Social Media: Psychological Aspects 3-Day Workshop
CUE’s Student Life Office organized a 3-day workshop titled “Social Media: Psychological Aspects”, hosting guest speakers, Fr. Albert Husham and Mr. Saad Anwer.
Day 1 of the workshop covered the cognitive side of the psychological aspects of social media. Mr. Saad started the session by explaining the meaning of communication, and its methods. Furthermore, he emphasized the way our thoughts are influenced by social media, and how our focus, memory, imagination, understanding and other cognitive skills are affected by communication through social media. On the other hand, Fr. Albert presented the practical session. He spoke about the methods that are generally used to make social media attractive, and how certain messages and themes are conveyed through social media. Then he presented a text analysis activity, of a poem, which helped participants analyze and look beyond what is written and seen, understanding the meaning communicated beyond words.
Day 2 of the workshop covered the emotional side of the psychological aspects of social media. Mr. Saad emphasized human emotional reactions, such as happiness, sadness, excitement, fear, anxiety, etc, and how they are affected by social media, in addition to how our mood changes while using these platforms. Moreover, Fr. Albert offered an activity of photo analyzing, where participants were given a collection of photos to be analyzed, based on their first impression of the pictures. Afterwards, participants discussed and analyzed the content of the photos with their group. This activity helped the participants understand how feelings and emotions are visually communicated.
Day 3 of the workshop marked the conclusion of the workshop, and it covered the behavioral side of the psychological aspects of social media. During this session, Mr. Saad spoke about behavior and will, and how our decision making abilities and actions are influenced by social media, especially highlighting the internal and external factors that affect human behavior, and the types of motivated behavior. Later, Fr. Albert led the practical session, which consisted of displaying 3 short films, each conveying a certain message. The activity of this session was to write a short film script with a specific message, and the ways it could be delivered to viewers with elements of surprise and engagement.
