Appendix 6. Discussion Questions for Each Section - Psychology of You 2.0: Psychology of Social Media

Psychology  of  You  2.0:  Psychology  of  Social  Media

Appendix 6.

Discussion Questions for Each Section

Ulaş Başar Gezgin

The questions below can be used for class activities before weekly lectures or for in-class assessments or as take-home assignments. More can be added by educators for pedagogical purposes. Video discussion questions are not listed here, as they may easily be formulated by educators.

Chapter 1. Media Psychology: From Asocial Media to Social Media

1.1. Introduction

1.1.1. Considering the list of theories mentioned in this section, which ones do you think could be more applicable to social media? In what ways? (The assumption here is that students have some background in theories of social and/or developmental psychology.)

1.1.2. Do you know other psychology theories that could be applicable to media psychology? In what ways?

1.2. Psychology of TV

1.2.1. What were your favorite cartoons during your childhood? How did they portray violence and gender roles?

1.2.2. Please keep a media diary. Watch at least one cartoon strip and tally and report cases of violence and gender roles.

1.3. Psychology of Video Games

1.3.1. What were your favorite video games during your childhood? How did they portray violence and gender roles?

1.3.2. Please observe a video game player and tally and report cases of violence and gender roles.

1.4. Psychology of Social Media

1.4.1. Considering your own experiences as a social media user, do you think all the distinctions in Table 1 are valid? Do you think more should be added to this list of distinctions? Please provide examples based on your own user experiences.

1.4.2. Please keep a social media diary. Use Table 1 as your checklist and after each time you use social media, check which distinctions are applicable to your social media use for a week.

Chapter 2. Psychology of Internet

2.1. Internet Addiction (a.k.a. Pathological Internet Use, Problematic Internet Use, Internet Abuse, Compulsive Internet Use, Excessive Internet Use, and Internet Overuse)

2.1.1. Do you know somebody who shows signs of problematic Internet use? What are these signs? Please provide details of the user profile for discussion.

2.1.2. Do you think Internet addiction should be recognized as a psychological disorder? Is it a disorder by its own or reflection of some other disorders?

2.2. Internet, Loneliness and Personality

2.2.1. Do you think Internet is related to depression and loneliness? Why and how?

2.2.2. Considering the first users of Internet, do you think remarkable changes in Internet user profiles have taken place or not? In what ways?

2.3. Online Mental Health Services

2.3.1. For which psychological problems would online mental health services be the most viable and the least viable?

2.3.2. What may be the issues that need to be handled by help professionals while providing online mental health services?

2.4. Use of Internet for Data Collection

2.4.1. Is it possible to collect data by mobile phones? What may be the advantages and disadvantages?

2.4.2. Please design a research study for which you will collect online data. In which online platform do you plan to collect data (e.g. Facebook groups)? What may be the advantages and disadvantages of that platform?

Chapter 3. Psychology of Facebook

3.1. What Is Special About Facebook From A Psychological Perspective?

3.1.1. Think about the days before Facebook. How was social networking and how is it now? What did Facebook bring to your social networking activities?

3.1.2. Please keep a social media diary for a week. Record your activities on Facebook and list the ones that you can’t do without Facebook.

3.2. What Are The Uses of Facebook?

3.2.1. If you are a Facebook user, could you explain what are your activities on Facebook (e.g. social networking, checking updates etc.). If you are not a Facebook user, what do you think are the uses of Facebook?

3.2.2. Please keep a social media diary for a week. With which Facebook friends you do the most networking? What is the percentage of Facebook friends you know and don’t know face-to-face? What is the percentage of Facebook friends that are physically distant and near?

3.3. Who Are Facebook Users?: Facebook & Personality

3.3.1. Do you think people who have lots of offline friends are the ones who have lots of online friends?

3.3.2. Do you think Facebook users truly reflect their offline personality characteristics? Do you think deception is common in self-presentation on Facebook?

3.4. Methodological and Theoretical Problems in Psychology of Facebook Research

3.4.1. What is the difference between offline friends and Facebook friends? If we would use a better categorization for Facebook friends, what could be the categories? (Hint: Think about Google Plus.)

3.4.2. Do you think selective positive self-presentation is endemic to Facebook or where else can we see that?

Chapter 4. Psychology of Mobile Phones: The Need for A Mobile Psychology

4.1. Problematic Mobile Phone Use and Mobile Phone Dependency

4.1.1. Do you know somebody who exhibits the signs of problematic mobile phone use? Please describe their usage patterns.

4.1.2. Do you think problematic mobile phone use should be recognized as a psychological disorder? Is it a disorder by its own or reflection of some other disorders?

4.2. Different Uses and Different Users of Mobile Phones

4.2.1. What are the most common and the least common uses of mobile phones?

4.2.2. Please keep a mobile phone diary for a week. Record your usage patterns and discuss.

4.3. Mobile Phone Use While Driving

4.3.1. Do you or somebody you know use mobile phone while driving? Do you think it may cause accidents?  

4.3.2. Do you agree that mobile phone use while driving should be legally comparable to drunk driving?

4.4. Cyberbullying

4.4.1. Do you know somebody who was cyberbullied? Please share the story as a case study by keeping the anonymity of the victim.

4.4.2. How do conventional bullying and cyberbullying differ from each other? Contrast and discuss.

4.5. Clinical Uses of Mobile Phones

4.5.1. For which psychological problems would clinical uses of mobile phones the most viable and the least viable?  

4.5.2. What may be the issues that need to be handled by help professionals while providing mobile mental health services?

4.6. Educational Uses of Mobile Phones and Mobile Learning

4.6.1. Do you know any educational use of mobile phones? Please share as a case study. If you don’t know any, please brainstorm about how mobile phones can be used for educational purposes.

4.6.2. What may be the psychological implications of educational uses of mobile phones?

4.7. The M Generation

4.7.1. Do you think the generation younger than you differs in their uses of social media? In what ways?

4.7.2. How do elderly people differ from your generation in terms of social media use?

Chapter 5. Psychology of Online Games: An Ever Quest for Psychology

5.1. Problematic Online Game Use (Online Game Addiction)

5.1.1. Do you know somebody who is addicted to online games? Which online games? What are the signs of addiction?

5.1.2. Do you think problematic online game use should be recognized as a psychological disorder? Is it a disorder by its own or reflection of some other disorders?

5.2. What Is Appealing in Online Games?

5.2.1. What are the needs satisfied by online games according to you? Can these needs be satisfied by means other than online games?

5.2.2. If you are an online game player, play a game for short chunks of time for a week and record what satisfies you while playing. If you are not, then watch an online game player during play and record what satisfies the gamer.

5.3. Motivations of Online Gamers

5.3.1. Why do you or people you know play online games?

5.3.2. Why do people prefer online games over video games and TV?

5.4. Gender Differences in Online Game Play

5.4.1. Do you think male and female gamers like different kind of games? Do you think they show different gaming patterns in the same games?

5.4.2. If you are an online game player, play a game for short chunks of time for a week and record how males and females are portrayed in the game. If you are not, then watch an online game play and record the portrayals of males and females. (This is not applicable for some games such as card games.)

Chapter 6. Psychology of Online Romance: How Online Dating Transforms Mating Processes

6.1. What Is So Appealing About Online Dating?

6.1.1. Considering people you know that use online dating services, why do they use these services?

6.1.2. What are the differences between conventional dating and online dating?

6.2. How Males and Females Differ in Online Dating?

6.2.1. Do you think there are gender differences in conventional dating and online dating?

6.2.2. Do you think there are differences in conventional dating and online dating with regard to sexual orientations (e.g. heterosexual vs. homosexual)?

6.3. Who Are The Ones Dating Online?

6.3.1. Do you think online daters have certain distinctive personality characteristics such as introversion or some other characteristics?

6.3.2. Do you think that distinctive patterns are visible in online dating in terms of demographic differences (e.g. ethnicity, age, occupational status, religion etc.)? In what ways?

6.4. What Are the Characteristics of Online Dating Websites?

6.4.1. Supposing that you want to date online, what features would you like to see at an online dating website?

6.4.2. What do you think about use of multimedia profiles (e.g. self-presentation videos) on online dating websites? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Source: Gezgin,  U.  B.  (2012).  Psychology  of  You  2.0:  Psychology  of  Social  Media.  Germany: Lambert Publishing.

PSYCHOLOGY OF YOU 2.0: PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIAL MEDIA Ulas Basar Gezgin Chapter Summaries, Keywords and Contents About the Author Acknowledgments Teaching Guidelines: How To Use This Book for Educational Purposes Preface Chapter 1. Media Psychology: From Asocial Media to Social Media Chapter Summary and Keywords This introductory chapter presents some media theories and some studies on media psychology with a focus on TV and video games. Then, social media are defined and elaborated; and differences between media and social media are delineated. The chapter concludes with future studies on psychology of social media inspired by media psychology research presented in the first portion of the chapter. Keywords: Media psychology, social media, psychology of social media, psychology of TV, and psychology of video games Chapter Contents 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Psychology of TV 1.3. Psychology of Video Games 1.4. Psychology of Social Media 1.5. Future Directions and Recommendations References Chapter 2. Psychology of Internet Chapter Summary and Keywords Internet has entered almost all aspects of our lives. ‘Internet addiction’ is a common term, and some say Internet breeds depression, depression breeds Internet or both; while some others stress the positive consequences of Internet use. Not only companies, but also mental health services are going online; but what are the good practices and what should be the guidelines? How about collection of research data in online environments? This review focuses on Internet addiction (a.k.a. pathological Internet use, problematic Internet use, Internet abuse, compulsive Internet use, excessive Internet use and Internet overuse); Internet, loneliness and personality; online mental health services; and use of Internet for data collection. Keywords: Psychology of Internet, Internet addiction, problematic Internet use, online mental health services, and online data. Chapter Contents 2.1. Internet Addiction (a.k.a. Pathological Internet Use, Problematic Internet Use, Internet Abuse, Compulsive Internet Use, Excessive Internet Use, and Internet Overuse) 2.2. Internet, Loneliness and Personality 2.3. Online Mental Health Services 2.4. Use of Internet for Data Collection 2.5. Future Directions and Recommendations References Chapter 3. Psychology of Facebook Chapter Summary and Keywords What is special about Facebook from a psychological perspective? What are the uses of Facebook? Who are Facebook users? This review aims to answer these questions based on burgeoning field of psychology of Facebook research. As a distinctive characteristic of this field, psychological variables such as personality correlates and Facebook use are investigated with reference to possible applications of psychology of media theories. The review proceeds to discuss methodological and theoretical problems in psychology of Facebook research and provides theoretical and practical recommendations for Facebook researchers. Keywords: Facebook, psychology of media, online community, online networks, social networking. Chapter Contents 3.1. What Is Special About Facebook From A Psychological Perspective? 3.2. What Are The Uses of Facebook? 3.3. Who Are Facebook Users?: Facebook & Personality 3.4. Methodological and Theoretical Problems in Psychology of Facebook Research 3.5. Future Directions and Recommendations References Chapter 4. Psychology of Mobile Phones: The Need for A Mobile Psychology Chapter Summary and Keywords This chapter provides a review of various research fields in psychology of mobile phone use such as problematic mobile phone use and mobile phone dependency, different uses and different users of mobile phones, mobile phone use while driving, cyberbullying, clinical uses of mobile phones, educational uses of mobile phones and mobile learning, and the M generation (mobile generation). It concludes by recommendations for future researchers from a psychological point of view. Keywords: Mobile phones, problematic mobile phone use, mobile phone dependency, cyberbullying, mobile learning, M generation, and mobile generation. Chapter Contents 4.1. Problematic Mobile Phone Use and Mobile Phone Dependency 4.2. Different Uses and Different Users of Mobile Phones 4.3. Mobile Phone Use While Driving 4.4. Cyberbullying 4.5. Clinical Uses of Mobile Phones 4.6. Educational Uses of Mobile Phones and Mobile Learning 4.7. The M Generation 4.8. Future Directions and Recommendations References Chapter 5. Psychology of Online Games: An Ever Quest for Psychology Chapter Summary and Keywords What is problematic online game use (a.k.a. online game addiction)? What are the characteristics of problematic online game users? What is appealing in online games and especially MMORPGs? What are the motivations of online gamers and which needs are met by online gaming? What are the gender differences in online gaming? This chapter answers these questions and makes comprehensive recommendations for aspiring researchers of online game psychology. Keywords: Problematic online game use, online game addiction, motivations to play online games, MMORPGs, and gender differences Chapter Contents 5.1. Problematic Online Game Use (Online Game Addiction) 5.2. What Is Appealing in Online Games? 5.3. Motivations of Online Gamers 5.4. Gender Differences in Online Game Play 5.5. Future Directions and Recommendations References Chapter 6. Psychology of Online Romance: How Online Dating Transforms Mating Processes Chapter Summary and Keywords This chapter answers the following questions from a psychological perspective: What is so appealing about online dating? How males and females differ in online dating? Who are the ones dating online? What are the characteristics of online dating websites? The review concludes by recommendations.  Keywords: Online dating, online romance, online love, cyberlove, internet dating, internet romance, and internet love. Chapter Contents 6.1. What Is So Appealing About Online Dating? 6.2. How Males and Females Differ in Online Dating? 6.3. Who Are The Ones Dating Online? 6.4. What Are the Characteristics of Online Dating Websites? 6.5. Future Directions and Recommendations References Chapter 7. Conclusion: Each Conclusion Is A Preface To A New Book Appendices Appendix 1. List of Variables/ Instruments for Future Studies Appendix 2. List of Recommended Videos for Class Discussions Appendix 3. List of Online Resources Appendix 4. Dr. Gezgin’s Teaching-Learning Principles Appendix 5. Tentative Schedule Appendix 6. Discussion Questions for Each Section