{"id":37459,"date":"2017-01-11T11:50:29","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T19:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=37459"},"modified":"2017-01-11T11:50:29","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T19:50:29","slug":"angry-social-media-posts-never-good-idea-keep-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/angry-social-media-posts-never-good-idea-keep-check\/","title":{"rendered":"Angry social media posts are never a good idea. How to keep them in check"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"smashed_keyboard\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSpeak your mind\u201d and \u201cpost your mind\u201d are not the same thing. A study<\/a> that investigated how messages containing different emotions spread across social networks found that \u201canger is more influential than other emotions like joy, which indicates that angry tweets can spread quickly and broadly in the network\u201d.<\/p>\n

The consequences of such angry posts can be dire. People have been publicly disgraced<\/a>; lost their jobs<\/a> and even faced criminal charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So why do such posts persist? My research suggests<\/a> that the answer lies with three issues: the accessibility of technology, the spaces it provides for communication that isn\u2019t face to face, and how this is skewing our ideas of connection.<\/p>\n

But all is not lost: there are some basic rules you can apply that make sure you stay out of trouble and that you get the most out of social media.<\/p>\n

The Facebook factor<\/strong><\/p>\n

With 1.8 billion users, Facebook has had a huge impact on how people connect, communicate and consume content. It was recently blamed<\/a> for influencing the outcome of the US elections by facilitating the spread of fake news.<\/p>\n

Facebook wasn\u2019t designed to spread fake news \u2013 but this is an unintentional consequence of the environment. Understanding such consequences \u2013 what are known as \u201caffordances\u201d \u2013 is key to helping us better leverage technology for learning and to mitigate its risks.<\/p>\n

In my research<\/a> I explored the affordances of Facebook on student interaction and learning. An affordance<\/a> is a \u201ccan do\u201d opportunity of something, whether intentionally designed or unintentionally possible.<\/p>\n

From this I developed the Actant-Activity Affordance model. It identifies five key affordances that interact in a competing set of tensions in online spaces: accessibility, communication, connection, control and construction.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Actant Activity Affordance model I developed from my research.<\/p><\/div>
\nAccessibility, communication and connection are especially relevant when it comes to understanding why so many people vent their spleen on social media.<\/p>\n

Accessibility<\/strong><\/p>\n

Accessibility, in my model, is the ability to access online spaces through multiple devices, in multiple places, at any time. This often results in \u201cspur-of-the-moment\u201d posts.<\/p>\n

In the pre-technology era a person wanting to vent their anger would have to find the local newspaper\u2019s address, write the letter, and then post it. This cooling down gap does not exist with technology.<\/p>\n

New technologies with their ubiquitous access have changed us, largely without us realising it, from passive content consumers to active content producers. Many people have readily assimilated the benefits of permanent access to a publishing platform but haven\u2019t been as quick to realise the responsibilities that come with our new role as content publishers.<\/p>\n

Communication: no warm bodies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Technology now offers innumerable opportunities to both express ourselves and get exposure for our opinions. However, there are important differences between fireside chats and online posts.<\/p>\n

Social presence theory<\/a> teaches that \u201ctext based messages deprive computer mediated communication users of the sense that other warm bodies are jointly involved in the interaction\u201d. Physical presence often tempers what people say, while the existence of a spatial gap between the poster and their online audience emboldens people to express themselves.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural to want to talk about how we feel. While some people may talk to friends, others resort to writing a private journal. However, the danger comes when online channels are falsely believed<\/a> to be the \u201cmodern equivalent of writing a journal\u201d.<\/p>\n

Online channels are a convenient space for expression. But they come with another aspect of the communication affordance: exposure. A journal is private and can be discarded. Online posts are both permanent and public. Posting online is not the modern equivalent of writing a journal. It\u2019s the modern equivalent of writing a letter to the editor.<\/p>\n

Conflating the real world and online<\/strong><\/p>\n

The connection affordance, described in my model, relates to the opportunities that technology affords to develop connections between members of online spaces. In my experiment, students were given administrator status on a Facebook page. An unintentional affordance of this was that they could mask their identity when posting, which emboldened some to become more positively engaged in online class discussions.<\/p>\n

However, a more subtle danger of connecting online, is the avatar syndrome; the conflation of real and online personas. People assume their online identities to a greater or lesser extent. This can be consciously, as in the case of role playing games, or subconsciously through our choice of profile pictures, photos and the content we choose to share about ourselves in social media spaces.<\/p>\n

This avatar syndrome inevitably results in people making comments and sharing content that can have serious real world consequences.<\/p>\n

How to stay out of the news and jail<\/strong><\/p>\n

Technology provides exciting opportunities<\/a> to enhance how we teach and learn. In the coming years it\u2019ll be important to keep educating school kids about the dangers of these new technologies. Here are some simple guidelines to remember when using social media, whatever your age.<\/p>\n

Before you post it online, use the SPACE to THINK approach.<\/p>\n

SPACE \u2013 Take these steps:<\/p>\n