Work the Social Brain Network to Get Ahead

To communicate more effectively and increase your opportunities for advancement, you need to exercise your social brain network—regions of the cortex that are activated when we need to interpret the behavior, intentions, and appearance of other people.

Studying interactions among both humans and primates has revealed that the structure of a person’s social brain network is strongly influenced by the shape of their social network.

In some social networks, all the members know one another independently, while in others, certain people act as hubs indirectly connecting individuals and groups who otherwise wouldn’t know each other. Research has found that their exposure to more diverse perspectives confers a host of benefits to those in the hub position, labeled “information brokers.” They’re not only better at problem-solving but also more likely to accrue faster promotion and higher pay.

In one 2017 study, teenagers’ brains were scanned as they made decisions about whether to recommend various products to friends in their Facebook network. The researchers found that those who were information brokers used their social brain network more in selecting what to recommend to their peers than did teens whose contacts all knew one another independently.

In both humans and monkeys, those who exercise their social brain network more to translate ideas and information between different groups increase the size and connectivity of that neural “muscle,” which further expands their capacity for effective networking. That suggests that providing greater access to broader and more diverse social networks in both educational settings and the workplace could change how people use their brains in day-to-day decision-making.

Since previous research has demonstrated that activity in one person’s social brain network can stimulate similar activity in others during communication, putting both speaker and listener in greater sync and making communication more successful, any effort to widen and diversify social networks could create an ever-expanding ripple effect throughout the community.

Harm and Help in Teens’ Device Use

A new study published in the May 3 edition of the journal Child Development indicates that use of digital technology can be simultaneously detrimental and beneficial for adolescents at risk for mental health issues.

For the study, more than 150 children ages 11-15 from poor U.S. neighborhoods were given smartphones, then asked to respond to brief surveys three times a day for a month about their digital activity and how they were feeling. Eighteen months later, they were assessed for symptoms of mental health problems.

The children averaged 2.3 hours per day on their phones or other digital devices, sending an average of 41 texts every day. They reported more behavioral problems and symptoms related to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder on days when they used digital technology more heavily. However, their levels of anxiety and depression dropped on days when they texted more often.

Study co-author Candice Odgers, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, noted the findings suggest that "for already at-risk teens, high usage may amplify existing problems." Yet, she added, that may be counterbalanced by the fact that the majority of kids are "connecting in often positive ways" and benefit from the support of their online peer networks.

With that mix of pros and cons, neither unlimited tech use nor outright device bands are likely to be appropriate for teens.

Tool Makes Flipped-Classroom Model Better

The flipped-classroom model, which has students do their classwork at home, works best when students come prepared. Eric Mazur, a Harvard university physics professor, has created a social tool to help that happen.

Perusall is a social learning platform that allows students to interact with others working on an assignment, pose questions, and receive email notifications when their question is answered so they can come to class ready to talk about the subject.

The platform also includes an assessment tool for instructors based on the quality of the responses posted, how often students comment, and whether those comments are posted before the next class. To keep extra work for teachers to a minimum, the app uses an automated assessment engine to analyze the postings.

In classroom tests of Perusall, Mazur found that 70% of his students read every assignment during the semester and 95% missed no more than a chapter or two. He is also working with publishers to make textbooks available through the platform, which can be integrated with most learning management systems.

“Education is not just about transferring information,” Mazur said in an article for eSchool News. “It’s not about getting students to learn what we know. I want my students to stand on my shoulders to solve the problems I cannot solve. To do that, active participation and social interaction are a must.”

Are Mobile Devices Addictive?

A new survey from Common Sense Media reports teens think they may be addicted to their mobile devices. The poll of 1,240 parents and teens from the same household found that half of the teens said they were addicted to their device, while nearly 60% of the parents agreed.

About a third of the kids said they try to reduce the amount of time they spend using a mobile device and 66% said devices were not allowed at the dinner table. However, 72% of the teens said they felt it was necessary to respond to texts, social networking messages, and other notifications immediately, while 78% said they check their devices hourly.

The parents may be addicted as well, since 48% said they responded to messages immediately and 69% check their device hourly.

“What we’ve discovered is that kids and parents feel addicted to their mobile devices, that it is causing daily conflict in homes, and that families are concerned about the consequences,” said James Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense, in a report for eSchool News. “We also know that problematic media use can negatively affect children’s development and that multitasking can harm learning and performance. As a society, we all have the responsibility to take media use and addiction seriously and make sure parents have the information to help them make smart choices for their families.”

LinkedIn Targets Students with New App

The business-oriented social media site LinkedIn has launched a new job-search app that targets college students. LinkedIn Students is designed to help college students determine the best career fit for them, according to a report by CNBC.

Users simply input their school, major, and graduation year and the app will list jobs and internship recommendations. Another feature lets users find alumni from their school at companies in what they’re interested.

LinkedIn isn’t planning a subscription model to the app yet and is not trying to sell ads on it other than sponsored content on building student resumes. The goal is to provide a social media site that helps students find a job while attracting them to the main LinkedIn site.

“That means more revenue for LinkedIn, not just in subscriptions, but also from greater exposure for content within a stream of articles, and customers for its Lynda.com professional education,” wrote Julia Boostin, CNBC senior media and entertainment correspondent. “LinkedIn hasn’t yet integrated Lynda courses directly into the Students app, but there seems to be clear potential to market to students looking to beef up their resumes.”

Connecting with Online Learners

There’s no debating the fact that online education is different from the traditional college experience. The online experience will never be able to match the personal interaction and development that is such a big part of campus life.

“It’s true that online learners will not have the same types of interaction as their on-campus peers,” Eric Stoller wrote in a post for Inside Higher Education. “However, we need to stop thinking about what’s ‘missing’ or ‘lacking’ and focus on what we can do to increase connection and build community via digital channels.”

For Stoller, the solution to better student engagement may be social media. Social sites are already being utilized to connect students and expand learner networks, but institutions should be working on programs that use the functionality of social media while the class is in session and as a tool students can rely on for further professional development.

“While online learners might not necessarily be able to meet up at the campus coffee shop with their friends, they can meet up with their peers via WhatsApp groups, Google Hangouts, Twitter hashtag conversations, Periscope live-streams, and LinkedIn group discussion,” Stoller wrote.

Newest Entry in Social Media Race

KakaoTalk is a no-cost messaging app that sends messages, photos, videos, and voice notes for free. It also may be the next big thing on campus.

The app even allows users to make free conference calls over WiFi, according to Joshua Kim, a technology writer for Inside Higher Education. He reported in in early September that a number of his Korean in-laws were already using the app and wondered how long it would take before he would start seeing students using it on campus.

Apparently not very long at all. By the end of September, KakaoTalk was being offered in the App and Google Play stores as a free download, along with a smartwatch app. The key features include fast and reliable messaging, no matter the network, with free multimedia and voice call functions. Users can also see who reads their messages, send messages while in other chatrooms, and schedule appointments. It even has mobile games to play.

“From watching how my family uses KakaoTalk, I could envision a wholesale retreat from Facebook,” Kim wrote. “Facebook is too broad, too slow, and populated with too many people. KakaoTalk could be the next big higher-ed thing because it is not Facebook.”

Younger Adults Use More Social Media

In case there was any doubt about it, a newly released Pew Research Center study confirmed younger adults are more likely to be active on social media—except for LinkedIn—than any other adult age group.

The research report said the survey was conducted by phone in March and April of 2015. Only adults aged 18 and up were included.

Facebook is still the big kahuna among all social-media sites. Although its growth has flattened in recent years, the site still commands active use from 72% of all online adults and 82% of those aged 18-29. That age bracket also dominated users of Instagram (55%, almost double the percentage of all adults), Pinterest (37%), Twitter (32%), Tumblr (20%) and online discussion groups such as reddit or Digg (20%).

Only on LinkedIn do the numbers of younger adults falter. They account for just 22% of users, compared to those 30-49 (32%) and 50-64 (26%). That’s not surprising, given that LinkedIn is aimed at working professionals.

Overall, in relation to Facebook, adult usage of the other major social-media sites is still low but growing at a rapid pace. “The proportion of online adults who use Pinterest and Instagram has doubled since Pew Research Center first started tracking social media platform adoption in 2012,” the report said.

The survey also looked at adult use of messaging apps, such as iMessage, WhatsApp, and Kik. Again, the 18-29 group topped the others, with 49% using such apps to exchange text messages via Wi-Fi to avoid using up data on a cellphone plan.

Texting May Not Always Be a Distraction

While studies find that mobile devices in the classroom can be a distraction, they are not going away any time soon. Jeffrey Kuznekoff, professor of integrative studies at the Miami University branch in Middletown, OH, decided to take a closer look. He found that students who used their smartphones to text about course content earned scores on par with those who put their phones away in class.

In his study, Mobile Phones in the Classroom: Examiningthe Effects of Texting, Twitter, and Message Content on Student Learning, 145 randomly selected undergrads in communications classes were asked to take notes while watching a 12-minute video lecture on interpersonal communication theories. Students were divided into groups and exposed to different smartphone distractions during the video.

After the distractions, students were allowed a short review period before taking two tests. The first asked students to recall as much information from the video as possible and the second was a 16-question multiple-choice exam on the content.

Students in a control group did score a letter grade higher than those texting on topics unrelated to the lecture, but students who texted about the content had scores similar to the control group. In addition, students asked to tweet every 60 seconds on the content of the video scored higher than those who tweeted every 30 seconds.

“They’re still engaging with the content in some fashion, still mentally processing it,” Kuznekoff said in an article for Inside Higher Education. “That appears, in this short-term experiment, to not have a significantly detrimental effect on learning.”

Teens Drift from Facebook to Other Sites

Is Facebook still cool with teenagers? The answer is yes and no.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, a new report by Frank N. Magid Associates Inc. shows that 88% of 13- to 17-year-olds who are on social media have Facebook accounts. That’s a pretty healthy percentage.

However, the percentage was 94% in 2013 and 95% in 2012, indicating more teens in middle and high school are moving away from Facebook—partly out of concern for security reason, the Magid report said. If the slide continues, it’s unclear what impact that might have on Facebook.

The teens aren’t really flocking to any one social media platform in lieu of Facebook, though. Of course, Instagram (owned by Facebook) remains hugely popular and Snapchat’s on the rise, too. Twitter, which most teens ignored a few years ago, is now catching on a little with this age group; almost half now tweet.

Interest in Pinterest is growing rapidly, especially among teen girls. The Magid report noted teens indicated they felt safer using Pinterest than Facebook. “Pinterest also ranked higher in ‘fun,’ with 40% saying so compared with 18% for Facebook,” Bloomberg Businessweek said.

Twitter's Place in the Classroom

Educators are searching for ways to put social media to work in the classroom. Twitter might fit the bill the best.

Students are already using the social networking platform to follow experts in their field and to stay informed on breaking news. It is also used as a personal learning network, linking students with peers and resources, according to Debra Beck, public relations coordinator at the University of Wyoming, in an article in the online newspaper The Evolllution, which focuses on lifelong learning.

Using a common hashtag, students can search topics and share discoveries with peers. Twitter promotes live discussions and interaction with a global audience, allows students and instructors to share class information and reminders, and gives students a way to directly connect with their professor.

However, to make Twitter work best, Beck said policies need to be established for interacting with classmates, respecting privacy, and protecting it from becoming a distraction in the classroom.

“Those risks are real. They also are part of online life in a space where, if students are not already engaged, they will be—or should be—as working professionals,” Beck wrote. “Modeling appropriate online behavior and jointly engaging in critical assessment of information can be an important additional contribution to their learning experience.”

Teens Still Use Facebook in Droves

News about Facebook usage hasn’t been all that positive of late. There’s a Pew Research survey that said teens are turning away from the social media site because of an increased adult presence and then Princeton University reported Facebook would lose 80% of its users by 2017.

Forrester Research took another look at the data and came up with a different interpretation. It found that while Facebook usage has declined, a large majority of young people still use it. In fact, a comScore report  in 2013 found Facebook usage for college-aged adults dropped just 3%, with 89% still using the site.

“Young adults aren’t using Facebook is a fun story that some lazy people like to tell,” Jason Stein, president of the social media agency Laundry Service, told Digiday.

The Forrester study also showed that nearly 80% of the 4,517 online respondents, ages 12 to 17, used Facebook, well ahead of any other social media site except YouTube. Instagram, Twitter, and Google+ were all used by less than 60% of the respondents, while Snapchat, Vine, Pinterest, and Tumblr were all used by less than 40%.

“The bottom line: The sky is not falling,” Nate Elliott, co-author of the report, wrote in his blog. “Facebook does not have a problem attracting or retaining teen users.”

That’s good news for the college store industry, which has latched onto Facebook as a way to engage with students on campus.

Social Networking Tops Phablet Usage

A recent International Data Corp. survey found that phablet sales are on the rise and becoming a threat to tablet sales. Opera Mediaworks followed with a study that showed 54% of phablet owners use the device for social networking, which is much higher than the global average for all mobile gadgets.

The phablet is a hybrid device combining smartphone features with a larger screen, ranging from 5 in. to 7 in. The Opera research studied traffic running through its mobile ad platform in March and April to see what sites and apps were being used.

Social networking on smartphones ran a distant second in the study, at less than 30%, with tablet usage coming in around 10%. On the other hand, tablets continue to be the device of choice when it comes to playing games or watching videos.

“What we discovered is people now want to use their [phablets] for both purposes: to run around town, use the map, check email, text a friend that you’re running late,” Scott Swanson, president of Opera Mediaworks said in an article for Re/code. “Then they were also using it at home, sometimes instead of a tablet, for checking social media.”

Students Can Learn Together on Facebook

Researchers at Baylor University found that Facebook may provide a key to better learning, particularly in larger classes. They studied 218 students in an introductory sociology course who were given the choice of being in a course-related Facebook group.

The study, Using Facebook to Engage Learners in a Larger Introductory Course, found that the students in the Facebook group did better on quizzes and tests and wrote stronger papers than those who just listened to lectures. The students in the Facebook group also reported a more positive overall experience in the class, according to a report in Campus Technology.

“Although some teachers may worry that social media distracts students from legitimate learning, we found that our Facebook group helped transform students from anonymous spectators into a community of active learners—and this has important consequences for student performance,” said Kevin Dougherty, associate professor of sociology at Baylor. 

Multitasking Really Can Be a Problem

Research has shown that electronic devices in the classroom can be a distraction that can result in lower grades for the student and even disrupt nearby classmates. Now,  Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University-Dominguez Hills, has shown that students multitasking while studying—checking e-mail, looking at Facebook, texting, etc.—don’t understand the topic as well and remembers less.

In “Facebook and texting made me do it: Media-inducedtask-switching while studying,” Rosen had researchers follow 263 students ranging in age from middle school to college. The researchers went into the students’ homes and recorded what each was doing while studying.

“We were amazed at how frequently they multitasked, even though they knew someone was watching,” Rosen told Slate magazine. “It really seems that they could not go for 15 minutes without engaging their devices.”

Part of the multitasking problem, according to Rosen, is that texting, e-mailing, and posting on social media sites are mentally complex. In addition, a study from University of Michigan psychology professor David Meyer found the brain can’t perform two complex tasks at the same time.

“It can happen only when the two tasks are both very simple and when they don’t compete with each other for the same mental resources,” Meyer said. “An example would be folding laundry and listening to the weather report on the radio. That’s fine. But listening to a lecture while texting, or doing homework and being on Facebook—each of these tasks is very demanding, and each of them uses the same area of the brain, the prefrontal cortex.”

However, researchers understand students aren’t going to stop using their devices anytime soon. Rosen suggests two-minute “tech breaks” after about 15 minutes of uninterrupted schoolwork. He has found that students can extend the amount of time they spend studying, as long as they know the break is coming.

“Young people’s technology use is really about quelling anxiety,” he said. “They don’t want to miss out. They don’t want to be the last person to hear some news, or the ninth person to ‘like’ someone’s post.”

Study Finds Social Media Use Can Hurt GPA

A report last year from the University of Toronto showed how using an electronic device in the classroom is a distraction not only for the student user but also for peers sitting nearby. Now, research from The Miriam Hospital’s Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine has found a link between social media use and poor academic performance.

Study participants said that social networking and watching television negatively affected their academic performance. At the same time, the researchers found that freshman women spent nearly 12 hours a day using one of the many forms of social media.

The study said students who spent the most time using social media had “fewer academic behaviors, such as completing homework and attending class, lower academic confidence, and more problems affecting their schoolwork, like lack of sleep and substance use.”

In addition, a 2011 study from e-textbook provider CourseSmart found that four in 10 college students said they couldn’t go 10 minutes without checking their mobile device. Ninety-eight percent of the students surveyed owned a digital device, with 85% claiming the device saved time while studying.

The Miriam Hospital report also found that listening to music and reading the newspaper were the two media-related activities linked to higher grade-point averages.

Multitasking During a Lecture Distracts

One concern instructors have about students using electronic devices in the classroom is that they can be a distraction. A new study from York University, Toronto, found that it’s not only a distraction to the student using the device, but also to their peers nearby.

The study asked undergraduate-level students to use a laptop to take notes during a class lecture. Half the class was assigned to do tasks that mimicked what a typical student might do while browsing the web as the class was going on. The entire class was given a comprehension test at the end of the lecture, with the multitasking students receiving lower grades than the other half of the class.

While those results are not particularly surprising, the study also found that students sitting close to multitasking students also did poorly on the test, even though they had been instructed to take notes with pencil and paper.

“The results of our experiment confirm that multitasking on a laptop reduces a student’s ability to comprehend lecture content,” Tina West, co-author of the study and doctoral student at York University, said in a release. “A more surprising finding was that students sitting nearby a multitasker also underperformed, despite actively trying to focus on the lecture. These students were placed at a disadvantage because of the choices of their peers.”

As part of the study, the researchers created a list of frequently asked questions which describes the problems and provides solutions teachers can consider to help keep their students’ attention during lectures.

Student's Social Media Habits at High Risk

Having students use their own electronic devices for schoolwork is one of the newest trends in education as administrators work to bridge the technology gap in their classrooms. However, a study from Cisco found those students are also at high risk for security issues, according to an article at ITPortal.com.

The networking firm reported in its 2013 Annual Security Report that online shopping sites are 21 times more likely and search engines are 27 times more likely to release malware on personal computers or mobile devices than pornography or gambling sites. The riskiest sites for malware are online advertisements, which are 182 times more likely to spread a virus.

In addition, the Cisco Connected World Technology Report suggested that Generation Y respondents don’t really care. It found that 91% of Generation Y employees said the age of privacy is over and a third claim not to be worried about data about them available online.

“Unfortunately, what the security studies show is the next-generation workforce’s lifestyles are also introducing security challenges that companies have never had to address to this scale,” Cisco said in a release.

The report found that more than 33% of all infections from global malware occur in the United States, while cases of Android malware rose 2,577% in 2012. The good news is the threat to mobile malware was just 0.5% of the total.

“Today, we live a blended work-personal life,” said John Stewart, senior vice president of Cisco global government and corporate security. “The hackers know this, and the security threats that we encounter online, such as embedded web malware while visiting popular destinations like search engines, retailers, social media sites, and smartphone/tablet apps, no longer threaten only the individual; they threaten our organizations by default.”

School Officials Playing Catchup with Technology

The Project Tomorrow report, Speak Up 2011Personalizing the Classroom Experience suggests educators and librarians have taken noticed that students accept the do-it-yourself approach to education that has been made possible through new technologies.

The report, a survey of representing students, parents, teachers, librarians, and administrators from more than 5,800 public and private K-12 schools, shows that educators utilizing social networking sites for professional use has risen from 22% in 2008 to 45% in 2011, Additionally, more than a third of teachers responding are now using online professional learning communities (PLC), compared to one in five just four years ago.

The study suggests a shift in thinking about students bringing devices into the classroom is possible as more educators become familiar with using the technology. The study found that those educators see the gadgets as a way to “increase student engagement (83%), access online textbooks (73%), and extend learning beyond the end of the school day (63%).” The report also found that 27% of administrators surveyed feel that allowing students to bring their own mobile devices into the classroom could be a technology solution to budget issues.

At the same time, the report also states that harnessing the potential of technology in the classroom continues to be a challenge because of all the new tools and services that are available. All the choices make it difficult to choose the best product or app, or to even evaluate which tools work best.

Friending the new first-year students

College stores once had near exclusive reach to incoming first-year students.   Today that is not so much the case, with social media and the reach of mobile devices.   Fast Company had an interesting article this week about the importance of building a relationship with these new students, and some suggestions on how to (and how not to) do it.  As technology changes the medium of our core product as well as the transaction mechanism over the next decade the focus now is on market share. 

The Class of 2015, the article notes, are:

hyper-connected, tech savvy thinkers with a budget and their own personal brand to uphold. [...]  Their outlook on life has been dramatically altered by world events and social media. Technology has enabled their own personal brand-building, beginning from the time they were old enough to click a mouse. And when they say something, it’s not a handful of the select few who hear them, it’s hundreds upon hundreds of “friends” with open ears and fingers just itching to text or tweet.

Coupled with this observation, the article provides five pieces of advice for understanding the needs of the new first-year students who will make up the Class of 2015.

1. HELP THEM EXPRESS THEIR PERSONAL BRAND -- and they will embrace yours.
2. INTEGRATE ORGANICALLY INTO THEIR WORLD -- and go to where the customer is (i.e., online)
3. GET IN GOOD WITH THEIR FRIENDS -- and understand social networking
4. BECOME AN ON-DEMAND BRAND -- aggregate the services they need and make it easy
5. GET TO KNOW THEM AND DON’T ASSUME -- values change, and trust is more important than ever

Each of the above suggestions in the article is coupled with an example of a "company that is getting it right."  The message here to stores is that if you are not yet thinking about social media, it is just another way in which you are losing out on market share and the relationship which was traditionally the retailer's strength.

 

Now more than ever it is time to skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.