Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>> >>AMITA: A NEW STUDY OUT OF UC SAN DIEGO SAYS THAT FACEBOOK POSTS ARE MORE MEMORABLE
THAN MANY OF US THOUGHT. THEY'RE EASIER TO REMEMBER THAN FACES OR SENTENCES
FROM BOOKS. JOINING ME TO TALK ABOUT HIS RESEARCH IS SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGIST NICHOLAS CHRISTENFELD. AS YOU KNOW, PEOPLE POST UPDATES ON THE TRIVIALITIES
OF THEIR LIVES ON TO FACEBOOK. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO RESEARCH THESE POSTS?
>> >>AMITA0: IT LOOKS AS THOUGH IT'S ALL TRIVIAL, IT VANISHES AS QUICKLY AS IT'S WRITTEN.
A BILLION PEOPLE ARE POSTING THESE THINGS NOW IN THE WORLD AND A BILLION PEOPLE ARE
READING THEM AND THE QUESTION IS WHY. IS THERE SOMETHING ABOUT THESE POSTS THAT'S
FASCINATING TO PEOPLE, IT RESONATES IN THEIR MINDS.
>> >>AMITA: SO YOU STRUCTURED THE STUDY TO SEE IF FACEBOOK POSTS WERE MEMORABLE THAN
WRITING. HOW DID YOU SET UP THE TEST?
>> >>NICHOLAS CHRISTENFELD: WE GATHERED HUNDREDS OF POSTS.
THESE ARE POSTS OF STRANGERS, NOT PEOPLE YOU KNOW.
PEOPLE READ A HUNDRED OF THEM QUICKLY, AND THEN WE TEST THEM ON 200, 100 OLD ONES AND
A HUNDRED NEW ONES. EACH PERSON'S JOB IS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS ONE
BEFORE AND HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU. IF YOUR MEMORY IS STRONG, THAT'S AN EASY JOB.
YES, JUST READ THAT ONE. IT TURNS OUT WITH FACEBOOK POSTS PEOPLE ARE
EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD AT IT. IF THEY'VE READ IT THEY'RE ABSOLUTELY SURE
THEY'VE READ IT BEFORE. WHEREAS IF IT'S A HUMAN FACE OR A SENTENCE
FROM THAT PUBLISHED BOOK, EVEN THOUGH A SENTENCE HAS RECEIVED A LOT MORE CRAFTING, PEOPLE AREN'T
SURE, I DON'T KNOW IF I READ THIS SENTENCE YES OR NO.
OVERALL LEVEL OF MEMORY FOR BOOKS AND SENTENCES AND FACES ARE MUCH LOWER THAN FOR FACEBOOK.
>> >>AMITA: AND SO YOU DID FIND AS YOU MENTIONED THAT THE POSTS WERE EASIER TO REMEMBER THAN
FACES. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
>> >>NICHOLAS CHRISTENFELD: ONE OF THE THOUGHTS IS THAT LANGUAGE IS DESIGNED BY EVOLUTION,
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO TOO, CONVEY ALMOST EXACTLY THIS KIND OF INFORMATION.
IT'S NOT DESIGNED TO BE CAREFULLY WRITTEN. AND IT'S DESIGNED TO SHARE LITTLE TID BITS
FROM ONE PERSON TO ANOTHER PERSON. THIS IS ONE WALKS ACROSS THE SAVANNAH.
YOU KNOW, THE ROUTE THE OTHER DAY, I ATE A ROOT THE OTHER DAY IT WAS TASTY.
IN FACEBOOK 500 YEARS OF WRITING LETS WRITING GO FROM SLOW AND LABOR OWS, TO THIS CASUAL,
TRIVIAL SHARING TID BITS OF YOUR LIFE. THE PEOPLE REALLY DO WANT AND DO RESONATE
TO, AND DO STORE READILY THESE DETAILS ABOUT OTHER PEOPLES LIVES.
MAY BE ONE OF THE REASONS REALITY TV IS SO POPULAR.
ONE DOESN'T NECESSARILY WANT SOMEBODY WHO CREATED A SCRIPT AND MADE IT FUNNY, RELEVANT
OR NORMAL. >> >>AMITA: YOU WEREN'T QUITE SATISFIED WITH
THE RESULTS. YOU DID FURTHER STUDIES ON USING CNN'S STORIES.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN THERE? >> >>NICHOLAS CHRISTENFELD: I WAS AWLAL U
ALWAYS CONCERNED THERE WAS SOME OTHER SUPERFICIAL EXPLANATION, PEOPLE ARE WOOT EXCLAMATION POINT,
AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES THEM MEMORABLE. WE ELIMINATED THOSE.
ANOTHER POSSIBILITY IS THESE SENTENCES FROM BOOKS ARE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT, SENTENCE FROM
A BOOK AS HAS AN ENTIRE BOOK AROUND IT THAT MAKES THAT SENTENCE MAKE SENSE, WHEREAS A
FACEBOOK POST IS DESIGNED TO EXIST IN ISOLATION. WE TOOK HEAD LINES FROM CNN NEWS ARTICLES
DESIGNED TO BE COMPLETE, INTERESTING, AND INFORMATIVE AND THEN SENTENCES DRAWN JUST
RANDOMLY FROM THE SAME CNN NEWS ARTICLE. HEAD LINES ARE MUCH BETTER REMEMBERED THAN
SENTENCES, FITTING WITH THIS COMPLETENESS. WHAT WAS EVEN MORE MEMORABLE AND THE SURPRISING
PART THAN EITHER HEAD LINES OR SENTENCES WERE RANDOM READER COMMENTS AT THE ENDS OF CNN
ARTICLES. THE HEAD LINE INTERESTING ARTICLE, SLIGHTLY
LESS INTERTSING, BUT MOST READILY STORED IN PEOPLES MINDS ARE THESE RANDOM READER COMMENTS.
>> >>AMITA: SO IT'S THE SAME CONCEPT. >> >>NICHOLAS CHRISTENFELD: SPONTANEOUS EMNATION.
THE THOUGHT IS THE MORE READILY IT COMES OUT OF THE PRODUCER'S MIND, THE MORE READILY IT
GO NZ TO THE RECIPIENT'S MIND 92 SNOO SO WHY ARE WE REMEMBERS.
>> >>AMITA: SO WHY ARE WE REMEMBERING PEOPLES FACEBOOK POSTS?
>> >>NICHOLAS CHRISTENFELD: I THINK IT'S REFLECTIVE ABOUT THE LANGUAGE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO DO
IN MANY WAYS. WRITING HARNESSES THE POWER OF THE LANGUAGE
SYSTEM BUT FOR A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT GOAL. THAT IS ONE IS TRYING TO PA PACK LOTS OF DEEP
THOUGHTS INTO A SMALL SPACE, SOMEONE IS TRYING TO BE ELEGANT, GRACEFUL, OR BEAUTIFUL.
ALL USES OF LANGUAGE, BUT NOT THE ONE LANGUAGE IS REALLY TUNE, AND THE THOUGHT OF THIS MEMORY
PROBE ALLOWS YOU TO ASSESS WHAT IS IT THAT REALLY RESONATES IN THE HUMAN MIND OR WHAT'S
THRR USE OF LANGUAGE FOR WHICH IT'S MOST READILY SEULT SUITED.
AND I THINK THIS SHARING OF FACEBOOK LIKE STATUS UPDATES, READER KA MS OR REALITY TV
IS THE KIND OF THING THE SYSTEM IS TUNED FOR. >> >>AMITA: WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WRAP IT
THERE. IT'S A FASCINATING TOPIC.
THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING TO US TODAY. >> >>NICHOLAS CHRISTENFELD: MY PLEASURE.