Your Online Secrets

Discovering your personality through social media

Jennifer Golbeck Ph.D.

Finding Facebook Friends Through Lens Scratches

Facebook can analyze the patterns of dust and lens scratches on a picture to suggest people become friends if they were both photographed by the same camera near the same time.

Dogs May Be Good for Your Child's Development

Dogs can help kids develop better emotional and social behaviors.

Looking at Pictures of Dogs Improves Well-Being

Science shows that spending just five minutes looking at pictures of dogs online can have big, positive impacts on your sense of well-being.

The Power of Cute Things to Make You Feel Better

Need a work-from-home pick-me-up? Research says that looking at cute puppies could improve your work performance.

AI Blinked: Profiling Belinda Blumenthal

Artificial Intelligence gets put to work psychologically profiling Belinda Blumenthal of Steel's Pots & Pans.

Can Artificial Intelligence Predict Sexual Aggression?

Could artificial intelligence, social media, and some existing psychological surveys come together to discover men's attitudes around sex and consent?

Video Gaming Disorder Is Now a Mental Health Condition

The World Health Organization will name Gaming Disorder as a mental health condition in their forthcoming diagnostic manual, the International Classification of Diseases.

Do You Have Social Media Disorder?

Is your social media use just enthusiastic or do you have a disorder? The 9-question Social Media Disorder scale can help you distinguish.

Think Like Artificial Intelligence: What'd She Say?

Recognizing words and meaning when someone speaks is easy for humans but tricky for AI. This article in the Thinking Like AI series explores speech recognition.

Social Media Addicts Need to Feed Their Egos

Social media addiction is tied to narcissism and low self-esteem in a new study.

Are You a Social Media Addict?

Are you addicted to social media or just a frequent user? This short psychological survey can help you find out.

Thinking Like Artificial Intelligence: What's in a Photo?

The first article in a series that challenges us to think about human intelligence and how it relates to AI.

Can AI Detect Sexual Orientation from Photos?

A new study from Stanford claims it can detect sexual orientation from photos people post on a dating site. The truth is more complicated.

How to Keep Your Web Browsing Private

Congress passed a law this week allowing all your internet use - every search, every page visit - to be sold to the highest bidder. Here's how to make your browsing private again.

Should Sexual Predators Be Banned From Social Media?

Some states ban sex offenders from social media. Do these laws protect potential victims? They certainly ignore the fundamental role social media plays in modern communication.

When and Why Trump's Tweets Are Inappropriate, An Analysis

We analyze the appropriateness of tweets and what defines them. Trump's tweets are less appropriate, more negative, less sophisticated than staffers'.

Taylor Swift Analyzed by Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is deployed to analyze Taylor Swift's personality from her Twitter account. She seems like a good person to be friends with.

Advice: Wife's Old Flame on Facebook

A man discovers his wife has been exchanging risqué texts with her ex on Facebook. What to do?

Dating Across Party Lines: Do Shared Politics = Love?

A new research study out this week shows that people prefer to date others with similar political beliefs. That has implications for making our politics less divisive.

Clinton Psychoanalyzed by Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence can predict people's personality traits and psychological states from social media text. This week, we profile Hillary Clinton.

Apps for New Year's Resolutions

Save more money, lose weight, get organized - there's an app for that! Here are 3 apps I've tested to help with your New Year's Resolutions.

Trump Psychoanalyzed by Artificial Intelligence - Part 2

An artificial intelligence analysis of Trump's personality based on his interview with the Washington post (following up an earlier analysis of his tweets)

Advice: Social Media and the Job Search

Advice about how to clean up social media for a college student heading into a job search.

Florida Man Threatens Trump on Facebook, Is Quickly Arrested

Why do people make threats like this online?

Trump Psychoanalyzed by Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can evaluate someone's personality and psychological traits from their social media profile. We use that to analyze Donald Trump.

Social Anxiety and Internet Use: What We Know

A review of 26 years of research on social anxiety and the internet show beneficial aspects but also ties to problematic behavior. Here's an overview of what we know.