Dr. Pamela B. Rutledge
Consultant, author, researcher, speaker
Director, Media Psychology Research Center
Adjunct Faculty, Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology and Fielding Graduate University
Instructor, UC Irvine Extension and UCLA Extension
Blogger, Psychology Today
Selfies are pictures you take of yourself tagged with #selfie or just with #me. They are showing up all across social networks like Facebook or Instagram—often but not exclusively posted by women. As the numbers and frequency of selfies increase, the phenomenon has garnered attention. In our globally connected 24/7 world, anything that gets attention, [...]
The 2008 Obama Presidential campaign made history. Not only was Obama the first African American to be elected president, but he was also the first presidential candidate to effectively use social media as a major campaign strategy. It’s easy to forget, given how ubiquitous social media is today, that in 2008 sending out voting reminders [...]
Moving on emotionally after a break-up is hard, with or without social media. But the easy access and speed of social media sites, like Facebook, can make it easier to torment yourself and harder to move on. When relationships don’t go as we expected, planned or hoped, we want to know why. Sometimes this is [...]
In spite of Facebook’s prominence in the social media ecosystem, Twitter is becoming a central source for breaking news. From natural disasters to political campaigning, Twitter delivers real time messaging that have a sense of immediacy. But the characteristics of Twitter also open the doors to a new type of performance art for creative, slightly-bent, [...]
The Sandy Hook tragedy has created an avalanche of response across social media. The senseless violence has so outraged and shocked people that is has turned observers into advocates and supporters. Whether it’s showing support, lobbying for gun control, promoting mental health initiatives or calling for school lockdowns, people who don’t normally speak up are [...]
