Remembering in the Digital World: Autobiographical Memory in Social Media

Abstract

The use of social media continues to increase in modern cultures in recent years. This new context leads to creating a virtual self, which somewhat differs from the real self. Further, social relations are set and maintained predominantly in this new context. There is no doubt that social media does not only affect individuals' social relations but also their cognitive skills by pulling them into new situations that they are unfamiliar with. In this new context, content coded in social media can be remembered in real life, and content coded in real life can be remembered in social media. This new context, where mostly real-life stories are shared, is likely to strongly affect the autobiographical memory processes of individuals. Past research suggests that social media affects autobiographical memory processes both directly (phenomenological characteristics, functions) and indirectly through cognitive processes (eg, attention, working memory, transitive memory). Studies about its indirect effects indicate that people with limited attention and working memory capacity have difficulty processing the high number of stimuli offered by social media. Given that the long-term memory capacity is not limited, it is plausible to expect that some of the contents are encoded into the memory; however, problems may occur in the storage and retrieval processes. Studies about the direct effect of social media show that the phenomenological characteristics (number of details, accuracy, emotional content) and functions (self, social, directing, therapeutic) of events experienced or shared on social media differ from real-life events. This theoretical review discusses the effects of social media use on cognitive processes related to memory processes and more specifically on the phenomenological and functional characteristics of autobiographical memory. To recognize and prevent potential psychological issues that may emerge in relation to this new setting, it appears essential to comprehend how social media affects autobiographical memory, which is essential for self-perception.

Keywords

• autobiographical memory
• social media
• self

Dijital Dünyada Hatırlamak: Sosyal Medyada Otobiyografik Bellek

Öz

Son yıllarda sosyal medya kullanımı modern kültürlerde artarak devam etmektedir. Bu durum kullanıcıların gerçek benliklerinden ayrışan sanal bir benlik yaratmasına sebep olmaktadır. Ayrıca sosyal ilişkiler ağırlıklı olarak bu yeni bağlamda kurulmaya ve sürdürülmeye başlanmıştır. Kuşkusuz, sosyal medya kullanımı yalnızca sosyal ilişkileri etkilememekte; bireyleri alışkın olmadıkları yeni koşullara sürükleyerek bilişsel becerileri de etkilemektedir. Bu yeni bağlamda sosyal medyada kodlanan içerikler gerçek yaşamda, gerçek yaşamda kodlanan içerikler ise sosyal medyada hatırlanabilmektedir. Çoğunlukla gerçek yaşam hikayelerinin paylaşıldığı bu yeni bağlamın, bireylerin yaşam öyküsünü kapsayan otobiyografik bellek süreçlerini güçlü bir biçimde etkilemesi olasıdır. Son yıllarda yapılan çalışmalar bu etkinin çok yönlü olduğunu göstermektedir. Sosyal medyanın otobiyografik bellek süreçlerini hem dolaylı olarak diğer bilişsel süreçler (dikkat, çalışma belleği, geçişken bellek) aracılığı ile hem de doğrudan (niteliksel özellikler ve işlevler) etkilediği öne sürülmektedir. Dolaylı etkisi konusundaki bulgular, kısıtlı dikkat ve çalışma belleği kapasitesine sahip insanın, sosyal medyanın sunduğu yüksek sayıda uyaranı işlemekte zorlandığını göstermektedir. Uzun süreli bellek kapasitesinin sınırlı olmadığı düşünüldüğünde, çalışmalar içeriklerin bir kısmı belleğe kodlanmış olsa dahi depolama ve geri çağırma süreçlerinde sorunlar yaşanabildiğine işaret etmektedir. Sosyal medyanın otobiyografik bellek üzerindeki doğrudan etkisini test eden çalışmalar ise sosyal medyada deneyimlenmiş veya paylaşılmış otobiyografik anıların niteliksel özellikleri (detay miktarı, doğruluk, duygusal içerik) ve işlevlerinin (benlik, sosyal, yönlendirici, iyileştirici) gerçek yaşam anılarından farklılaştığını göstermektedir. Bu derlemede sosyal medya kullanımının otobiyografik bellek üzerindeki karmaşık etkileri mevcut literatür ışığında tartışılmıştır. Kişinin benlik algısı için oldukça kritik olan otobiyografik belleğin sosyal medyadan nasıl etkilendiğinin anlaşılması bu yeni bağlamla ilişkili olarak ortaya çıkabilecek olası psikolojik sorunların tespit edilerek önlenebilmesi için önemli görünmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• otobiyografik bellek
• sosyal medya
• benlik

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