Psychology of online social networking

This page is in development. Feel free to brainstorm psychological research ideas about the psychology of online social networking and to share resources.

Type classification: this is a notes resource.

Psychological aspects of online social networking are a relatively new area of research - or at least research is some way behind popularity and ubiquity of online social networking behaviours and their associated impacts on people's lives.

1. What are users' main motivations for using online social networking services? To what extent are these motivations satisfied? Does the match between motivations and satisfactions predict usage and retention? (Based on Clary and Snyder's functional approach to volunteerism motivation)
2. What are "effective" and "ineffective" uses of online social networking? (i.e., how does use of online social networking services help or hinder people's lives?)
   1. How can effective uses be fostered and latter uses minimised?
3. How stressful or beneficial do people find use of online social networking services to be?
   1. What coping functions does online social networking provide?
   2. How effective is online social networking as a coping method for dealing with different types of hassles and stress?
   3. How do people envisage their "ideal" online social networking environment and usage?
4. What is the role of personality in prosocial and antisocial behaviour in online social networking?^[1]
5. What are users' most and least favourable aspects of their online social network usage?
6. What is the effect of online social networking on high school student relationships?
7. To what extent does online social networking use increase or decrease social anxiety (and why)?
8. To what extent does online social networking affect shyness?
9. What is the effect of individuals' use of online social networking public and private self-awareness?

• Dunbar's number
• Mood and mental health impacts of online social networking
• Sociometry

• Social capital on Facebook
• New social media rules for Freedom Communications staff, February 16, 2011
• Social networking under fresh attack as tide of cyber-scepticism sweeps US: Twitter and Facebook don't connect people – they isolate them from reality, say a rising number of academics, January 22, 2011
• The psychology of social networking: How many true friends can one really have?, January 26, 2010
• How social can we get? What evolutionary psychology says about social networking, 9/10/2007
• The psychology of Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking devices, June 19, 2009
• http://www.delicious.com/jtneill/socialnetwokingpsychology
• Google Scholar Search (for "social networking" and psychology since 2000)
• Using technology to improve youth mental health (Blog by Michelle Blanchard - http://twitter.com/MischaBee)
  • 'Understanding the use of information communication technologies by the youth health workforce to help improve young people's mental health and wellbeing (PhD abstract, 2011)
• Co-operative Research Centre for Young People, Technology and Wellbeing
  • Announcing the Co-operative Research Centre for Young People, Technology and Wellbeing
  • http://twitter.com/yawcrc
  • http://www.facebook.com/yawcrc