Positively Media

How we connect and thrive through emerging technologies.

Pamela Rutledge, Ph.D., M.B.A. is Director of the Media Psychology Research Center and teaches media psychology at Fielding Graduate University and UCLA Extension. See full bio

October 25, 2009

The Coevolution of Society and Media

Media psychology isn't just about effects. it examines the coevolution of interactions with the environment, cognition, emotion, and behavior that drive the use and development of media communications and information content. By taking the position that media is this "thing" external to ourselves, we cheerfully absolve ourselves of our own responsibility and contributions to the system. Read More

October 19, 2009

The Fun Theory of Behavioral Change

Just when you despair for humanity (or perhaps the media version of ourselves), someone reminds us of the creative, uplifting, and inspirational potential of media technologies. If you haven't seen it, check out http://thefuntheory.com sponsored by Volkswagen. Read More

October 15, 2009

Carried Away with Balloon Boy

The big story today was the six-year old boy who was carried away in the family weather balloon. Why do we care so much about this story that we are literally hanging on every word for hours? What creates such appeal? Read More

October 7, 2009

Facebooking at work

54% of US companies have banned the use of social media at work. Before we go demonizing social media, let's ask whether or not the social media tools are being used to support an employee's work or personal life. Most businesses limit the amount of personal phone calls, too. Businesses need to address new communication tools as just that--tools--and set up appropriate usage guidelines. The problem and the solution lie in the employee's motivation and behavior. Read More

September 21, 2009

Celebrity Tourette's Syndrome?

The Internet is all a Twitter (literally) with the recent celebrity outbursts. Is this Celebrity Tourette's syndrome of a sign of the times? Are we a society of rampant narcissists and Twitter-length cognitive processors? Has the new social media environment so empowered us to speak our opinion that we think we can do it at any time with no content censor? People haven't changed, but the ability of information to travel and mutate has. It's time to understand what this means for society and for parents. Read More

August 4, 2009

Tips on Going with the G-Force

Disney has a new family movie, G-Force, out in theaters with guinea pigs as secret agents . It's cute and lots of fun, but parents worry. What if my kid doesn’t understand that guinea pigs are not really like that? What if my kid wants to BUY a guinea pig as a pet? Read More

July 16, 2009

The Positive Psychology of Entrepreneurship

Government plans to promote economic growth have tried to stimulate a lot of things, but entrepreneurship doesn’t seem to be one of them. It’s important to encourage entrepreneurship and not just for economic reasons. Entrepreneurship is the ultimate exercise in developing the attributes that we know from positive psychology to be essential to having a good life: self-competence, optimism, engagement, and resilience. Read More

July 13, 2009

Michael Jackson and Garage Sales: Giving Away Pieces of Ourselves

Michael Jackson’s death is like a family garage sale—it feels like you are giving away parts of your life. In grieving for him, we are saying goodbye to some of our own memories, hopes, and dreams. Read More

June 24, 2009

Social Media Destroys Geography in Education

Communication technologies are forcing us to become global citizens and think outside our borders. Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, are connecting students around the world, making geography irrelevant in peer-to-peer collaboration and learning experiences. Read More

June 4, 2009

Talk to Teens in Their Native Tongue: Social Media

Think of the tech-saavy younger generation as another country with a different language. Their lives are inseparable from technology and they are connected to each other and to information flows in ways many of us will never understand. We can learn to speak their language or we can look ridiculous and irrelevant. Read More

Media Basics

From the ever-expanding Googleverse to the snarky payoff of celebrity gossip, life is splintered and refracted in a million ways by contemporary communication tools. This media has a profound impact on how we perceive ourselves and our world.

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