According to a new research, microblogging site Twitter turns you into a dodo while social networking giant Facebook makes Einsteins out of you.
Dr Tracy Alloway from the University of Stirling in Scotland has stated that using Facebook increases your IQ and makes you sharper and smarter, while Twitter will in all probability weaken your ”working memory’. A working memory is basically the ability both to remember information and to use it. this will be used most effectively at instances like a job interview.
Dr Alloway has been studying working memory and considers it as something that people need more than happiness and IQ. She has developed a working memory training programme that effectively increases the performance of slow learning kids between 10 to 15 years of age. Eight weeks into the training programme, the children exhibited 10 point improvements in IQ, literacy and numeracy tests. The kid who initially started off at the bottom of the class ended up at the top.
According to Dr Alloway war games that involve strategy and planning will only improve the working memory of children. “Of course they are not that great for socialisation skills but they make you use your working memory,” she said. So in a way, playing games like ‘Total war’ will only make you smarter! Other exercises like playing Sudoku, and networking on Facebook also stretche the working memory.
However, the ‘instant’ nature of smsing, using Twitter and watching Youtube video is apparently not healthy for a working memory. “On Twitter you receive an endless stream of information, but it’s also very succinct and does not need to be processed. This reduces your attention span is being reduced and you’re not engaging your brain and improving nerve connections.” she said.
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