School of Psychology & Neuroscience

On 26-27 October, the Centre for Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (cSCAN) hosted a debate exploring the question of whether online social interactions have any unique implications for human interaction and human nature, or whether it is simply "interaction as usual".

The event organisers were delighted to welcome a list distinguished speakers to contribute their expertise in different aspects of technology-mediated social interaction to the debate. The panel included Professors Robin Dunbar and Andrew Przybylski of the University of Oxford, Dr Sue Fletcher-Watson of the University of Edinburgh, Professor Damon Centola of the University of Pennsylvania and Professor Christine Caldwell of the University of Stirling.

The debate explored a range of topics from how research and application inform each other, to whether experimental social psychology can contribute to our understanding of social media use, and whether studies of social media use contribute to our broader understanding of human social behavior.

Thanks to our panel of speakers and everyone who attended the event over the two days making it a great success.

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First published: 9 August 2017