Social media is the universal platform for communication, entertainment, and a way to feel involved in the world. Social media is used by nearly 225.61 million US citizens a day according to statistita.com. In other parts of the world there is a total of 3.78 billion users according to oberlo.com. Social media is a method that expanded our generation to new lengths in terms of how we share and receive information. For example, when Facebook was released, it was just a communication place for Zuckerberg and his fellows at Harvard. You can learn more by clicking here. The intention was never to become a huge company but a way of communication. Alongside Instagram, its primary purpose was to become a photography application. But now these two primary sources of today’s generation is how we see what other’s are doing and can see events from a long distance and even dance to music directly. A new Chinese app called “TikTok” or originally “Musically” is a dancing to music platform. What does that mean, people record themselves in a 10–30 second time frame dancing or lip syncing to a specific sound or music. This app has made so many people addicted and has made people go viral for simple dances. For example, the famous TikTok star, “Charli D’amelio” has over 100 million followers for her dances. One of them being the renegade created by Jalaiah Harmon, a 14 year old from Atlanta Georgia. This dance has become the most danced movement from 2019–2020. TikTok and its competitor Instagram with Instagram Reels, also get content other than dances, people also post funny videos, life hacks, food hacks, and other entertaining pieces. This generation has made people viral with social media. One of the main reasons it mostly happens in these platforms except for Facebook is because teens have the ideology that Facebook is for elderly people, so they don’t use that platform. Another popular app, SnapChat, is mostly for chatting and using funny filters that change your appearance or can change your voice. Platforms like these are all serving one purpose, influence users to publish content. Social media has a huge impact on a teen’s life because of its use of communication and entertainment. The best thing about it, it’s all FREE. No charges for using the app, but of course the company gets money for the amount of users on the platform. Social media recently has been used by current President Trump on the app Twitter for encouraging the riot of the capitol. As we all know President Trump has “tweeted” a lot of false information and accusations on Twitter, as stated in various CNN interviews. This has led to people having riots such as the one that happened in the capital hill and protests such as the one that we all have heard of, Voter Fraud. As a result to the controversy, Facebook and Instagram decided to delete his account and ban him from his accounts. But enough about President Trump let’s talk about how social media affects a person. View the video by Jubilee that discusses about the pro’s and cons of social media.

Elon musk and other successful people are now the top people that rule our technology, society, and how we do things. In an Instagram Reel, Elon musks states, “Colleges are for fun and that you can do your chores” Some people agree with this statements. Multiple people of wealth and fame and intelligence such as Elon musk, Bill gates, and others say the same thing. College isn’t nessecary to succeed. In fact, Elon in previous interviews stated that you don’t have to have a college degree or a high school degree to work at Tesla. You just need to demonstrate that you are willing to work hard and demonstrate that you can apply the things they teach you to that job. So, the big question here is “Why do colleges exist and do you need to go to college to be successful in life”?

Winter Break is here! With that, there are many activities you can do during the break. One holiday favorite is watching Christmas movies. Here are 10 Christmas movies the Knight Times team recommends watching over the next few days of break. #9: Elf: Buddy’s Sing & Cheer Along (PG)

Code is the very thing that makes our devices run and perform certain tasks. Think about it as a mini computer. Without programmers, working devices would not exist and we may still be using mail to communicate. People think of programming as boring, time-consuming, and a waste of time. While some of it may be true at times, programming is the fundamental of every electronic. Programming opens up a new world of not just learning how to code, or using a interactive development environment (IDE) or Online Editors such as Wix, WordPress, and Google Sites, but also the design process. The design of the process is what makes websites so beautiful and appealing to other people.

Movies and TV shows are a huge part of how we entertain ourselves. Streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Video, and due to this epidemic, much more have joined the fray such as HBO Max and Peacock. The epidemic drastically changed the movie industry. Theaters have been forced to shut down as they could lead to a spread of the virus. Because of this, streaming services have been dominating the industry. Over the span of COVID-19, more people around the world started watching shows to entertain themselves while in quarantine. Usually, to watch the newest movies, people are required to go to theaters such as AMC, Regal, Cinemark, etc. However, as time goes on, movies have evolved, and so has the way you may view them. Streaming services have revolutionized how and where people can view -new or upcoming, to old and classic- movies and TV shows. You could be watching the latest Marvel movie on your couch, or even catch up on “The Sopranos” during your commute.

Throughout my time at Neo City I have faced many challenges and obstacles that have helped me become a better individual and student, but one thing that I could always count on to stay consistent was the grading system. This year was, however, different. The students were greeted with a…

The Student Government Association (SGA) is a student run organization within NeoCity Academy. Events and ceremonies held by the school are planned by SGA and the officers elected by the student body. NeoCity Academy has had a wonderful group of students each year within the SGA that all work together in order to create a fun and exciting school year. The different officer positions that an SGA member can run for includes President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Club Ambassador, and a Class President for every grade level. Everyone else within SGA is then split into different committees that handles responsibilities such as funding for clubs to the planning of fun events. The four committees are for events, student outreach, and finance. It is up to the entire school to elect members of the SGA for the different officer positions.

Everyone can agree that the past eight months may not have been the most desirable, and with the continuous spread of COVID-19, many students are wondering how they will attend school. Through hopes of adapting to the unfortunate circumstances, Osceola County provided parents and their children an alternative for returning to school in 2020: online schooling! Most students had a taste of this at the end of the last school year, so this option is not too unfamiliar. However, similar to going to school in person, new standards and routines may be implemented to last the semester. The following interviews are from two students that have opposing thoughts on the subject.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19, NeoCity Academy has implemented different methods of dealing with the pandemic. Many are used to the traditional paper-and-pencil grading where students turn in work in person, but NeoCity has always been using tools like Canvas and Office 365 in their student’s learning. Canvas is…