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Social Network Use Reflects East-West Disparity

The stark contrast between America’s “me-first” culture and the “collective-good” mentality in China is reflected in the two countries’ use of social networking sites, according to a new study led by a Michigan State University scholar.

U.S. citizens spend more time on the networking sites, consider them to be more important and have more “friends” on the sites, the research found. The most popular social networking site in the United States is Facebook; in China, two of the most popular sites are RenRen and Qzone. (more…)

Even in a Crowd, You Remain Unique, UCLA Life Scientists Report

By Guest PostFebruary 23, 2011Sciencea face in the crowd, bigger crowds, crowd, daniel blumstein, evolution of individuality, humans, kimberly pollard, paradoxical, personal uniqueness, rodents, social creatures, social groups, species, the kinks, unique, waldo

“Am I just a face in the crowd? Is that all I’ll ever be? … Do you think I stand out?”

—The Kinks, “A Face in the Crowd”

It may seem paradoxical, but being part of a crowd is what makes you unique, according to UCLA life scientists.

Biologists Kimberly Pollard and Daniel Blumstein examined the evolution of individuality —personal uniqueness — by recording alarm-call vocalizations in eight species of rodents that live in social groups of various sizes. They found that the size of the groups strongly predicted the individual uniqueness in the animals’ voices: The bigger the group, the more unique each animal’s voice typically was and the easier it was to tell individuals apart. (more…)

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Social Network Use Reflects East-West Disparity

Even in a Crowd, You Remain Unique, UCLA Life Scientists Report