AR4: Is Facebook really that good?

How might social networking cause you to feel worse than direct contact with people? Where might this study be right and how might they have gotten it wrong?

            When you have direct contact with people you feel a sense of belonging. When you only interact with people through social media your feelings of belonging are only an illusion. Without direct contact people eventually start to feel lonely and depressed. I have found through this article: http://proxygsu-geo1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=2013-00788-001&site=eds-live&scope=site,  that people who display insecure attachment behavior affect a host of other things, extroversion, interpersonal competency, and Facebook use all displaying negative effects in these people. I took this to mean that people who display insecure attachment behavior tend to display less extroversion, less interpersonal competency and less Facebook usage over time. In the study that we talked about in class this seemed to be the overall results.

            The effects found in the article we read do have an opposite side. In this article: http://proxygsu-geo1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=69897573&site=eds-live&scope=site, it was discovered that some people attain great pleasure from getting on Facebook. These people have shown biological signs that using Facebook can evoke different psychophysiological states characterized by high positive valence and high arousal. This view is opposite of the article in that this article claims that it is actually a positive thing for the youth of today to participate in social media interconnections.

I feel like though this article speaks in opposition with the original article that I would have to agree with the negative aspect of social media use. Too many people use Facebook and other social media sites as an excuse to claim that they are connecting with their peers. In reality this is not only untrue but is an illusion that people are allowing themselves to believe. The lonliness that some people feel while using Facebook is brought on by the life they think that other people are having. When they see their friends posting pictures and having fun, they begin to wonder what they are missing and start to get depressed. As the depression deepens it starts to become a real mental problem and can really start to interfere with people’s lives. This article: http://proxygsu-geo1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=2013-25137-002&site=eds-live&scope=site, attests to what I have been saying and shows scientific evidence that social networking can cause people to negatively compare themselves with other and places those people at risk for rumination and depressive symptoms.

References:

Kross   E, Verduyn P, Demiralp E, Park J, Lee DS, et al. (2013) Facebook  Use Predicts Declines in Subjective WellBeing in Young Adults. PLoS ONE 8(8): e69841. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069841

Feinstein, B. A., Hershenberg, R., Bhatia, V., Latack, J. A., Meuwly, N., & Davila, J. (2013). Negative social comparison on Facebook and depressive symptoms: Rumination as a mechanism. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 2(3), 161-170. doi:10.1037/a0033111

Jenkins-Guarnieri, M. A., Wright, S. L., & Johnson, B. D. (2013). The interrelationships among attachment style, personality traits, interpersonal competency, and Facebook use. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 2(2), 117-131. doi:10.1037/a0030946

Mauri, M. (2011). Why Is Facebook So Successful? Psychophysiological Measures Describe a Core Flow State While Using Facebook. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14(12), 723-731.

AR3: How to be ethical on the Internet

Question: How can psychologist (and the general public) ethically use social networking to deal with interpersonal issues? What are some potential hazards?

            In this day and age most of society is involved with some social networking site. Be it Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. most of society uses one. One of the main uses for these social networking sites is not to make connections with people but to vent. Many people post things about how they are feeling at that moment, who they are in a fight with, and other such personal information. While this is essentially the purpose of these sites at times this can cause an ethical issue. With so much information being put online nothing is private any longer. Lannin (2013) states that for many, being on a social network is like being part of a very small community (no matter how large the network itself is), everyone knows everything about everyone.  Many people don’t think that Internet has to adhere to the rules of the outside world, they think that they are immune. In this article: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0452d2d5-79ee-4a49-bb68-9a013519bd60%40sessionmgr15&vid=3&hid=17, we find that the Internet does have its own set of laws. It also has its own set of enforcers, as seen by the Yahoo! Case. After reading this article another question came to my mind: If the Internet has its own set of laws do the laws of the outside world actually apply?

            For psychologists this brings in the topic of ethics. Is it ethical to look into patients social life via their social networking updates without their consent or knowledge? Thinking about life outside of the Internet it is completely unethical to delve into the lives of your patients unless that information in important, like you think they may hurt themselves or someone else, or it is information that is already provided to you. In this article: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=3b62353b-fbac-44ac-84a3-2432d0dbceab%40sessionmgr10&vid=3&hid=17, there is an argument that “basic principles of ethical conduct should not change just because the venue for the behavior in question is now virtual reality.” I would agree with this and state that no matter how someone is getting psychological help the way that they are helped should be conducted in an ethical manner no matter how they are helped. Unfortunately, there are studies that show that ethical behavior is slightly different while using the Internet than it would be in a face to face situation. While the shift is slight, to me it is no less concerning.

The use of technology in the field however is not a new thing, http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=3b62353b-fbac-44ac-84a3-2432d0dbceab%40sessionmgr10&vid=7&hid=8, however, the methods that are being used to interact with clients have advanced along with technology. Some problems with this are: “Questions about validity, efficacy, and safety of different Internet-mediated techniques for psychological assessment and therapy remain largely unanswered as the field rapidly evolves. Constant innovation in tele-health continues to outpace the development of specific guidelines for delivery of services.” Because the technological advances are happening faster that the APA and other such psychological groups can make guidelines for using these new innovations mistakes in ethical activities are being made. The privacy of patients is being put into question, as well as the accidental slip of information. Cyberspace is a very non-discriminating area in which any information that is passed through it is available to anyone who wants to get their hands on it. This is essence means that any information provided to a patient from a psychologist, or any information passed through emails from psychologist to psychologist has the potential of being seen by someone other than the intended person. This opens up everyone who uses Internet psychotherapy to a possible breach of confidentiality. While using new technology is an almost inevitable step, caution should still be used. While in the cyber realm it is very easy to lose sight of what is ethically and morally right.

References:

Cohen-Almagor, R. (2012). Freedom of Expression, Internet Responsibility, and Business Ethics: The Yahoo! Saga and Its Implications. Journal Of Business Ethics, 106(3), 353-365. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-1001-z

Fisher, C. B., & Fried, A. L. (2003). Internet-mediated psychological services and the American Psychological Association Ethics Code. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training,40(1-2), 103-111. doi:10.1037/0033-3204.40.1-2.103

Lannin, D. G., & Scott, N. A. (2013). Social networking ethics: Developing best practices for the new small world. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice,       44(3), 135-141. doi:10.1037/a0031794

Williamson, S., Clow, K. E., Walker, B. C., & Ellis, T. (2011). Ethical Issues in the Age of the Internet: A Study of Students' Perceptions Using the Multidimensional Ethics Scale. Journal Of Internet Commerce, 10(2), 128-143. doi:10.1080/15332861.2011.571992

AR2: To Facebook or Not to Facebook...Is that a Question?

What are problems related to conducting research on Facebook use? And more importantly, "How is  Facebook affecting relationships among groups and individuals?"
 
   Some of the problems with using Facebook as a way to conduct research are that some social researches will end up "profiling" their subjects. Many people do not put their information on Facebook with the knowledge that it may be used as material for social researchers.(http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/34088_Chapter4.pdf) In the long run this can create major ethical issues since it bring up the questions of whether this type of research is a breach of privacy, and whether there is any informed consent.
      There are three different ways that Facebook is affecting the interactions between groups and individuals. The three ways are: company and customer, faculty and student, and employer and potential employees. There is also a very broad overview of the affects of Facebook on the individual in that as more and more of one person's different social spheres start to merge on Facebook the person in question learns to self-censor themselves. What I mean is that the person will either monitor what they say and post, or utilize the privacy settings that Facebook provides for each post. These privacy settings include excluding certain people or groups from being able to see particular posts.
      In regards to companies and their consumers using Facebook is a way of interacting in a mutually beneficial relationship. Through Facebook companies can let their consumers have a voice. Customers can comment on what the company is doing well, what they think that they should change, and it also works as a word-of-mouth service for the company as most people will like what their friends like.
     The interaction between faculty and student is not like the previous relationship. The main concern was that many people felt that faculty conversing with their students would be seen as "creepy" for lack of a better term. This problem was averted however when research showed that most students didn't even think to add their teachers to their Facebook friends list.
    The interaction between employer and employee is relatively new. With the access to so much information via the internet now many employers are looking up information about their potential employees before they are even interviewed. Because of the way that Facebook works this could lead to discrimination lawsuits. This would be due to the fact that employers now have access to details about their potential employees that they don't need to have before hiring them (marital status, age, etc.).

References:

Wilson, R. E., Gosling, S. D., & Graham,  L. T. (2012). A review of  Facebook research in the social sciences. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(3), 203-220. doi:10.1177/1745691612442904

How Do New Technologies in Social Research Impact the Practice of Ethical Research?. (n.d.). The Ethics of Social Research. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from www.sagepub.com/upm-data/34088_Chapter4.pdf