Social media is becoming increasingly important for sharing important information with the public. So,
In a new study published in the journalJournal of Experimental Psychology: General, Daniel Cosme and Emily Falk analyzed the behavior of over 3,000 people to explore the psychology behind Internet communication. It turned out that the answer is simple: people share information that they think matters to themselves or to people they know.
According to Cosme, this conclusion has a keyvalue for creating effective messages for social purposes. The data could help scientists share the facts about climate change or public health officials dispel myths about vaccines.
People – social creatures and love to communicatetogether. Sharing information activates the reward centers in our brain. And when we communicate with other people, we analyze what the other person thinks or wants to hear.
During the Cosme study, participants metwith articles and social media posts about health, climate change, voting and COVID-19. Some participants read headlines and summaries of news articles, while others viewed social media posts. All participants rated the likelihood that they would share each message, and how relevant they consider each message to themselves and their acquaintances.
The researchers found that regardless of the topicor the bearer of the message, people most often responded that they would share the messages they considered relevant to themselves or society. In addition, they found that when participants were asked to clearly articulate why the message was relevant to themselves or someone they knew, they were even more likely to share it than when they simply thought about it.