Unpacking Social Media’s Impact: An EIOPD Methodology for Engaging Audience Perspectives in Installation Art Beyond the Cocoon – Exploring the Dual Impact of Social Media through Immersive Engagement
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background and Aim: Social media’s dual role as a connector and isolator poses complex psychological and social challenges, including digital isolation and the “information cocoon” effect. Using a novel EIOPD methodology (exhibition, interviews, observation, and exemplar pluralism), this study explores how installation art can facilitate critical public dialogue about these effects. Through an immersive art installation disrupted by environmental forces (flooding), the study specifically examines audiences’ interpretations of social media’s effects, exploring the need for adaptive art practices within the discourse of digital trauma.
Materials and Methods: The installation work “Confined Fields: Limited Worldviews in Information Cocoons” (CR: LWWIC) uses symbolic elements (plastic-wrapped mannequins, social media icons, LED projections) to represent digital isolation. Audience engagement was analyzed using the EIOPD framework: Exhibition (E): Exhibited at Baan Tuek Art Center (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Interviews (I): 20 structured conversations capturing
affective/intellectual responses. Observations (O): Behavioral analysis of 5 sessions, recording body language/dwell time. Paradigmatic Diversification (PD): The installation was iteratively improved using welded steel, interactive LED lights, and feedback-based sensors. An unexpected flood during the exhibition added an environmental layer of color, symbolizing the unpredictability of digitalization. Data were analyzed thematically(Braun & Clarke, 2024).
Results: Perception of duality: 60% of participants perceived social media as both a connector and a separator. Symbolic resonance: 50% of respondents interpreted the plastic mannequin as “digital armor,” reflecting Zuboff’s “surveillance capitalism.” Environmental amplification: The flood reinforced the theme of resilience, with 75% of respondents linking it to the uncontrollability of digital trauma. Participatory demands: 20% of respondents requested enhanced interactivity (e.g., sensors, sound) to achieve a deeper level of immersion. The PD phase enhanced engagement, and the interactive LED sculptures facilitated community reflection.
Conclusion: The EIOPD methodology uniquely combines immersive art with empirical analysis, revealing the ability of installation art to catalyze critical discourse in digital society. By transforming environmental disturbances into symbolic assets and iterating through audience feedback, the framework advances relational aesthetics in the digital age. This study demonstrates the transformative role of art in facilitating resilience-oriented conversations about the social impacts of social media.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright on any article in the International Journal of Sociologies and Anthropologies Science Reviews is retained by the author(s) under the under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Permission to use text, content, images, etc. of publication. Any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose. But do not use it for commercial use or with the intent to benefit any business.
References
Bourriaud, N., Schneider, C., & Herman, J. (2002). Postproduction: Culture as screenplay: How art reprograms the world (Vol. 7). Lukas & Sternberg, New York.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2024). Thematic analysis. In Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research (pp. 7187–7193). Springer.
Furendal, M., & Jebari, K. (2023). The future of work: augmentation or stunting? Philosophy & Technology, 36(2), 36.
Haraway, D., Ishikawa, N., Gilbert, S. F., Olwig, K., Tsing, A. L., & Bubandt, N. (2016). Anthropologists are talking about the Anthropocene. Ethnos, 81(3), 535–564.
Jabeen, S., Mushtaq, M., & Shahid, A. A. (2023). Social Interaction Anxiety, Social Isolation, Self-efficacy, and Depression in Social Networking Users. Journal of Professional & Applied Psychology, 4(3), 308–322.
Kaimal, G., & Ray, K. (2017). Free art-making in an art therapy open studio: Changes in affect and self-efficacy. Arts & Health, 9(2), 154–166.
Krauss, R. (1979). Grids. October 9, 51–64.
Kumkronglek, J., Sirisatayawong, P., & Chupradit, S. (2022). Effects of Life Skill Enhancement Program on Life Skills and Risk Behaviors of Social Media Addiction among Early Adolescents: Pilot Study. Asian Interdisciplinary and Sustainability Review, 11(2), 72–77.
LeCompte, M. D., & Schensul, J. J. (2012). Analysis and interpretation of ethnographic data: A mixed methods approach. Rowman Altamira.
Lissitsa, S. (2025). Generations X, Y, Z: The effects of personal and positional inequalities on critical thinking digital skills. Online Information Review, 49(1), 35–54.
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C. G., Barrett, E. L., Sidani, J. E., Colditz, J. B., & James, A. E. (2017). Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression and anxiety: A nationally representative study among US young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 1–9.
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Escobar-Viera, C. G., & Fine, M. J. (2021). Temporal associations between social media use and depression. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 60(2), 179–188.
Qi, Y., & Zhang, S. (2024). Research on the Characteristics of Immersive Installation Art from the Perspective of Digital Media. Frontiers in Art Research, 6(9).
Rinehart, R., & Ippolito, J. (2022). Re-collection: Art, new media, and social memory. MIT Press.
Seidman, I. (2006). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. Teachers College Press.
Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. SAGE Publications.
Smith, M., Lee, C., & Ahmed, S. (2023). Generational differences in critical digital literacy: A comparative study. Journal of Digital Culture, 12(1), 45–59.
Talwar, V., Gordon, H. M., & Lee, K. (2007). Lying in the elementary school years: Verbal deception and its relation to second-order belief understanding. Developmental Psychology, 43(3), 804–810.
Tapsell, R. (2020). Deepening the understanding of social media’s impact in Southeast Asia. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
Yang, G., & Wang, W. (2021). Engaging social media in China: Platforms, publics, and production. MSU Press.
Yi, W. (2023). An Analysis of the Information Cocoon Effect of News Clients: Today’s Headlines as an Example. The Frontiers of Society, Science and Technology, 5(9).
Zuboff, S. (2019). Surveillance capitalism and the challenge of collective action. New Labor Forum, 28(1), 10–29.
