Role of Social Media in Political Socialization of People

(A Case Study of District Tank)

Introduction
Political socialization is the processes and dynamics, which are involved to gain values, social
norms, and political attitude during the life period. It is a gradual and learning process by which
people learn behavior and political attitude, influenced by socialization factors.

According to Sigel (1965), "Political socialization refers to the learning process by which the
political norms and behaviors acceptable to an ongoing political system are transmitted from
generation to generation.”

Political socialization initially arouse a psychological process. It consolidate many aspects of an

individual attachments with its social surroundings. It merges behavior, attitude and intention to
participate. Political participation is a central feature of a democratic society. Political
socialization is a mean to establish democracy in a society.

Diminishing political participation of Pakistani society, has caused vast concerns about the
survival of democracy in the future. There are several socialization agents including family,
peers and workplace colleagues that give political awareness to the individuals, but The media,
most particularly social media have a substantial impact on the lives and political development of
people. Most of the people spend their free time to use social media like Facebook, twitter and
My space. Consequently the individuals potentially learn about current affairs, become up to date
with the actors of the national and international political arena. These are important factors of the
socialization process towards becoming a political citizen.

Political socialization is a concept that was vastly discussed in the 1960s and 1970s by, i.e
Almond et al (1963), Sigel et al (1981) and Gimpel et al. (2003) collected the various concepts
and explained political socialization as ‘the process by which new generations are included into
political culture, learning the knowledge, values, and attitudes that contribute to support of the
political system.

Hence, political socialization has an apparent learning component – learning what an individual
has to know, to feel and do, to become a citizen that is needed in a particular political system. In
the most western countries the political system is democracy.Socialization is a complicated and
continuous process in which cognitions and behavioural paradigm are actively learnt through
agents, such as parents, school and peers.

From the most important period for socialization is childhood and early adulthood, we keep on
negotiating our socialization throughout the life as the political world changes and we need to
gain new patterns of behaviour to deal with it (Sears and Levy, 2003).
The Social Media Impact on Social Movements

A survey was conducted in 2009 by DigiActive, social media sites are the most common tools
for online activism, despite the fact that social media sites were not created with activism in
mind (Brodock et al., 2009). Keeping in mind that how the internet is impacting mobilization
(Rolfe, 2005; Wojcieszak, 2009), this study is important for exploring what social media sites,
especially Facebook, mean for social movements (Cleaver, 1998; Diani, 2000). Scholars are
oftenly interested to view the internet’s role in social movements as two-fold: the internet can
facilitate conventional offline activism, enhancing a movement’s existing repertoire by adding
email campaigns, online petitions and virtual sit-ins to activists’ existing toolbox (Castells, 2001;
Juris, 2005), or it actually can create new forms of resistance (Cardoso et al, 2004; Rolfe, 2005;
Van et al, 2009). When it comes to support the traditional techniques of social movements,
whether protests or signature drives, the internet, unlike any other medium, allows for fast, easy
and cheap variational action not bound by time, space or distance (Castells, 2001; Juris, 2005;
Ribeiro, 1998). A complex problem of social movements has been how to obtain enough highly
provoked individuals to start a mobilization, and attract more participants (Opp, 2009), but with
social media sites, all it takes no time for participants to be recruited globally. Oliver and
Marwell found the need for ‘some social mechanism that consolidate enough people who have
the sufficent interests and resources so that they can act’ (1988). Facebook users and their social
networks – users have an average of 130 friends (Facebook, 2009) – provide an easily and
immediately accessible critical mass, as evidenced by the 28,000 friends the ‘Justicia Rodrigo
Rosenberg’ group formed in just three days. Still, if it is so easy to click ‘Join Group’ or ‘Sign
Petition,’ it is importnat to see whether members of online social movements truly devoted to the
cause, or just jumping on the bandwagon. Van de Donk et al. (2004) claimed that the internet
will complement, not replace, existing social movement tactics. In fact, it is the vastly lauded
simplicity of online activism that scholars have suggested could undercut a movement’s value,
generating a half-hearted, meaningless activism, or ‘slacktivism’ (Morozov, 2009a; Van de Donk
et al., 2004). Further, while Morozov (2007, 2009) acknowledged that the internet can provide
facilitations for mobilization and collective action, and that the latest generation of activists and
protesters might as well be based out of Facebook, he cautioned against technological
determinism that glosses over the importance of offline participation. Similarly, other scholars
have questioned whether virtual communication could enhance the levels of trust among
participants needed to support sustained collective action (Diani, 2000). Without trust, members
are not highly dedicated, so while a movement’s support might grow very fast initially, that
support is likely to soon fall off (Diani, 2000; Van Laer and Van Aelst, 2009). Some scholars
have seen that virtual ties alone, without ‘real’ face-to-face communication, are vague to be
strong enough to successfully provoke or sustain a social movement, as real relationships are
considered more valuable than impersonal electronic communication (Diani, 2000; Ribeiro,
1998).

However, in an analysis of an online bulletin board for lesbians in Hong Kong, Nip (2004) found
potential for the internet to help to frame identity and build online trust, which then could lead to
offline mobilization. Online study of Wojcieszak’s neo-Nazi and environmentalist groups have
found that group identity was made through these online groups, resulting in online participation
being the ‘strongest predictor’ of offline political action: the more engagement in these online
discussion groups increased, the more involvement in political activities increased (2009: 573).
Hara (2008) likewise showed in a study of MoveOn.org’s political actions during the 2004 US
presidential campaign that the sense of society that members felt – even without face-to-face
interaction – a real contribution to offline mobilization.

The study will find the influence of social media use on political attitudes and behaviour, and
It will try to expand previous research on the civic engagement to include new, cause-oriented
forms of participation and a general outlook on politics. The analysi of this study will be based
on data from the people of District Tank that will include measures of media use and political
attitudes and behaviour.

Problem Statement

On the prescribed scenario of the topic the researcher is aspired to study and examine the impact
of social media in political socialization of people, case study of District Tank.

Research Questions

1. Up to what extent Social Media influences the mind of people to think about political
and social issues ?
2. Do the social media enhance the political exposure of the individuals?
3. How many people rely on the information obtained through social media?
4. How often the people read and comment on content related to politics?
5. How much social media is influential on voting behavior of the users?
6. Do the social media provoke to participate in political demonstration?
7. Do the use of social media help in developing the social behavior of the society?
8. Have the social media influenced Pakistani politics?
9. Does the utilization of social media affect the political socialization of people?
10. Does the social networking media has an equal impact on the political socialization of
male and female?

Research Objectives

Age in which we are existing is the age of media. There are frequent channels of conventional
and non conventional media to notify, instruct and to amuse the users and these channels have a
huge blow on their consumer. Similarly social networking media also have its role, so the main
objectives of the study are as under

1. To examine the awareness level of users of different social media sites.

2. To evaluate level of trust over the information received through social media sites.
 3. To know the impact of social media on political socialization.
4. To find out the influence of social media on the political knowledge and political
engagement of the people.

Research Variables

Independent Variable :

Independent variables are those variable which deeply impact the dependent variables. The
researcher has selected the Facebook, twitter, Youtube and Skype as independent variables.

Dependent Variables:

Dependent variables are influenced by independent variables. In this study researcher thinks that
Civic Education, Political Engagement, Socialization and Educational Development will play
the role of dependent variables.

Demographic Variables:

S. No. Variable Definition

1. Gender Male and Female
2. Age Age of the Respondent
3. Qualification Educational Level of the Respondent
4. Marital Status Married or Un-married
5. Background Urban or Rural

Research Hypothesis

H1: Social Media effectively fulfilled its responsibility in imparting political awareness among
people of District Tank
H2 : Political Orientation of people gained through social media are important for their political
life.
H3 : Political socialization is a mean to strengthen the democracy in Pakistan .
H4 : Political Socialization of people paved the way to participate in politics.
Significance of Research

The launch of the social networking media has altered the scenario of the communication and
information. The rapid growing social networking media has fascinated the attention of millions
of people across the globe. People are getting concerned in using the social networking media
day by day. In Pakistan, like many other countries, social networking media are getting more and
more fame with every passing minute. It has grabbed the interest of the people from every age
and every field. Its effects can be measured in every span of life. So keeping in view the
popularity, , amount of involvement and the effects of social networking media, the researcher
has selected the topic to measure the impact of social media on political socialization of people
of District Tank. It is because, in all over the world social media is playing major role in
bringing revolutions and political changes. It has turn out to be the most important tool for
political campaigns and political communication.

Literature Review

Ancu & Cozma (2009) conducted a survey and argued that the social media like Facebook,
YouTube, MySpace,were emerged as a political tool for campaigns in November 2006 during the
congressionel U.S elections. Now these websites became medium for any modern political
struggle. They also describe that the people are indulging in MySpace, Facebook and other social
networking sites because they allow the users to communicate with friends and the friends of
their friends and this is the most significant feature of the social media sites.

Diana et al. (2011) discovered that social media facilitate the new types of participation and
alters the forms of establish patterns of political engagement. Social media sites played a crucial
role in electing Obama as president in 2008 American election. This American presidential
campaign was the mother for the cultivation of social media and its progress is continued and
will continue to expand the nature and scope political awareness of people.

Richey (2008) investigates the impact of social media on political awareness and on voting
behavior in the American national presidential election of 2000. He applied autoregressive theory
and used NES data from 2000 respondents to find out the influence. He concludes that the social
media had great impact on voters because influence of one network member was extremely
reliant on the members of other network. Discussions on social media sites improved the chance
of participation in elections and vote similarity among the user of social media sites. He confirms
the autoregressive effect of social media on political knowledge and on voting behavior.

Hamilton (2011) narrates that the social media has changed the concept of old media. Now our
societies are using the Facebook, Twitter and blogs as a source of information. Social networking
media impacts the political campaigns of the world. In the United States during the election
years, use of social media by the politicians has increased to mobilize the voters. A study is
conducted by researchers to know the influence of social media on the political behavior of 18 to
24 year aged voters and the results exposed that social media has a great impact on young voters,
and he also suggests that the use of social media by the candidates is not always a good and
effective way to reach young voters.
Papic & Noonan (2011) justify that in order to mobilize the people social media has become an
important tool and the role of social media in revolutions and protests is very important. Social
networking media has made the conditions more complex for dictators and for the rigid regimes.
Social networking media such as Facebook and Twitter helps people in Tunisia and Egypt to
organize the people, communicate and to commence public defiance. The western countries
followed the green revolution of Iran via YouTube and Twitter in 2009. The revolution of
Moldova in 2009 can be called as the Twitter revolution.

Teresi (2009) conducts a research on computer mediated social networks. She has adopted
experimental design and proves that through social media sites, political information can
successfully be transmitted. The conclusion confirm that social media enable users to influence
the political knowledge of their peers without physically engaging each member in direct
communication. She also measures the importance of greater use of social networking websites
over traditional media and finds that people have access to their social sites more than twice as
often as they watch a local news program or discuss politics with their friends and family.

Owen (2008) concludes that the emergence of internet and digital communication technologies
contributes principally to revolution in youth oriented media because internet technology
provides a new channel to propagation of information and repurpose old content that had
fascinated young voters. Social media sites have made the electronic politics visible to young
people. Online videos, blogs, podcasts, online video conferencing and electronic chat rooms are
the significant tools for expressing and getting information. Young people are confident and
motivated with these communication outlets during campaigns. Facebook as a political forum is
remarkably versatile in its features like sharing photos and videos, writing comments on walls.
Using shared information has made it interactive forum to connect and activate the users in
campaigns.

To know that how social media sites users provoked millions of people to participate online, this
study used a framing approach. Entman (1993) suggested that media frames, derived from
Goffman’s (1974) notion of schemas, define an issue through selection, exclusion, emphasis and
elaboration – in other words, frames justify the audience how to think about something. Framing
studies typically consider frames at an issue-specific or generic level, including thematic frames
such as values, adversarial, consequences, or human interest frames (Iyengar, 1991; Matthes,
2009; Price et al., 1997). However, frames are more than just classification – they compile and
structure, helping meanings within the text (Reese, 2007).

In the above context, the researcher wants these general facts to particularize on the population
of District Tank.

Theoretical Framework

Theoretical framework describes the relationships between working variables.

Research methodology

In order to achieve the objectives, primary and secondary sources of data will be compiled. For
primary data cross-sectional and longitudinal data will be collected through a survey of Social
Media in target area. During data collection stress will be given to identify social media Cross-
sectional data collection. Schedules will be designed for interviewing social media to collect
different information in target area. The interview schedules will be written in English but
questions will be asked in the local language from the respondents. The interview schedules will
be pre-tested before the formal survey. A well–crammed and pre-tested questionnaire will be
contrived to log the information on all aspects of social media. During the formal survey
respondents will be assured complete privacy, interviews will be held in places of their choice.
They will be assured that the research is not related to any Government agency and information
will be utilized for academic purposes only. Most of interviews will be held at home or offices of
interviewers. The interview will usually be started with an introduction about the background of
the respondents, the objectives of the study and the way in which the respondent is chosen. A
questionnaire will be designed in such a way to cover comprehensively all the relevant
information needs for the study. This study will be conducted in District Tank of Punjab
Province. In this cross-sectional survey, it will be retained to cover at least the exact num Khyber
Palhtunkhwa from Union Council of the district. The secondary data of the study will be
obtained from different sources like books, journals, internet and newspapers.

Research Nature

The selected topic will carry its nature as a quantitative as well as qualitative research wherever
required.

Reseach Population

The study will be confined to the population of district Tank. Two Tehsils of District will be
selected for sampling. The respondents of this study will include Students, Teachers, Lawyers,
Doctors, Business men, Common educated people of the society and literate individuals upto
middle level of education.

Sampling and Sampling Technique

The study will be carried out by categorizing the people in different groups i.e. male, female and
more precisely by classifying them as Teachers, Students and Journalists etc

Sources of data

Respondents of the study will be the primary source of data while newspaper, television, books,
internet and magazine will be the secondary source.

Research design

According to the nature of the study and requirements of the research project the following
research method will be used.

Survey research

To obtain the required data the researcher will use survey method and will formulate a
questionnaire which may comprise of 18-20 questions in which most questions will be close
ended and fewer will be open ended. Interview method will also be used wherever require for
data collection. The population of the research will be the whole society consisting male and
female, residents of District Tank of different ages who use social media sites. The researcher
will use purposive sampling technique for data collection and the sample will be of 120.

Data Analysis Technique

The obtained data will be analysed through SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) by
formulating different tables, graph and charts.

Limitation of the Study

The individuls below the age of 18 will not be included in the sphere of study and also this study
may not impact the political and social behavior of the people who do not use social media like
Facebook or Twitter etc.

Organization of Thesis

Thesis will be compiled in chapter wise content.It will consist of all the required data and parts
of any thesis necessary.First Chapter will be Introduction. This chapter will consist of Historical
background of the research problem. Statement of the research problem, Objectives of the study,
Significance of the study, Research Hypotheses. Second chapter will be Literature Review. It
will review the existing research on the topic in depth. Theoretical Framework, All the variables
and sub-Hypotheses.

Third chapter will be focused on Research Methodology. It will consist of approach adopted in
the study, Population, sample, tools, data analysis utilized in the study and data collection
methods. Fourth chapter will discuss the findings of the research study, whether they will be
descriptive including respondent’s profile, research variables or Testing of Hypotheses and
summary of the results.The last Fifth chapter will discuss the results and will conclude the
research study with some significant outcomes and recommendations.

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