Social Networking studies lack scientific diligence
This gets me thinking about the methodology and scientific validity of some studies around social technologies. I say some because data mining of online activities is different from subjective applications of archaic social psychology measurements on digital social technologies. This kind of study lacks the scientific diligence of something published so widely by so many voices of authority in media.
I don't want to take anything away from the author who I have a lot of respect for and know is going to be incredibly successful. Students should be encouraged to pursue innovative cyberpsychology studies.
Anything that receives as much press as this undergraduate study is an important thing in our digital culture. It is also important that as more and more studies begin to emerge about social networking we raise our level of analysis. The methodology and definitions used in studies around web technologies is often murky and can mislead people about the outcomes of those studies. This can be said of many studies.
As an example from higher education marketing a large institution in the US released a statistic that is much used by those advocating higher education marketing on social networks. That stat is:
99% of prospective students have a social networking profile.
I agree that social networks are the place for educational institutions to manage relationships with the next generations more effectively. 99% is a powerful stat so I dug into the methodology used by this large American Institution. There were a number of things that should have been published along with that stat.
Those who responded to the survey had already opted-in to participate in surveys via the internet with this institution. They were then sent an email inviting them to participate in an online survey. Those who participated clicked the link in the email and landed on a questionnaire asking them a number of questions about their use of social networks.
These steps all skewed the survey results. Much like the Canadian government intentions of changing the long form census from mandatory to voluntary the fact that people opt-in to take the surveys skews things immediately. In this case participants have to be technologically inclined and willing to take multiple actions with no obvious benefit to themselves: something most humans have little interest in [Disclosure: I fill out surveys all the time].
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| photo by: Kris Krug. remixed under creative commons license. |
A new study saw participants singling out narcissists just by looking at their Facebook profiles. The study found that users with an abundance of friends, wall posts and attractive (usually sexual) photos often qualified as narcissists.This sounds like something from the most recent study, right? This study was conducted by the University of Georgia in 2008. It states that people who have many pictures of themselves and lots of friends are narcissists. To me what makes these studies about Facebook users' narcissistic tendencies problematic is that they are putting the cart before the horse. Facebook doesn't make people narcissistic. It enables them to act out their narcissistic tendencies. It even encourages them to do so by its very nature. Even the average Facebook user doesn't need a survey to see this. It's plainly obvious and baked-in to the Facebook ecosystem and culture.
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| photo by: D'ashley Wilson. remixed under creative commons license. |
The study's author used the NPI or Narcissistic Personality Inventory metric to judge the levels of narcissism in the study's participants. The more comprehensive NPI measure, a 40-item forced-choice version, was passed over in favour of a "shorter unidimensional measure" the 16-item forced-choice questionnaire. Example items include 'I am more capable than other people' and 'There is a lot I can learn from other people'.
Although it was designed to measure these features in the general population the NPI measure is based on DSM-III (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) clinical criteria and was created in the late 1980s. This measure was not designed for use in a digital world. People who have high NPI scores are said to 'value material things and like looking at themselves in the mirror'. Back to the new study:
"Five features of the participants Facebook pages were coded for the extent to which they were self-promoting. Self -promotion was distinguished as any descriptive or visual information that appeared to attempt to persuade others about one's own positive qualities. For example, facial expression (e.g., striking a pose or making a face)... The use of positive adjectives (e.g., nice, sexy, funny)".
The results of this study were then used by news organizations across North America and the world. This is the embarrassing part for the media. At this time media are so enamored with social technologies that they aren't conducting the critical analysis necessary for high quality journalism. Something that will preserve journalism and remain one of great value to the world. The media's current fear is driving reporting on sup-par quality information and stories.
The social digital cultural revolution is real and its different than our offline social and cultural lives in terms of tempo and medium but it is still a social and cultural revolution.
"Instead of [being] revealing, I think it just gives us a chance to edit ourselves and, in that way, conceal the real self. Facebook profiles are about the persona more so than the person ... Narcissism and voyeurism feed off each other in this case." - Ms. Sarah Nicole Prickett, 25.
According to this thorough collection of studies and insights the narcissism isn't due to the tools, like Facebook, but more from the way we are raising children these days.
"We need to stop endlessly repeating 'You're special' and having children repeat that back," said Professor Jean Twenge, author of Generation: Me and Living in the Age of Entitlement: The Narcissism Epidemic. "Kids are self-centered enough already," says Twenge.
Twenge and co-author Keith Campbell describe their study as the largest ever of its type and say students' NPI (Narcissism Personality Index) scores have risen steadily since the current test was introduced in 1982. By 2006, they said, two-thirds of the students had above average NPI scores, 30 % more than in 1982.
People trump everything
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| photo by: Duncan Rawlinson. remixed under creative commons license. |
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| photo by: John Kelso. used under creative commons license. |
At work things are started to grow as the seeds I've been laying for the last year begin to show the first signs of breaking the top soil. Working in education makes things more challenging and more fulfilling at the same time. As an eternal optimist who believes that they can accomplish just about anything my recent revelation that challenges present greater opportunities is driving me forward towards the success I seek.
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| photo by: Martin Burns. used under creative commons license. |
With Glowing Hearts: The Social Release
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| Andrew & Jon |
The shooting of the 30+ hours of film is complete but post-production is a very expensive process to get done right so it’s time that we turn this project inside out and that’s exactly what we intend to do with a social media campaign unlike any other.
The campaign turns to the community at-large to support the completion of these important stories. In a Tweet and Toonie ($2) Torch Relay we hope to raise the $10,000 necessary to complete post-production of the film. Some stories need to be heard and this is one of them. This is a story about communities, for communities and now with our efforts, toonies or tweets made by communities.
For just $2 you can become a producer: your name will appear in a word cloud much like this. A $2 donation will show your name in size one font while a $200 donation will show your name in size 100 font. All fonts are proportional to the largest contribution. An image will be posted of the cloud and made available as a poster.
Enter to win a producer credit and copy of the film with a tweet: You can also enter to win a weekly prize of a DVD or digital copy of the film and a $20 producer credit (size 10 font). Each tweet represents an entry. winner will be chosen at random. All you have to do to enter is tweet one of these messages:
- I am a proud supporter and hopefully winner of a copy of the film #withglowinghearts and a producers credit! http://wghthemovie.ca
- Only $2 makes me a movie producer #withglowinghearts http://wghthemovie.ca
- I am entering to win a film credit and a copy of the film #withglowinghearts http://wghthemovie.ca
- Support local documentaries. Become a producer #withglowinghearts http://wghthemovie.ca
April Smith started out down and out, but through the power of social media and her drive to succeed she became an entrepreneur and community activist for a community in need of leaders like her. Her story is at the heart of the message in With Glowing Hearts.
Garvin Snyder is a self-declared 'binner' who utilized empowering social media programs - Megaphone Mag and Hope in the Shadows Calendar and photo contest - to create positive change in his own life and leads those around him to see the power of real life social media.
The True North Media House is a virtual space for media creators to join together for a variety of reasons. It was born during the lead up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and began with an idea and a dream a group of passionate individuals. Dave Olson and Kris Krug spearheaded the project and are featured prominently in With Glowing Hearts.
Irwin Oostindie is an advocate for social change who has been working for 6 years to bring to life a vision of something different, something called W2. W2 is an initiative born from social housing protests outside Vancouver's famous Woodwards building in 2002. W2 is now Vancouver's most impressive collaborative project in the mind of this lone blogger. W2 is what it is because of dedicated visionaries like Irwin.
The Unfinished Press Release:
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