Studies // Cited work
Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks
Kramer, A. D. I., Guillory, J. E., & Hancock, J. T. (2014). Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks.
Level B Experiment doi:10.1073/pnas.1320040111
What this study supports
Supports the claim that reducing emotional expressions in the feed was followed by corresponding changes in the emotional language of users' own posts. Effects were very small, the outcome was word use rather than felt emotion, and the study was criticised for lacking informed consent.
- Who was studied
- Facebook users whose News Feeds were experimentally altered to contain less positive or less negative emotional content.
- Design
- Experiment
- Level of evidence
- Controlled studies: randomised or experimental designs, and syntheses of correlational work.
Claims that rest on it
No claim in the ledger rests on this work yet.