The study of online behavior often focuses on the negative, such as cyberbullying or cyber attacks.

But psychologist Dana Klasanan is studying the ways people are using the internet to help

others. She calls it digital altruism. I'm Audrey Hamilton and this is speaking of psychology. Dana Klasanin studies and designs media and interactive technologies that encourage people to live consciously.

Dr. Klasanin is currently investigating the impact the internet

and social media have on heroism. She is the designer of an award-winning online game, the Cyberhero

League. She is also the founder and CEO of Evolutionary Guidance Media R&D Incorporated. Welcome, Dr. Closanon.

Thank you. It's nice to speak with you today.

You study cyber heroes. What is a cyber hero? Well, a cyber hero is an archetype. It's a new

archetype, a new form of the hero. And the way I usually define it is as an individual who

uses the internet or social media to help other people,

animals, or the environment. You described something in your research called collaborative heroism.

Can you talk about what that is and how it relates to the rise of social media?

Yes. Collaborative heroism is my most recent area of research and really what it is.

A lot of people have the idea that people who take action online, there's a nickname that was

coined to refer to that called slacktivist. And so it gives us negative connotation that people

who are taking action online are somehow

slacking off on taking action in, let's just say, offline, getting out and about and collecting

signatures or whatever. But actually, research has found that people who take action online are up to

five times more likely to take

action offline and to recruit other people to take action. So the idea is that the cyber activity,

the cyber hero blended with the offline activity creates a collaborative form of heroism that's more powerful than either one separately.

What are some examples of websites that encourage this type of heroic behavior?

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