MLA Reference
Aleksandra. “How Reading Online Comments Affects Us.” Social Media Psychology, 25 Oct. 2016, socialmediapsychology.eu/2016/10/05/onlineandsocialmediacomments/.
Keywords
Influence, interpret, negatively, positive, shaping, tone, infect, emotions
Summary of Article
within this article, the author talks about the effects that comments on social networks have on us in different ways. Whether that be in a negative or positive way or more so how they can influence the way we interpret things in the end. There are many talks which tell us how those who comment first initiates how the rest of us would see it but there can also be those to see a negative aspect in things as well even if the majority tends to see it in a more positive. our interpretation of things can vary in different ways, where it can be influenced by just reading comments on a post. there are psychological aspects when it comes to comments on the posts we see on social media, some are considered minimal to us and there are others that can be greater than we think and could be something we just never noticed.
Reflection
with this article, it provides information where comments can influence the way we can interpret things that we see around in certain posts as well as what we do with the information and tone that is given to us. And so with reviewing this it can be useful for me since I am talking about the show the office which is a show on its own where many people have different opinions on it and to have people actually express it through social media and an account that is dedicated to it can certainly give us a new or different perspective on how we see things or we start to think that we should give our own perspective on it whether it deals with agreeing to it or disagreeing.
Selected Quotes
“Uncivil user comments, especially on less familiar topics, influence how readers interpret the preceding information.”
“It also turns out that exposure to online negativity makes our own thinking negative – reading uncivil comments can immediately increase readers’ own hostile cognitions. To sum up, we are all subject to social influence online. Reading other people’s opinions can influence our perceptions, thinking, and even behaviors.”
“Reading other people’s comments can even influence what kind of comments we publish ourselves.”
“In April 2016 The Guardian analyzed 70m user comments left on its site since 2006 and discovered that abusive comments tend to produce more abusive comments, and eventually lead to avalanches of online aggression. According to the findings, mobs form very quickly in the comment sections.”
“This can also work the other way round, i. e. positive comments can inspire people to leave more positive comments. Psychology says that the first comment is incredibly important for shaping the overall positive or negative tone of the discussion. ”
“These are classic examples of emotional contagion online. Whether or not we realize it, other people’s emotions infect us and can have an influence on what we post.”
I think your article is perfect for your topic. The whole idea of looking more closely at the effects of social media was even something I found myself discussing as important in my own bibliography. I can definitely see how this can all relate to the social group related to the show “the office” and I think you did a great job at explaining how you will personally use this article to your own advantage. I think the part in the article where it focused on how negative or positive comments can sort of alter the way people interpret things for themselves was the most interesting to me and I think that would be a good portion you can focus a part of your essay on. Overall, this article is great for your topic and I can definitely see how you will eventually tie it into your essay!
I think the article you chose supports the topic you chose well. What I found most interesting and useful is how one comment can influence the rest on the people to view it. Information like, “…talks which tell us how those who comment first initiates how the rest of us would see it…”, will add more information on the social media site you are learning from. This information will also allow u to further analyze how other members of The Office group are influenced by the first comment of the post. It is clear how they chose how to use the source on their project since they will be focusing on people’s responses and reactions. This source could be used in my project as well because I am also using a similar social media site, Facebook. I can study the tone, reactions, and direction of the comments on posts and how it affects other members my online community. Some ideas on other search terms you can use are shows, online groups, comments, social media groups, and perception. Overall, I think this is an amazing article that will definitely be useful for your evidence and analysis. Good luck!