The Psychology of Social Media

Psychological theories are vital for the success of an online community in order to attract users and promote interactions among them. There must be a driving force that motivates people to go to the site, join, and then actively engage in it on a continual basis. Therefore, it is imperative to know and apply psychological, cognitive, and communication theories when creating an online community so you can not only attract users to your site, but keep them there by meeting their needs. Social Cognition Theory is a vital theory in an online community since users can observe the behaviors of other users, and then understand how to adequately address the topics and interact in the online environment (Kanhadilok & Watts, 2014).

However, from a personal standpoint, what causes us to want to participate is social media? Being acknowledged plays a big motivating factor for users to post on Facebook. However, what about if no one ‘likes’ your post, or acknowledges it with a comment? How does a user feel then? Do we post for our own memories’ sake, or do we post with the expectation that we will receive feedback or acknowledgements? Are we motivated by social acceptance, and if so what about when someone ‘unfriends’ you? How does that leave a user feeling?

This is where social media can cause disappointment or leave users feeling neglected or rejected by their friends. The reasons behind their rejection can be caused by a variety of reasons, including annoyance of the messages or posts, or their friend’s behavior in the offline world. The interesting aspect about these online interactions though is that those who were unfriended, suddenly find that they no longer want to associate with those friends in real life.(Gashi & Knautz, 2015). Thus, it would appear that social media is not only a reflection of our interactions in the real world, but our virtual interactions can carry over to our physical world and can impact relationships in negative ways.

On the other hand, social media can also support us in times of need where ‘friends’ come out of the wood work to donate money or provide words of encouragement during difficult times.  Facebook accounts can also be living photo albums of interactive memories with our loved ones and there can be many benefits associated with these interactions. It is not only a great way to stay in touch with others, but a good way to gain insight into those we love by the posts they make.

Social media has many benefits in this way, and it is wonderful that some of these interactions became real world interactions and support when we can need them the most. One study supported this theory by finding that people with large social networks may benefit from the support they receive by the sheer numbers of having many friends, even more so than if they had a smaller and closer network of friends (Manago, Taylor, & Greenfield, 2012). Therefore, it would appear that there is power in numbers, and when we receive an outpouring of support from friends, whether they be close or distant, it still means a lot.

However, what information are we providing to those around us by the posts that we make? Or the friends that we have? It would appear that who we are, and what we think of ourselves and others is no longer based solely in the physical world, but the virtual world which is rapidly shaping how we view ourselves, the world, and others around us.

References

Gashi, L., & Knautz, K. (2015). Somebody that I used to know - unfriending and becoming unfriended on facebook. Proceedings of the European Conference on E-Learning, , 583-590. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=108723196&site=eds-live&scope=site

Kanhadilok., P., & Watts, M. (2014). Adult play-learning: Observing informal family education at a science museum. Studies in the Education of Adults, 46(1), 23-41. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=101676059&site=eds-live&scope=site

Manago, A. M., Taylor, T., & Greenfield, P. M. (2012). Me and my 400 friends: The anatomy of college students' facebook networks, their communication patterns, and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 369-380. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ979957&site=eds-live&scope=site; http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026338

 

Catheryn Reardon, M. Ed.
Adjunct Professor
Georgia Military College-Online Campus

Weekly Wrap Up- February 26th

Weekly Wrap Up 2-26-16

Happy leap year to you all and happy Friday! Do you have any friends that have Leap Day birthdays? If so, be sure to tell them happy birthday on Monday; after all, it does only come around every four years!  

Reminder: THIS SUNDAY, February 28^th, is THE last day to request a withdrawal! Please be sure to send in your requests no later than midnight on Sunday!

We are heading into the final week of the winter term! Week 8 officially ends this FRIDAY! This is different from the normal end date of Sunday, so make sure all of your assignments are completed by midnight this Friday! This is necessary so that your professors can grade all of your assignments and turn in grades on time. If you have any questions, be sure to contact your professors.

Have you subscribed to the blog yet? If not, sign up today!

Good luck during finals! 

What Is Psychology?

When people find out that you are studying Psychology, they are bound to make comments like, “Don’t analyze me!” or ask questions like, “Can you tell me what I'm thinking right now?” 

What is the study of Psychology really about? What do you really learn in this degree program? Having an understanding of the field is necessary for anyone who is interested in it as a career or program of study.

First you need to know how Psychology is different from Psychiatry. Psychiatrists have a specialized medical degree, meaning that they can prescribe medications for mental disorders. Psychologists have a broader focus on mental illness and behavior, they can hold a variety of different jobs in counseling, research, and assessments.

Psychology is the study of people, the mind, and behavior. Starting out, you will learn a great deal about behaviors and mental processes, famous theories and theorists, and the background of behaviors. Students will be delving into topics related to psychological principles and concepts, the scientific method, and historical and current trends in Psychology.If you choose to study Psychology at GMC, you will take courses such as Introduction to Psychology, Human Growth and Development, Psychology of Adjustment, and Research Methods. GMC Online’s Associate degree in Psychology is great for anyone who is interested in and wants to go further into the field and move on to a bachelor’s program.

Learn more about Psychology and the program that GMC offers.

http://www.all-about-psychology.com/what-is-psychology.html 

Psychology and Technology

Psychology is a field that not only applies to human behavior, but with the development of technology and AI programs like Apple’s SIRI, artificial intelligence is rapidly emerging using psychological theories as a foundation for their programming. B.F. Skinner was influential in the area of behavior with his theory of operant conditioning by identifying the factors which caused behavior. In doing so, he was able to develop his theory of positive and negative reinforcement as a tool to teach and modify behavior through operant conditioning (Iversen, 1992). It is through this process of reinforcement learning that developers program artificial intelligence and bring psychological methods into the fields of technology and engineering.

Reinforcement learning (RL) is used to program artificial intelligence software programs like SIRI. However, reinforcement learning is not only used in programs to make adaptable software for consumer use, it is also used for the adaptions involved in the learning of robots. This occurs when reinforcement learning algorithms can be applied to the machines themselves in order to assist them in making adaptations and adjustments in their abilities as they learn. A set of behaviors are programmed into the robot, along with parameters and rules which assist the robot in perceiving the situation and then corresponding it to a specific behavior rule. The robot then learns which behaviors are needed and which strategies should be used, thus modifying its behavior to accomplish a task (Song, Li, Wang, Ma, & Ruan, 2014).

These types of reinforcement learning behaviors and modifications to artificially intelligent robots are paramount in order for them to meet their potential (Hester & Stone, 2013). To best serve mankind, robots can visit places that are far too dangerous for man to explore. For example, the MARS Rover is able to retrieve samples and data from the planet Mars in order to further scientific research on other planets. However, it is still very reliant upon communications from NASA and regular software updates to keep it running (Wright, 2013). The future of these types of missions could improve vastly if AI robots could think for themselves, and be able to tackle challenges without communications from earth. This is where the future of psychology and technology lies, and its potential is as far reaching as the galaxy itself.

References

Hester, T., todd@cs.utexas.edu, & Stone, P., pstone@cs.utexas.edu. (2013). TEXPLORE: Real-time sample-efficient reinforcement learning for robots. Machine Learning, 90(3), 385-429. doi:10.1007/s10994-012-5322-7

Iversen, I. H. (1992). Skinner's early research: From reflexology to operant conditioning. American Psychologist, 47(11), 1318-1328. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.47.11.1318

Song, Y., Li, Y., Wang, X., Ma, X., & Ruan, J. (2014). An improved reinforcement learning algorithm for cooperative behaviors of mobile robots. Journal of Control Science & Engineering, , 1-8. doi:10.1155/2014/270548

Wright, A. (2013). Revving the rover. Communications of the ACM, 56(2), 14-16. doi:10.1145/2408776.2408782

Catheryn Reardon, M. Ed.
Adjunct Professor
Georgia Military College-Online Campus

Weekly Wrap Up- February 19th

This past Monday was President’s Day, which is the celebration of President Washington’s Birthday. GMC celebrated Presidents day last Friday, with a parade at the Milledgeville campus. The ceremony also gave us time to honor Colonel Fred Van Horn, who retired after serving GMC for the past 21 years. During his time with GMC he served as Commandant of Cadets, Dean of Students, Adjunct Professor, GMC Director of Character Education, Executive Vice President, and even interim President. Thank you Colonel Van Horn for all your years of hard work for GMC! Check out our Instagram page for pictures of the event: @gmconlinecampus

The end of the term is approaching, be sure to check your grades and contact your professor if you have any questions. The last day to withdraw is the last day of week 7: Sunday, February 28^th. With the end of the term in mind, remember that all week 8 assignments are due Friday. This is different from the rest of the weeks, so be sure to be aware of this! You must complete the “Week 8 Deadline Information” section in order to have access to the week 8 assignments.

Remember, you have access to free tutoring 24/7 via tutor.com in your courses!! If you run out of time, please let your professor know! Good luck as the end of the term approaches and enjoy your weekend. 

Did you know you can subscribe to the blog for daily updates? Subscribe by entering your email address on our blog site under "Subscribe" on the right hand side of the page. 

Utilizing Your Resources

As the winter term is coming to a close, you all probably are working on end of the term research papers and essays.  It is important to understand how to utilize your resources that are integrated in each of your courses.

Below is a link to the GMC Library page to better explain how to prevent plagiarism when writing your essays.  I also included a video on how to navigate the GMC Library.

You will need to be logged into Moode to access the links below:

http://gmcga.libguides.com/copyright/plagiarism

http://gmc.mrooms3.net/mod/page/view.php?id=1253941&inpopup=1

Students Learn Differently

Technology is changing rapidly and evolving the way we teach and the way we learn daily.   How do you learn best? Would you define yourself as one of the three types of learner, auditory, visual, or kinesthetic?  If you’ve taken our PER 101 College Success course you may have a new view on your learning style. 

Often times we might meet our individual learning needs for convenience.    Do you spend a lot of time in the car and listen to audio books or recorded lectures on your way to each destination?  Or maybe you’ve sent a voice text through the Bluetooth in your car. Did you know that voice recognition or Dragon Speak has been used for decades to assist individuals with disabilities?

Here are other reasons why you might be an auditory learner; maybe you have a visual impairment that impedes the acquisition of visual materials. Or maybe you have a reading disability that impedes the way in which you process materials you see.  It’s possible that visual materials work better for you because you can follow it with more precision or you have a hearing impairment and acquire information visually.   All of these reasons are unique to the individual.

For each individual learning is a little different but there is a limitless world of resources to meet each individuals learning needs.  For whatever reason you have a need to use technology just reach out and search, a solution for your need will likely be available.  Here is a site that offers a list of technology that could change the way you attack your studies 25 Incredible Assistive Technologies.

Katie Johnson

Director of Academic Support