Participants
The survey research activity had a total of 30 participants with 13 of them being females and 9 being males and 8 respondents who did not indicate their gender. While the respondents age range from 16 or younger up to 66 or older, the majority of them were within the 25 to 55 age range, with only one respondent who is either 66 years old or older. A large number of the respondents are divorced, and most have 3 or more children. About 33% and 26% of the respondents have an associate degree and bachelors degree respectively, one who holds a masters degree and the rest have lower educational attainment. The majority of them are skilled workers, followed by specialist, entrepreneurs, head of the enterprise and employees without higher education. There are also a few who are either a housewife or unemployed and one who is a student. Of the 30 respondents, 18 answered that they belong to the marketing sector, while 12 left the question blank. About 33% of them are not employed and are not looking for employment, 20% are retired, 16% who are employed and are working for 41 hours or more per week, 13% who are employed and are working for 40 hours or less in a week, another 33% are not employed but are looking for work while 3% are disabled. The use of questionnaire is the main research instrument used in this survey activity. It was conducted online using the survey monkey, thus, the assurance that the questionnaire was answered independently. The following pie chart below shows the socioeconomic categorization of the respondents as provided in this paragraph:
Figure 1: Marital Status of the Respondent
Figure 2
Figure 3
Data Collection
The research was conducted using questionnaires that consist of 28 questions sent out to respondents through the SurveyMonkey, which is an online survey development cloud-based company. The questionnaire was designed to gather descriptive information such as the socioeconomic status and other questions that asked for the opinion of the respondents. An analysis of the data resulted to the claims in the following discussion:
Result and Discussion
Claim 1
The social media can serve as an effective tool in promoting social campaigns because it can reach a broader audience.
Discussion
The wide ranging scope of social media allows people to share and exchange information, across communities, such as opening up new communication channels that serve as “a tool for finding and reuniting lost loved ones” (6 ways, 2013). According to the conducted survey on whether they think that the different social media help in easing the process of socialization and communication, 53.85% of the respondents answered in the positive. The survey revealed that more people perceived the social media as a helpful tool in easing the process of socialization and information exchange. Figure 4 indicates that there are more people who believed that social media is helpful in easing the process of socialization and communication.
Figure 4
In a study conducted by Baruah on the effectiveness of social media as a communication tool, it was found that “social media have the potential to fundamentally change the character of our social lives, both on an interpersonal and community level.” (Baruah, 1). In another article entitled The Value and Use of Social Media as a Communications Tool in the Plant Sciences, the different form of social media are now becoming an essential tool among scientist in sharing scientific content, thus the concept that digital literacy should be adapted as an essential skill for the scientists (Osterrieder, 2013).
Claim 2
The information being disseminated by the social media is more on the positive than the negative.
Discussion
Figure 5 shows how the respondents view the nature of social media information. In the case study, it was found that 72.41% of the respondents indicated that they found the information disseminated by the social media to be more on the positive than the negative.
Figure 5
This finding is in line with the results in the literature review suggesting that social media has helped eased our lives by becoming a great tool not only for families but also the community. Moreover, another study indicated that the use of social media is helpful in maintaining connections with family and friends, with about 67% of users who believed that this is the primary purpose of social media (Fraustino et al, 2012). The use of Facebook and other social media are said to help in the promotion of “social campaigns and share positivity, engaging others and encouraging them to do the same” (6 Ways Social Media Helps People Help People, 2012).
Claim 3
The negative impact of social media can be turned into a favorable outcome for the family and the society as a whole by gaining a thorough understanding of the nature of social media platform.
Discussion
The popularity of social media, especially among the youth resulted in several negative implications, however, balancing the use of this tool can lead to positive results in the end. While there is fear about the prevalent use of social media among teens, it was found that they are in fact “cognizant of their online reputations and take steps to curate the content and appearance of their social media presence” (Madden et al, 2013). According to the result of the conducted research as shown in figure 6, a large majority (90%) of the respondents agrees that understanding the nature of social media platforms can turn the negative impacts into a favorable outcome.
Figure 6 Understanding the Nature of Social Media
Another study suggested that the majority of teens decides not to post things online due to the concern that these postings will eventually reflect badly on them (Maden et al, 2013). This suggests how people, even the younger generation are becoming more responsible in the use of social media. Moreover, the use of social media is an effective tool in fostering communication, thus it is a valuable tool for everyone provided it is platform is well understood and properly used. Accordingly, adults can do so much to positively influence the youngsters in the responsible use of social media.
References
Baruah, T. (2012). Effectiveness of social media as a tool of communication and its potential for technology enabled connections: A micro-level study.International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2(5), 1-10. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.376.5533&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Fraustino, J., Brooke, L., & Yan, J. (2012). Social media use during disasters: A review of the knowledge base and gaps. Retrieved from U.S Department of Homeland Security website: http://www.start.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/publications/START_SocialMediaUseduringDisasters_LitReview.pdf
Madden, M., Lenhart, A., & Cortesi, S. (2013). Teens, social media, and privacy.Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2013/05/PIP_TeensSocialMediaandPrivacy_PDF.pdf
Osterrider, A. (2013). The value and use of social media as communication tool in the plant sciences. Osterrieder Plant Methods, 9(26), 1-6.
6 Ways Social Media Helps People Help People [Web log post]. (2012, April 17). Retrieved from http://blog.hootsuite.com/6-ways-social-helps-people/
