Social Modes
Ask HN: Have the founders of Palentir and Anduril ever read Tolkien?
The Lord of the Rings famously includes very strong thematic critiques of industrialization and technological encroachment into everyday life.[0] Tolkien portrays the titular relics, as well as many of the other magical artifacts in Middle Earth like the palentiri, as tools of evil, destruction, and environmental devastation. Tolkien cited his upbringing in the rapidly industrializing English Midlands and his experiences in World War I as major influences, and used the typical Arthurian framing
2000 for a tweet, 4000 for a reel: Anirudh Ravichander exposes paid and manufactured social media and reel culture
Anirudh Ravichander unveils his independent single "Aravindh," exploring pop and hip-hop beyond film music. The track honors ...
Labour ‘must not be given power to pick trustworthy media’
Tories point to ‘significant risk of political bias’ if ministers decide which news outlets are promoted online ...
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 trusted news sources as part of its broader push to tighten regulation of the ...
Tech firms had 'enough time' says Nandy, ahead of social media announcement
The prime minister is expected to announce measures on protecting teenagers online on Monday.
The social media ban is driven by moral panic. It won’t protect girls but fail them
As Keir Starmer announced his new social media ban for under 16s last week, the internet reacted with praise. There was a ...
Pickleball, Tennis, Soccer: How Social Sports Keep You Mentally and Physically Young
Joining social sports like pickleball, tennis, and swimming may help slow the effects of aging and improve longevity by exercising your brain and body.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Social robots for child development: research hotspots, topic modeling, and collaborations
Social robots are increasingly used to support children’s cognitive, emotional, and social development, yet systematic research on overarching themes remains limited. This study addresses the gap with a bibliometric analysis of 5688 publications (2013–2023), leveraging Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, and Tableau. Results show a steady increase in publications, with a notable rise in the last decade due to advancements in AI and robotics. Key research areas identified include robotics education, human-robot interaction, STEM education, and the use of robots for children with disabilities. Emerging trends focus on preschool education, inclusivity, and classroom teaching. Four themes, including motor, niche, emerging/disappearing, and basic, highlight creativity development and AI integration as under-researched. The U.S. leads geographically, followed by China and Europe, revealing disparities between regions. These findings underscore the need for greater global collaboration to better integrate social robots into child development and therapy.
Psychologists should study basic social cognition processes within the context of sexual interactions
Research in psychology has long underscored the significance of contextual influence on social cognition processes and behavior. However, the exploration of sexual interactions as a unique context affecting these processes has largely been neglected by previous research, despite their prominent role in our daily lives and potentially consequential outcomes. We outline the relevance of various basic social cognition processes to sexual interactions and propose a line of research integrating theoretical insights and methodologies from social cognition research with those from sex and relationship research. We elaborate on theoretical and applied contributions to both fields. Applying social cognition theories, concepts, and methodologies to the context of sexual interactions can lead to a better understanding of the dynamics and outcomes of sexual interactions. Likewise, considering the context of sexual interactions can better inform knowledge of the domain specificity of social cognition.
Talking edible robot deepens human perception of food culture and ethics
A research group led by Associate Professor Yoshihiro Nakata from the Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering at the University of Electro-Communications, Japan, in collaboration with ...
If teens leave social media, gaming could become their next digital hangout
Proposals by several Indian states to restrict social media access for users under 16 could disrupt the gaming industry’s marketing playbook while reshaping how young users interact online. Industry ...
8 New Relationship Terms Everyone Is Using in 2026
With the linear rise of social media, modern dating vocabulary is always evolving, which leads to the introduction of new ...
Social Media Marketing and Brand Equity Dynamics
Social media marketing has transformed the manner in which organisations cultivate and manage brand equity, the composite value derived from consumer perceptions, associations and loyalty. By ...
Psilocybin shows context-dependent effects on social behavior and inflammation in female mice
Researchers led by Dr. Claire Foldi at Monash University have discovered that psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms, produces subtle but distinct effects on social behavior ...
Social feedback amplifies emotional language in online video live chats
A growing share of human interactions now occurs online, where the expression and perception of emotions are often amplified and distorted. Yet, the interplay between different emotions and the extent to which they are driven by external stimuli or social feedback remains poorly understood. We calibrate a multivariate Hawkes self-exciting point process to model the temporal expression of six basic emotions in YouTube Live chats. This framework captures both temporal and cross-emotional dependencies while allowing us to disentangle the influence of video content (exogenous) from peer interactions (endogenous). We find that emotional expressions are up to four times more strongly driven by peer interaction than by video content. Positivity is more contagious, spreading three times more readily, whereas negativity is more memorable, lingering nearly twice as long. Moreover, we observe asymmetric cross-excitation, with negative emotions frequently triggering positive ones, a pattern consistent with trolling dynamics, but not the reverse. These findings highlight the central role of social interaction in shaping emotional dynamics online and the risks of emotional manipulation as human-chatbot interactions become increasingly realistic. Applying a multivariate analysis to quantify how emotions spread in YouTube live chats, this study shows that peer interactions drive emotional expression up to four times more than video content, with positivity spreading faster but negativity lasting longer.
Modularity of online social networks acts as a reliable predictor of both whole-network and ego-network characteristics over time
In the digital age, social interactions have increasingly shifted online, necessitating a deeper understanding of the structure and dynamics of online social networks and their societal impacts. This study examines the stability of network modularity on relationship-based social media platforms and its predictive power for both whole-network structures and ego-network characteristics, using a nationally representative longitudinal dataset of Generation Z interactions on a popular social media platform in China. Our findings reveal that network modularity is a stable network attribute over time, which suggests that individuals tend to maintain existing contacts on relationship-based platforms and that the community structures of their online social networks are likely to persist. Notably, the initial level of network modularity significantly correlates with both whole-network and ego-network characteristics in subsequent periods, thus highlighting modularity’s power to predict long-term network characteristics. These insights contribute to social network theory by deepening our understanding of how the existence of smaller communities within network structures influences interpersonal interactions in digital communication, with broader implications for how social networks evolve within the landscape of social media.
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 ...