Twitter

Can Twitter make you amoral? OK, that’s a bit of a stretch, but it is the headline of a story about the psychological research into the impact of rapid-fire information. The research was done at the Brain and Creativity Institute of the University of Southern California. It just appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

What the researchers found was the human beings can sort information very quickly. And they can respond in fractions of seconds to signs of physical pain in others. But other emotions (like admiration and compassion) take much longer to register. In fact, they found that lasting compassion in a relationship to psychological suffering requires a level of persistent, emotional attention.

The researchers used compelling, real-life stories to induce admiration for virtue or skill, or compassion for physical or social pain. Brain imaging showed them how long the volunteers need to fully respond to the stories.

So how does that relate to a technology like Twitter? The researchers found that there was a significant emotional cost of heavy reliance on a rapid stream of news snippets obtained through television, online feeds or social networks such as Twitter. One researcher put it this way: “If things are happening too fast, you may not every fully experience emotions about other people’s psychological states and that would have implications for your morality.”

Actually some of the researchers were less concerned with many forms of digital media or social networks. Instead, they focused on fast-moving television and virtual games. They were especially concerned about the seeming non-stop violence in the media that can lead to indifference.

A few weeks ago, I talked about the impact a Blackberry can have on creativity. This study demonstrated the impact of digital media on emotions and morality. The point of these studies is that media does have an impact. A wise and discerning Christian will consider the impact and limit its negative effects. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.