Effects of Social Media Culture on Social Norms
Social media culture has significantly influenced how people interact with each other in the society. Notably, social media platforms such as Facebook have changed the guidelines considered during interactions in the community. Studying the impact of social media on the interaction of different cultures is essential since researchers can use the information obtained from the study to appropriately advise other users on how to cope with the changes. Social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have influenced the social norms that guide interactions in the business community, students and the religious groups.
First, social media has improved business enterprises to customer interactions in the business world. Notably, the small companies were the first category of businesses that gained from the effects of social media on business. According to Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu’s study, based in the United States, the first Facebook users supported small firms’ moves to use Facebook in the promotion of their businesses (Vorvoreanu, 2009). This improvement impressed the Facebook users since Facebook had made them to relate to the business owners personally. Hence, the clients could get more avenues for interaction and satisfaction unlike the time before the use of Facebook.
On the contrary, Facebook discouraged the interaction between large corporations and their clients. The social media site had a negative impact on the users and the large corporations. Lack of a connection in the interaction culture between the users and the corporation was the cause of the poor interaction (Vorvoreanu, 2009). However, large corporations changed this situation through incentives to the Facebook users. These events clearly demonstrate the role of Facebook in controlling the interaction in the business community.
Besides, the social media has also improved the interactivity of students as they learn. Unlike the previous years, when students often took a long time to connect and interact with each other, social media has changed this norm and made the students to take a shorter time to create connection and further interactions (Irwin, Ball, Desbrow & Leveritt, 2012). In Cheung, Chiu, and Lee’s (2011) study that focused on Facebook users in China, the authors note that social media has made it easy for the students to have instant communication and relationships with their friends. This effect of Facebook on time required to make necessary connections between students shows the influence of social media on the social norms of students’ interactions.
Additionallt, social media has influenced the social norms that guide the interactions in the religious communities. For instance, the social media sites have enabled the religious members of a particular religions share their teaching to a group of followers thorough channels such as Facebook pages and groups (Ellison,Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). This provision has helped followers from all over the world to interact through Facebook pages and groups. For instance, basing on Mustafa et al.’s study, Facebook had changed the social norms for interaction between the youth in Malaysia and the popular scholars in Malaysia (2013). Unlike the days prior to social media sites, control on the information flow to the youth was limited after the establishment of facebook. Thus, this situation provided a potential cause of extremism behavior. According to Mustafa et al.’s study, Facebook had changed the social norms for interaction between the youth in Malaysia and the famous Muslim scholars in Malaysia (2013). Thus, this situation provided a potential cause of extremism behavior.
Basing on the information discussed above, the use of social media has significantly influenced the social norms that guide interactions in the business community, students and the religious groups. These social norms changed when a particular society started using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for various communication purposes. The change was mainly promoted by the need of that particular society to overcome the barriers that previously impaired communication.
References
Cheung, C. M., Chiu, P. Y., & Lee, M. K. (2011). Online social networks: Why do students use Facebook?. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(4), 1337-1343. DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.028
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2011). Connection strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices. New media & society, 1461444810385389. Retrieved from http://nms.sagepub.com
Irwin, C., Ball, L., Desbrow, B., & Leveritt, M. (2012). Students’ perceptions of using Facebook as an interactive learning resource at university. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 28(7), 1221-1232. Retrieved from https://ajet.org.au/index.php/AJET
Mustafa, M., Ghani, Z., Zumrah, A., Ramly, R., Azdi, W., & Ahmad, Z. (2013). Facebook as social media tools among Muslim youths in Malaysia. American International Journal of Social Science, 2(8), 173-177.Retrieved from http://www.aijssnet.com
Vorvoreanu, M. (2009). Perceptions of corporations on Facebook: An analysis of Facebook social norms. Journal of New Communications Research, 4(1), 67-86. Retrieved from https://www.hitpages.com/doc/6687748471652352/1
