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Social Media Did Not Cause the London Riots

August 14, 2011 By 8 Comments
riot-social-media-London

After four days of looting and rioting across the UK, people are looking for answers. The violence that started in London, spread rapidly across not only Greater London, but most of the country, not as single oozing mass, but more like an outbreak of the measles. Its speed and range is attributed to the rioters' use of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Blackberry Messenger. Information and disinformation alike travel fast in social networks. As people try to make sense in the aftermath, an emerging theme is the culpability of social media. Focusing blame on social media is akin to killing the messenger and is both naïve and dangerous. Social media is just a tool. It's a powerful one, but a tool nonetheless. It can be used in good ways and bad ways, just like a hammer or a baseball bat. While the riots raised legitimate questions about social and government systems, it has also put social media squarely in the sights of the politicians. Social media is an easy target. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Psychology Tagged With: , ,

Behavioral Targeting: Violating Transparency

July 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
lock screen

Behavioral targeting gives a whole new meaning to net neutrality. It violates the foundations of a social media environment: authenticity and transparency. If the majority of online users don’t want to have their online search activities tracked, advertisers and search companies are walking a fine line between profit and a huge public relations disaster when they target consumers. Search engines can help advertisers target us, but in doing so, they "invisibly"skew our search results and make our world narrower and less rich. Whatever happened to freedom of information? Media Post reported on a study by TRUSTe showing that only 11% of the participants were comfortable with online behavioral advertising (Web Users Uneasy With Behavioral Targeting.) In behavioral advertising, our browser behaviors -- where we search, what we search for, and how often we do it -- are tracked in order to provide ads targeted at us based on our perceived likes and buying habits. Forty two percent of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Brands & Identity, Psychology, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , ,

Hating Selena Gomez

July 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber

I don't hate Selena Gomez.  I didn't know who she was until I read the news reports about death threats and flows of vitriolic Tweets from Justin Bieber's female fans.  In fact, I admire her talent and  anyone willing to work that hard work, especially at a young age.  But from the eyes of passionate teenage Bieber fans, I do understand how some might feel the rage of rejection and lash out against the cold harsh world of reality by inappropriately targeting Ms. Gomez. Parasocial affection for Bieber turned into rejection-rage for Selena In 1956, Horton and Wohl published a seminal paper on parasocial interaction.  Parasocial interaction is the illusion of a real life, face-to-face, reciprocal relationship with someone you've seen in the media but don't actually know, such as a performer like Justin Bieber.  This is not a psychological aberration.  The evolution and ubiquity of Internet access, social networking sites, smartphones, YouTube channels, and the rawness of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cognition, Culture & Society, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , , ,

Should Teachers and Students Be Facebook Friends?

June 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Prohibiting teachers from Facebook is like putting your head in the sand

Ask most students if they are Facebook friends with their teachers and they will tell you, “it depends on the teacher.”  That alone should tell us that a blanket policy prohibiting teachers from interacting on social networks with students is the functional equivalent of burying your head in the sand. As social networks become a normal means of connection, it’s time to step back and examine the underlying purposes that the social networking tools facilitate.   Facebook currently has everyone’s attention but it’s not because the relationships on it are unique relative to other types of social media.  It’s because it is so in-your-face.  Facebook, much to Mark Zuckerberg’s delight I’m sure, has become synonymous with social media, like Kleenex is for tissues.  In the past week alone, I’ve been asked if Facebook means we have to give up our privacy, be friends with people we don’t want to be friends with, and whether or not it’s okay to connect with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Psychology, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , ,
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