Moscow, Moscow, Russian Federation
Moskva, Moscow, Russian Federation
Social media provide tools for sharing information and ideas. Various social nets have become daily routine for many teachers. The article describes the effect of social media on the cognitive processes and emotional manifestations in university academic personnel, i.e., attention span, memory capacity, and emotional status. The attention span and memory tests included those developed by J. R. Stroop, J. E. Raymond, K. L. Shapiro, and K. M. Arnell. The emotion tests included the PANAS method as adapted by E. N. Osin. A long-term interaction with social media affected the attention span, short-term memory, and emotional state of the participants. Those subjected to social media demonstrated a shorter attention-span compared to their own results before the exposure: they had a longer reaction time and could not concentrate on the tasks. The participants also experienced problems with remembering information: they had quite good short-term memory but failed to reproduce the information as required. They also reported an adverse effect of social media on their emotional state. The research prospects may include ways to optimize the use of social media by academics to increase their professional effectiveness.
cognitive processes, social media, university teaching personnel, attention span, short-term memory, mood
1. Lara R. S., Bokoch R. Cognitive functioning and social media: Has technology changed us? Acta Psychologica, 2021, 221. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103429
2. Stieger S., Wunderl S. Associations between social media use and cognitive abilities: Results from a large-scale study of adolescents. Computers in Human Behavior, 2022, 135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107358
3. Beemt A., Thurlings M., Willems M. Towards an understanding of social media use in the classroom: A literature review. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 2020, 29(1): 35–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2019.1695657
4. Kolhar M., Kazi R. N. A., Alameen A. Effect of social media use on learning, social interactions, and sleep duration among university students. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 2021, 28(4): 2216–2222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.01.010
5. Aguilar S. J., Rosenberg J. M., Greenhalgh S. P., Fütterer T., Lishinski A., Fischer C. A different experience in a different moment? Teachers’ social media use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. AERA Open, 2021, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211063898
6. Gulzar M. A., Ahmad M., Hassan M., Rasheed M. I. How social media use is related to student engagement and creativity: Investigating through the lens of intrinsic motivation. Behaviour & Information Technology, 2022, 41(11): 2283–2293. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1917660
7. Brunetti R., Indraccolo A., Del Gatto C., Farina B., Imperatori C., Fontana E., Penso J., Ardito R. B., Adenzato M. eStroop: Implementation, standardization, and systematic comparison of a new voice-key version of the traditional stroop task. Frontiers in Psychology, 2021, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663786
8. Armstrong I. T., Munoz D. P. Attentional blink in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Experimental Brain Research, 2003, 152(2): 243–250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00221-003-1535-0
9. Choi H. J., Lee D. Y., Seo E. H., Jo M. K., Sohn B. K., Choe Y. M., Byun M. S., Kim J. W., Kim S. G., Yoon J. C., Jhoo J. H., Kim K. W., Woo J. I. A normative study of the digit span in an educationally diverse elderly population. Psychiatry Investigation, 2014, 11(1): 39–43. https://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2014.11.1.39
10. Osin E. N. Measuring positive and negative affect: Development of a Russian-language analogue of the Panas. Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics, 2012, 9(4): 91–110. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qyxapb
11. Khan M. I., Ahmed M., Din S., Amin A. The Impact of social media on teacher's performance: A case of higher educational institutions of Pakistan. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 2017, 6(2): 206–221.
12. Verheijen L. The effects of text messaging and instant messaging on literacy. English Studies, 2013, 94(5): 582–602. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2013.795737
13. Ophir E., Nass C., Wagner A. D. Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009, 106(37): 15583–15587. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903620106
14. Barton B. A., Adams K. S., Browne B. L., Arrastia-Chisholm M. C. The effects of social media usage on attention, motivation, and academic performance. Active Learning in Higher Education, 2021, 22(1): 11–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1469787418782817
15. Panayiotou M., Black L., Carmichael-Murphy P., Qualter P., Humphrey N. Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental health: Preliminary results from a panel network analysis. National Mental Health, 2023, 1: 316–326. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00063-7
16. Firth J., Torous J., Stubbs B., Firth J. A., Steiner G. Z., Smith L., Alvarez-Jimenez M., Gleeson J., Vancampfort D., Armitage C. J., Sarris J. The "online brain": How the Internet may be changing our cognition. World Psychiatry, 2019, 18(2): 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20617
17. Siebers T., Beyens I., Pouwels J. L., Valkenburg P. M. Social media and distraction: An experience sampling study among adolescents. Media Psychology, 2022, 25(3): 343–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2021.1959350
18. Dagher M., Farchakh Y., Barbar S., Haddad C. Association between problematic social media use and memory performance in a sample of Lebanese adults: The mediating effect of anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia. Head and Face Medicine, 2021, 17(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13005-021-00260-8
19. Iseman M. The effect of social media Use on short term memory. South Carolina Junior Academy of Science, 2020, 243. URL: https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2020/all/243 ( 10 Nov 2023)
20. Spence A., Beasley K., Gravenkemper H., Hoefler A., Ngo A., Ortiz D., Campisi J. Social media use while listening to new material negatively affects short-term memory in college students. Physioljgy and Behavior, 2020, 227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113172
21. Sharifian N., Zahodne L. B. Daily associations between social media use and memory failures: The mediating role of negative affect. The Journal of General Psychology, 2021, 148(1): 67–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221309.2020.1743228
22. Keles B., McCrae N., Grealish A. A systematic review: The influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 2020, 25(1): 79–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851
23. Karim F., Oyewande A. A., Abdalla L. F., Ehsanullah C. R., Khan S. Social media use and its connection to mental health: A systematic review. Cureus, 2020, 12(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.8627
24. Baker E. The influences of social media: Depression, anxiety, and self-concept. Masters Theses, 2019, 4479.
25. Timokhovich A. N., Filenko S. S. Social media as a tool for youth involvement. Culture, personality, society in the conditions of digitalization: Methodology and experience of empirical research: Proc. XXIII Intern. Conf., Ekaterinburg, 19–21 Mar 2020. Dubai: Knowledge E, 2021, 192–196. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v5i2.8411
26. Shensa A., Sidani J. E., Dew M. A., Escobar-Viera C. G., Primack B. A. Social media use and depression and anxiety symptoms: A cluster analysis. American Journal of Health Behavior, 2018, 42(2): 116–128. https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.42.2.11
27. Filenko A. S. Types of Internet aggression. Socio-humanitarian issues of education and professional self-realization (Social Engineer – 2019): Proc. All-Russian Conf. of Young Researchers with Internat. Participation, Moscow, 10–13 Dec 2019. Moscow: Kosygin University, 2019, 308–311. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/szsuhg
28. Seabrook E. M., Kern M. L., Rickard N. S. Social networking sites, depression, and anxiety: A systematic review. JMIR Mental Health, 2016, 3(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/mental.5842