Media Technology Monitor’s (MTM) latest report, Social Media During Covid-19, finds that use of TikTok tripled among online Canadians, 18+, during the pandemic. Just three per cent of online Canadians said they used the app in Fall 2019, compared to nine per cent in Spring 2020. The video sharing platform is most popular among young people with 40% of those aged 18-24 and 36% of all online Canadian teens having used the app in the past month. Teen girls are more than 50% more likely to be using the app as teenage boys. Overall, nearly half of Anglophone social networkers aged 18+ felt that their use of social networks increased compared to the pre-lockdown period. The biggest increase came among online Anglophones aged 65+. While social networkers are more likely to read online news content than those not on social media, MTM found they are still more likely to get news from TV or broadcaster websites.

Media Central Corporation, the parent company of NOW Magazine and The Georgia Straight, has set Dec. 30 as the date for a Special Meeting of Shareholders. The meeting was requested by what a press release refers to as a group of “dissident shareholders”  who “continue to create an unnecessary distraction from managing the day-to-day business of MediaCentral, especially during a pandemic, which began affecting MediaCentral within mere months of its launch.” “During our 2020 AGM, we saw over 57% of the issued and outstanding shares of MediaCentral vote their shares and the majority expressed their confidence in the Company by duly re-electing the Board of Directors,” stated Brian Kalish, President and CEO, in the release. “While this is an unfortunate disruption especially in these times, we remain committed to ensuring that every shareholder of MediaCentral has the ability to have their voice heard.”