NORFOLK, Va. — We all use the internet in some way, shape or form.
And now, Norfolk State University is empowering its students to transform the future of online use with a first-of-its-kind program.
“Just about everyone in the world interacts with technology, whether they like it or not, whether they know it or not," said Dr. Scott Debb, an associate professor at Norfolk State University.
He's the program coordinator for the school's cyberpsychology master's degree, which is the first of its kind in the country.
“Cyberpsychology in a nutshell is the intersection, the interaction between human behavior and technology," Debb said.
The program launched in 2020, and ever since, Debb and his graduate students have been studying the ways technology impacts society.
Because technology touches virtually everything, so does their research. That includes its impact on healthcare and education, the need for cybersecurity, the affect of social media on our mood, and more.
“We’re looking at how anxiety manifests differently for different groups of people based on their online interactions,” said Debb.
In part, the degree also takes a deeper look at the World Wide Web and the people in front of and behind the screen.
Behind every search engine, social media post, and Web click are people who make the Internet work. Whether writing code or scrolling through a favorite app, the number of online interactions per day is endless.
The degree program launched at the height of the pandemic with 12 students. Now, it's grown to nearly 50 students, including Shimeta Harris.
"I think it is so important because of today’s technology and cyber deviances and the way we use social media," said Harris, who is in her second year of the program.
Harris could be one of the first students to graduate from the NSU program.
But what makes the program even more special, Debb says, is that it's housed in an Historically Black College and University, and emphasizes diversity and inclusion, especially in the world of programming.
“We don’t necessarily realize that the things that we are searching for, we are given cultivated lists and those lists are not necessarily maliciously put together but they end up being discriminatory,” he said.
For example, algorithms are supposed to make online experiences easier by organizing content. But there could be issues not easily seen on screen.
“The algorithm may not be biased but the person making the algorithm might have their biases that they inadvertently put into their programming,” he said.
Debb references published research that found negative biases against women of color were embedded in search engine results and algorithms, and listed the instance as just one example found in broader research.
As the internet evolves and our dependence on it grows, Debb said it’ll be important to have people in the room to spot these issues, and he believes the study of cyberpsychology gives people a chance to do that.
“The students that come out of this program have this opportunity to be that voice,” Debb said.
Debb hopes cyberpsychology becomes a more common practice across the country in the next 5 to 10 years.