Psychologist Says: Facebook Makes You Smarter, Twitter Makes You Dumber

Posted by John Farrier in Blog & Internet on September 10, 2009 at 12:59 pm


Or to be more precise, Dr. Tracy Alloway of the University of Stirling in Scotland says that in a study, Facebook users showed increased working memory, whereas Twitter users showed decreased working memory. She concluded that Facebook has more mentally intensive activities, but Twitter’s communications are too brief to require substantial brain activity:

Dr. Alloway has developed a working memory training programme for slow-learning children aged 11 to 14 at a school in Durham, and she found out that Facebook did wonders for working memory, improving the kids’ IQ scores, while YouTube and Twitter’s steady stream of information was not healthy for working memory. Also, playing video games, especially those that involve planning and strategy, can also be beneficial.

Link via The Presurfer

Image: U.S. Department of Energy


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13 comments to "Psychologist Says: Facebook Makes You Smarter, Twitter Makes You Dumber"

  1. esu
    September 10th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

    I assume it's safe to say I have a facebook but not a twitter.

  2. Jess
    September 10th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

    Stirling has been mis-spelled as Sterling.

  3. Lady Helena Handbasket
    September 10th, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    And reading Neatorama makes you a genius, natch.

  4. John Farrier
    September 10th, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    Thanks, Jess. Fixed now.

  5. Berick Cook
    September 10th, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    @neatorama Nuh uh!

  6. Gail Pink
    September 10th, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Agreed.

  7. Edward
    September 10th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

    I am always looking for ways to become less intelligent. I can't stand drugs and alcohol only does so much. I will try Twittering and let you know how it works.

  8. Random_Tangent
    September 10th, 2009 at 2:47 pm

    Of course, she has no actual evidence and is extrapolating from a fairly sketchy study done on text messaging which isn't the same thing at all, but let's keep spreading this around.

  9. not Chang
    September 10th, 2009 at 6:32 pm

    What about myspace???

  10. free games for kids
    September 10th, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    I feel smarter already!

  11. glassmusic
    September 11th, 2009 at 1:42 am

    This study brought to you by the fine people at FaceBook.

  12. Michigan Fur Coats
    September 11th, 2009 at 10:41 am

    Video games are probably the most memory enhancing activity from the above mentioned.

  13. True
    September 18th, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    I use mindbook I chat with friends using mental telepathy....


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