit organization that builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse, surveyed 1,200 teens and young adults. One in four teens said they were sexually solicited online for money, gifts, or social opportunities.
Report: 1 in 7 teens exchange explicit images online for money or goods

3 weeks ago | mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

Home > Life > Digital Culture How to talk to your teen about this very sensitive issue. Rebecca Ruiz Rebecca Ruiz Senior Reporter Rebecca Ruiz is a Senior Reporter at Mashable. She frequently covers mental health, digital culture, and technology. Her areas of expertise include suicide prevention, screen use and mental health, parenting, youth well-being, and meditation and mindfulness.
Instagram will use AI to identify teens using adult accounts

3 weeks ago | me.mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

It's an open secret that some teens circumvent social media platform age restrictions by simply giving the wrong birth date when they sign up. Instagram already uses AI to determine age, but the platform will begin testing the technology's ability to proactively find teens on accounts with an adult birthday listed. Instagram will then place them in its teen account settings, which have a number of safety features. Recently, Instagram began restricting teens under 16 from going live.
Instagram will use AI to identify teens using adult accounts

3 weeks ago | mashable.com | Rebecca Ruiz

It's an open secret that some teens circumvent social media platform age restrictions by simply giving the wrong birth date when they sign up. Now Instagram will use artificial intelligence in order to identify those users and route them back into age-appropriate "teen accounts," according to an Instagram blog post published Monday.