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How predictable are life trajectories? We investigated this question with a scientific mass collaboration using the common task method; 160 teams built predictive models for six life outcomes using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a high-quality birth cohort study. Despite using a rich dataset and applying machine-learning methods optimized for prediction, the best predictions were not very accurate and were only slightly better than those from a simple benchmark model. Within each outcome, prediction error was strongly associated with the family being predicted and weakly associated with the technique used to generate the prediction. Overall, these results suggest practical limits to the predictability of life outcomes in some settings and illustrate the value of mass collaborations in the social sciences.

During COVID-19, there has been an unprecedented rise of videoconferencing use, primarily through Zoom. This increasingly popularity of Zoom has led to growing debates about its negative health impacts. In particular, 'Zoom fatigue' is a rapidly popularizing phenomena that describes the mental exhaustion or burnout arising from Zoom use. However, the specific mechanisms through which Zoom leads to Zoom fatigue are not well understood. To fill this gap, this study tested a mediated model linking Zoom use with the camera on ('ZUC') to Zoom fatigue, through the mediator of social interaction anxiety on Zoom, with a survey sample from the United Kingdom. It was also posited that self-monitoring positively moderated the effects of ZUC on social interaction anxiety on Zoom. The results demonstrated that the direct effects of ZUC on Zoom fatigue was significant and positive. The paper also showed that social interaction anxiety on Zoom increased Zoom fatigue. However, ZUC failed to indirectly increase Zoom fatigue due to the insignificant effects of ZUC on social interaction anxiety on Zoom. Self-monitoring also did not moderate the insignificant relationship between ZUC and social interaction anxiety on Zoom. These insights can guide conceptual frameworks for future research exploring the social psychological impacts of digital media on health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexting has generated considerable public and professional interest with concerns centring on young people, and potential harms to mental and sexual health. Little research thus far has explored the practice among adults and none has focused on the cultural norms relating to the emotional experience of sexting across different ages and genders. We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews with a diverse sample of adults aged 18-59 years in Britain on the role of digital technologies in participants' sexual lives. In this paper, we draw on the accounts of 34 people with experience of sexting. We identified three main themes in participants' accounts related to the emotional aspects of sexting: (1) trust, (2) desire/intimacy and (3) shame. Under each theme, we identified motivations, 'feeling rules', and examples of 'emotion work' relating to the self, the other and the dyad. We conclude that there are shared cultural norms that constitute what appropriate sexting should feel like. Interventions aiming to minimise harms arising from sexting need to build on commonly held cultural conventions regarding the 'rules of the game' concerning feelings as well as behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presentation of self (via Goffman) is becoming increasingly popular as a means for explaining differences in meaning and activity of online participation. This article argues that self-presentation can be split into performances, which take place in synchronous "situations," and artifacts, which take place in asynchronous "exhibitions." Goffman's dramaturgical approach (including the notions of front and back stage) focuses on situations. Social media, on the other hand, frequently employs exhibitions, such as lists of status updates and sets of photos, alongside situational activities, such as chatting. A key difference in exhibitions is the virtual "curator" that manages and redistributes this digital content. This article introduces the exhibitional approach and the curator and suggests ways in which this approach can extend present work concerning online presentation of self. It introduces a theory of "lowest common denominator" culture employing the exhibitional approach. (Contains 2 notes.)

In "Star Trek," Scotty suggests that Transwarp beaming is "like trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet, whilst wearing a blindfold, riding a horse." The study of social media faces similar challenges because new tools are developed at a rapid pace and existing tools are constantly being updated with new features, policies, and applications. Users tend to migrate, in often unpredictable ways, to new tools as well as to adopt multiple tools simultaneously, without showing consistent media preferences and habits. As a result, for scholars it sometimes feels as if the social media landscape changes too quickly to fully grasp and leaves scholars permanently lagging behind. The authors argue in this article that beyond the ebb and flow of everyday events and seemingly idiosyncratic usage, trends exist underlying long-term trajectories, persistent social practices, and discernible cultural patterns. The goal of this article on persistence and change in social media is to take the findings from the articles compiled in this special issue and extend these claims with an eye toward the aspects of social media that may persist for years, if not decades. They hope that their discussion of social media practice will provide an overarching framework from which future research can draw. (Contains 1 note.)

Once perceived as a means for those unsuccessful at traditional dating, online dating has become normalized as a way to seek sexual or romantic partners. In 2019, we interviewed 40 British adults on the role of digital technologies in their sexual lives; this paper draws on the accounts of 22 who had used such technologies for seeking partners. We analyzed qualitative accounts of online partner seeking as a social practice, drawing on a sample diverse in age, gender and sexual orientation, and informed by sexual script and social practice theory. Our theoretically informed analysis emphasized the multiple meanings and goals involved, the affordances of the technology and individuals' skills. Our study provided several novel contributions. Young heterosexual people commonly used general social media, rather than dating apps, to meet partners; meeting partners often involved complex interplays between online and offline networks and encounters. Risks were defined not merely in relation to "risky others" but in terms of one's own actions or attitudes. Participants deployed various skills in minimizing harms such as non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and used self-care skills such as setting limits to engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]