Cyberpsychology Digest Volume 1
I’m constantly coming across academic journal articles, news stories and blog articles that are directly related to Cyberpsychology that are incredibly interesting, controversial, questionable and are often a source of inner debate. Therefore, I’ve decided to start sharing them here in the hopes of highlighting the importance of applying psychological research and theory to various technology related fields. I’m planning on making this a monthly post and if anyone has anything they’d like to contribute, or even related articles, feel free to drop me a comment or an e-mail.
Cyberpsychology Digest Volume 1
Can Grand Theft Auto improve social skills?: Some media attention was given to this story and at first I was quite skeptical, that was of course until I read the original article on the University of Sunderland website. Chris Whitehead, the final year Psychology student, points out how previous research has focused on the adverse effects of violent video games on children, when such games are actually targeted towards adults and can have positive effects upon their intended audience. Related article: Link between online gaming and violence killed off
Early Sexual Experiences: The Role of Internet Access and Sexually Explicit Material: This study reports that participants who had access to the Internet during the ages of 12 and 17 reported engaging in sexual intercourse at a younger age than those that did not have Internet access.
Mobile Phones are more important than Wallets and Keys: Nortel have conducted some extensive survey based research into global uses of communications technologies. The most interesting information derived from this is how survey respondents indicated that the one item they would choose to bring with them when leaving the house for 24 hours or more would be their mobile phone, choosing their mobile phone over their wallet or keys.
Exploring the Role of the Reader in the Activity of Blogging: Most research on the topic of blogging has focused on sociability (i.e. the blogosphere). This study investigated the behaviour of blog readers, discovering that blog reading often becomes similar to e-mail checking – i.e. less content orientated and habitual. Also of note is the conclusion that readers put pressure on themselves to produce worthwhile comments. An interesting study, however, a small criticism - the majority of participants were also blog writers, would be far more interesting to see this study applied to non bloggers. Related article: Are You Educating Your Readers About Blogging?
Being Human: Human Computer Interaction in the Year 2020: Findings from a HCI conference hosted by Microsoft which gives recommendations for the future of HCI to ensure that human values inform future development. For example, educating young people on the impact of technological advances and recognising the importance of specialists from other disciplines (e.g. psychology, sociology, arts) whom can offer more insightful perspectives. The report also argues for the need of proper monitoring and assessment to ensure that we individually and collectively stay in control of ourselves and the world around us. Related article: In a User Centric Web I get to control my data
If anyone has anything they’d like to contribute to the next digest, or related articles for this volume, feel free to drop me a comment or an e-mail - Sinéad.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Wow, you’ve been busy - given me a lot of interesting stuff to read there, thanks!
Congrats on the 100 posts :)
May 15th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Some great stuff to read…when I finish with all the gigs that is! Half debating about going back to do a Masters now…either something in Sociology…or Archaeology!
May 15th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
That’s so true about the phone! I feel like I’ve lost an arm if I leave home without it.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Nice post. Some interesting reading there (partic. the role of the reader in blogging).
(Admittedly I did not put a huge amount of thought into this comment)
May 16th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Hi Sinead - look forward to reading & contributing hopefully. Great idea!
Mary
May 16th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
@Darragh - Thanks, I’d be interested to hear your views on these stories.
@Tim - Try not to kill yourself with all those gigs. You should take a look at the huge number of evening and weekend Masters courses that are available (even the Open University). Admittedly, many of them are quite expensive, but it’s a rewarding experience to continue educating yourself.
@Aisling - I know exactly what you mean. Without my phone I feel completely disconnected from everyone, even feeling anxiety that someone might need me or that people might start worrying about me (namely my partner who I text obsessively throughout the day). That said, I probably wouldn’t get very far without any money!
@Darren - Hehe. Yeah, the role of the reader is something I’m really hoping to look into in my own research.
@Mary - Feel free to drop me an e-mail with anything you think would fit the bill. I still like my idea of starting a class group blog though!
May 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am
I noted that “Readers put pressure on themselves to produce worthwhile comments”. I’ve suffered from what I’d call ‘comment block’ when I’ve typed a comment and thought that’s shit and deleted it. I find it easier to write rubbish on my own blog than wreck someone else’s.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
That’s unfortunate, especially when many bloggers will agree that readers comments are an important motivation to continue blogging. Even a small comment saying “Great article” etc., can be fantastic encouragement. So next time you feel pressured, don’t forget that even a small two word comment can mean a lot to the author.
Thanks for the comment! :)
May 19th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
That’s a really interesting list of articles.
I’m particularly interested in the Role of the Reader in relation to blogging. Right, I’m off to give that report a proper read.
Oh and cheers Sinéad for adding me to your blogroll :)
May 19th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
No problem at all. Thanks again for those buttons.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Hi Sinéad - Just wanna say you gave me the inspiration through this post to start my own blog. I’ll be starting my M.Sc. in Cyberpsychology in October and I was thinking that if I’m really serious about this field that I should spread the word about the area of study.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
That’s great news. Good luck with the blog! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as you start your own studies in the field. I’m working on another Digest as we speak by the way.