Ciarán Mc Mahon's Blog

just a little test

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Hello all,

I’ve gotten far too many awful ‘here’s our 2020 highlights’ corporate newsletters this week to inflict a similar one on all of you. So as this terrible year closes I’m just going to leave you with two passages from my recent work. The first is from the Introduction to the book and the second is a Twitter thread from the end of last month. (yes, Twitter threads count as work!).

The irony is that we are now being asked to place our trust in technology to at least partially get us out of this mess. As I mentioned in The Psychology of Social Media (Mc Mahon, 2019) an essential truth about social media services is that they encourage users to commodify themselves – their personal information, their emotions their sociality – and put it online. This is a reality that most of us feel uncomfortable about on the rare occasion when we pause to examine it. But now in 2020, we are being asked to share our location and interaction history with contact tracing apps, where the personal information is gathered for the purpose of saving lives. Will this feel less unpleasant, because we’re not generating private profit but attempting to help the greater good? Or will it feel more like the consolidation of this unease, a normalisation of this model of commodification and surveillance? 

Despite the fact that “tech-based solutions being pursued and deployed are far from ideal and have a number of issues that suggest they may not be fit-for-purpose” (Kitchin, 2020, p. 7), such smartphone applications are being pushed out by governments all across the world in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus. In that light, the failure of many advanced nations, including the United Kingdom, to build such an app without the involvement help of Google and Apple (Sabbagh & Hern, 2020) is remarkable. What does that say about state capacity to protect its citizens in the technology sphere? As one scholar has queried, even if these tech giants get everything right about the privacy aspects of these apps, is there still something fundamentally wrong (Sharon, 2020)? We are now at a point where tech corporations’ involvement in modern life has moved from the useful to the essential: it is difficult to see how societies can now function without them.

From ‘Introduction’ (p. 3), Psychological Insights for Understanding COVID-19 and Media and Technology 

I guess the lingering sense of discomfort I’m feeling these days is that whatever potential the 2020 COVID19 pandemic had to radically transform our societies for the better will be lost, just like it was after the 2008 financial crisis. The pandemic could have been controlled with more socialised, public health measures, but now the vaccine is going to arrive and save the day. There won’t need to be any reform there, the same bloated systems will limp on. All this craic about pedestrianisation of streets so more people could sit outside and eat – that won’t happen either. There will be no pressing need to, the urgency will fade away. All this talk of the ‘new normal’ – well, we never really left normality, did we? much of the semiotics of change we see around us are really very temporary. If you can enter any retail outlet these days, you will see perspex screens that look very flimsy, behind which staff are wearing their own masks (not branded) and struggling to communicate with customers and each other over piped muzak. I have yet to see a commercial environment which looks fundamentally changed. It all looks like it will revert to normal in an instant. Plus the fact that many Western governments seem to be relying on data interpreted by professional services firms – rather than publicly funded academics and scientists – well, this is all very 2009, isn’t it? So I guess to conclude I wonder what the 2021 terminology for ‘austerity’ will be.

From https://twitter.com/CJAMcMahon/status/1333062546979516419

Yes, you can get the cheery upbeat #content somewhere else! I promise to have more uplifting thoughts in the new year!

Seasons greetings and take care,

Ciarán

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Hello again,

It is utter chaos in our household today so getting this newsletter out on time is something of a miracle ! (We are having a stove installed in the living room, while the twins nap upstairs, while trying to pack for leaving as soon as the pandemic travel restrictions lift tomorrow…) . Hope all is much calmer wherever you are!

Anyway, this week Psychological Insights for Understanding COVID-19 and Media and Technology was published and is now shipping from the Routledge website – currently with a 20% discount on paperback, hardback and ebook . I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, and I believe that it adds a very useful dimension to the literature and will inspire many interesting conversations.

The chapters:

“When (fake) news feels true” by Norbert Schwarz and Madline Jalbert from The Psychology of Fake News: Accepting, Sharing, and Correcting Misinformation“Connections “, from my own  The Psychology of Social Media “When Do People Believe Conspiracy Theories? ” by Jan-Willem Van Prooijen from The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories“The dynamics of groups online ” by Olivia Hurley from An Introduction to Cyberpsychology“Belonging in an age of technology” by Kelly-Ann Allen from The Psychology of Belonging“How do online social networks influence people’s emotional lives? ” by Ethan Kross and Susannah Chandhok from Applications for Social Psychology“Online relationships formation” by Ilan Talmud and Gustavo Mesch from Wired Youth“Identity citizenship: Authenticity, intersectionality and a new populism” by Rob Cover from Emergent Identities: New Sexualities, Genders and Relationships in a Digital Era

As I mentioned last week, I am producing a podcast series based on this book where I interview the authors of these chapters. In the first episode, I spoke with Norbert Schwarz about his chapter and his thoughts on the psychology of fake news in the COVID era. I have to say, the response has been incredible – lots of really postive comments on what was a very enjoyable discussion

If you haven’t had a listen, see Spotify or iTunes or you can also watch short clips of the interview on Twitter and LinkedIn, and the full interview on YouTube. I have some more great interviews lined up for the new year and I look forward to sharing them with you then.

Secondly, in other news, myself and Jess Barker, Adrian Davis and Bruce Hallas have been working hard on the final corrections for our book which is due out next February.

Published by the British Computer Society, Cybersecurity ABCs : Delivering awareness, behaviours and culture changeguides organisations looking to create an enhanced security culture through improved understanding and practice of cybersecurity at an individual level. Crucial awareness, behaviour and culture concepts are covered from the ground up alongside practical tips and examples, providing a key resource for those looking to create lasting cybersecurity awareness, behavioural and culture change initiatives.

We’re really proud of this book – it brings something substantially different to the cybersecurity awareness industry, bringing together our respective experiences and knowledge into a unique product. Proofs will be with pre-publication reviewers soon and hopefully we will be shouting from the rooftops about it in the new year!

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Today, I just wanted to update you with some news.

First of all, my new book is shipping in next week. Psychological Insights for Understanding COVID-19 and Media and Technology is available for pre-order now on the Routledge website. There is currently a 20% discount too! which means you can pick it up for about £15 or €17 while the promotion lasts.

The book is an edited collection of previously published chapters which we’ve brought together to explore important themes in psychological science and media studies that engage with people’s experience of the pandemic. That means it examines topics from fake news, to social media, conspiracy theories, belonging, online emotional lives, relationship formation and identity.

Secondly, I am dipping my toe into the wonderful world of podcasting, with a series of interviews based around the new book. A little bit odd to be ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’ having been interviewed many times over the years but I had a lot of fun recording the first episode with Prof Norbert Schwarz of USC. I hope to have more interviews with the authors of the other chapters coming in due course too.

Prof Schwarz is a co-author of the first chapter in Psychological Insights for Understanding COVID-19 and Media and Technology – ‘When (Fake) News Feels True: Intuitions of Truth and the Acceptance and Correction of Misinformation”.

We had very interesting and I daresay profound discussion on the psychology of fake news – everything from the design of social media services, to media literacy to psychological science and much more beyond.

You can watch the full interview now on YouTube and you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1CKx1vfxn2Bsqhttps://open.spotify.com/show/1CKx1vfxn2Bsqg8thunRCY and iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/psychological-insights-for-understanding-covid-19-media/id1543411084. (NB if the interview isn’t there right now it should appear fairly soon so do please subscribe (and share!) and it should pop into your feed in the coming days).

Many thanks and hope you are all safe and well after this awful year,

Ciarán

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Let’s begin by specifying what we’re talking about – we need a definition! What exactly is social media? Everyone knows what social media is, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to define! You know it when you see it, right? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat – that kind of thing? But what about Wikipedia? Or WhatsApp? Are they social media too? If not, why not?

I define social media as online services which encourage users to digitise and publicly share previously private personal information. Whether it’s uploading a selfie or following celebrity accounts, social media services are constantly asking us to share more private information and personal opinions. Obviously, the idea here is to make our experience of these services more personalised for us and make it more relevant and enjoyable, but we should not forget the basic point here: social media runs on an engine whose fuel is human psychology.

In addition to this definition of social media, we should also consider the core features that we find in every service.

Core features:



Profiles : every social media service has a place that you can call your own little corner of the internet, where you can choose a username, add some information about yourself, upload a photograph and that kind of thing Connections : there has to be a feature where you can connect with other people, whether adding friends or family, or following other accounts or being followed by them Updates : whether tweets, status updates or blog posts, there also has to be a feature where you can write something in plain text Media : whether photographs, videos, livestream or audio, all social media services have some way for users to upload and share some form of media. In the past, it was possible to distinguish social media from social networking services because they Messaging : even though social media is very much about publicity and visibility, every social media service also has a feature where you can talk secretly, usually called private messaging or direct messaging Values : finally, everywhere you go on social media, there are numbers everywhere. Total followers, numbers of friends, how many people liked your photo – there are numbers everywhere. These numbers are important for how we as users navigate social media, but also important for how social media understands us.

This rules out Wikipedia because, despite being very much a place where anyone can participate, it really doesn’t have the same emphasis on personal experiences – it’s much more about general knowledge. Similarly, while WhatsApp has some of these elements too, it is too much of private experience to fall into this definition. And while you might think that YouTube doesn’t have any status updates – that feature is there if you go and look for it!

To learn more about the psychology of social media, check out the links below.

Discovering the Psychology of Social MediaCiarán Mc Mahon, Psychologist & TechnologistLearn How and Why You Do the Things You Do Online€49.99€29.99 4.5 (1 ratings)

The Psychology of Social Media (Routledge) by Dr Ciarán Mc Mahon

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test post on the website

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This book is about the psychology of social media. It’s about trying to explain how so much of our everyday lives and modern culture came to be saturated with these incredibly popular and absorbing services. It answers such questions as….

How do we express our identities in social media’s rigid profiles? Why does being ‘real’ on social media feel like hard work? Why do some people find fraping funny, but others don’t? Can we still be ourselves in anonymous environments?



Why do we say things in our status updates that we might not say in the ‘real world’? Why do we seem to understand privacy issues, yet continue to put lots of personal information in our status updates? Would it be better if our updates faded from view over time? What does it feel like to have all your past social media updates still present, years later?



What is the point of sharing images that disappear? Why do people share their location data with their photographs on social media? Why do people like to broadcast livestream videos of their personal lives? Can you make friends by putting lots of photographs of yourself online?



What
does it mean when someone takes a long time to reply to a private message? When
is subtweeting a good idea? Why do
people sometimes write on your profile, but other times send a message? Why do
some people prefer social messaging instead of social media?



What is the psychology of social media?

Click here to find out where you can buy a copy of the book

Click here to read the reviews of the book

Chapter 2 – Profiles

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Thank you for your interest please enter your details for your free chapter download!

To kick-off the first Psychology Free Chapter Friday, we’re offering a look at Ciarán Mc Mahon’s new book, The Psychology of Social Media, from our Psychology of Everything series.

Are we really being ourselves on social media? Can we benefit from connecting with people we barely know online? Why do some people overshare on social networking sites?

The Psychology of Social Media explores how so much of our everyday lives is played out online, and how this can impact our identity, wellbeing and relationships. From FOMO to fraping, and from subtweeting to selfies, this book shows how social media has developed a whole new world of communication, and for better or worse is likely to continue to be an essential part of how we understand our selves.

Don’t forget, this title is also available as a free inspection copy for instructors!

Download your free chapter to read more!

Click here to find out where you can buy a copy of the book

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…your book is accessible and valuable and at the same time rigorous academically – it is a very important contribution to your field and beyond.

For more see: https://community.humanetech.com/t/new-book-the-psychology-of-social-media/3759/2

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Your book is accessible and valuable and at the same time rigorous academically – it is a very important contribution to your field and beyond.

The post Review of The Psychology of Social Media by Karen Key appeared first on Dr Ciarán Mc Mahon.