Our last Research Supervisor is Ms Amy Orben. Currently Amy is doing her DPhil (Phd) in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and is the College Lecturer in Psychology at The Queen’s College Oxford. She examines how passive Facebook use changes the way people connect and interact. Amy is regularly invited to present her ideas and findings at public talks, academic conferences and in the media.

Project description

Social media is radically altering the human social landscape. Previously, direct and reciprocated contact was a key component of social life. Now many social media users examine other user’s updates and posts on their Newsfeeds. In doing this, they do not engage in direct interaction. Is this creating a vicious cycle driving users to repeatedly engage with their social media feeds? Psychology can help us investigate this. Amy Orben’s project tests whether specific kinds of social media use change user’s relatedness levels. It then examines how these changes persist after social media use has ceased. This will cast new light on compulsive Facebook use and the decision to repeatedly look at our Newsfeeds.

Do you want to work together with Amy on this project? Apply now and become part of our programme as a Junior Researcher!
Head over to the section ‘Event’ and ‘The 2017 jSchool: Croatia’ for more information.