PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Virtual possessions have powerful hold on teenagers, Carnegie Mellon researchers say

Sharing, tagging and personalization make online photos, music, avatars valuable

2011-05-10
(Press-News.org) PITTSBURGH—Digital imagery, Facebook updates, online music collections, email threads and other immaterial artifacts of today's online world may be as precious to teenagers as a favorite book that a parent once read to them or a t-shirt worn at a music festival, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers say. The very fact that virtual possessions don't have a physical form may actually enhance their value, researchers at Carnegie Mellon's Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) and School of Design discovered in a study of 21 teenagers. A fuller appreciation of the sentiments people can develop for these bits of data could be factored into technology design and could provide opportunities for new products and services, they said. "A digital photo is valuable because it is a photo but also because it can be shared and people can comment on it," said John Zimmerman, associate professor of human-computer interaction and design. For the young people in the CMU study, a digital photo that friends have tagged, linked and annotated is more meaningful than a photo in a frame or a drawer. One of the subjects said she always takes lots of photos at events and uploads them immediately so she and her friends can tag and dish about them. "It feels like a more authentic representation of the event," the 16-year-old told the researchers. "We comment and agree on everything together … then there's a shared sense of what happened." The researchers — Jodi Forlizzi, associate professor of design and human-computer interaction, and William Odom, a Ph.D. student in HCII, along with Zimmerman — will present their study May 10 at CHI 2011, the Association for Computing Machinery's Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Vancouver. CHI conference leaders awarded the study Best Paper recognition. The penchant of people to collect and assign meaning to what are often ordinary objects is well known. "A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff," the comedian George Carlin famously observed. But a lot of stuff that often is cherished — printed books, photographs, music CDs — is being replaced by electronic equivalents, such as e-books and iPod downloads. And computers are generating artifacts that have never been stuff — social networking profiles, online game avatars, Foursquare badges— but can hold meaning. For their study, Odom, Zimmerman and Forlizzi recruited nine girls and 12 boys, ages 12-17, from middle- and upper-middle-class families who had frequent access to the Internet, mobile phones and other technology. The researchers interviewed them about their everyday lives, their use of technology and about the physical and virtual possessions that they valued. If a house is a place to store your stuff, then a mobile phone might be considered a treasure box that gives you access to your stuff, the interviews revealed. The "placelessness" of virtual possessions stored online rather than on a computer often enhanced their value because they were always available. One 17-year-old participant said she uploaded all of her photos online so that she could access them whether she was in her bed or at the mall. "Obviously, I can't look at them all and that's not the point," she said. "I like knowing that they'll be there if I want them." The degree to which users can alter and personalize online objects affects their value. A 17-year-old study participant spent a lot of time developing an avatar for the video game Halo and received a lot of comments and input from friends. The original drawings, he said, "are definitely something I'll keep." Accruing "metadata" — online time stamps, activity logs and annotations — also enhanced the value of virtual possessions. Participants noted that they could display things online, such as a photograph of a boyfriend disliked by parents, which were important to their identity but could never be displayed in a bedroom. The online world, in fact, allowed the teenagers to present different facets of themselves to appropriate groups of friends or to family. Developing privacy controls and other tools for determining who gets to see what virtual possessions in which circumstances is both a need and an opportunity for technology developers, the researchers said. The persistent archiving of virtual possessions sometimes creates real dilemmas, they observed. If users are collectively creating these artifacts — a tagged and annotated photo, for instance — then is a consensus of the users necessary for deleting them? "In the future, our research will explore what happens when the boundaries of virtual and physical possessions are more blurred," Forlizzi said. "We will look at things like tags and social metadata and the role they play in sharing experiences with family members and peers." One opportunity for technology developers, the team said, would be creating technologies that enable users to encode more metadata into their virtual possessions. An example might be aggregating an individual's status updates, songs most listened to and perhaps even news and weather information associated with a particular event. In some cases, virtual possessions might be given physical form. For instance, Zimmerman said the team has explored transforming digital images of a past event, along with associated tags and annotations, into oversized postcards that could be mailed to the user. ### This research was supported by the National Science Foundation and by Google. HCII is a division of Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science. Follow the school on Twitter @SCSatCMU.

About Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 11,000 students in the university's seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon's main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California's Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico. The university is in the midst of a $1 billion fundraising campaign, titled "Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University," which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

How did debt and credit become the 'American way'?

2011-05-10
Taking on significant debt has become "normal"—and even patriotic—to some consumers, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "How did America, a country once so indelibly marked with Puritan principles of self-discipline and thrift, become a nation so awash in personal debt?" ask authors Lisa Peñaloza (École des Hautes Études Commerciales du Nord—EDHEC) and Michelle Barnhart (Oregon State University). The researchers interviewed 27 white, middle-class Americans before the 2008 financial crisis and found that even though consumers believe that ...

Faking it: Can ads create false memories about products?

2011-05-10
People who read vivid print advertisements for fictitious products actually come to believe they've tried those products, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Exposing consumers to imagery-evoking advertising increases the likelihood that a consumer mistakenly believes he/she has experienced the advertised product, and subsequently produces attitudes that are as strong as attitudes based on genuine product experience," write authors Priyali Rajagopal (Southern Methodist University) and Nicole Montgomery (College of William and Mary). In one ...

Henry Ford Hospital study: Open-access colonoscopy is safe

2011-05-10
DETROIT – Nurse-driven, open-access colonoscopy programs are as effective and safe as colonoscopy following a consultation with a gastroenterologist, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital. "Our results showed no significant differences in safety outcomes related to perforation rate, emergent surgery, post-polypectomy bleed, overall lower gastrointestinal bleed, or death," says Gregory Olds, M.D., chief of interventional gastroenterology and director of endoscopy at Henry Ford Hospital and co-author of the study. With a nurse-driven open access program, a ...

Go for broke: Consumers who set conservative goals feel less satisfied

2011-05-10
Consumers who set conservative goals have a harder time achieving satisfaction than those who set ambitious goals, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. When cautious consumers meet their goals, they tend to raise the bar and compare themselves to the highest possible standards. Authors Cecile K. Cho (University of California, Riverside) and Venkataramani Johar (Columbia University) compared people who set conservative goals with people who set ambitious goals. They focused on situations in which goals were achieved, and measured the level of satisfaction ...

Report: Direct removal of carbon dioxide from air likely not viable

2011-05-10
Technologies for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are unlikely to offer an economically feasible way to slow human-driven climate change for several decades, according to a report issued by the American Physical Society and led by Princeton engineer Robert Socolow. "We humans should not kid ourselves that we can pour all the carbon dioxide we wish into the atmosphere right now and pull it out later at little cost," said Socolow, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. The report, issued by a committee of 13 experts, was co-chaired by Socolow ...

Constrained consumers: When do people consider what they have to give up in order to buy something?

2011-05-10
Every time consumers spend money on a purchase, they are giving up other consumption down the road. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research looks at the factors that lead consumers to consider these "opportunity costs." "Rather than viewing a decision as 'Do I buy or do I not buy?' consumers feeling constrained view the decision as 'Do I buy or do I use my money on something else instead?'" writes author Stephen Spiller (UCLA). Feeling constrained is one major factor that leads consumers to consider how purchasing something now will affect what they can purchase ...

How do creative ads shake up the way we think?

2011-05-10
Innovative ads can help creative consumers break away from their existing thought patterns, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. These creative stimuli can affect the way consumers process information about different products. "Creative marketing stimuli are pervasive in the marketplace as marketers and advertisers scramble to break through the clutter to attract consumers' attention and win their approval," write authors Xiaojing Yang (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee), Torsten Ringberg (Copenhagen Business School), Huifang Mao (University of ...

Study finds teens often willing to accept free or low-cost rapid HIV testing

2011-05-10
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends routine HIV testing for everyone between the ages of 13-64 as part of their regular medical care, testing rates remain low among adolescents. However, a new study from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center suggests teens who are offered free or low-cost rapid HIV testing are often willing to accept the test. According to findings published in the May 2011 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, more than half of all adolescents accepted a free rapid HIV test immediately ...

Dinner with the in-laws: Why does knowing how long a bad experience will last make it worse?

2011-05-10
Knowing how long a good experience will last makes it better, but being aware of the duration of an unpleasant event makes it worse, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. But people usually predict the opposite effect. "Which is more enjoyable, knowing the exact duration of a dinner with a charming friend or not knowing it? What if the dinner is with disliked in-laws?" ask authors Min Zhao and Claire I. Tsai (University of Toronto). People often assume that knowing the duration of a pleasant event will "kill the fun," whereas knowing the duration ...

Fundamental question on how life started solved

2011-05-10
The researchers published their results in the coming issue of the scientific journal Physical Review Letters. "Attempts to calculate the Hoyle state have been unsuccessful since 1954," said Professor Dr. Ulf-G. Meißner (Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik der Universität Bonn). "But now, we have done it!" The Hoyle state is an energy-rich form of the carbon nucleus. It is the mountain pass over which all roads from one valley to the next lead: From the three nuclei of helium gas to the much larger carbon nucleus. This fusion reaction takes place in the hot ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Breakthrough study reveals bumetanide treatment restores early social communication in fragile X syndrome mouse model

Neuroscience leader reveals oxytocin's crucial role beyond the 'love hormone' label

Twelve questions to ask your doctor for better brain health in the new year

Microelectronics Science Research Centers to lead charge on next-generation designs and prototypes

Study identifies genetic cause for yellow nail syndrome

New drug to prevent migraine may start working right away

Good news for people with MS: COVID-19 infection not tied to worsening symptoms

Department of Energy announces $179 million for Microelectronics Science Research Centers

Human-related activities continue to threaten global climate and productivity

Public shows greater acceptance of RSV vaccine as vaccine hesitancy appears to have plateaued

Unraveling the power and influence of language

Gene editing tool reduces Alzheimer’s plaque precursor in mice

TNF inhibitors prevent complications in kids with Crohn's disease, recommended as first-line therapies

Twisted Edison: Bright, elliptically polarized incandescent light

Structural cell protein also directly regulates gene transcription

Breaking boundaries: Researchers isolate quantum coherence in classical light systems

Brain map clarifies neuronal connectivity behind motor function

Researchers find compromised indoor air in homes following Marshall Fire

Months after Colorado's Marshall Fire, residents of surviving homes reported health symptoms, poor air quality

Identification of chemical constituents and blood-absorbed components of Shenqi Fuzheng extract based on UPLC-triple-TOF/MS technology

'Glass fences' hinder Japanese female faculty in international research, study finds

Vector winds forecast by numerical weather prediction models still in need of optimization

New research identifies key cellular mechanism driving Alzheimer’s disease

Trends in buprenorphine dispensing among adolescents and young adults in the US

Emergency department physicians vary widely in their likelihood of hospitalizing a patient, even within the same facility

Firearm and motor vehicle pediatric deaths— intersections of age, sex, race, and ethnicity

Association of state cannabis legalization with cannabis use disorder and cannabis poisoning

Gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and eclampsia and future neurological disorders

Adoption of “hospital-at-home” programs remains concentrated among larger, urban, not-for-profit and academic hospitals

Unlocking the mysteries of the human gut

[Press-News.org] Virtual possessions have powerful hold on teenagers, Carnegie Mellon researchers say
Sharing, tagging and personalization make online photos, music, avatars valuable