Social media destroys geography in education

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I posted this article at the end of 2008.  I am reposting it for two reasons 1) it got stuck in the blog queue and wouldn't move and 2) more importantly, I think the climate of fear has worsened.  (I apologize if you have already read it.) 

The U.S. has a new president in office now, but the economy continues to flounder. Bad economic times make people restless and they spend a lot of time blaming others for their troubles.  It's important to remind people that they don't have to wait on the side for someone to rescue them.  They can take charge of their own lives, start their own businesses, and bring wealth and prosperity to their families. 

Doctor Pam
潘美拉博士

As a positive psychologist, I spend a lot of my energy trying to understand what's right or positive with something, and how it can add value to our lives, even in small ways. (Hence my post 'Ten Things I Like About Twitter', and thank you Tim Pychyl [Twitter: A commentary on desultory behavior] for continuing the conversation.) I don't believe that the behaviors people worry about with Twitter and social media are not new with these tools. But blaming the tools is like blaming the hammer for hitting your thumb.

Therapeutically, we might be more effective in asking: what is the benefit to

Developmental theorists have long argued that human psychosocial development continues across the lifespan, at least for most people. This perspective has had a major impact on how we, as individuals and as a society, conceptualize aging. According to my informal research, this perspective is no less important for text messaging. Just like Erik Erikson's psychosocial stages of development, there are identifiable stages of text messaging development across the lifespan. Each has developmental tasks that must be mastered to advance successfully to the next stage. It is important to note that, in contrast to Erikson's psychosocial stages, however, the texting stages are most often inversely related to age.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about Twitter. It you had any illusions of Twitter being a phenomenon only among “early adopters” then think again. If something is made fun of by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, it has hit the mainstream.

Twitter, as you probably know by now, is a microblogging social network that has a 140-character limit on posts and provides a con

To me, the movie Seabiscuit eloquently captured the theme of American Idol: the desire of people who feel hopeless and powerless to know that humble beginnings and hard work can lead to success. We are riveted to the struggle. We want the best man or woman to win--and not just the best singer, but the best person. We want cosmic order, a good show, and Ryan Seacrest to be our friend, too.

In our increasingly unpredictable world, it is a very human response to want reassurance that there is some point to all this, to put some kind of meaning on our sense of powerlessness. Especially with the recent economic turmoil, people feel afraid and it's hard to get away from it between Orange Alerts and watchiing your retirement savings shrink. I agree with Anneli's point in

It’s okay if you nod knowingly when people talk about social media but haven’t got a clue what it really is. I’ll let you in on a secret: No one does. That’s because it isn’t a “thing.” It’s a way of life. As much as you may not want to hear this, it’s also something that’s here to stay. The only choice is to get with the program. 

In contrast to uni-directional mass media, social media is technology that allows people to participate and to interact. This turns out to be pretty popular, since humans are hard-wired to interact with their environment. Piles of psychological research show that humans are social animals that need to be connected to others, that interpersonal connections are essential for mental and physical health, and that while connection styles and needs vary, they are equally important. It should be no big shock that we see people connecting all over the place using social media technologies like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and blogs. It see

The striking rise in LinkedIn participation shows a cognitive shift in how people approach their professional lives. LinkedIn, billed as the social network for professionals, grew 193% from September 2007 to 2008 according to Nielsen Online, and the LinkedIn blog reports their global network impressively gains one new member per second.

People are doing lots of things in response to job losses in the current economy, so what makes LinkedIn remarkable? Joining this type of network is a trend I expect to continue independent of the job market. Here’s why: Not only does LinkedIn demonstrate the power of social media, it shows the broader reframing of how social media has changed the way people think about accessing information and the world.

This is the abstract of my dissertation research project, completed in November.  I welcome your comments.

The Impact of Media on Core Beliefs: The Predisposition of Americans Toward Conflict with China Before and After the 2008 Beijing Olympics


We are entering an era of increasing globalization. Countries are connected, cultures are colliding, and rules are changing faster than people can adapt. China has emerged, looming large on the horizon, as a visible challenge to the dominant political and economic position that the United States had held for a half-century. Media technologies play a large role in people’s understanding of this process through the selective distribution of information; media sources vary in the way they emphasize, package and transmit content and this influences the meaning to the receiver.

We rely on the information in the environment to construct the core beliefs that d

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Doctor Pam
潘美拉博士