Our week-by-week class schedule. Check back regularly for updates. Overview of assignment due dates available here.

All readings noted with a  *  were selected for inclusion in this course based on your classmates’ recommendations from the Journal Article Evaluation assignment.

Remember: you never have to pay to access a journal article. Sign in from off campus at library.ubc.ca to access the full text.

Week 1

Tuesday January 5

• Read: This course website (aka: the syllabus).
• Consider: What questions do you have about the course? Which Impact Project might you like to pursue? What questions do you have about psychology in social media? How do you use social media?

In class: Discussion Topics

• What questions do you have about the syllabus? Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the course design or implementation?
• What expertise do we have in the room?
• What do we mean by social media? What is and isn’t included?
• (How do you find Thursday’s readings?)

Psyc325.Wk1Tues.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer friendly)

Thursday January 7

Before class:

• Read (from Tuesday): Introduction (pages 1-8) of Hermida, A. (2014). Tell everyone: Why we share & why it matters. Canada: Doubleday.
  • Identify examples of the three perspectives on the self mentioned in class on Tuesday.

• Read: Gosling, S. D. & Mason, W. (2015). Internet research in psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 877-902.
• Explore: Kosinski, M., Stillwell, D., & Graepel, T. (2013). Private traits in attributes are predictable from digital records of human behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110, 5802-5805.
• Post: to Piazza. Consider the following prompting questions: What struck you as most surprising as you read Gosling and Mason? What did you already know that you were reminded of? What questions did it raise for you? If you have time to review the brief article by Kosinksi, where would you fit it into the three categories used by Gosling and Mason?

In class: Discussion topics

• (Pick up on topics and questions raised in Piazza.)
• Discuss: How does the Hermida reading pick up on themes of Self?
• Discuss: How do we study psychology in social media? How does theory-driven research differ from data-driven research?
• Brainstorm: Generate questions, experiences, interests, phenomena we want to explore related to the self in social media. Beginning to develop our 6 themes of of inquiry.

Psyc325.Wk1Thurs.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer-friendly)

Week 2

Tuesday January 12

Before class:

• Read: Baumeister, R. F. (1999). The nature and structure of the self: An overview. In R. F. Baumeister (Ed.), The Self in Social Psychology (pp. 1-20). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
  • Available for download on Connect in compliance with Copyright law.
  • An optional additional and simpler reading is McAdams’s learning module Self and Identity, available from http://nobaproject.com/modules/self-and-identity. It offers a similar overall framework of self, but emphasizes personality-developmental perspectives and has fewer specific research examples. We used the terms and framework from here in the first week of the class. It’s also a good example of Impact Project Option A.
• Post: to Piazza. Use the headers and subheaders to come up with a diagram that summarizes the model of self proposed by Baumeister (and/or McAdams). What questions does it raise for you? In what ways do you relate (or not) to this model of self? (Challenge: The Baumeister piece was published in 1999. Use your knowledge from other courses to identify what has changed in psychology since then. How might you update this work?)
• Imagine: How might you collect meaningful data about yourself? Working towards Analysis of Your Self in Social Media Assignment.

In class: Discussion topics

• Discuss: What is the model of self presented in today’s reading? How might this model of self play out in social media? What aspects might hold? What adaptations/qualifications might be needed? [Begin the task of building a comprehensive model of the self in social media.]
• Discuss: How does this model relate to our themes? Are we over- or under-emphasizing any of the aspects of self? Final modifications to themes.
• Interpret: Given the data you are collecting about yourself, what do you think it says about you? Working towards Analysis of Your Self in Social Media Assignment.
• After class: CR to finalize the 6 major themes.

Psyc325.Wk2Tues.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer-friendly). Find your and your classmates’ Theories of Self on Connect.

Thursday January 14

• Read:Jordan, C. H., & Zanna, M. P. (1999). How to read a journal article in social psychology. In R. F. Baumeister (Ed.), The Self in Social Psychology (pp. 461-470). Philadelphia: Psychology Press. Retrieved from http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/~sspencer/psych253/readart.html
• Explore: PsycINFO database at UBC library http://resources.library.ubc.ca/159

In class:

• Explore: In a group, use PsycINFO to identify journal articles in psychology that relate to one of the themes and that might be useful to add to our reading list.
• Write: In groups, add resources to this GoogleDoc list. We should have 2 x N articles to review (approximately 200-250 articles total).
• Choose: Identify two articles from the GoogleDoc list that you would like to read for your Journal Article Evaluation. Put your name beside two.

Psyc325.Wk2Thurs.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer-friendly)

Week 3

Tuesday January 19

• Read: The two articles you signed up to read.
• Complete:  your Journal Article Evaluation. Due today at the start of class.

In class:

• Orient: How are we doing on Piazza? Unsure of what’s going on? Find a classmate to orient you to the interface.
• Decide: As a class, (how) should we use the Summaries from the Journal Article Evaluations? If we publish them somewhere, how might we measure their impact?
• Analyze: What data can you collect about your own social media activity? How do we use metrics effectively? What might it mean? Begin Analysis of Your Self in Social Media Assignment.
• Impact Project Working Group: Collaboratively decide on how we’ll determine your working group (brainstorm designs and questions, start a literature search.)

Psyc325.Wk3Tues.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer friendly)

Thursday January 21

• Theme topic 1.1 Relationships: Spreading emotion and news
• Read:
  • Chapter 1 from Tell Everyone  (#TheNewsNow)
  • *Kramer, A. D. I., Guillory, J. E., & Hancock, J. T. (2014). Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 10779. Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/111/24/8788.full.pdf.
    • including editorial expression of concern
    • *classmate recommendation
• Post: to Piazza a response to the readings. Consider questions such as how does the Kramer et al article continue our conversation of research ethics? How do the two readings relate to each other? Have you experienced “contagion” from your social media feeds? If so, consider sharing an example. What does this topic teach us about how Self influences (and is influenced by) relationships in social media?

In class:

• Impact Project (20 minutes): Start discussing and brainstorm designs and questions. Decide on which type of project you will pursue, and indicate someone you want to work with. (I’ll be randomly assigning people to Working Groups, but am open to accommodating pairs of people if you want a specific person in your group).
• Highlights from Piazza Contributors: Kosinski, M., Matz, S. C., Gosling, S. D., Popov, V., & Stillwell, D. (2015). Facebook as a research tool for the social sciences: Opportunities, challenges, ethical considerations, and practical guidelines. American Psychologist, 70, 543-565.
  • Consider pages 551 to the end (beginning with Ethical Considerations). What issues surprise you? Make you (re)consider your own online behaviour? Do we need to keep any lessons in mind for our course?
• Discuss (40 minutes): Readings as pertain to theme

Psyc325.Wk3Thurs.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer friendly)

Week 4

Tuesday January 26

• Theme topic 1.2 Relationships: Friendship and Connection
• Read:
  • Chapter 2 from Tell Everyone  (#WhyWeShare)
  • *Greitemeyer, T., Mugge, D. O., & Bollermann, I. (2014). Having responsive Facebook friends affects the satisfaction of psychological needs more than having many Facebook friends. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 36, 252-258.
    • *classmate recommendation

• Post: to Piazza a response to the readings. Consider questions such as  In what ways are the data consistent or inconsistent with your own experience of quality versus quantity of Facebook friends? Consider sharing an example. From a methodological perspective, what are some strengths and weaknesses of this research? Do you think it fits best as translational, phenomenological, or novel research (see Gosling & Mason, 2015). What aspects of Self do you see reflected in examples in #WhyWeShare? How do the two readings relate to each other?  What does this topic teach us about how Self influences (and is influenced by) relationships in social media?

In class:

• Discuss: Readings as pertain to theme. Extend Piazza conversations.
• Imagine: Work on your developing model of Self.

Psyc325.Wk4Tues.2016.topost (printer friendly)

Thursday January 28

In class:

• Impact Project Working Group: Working period facilitated by TAs to refine your Impact Project and begin 1-page proposal of your project plan. Option A: work together to identify topics for the set of chapters in your book. Identify how you will go about selecting (and later describing) specific articles for inclusion to best represent the state of the field. Option B and C: work together to brainstorm and refine research questions and designs.

Week 5

Tuesday February 2

• Theme topic 1.3: Relationships: Romantic relationships
• Theme topic 2.1: Self-Concept and Self-Presentation
• Read: 
  • *Fox, J., & Anderegg, C. (2014). Romantic relationship stages and social networking sites: Uncertainty reduction strategies and perceived relational norms on Facebook. Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking, 11, 685-691.
  • *Michikyan, M., Dennis, J., & Subrahmanyam, K. (2015). Can you guess who I am? Real, ideal, and false self-presentation on Facebook among emerging adults. Emerging Adulthood, 3(1), 55-64.
• Post to Piazza: Read both, but feel free to choose one article to write about. Focus on the methods to give us a foundation for other discussions in class. You might consider writing a summary (what are the key variables the researchers are interested in? what is the hypothesis? what is the study design? what did they find?), or discussing aspects of the methods (would you argue this study is translational, novel, or phenomenological?, would you recommend other ways to operationally define their variables? why or why not?).  You might try to draw a diagram of their research design, and post a photo or screen capture of it. Or, if the article sparks another fire for you you’d like to discuss, feel free.

In class:

• Discuss: What does each article teach us about the humans in general, and the Self in particular? How do the articles relate to our lived experiences? How do the articles illuminate/counter/relate to each other or to past readings?  What do these readings make you want to know more about? How might you go about finding out?

Psyc325.Wk5Tues.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer friendly)

Thursday February 4

• Theme topic 2.2: Self-Concept and Self-Presentation
• Read: 
  • Chapter 3 from Tell Everyone  (#OMG! I Have To Tell You). (See also Chapter 7 #When Consumers Strike Back)
  • *Gonzales, A. L., & Hancock, J. T. (2008). Identity shift in computer-mediated environments. Media Psychology, 11(2), 167-185.
• Post to Piazza: The study in Gonzales & Hancock is the first true experimental design we have encountered so far in this course. What makes it an experiment? What does that mean for what conclusions we can draw? Considering the #OMG chapter, what example do you think is most compelling? What is the overall message of that chapter?

In class (potential) topics for discussion:

• How do Gonzales & Hancock’s findings relate to what we share and why, as discussed in #OMG!
• How does #OMG help us think about the experience of Self as it plays out in social media.
• Their study was published in 2008. How might we see their findings apply today? Might they hold differently on different social networks (in other words, do you think platform moderates their effect)?
• Let’s attempt to replicate the Gonzales & Hancock study using a quasi-experimental design using the archives of what people naturally post online. How might we go about doing that?

Psyc325.Wk5Thurs.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer friendly)

Week 6

Tuesday February 9

• Theme topic 2.3: Self-Concept and Self-Presentation
• Read:
  • *Belk, R. W. (2013). Extended self in a digital world. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(3), 477–500.
• Post to Piazza: Focus your writing on one of the five subsections (dematerialization, reembodiment, sharing, co-construction of self, and distributed memory). What are the major questions/ideas/complexities raised by Belk in that subsection? Which of those are most relevant for our course? What do we need to know or think more about? You might also consider discussing an idea that surprised you, or made you think in a new way, or raised a question in you that you want to keep pondering. Feel free to “reply to” someone else’s post if your contribution extends or builds off of their ideas.

In class (potential) topics for discussion

• Throughout the article, Belk highlights many ways that the creation and/or acting of the Self is different in the Web 2.0 online environment (compared to offline). What are some of those differences? Which might express the Self? Which might impact the Self?
• What role does the body play in the Self? Is it essential for a Self? Or could a Self occur without a body? What does your response to that mean for your Theory of Self?
• What have we learned? What new or ongoing questions does this article raise?

Psyc325.Wk6Tues.2016 PowerPoint Slides (printer friendly)

Thursday February 11

• Write: 1 page proposal of Impact Project plan. Due today at the start of class. A template is available here.
• Prepare: Mini oral presentation (5 minutes maximum) of your Impact Project plan to present to your Working Group for feedback. Due today at the start of class.

In class:

• Present: Mini oral presentation to your Working Group.
• Review: Provide written and oral feedback to your Working Group members after each presentation. Given the feedback you receive, write a self-assessment of your Impact Project plan and summarize changes you will make.
• Submit: 1 page written summary of Impact Project plan, copy of written feedback you gave to others, copy of self-assessment.
• Write: Feedback about how the course is going

~Reading Break~

• (Receive: Feedback from Instructor about Impact Project plan)

Week 7

Tuesday February 23

New plan as of February 21: I’ve just come from a week of bereavement for a very close family member. So let’s hold off on the reading below. Instead, please come to class prepared to work on your Impact Projects and/or any other assignment for this class. I’ll do my best to prepare a formal response to your mid-course feedback, and to read as many of your proposals as I can. I hope this plan works for you. Thanks for your patience and understanding as I catch up.

Week 7 Tuesday (Feedback)

Thursday February 25

• Theme topic 3.1: Self-Esteem and Social Comparison
• Read:
  • *Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206-222.
• Post to Piazza (see further instructions there)
  • What is the article about? Choose one of the following questions to answer, so that collectively we’ll create a thread will all the basics: [1] What are the differences and similarities between social comparison and self-esteem? Offer a thorough definition of each (you might also link it to a theory of self).; [2] Summarize the correlational study, including the variables and how they operationalized them, and what they found. (Do you think the conclusions they drew follow sensibly from the results?); [3] Summarize the experimental study, including the variables and how they operationalized them, and what they found. (Do you think the conclusions they drew follow sensibly from the results?).
  • How do the results/ideas/method relate to another empirical article we have read in this course? Which article? How does this article extend or change or reinforce our understanding of the earlier one?
  • What sentence struck you as most intriguing or thought-provoking? What did it make you (re)consider?

In class:

• What are the differences and similarities between social comparison and self-esteem? What have we learned from this paper?
• What do the sources of upward and downward social comparisons look like among us here in our class? Do you feel an impact on your state self-esteem? How can we conduct a study to test the potential impact of this discussion?
• How might we design an intervention to help people buffer themselves against making upward social comparisons when viewing others’ online content? How might an effective intervention differ depending on the group of people involved (e.g., tweens versus emerging adults versus people with long-term illnesses)?

Psyc325.Wk7Thurs.2016 Printer-friendly with new graph of experiment results

SPSS output from in class experiment

Week 8

Tuesday March 1

• Theme topic 3.2: Self-Esteem and Social Comparison
• Read:
  • Chapter 4 from Tell Everyone  (#The Daily We)
  • *Forest, A. L., & Wood, J.V. (2012). When social networking is not working: Individuals with low self-esteem recognize but do not reap the benefits of self-disclosure on Facebook. Psychological Science, 23(3), 295-302.

• Optional Readings for theme topic 3.3: Self-Esteem and Social Comparison
  • *Tiggemann, M., & Zaccardo, M. Exercise to be fit, not skinny”: The effect of fitspiration imagery on women’s body image. Body Image, 15, 61-67.
  • *Krasnova, H., Widjaja, T. W., Buxman, P., Wenninger, H., & Benbasat, I. (2015). Why following friends can hurt you: An exploratory investigation of the effects of envy on social networking sites among college-age users. Information Systems Research, 26(3), 585-605.
• Post to Piazza: Here are some prompting questions to help you think about the readings. Answer whichever you wish, or all if you have the time this week.
  • (1) How does the approach that Forest & Wood take to thinking about self-esteem differ from Vogel et al?
  • (2) How do the three studies summarized in Forest & Wood build on each other? (What “Study 4” could you imagine adding to this paper, if it was yours? How would that study extend knowledge on this topic?)
  • (3) Given the results of this research, what advice would you give to someone seeking to maximize their social relationships?
  • (4) What example/idea/sentence from either reading strikes you as most surprising or thought-provoking? Please share your thoughts.

In class questions to ponder

• How does trait self-esteem differ from state self-esteem?
• How can qualitative statements be coded for quantitative analyses to test hypotheses?
• How might our own characteristic ways of self-disclosure face-to-face and/or online influence how much other people like us?

• 12-12:20: Beginning preparation for then final exam. Bring your notes. (In response to mid-course feedback, I’m setting aside three 20-minute blocks in March to focus specifically on preparing for the final exam. These sessions will help you review and understand the tasks involved, and will help me clarify and articulate expectations.)

Psyc325.Wk8Tues.2016 (printer friendly)

Thursday March 3

• Theme topic 4.1: Motivation
• Read:
  • Chapter 5 from Tell Everyone (#Voices that rise above the noise) (Optional: See also Chapter 6: A nervous system for the planet; Chapter 9: The political power of a shared story)
  • *Alt, D. (2015). College students’ academic motivation, media engagement and fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 111-119.
  • An optional additional reading is: *Ferguson, R., Gutberg, J., Schattke, K., Paulin, M., & Jost, N. (2015). Self‐determination theory, social media and charitable causes: An in‐depth analysis of autonomous motivation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(3), 298-307.
• Post to Piazza: Here are some prompting questions to help you think about the readings. Answer whichever you wish, or all if you have the time this week.
  • (1) The three key variables measured here are Fear of Missing Out, Social Media Engagement, and Motivation (divided into extrinsic, intrinsic, and amotivation). Define each variable and describe how they were measured.
  • (2) Try simplifying the diagram (Fig 3) to highlight just the essential finding: a mediation model involving just those essential variables. Extra challenge: Try reversing the direction of the arrows. Which direction do you think is more right and why?
  • (3) FOMO is a new phenomenon without much research. What other variables, results, or theories have we explored that might help us understand this variable better? What are your predictions?
  • (4) What’s the most compelling example from Chapter 5 in #TellEveryone? What draws you to it? Why? How might that example relate to FOMO and/or motivation?

In class: Some questions for discussion

• Do you see evidence of FOMO in your life or the people around you? Where? How does it impact people?
• Have you missed out on events (world/social) because you weren’t on social media? What impact did that have on you?
• What type(s) of motivation may drive people to share something in person vs on social media?
• Why do you think some people are motivated to engage on social media, others to lurk, and others to avoid? Consider examples from the book and your life.
• Many of you mentioned the example of Gigi. How can we understand her story through a lens of motivation? Do you think she developed FOMO sometimes? How might these psychological qualities have influenced her behaviour? Her Self?

Psyc325.Wk8Thurs.2016 (printer friendly)

Week 9

Tuesday March 8

• Theme topic 4.2: Motivation
• Read:
  • *Kowert, R., & Oldmeadow, J. A. (2014). Playing for social comfort: Online video game play as a social accommodator for the insecurely attached. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 556-566.
  • An optional additional reading is: *Campisi, J., Folan, D., Diehl, G., Kable, T., & Rademeyer, C. (2015). Social media users have different experiences, motivations, and quality of life. Psychiatry research, 228(3), 774-780.
• Submit: Analysis of Your Self in Social Media assignment. Recommended target deadline is today, but you can submit anytime between now and April 15 without late penalties.
• Post to Piazza: Here are some prompting questions to help you think about the readings. Answer whichever you wish, or all if you have the time this week.
  • (1) Of the variables measured in this study, which one intrigues you the most? What makes you curious about it? How do you think it relates to other concepts we have explored in this course?
  • (2) Discuss how the researchers’ predictions about attachment and online gaming compared to the results. What aspects of the predictions were (not) supported?
  • (3) If you were going to tell a friend about this study in three sentences, what would you say? Try to capture the gist of the method and the results, with a spin about why they might care about it.
  • (4) What questions or curiosities does this study raise for you? About what psychological phenomena does it make you want to know more?

In class

• Questions to consider:
  • What is Adult Attachment Theory? What qualities characterize adult attachment styles?
  • How did the authors hypothesize online video game use related to attachment?
  • What did the results suggest about the hypothesis? You may wish to include a diagram.
  • What other variables have we explored in this course that might relate to online video game use? What is your hypothesis about how they are related?
• 12-12:20: Continuing preparation for then final exam. Bring your notes. (In response to mid-course feedback, I’m setting aside three 20-minute blocks in March to focus specifically on preparing for the final exam. These sessions will help you review and understand the tasks involved, and will help me clarify and articulate expectations.)

Psyc325.Wk9Tues.2016 (printer friendly)

Thursday March 10

• Theme topic 5.1: Personality
• Read:
  • *Buckels, E. E., Trapnell, P. D., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Trolls just want to have fun. Personality and individual Differences, 67, 97-102.
  • An optional additional reading is: *Sheldon, P., & Bryant, K. (2016). Instagram: Motives for its use and relationship to narcissism and contextual age. Computers in Human Behavior, 58, 89-97.
• Post to Piazza: Using data collected on MTurk and here at UBC, these authors argue that “Trolls just want to have fun”! To prepare for class, check out the article and share your thoughts here. Here are some prompting questions to get you started…

1. Have you seen trolling behaviour in action? Briefly describe it, including a link or screenshot if you can. When you see it, how does it make you react?
2. Draw a diagram of the regression model tested in Study 2 (see section 3.2.1). What personality variables predicted enjoyment of trolling? Are you surprised by this pattern? Why or why not?
3. Do you think trolling behaviour in online video games is related to adult attachment styles? (In other words, think about how you might blend results from March 8’s Kowert & Oldmeadow article with this reading to make a new prediction.)

In class

• What is trolling? Exploring content validity of this new construct.
• What is the Dark Tetrad model of personality and how does it relate to trolling behaviour, as defined in this article?
• (How) does personality generally and the Dark Tetrad specifically fit in our models of Self?

Psyc325.Wk9Thurs.2016 (printer friendly)

Week 10

Tuesday March 15

• Theme topic 5.2: Personality
• Read:
  • Chapter 8 from Tell Everyone (#Truths, Lies and Rumours)
  • *Back, M. D., Stopfer, J. M., Vazire, S., Gaddis, S., Schmukle, S. C., Egloff, B., & Gosling, S. D. (2010). Facebook profiles reflect actual personality, not self-idealization. Psychological science, 21(3), 372-374.
• Post to Piazza. To prepare for class, check out the article and share your thoughts here. Here are some prompting questions to get you started. Choose to answer any or all.

1. Hermida discusses strategies and clues to help decode the credibility of information on social media. What surprised you or wasn’t something you’d thought to consider before? What do you already do? Are you willing to share an example of how you have used that strategy?
2. Hermida makes the following claim: “Misinformation can spread at lightning speed on the digital grapevine, giving greater urgency to the need to develop skills to sort fact from fiction” (p. 160). Reflect on your degree so far. In what ways has your degree prepared you to approach this task? What skills, techniques, ways of thinking, etc have you developed that (will) help you sort fact from fiction? What learning activities/ courses/ assessments/ topics helped you develop these skills?
3. Summarize the key finding in Back et al. (2010). What question(s) do you have about the method, results, or theory?
4. Consider our past readings and discussions (e.g., self-presentation, self-concept, ideal and actual selves). Which does our current readings remind you of? How are they connected?

In class: Some questions we might consider…

• How difficult or easy would it be to maintain a false identity online? What would make it easier? More difficult?
• Think of your ideal self and how much it differs from your actual self. What would you have to do (differently) to maintain your ideal self on social media?
• Building off of strategies for detecting false information, how can false online identities be detected?

Psyc325.Wk10Tues.2016 (printer-friendly)

Thursday March 17

• Complete before class: Your DRAFT Impact Project paper is due today. Bring 3 paper copies today at the start of class.

In class

• Discuss: Peer-assessment and self-assessment rubric and task. Clarify outstanding questions.
• Review: Using the rubric provided, provide written feedback for your Working Group members on their Impact Project papers. Then, conduct a self-assessment on your own work using the rubric. Reviews not completed in class today will need to be completed by the start of next class (or Thursday March 24 at the latest).
• Impact Project Peer Feedback on Draft (Form to download, complete, submit)

Psyc325.Wk10Thurs.2016 (includes examples of excellent feedback; printer friendly)

Week 11

Tuesday March 22

• Theme topic 5.3: Personality
• Read:
  • *Gosling, S. D., Augustine, A. A., Vazire, S., Holtzman, N., & Gaddis, S. (2011). Manifestations of personality in online social networks: Self-reported Facebook-related behaviors and observable profile information. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(9), 483-488.
  • An optional additional reading is: *Park, G., Schwartz, H. A., Eichstaedt, J. C., Kern, M. L., Kosinski, M., Stillwell, D. J., … & Seligman, M. E. (2015). Automatic personality assessment through social media language. Journal of personality and social psychology, 108(6), 934.

• Post to Piazza. To prepare for class, check out the article and share your thoughts here. Here are some prompting questions to get you started. Choose to answer any or all.

1. This research represents one of the ways this research team followed up on the reading we read last week (i.e., Back et al., 2010). In what ways does this current article extend that prior knowledge  about how personality shows up online? In other words, what was learned in the previous study, and what new knowledge was created in the current study?
2. Take a moment to skim the abstract for the optional reading, which was published much more recently. What limitations in Gosling et al. (2011) seem to be addressed in Park et al. (2015)? What limitations seem to remain?
3. This research focused on the Big Five personality dimensions. Do you think the Dark Tetrad (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, sadism, and narcissism; see Buckels et al., 2014, from March 10) could be detectable by observers just looking at people’s Facebook accounts? Explain what you predict and why you think that.
4. What everyday examples of personality and behaviour does this line of research remind you of?

In class

• Theme topic 5.3

Psyc325.Wk11Tues.2016 (printer friendly)

Thursday March 24

• Theme topic 6.1: Careers/Culture/Personality
• Read:
  • *Karl, K., Peluchette, J., & Schlaegel, C. (2010). Who’s posting Facebook faux pas? A cross‐cultural examination of personality differences. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 18(2), 174-186.

• Post to Piazza: Your questions for our guest speakers!

• Complete before class: Peer-assessments and self-assessments. Bring copies to hand in as well as to return back to the owners. Due today at the start of class.

In class

• Careers in Social Media Guest Speakers
  • Kimberly Yu, Program Manager, Higher Education, Hootsuite. Twitter @kimhoots, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlyjang
  • Bonnie Vockeroth, Communications Specialist, UBC Psychology Department. Twitter @thevoxen, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonnievockeroth

Week 12

Tuesday March 29

• Theme topic 7.1: Development
• Read:
  • *Yang, C. C., & Brown, B. B. (2016). Online self-presentation on Facebook and self development during the college transition. Journal of youth and adolescence, 45(2), 402-416.
• Post to Piazza: To prepare for class, check out the article and share your thoughts here. Here are some prompting questions to get you started. Choose to answer any or all.
  1. The authors use past research and theory to argue that the first semester of undergrad is a time when people are “faced with the need to reclaim or redefine themselves in the new environment” (p. 402). Does this statement resonate with your own experience? If not, what was your experience of identity in first year? If so, in what ways did you seek to (re)define your Self when you came to university? Consider both online and offline identity claims and definitions.
  2. Summarize the major variables in this study. What else (if anything) have we learned about these variables in this course?
  3. What are the main conclusions the authors draw from this study? How might they be important or useful for understanding human development? (How might you build on them in a follow-up study of identity development across childhood?)
  4. What questions or concerns do you have about the method, results, or conclusions drawn from this study?

In class

• Questions to consider
  • In the discussion, the researchers surmise that “students’ Facebook posts only involve aspects of the self about which they feel secure and certain” (p. 413). Do you agree? In what locations–online and offline–do you predict that new undergraduates’ self-presentations will involve certain/confident/secure aspects of identity versus uncertain/shaky/insecure aspects of identity? How might you go about testing some of these predictions?
  • Figure 1 represents a summary of the researchers’ hypotheses and questions they intend to explore. What is similar and different from the models based on data (i.e., Figures 2 and 3)? Which of the mediation hypotheses are and are not supported by the longitudinal data in Figure 3?
  • Use Figure 1 as an example of how to build a theoretical model using past research. Pick 5 variables we have explored throughout the term. Arrange them in a model that summarizes how you see them fitting together. In an accompanying narrative, note why you drew each connection (cite relevant research to back up your arrangement).
• 12-12:20: Continuing preparation for then final exam. Bring your notes from all past articles. (In response to mid-course feedback, I’m setting aside three 20-minute blocks in March to focus specifically on preparing for the final exam. These sessions will help you review and understand the tasks involved, and will help me clarify and articulate expectations.)

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Thursday March 31

• Complete before class: Your FINAL Impact Project paper is due today. Bring 5 paper copies today at the start of class We’re going to go fully electronic for this submission and peer review. As announced on Thursday in the Week 12 Announcements, please submit your work to Turnitin. Check your email and/or the Announcements area on Connect for details.

In class

• Discuss: Peer-assessment and self-assessment rubric and task. Clarify outstanding questions about the rubric and task ahead.
  • After class: Using the rubric provided, provide written assessment for your Working Group members on their Impact Project papers. Then, conduct a self-assessment on your own work using the rubric.
• Continuing exam preparations from Tuesday… Please bring access to all your notes and articles from this course.
  • Use Figure 1 as an example of how to build a theoretical model using past research. Pick 5 variables we have explored throughout the term. Arrange them in a model that summarizes how you see them fitting together. In an accompanying narrative, note why you drew each connection (cite relevant research to back up your arrangement).

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Week 13

Tuesday April 5

• Theme topic: End-of-Term Integration
• Read:
  • Chapter 10 of Tell Everyone (#The Way Ahead)
• Collect and bring: All your notes on all the papers we have read this term.
• Complete Work on before class: Peer-assessments and self-assessments. Due today Thursday at the start of class.
• Post to Piazza: To prepare for class, read the chapter and note your thoughts on Piazza. Some prompts to guide your reflection on this reading and our final week of the course together…1. What sentence from this reading was most thought-provoking? What insights did it spark for you?2. Summarize an example in this reading that reminds you of a concept or finding from anywhere in our course. Note which concept or finding you’re reminded of.3. Given what you have learned from this reading and our course, what advice would you give to someone deciding how to use social media effectively? Would you recommend they use it at all? Explain your advice.

In class

• Questions to consider
  • šWhat goals might people have for opening up Facebook or another social media platform? What goals might people have for Sharing or Liking something? Consider our course themes when thinking about goals.
  • šHow might blurred boundaries (personal/professional, private/public) influence The Self? Will people’s self-concept be structured differently because they grew up using social media from early childhood?
• Scaffolding Course Sythesis: Together we’ll come up with a master list of concepts. Individually and in small groups, work deeply with a specific concept (define, relate to research evidence, generate examples, link to other concepts). We’ll work toward building those models of Self today and Thursday.

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Handout: Complete article list

Other In class possibilities

• Summarize and Integrate: In preparation for the final exam, survey all articles we’ve been working with this term. Consider each in reference to the tasks at hand, including developing and articulating a model of self (see the Final Exam page).
• Design: With your Working Group, design a mini-presentation of what your group has learned in your Impact Project. Be ready to present (and live Tweet!).

Thursday April 7

• Theme topic: End-of-Term Integration
• Complete before class: Peer-assessments and self-assessments. Due today at the start of class (Aim for this, but you can have until Friday evening without penalty if necessary).
• Post to Piazza: To prepare for class, survey your notes from this course. On Piazza, please answer the first two questions before class, and if you’re up for it, the third…
  1. So we can collectively come up with a master list of course concepts, identify three different concepts that have come up in this course — different ones than have been mentioned previously. (If it’s helpful, consult the complete article list handout available in the Schedule for last class.)
  2. Choose one concept that interests you. What is it’s definition? What is one research finding related to it?
  3. Generate an example to illustrate the way this concept can play out in social media. You might draw from your own experiences or from examples in Hermida’s book.

In class

• Scaffolding Course Synthesis (Building off the concept list on Piazza)
  • Choose one concept How does this concept relate to another concept from the master list? Does it affect that concept, or is it affected by that concept? Do you have any research evidence to support your ordering?
  • šUse Figure 1 from Yang et al (last week) as an example of how to build a theoretical model using past research. šPick 3-5 Self-relevant variables we have explored throughout the term. Arrange them in a model that summarizes how you see them fitting together.
  • šIn an accompanying narrative, note why you drew each connection (cite relevant research to back up your arrangement).

Psyc325.Wk13Thurs.2016 (printer friendly)

Other in class possibilities

• Present: With your Working Group, present a mini-presentation of what your group has learned in your Impact Project, and live Tweet others’ presentations.
• Discuss: Comprehensive model of the self in social media. Integrating themes across the course.
• Prepare: Examine your Impact Project. What do you need to do to convert it to a publishable piece? Option A: Compile chapters into a coherent whole. Choose Creative Commons license. Option B & C: Where might you send/present it?

Exam Period

Friday April 15

Submit: Analysis of Your Self in Social Media assignment final deadline at 4pm on paper in the Kenny building, if you have not submitted it already.

Monday April 25, 7pm

The final exam has been set by the registrar. Do not book travel during the exam period, April 12-27, until you know your exam schedule and are certain there are no conflicts.