The Psychology of social networking, vol. 2, Identity and relationships in online communities

Using a novel approach to consider the available literature and research, this book focuses on the psychology of social media based on the assumption that the experience of being in a social media has an impact on both our identity and social relationships. In order to 'be online', an individual has to create an online presence - they have to share information about themselves online. This online self is presented in different ways, with diverse goals and aims in order to engage in different social media activities and to achieve desired outcomes. Whilst this may not be a real physical presence, that physicality is becoming increasingly replicated through photos, video, and ever-evolving ways of defining and describing the self online. Moreover, individuals are using both PC-based and mobile-based social media as well as increasingly making use of photo and video editing tools to carefully craft and manipulate their online self. This book therefore explores current debates in Cyberpsychology, drawing on the most up-to-date theories and research to explore four main aspects of the social media experience (communication, identity, presence and relationships). In doing so, it considers the interplay of different areas of psychological research with current technological and security insight into how individuals create, manipulate and maintain their online identity and relationships. The social media are therefore at the core of every chapter, with the common thread throughout being the very unique approach to considering diverse and varied online behaviours that may not have been thus far considered from this perspective. It covers a broad range of both positive and negative behaviours that have now become integrated into the daily lives of many westernised country's Internet users, giving it an appeal to both scholarly and industry readers alike.

Frontmatter --Contents --List of contributing authors --Introduction --1. A Collective Picture of What Makes People Happy: Words Representing Social Relationships, not Money, are Recurrent with the Word 'Happiness' in Online Newspapers --2. The Online Calming Effect: Does the Internet Provide a More Comfortable Modality for Conducting Psychotherapy? --3. Feeling Anxious without It: Characteristics of People Prone to Facebook Addiction --4. What Determinants Matter When Users Engage in Particular Collaborative Storytelling Websites? Exploring Attractive Gamification Features and Design Guidelines --5. Assessment Of Risk Behaviors Related To Substance Use, Bullying and Alterations in Body Image in Adolescents Through a 3D Simulation Program --6. Play With My Team-- Modeling Online Game Players' Teamwork Model in Massively Multiplier Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) --7. Virtual Environments With Chroma-Keying Video Capture In Psychological Therapy --8. Sharing personal experiences and offering advice within online health-based social networks --9. The Digital Rage: How Anger is Expressed Online --10. College Students' Use of Communication Technology with Parents: Influences of Distance, Gender, and Social Presence --11. Internet addiction: an cross-cultural perspective --12. My pixels or my friends? Game characters as a lens for understanding user avatars in social networks --13. Problem Mobile Phone Use in Spanish and British Adolescents: First steps towards a cross-cultural research in Europe --14. Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2: update on the psychometric properties among Italian young adults --15. Smartphone for social networking: methodological aspects --List of Figures --List of Tables.