Social Modes

What's behind the "depression epidemic"

Can mental illness be contagious? Studies from Scandinavia show that depression, anxiety and eating disorders are more common in social environments.

Social Influence Dynamics in Online Networks

The study of social influence dynamics in online networks examines how information, opinions and behaviours spread through interconnected digital platforms. At its core, this research explores the ...

No 'Hamas' textbooks: Activist urges Texas not to let CAIR influence curriculum

“CAIR is the US arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist anti-American organization bent on using the political system to ...

What Is Reciprocity in Child Development? Social Skills Explained

Spread the love“`html When we think about childhood development, we often picture physical growth, cognitive milestones, and emotional maturation. But one aspect that frequently gets overlooked is the ...

The effect of aggressive group norms on young adults’ conformity behavior in WhatsApp chats: a vignette-based experiment

Social networking and messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, have become an essential social environment for adolescents and young adults (AYA). While facilitating connectivity, they also bear hazards, including cyber-aggression. This study investigates the impact of (aggressive) group norms on AYA's propensity to expect cyberaggressive behaviors within different group chats. Based on a vignette scenario, realistically simulated WhatsApp group chats enabled scrutinizing, if and how exemplary reactions (funny, aggressive, friendly) of group members influence AYA's conformity to cyber-aggression (N = 500, aged 16 to 29). Additionally, we examined the effect of chat group type—close friends versus fellow students—on the anticipation of aggressive reactions. Sociodemographic, social, and developmental-psychological factors were evaluated for potential effects. Multilevel logistic regression analyses indicated that aggressive group norms significantly predict cyber-aggression anticipation, while no effect of chat group type was observed. Controlling for the size and vivacity of participant’s friend group, gender, age, and educational status were significant predictors: males, younger participants, and non-university students expected higher levels of cyber-aggression conformity. This study underlines the importance of group dynamics on perceptions of cyber-aggression and hints at individual risk factors for AYA's digital communication behavior.

Who will retweet? Employees’ voluntary retweeting behavior of crisis information -A perspective from the group engagement model

Previous research has extensively explored voluntary behavior; however, limited literature specifically addresses employees’ voluntary retweeting behavior in organizational crises. In this study, we sought to investigate employees’ voluntary retweeting behavior using the group engagement model, while exploring its antecedents of respect and prestige. Furthermore, we examined the mediating role of organizational identification and the moderating effects of local orientations and cosmopolitan orientations in these relationships. By collecting data from 321 employees across 13 organizations in China, our results indicate that during organizational crises, respect and prestige exert a direct and significant influence on employees’ organizational identification. Furthermore, organizational identification serves as a crucial mediating mechanism linking respect and prestige to employees’ voluntary retweeting behavior. Importantly, the effects of respect and prestige are contingent on employees’ orientations: the relationship between respect and organizational identification is stronger among employees with local orientations, while the relationship between prestige and organizational identification is more pronounced among employees with cosmopolitan orientations. These intriguing findings have theoretical and practical implications, providing valuable insights for both academic research and practical applications.

The impact of hyperrealistic virtual humans on cultural heritage dissemination

In this study, the transformative potential of hyperrealistic virtual humans in cultural heritage dissemination has been investigated through an empirical examination of five key design elements (character, styling, dynamic, sound, scene) grounded in affordance and situated cognition theories. Using a two-stage experimental approach that combined user testing and surveys on Douyin (China’s TikTok), the research reveals significant disparities in user satisfaction. Specifically, while styling, scene, and sound design exhibited strong performances, character and dynamic design revealed notable deficiencies, particularly in demographic trait accuracy and mouth synchronization. These findings demonstrate that optimizing dynamic realism and character depth, while maintaining existing strengths in visual and auditory fidelity, can significantly enhance hyperrealistic virtual humans’ effectiveness as cultural mediators. The study provides actionable design strategies for achieving this balance, advancing both theoretical frameworks and practical applications in digital heritage preservation by addressing critical gaps between technological innovation and cultural authenticity requirements.

Virtual social interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic: the effect of interpersonal motor synchrony on social interactions in the virtual space

Although the link between motor synchrony and emotional alignment has been extensively studied during face-to-face interaction, the question of whether this association also exists in virtual settings has remained unanswered. Here, we examined whether this link exists during virtual social interactions and whether pro-social effects will be induced during those interactions. To this end, two strangers shared difficulties they have experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic during a virtual social interaction that included both audio and video. The findings revealed that motor synchrony and emotional alignment can arise spontaneously during a virtual social interaction between two strangers. Moreover, this interaction yielded a decrease in negative affect and an increase in positive affect, as well as an increase in feelings of trust, liking, cohesion, self-other overlap, and similarity between the strangers. Finally, a higher level of synchrony during the virtual interaction was specifically associated with increased positive emotional alignment and liking. It can thus be presumed that virtual social interactions may share similar characteristics and social effects as face-to-face interactions. Considering the tremendous changes the COVID-19 pandemic has caused regarding social communication, these findings may provide grounds for developing new intervention protocols aimed at dealing with the consequences of social distancing.

NYC works with civic engagement groups to refine public meetings

New York City is working to improve public meetings through a new effort aimed at making community board meetings more ...

Community-engaged digital safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage: a review of methods and challenges

This review, guided by the Technology-Community Synergy Framework (TCSF), synthesizes 79 studies (2010–2025) on digital intangible cultural heritage (ICH) safeguarding. Effective preservation requires synergizing digital methods with community participation to enhance ICH’s liveness; technology-focused but community-shallow projects risk digital fossilization. Key challenges like the digital divide are examined. The TCSF operationalizes UNESCO’s people-centered ethos for equitable, sustainable ICH safeguarding in the digital age.

Breaking the silence: leveraging social interaction data to identify high-risk suicide users online using network analysis and machine learning

Suicidal thought and behavior (STB) is highly stigmatized and taboo. Prone to censorship, yet pervasive online, STB risk detection may be improved through development of uniquely insightful digital markers. Focusing on Sanctioned Suicide, an online pro-choice suicide forum, this work derived 17 egocentric network features to capture dynamics of social interaction and engagement within this uniquely uncensored community. Using network data generated from over 3.2 million unique interactions of N = 192 individuals, n = 48 of which were determined to be highest risk users (HRUs), a machine learning classification model was trained, validated, and tested to predict HRU status. Model prediction dynamics were analyzed using introspection techniques to uncover patterns in feature influence and highlight social phenomena. The model achieved a test AUC = 0.73 ([0.61, 0.85], 95% CI), suggesting that network-based socio-behavioral patterns of online interaction can signal for heightened suicide risk. Transitivity, density, and in-degree centrality were among the most important features driving this performance. Moreover, predicted HRUs tended to be targets of social exchanges with lesser frequency and possessed egocentric networks with “small world” network properties. Through the implementation of an underutilized method on an unlikely data source, findings support future incorporation of network-based social interaction features in descriptive, predictive, and preventative STB research.

What works best to support virtual teamwork? Study shows two sides

For virtual teamwork to be effective, workplaces need to foster interdependence in some areas and avoid it in others, according to a newly published study of virtual teams. Researcher Dr. Florian ...

UK considers forcing social media firms to prioritize trusted news

LONDON, United Kingdom - Britain is considering forcing social media companies to prioritize what the government called ...

Starmer to force social media giants to prioritise BBC and other public service content

Sir Keir Starmer wants to force social networks and video platforms to make BBC content more prominent. Under plans to ...

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy answers YOUR questions on social media ban

Jenny quizzes UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy on the PM's resignation and a social media ban. Find out what she said here.

In the Social Ban Era, Where Will Gen Alpha Spend Time Online?

Australia, the UK, and the UAE have now all banned social media access for under-16s. But experts say the ban’s impact is likely overstated. Gen Alpha is finding new ways to socialize online and making culture conversational again.

UK considers forcing social media firms to prioritise trusted news

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Britain is considering forcing social media companies to prioritise what the government called ...

Pickleball, tennis, soccer: How social sports keep you mentally and physically young

Social activities like pickleball, tennis, and swimming can improve mental health and help people live longer.Playing sports ...

Why Do Parasocial Relationships Feel So Good?

Parasocial relationships can fulfill human needs for recognition and feeling "seen." A news anchor looks directly into the ...

Social networking agency and prosociality are inextricably linked in economic games

The awareness of individuals regarding their social network surroundings and their capacity to use social connections to their advantage are well-established human characteristics. Economic games, incorporated with network science, are frequently used to examine social behaviour. Traditionally, such game models and experiments artificially limit players’ abilities to take varied actions towards distinct social neighbours, thereby constraining their social networking agency. Here we designed an experimental paradigm that alters this agency and applied it to the prisoner’s dilemma (N = 735), trust game (N = 735) and ultimatum game (N = 735) to investigate cooperation, trust and fairness. Granting participants greater network agency led to more prosocial behaviour across all three economic games, resulting in higher wealth and lower inequality compared with control groups. These findings suggest that incorporating social networking agency into experimental designs better captures the prosocial potential of human behaviour. Jia et al. experimentally show that when individuals can tailor their actions to each neighbour—a freedom termed social networking agency—they display higher levels of cooperation, trust and fairness in economic games.