Effects of Social Media on Self-Image of Emerging Adults

This project extends previous research on social media and self-image and focuses on the developmental phase of emerging adulthood. We measured individuals’ reports of feeling of being in the emerging adult developmental period, their self-concept clarity and ethnic identity, and their use of social media for self-presentation and comparison with others. An online questionnaire was administered to participants who were in the age group of emerging adulthood (18-25 years). Results indicate that those who were in strong agreement that this was a time of experimentation and that this was a time of feeling “in-between” had greater clarity about their self-concept; that some aspects of social media use are related to some aspects of ethnic identity during emerging adulthood; and that some parameters of social media use are related to some dimensions of emerging adulthood. Results of this study provide further clarification about relations between social media use and the development of self-image during emerging adulthood

Beyond the Web: integrated digital communities

This paper details two case studies exploring integration within digital communities. Three types of integration are introduced – information, technological and online-offline integration. These concepts are explored through two online fan communities and through a mobile web based system. This paper addresses the idea of balance between offline and online spaces; a key research interest of Sillence’s. It tackles the issue of how design can affect the social use of a system and focuses upon the natural use of multiple communication media. The way in which people use and adapt technology to suit their needs is of interest to Sillence in all her work. She was asked to write this paper by the chair of the Web-based Communities Conference: Sillence, E. (2004a). Media Integration within Web Based Communities. In Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference Web Based Communities 2004. Lisbon, Portugal 24-26 March 2004, p175-182. Several papers have argued that involvement in online environments is having a negative social impact. However, her research argues that methodological flaws have encouraged these findings and overlooked the fact that natural settings provide opportunities for the integration of media across an online-offline boundary. Other related publications by her include: Kostakos, V. O’Neill, E., Little, L. & Sillence, E. (2005). The social implications of emerging technologies. Interacting with Computers, 17 (5) 475-483. Sillence, E. & Baber, C. (2004). Integrated Digital Communities: Combining Web-based Interaction with Text Messaging to Develop a System for Encouraging Group Communication and Competition. Interacting with Computers, 16 (1) 93-113 Also edited: Special edition of Interacting with Computers. “The social impact of emerging technologies” 17, 5 (2005

Media Innovation and its Influence on Policy-making in the Social Media Sector

Purpose: The social media industry has brought about numerous innovations in content development and publishing. Yet these innovations are the source of challenges in policy-making and regulation. The newly emerged Iranian social media companies are also facing regulation issues. This study analyzed media innovation's effects on content management, copyright, privacy, and data protection policies as viewed by the media industry’s players in the emerging Iranian social media market. Methodology: In this study, we surveyed the participants through a self-administered questionnaire. The statistical population included two groups of social media actors (the first of which consisted of policy-makers, media managers, and employees of social media companies, while the second group included social media users). Sampling was performed twice separately to select 128 and 580 individuals from the first and second groups. The research sample included 708 participants. Findings/Contribution: Findings reflect that media innovation does have significant effects on copyright, privacy, and data protection policies, but does not significantly affect content management policies in emerging social media markets

Social Media Marketing in Pakistan: Trends and Impact

Internet is the rapidly grown and emerging technology closing the gaps of distances between the people all across the globe and effectively replacing the traditional ways of advertising. Social Media are new emerging trends. Due to the high rush of audiences this media is being targeted by the various advertisers. Social media marketing is the emerging and rapidly gown new concept in which attention is gained by the use of social media. Purpose of this study is to explore out the awareness and usage trends of social networks in Pakistan. Also it tries to identify what age group spends how much time on internet, their awareness about social media, and primary reasons for using social networks. Finally this paper tries to explore out the understanding of the Pakistanis towards social media advertisement, what types of communications attract them and their influence on their behaviors. Primary data was collected through adapted research questionnaire. Questionnaires were floated online; Google Docs, emailed and were also filled by person. Analysis has been done using cross tabs and frequency tables. Findings suggest that facebook is the mostly used social network having well communicated and very effective ads. Results show that there is great opportunity to use facebook as a new medium to aware customers about the new products. Findings also suggest that there is an increasing trend of social networks usage in Pakistan. Not only among the age group of 18-25 but also in the adults of 50 and plus. This study can help to understand and design the effective communication strategy to reach the target market in Pakistan, using social media networks. Keywords: social media marketing, facebook, marketing trends, facebook advertisemen

Code-switching and Emerging Identities in an Academic Driven Social Media Class Group

Research on code-switching particularly in academic contexts scrutinize the relation between code-switching and learner identity in sites where English is the language of wider population. Moreover, the focus is largely on emerging language learner identities in classroom-based communication. The aspiration of this study is to give precedence to the identity-related aspects of code-switching as they emerge in Turkish university students’ interactions in a language class group page in social media where English functions as the language of academic study. The article reports on findings attained from a qualitative research, English-mediated communication with a post-structural orientation to identity construction where English language learners negotiate multiple identities utilizing various discursive practices and multi-modal resources in digital spaces. A close analysis of code-switching in the corpus of social media interaction highlights that there are multifold functions of code-switching and enable users to make different aspects of their multiple identities more or less salient. Keywords: social media, digital literacy, negotiation, code-switching, multiple identitie

Social Networks as an Integration Tool in Rural Areas – Agricultural Enterprises of the Czech Republic

Social networks have been growing at a rapid pace. Social media represent one of the most significant phenomena of today's world and are more and more integrated from the private sphere into the commercial one (e.g. into marketing where social media already play a substantial role). The present paper is aimed at introducing an initial study on the use of social media in agricultural enterprises. The study was thus targeted at agricultural enterprises – both legal entities (public limited companies, limited liability companies and last but not least cooperatives) and natural persons (farmers) that farm the total area of more than 100 hectares (a basic selection criterion of the survey). This interesting study was conducted by means of a questionnaire survey that included information on social media awareness, development and use within the respective group of respondents (bigger agricultural enterprises). The paper deals with social media as such and naturally with the survey results. The data retrieved from the questionnaire were used not only for monitoring social networks integration in the agrarian sector (important factor in rural areas) but as well for exploring the potential of modern information tools in agriculture promotion. The survey has been carried out in mutual cooperation of the Department of Information Technologies with the Information and Consulting Centre, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague.Social media, social network, Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, agrarian sector, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, GA, IN,

Engaged or just friends : using social media for membership engagement or identity management through group affiliations

The purpose of this study investigation was to ascertain the engagement levels of emerging-aged adults that affiliate and hold membership in groups both on and offline. In-person and online participation levels were examined, and motives for online activity on groups\u27 social media pages were investigated to understand how profile identity formation played a role in emerging-aged adults\u27 associations. Information acquired through this study assists in further examining Facebook and Twitter\u27s influence on social capital production within groups. Group members demonstrated a preference for email and in-person communication over social networking sites, higher levels of offline engagement versus online, and an authenticity to join groups without the need to enhance their online self-image. The findings show that social media bears little weight on how group members organize to accomplish goals, seek information or form collective action in real-world terms

Al-Shabaab: An Emerging Terrorist Group in Somalia

Since the Al-Qaeda terrorist group struck in the United States in September 2011, the upsurge of terrorism has become more frequent and deadly globally. Using sociology of education, with emphasis on indoctrination, the article explored Al- Shabaab as an emerging terrorist group in Somalia. The study found that Al-Shabaab emerged from some Islamic movement with the goal of establishing an Islamic state in Somalia. The group has established networks in some foreign countries and has also created several avenues to raise funds for its operations. The terrorist group has carried out several attacks, killing and wounding several thousands of people. Although efforts have been made to curb the gruesome activities of the group, the end of the group seems not to be in sight going by its spread. It is therefore recommended among others, the need for counter-media-war especially through the social media platform to dissuade young people from joining the group

Dating and Sex Among Emerging Adults in Nepal

Social and cultural changes in Nepal, including better communication facilities and transport, more urbanization and a rising age at which people marry, have created more opportunities for young people for “dating.” Our qualitative study explores whether the existence of dating cultures influences young people’s sexual behavior in Nepal. Focus group discussions with a total of 75 participants and 31 in-depth individual interviews were conducted among young people in Nepal. Most urban and rural young people liked the dating culture. Although it is a new kind of culture in Nepalese society, it is gaining popularity. The mass media were regarded as encouraging and creating an environment for dating. Most participants believed that dating culture encourages premarital and extramarital sexual behavior. The authors underpin their findings by linking it to the “emerging adulthood” framework. In terms of public health, they recommend that dating practice should be discussed in formal and informal education to promote safer sex

Partitioning of Poly(amidoamine) Dendrimers between n-Octanol and Water

Dendritic nanomaterials are emerging as key building blocks for a variety of nanoscale materials and technologies. Poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers were the first class of dendritic nanomaterials to be commercialized. Despite numerous investigations, the environmental fate, transport, and toxicity of PAMAM dendrimers is still not well understood. As a first step toward the characterization of the environmental behavior of dendrimers in aquatic systems, we measured the octanol−water partition coefficients (logK_(ow)) of a homologous series of PAMAM dendrimers as a function of dendrimer generation (size), terminal group and core chemistry. We find that the logKow of PAMAM dendrimers depend primarily on their size and terminal group chemistry. For G1-G5 PAMAM dendrimers with terminal NH_2 groups, the negative values of their logK_(ow) indicate that they prefer to remain in the water phase. Conversely, the formation of stable emulsions at the octanol−water (O/W) interface in the presence of G6-NH_2 and G8-NH_2 PAMAM dendrimers suggest they prefer to partition at the O/W interface. In all cases, published studies of the cytotoxicity of Gx-NH_2 PAMAM dendrimers show they strongly interact with the lipid bilayers of cells. These results suggest that the logKow of a PAMAM dendrimer may not be a good predictor of its affinity with natural organic media such as the lipid bilayers of cell membranes