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Online media use such as social networking and gaming could be strongly influenced by our genes, according to a new study by researchers from King's College London.

Access to and engagement with online media continues to grow at an unprecedented speed, and it plays an increasingly important role in the development and experience of people across all age groups. Nonetheless, people differ substantially in their use of online media and researchers are interested in finding out why people differ so much. For instance, do genetic differences between people affect their engagement with online media?

Published in PLOS ONE, the study looked at online media use in more than 8,500 16-year-old twins from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS). By comparing identical twins (who share 100 per cent of their genes) and non-identical twins (who share 50 per cent of their genes), the researchers were able to estimate the relative contribution of genes and environment on individual differences in engagement with a range of online media, including games for entertainment and education, as well as time spent on chat rooms, instant messaging platforms and Facebook.

Heritability was substantial for time spent on all types of media including entertainment (37 per cent) and educational (34 per cent) media, online gaming (39 per cent) and social networking (24 per cent). Heritability describes the degree to which differences between children -- in this case their use of online media -- can be attributed to inherited genetic factors, rather than the effects of their environment.

In addition, unique environmental factors accounted for nearly two-thirds of the differences between people in online media use. Unique environmental factors could include varying access to media sources within a family, such as one sibling having a personal mobile phone and the other not, or parents monitoring use of social networks more heavily for one sibling compared to the other.

Together, these findings challenge the belief that people are passively exposed to media and instead support a view that people tailor their online media use based on their own unique genetic predispositions (a concept known as gene-environment correlation).

Ziada Ayorech, first author of the study from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, said: 'Our findings contradict popular media effects theories, which typically view the media as an external entity that has some effect -- either good or bad -- on 'helpless' consumers. Finding that DNA differences substantially influence how individuals interact with the media puts the consumer in the driver's seat, selecting and modifying their media exposure according to their needs.'

Professor Robert Plomin, senior author from the IoPPN at King's College London, said: 'The key component of this gene-environment correlation is choice, such that individuals are not simply passive recipients of their environment but instead actively select their experiences and these selections are correlated with their genetic propensities.'

These results raise questions about personalised media and the extent to which social media 'filter bubbles' only expose us to information that supports our own point of view, while sheltering us from conflicting arguments.

However, Professor Plomin points out that individual differences would still play an integral role here: 'Where one person may seek online media that only supports their views, another may choose to also explore conflicting viewpoints.'

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Materials provided by King's College London. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Online media use shows strong genetic influence - Science Daily

By Mikey Campbell Friday, January 20, 2017, 03:48 pm PT (06:48 pm ET)

Announced in a post to Vine's official Medium page, the Vine Archive is now open to aficionados of the now dead looping video service.

Available through Vine.co, the online repository is in some ways an analog of the defunct video sharing social network. Similar to the original app, visitors to Vine.co can view popular memes and content organized by categories including animals, art, sports, edits and "weird." The site also features curated highlights from each of Vine's four years of service.

Of interest to fans, the website allows visitors to look up user profiles, keeping intact one of Vine's main content consumption features. Previous users who do not wish to be part of the archive must sign in to the website and manually delete their account.

Faced with increased competition from Snap and dwindling monthly users, Twitter announced plans to shutter Vine in October as part of restructuring efforts. The company later said it would transition the social network into a standalone camera app that lets users capture six-second looping videos for their own edification.

Earlier this week, Twitter integrated Vine's video looping technology into its flagship microblogging service. The change, which automatically loops uploaded content, applies only to videos with runtimes of 6.5 seconds or less.

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Vine creates searchable video archive after social network shut down - AppleInsider (press release) (blog)

CAT TAYLOR / AGGIE

Modeling shows how social cues drive animal grouping, fitness

In a world ruled by technology, its no secret that social media has a powerful effect on human behavior. While our friends in the animal kingdom arent known to share photos on Instagram or update their status on Facebook, they have other ways of relaying information that are similarly significant.

Using mathematical simulations, researchers at UC Davis and the University of Florida found that these means of social networking promote group formation among animals.

Several empirical studies have suggested that social information whether its incidental or deliberate promotes animal grouping behavior, said Mike Gil, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at UC Davis.

The advantages of social networking through group formation essentially provide members of the group with an opportunity for increased fitness in various environments. These advantages arise when information shared by one member of the group is observed by others, relaying information on how to survive.

Animals are choosing groups in order for them to be able to get information, said Katherine Sieving, a professor at the University of Florida and a UC Davis alumna. Gathering social information in groups drives their formation.

In addition to providing an explanation for why animals tend to form groups in nature, the researchers also found that the sharing of information favors the formation of small, heterospecific groups.

What our study also revealed was that its most beneficial to be selective in how many individuals youre grouping with, Gil said. We see this instance of smaller groups of information producers, because each individual is going to be a competitor in addition to an information producer.

Constraints on group size can limit competition, thus leading to increased fitness among group members in a range of ecological contexts. Additionally, groups consisting of members of different species are optimal as they eliminate a margin of niche overlap between species. In these situations where members of a group share predators but overlap less in the kind of food they eat, the chance for survival and reproduction is greatly increased.

Some group members [of the same species] often compete directly with one another for food. Other group members [of a different species] may only partially compete with one another, said Zach Emberts, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida who collaborated with Gil on the research. Thus, depending on the situation, it might be beneficial to have group members that are not solely competing for the same food source.

In a world where reproduction is essential for the continuation of life, animals seem to have figured out the key to survival. While patterns among these animals are recognizable, a lot of the understanding of their strategies has been largely based on speculation. This study provides a meaningful direction to work toward.

Those of us that actually work with these social groups, we know whats going on, but its really hard in anyones study or system to figure out why, Sieving said. Thats the beauty of a good modeling paper like this one.

The paper written by Mike Gil with co-authors Zachary Emberts, Harrison Jones and Colette St. Mary can be found in The American Naturalist.

Written by: Abigail Saenz science@theaggie.org

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Social networking promotes survival in animals - The Aggie

Mashable

Forget Facebook, forget Snapchat: Teens are doing it themselves Mashable The world's largest social network was "big" and "made sense" circa 2004 or 2005, according to Monkey cofounder Isaiah Turner, but no longer. He and Ben Pasternak, 18 and 17 respectively, have launched a new social network one they believe the teens ...

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Forget Facebook, forget Snapchat: Teens are doing it themselves - Mashable

Sir: Many people use social networks on a daily basis, including Facebook and Twitter, but not everyone thinks that using them is a good idea. Some people think that social media is distracting while others think that social networks connect users to new people and ideas.

Social networking may help teenagers learn technical skills, but it ruins social and communication skills. Instead of face-to-face interaction, my generation is becoming too comfortable interacting with screens.

Company managers often use Facebook as a tool to learn about prospective employees. Often times they will look through a possible employees Facebook account before deciding to even bring them in for an interview.

What people post on Facebook can be a very good indicator of their true character. People tarnish their image by spending too much time uploading unimportant things. When excessive amounts of time are spent on these sites, They have less time to directly socialise with others.

Those who do not go out and meet others have harder a time accomplishing important social tasks. Because they are not face-to-face, many people say things on sites that they normally would not say. Unfortunately, this unhealthy venting can result in serious side-effects.

Social media sites have a negative effect on the health of all children, preteens and teenagers by making them more prone to anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders.

They can also result in a lost job opportunity, take away time that could be used in the workplace, and they bring harmful psychological side effects in teens. Social networking is a disease, and we desperately need a cure. Healthy relationships and communication are necessary in life, and they should not start or be kept up online. Also, sites such as Facebook and Twitter are highly addictive; the average teen spends about nine hours per week on them. Some feel compelled to post news about themselves multiple times a day. At such a tender age, sleeping, studying and exercising should be more important, but sadly, those are not most kids priorities. Call me old-fashioned, but I strongly believe technology and social networking are undermining our society.

LAIBA KHURSHID

Islamabad

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Social networking a disease - Daily Times