Thursday (21/10) a Professor Inauguration Ceremony was held for Prof. Dr. Avin Fadilla Helmi, M.Sc. The inauguration event was carried out in a mixed manner, with the implementation offline at the Balai Senat of the University of Gadjah Mada and online through the Zoom Meeting and broadcast live through the Gadjah Mada University YouTube. The Inauguration Ceremony was opened by the Rector of UGM, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng., IPU., ASEAN Eng.
The event continued with the Inauguration Ceremony and the delivery of the Inaugural Speech by Prof. Dr. Avin Fadilla Helmi, M.Si with the title “Psychological Aspects of Social Interaction in Cyberspace”. Through his speech, Avin said that in January 2021 as many as 2/3 of the world’s population had used mobile phones, 60% were connected to the internet and most of them were active users of social media. The same thing also happened in Indonesia where 73% of the population was connected to the internet and 61% were active on social media. One of the reasons for this increase is the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world”.
“The rapid development of digital technology has an impact on human life and behavior in today’s cyberspace or cyber space. This condition encourages the emergence of a new sub-discipline in Psychology, namely Cyber Psychology. Cyber Psychology is still relatively new and is part of Applied Psychology”, explained Avin. Furthermore, Avin explained that Cyber Psychology is a study of human behavior in the context of human interaction and the internet.
Social interactions that occur in cyberspace can be grouped into 4 levels based on theories and concepts of Social Psychology. The four levels consist of intrapersonal (voicing one’s conscience), interpersonal (from personal to public space), intragroup (within groups), and intergroup (between groups). According to Avin, social media is another form of diary that used to be personal and giving likes to social media uploads can increase a person’s motivation to be more open to cyberspace.
At the end of the speech, Avin said that Indonesia is a large country, wide and has a large population. Uniform policies at the national level will not be optimal, let alone return to the pre-pandemic era. However, what must be continuously maintained and continued is the efficacy of online learning at the self, group, and institutional level. “In my opinion, guiding and testing the final project can be maintained online. Meanwhile, we can consider learning in a mixed manner,” said Avin.
The hope, with the confirmation of Prof. Dr. Avin Failla Helmi, M.Si as a Professor can strengthen and enlarge the work of the UGM Faculty of Psychology nationally and internationally.