The Internet

The more pictures women share through their mobile phones, the more emails they send and receive, and the more frequently they use Twitter, the lower their reported stress. Compared with a woman who does not use these technologies, a women who uses Twitter several times per day, sends or receives 25 emails per day, and shares two digital pictures through her mobile phone per day, scores 21% lower on our stress measure than a woman who does not use these technologies at all. more »

Wu, lead author of the study, explains that the plot behind a movie like Her (released in 2013) becomes increasingly realistic. The film involves a man who strikes up a relationship with an advanced computer operating system that promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right."The ability to judge personality is an essential component of social living — from day-to-day decisions to long-term plans such as whom to marry, trust, hire or elect as president," said Cambridge researcher Stillwell. more »

Forty percent of adult internet users have personally experienced some kind of online harassment, most of it involving things like name-calling or attempts to embarrass someone. But there are also more menacing forms of harassment such as physical threats, and the Supreme Court has heard a case that weighs when threatening speech on social media breaks the law. more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: As a writer, email has been a special boon to me. In the predigital age, when I wanted to submit an article to publishers, I had to take my typed originals to Staples or Kinko's to make copies and snail mail them to editors, along with return-addressed stamped envelopes. Expensive! Slow! Today I have no copying costs, no postage, no gas costs or waiting for mail responses. I can now receive rejections cheaply and quickly. Oh, wait! That's not good! more »