Facebook Leads Use in U.S., AT&T Bringing More Fiber to Indiana Cities, USDLA Holds Conference

July 20, 2022 – Statistics released Tuesday show Meta’s Facebook continues to be the most popular social media platform in the United States, with 78 percent of the U.S. population using it regularly.

“Facebook might not be ‘the’ social app for the youth anymore, but it still has an impressive reach among adults,” stated a press release.

YouTube, a video platform owned by Google, comes in second with 67 percent of the U.S. population using it. In third place was Meta-owned social media platform Instagram at 52 percent, and TikTok, the Chinese-based platform, came in fourth with 33 percent of respondents saying they regularly use the app.

These statistics were gathered in a Statista survey, conducted among 6764 U.S. respondents ages 18-64 between 2021-2022.

Indiana and AT&T bringing fiber to nine Indiana counties

The State of Indiana announced Tuesday that it will be utilizing AT&T fiber to bridge the digital divide.

A press release said AT&T and Indiana’s Next Level Connections Broadband Grant Program will work together to bring fiber to nearly 6,100 homes, businesses and farms in the following nine counties: Bartholomew, Clinton, Grant, Hendricks, Johnson, Lawrence, Montgomery, Morgan, and Putnam.

“We have a long history of connecting Hoosiers, and we’re excited about this opportunity to continue to work with the state and these local communities on closing the digital divide,” said Bill Soards, president of AT&T Indiana.

“This project would bring fiber-based internet to thousands who couldn’t get it before, and we’re grateful for AT&T’s plans for these communities,” said Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who also serves as Indiana’s secretary of agriculture and rural affairs.

AT&T has invested more than $1 billion in wireless networks across Indiana to increase coverage from 2019-2021, the company said. This project is estimated to cost $13 million, and work will start immediately following the final contract between AT&T and the state, as stated in a press release.

United States Distance Learning Association holds 35th national conference

In Nashville, Tennessee, between July 18-21, 2022, Boston-based non-profit USDLA is holding its 35th conference to promote the development and application of distance education.

During the conference, it is holding discussions on high-demand topics such as online teaching and training, digital strategies for classroom success, student engagement technology techniques, and distance and digital learning policies.

An event from Tuesday, “Mitigating Fakes and Misinformation in Emerging Metaverse Teaching and Learning Spaces,” led by Rebecca Blankenship focused on choosing the right technologies for the best educational materials for student learning.

Blankenship concluded that educators are tasked with the responsibility to select the appropriate web-based platforms, whether it be digital texts, the metaverse, video-based learning or a number of online programs using artificial intelligence to ensure against misinformation for their students.