Information and Organization

Blogpost written by Amrutha Maliyekkal Murali and Leon Lindner

Key points:

• The effects of being social media and revealing interesting psychology factors.

• Is your mind playing tricks on you? What is the actual reason?

• Conducted an experiment and their results.

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Have you ever thought about why you choose to share certain song or movies with your friends online? In today’s world sharing media like music and film on social media is more than just entertainment; it’s a powerful way to express yourself and shape how others see you. Research shows that our motivations for self-presentation play a big role in what we share and how we share it on social media platforms. In this blog, we’ll dive into fascinating findings of this study and explore what they reveal about our social media behaviour regarding our identity and social interaction in the digital age. Let’s unpack how your media be saying more than you thought.

Surprising Psychology Behind Your Social Media Shares

Have you wondered why you carefully choose movies and songs you share on social media? It’s not random; there’s some interesting psychology behind that says a lot about who we are or want to be. This study aimed to uncover why people share certain music or movies on social media and how these choices reflect their personalities. To explore this, they asked participants to imagine different situations, like wanting to be authentic, wanting to look good to others or wanting to belong to certain groups and then list songs or films they’d share on social media. By analysing the types of media shared, the researchers revealed patterns in how people share and use media to shape their online image and connect with others.

A closer look into selective media sharing

In today’s digital age, media isn’t something we just consume, it’s a big part of how we connect and how we shape our identity. Whether it’s movies or music, people are finding new ways to engage with content, privately and publicly. This leads to social media being a platform where we kind of strategically choose what to post to please others. For example, if you’re trying to impress someone you might share critically acclaimed movies and songs rather than “simple comedy movies”. On the other hand, sharing guilty pleasure songs could let seem more relatable or genuine. Like this, sharing content Is not just about self-expression it’s also about building connections. Sharing mainstream or prestigious content can boost your social standing and help you bond with others over shared interests. So, next time you post a favourite song or must-watch movie, remember that it’s not just entertainment. It’s a way of saying: This is me.

What to keep in mind

In the era where social media dominates our lives, our profiles are a snapshot of who we are, so the things you share might matter more than you think. Media sharing is not just about showing favourite songs or movies, it’s about shaping your identity and connect with others. When you share media on social platforms, you’re not just revealing your preference; it’s just a version of yourself for others to see, and sharing popular or trendy media helps you fit in with the crowd, showing you’re in tune with the collective taste of your peer group. Essentially, sharing media is a humble yet effective approach to connect with a group and share your narrative. Every meme, song, or film you share represents who you are or who you want to be while strengthening your bonds with those around you.

 

Read more
Johnson & Ranzini (2018): Click here to look clever: Self-presentation via selective sharing of music and film on social media. doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.008

Blogpost written by Yasa Defne and Duc Tung Luu

Key Points:

• Social media platforms use design and algorithms to create habits that unnoticeably influence our behavior and use of time.
• These habits can help us to stay in touch with others, but they can also lead to us paying less attention to ourselves – and this can affect our well-being.
• A conscious approach to social media helps to recognize and adapt these habits to promote a healthier relationship with technology.

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Have you ever wondered why you lose track of time while scrolling through TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat? What starts as a quick glance often turns into an unnoticed hour. This isn’t by accident—behind our behavior on social media are sophisticated mechanisms that shape our actions without us realizing it. In this blog post, we’ll explore how our social media habits form and the positive and negative effects on our lives, drawing on insights from the study „Building and Breaking Social Media Habits“ by Joseph B. Bayer, Ian A. Anderson, and Robert S. Tokunaga.

How do social media habits develop?

Social media habits are the routines we unconsciously repeat every time we open an app, scroll, like, or share. These actions follow patterns that are shaped by platform interfaces and algorithms. Algorithms analyze our preferences and usage habits to provide targeted content that captures our attention – be it through personalized recommendations, endless feeds or notifications that keep us coming back.

These habits are important because they influence our decisions, our productivity and even our wellbeing. Research shows that social media use is not just a leisure activity, but often becomes an automated routine that shapes our daily lives and time management. Consciously or unconsciously, habits often cause us to spend much more time on social media than originally planned, which in turn can affect our personal quality of life.

The five levels of social media habits

The study divides social media habits into five levels that show how deep and structured these behavior patterns are. These levels cover different factors that influence our behavior on social media. To better explain these levels, we use the example of liking a funny TikTok video:

1. Platform – Each platform influences our interactions in different ways. On TikTok, a new video appears as soon as you swipe up, which encourages you to keep watching and see more and more videos – including the funny video you just liked.
2. Device – The device plays a role in how we use social media. With a smartphone, for example, you open TikTok while waiting for the bus. You scroll through funny videos in short intervals, while on a computer you stay longer and interact more intensively.
3. Interface – The design of the app influences how we interact with it. On TikTok, the funny video plays directly and the “Like” and “Share” buttons are clearly visible, making it easy for you to like or share without much thought.
4. Behavior – This is about our interactions such as liking, commenting or sharing. If you see a funny video and like or share it, you may get other similar videos suggested to you. The social validation you get from the likes and shares reinforces the behavior.
5. Motor – Motor habits are about physical movements such as swiping or tapping. When watching the TikTok video, you will instinctively swipe up to see the next video without thinking about it. These movements become habitual over time.

These levels intertwine and lead to social media becoming a daily routine – without us consciously realizing it.

Spiraling out of control

Now that we can know what constitutes a social media habit, we can begin to understand how they interact with each other.

Fig. 1 Social media habit spiral

Habit formation involves repeatable patterns of context, cue, and response. For example, being home on a Saturday night (context) may trigger feelings of loneliness (cue) and lead to checking your phone for notifications (response). If rewarded with new notifications, this reinforces the habit. If not, you might check another app, potentially spiraling into automaticity – a “mental autopilot” where behaviors become reflexive. These habits can unknowingly eat up our time and distract us from our goals.

Finding the balance

That’s not to say that social media is all negative – it also has the potential to enrich our lives. They help us stay in touch with loved ones, find support in difficult times and discover opportunities for self-expression and further education. The key is to create balance.

How can we take back control?

For social media to do us more good than harm, it’s important to recognize how platform designs influence our habits. Small steps can go a long way:

• Check your screen time. This will help you understand how much time you spend and recognize patterns.
• Set yourself clear intentions. Think about what you want to achieve before opening an app. Do you want to exchange ideas with friends, find inspiration or learn something new?
• Use app tools. Features such as time limiters can help set boundaries and better control your usage.

With these measures, we can ensure that our time and energy are aligned with our personal goals, rather than being dictated by endless scrolling.

The big picture

Social media habits have the potential to impact our lives both positively and negatively. The good news? It’s up to us how we use these technologies. A conscious approach to social media can improve our wellbeing and promote a healthier relationship with technology. Remember: habits are not fixed. They can be changed.

Have you rethought your social media habits today?

 

 

 

References
Bayer, J. B., Anderson, I. A., & Tokunaga, R. S. (2022). Building and breaking social media habits. Current Opinion in Psychology, 45, 101303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101303

Blogpost written by Oscar Echeverria and Ghaith Ben Hnia

For decades, the effects of violent video games have been a hot topic in the media. Whether it is worried parents trying to tell you to stop playing so many games or politicians blaming violent video games for the mass shootings in the USA, everyone thinks that violent games like Grand Theft Auto can lead to aggressive behaviour. It’s as if it’ll create a car mugger or hitman in our society, or that violent games will lead to anxiety, depression and antisocial behaviour, for example, lack of empathy. But is that true? This has been a topic of much research and debate in the psychology field throughout the years, a debate filled with polarising views and inconsistencies in the effect of violent video games on aggression.

A recent study led by Simone Kühn and colleagues published in Molecular Psychiatry, dives into this controversial question, with a novel and comprehensive approach. Previous studies on violent video games observed only the short-term effects. Usually, researchers would ask participants to play for a few minutes and then measure aggression. These short studies usually show a little spike in aggressive thoughts or feelings. Researchers believe that this is due to „priming effects”, the idea that seeing or hearing something violent can increase aggression. Kühn and her group think that this approach has a flaw which is that short-term studies also have short-term effects. These effects, which last minutes at most, make these studies inadequate to address the main question that society has, which is the long-term effects of video games. Furthermore, the study dives into other behavioural changes such as depression, anxiety, and lack of empathy to name a few. Not only does the study focus on the negative effects, but the study also investigates the positive effects that action games have on executive functions; executive functions refer to a set of mental skills such as memory, flexible thinking and self-control, which other studies have claimed action video games have.

The Method: Testing Actual Long-Term Effects of Violent Games

Kühn and her team conducted a study to understand the effects video games exert on players’ behaviour in a long-term span, which is the concern many have about video games in daily life. The researchers looked at what it means to be a gamer. They recruited 90 adults who had virtually no gaming experience. They assigned these individuals to one of three groups. One group played the violent game Grand Theft Auto V. Another group played the non-violent simulation game The Sims 3. Then, the third group didn’t play any games. For two months, the game groups played daily. All participants were assessed previously and afterwards for traits including aggression, empathy, impulsivity, and mental health.

The research sought to answer real-world questions about how the video games we play shape our feelings, the way we communicate with others, and the choices we make. Rather than a one-casual-game-a-day approach, it sought to find the type of game played frequently over a longer period. This view does not only talk about the impact of gaming. Rather, it analyses whether your habit of gaming has other repercussions like changing your behaviour with others over time.

Results from the study

Kühn and colleagues concluded that there were no detrimental effects to playing violent video games. During their testing, they found no detrimental behavioural effects on the group that played GTA V. Additionally, no changes to the executive functions were found, however, this was due to the type of games the participants played being different from the first-person perspective games that are usually used for testing the effect on executive functions. This means that in the end, parents can rest easy, as video games do not, in fact, cause aggressive behaviours, nor do they cause an increase in depression and anxiety. However, it is important to note that violent video games are targeted at a demographic of older teenagers and young adults, and the researchers acknowledge that testing on behavioural changes of children was not a part of this study, this is due to the nature of games like GTA V and other violent games not being appropriate for children. So the test not finding any correlation between aggression and playing violent video games does not mean parents should ignore the age ratings of each game, as these ratings exist to inform customers about the content of the game and to which age group they are meant for.

This study has contributed not only to the debate on the effects violent video games have on aggression but also to other negative effects such as anxiety and depression that violent video games can have, a topic of much debate over the years in the field of psychology. By providing evidence in favour of video games not having negative effects on behaviours collected via a comprehensive test, the results of this study can be used in a positive manner to clear up misconceptions that the media has had on violent video games and their relations to violence.

For us, Video games are a safe space for players to express themselves and escape from reality. But as we escape into virtual spaces, we need to ask ourselves if we are running away from our reality or are we engaging with it in different ways.

Are they spying on us through our phones? Or is it a conspiracy theory?

Blogpost written by Aisha Zahran & Emmanuel Pazhunnana Ignatious

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Key points 

• A new study uncovers the effect of being in “the social media era” and believing in conspiracy theories and dubious ideas
• Previous research found an alliance between social media and conspiracy theories
• Is it your mind playing you? Are you a conspiracy thinker?
• The real reason for believing conspiracy theories is an individual’s perception and tendency to be a conspiracy thinker

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Are we being watched, heard, and used to analyze our actions for a greater purpose 24/7? As Gen-Z in our social media era, we get all our information and news from TikTok, Reddit, or Instagram. As a result, it is easier for us to fall into the trap of believing doubtful ideas and misinformation. Previous research found an alliance between using social media and believing in conspiracy theories spread on social media platforms, however, join us as we delve into the real factors that shape belief in conspiracy theories, which will make us understand a complex feature in human behavior.

A new point of view: is social media the enemy or your frontal lobe?

Contrary to the frequently assumed belief that social media is the main reason behind spreading misinformation and controlling the masses’ thinking, (Enders et al., 2021) present a different viewpoint, it was suggested that believing conspiracy theories is strongly associated with individual tendencies, known as “conspiracy thinking.”

This implies that individuals more prone to digest these conspiratorial ideas are actively searching for this type of information (Uscinski et al., 2016), especially during significant events. Previous research conducted by (Jamieson & Albarracín, 2020) and (Stempel et al., 2007) highlighted the relationship between social media and misinformation, but  Enders et al. questioned their angle.

Is believing in conspiracy theories and misinformation a result of social media, or is it based on individual perspectives and tendencies? This is the question that the study wants to investigate.

A closer look into the selective spread of “Fake News”

In my experience, A friend claimed that the “Earth is flat” and that NASA is hiding the real truth. He got swept by TikTok videos about it and fell into the trap of conspiracy thinking, trying to convince everyone, without solid evidence. Eventually, he thought of it rationally and scientifically and it did not add up, so it wasn’t social media, but rather the tendency to conspiracy thinking. Moreover, other studies that were used by the article found that sharing “fake news” including conspiracy theories is driven by a small percentage of users. This shows that such content is not widely shared on platforms. Additionally, our paper supports this, indicating that individuals with low conspiracy thinking levels have lower chances of believing these theories and misinformation as they do not seek it but rather are unintentionally exposed to it online (Enders et al., 2021).

Addressing the psychology and root cause behind believing conspiracy theories and misinformation

People tend to search for content that matches their preferences and beliefs and disregard contradictory angles. Our paper highlights that there is a contingent relationship between social media use and belief in conspiracy theories. Our research finding is that it comes to the level of susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs and perhaps users who get their news online are more prone to that (Enders et al., 2021).

Research Study Methods and Results implemented in the paper

 Key points from the First Study: what was discovered

(Enders et al., 2021) conducted two studies to test their claims, the first study aimed to understand the relationship between different types of social media usage and beliefs in various conspiracy theories. A total of 2,023 participants in the study were representative of U.S. Census demographics of 2010. They examined the endorsement of 15 conspiracy beliefs and feelings about the QAnon movement. They examined three big factors: the respondents‘ primary news sources, their social media use frequency, and their propensity to endorse conspiracy theories.

The study found that people who got their news from social media were more likely to believe in conspiracy theories compared to those who used traditional media. Additionally, frequent social media use increased these beliefs.

In summary, this research discovery reveals that people’s previous beliefs provoke them to find information that will support their views. The people who at some point believe in conspiracy theories most often, turn to social media to find content that confirms their beliefs.

Overview of the Second Study

In Study 2, researchers looked at how social media influences beliefs about COVID-19 conspiracy theories and misinformation, particularly among people who already tend to think conspiratorially. They surveyed over 1000 adults in the U.S. and found that those who in the first place use social media, especially Twitter and Instagram, are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and misinformation, like using unproven treatments.

This effect was strongest among people who are already prepared to believe in conspiracies, showing that social media reinforces the beliefs they already have. In contrast, those who don’t usually believe in conspiracies are less affected, meaning social media mainly reinforces the views of those who already have those tendencies. These findings highlight the urgent need to address misinformation, especially in public health, where false information can have serious consequences.

Conclusion

Social media is a hotly debated factor in the spread of conspiracy theories. They expose us to vast information. In a nutshell, believing in conspiracy theories depends more on individual-level „conspiracy thinking“ than on social media alone. Social media plays a big role in shaping belief in conspiracy theories, especially for people who already have certain biases or mainly get their news from places like Facebook and YouTube. Social media fuels the spread of conspiracy theories, but it’s really our mindsets that matter most. Rather than solely focusing on regulating content, fostering critical thinking could be a more effective approach to combat misinformation and lessen belief in these theories.

 

Read more

Enders et al. (2021): The Relationship Between Social Media Use and Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-021-09734-6

 

Blogpost written by Cem Baykalli and Chidiebere Uhegbu

Key Takeaways

• Information overload is a big challenge in computer science, marketing, management, logistics, and accounting.
• The 6 steps of the decision-making process are starting situations, information sources, information search and processing, subjective information stance, decision-making and choice, behavior and emotions after the decision.
• Studies on information overload are fast rising, specifically in emerging domains such as social media and online collaboration.

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Information Overload and why is it important?

Is information overload costing the global economy $650 billion annually? This staggering statistic by Lohr (2007) underscores the profound impact of information overload on productivity and well-being in today’s workplace.With the rise of information technology, storing and categorizing the data is easier and reaching data from various sources leads users to suffer processing, evaluating and reacting  a myriad of information on a daily basis.

According to Wikipedia, Information overload (also known as information anxiety) is the difficulty in understanding an issue and effectively making decisions when one has too much information (TMI) about that issue. It is generally associated with the excessive quantity of daily information.

Information Overload occurs when users are faced with too much information than their capacity to collect, understand and evaluate based on their own judgment.This overload specifically kills productivity and can increase stress level,anxiety even burnout.This blog summarizes, key points on  relate to Information Overload from Roetzel 2019 article for better understanding.

Decision-making,personal prejudgments and bounded rationality

The status quo reveals that while research on information overload peaked in the 1980s and 1990s interest waned in the early 2000s. However, the invention of digital technologies and the internet has reignited attention in university research, particularly focusing on social media and virtual collaboration.

We, the users of new technologies, are quite limited to process information compared to Machine Learning algorithms  like AI or Chat GPT. Human brain usually has a tendency to leave more information out than its capacity to understand. In addition to the amount, the level of complexity is another factor that causes the human brain to hit the burnout. The quote “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”” describe the situation as the mathematical function in fig1. As the formula refers, after over the threshold, information load does not have a positive effect on making a final decision. The independent variable is the capacity of processing the information that defines the threshold value.

Fig. 1 Information and decision-making performance

Decision-making process as Roetzel 2019 stated has 6 steps to discover from all perspectives.Among them,the triangle relationship between how individuals search the information, their personal prejudices about information collected and processing the information –evaluation, editing, and weighting of information- plays a vital role in the final decision.

Trust or reputation of the information sources and the ease of using the information are effects the way information sources are selected. As you can see these characteristics of information sources are directly bound to personal perceptions. Selection of resources is quite important because it is the fundamental step to decide.

Personal prejudgments to categorize information is the way to evaluate a piece of information whether it is relevant or valuable. This is helpful for them to devote their time and attention to only useful and relevant information. If we apply the fig1 on the selecting of alternatives, once individuals reach their capacity they stop gathering additional information and decide finally on their bounded rationality. The term means that as people try to make good decisions, they often do so within the limits of what they can know and understand.

Current and Future Trends, Conclusion

Information overload is one of the side effects of decision-making in the digital era. Once digitization leads information digital, to process the heaps of information requires more cognitive effort. In order to overcome it, we unintentionally take a sample from huge resources based on our personal traits and beliefs and shape our decision. Each step of decision-making is bound to our personal biases or prejudgments.Even though catching up the pace of technology in terms of information processing is hard, the technology or how it is designed are not primary suspects of Information Overload on their own.

From our perspective, with the rise of the reliance on AI technologies changes the game and not the information but also decisions can be categorized by it as well in near future. Just as categorizing the information, decisions could be categorized and for less important ones can be appointed to AI. Even though the expectations are higher right now, we believe that AI will be centered around modern lifestyle.

Welcome!
This blog is part of the master course „Information and Organization“ at the University of Bremen.
In the upcoming weeks, the students will present and discuss exciting insights about the role of information and digitalization for people, companies and society.
Stay tuned!