Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest, YouTube – these along with a host of other ‘social media’ channels have changed the way we communicate – and even associate – with other people. Brian Kinghorn, an assistant professor of psychology at BYU–Hawaii, recently developed a new college course that is dedicated to better understanding this impact. The course, Psychology of Social Media, impressed leading psychological scientists and academics, resulting in Kinghorn being asked to write a feature that was published in the Association for Psychological Science’s professional journal, the Observer.
With the explosion of influence of social media on individuals and organizations, ways of thinking, processing information, and communicating have dramatically altered. Upon realizing this, Kinghorn used his expertise in psychology to explore why this happens. “As I watched and experienced the social media revolution, I always kept in mind the ways that digital technology has the power to not only change the way information is disseminated, but to actually change the nature of the information and how we think about it as both,” says Kinghorn.
He implemented his research findings into the Psychology of Social Media class he teaches at BYU–Hawaii. This class is designed to not only inform students of the psychological ways in which social media is changing modern behavior but to remind students that these mediums of communications can be used to spread good or bad depending on how it is used. “One of my goals in designing this class was to help students who are digital natives make sense of something they had likely always taken for granted and may not have previously thought deeply about,” says Kinghorn. “I wanted them to understand that social media is a neutral tool that can be used for good or ill and that it is their responsibility to recognize and protect themselves from the potentially harmful effects of social media and to use social media to be agents for good in the world.”
In the article, Kinghorn goes into more detail about the outline of the class, including goals he has for future sections of this course. The class will be offered again in Summer 2015. To read his full feature article click here.
