PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIAL MEDIA
SESSION 1 – INTRODUCTION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, the student has gained advanced knowledge and insights and can
develop critical reflections and analyses on the psychology of social media using appropriate and
academic language.
Course schedule
- Week 1, 28 September: Introduction of Key Concepts on-campus
- Week 2, 5 October: Personality and Social Media on-campus
- Week 3, 12 October: Social Media and Well-being online
- Week 4, 19 October: Romantic Relationships and Social Media on-campus
- Week 5, 26 October: Use, Abuse, and Self-Regulation of Social Media online
o Guest lecture by Dr. Joseph Bayer (Ohio State University)
- Week 6, 9 November: Social Media and Influencer Marketing on-campus
o Guest lectures by Dr. Alexander Edeling and Dr. Yara Quitteina (KU Leuven)
- Week 7, 12 November: Social Media and Close Relationships online
o Guest lecture by Dr. Anja Stevic (University of Vienna)
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media =
- … a topic that is of public interest for… governments, citizens, politicians,…
- And artists…
o “Tinderin” Belgian artist Dries Depoorter https://driesdepoorter.be/ → hij nam foto’s van
mensen hun tinder en ook van hun Linkedin en zette ze naast elkaar. Hij heeft ook een
project ‘the follower’ om na te gaan hoe Instagram foto’s worden gemaakt en dan vergelijkt
hij de opgenomen beelden (via de open camera) met wat er op Instagram is gekomen.
- … a topic that is intensly studied in communication science –and beyond!
- More than 13.300 search results for scientific publications within the last 10 years in CMMC
database
Het gaat om dit vak, dit is zowat een
overzicht. Maar het is geen overzicht van
alle sociale media psychologie.
1
,WAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
TOWARD A CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION
- Lasswell’s (1948) communication model → basis model dat beperkt is en ontstaan is voor sociale
media.
o Who → the communicator
o Say’s What → the content of the Message
o In Which Channel → the medium that transmits the message
o To Whom → the recipient
o With What Effect? → refers to the message’s outcome
- Voorbeeld (El Ouirdi et al., 2014) → ze onderzochten vroeger artikels over sociale media. Maar
het laatste artikel dat daarin gebruikt werd was in 2013 dus het is niet heel recent. Ze kwamen
tot 23 definities. Ze vonden dat geen enkele definitie alles coverden. Probleem? Geen enkele van
de definities hadden het publiek of het effect van sociale media vermeld. Wat vonden ze?
o Who → Individual users, communities of people, organizations and industries → dat vonden
ze terug in de meeste definities, maar de meesten waren gericht op individuele gebruikers.
o Says What → information and digital user-generated content in several formats: words,
static, moving images, audio (no information on message/content) → maar er is nooit
informatie over de content zelf, wat eigenlijk logisch is want de inhoud op sociale media is
suuuper divers.
o In Which Channel → web-based technology vs. platform
o To Whom? (niet vermeld in de definities)
o With What Effect? (niet vermeld in de definities)
o Why? → create, cocreate, exchange, share, discuss, modify, consume, communicate and
disseminate user-generated content; forming communities that engage in social interaction
- Extracted definitions focus primarily on the use of social media at the micro-level (not
organizations and industries)
- When content was mentioned, attention was given to its format
- Definitions omitted the effect of communication acts involving social media à complexity
2
, o Ze bekwamen een kubus met 3 lagen. Who en to whom is in drie lagen. De What gaat
verwijzen naar verschillende formats. En dan de Why dan zie je dat verschillende. Kritiek op
dit model: ze zeggen niet waarom die 4 why’s de uitgekozen zijn. Hieronder zie je een
voorbeeld waar bepaalde sociale media gesitueerd zijn.
DEFINITION (CARR & HAYS, 2015, P. 50)
- “Social media are Internet-based channels that allow users to opportunistically interact and
selectively selfpresent, either in real-time or asynchronously, with both broad and narrow
audiences who derive value from user-generated content and the perception of interaction with
others”
o Internet-based channels : Social Media are online tools
o real-time or asynchronously: provides asynchronous communication tools. Je moet niet
direct antwooorden, je hebt tijd om te antwoorden enz. Je kan zelf bepalen wanneer je
deelneemt.
o value from user-generated content: e.g., Comments, shares, likes, interactions
- Voorbeeld:
o Youtube: ja het is een sociaal netwerk op basis van de definitie
o Skype en mail: het element van user generated contend is hier afwezig. Dus nee, geen social
medium
o LinkedIn: ja
o Tinder: ja
o Netflix: nee
3
, MAPPING THE FIELD → ZIE SLIDES VOOR GRAFIEKEN!
- Social media use over time (Pew Research Center – US)
Je ziet hier het sociale mediagebruik over de
tijd. Vandaag gebruikt 72% van de bevolking
sociale media in Amerika.
- Who uses Social Media (Pew
Research Center – US)
Er is een verschil in gebruik bij
leeftijden. De jongeren gebruiken het
meest.
Let erop sommige sociale media cijfers
zijn gebruikt op basis van accounts,
maar je kan meerdere accounts
hebben!
Meest gebruikte sociale media → zie slides
o Hangt ook af van leeftijden enz
SOCIAL MEDIA AND MARKETING
- 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business on Instagram
- Social media = business model à attention economy
- We will dedicate a whole session in week 6 (9 November) on Social Media and Influencer
Marketing
- Guest lectures:
o Dr. Alexander Edeling (KU Leuven) → influencers en authenticiteit.
o Dr. Yara Quitteina (KU Leuven) → food influencers
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIAL MEDIA
- Social media use is pervasive across all ages – what is the impact of this use?
- Endless communication and connection provided by social media - is it changing the way we
think and absorb information?
4
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