“Real” People in the “Virtual” Environment: SOCIAL NETWORKS AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Digital social networks are playing an increasing role in interpersonal communication. Thanks to this environment, we can easily open ourselves to others whenever we want, and we can present ourselves to them as we wish. We can reconnect with friends we lost track of, and when we need social support and urgent information, sometimes we can reach them through social networks in the easiest and fastest way. On the other hand, there are many complaints about social networks that cannot be ignored. It is claimed that social networks harm our privacy and create security problems, cause us to present ourselves to others as someone we are not with our false selves, create an environment where trust and intimacy cannot develop between people, bring depression and unhappiness... The list of complaints goes on and on. In short, in our daily life, "good luck with social media!" We often hear the cries of "no way social media".
This book has been written to provide information and insights that can put all these heated debates about what social networks bring us and what they take from us, on calm and cool ground. The science of social psychology was chosen as a guide to understanding human behavior in social networks. This science offers various perspectives to analyze human relations, which until recently generally flourished in face-to-face environments, but now it is possible to flourish and maintain in digital environments as well. I hope this book, which compiles studies on human behavior in social networks from a social psychological perspective, will contribute to the broadening of readers' views on the subject and deepening their understanding.