7.14
Social Media
The dangers of sharing personal information on social media
The dangers of sharing personal information on social media
Joseph Turow, a professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication, says hackers may be using your posts against you.
Reddit reveals peaks of public interest in COVID-19 topics
Reddit reveals peaks of public interest in COVID-19 topics
Online forums can be used by public health officials to quickly identify topics of public interest during the COVID-19 pandemic and to quell misinformation.
Sarah J. Jackson, Duncan Watts awarded 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellowships
Sarah J. Jackson, Duncan Watts awarded 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellowships
The program supports high-caliber scholarly research in the humanities and social sciences that addresses important and enduring issues confronting our society.
How tweets may influence substance abuse in youth
How tweets may influence substance abuse in youth
While social media provides youth the opportunity to discuss and display substance use-related beliefs and behaviors, little is known about how posting or viewing drug-related content influences the beliefs and behaviors of youth relative to substance use.
Language in tweets offers insight into community-level well-being
Language in tweets offers insight into community-level well-being
In a Q&A, researcher Lyle Ungar discusses why counties that frequently use words like ‘love’ aren’t necessarily happier, plus how techniques from this work led to a real-time COVID-19 wellness map.
Use of conservative and social media linked with COVID-19 misinformation
Use of conservative and social media linked with COVID-19 misinformation
A study of media use and public knowledge has found people who relied on conservative or social media were more likely to be misinformed about how to prevent COVID-19 and believe conspiracy theories about it.
Polarizing tweets by Russian trolls on vaccination targeted groups in 2016
Polarizing tweets by Russian trolls on vaccination targeted groups in 2016
During the 2016 election cycle, politically polarizing tweets about vaccination included pro- and anti-vaccination messages targeted at people with specific political inclinations by Russian trolls using an assortment of fake persona types, according to a recent study.
Viewership soars for misleading tobacco videos on YouTube
Viewership soars for misleading tobacco videos on YouTube
Misleading portrayals of the safety of tobacco use are widespread on YouTube, where viewership of popular pro-tobacco videos has soared over the past half-dozen years, according to research by the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
Do smartphones and social media lead to adolescent suicide?
Do smartphones and social media lead to adolescent suicide?
The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Daniel Romer argues that the tendency to correlate uptick in suicides and social media is not backed by data. Instead, he argues the economic recession may be to blame.
Tweets from Twitter users could predict loneliness
Tweets from Twitter users could predict loneliness
By identifying similar themes across tweets, researchers are uncovering markers that could be used to predict loneliness, something that could lead to depression, heart disease, and dementia.
In the News
CNN
Online petitions work best when you do more than just sign
Rosemary Clark-Parsons of the Annenberg School for Communication spoke about the efficacy of online petitions. "What critics refer to as 'slacktivism' can actually create an alternative outlet for those who would typically not get involved in any movement at all,” she said.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Social media’s ‘infodemic’
Dominic Sisti and Raina Merchant of the Perelman School of Medicine and Alison Buttenheim of the School of Nursing discussed the role of social media in public health.
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Business Insider
Influencers are getting paid to promote pregnancy tests on Instagram, and people are applauding it as a way for new moms to make money
Jessa Lingel of the Annenberg School for Communication weighed in on criticisms of influencers announcing their pregnancies with sponsored Instagram posts. “We still have a puritan way of thinking that pregnancy announcements are sacred,” she said. “Everything can be commercialized, but not this.”
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Fast Company
This is what it’s like to study social media influencers for a living
Emily Hund of the Annenberg School for Communication discussed her research on the intersection of labor and social media. “Academia is not exempt from the influencer logic,” she said. “You still feel that pressure to self-brand and present yourself online in particular ways. I don’t think any creative worker is exempt from that.”
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Wired
Twitter and Instagram unveil new ways to combat hate—again
Jessa Lingel of the Annenberg School for Communication said “we need humans” to help parse what is and isn’t offensive language based on context. “The tech just isn’t there yet.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Cutting social media time can lessen depression and loneliness
Melissa Hunt of the School of Arts and Sciences shared her research on social media and wellness. “The extent to which young people are using social media can interfere with time spent on activities that can more genuinely foster self-esteem, like getting your work done, or true intimacy, like hanging out with your friends in the real world,” said Hunt.
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