Presentation Comments

#1 - Facebook Common Ground

I was interested in your project because it seemed like one of the few studies of the new phenomenon of large groups (myspace, friendster, etc.) online. Great job on your speech and with finding results! First, I liked the diagrams that you used in your presentation - they were cute, well-drawn, and made your concepts easier to understand. One question I had about your project was why the participants did not have any obligation to click on the facebook link in the email you sent them. As you also stated in your presentation, perhaps if you explicitly told the participants to click on the link, you would have obtained more significant results. Also, it seemed like you stated your interpretations of the results as if they were facts; I think you should have emphasized that these were only speculations on your part. However, overall I was excited to hear your interpretations and I thought that given the limitations that you stated, the study turned out very well. Thanks for a ground-breaking study in this field!

#2 - Deception

I was impressed with how well you executed your project - I would imagine it is very difficult to deceive people in studies such as this one. It was also really interesting that your study was a kind of continuation of Professor Hancock's study. I thought that everyone in your group spoke clearly and well, giving your presentation a professional feeling. Also, the division of your results and interpretations into Q1, Q2, etc. helped a lot with clarity. One thing I didn't understand was that your two hypotheses seemed to be contradicting one another. I was also wondering if your choice to put an icebreaker at the beginning of the conversation was based on previous research or your own speculations. Overall, great interpretation of your results and an exciting study!