Twitter, Thought Speed, and What Happens When Your Phone Goes Back in Your Pocket
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Date
2019-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Social media applications have become nearly ubiquitous in the past decade. As research
into their effects on well-being, along with mobile phones, has caught up with adoption
researchers have uncovered multiple negative effects. Why do people spend so much time on
social media if it leads to lower feelings of happiness and connection? We suggest that at least
part of social media’s appeal stems from a relationship with thought speed. We focus our
analysis on one key aspect of social media usage, which is that it allows users to choose the
speed at which they absorb content as they scroll as fast as desired. Participants in our study
observed the same twitter feed either at their own pace or a fixed, slow pace. Being able to
control the rate at which you take in information does increase thought speed. This ability to
control information intake also increases people’s cognitive performance on the next activity
they undertake.
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Keywords
Thought Speed, Social Media, Cognitive Performance, Enjoyment