Are you on Facebook? Do you tweet often? These will probably be two of the questions that you will be asked first at a social reunion when being introduced to new people. And you will worry if you are not being asked any of these two questions in the whole time that you are attending that reunion.

What’s happened? Digital social networking has imposed itself in our lives and now more social interactions are initiated, maintained and furthered online than offline.

The online search of just the first of the social networks that we have just mentioned shows a staggering number of almost 3 billion of links. We would infer by these results that our extensive digital socializing is just an extension of the natural desire that, as social animals, we have of connecting with others but…the thing is that most people, in their everyday lives, do not have such a great desire to connect with so many others, all the time.

Also, most individuals do not interact in the same way with their family than with their friends or co-workers. So, what happens when our social networking profile needs to reconcile all these “levels” to our personality in one digital space?

It is at this moment, when a “split” seems to occur. A digital self is engendered and this digital self soon starts developing a whole parallel life of its own.
And in this parallel existence, it seems that likeability is measured by the amount of “friends” and “fans” acquired. Even if in their everyday lives, most individuals are just as happy hanging out with just two or three people maximum on a regular basis.

Whilst the race to accumulate contacts would have a simple explanation with respect to the social networking applied to commercial marketing, it would, however, require a more complex explanation, which must strongly consider the psychological factor, when studying private social digital interaction.
It is true that in the beginning of this social activity, many people would feel like they were not interacting with other “real people” and thus felt more inclined to share their daily activities, their innermost feelings and views, and any other happenings of their private life, in the digital realm.

But after more than a celebrity scandal, jumping right from their digital profiles to the national papers, after many job dismissals, an increase in stalking activity, crimes, bullying, relationship crisis and teen suicides…well…it is obvious that people do realise now that, when they log into their preferred social networking site, they are interacting with their acquaintances and friends, and another myriad of strangers, instead of some kind of cybernetic beings without feelings, consciousness or...memory.

So, what is the motivation behind mass digital social networking?
What feeds our digital selves?

Are we to expect a decline on this activity and therefore a stagnation of social networking any time soon or, on the contrary, is this the beginning of a future unification of all human consciousness, in seek of truthful and unbiased global information, by digital means?

It is our pleasure and our privilege to interview today one of the most prolific writers, within his fields of expertise, of recent years, the reputed social psychologist Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, who, from his knowledge, may have some answers, or at least, some well founded hypothesis on this subject.

Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic has, as areas of supervision and research interests: Personality, intelligence, creativity, psychometric testing, consumer behaviour, psychology of art and music, human performance, learning and individual differences, film preferences, entrepreneurs.

He has been working very closely with the BBC and has been featured on other major national TV, radio and media networks in the past decade and some of his publications have been referenced by the worldwide famous U.S. TV talk show presenter Oprah Winfrey.

Dr. Chamorro-Premuzic, thank you very much for taking the time, out of your vacation, to collaborate with the MDM Wonderlance today, we are honoured.

MDM: From your extensive study on human behaviour, why do you think we have the need to split our behavioural personality in order to interact with other people at diverse situations?

DR TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC: Personality is complex. It reveals the nature of human nature; why and how we do things. Although it is fairly easy to have a superficial understanding of what people are like - even if you are not a psychologist - the essence of an individual is the sum of all of his/her behaviours across different situations. For example, a person may behave in a very friendly manner at work but show clear signs of his/her "dark sign" when at home or with friends. The question here in not which one the "real" personality is, because the person is clearly someone capable of containing his aggressive instincts at work (or incapable of expressing it, so they act frustratingly with other people).

The bottom line is this: life presents us with many different events and each of them is a challenge. Personality refers to your characteristic way of dealing with these events, but it is impossible to predict exactly what a person will do in a given situation. All we can do is estimate the probability of a given reaction, and that is what personality tells us.

MDM: When the attractiveness of certain anonymity becomes a futile experience, what do you think is what impels people to "befriend" complete strangers at a mass level within the digital realm (not for a professional/work purpose)?

DR TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC: It reverses the natural process of meeting people. Usually, people will still have in mind a physical person, which they eventually want to meet. But the fact that they first connect psychologically is unprecedented and we are still trying to work out how personality affects that. I have just worked on a new TV show called "Dating in the Dark" (Living TV in the UK but also shown in the US) where people interact in pitch darkness for 3 or 4 days. They decide whether they like each other without having seen each other.

That is what virtual interaction is about, though the physical element does not disappear. Humans are 80% visual creatures and crave for an image. Photos still say more to us, and determine more whether we like someone or not, than a million words. This is how superficial people are: looks are all-too-powerful and personality is a distant second (even for women, though they are less likely to admit it).

MDM: In your opinion, internet social networking can become a dangerous activity when…

DR TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC: It becomes addictive (but that is true for anything because the very definition of an addiction is that it is excessive, out of control, and harmful, so I've given you a bit of a circular answer). In simpler terms, I think the dangers of social networking have been exaggerated. The only thing that digital social networking does is make relationships quicker, more structured, and eliminate the physical boundaries. It is to relationships what Google is to knowledge - so, like Google, social networking sites are neither good nor bad, it depends on what users do.

Just like in the real world, you can upset others or make them happy. But mostly, I think they bring to the table some very beneficial alternatives for many people: they enable you do track and find real friends who you had lost touch with; they enable you to keep in touch when you are away; they enable you to quickly get hold of anybody; they enable you to relate to people if you lack the necessary social skills to do it in the real world; most importantly, perhaps, they enable you to expand your network of friends, colleagues and contacts (whoever you are).

MDM: Can it become a psychological addiction?

DR TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC: Yes. A simple example is someone who spends 4 or 5 hours on Facebook while at work and gets fired for it, or someone who spends 4 or 5 evening hours chatting to strangers or having virtual affairs instead of being with his/her partners. In both cases, though, the fundamental problem may not be Facebook, but lack of interest in work or the relationship.

MDM: Are we witnessing a new kind of global revolution, in the way that we, as human beings, interact with each other in terms of a big scale communication exchange or, on the contrary, this is just a temporary trend? Can one feel alone, misunderstood or be misinformed even though mingles with over 1,000 friends?

DR TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC: I don't think it is temporary, but I don't see it as revolutionary either. The telephone, the mobile phone, and e-mail, are as revolutionary or more as any social networking site, and you can see how each of these technological advances has changed the way we interact with others. But none of these devices or means have changed the fundamental reason, that is, the core psychological motives, underlying our relationships with others. We relate to people in order to get along or to get ahead - and both motives are present in social networking contacts (in fact, some specialise in professional ones and others in fun/friendly ones)
 
MDM: Are you on Facebook?

DR TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC: No. I've had an account for ages but never really saw why I should use it. I'm a heavy e-mail and blackberry user and can do pretty much everything I need to with that.