A MINOR PROJECT REPORT

ON

Impact of social media on Indian culture

Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirement of

Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) Hons.

B.COM (H) - II Semester

Batch 2021-2024

Submitted By : ANUSHKA ( 35517788821)

Vivekananda Institute of Professional

Studies
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 STUDENTS UNDERTAKING

This project is based on “impact of social media on India culture ” completed under the
guidance of Ms. Jyoti Gupta , maam the original work done by me and it has never
been submitted elsewhere.

Anushka

(35517788821)

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 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

I hereby certify that this is my original work and it has never been submitted elsewhere.

Project Guides: Ms. JYoti Gupta maam

(By Anushka)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A lot of effort has gone into this training report. My thanks are due to many people with

whom I have been closely associated.

I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the completion of this project.
First of all, I would like to send my sincere thanks to Mr. Rajvinder singh Johal for his
kind advice as well as the helpful hand which he provided me in order to complete this
project.

I would also like to thank my mentor for his teachings as well as training.

And last but not the least I would like to thank my entire beloved family & friends for
providing me monetary as well as non-monetary support, as and when required, without
which this project would not have been completed on time. Their trust and patience is
now coming out in the form of this Project.

Anushka

Vips

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 UNDERTAKING

This is to certify that Ms. ANUSHKA of BCOM (H) has completed his minor project on “
Impact of social media on India culture” who carries out the project under the partial
fulfillment for the award of the degree of B.com (H) of Vivekananda Institute of
Professional Studies under my guidance and her work is up to my satisfaction. This
project work is original and not submitted earlier for the award of any degree/ diploma
or associate ship of any other University/ Institution.

Ms. Jyoti Gupta

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 CONTENTS

S.NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE NO.

1. STUDENTS UNDERTAKING 2
2. CERTIFICATE 3
3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4
4. UNDERTAKING 5
5. TABLE OF CONTENT 6
6. LIST OF FIGURES 7
7. LIST OF TABLES 8
8. CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9-10
9. CHAPTER 2 OBJECTIVE 11-14
10. CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION 15-31
11. CHAPTER 4 LITERATURE 32-38
12. CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 39-58
13. CHAPTER 6 MAIN FINDINGS 59-61
14. CHAPTER 7 RESULT 62-64
15. CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION 65-67
16. CHAPTER 9 REFERENCES 68-70

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 LIST OF FIGURES

SERIAL NO. TABLES PAGE

NO.
1. TABLE 1- Systematic literature reviews on social 38
media topics.
2. TABLE 2- Countries of origin and Social Media 48
Emphasis for Most Prolific Contribution.
3. TABLE 3- Journals With THree or More Social MEdia 49
Studies.
4. TABLE 4- - Matrix of Qualitative and Mixed Method 50
Social Media Research Approaches.
5. TABLE 5 - Mixed Methods Research Designs and 53
Examples of Social Media Studies.

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 CHAPTER 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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The present research is an attempt to find the answer the impact and effect of social
networking sites on Indian young adults in socialization, entertainment self-status
seeking and information seeking. Social network sites have grown rapidly in recent
years across world even in India too. These sites have quickly and deeply penetrated its
users‟ everyday life. In India social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, Orkut are
more popular sites and also become part of daily life of Indian adults. There is no doubt
these social networking sites have provides employment, marketing, personal growth,
sharing of information, and entertainment. Yet little know about the impact of culture and
gender on Indian adults. Based on a cross-sectional survey of 450 Indian young adults,
the present study examines the impact of culture and gender on why Indian individuals
use the social networking sites.

The present study found that consistently interdependent self-construal can predict the
four motives for Indian young adults to use social networking sites: socialization,
entertainment, self-status seeking and information seeking. The study also found that
the gender difference in information seeking and self-status seeking; with male adults
being higher in self-status seeing and female adults higher in information seeking.
Limitations and suggestions for futures research are provided.

Key Words: Social network sites, Information Seeking, Self-Status, Gender, India,
Socialization.

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CHAPTER 2
OBJECTIVE

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As stated before, Social Media plays a crucial role in the creation as well as the
exchange of content. However, apart from this, the Social Media platform aims to serve
and fulfill its core objectives along with the objectives of the business or the brand using
social media as a tool to market their brand.

1. TO ANALYSE THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON INDIAN CULTURE

Social networking sites have integrated into the daily routine of millions of Indian users.
The post independence generation holds India’s present and future in its hands. The
decision made the patterns set by this ‘Generation of Social Media’ will affect the future.
The challenge before the Indian society is to bridge the gap between ‘tradition and
modernity’. Indian users prefer to spend more time on social networking sites. They
interact with people of other cultures, which fascinates them. Being influenced by
western culture, Indians are trying to imitate them which results in fading of their own
culture and moral values.

2. TO ANALYSE AGE GROUPS IMAPACTED TOWARDS SOCIAL MEDIA

Tracking global social media trends across age groups can be of immense value to a
digital marketer – but more important still is the process of tracking trends in social use
and engagements amongst age groups within your own audience.

Working out conversion rates for each age group’s engagements will be crucial to your
return on digital marketing investment. Which of your age groups are browsing with an
intent to buy? Which are just browsing? And in the long-term, how do you expect an
engaged customer’s age will affect their customer lifetime value? One brand’s sixty
somethings may be strikingly different to another’s.

3. IMAPCT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IS POSTIVE FOR GROWTH

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Social media has taken its position into the real world and has interfered with the lives of
many. As users log on to their social media profiles, they are being removed away from
the real world and placed into the virtual dimension. As the virtual world and the real
world coexist, there is a competition for the dominant form of communication. No one
pictured that Charles Kline’s message would open a sub-society that would find its way
into the real world. Though few may believe that it has no negative effect on us as
users, its regulatory impact can be traced through its influence on development, self
image, interpersonal relationships, and business all reflecting social media’s
significance.
Social media has come into the lives of many and nearly depleted the use of face to
face interaction. Adolescents adopt this form of communicating early and it basically
deprives them of their real life social skills; not being able to hold a cohesive
conversation unless the respondent is engaging through a monitor. As they grow they
are bombarded with images and stereotypes of the perfect person, not truly being able
to enjoy their advantages and qualities that overpower the bad ones. Now it has gotten
to the point where some cannot even hold quality relationships with people in real life
because all of their friends exist in the small blue rectangle on their Facebook page.
Even businesses use this form of media to promote themselves however they can get
themselves demoted even quicker. Social media established such a role in the real
world that everyday interaction is accompanied by some form of it. Even if someone
does not have social media, they are surrounded by individuals who use this so much
that they are practically engulfed in the virtual world. Eventually, they will render the
same effects as the people in their environment. The world has created a society
through satellite signals which interrupt the signals of face to face communication. No
matter the situation, social media develops its presence in almost everything we do.
What is hot now will soon encourage face to face interaction to be just a trend in the
past. In order to get back to a full society, social media must be contained to get rid of
the negative impacts and only display the positive ones.

4. IMAPCT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON INDIA CONNECTING TO ALL COUNTRIES

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The increase in Social media use over the last decade has, of course, come together
with a large increase in the amount of time that people spend online. Around the world,
billions of us use social media every day, and that number just keeps growing. In fact,
it’s estimated that by 2018, 2.44 billion people will be using social networks, up from
970,000 in 2010.

We use it for every part of our lives – in our personal relationships, for entertainment, at
work and in our studies. To put it into some context, every minute we collectively send
more than 30 million messages on Facebook and almost 350,000 tweets.

Our growing love of social media is not just changing the way we communicate – it’s
changing the way we do business, the way we are governed, and the way we live in
society. And it’s doing so at breakneck speed. Here are six observations and predictions
for the way social media is changing the world from experts from the Global Agenda
Council.

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 CHAPTER 3

INTRODUCTION

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BASICALLY the Internet was an emergency military communication system operated by
the Department of Defense’s advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA). The whole
operation was referred to as ARPANET. The speed of Internet has changed the way
people receive the information. It combines the immediacy of broadcast with the in depth
coverage of newspapers making it perfect sources for news and weather information.
Even with the multimedia excitement of the web, Electronic mail (email) is the most
frequently used application of the Internet. Many people, who have access to the Internet
at school, home and at work place use the Internet for no other purpose than to send and
to receive the mail. It’s not just friends and co-workers that are receiving email. Wherever
you look, the web is providing email addresses. This has made communication between
the strangers easier than ever. Chatting is one of the more popular activities on the
Internet- people can talk to anyone across the world. Introduction of social online
networking sites has facilitated communication. These are web-sites where users can
create a profile and connect that profile to others to form an explicit personal network.

Through social networking, people can use networks of online friends and group
memberships to keep in touch with current friends, reconnect with old friends or create
real life friendships through similar interests or groups. Besides establishing important
social relationships, social networking members can share their interests with other
likeminded members by joining groups and forums. Some networking can also help
members find a job or establish business contacts. Most social networking websites
also offer additional features. In addition to blogs and forums, members can express
themselves by designing their profile page to reflect their personality. The most popular
extra features include music and video sections.

The video section can include everything from member generated videos from hundreds
of subjects to TV clips and movie trailers (You tube).Social networking sites have
facilitated communication. Members of such sites can easily form groups (called the
communities) and share their opinions among themselves through discussion threads,

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forums and polls. Though these sites serves good in many ways, it has its negative
effects too such as cyber crimes which has become a privacy threat to the people
worldwide.

The rapid adoption of social network sites by teenagers in the INDIA and in many other
countries around the world raises some important questions. Why do teenagers flock to
these sites? What are they expressing on them? How do these sites fit into their lives?
What are they learning from their participation? Are these online activities like face-to
face friendships, or are they different, or complementary? During 2008, online social
network sites like MySpace and Face book became common Destinations for young
people in the India. Throughout the country, young people were logging in, creating
elaborate profiles, publicly articulating their Relationships with other participants, and
writing extensive comments back and forth. By Late 2009, many considered
participation on the key social network site, MySpace, essential to being seen as cool at
school, colleges.

8.1 Social Network Sites: A Definition

“If you’re not on Face book, you don’t exist” — M, 18 to his mom

We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to construct
a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users
with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and
those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these
connections may vary from site to site. While we use the term ‘‘social network site’’ to
describe this phenomenon, the term ‘‘social networking sites’’ also appears in public
discourse, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. We chose not to employ
the term ‘‘networking’’ for two reasons: emphasis and scope. ‘‘Networking’’ emphasizes
relationship initiation, often between strangers. While networking is possible on these

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sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them
from other forms of computer-mediated communication.

What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet
strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social
networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise
be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between
‘‘latent ties’’ who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs,
participants are not necessarily ‘‘networking’’ or looking to meet new people; instead,
they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended
social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing
feature of these sites, we label them ‘‘social network sites.’’ While SNSs have
implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists of visible
profiles that display an articulated list of Friends one who are also users of the system.
Profiles are unique pages where one can ‘‘type oneself into being’’. After joining an
SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing series of questions.

“Undoubtedly, these social networking sites like. Twitter, Face book, LinkedIn to name
a few, portray a larger-than-life attitude and prove beneficial in all walks of life, be it for
a student, professional, retired personnel as well. But more often than not, the social
mob calls for a safe reminder. Having all things considered, you better cherish or else
simply perish!!!!The choice is yours.” –F 17, Class IX

Social networking phenomenon has emerged over the past ten years. In that time,
social networking sites (SNS) have grown from a niche to a mass online activity, in
which tens of millions of internet users are engaged, both in their leisure time, and at
work. However, there has been very little research on the socio-cultural impact of these
sites in the India context. We focused on the impact of these social networking sites on
the youth of India in both positive as well as negative impact. Social networking is a
phenomenon which has existed since society began. Human beings have always

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sought to live in social environments. The proliferation of social networking sites (SNS)
and their pervasion in everyday practices is affecting how modern Indian youth societies
manage their social networks. To a significant extent, SNS have shifted social
networking to the Internet.

It's entirely possible to get to know someone without actually seeing them in person. In
fact, it's better like that because none of the superficial stuff gets in the way. You really
get to know a person. And it's easier to express yourself when you're writing things
down. At least it is for me. I like to order my thoughts, and delete them if they don't
make any sense. You can't do that in real life.” – F, 21 Graduates

In less than five years, these sites have grown from a niche online activity into a
phenomenon through which tens of millions of internet users are connected, both in
their leisure time, and at work. There are various factors which have prompted us to
consider the implications of these technologies for policy-making. One of these is the
willingness of users to embrace SNS as a means of communication and social
networking in everyday life. The increasing dependence on technology for basic
communication also highlights the importance of analyzing how SNS are affecting daily
processes. Sites like Face book, Fraudster and LinkedIn are influencing the way users
establish, maintain and cultivate a range of social relationships, from close friendship to
casual acquaintances.

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 Fig-1 MAP
8.2 Characteristics of Social Networking Sites :
 Presentation of Oneself
The basic level of entry inmost SNS is the setting up of a ‘profile’ a personalized page
developed by the user in which he/she presents him/herself to peers, through text,
photos music and videos amongst others Functionalities. SNS allow users to mobilize
and organize their social contacts and profiles in the way they want other members to
see them.

Fig 2 profile featuring modified background and multimedia.

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  New Ways for Community Formation
Though notions of virtual communities have existed since the beginning of online
applications, SNS support new ways for people to connect between themselves. Users
of these sites may choose to communicate through various digital objects, such as tags
and in-built applications within the SNS, such as the 'visual shelf' application in Face
book. For example Users may join a community of book readers, connecting through
books they have liked.

 Ease of Use
A major attribute of SNS' popularity is their simplicity. Anyone with basic internet
skills can create and manage an online SNS presence. Prior to SNS, users gained
an online presence by having a personal homepage. The drawbacks were that
these homepages are not easy to create and development and hosting of the site
often incur costs.

In contrast, SNS are free of charge and open for anyone to join. Most of them require
registration, while others limit membership through
an invitation from members who are already
members of the site.

8.3 A History of Social Network Sites

 The Early Years

launched in 1997.
According to the definition above, the
first recognizable social network site Fig 3 History

SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in
1998, surf the Friends lists. Each of these features existed in some form before Six
Degrees, of course. Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many community
sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of Friends, although those Friends were
not visible to others.

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Classmates.com allowed people to affiliate with their high school or college and surf the
network for others who were also affiliated, but users could not create profiles or list
Friends until years later. Six Degrees was the first to combine these features. Six
Degrees promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and send messages to
others. While Six Degrees attracted millions of users, it failed to become a sustainable
business and, in 2000, the service closed. Looking back, its founder believes that Six
Degrees was simply ahead of its time.

While people were already flocking to the Internet, most did not have extended
networks of friends who were online. Early adopters complained that there was little to
do after accepting Friend requests, and most users were not interested in meeting
strangers. From 1997 to 2001, a number of community tools began supporting various
combinations of profiles and publicly articulated Friends. Fraudster became biggest
disappointment in the history of social networking sites, which is overcome by LinkedIn.

 SNSs Hit the Mainstream

From 2003 onward, many new SNSs were launched, most took the form of profile
centric sites, trying to replicate the early success of Fraudster or target specific
demographics. While socially-organized SNSs solicit broad audiences, professional
sites such as LinkedIn, Visible Path, and Xing focus on business people. Furthermore,
as the social media and user-generated content phenomena grew, websites focused on
media sharing began implementing SNS features and becoming SNSs themselves.

“Okay, so I stopped posting status updates on Face book a long time ago. I noticed that
whenever someone posts something completely mundane and stupid, like 'pizza 2nite!'
seventeen people have to comment on that. 'I love pizza!' and 'Spicy pizza 4 meee!' But
if you ever try to actually say something serious about your feelings or, like, your life,
every one of your 386 "friends" is suddenly mute. So there you have it: My life is a post
with no comments. Less interesting than spicy pizza.” – F, 20 Post Graduation.

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Examples include Flickr (photo sharing), Last.FM (music listening habits), and YouTube
(video sharing). With the plethora of venture-backed startups launching in Silicon Valley,
few people paid attention to SNSs that gained popularity elsewhere, even those built by
major corporations. For example, Google’s Orkut failed to build a sustainable U.S. user
base, but a ‘‘Brazilian invasion’’ made Orkut the national SNS of Brazil. Myspace was
begun in 2003, Furthermore, MySpace differentiated itself by regularly adding features
based on user demand and by allowing users to personalize their pages.

 A Global Phenomenon
While MySpace attracted the majority of media attention in the U.S. and abroad, SNSs
were proliferating and growing in popularity worldwide. Friendster gained traction in the
Pacific Islands, Orkut became the premier SNS in Brazil before growing rapidly in India.
Beginning in September 2005, Facebook expanded to include high school students,
professionals inside corporate networks, and, eventually, everyone.

The change to open signup did not mean that new users could easily access users in
closed networks gaining access to corporate networks still required the appropriate
.com address, while gaining access to high school networks required administrator
approval. Unlike other SNSs, Facebook users are unable to make their full profiles
public to all users. Another feature that differentiates Facebook is the ability for outside
developers to build ‘‘Applications’’ which allow users to personalize their profiles and
perform other tasks, such as compare movie preferences and chart travel histories.

Social network sites (SNSs) are increasingly popular around the world. Due to their
digital nature, each SNS is potentially global, since they allow for cross-‐ border
connectivity between users from different countries and cultures. The aim of this paper
is to investigate whether, and to what extent, the worldwide phenomenon of SNSs
actually leads to increasing connectivity between SNS users from different countries
and cultures.

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  Youth

“Youth” is best understood as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to

adulthood’s independence and awareness of our interdependence as members of a
community. Youth is a more fluid category than a fixed age-group.

However, age is the easiest way to define this group, particularly in relation to education
and employment. Therefore “youth” is often indicated as a person between the age
where he/she may leave compulsory education, and the age at which he/she finds
his/her first employment. This latter age limit has been increasing, as higher levels of
unemployment and the cost of setting up an independent household puts many young
people into a prolonged period of dependency.

When carrying out its Youth Strategy, UNESCO uses different definitions of youth
depending on the context. For activities at international or at regional level, UNESCO
uses the United Nations’ universal definition.

The UN, for statistical consistency across regions, defines ‘youth’, as those persons
between the ages of 15 and 24 years, without prejudice to other definitions by Member
States. All UN statistics on youth are based on this definition, as illustrated by the
annual yearbooks of statistics published by the United Nations system on demography,
education, employment and health.

For activities at the national level, for example when

implementing a local community youth program, “youth” may
be understood in a more flexible
manner. UNESCO will then adopt the definition of “youth”
as used by a particular Member State. It can be based for
instance on the definition given in the African Youth Charter
where “youth” means “every person between the ages of 15
and 35 years”.

24 Fig 4 Social Media Impact

8.4 SOCIAL IMPACT OF SNS ON INDIAN YOUTH
A major attribute of SNS' popularity is their simplicity. Anyone with basic internet skills
can create and manage an online SNS presence. Prior to SNS, users gained an online
presence by having a personal homepage. The drawbacks were that these homepages
are not easy to create and development and hosting of the site often incur costs. In
contrast, SNS are free of charge and open for anyone to join. Most of them require
registration, while others limit membership through an invitation from members who are
already members of the site. Social networking as “a set of people and the relationships
between them” About 800million people were using Social networking sites in India.
Around 350million people were using facebook.

A number of public cases of bullying and identity theft have put this issue in the public
arena. In the survey participants were asked whether they have ever had a bad social
networking experience. A considerable number of respondents in a survey (28%)
reported having had a negative online experience with adults aged below 30 the most
likely to export this (60%). These participants were asked to provide further information
about the negative experience. For most respondents the experience reflected
unwanted contact or people posting in appropriate or upsetting information online.
Some respondents specified having online bullying and provided examples such as
abusive messages and harassment from someone of the opposite sex.

8.5 Positive Impact of Social Networking Sites

Social networking isn’t for everyone, but it’s now such a massive part of all our lives,
whether we embrace or reject the notion, that it can no longer be ignored. But are social
networking sites such as Face book, Twitter, and Google+ a force for good or evil? As
with most questions there are multiple angles to approach this quandary from. Having
already looked at the negative impact of social networking sites on society, I thought it
only fair to redress the balance.

(i) Speedy communication

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(ii) Increase empathy for their friends
(iii) Find out old friends
(iv) In touch with world

(a) The Positive Impact of Social Networking Sites on Indian Youth Social networking
has increased the rate and quality of collaboration for students. They are better able to
communicate meeting times or share information quickly, which can increase
productivity and help them learn how to work well in groups. Social networking teaches
students skills they'll need to survive in the business world. Being able to create and
maintain connections to many people in many industries is an integral part of developing
a career or building a business.

(b) In Touch with The World

It isn't just your inner circle of close friends and even closer family members that social
networking sites allow you to communicate with easily and effectively, either. They open
the world up to you, making it a smaller place than it has ever been before. So much so
that I actually haven't a clue where many of my contacts reside. When it comes to social
networks everyone is equal, regardless of location. Family living abroad can be kept
abreast of the latest happenings in your world as quickly as those living next door.
Friends who you haven't seen since school, and who have since moved away, are able
to keep in touch.
Location-based services such as Foursquare and emphasize your location but social
networking as a whole means it has become a lot less important. Social networking
sites have made the world a smaller place.

(c) Building Relationships:

There is no doubting that social networking sites can lead to the breaking up of
relationships. But there is another side to the tale, which is that people are moving onto
other, perhaps better, relationships at the same time.

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Social networks can put you (back) in touch with those you have lots in common with,
and that common ground is often the starting point for long lasting relationships.

(d) Education :
1. Social networking teaches students skills they'll need to survive in the business world.
Being able to create and maintain connections to many
people in many industries is an integral part of developing a career or building a
business.

2. By spending so much time working with new technologies, students develop more
familiarity with computers and other electronic devices.
With the increased focus on technology in education and business, this will help
students build skills that will aid them throughout their lives.

3.Building resumes and personal websites, which are increasingly used as online
portfolios, benefit greatly from the skills obtained by customizing the layout and designs
of social networking profiles.

4. The ease and speed with which users can upload pictures, videos or stories has
resulted in a greater amount of sharing of creative works.

5.Being able to get instant feedback from friends and family on their creative outlets
helps students refine and develop their artistic abilities and can provide much needed
confidence or help them decide what career path they may want to pursue.

(e) Social Issues Corruption

It is the biggest crime harming societal values, morals and in core population. The
2010 statistics of Transparency International shows that 54% of Indians paid bribe in
last year for getting their work done across different departments and sectors. This
day-today corruption is posing a serious problem for people to live life in a normal

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 way. Everybody is in some sense exposed to corruption either as a perpetrator or a
as a victim or as a beneficiary. Paid a Bribe (ipaidabribe.com) is one of the social
networking website started by Janaagraha which aims to capitalize on the
commonness of the practice and provides a platform to people to report their
experiences and find what others have gone through.

Join Anna Hazare/ Arvind Kejriwal/ Against

Delhi Case Anna Hazare is a great revolutionist fighting against
corruption and wrong practices in the society. In recent days he got lots of support and
popularity from people who now pose him as their role model. Join Anna Hazare's Fast
To Bring the Jan Lokpal Bill' is one of such page created by a Mohammed Zaid Shaikh,
a Mumbai -based Facebook user.

This page is followed and liked by more than 38,000 users which shows that mass were
in favor of Anna movement and gave this revolution a strength and hit factor. Another
such page 'India against Corruption' page has earned more than 3.2 lakh fans, so far.
This number is growing in hundreds day by day. The power of social networking can be
seen in various protests done by many social activists through the crowds they
gathered. Against Delhi Rape case lakhs of people came.

Connotation of Blogs Blog writing is a latest trend which serves as an online journal
linking to varying news stories and sites. It allows individual or group of users to record
their opinions and information. Now every hit personality or celebrity is maintain their
blog logs and updating in a regular basis so as to enhance their popularity rate and get
open views and suggestions from mass.

8.6 Negative Impact of Social Networking Sites

In considering the disadvantages, respondents identified a number of negative aspects
of social networking sites including:

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(i) the time-consuming nature of online social networking sites, Indian youth admitting
that they waste a lot of time on these sites.

(ii) Concern about access to personal information by others, with almost half of the
youth worried that “non friends‟ may see their personal information. Concern that
information posted may be used against them in future as a harassment tool.

(iii) Social networking sites makes young people more self-centered.

(iv) Social networking sites are causing alarming changes in the brains of young users,
an eminent.

(v)Creating a culture in which a single mistake such as a racy picture or poorly thought
out comment can cause irreparable harm to your reputation.

(vi) Decreasing productivity as workers habitually check Social networking sites while
they should be working.

(a) The Negative Impact of Social Networking Sites on Indian Youth

(b) Reduced Learning and Research Capabilities

Students have started relying more on the information accessible easily on these social
networking sites and the web. This reduces their learning and research capabilities.

(c) Multitasking
Students who get involved in activities on social media Sites while studying result in
reduction in their focus of attention. This causes reduction in their academic
performance, and concentration to study well.

(d) Reduction In Real Human Contact

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The more time the students spend on these social media sites, the less time they will
spend socializing in person with others. This reduces their communication skills. They
will not be able to communicate and socialize effectively in person with others. The
employers are getting more and more unsatisfied with the communication skills of the
fresh graduates due to this reason. The effective communication skills are key to
success in the real world.

(e) Reduces Command Over Language Use Age and Creative Writing Skills
Students mostly use slang words or shortened forms of words on social networking
sites. They start relying on the computer grammar and spelling check features. This
reduces their command over the language and their creative writing skills.

(f) Time Wastage

Students, while searching and studying online, get attracted to using social media sites
and sometimes they forget why they are using internet. This wastes their time and
sometimes students are not able to deliver their work in the specified time frame.

(g) Low Grades and loss of motivation in students

Students get low grades in school due to lack of the desired information and writing
skills. The student's motivational level reduces due to the use of these social networking
sites. They rely on the virtual environment instead of gaining practical knowledge from
the real world.

(e) Effect on Health

The excessive use of these sites affects the mental as well as physical health. Students
do not take their meals on time and take proper rest. They take excessive amount of
coffee or tea to remain active and focused which effects negatively on their health.
Excessive use of social networking sites cause insomnia which is reported my many
researchers from all over the world.

30
 6.7 Ethical Responsibility Of Youth Using Social Networking Sites

The new digital social networking media are a frontier that is rich with opportunities and
risks, particularly for young people. Through SNS technologies, young people are
participating in a range of activities, including social networking, blogging, blogging,
gaming, instant messaging, downloading music and other content, uploading and
sharing their own creations, and collaborating with others in various ways. Five key
issues are at stake in the new social networking media identity, privacy, ownership and
authorship, credibility, and participation. These issues decide the social and ethical
responsibilities of the youth that using the services of social networking sites.

(a) Every person that using the SNS should be aware about their rights and moral
responsibilities.
(b) We should respect the authentication and
privacy of those members that are using SNS.
(c ) We should follow the ethics of online identity.
(d) Create culture of disclosure.
(e) Online, a number of strategies—including Fig 5 Paul Gilin
privacy settings, selective disclosure,

control the presentation of their identities and thereby manage their privacy. Most social
networking sites have privacy settings that allow users to limit access to their profiles to
a narrow audience of confirmed friends, and evidence suggests that many young people
use them.
(f) The online culture of disclosure holds important promises for young people, including
empowerment of themselves and others, the creation of communities of support around
shared Struggles, and the development of a broad ethical sense of responsibility with
respect to privacy.
(g) Maintain Credibility. So the youth of Indian can play an important role to reduce the
negative impact of social networking sites that it can be used in the beneficial way.

31
CHAPTER 4
LITERATURE

32
Knight (2006) in the article Is Social Networking Losing Clout With Youth? explains that
according to ratings, in 2003, teens were most likely to visit icon sites for instant
messaging. The most popular sites then were OriginalIcons.com (77%) and
BluntTruth.com (76%). Today (in 2006) the most popular sites are PLyrics.com (68%)
and SnapVine.com (67%). Both of these sites offer social networking tools. The older
generation is also visiting these sites, according to comScore. More than half of the
visitors to popular MySpace were 35 and over. For marketers, this is a good thing. A
new report from Compete indicates that social networkers, no matter their age, are
creating their own e-commerce system. According to the report, those on social
networking sites have more discretionary income, shop online more and pay less
attention to traditional media. That is a host of potential customers just waiting to be
tapped into.

Subrahmanyam (2006) suggests that youth spending on data services represents

almost 50 percent of all mobile spending in most mature markets. Not only are youth the
early adopters of most new technologies, they are also among the more sophisticated
users of it as well. In fact, Livingstone and Bober have coined the term reverse
socialization to characterize the shifting nature of socialization that occurs in many
families, as teenage children are often more knowledgeable than their parent about
these technologies. Research has also suggested that adolescents interactions with
these new technologies are often at the vanguard of trends.

Among adolescents, communication is the most important use of the Internet and the
popular communication applications include, e-mail, instant messaging (private, one-on
one, text based conversations), chat rooms (communication systems that allow text
based conversation among multiple users), and the newest craze social networking
sites (connects people together) including blogs (www.livejournal.com), MySpace and
Facebook. Although we know that adolescents are spending considerable amounts of
time on these applications, many questions remain. Firstly, what are youth doing in
communication forums such as chat rooms and blogs? What do they talk about?

33
Secondly, are these online communication activities fundamentally changing adolescent
behavior or are they simply providing new venues for traditional adolescent behavior?
Lastly, what is the relation between teen virtual worlds and real worlds? Are teen
participants leaving behind real lives when interacting online or do virtual worlds reflect
themes that are traditionally adolescent ones?

In Mumbai mirror daily (2006), it was reported that so many terrorists and under world
people have got connected through orkut, for example Davood Ibrahim, Chotta Shakkil
and so many underworld dawns are getting new man power through Orkut. Times of
India (2006) in Hatred communities – with spreading violence among the people- India
court accuses Google Orkut of spreading hatred states that the Aurangabad bench of
Bombay high court has directed the Maharashtra government to issue notice to Google
for the alleged spread of hatred about India by its social network services .The article
says that the petition has stated that a picture of burning the national tricolor, bearing
anti-India messages, has been put on www.orkut.com / www.facebook.com and a
community We hate India has been created on the site.

Len hart and Madden (2007) in Adolescent social networking, said that in the past five
years social networking has “rocketed from a niche activity into a phenomenon that
engages tens of millions of Internet users. The study proposes that online social
networking profiles posted by adolescents contain intimate, candid, and observable self
disclosure and peer interaction that can be analyzed creating an overall picture of
adolescent behavior, highlighting specific areas needing additional research, and
addressing implications for parental monitoring and intervention. Lehn hart and Madden
state that fifty-five percent of teenagers use and create online social networking profiles.
They believe that with more than half of teenage Internet users interacting online, the
concept of blogging is a salient research topic investigating what adolescents are
blogging about, how they are socially interacting, and what potential effects this
phenomena may have on other dimensions of their lives.

34
Boyd (2007) says that gender appears to influence participation on social network sites.
Younger boys are more likely to participate than younger girls (46% vs. 44%) but older
girls are far more likely to participate than older boys (70% vs. 57%). Older boys are
twice as likely to use the sites to flirt and slightly more likely to use the sites to meet new
people than girls of their age. Older girls are far more likely to use these sites to
communicate with friends they see in person than younger people or boys of their age.

Tynes (2007) in an article Internet Safety Gone Wild? Sacrificing the Educational and
Psychosocial Benefits of Online Social Environments indicates that online socialization
through networks like Facebook are more beneficial to the development of adolescents
than they are harmful or dangerous.

“Many Internet safety and parenting experts suggest that parents prohibit their teens
from social networking sites and other online spaces where predators may lurk banning
adolescents from social networking sites - if this were even feasible - as well as
monitoring too closely might close off avenues for beneficial cognitive and psychosocial
development that are available to young people in the online social world,” claims
Tynes, Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Educational Psychology at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Williams (2008) in A review of online social networking profiles by adolescents states

that Social networking profiles involve individuals creating and maintaining personal
Internet sites allowing authors and other users to post content, thus creating a personal
network.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Projects December 2008 tracking
survey. While media coverage and policy attention focus heavily on how children and
youth use social network sites, adults still make up the bulk of the users of these
websites. Adults make up a larger portion of the US population than teens, which is why
the 35% number represents a larger number of users than the 65% of online teens who

35
also use online social networks. Still, younger online adults are much more likely than
their older counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults (18-24) using these
networks, compared to just 7% of adults 65 and older. At its core, use of online social
networks is still a phenomenon of the young.

Lenhart (2009) reveals that the share of adult Internet users who have a profile on an
online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years – from 8%
in 2005 to 35% now, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Projects December
2008 tracking survey.

While media coverage and policy attention focus heavily on how children and youth use
social network sites, adults still make up the bulk of the users of these websites.Adults
make up a larger portion of the US population than teens, which is why the 35% number
represents a larger number of users than the 65% of online teens who also use online
social networks. Still, younger online adults are much more likely than their older
counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults (18-24) using these networks,
compared to just 7% of adults 65 and older. At its core, use of online social networks is
still a phenomenon of the young.

Larsen (2009), based on the empirical data, says that both genders seek the
acknowledgement they get from having their looks commented on, but the girls are
more preoccupied with what kind of comments they get and whom they come from. In
general, it is very important that the comments come from friends and people they
know, rather than strangers. This indicates that photo comments are not just about
having ones outer looks valued and acknowledged, but also about practicing and
maintaining friendships.

Wintour (2009) in the article titled Facebook and Bebo rist infantilizing the human mind
says that Social networking sites, such as Facebook , are putting attention span in
jeopardy. Wintour refers to Baroness Greenfield who believes ministers have not yet

36
looked at the broad cultural and psychological effect of on-screen friendships via
Facebook, Bebo and Twitter ; She has told the House of Lords that children’s
experiences on social networking sites ”are devoid of cohesive narrative and long-term
significance and as a consequence, the mid-21st century mind might almost be
infantilized, characterized by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to
empathize and a shaky sense of identity“.

Arguing that social network sites are putting attention span in jeopardy, she said: ”If the
young brain is exposed from the outset to a world of fast action and reaction, of instant
new screen images flashing up with the press of a key, such rapid interchange might
accustom the brain to operate over such timescales. Perhaps when in the real world
such responses are not immediately forthcoming, we will see such behaviors and call
them attention-deficit disorder.“It might be helpful to investigate whether the near total
submersion of our culture in screen technologies over the last decade might in some
way be linked to the threefold increase over this period in prescriptions for
methylphenidate, the drug prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.”

Rohn U. (2013) the nature and the extent of cross-‐border connectivity through SNSs
strongly depend on the user group studied. And although the multidimensional and
multifaceted analysis of cross-‐border connectivity through SNSs, which this paper
introduces, leads to different results for different connectivity features, the results
suggest that users are more indirectly than directly connected through SNSs. Although
the framework, within which SNS activities take place, may be the same or similar
across borders, the ‘filling’ of such frameworks by users mirrors proximity to the users’
cultural and/or national background.

37
Table 1 – Systematic Literature Reviews on Social Media Topics

38
 CHAPTER 5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

39
10.1 METHOD
The central aim of this literature review was to identify trends in qualitative and mixed
methods approaches used in the emergent field of social media research. The review is
descriptive and follows an integrative synthesis approach, which ‘‘attempts to
summarize the contents of multiple studies and minimizes any interpretation on the part
of the reviewer’’ (Harden & Thomas, 2010, p. 752). The unit of analysis was a
peerreviewed journal article reporting the results of a qualitative or mixed methods
research study where social media played a central role. The scope of the literature
review was limited to articles published from 2007 through 2013. The reason for the
initial cutoff was that literature in the years before 2007 was scant, given that social
media is a relatively new phenomenon. According to company websites, Facebook was
invented in 2004 (Facebook, 2015), YouTube in 2005 (YouTube, 2015), and Twitter in
2006 (Twitter, 2015). A previous literature review on YouTube scholarship indicated that
publications began to appear in 2006, but no research studies were published prior to
2007 (Snelson, 2011). Williams, Terras, and Warwick (2013) selected 2007 as a starting
point for their literature review of Twitter and microblogging research because that is
when the first papers began to appear. Facebook research was published as early as
2005 (Wilson et al., 2012) but seems to have started building momentum in 2007.
Therefore, the decision was made to set the initial cutoff at 2007 with a final cutoff of
2013, which was the last full year before the review was conducted in 2014. Peer
reviewed journal articles were selected and analyzed through a systematic process
consistent with the prior literature review studies listed in Table 1. Selection and analysis
of articles proceeded through a series of the four stages illustrated in Figure 1.

10.2 STAGE 1: PRESEARCH

During the presearch phase, key words and databases were selected based on a
combination of (a) strategies used in prior literature reviews and (b) test searches with
candidate key words, filters, and databases. Some of the prior literature reviews
focused on specific social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube),
whereas others investigated certain aspects of social media usage or content

40
 Fig : 6 Stages in the Literature review process

regardless of platform. The present study integrates a combination of both platform

specific and general search phrases to explore an array of studies involving single or
multiple types of social media. The key words used were Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
social media, and social networking. Each of these search phrases has been used in at
least one prior literature review. Many of the prior social media literature reviews were
grounded in a particular field of study. Searches were conducted in combinations of
databases, which sometimes included databases indexing literature specific to the field
(e.g., PubMed for medical-related literature reviews). The present literature review is
interdisciplinary with a focus ontrends in research methodology regardless of discipline.
Therefore, searches were conducted exclusively in the following multidisciplinary
databases, which have all been used in prior literature reviews: Academic Search
Premier, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Together, they offer substantial and
complementary access to the academic literature from multiple disciplines.

10.3 Stage 2: Search

The search was conducted in January 2014 for articles published from 2007 through
2013 that had bibliographic entries available in the selected databases. The specific
strategy for searching each of the databases (Academic Search Premier, Web of
Science, and Google Scholar) is outlined here in detail to make them replicable for other
41
researchers. Academic Search Premier and Web of Science involved a key word
search conducted in a similar manner. Each of the search phrases, YouTube,
Facebook, Twitter, ‘‘social media,’’ and ‘‘social networking,’’ were entered one at a time
in a series of searches. Filers were applied with each round of searches to retrieve
peer-reviewed articles where the search phrase was contained in the title. For example,
the search for Facebook articles was set to retrieve peer-reviewed articles with
Facebook in the title. Search results were exported directly from each database in
batches to the online version of EndNote (Thompson Reuters, 2014a). At the time of
searching, Academic Search Premier permitted export of 100 citations per batch and
Web of Science permitted export of 500 citations per batch. All citations from each
round of searches were exported in batches until all of the results were copied into
EndNote online. Google Scholar was included as one of the databases searched for
during this literature review due to its broad reach across interdisciplinary academic
scholarship indexed on the Internet and its use in prior literature review studies (see
Błachnio et al., 2013; Dhir et al., 2013; Kalampokis et al., 2013; Williams et al., 2013;
Wilson et al., 2012). Unfortunately, Google Scholar has certain limitations. Williams et
al. (2013) searched Google Scholar for their literature review of academic work related
to Twitter but acknowledged the lack of control over search fields and results containing
many works unrelated to the purpose of their research. An additional issue is the sheer
volume of results that might appear in a Google Scholar search. Researchers might not
have the time or resources to sort through thousands of results to find articles matching
inclusion criteria for articles. Furthermore, Google limits access to the first 1,000 search
results (see Google, 2015), thereby making it impossible to access all of the results.
This limitation can be verified by clicking through to the last page of a large set of
search results. The limitations with Google Scholar necessitated a modified search
strategy to obtain a manageable set of results that yielded relevant articles not found
through searches of Academic Search Premier and Web of Science. The lack of control
over search fields acknowledged by Williams et al. (2013) was addressed by appending
additional key words to restrict results to relevant articles. As previously explained, the
unit of analysis was a peer-reviewed journal article reporting the results of a qualitative

42
or mixed methods research study where social media played a central role. Therefore,
the search phrases were adjusted to target both the type of social media and the type of
design in each round of searches. For example, the search for Facebook literature was
conducted in two rounds, with the search phrase Facebook qualitative used in the first
round followed by Facebook mixed method in the second round. A similar approach
was used to search for literature on Twitter, YouTube, social media, and social
networking articles. This targeted search produced a manageable results list but
produced only eight relevant articles that were not already found in the Academic
Search Premier and Web of Science databases. Google Scholar ultimately served as
an ancillary search tool that produced a few additional articles, but, in this particular
case, it created the problematic decision of whether to choose (a) too many results that
were labor-intensive to review and could not be fully accessed or (b) a restrictive search
that might have limited the results to a narrower scope than desired. The restrictive
search option, although not ideal, was selected due to its feasibility. Other researchers
are encouraged to consider the limitations of Google Scholar prior to using it to obtain
literature for a systematic review. The process of removing duplicate citations was
conducted after the searches were complete and citations had been imported into the
online version of EndNote (Thompson Reuters, 2014a). First, the duplicate removal tool
was used to identify as many duplicates as possible that had been imported from the
different databases. This was followed by manual inspection of the citations to remove
additional duplicates that had not been entered into the databases in the same way. For
example, the author name or title might have been entered differently in one database
as compared to the others. The citations were combined into a single group (minus
duplicates), leaving a total of 3,322 unique article citations.

10.4 Stage 3: Data Cleaning

Abstracts and full-text copies of the articles were reviewed to determine eligibility for
analysis. Articles were selected if they met the following criteria: (a) the study applied
qualitative research methodology or mixed methods research with a qualitative research
component, (b) the study emphasized online social media, (c) the article was published

43
in a peer-reviewed journal, and (d) a full-text English copy of the article was available. A
total of 229 studies met the criteria with a subset of 55 of these studies involving both
qualitative and quantitative (i.e., mixed) methods.

10.5 Stage 4: Analysis

A qualitative content analysis methodology, based on Schreier’s (2012) approach, was
used to structure the review and analysis of the literature. Qualitative content analysis is
a descriptive research method involving development of a coding frame and qualitative
coding of data. The coding frame was both concept driven (defined in advance) and
data driven (derived from data during coding) as described by Schreier. Essentially, the
concept-driven part of the coding frame was designed to classify studies according to
research design (qualitative and mixed methods) and social media emphasized in the
research. The data-driven portion of the coding frame came primarily from tagging and
coding articles based on research approaches used in the study, as will be discussed
momentarily.

A single researcher conducted the present study; therefore, a multiphase approach was
taken to review the content at different points in time and to cross-check results for
consistency. The articles had all been reviewed for eligibility for the study during the
data-cleaning stage, but the actual analysis of content began with a round of review and
tagging using the Mendeley’s (2014) reference management software. Full-text copies
of the articles were obtained and imported into Mendeley where they were reviewed,
bibliographic information was verified, and tags were applied to each article to indicate
type of social media emphasized and research approaches used in the studies. The
tagging process served as a first round of classification and coding.

To conduct the second round of coding, bibliographic information first was exported
from Mendeley in the Research Information Systems file format. This text file was
imported into the NVivo (Version 10) qualitative analysis software program (QSR
International, 2014). This process accomplished two goals: (a) it imported full-text
copies of the articles into NVivo and (b) it simultaneously created an internal
44
classification sheet (similar to a spreadsheet), which contained bibliographic information
that was linked to each imported article. The classification sheet was created for the
purpose of running queries within NVivo and for export to Excel (Microsoft, 2014) where
further analysis of overall trends could be conducted. Additional attributes (similar to
spreadsheet columns) were added to the classification sheet so that each article could
be categorized based on the social media emphasized in the study. The labeled
categories comprised “Facebook,” “Twitter,” or “YouTube” for studies that focused on
those specific social media platforms alone. A “Combination” category was used to label
studies involving more than one type of social media that included Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, or some combination of these platforms. A category for “Other Social Media”
was used to label studies involving other named social media platforms such as
MySpace. An “Unspecified” category was used for studies that emphasized more
general social media topics where there was no specific mention of any particular social
media platform.

In addition to the categorization within the classification sheet, each entire article was
coded as a case node in NVivo based on author names to facilitate the process of
running matrix queries of authors versus content. Next, content within each article was
coded based on the research approach applied to conduct the social media study. A set
of top-level nodes, set at the highest point of a hierarchical node structure, was created
prior to analysis to serve as the concept-driven coding frame, as discussed earlier.
Nodes were created for qualitative and mixed methods research studies. In addition,
child nodes were created under the mixed methods node for each of the mixed methods
research design types described by Creswell and Plano Clark (2011). Nodes for specific
approaches such as interviews, focus groups, surveys, or content analysis were
generated later when they were identified during analysis and coding of the individual
articles. Research approaches had already been tagged on the articles in Mendeley
during the first round of review, so the NVivo coding was cross-checked with the
Mendeley tags to verify consistency. When discrepancies were observed, articles were
reviewed again to resolve these differences.

45
Trends across the set of tagged and coded literature were identified through analysis of
coded article text, matrix queries of articles and codes, and information in the article
classification sheet. The classification sheet was exported from NVivo as a spreadsheet
for analysis in Excel where pivot tables were created to generate charts and frequencies
of publication trends.

10.6 Limitations and Delimitations

Prior literature reviews of social media research have described limitations that are
equally applicable to the current study. Factors attributed to scope restrictions based on
specific social media platform, databases, types of literature (e.g., articles and
conference papers), languages, publications (e.g., specific journals), or use of specific
search phrases have been discussed (e.g., Błachnio et al., 2013; Gholami-Kordkheili,
Wild, & Strech, 2013; Khan, 2012; Khang, Ki, & Ye, 2012; Leung et al., 2013; Williams
et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2012; Zhang & Leung, 2014). Restricting the scope of a
literature review can be beneficial in making the study feasible and focused. However, it
also means that some literature will most likely be left Snelson 5 out of the analysis. The
same issue holds true for the present study with its own restrictions on language,
publication type, databases, and search phrases. The restrictions and criteria for
inclusion should be communicated in literature reviews, as they are here, to ensure that
other researchers are made aware of limitations impacting coverage. Furthermore,
these details permit replication or comparison among literature review studies. The
restrictions and selection criteria have been provided in the method section earlier to
ensure that these details are available for interested researchers. In addition, a
complete bibliography of all of the studies included in this review, including a
categorized list of mixed methods studies identified by the author, is available online at
https://sites.google.com/site/qualmix/ bibliography.

Strategies for describing, defining, or classifying mixed methods research studies have
been proposed through the development of various typologies, models, or frameworks
(Creswell, 2014; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011; Guest, 2012; Johnson & Onwuegbuzie,

46
2004; Nastasi, Hitchcock, & Brown, 2010). The present literature review limits
discussion to the typology developed by Creswell and Plano Clark (2011). This typology
served as a useful tool for organizing and describing timing and priority of data
collection and analysis within social media research.

10.7 Results and Discussion

The results of this systematic literature review study are organized in a general-to
specific manner. These results begin by presenting overall trends for the entire
combined collection of 229 qualitative and mixed methods research studies. This is
followed by an in-depth analysis of the subset of 55 mixed methods research studies
and the combination of approaches applied for social media research.

a) Overall Publication Trends

The first research question was: What are the overall trends in qualitative and mixed
method social media research? This question was answered by presenting a series of
trend summaries including publication count by year and type of social media, countries
that produced the majority of the research, most common journals where the studies
were published, and a breakdown of research approaches used across the qualitative
and mixed methods research studies included in this review.

Overall trends in publication count and type of social media emphasized are shown in
Figure 2 for qualitative and mixed method research studies published from 2007
through 2013. The lines marked Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube represent studies that
focused solely on those specific social media platforms. The line marked Combination
represents studies involving more than one type of social media that included
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or some combination of these platforms in the study. The
line marked Other Social Media represents studies involving other named social media
platforms such as MySpace. The line marked Unspecified represents studies that did
not specify a platform but emphasized more general social media topics.

47
 Fig : 7 Publication trend by year and type of social media
The publication trends illustrated in Figure 2 show an overall increase in social media
research involving either qualitative or mixed methods. Facebook research is the
strongest area with more publications than any other social media platform. This trend is
consistent with the overall popularly of Facebook, which has been described as the
dominant social media platform among adult users (Duggan et al., 2015). There were
168 (73.4%) total studies originating from the five countries shown in Table 2, as
determined by the location of the first (corresponding) author. Essentially, Table 2
provides a summary of the points of origin and areas of emphasis for the most prolific
contributors of social media research identified in the literature review. In a similar
manner, Hamm et al. (2013) reported continents of origin for corresponding authors
when discussing the results of a literature review regarding social media use by health
care professionals and trainees. Although limited by the fact that the literature review
included only English texts, there is some indication of relative attention given to social
media platforms from the countries that yielded the majority of the research.

Table 2 - Countries of Origin and Social Media Emphasis for Most Prolific Contributors.
48
The full set of 229 qualitative or mixed methods research articles were published in 158
peer-reviewed academic journals. The 14 journals with a publication count of three or
more articles are listed in Table 3 to provide information about the primary outlets for
the interdisciplinary qualitative and mixed method social media studies included in this
review. Similarly, other literature reviews have included journal information to indicate
where literature has been published within the emergent field of social media
scholarship (Khan, 2012; Khang et al., 2012; Zhang & Leung, 2014). Impact factors
have played a role in prior literature reviews, such as when researchers used them as
part of the justification to limit the scope of their review to specific journals with high
rankings (Archibald, Radil, Zhang, & Hanson, 2015; Zhang & Leung, 2014). The
majority of journals (72%) in Table 3 were listed in the Journal Citation Reports 2013
Edition (Thompson Reuters, 2014b). All but one of the articles had an impact factor
listed in 2013 and 12 of the journals had both a 2013 and 5-year impact factor.

Table 3 - Journals with Three or More Social Media Studies.

A matrix of qualitative and mixed methods social media research approaches is shown
in Table 4. The information was obtained by identifying how researchers described their
studies. Studies identified by the authors as following a case study, ethnography,
grounded theory, or phenomenology design were labeled as such while coding and
classifying the studies. Qualitative studies that were described generically as qualitative

49
without naming a specific design or were described in terms of data collection
techniques or analytic techniques were placed in the other qualitative category, which 6
International Journal of Qualitative Methods ended up being the case for 115 of the
studies. Mixed methods studies were identified based on methodology and the
presence of a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Table 4 - Matrix of Qualitative and Mixed Method Social Media Research

Approaches.
The number of studies falling within each design category is indicated in Table 4. Data
collection techniques or analytic approaches under each design category are marked
qualitatively (X) to indicate where they were used by the researches who conducted the
studies included in this literature review. Frequency counts were not included for data
collection techniques or analytic approaches in Table 4 because individual studies might
involve multiple techniques, and the problem of multiple counting makes it difficult to
interpret the results..
Researchers commonly used interviews, focus groups, and surveys as data collection
techniques. These types of studies were typically designed to examine facets of social
media users’ behaviors, uses, or experiences with social media. Table 2. Countries of
Origin and Social Media Emphasis for Most Prolific Contributors. Countries Facebook
Twitter YouTube Combo Other Unspecified Total United States 31 16 8 7 9 35 106
United Kingdom 11 3 7 2 2 3 28 Australia 5 2 1 3 1 6 18 Canada 2 2 0 1 1 4 10 Taiwan 4
1 1 0 0 0 6 Total 53 24 17 13 13 48 168 Figure 2. Publication trends by year and type of
social media. Table 3. Journals With Three or More Social Media Studies. Journal Titles
Article Count Impact Factor 2013 5 Year New Media & Society 14 2.052 2.441 Journal
of Computer-Mediated Communication 8 2.019 4.346 Public Relations Review 6 0.755
0.984 Computers in Human Behavior 4 2.273 3.047 Australasian Journal of Educational
Technology 4 0.875 1.198 British Journal of Educational Technology 4
50
1.394 1.912 Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 4 2.410 2.535
Information, Communication & Society 4 1.283 None Journal of Medical Internet
Research 4 4.669 5.724 Behaviour & Information Technology 3 0.839 1.261
International Journal of Emerging Technologies & Society 3 None None Learning, Media
and Technology 3 0.958 1.529 The Information Society 3 0.972 1.195 Internet and
Higher Education 3 2.048 2.635 Snelson 7 Examples of interview or focus group
research included interviews with social media users regarding their experiences with
public mourning on Facebook (Brubaker, Hayes, & Dourish, 2013), interviews with
American Red Cross employees to learn how they used social media to communicate
with key publics (Briones, Kuch, Liu, & Jin, 2011), interviews with adolescents to find out
how they use social media to become informed of world events (Marchi, 2012), and a
combination of interviews and focus group interviews with women to explore gender
stereotypes on Facebook (Bailey, Steeves, Burkell, & Regan, 2013). Surveys were
predominantly quantitative with results presented in numerical form, although there was
one instance where the survey was qualitatively oriented with open-ended questions
(Mihelj, van Zoonen, & Vis, 2011).
Content analysis comprised the most commonly used analytic approach across this
group of qualitative and mixed methods research studies. In content analysis studies,
researchers used social media content such as Facebook posts, tweets (Twitter posts),
and YouTube videos as a data source. For example, C. P. Chen (2013) coded the
content of YouTube videos of people who had been interviewed as part of a qualitative
research study of personal (self) branding. Cohen and Duchan (2012) conducted a
qualitative analysis of the content of Twitter posts submitted by teenage students in their
study of the role of Twitter in the teaching and learning process.
Content analysis can be conducted with qualitative or quantitative methods, although
combinations of both are possible. Results often take the form of frequency counts or
themes identified in the content. Content analysis, regardless of whether it is qualitative
or quantitative, has been described as requiring development of a codebook, which is
used to guide coding of content (Krippendorf, 2013; Schreier, 2012). Use of a codebook
with predefined categories can be found in a content analysis study of user-created

51
videos about Islam on YouTube (Mosemghvdlishvili & Jansz, 2012). content analysis
was based on a general inductive approach and conducted by a single coder’’
(Lehmann, Ruiter, & Kok, 2013, p. 3). Studies where content was coded in an open,
inductive, or thematic manner represent an approach to content analysis that resembles
the type of open qualitative coding that one might apply to other types of qualitative data
such as interview transcripts.

b) Trends in Mixed Methods Designs for Social Media Research The second
research question was: To what extent does the design of mixed methods social media
studies align with an established typology for mixed methods research approaches?
This question was answered by presenting trends in methodological approaches in the
55 mixed methods research articles. Studies identified as representing mixed methods
research for the current analysis were social media studies that integrated qualitative
and quantitative research methods in alignment with most definitions of mixed methods
research (Creswell, 2014; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011; Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, &
Turner, 2007). Therefore, mixed method research studies were first identified by
reviewing the abstracts and methods sections for terminology identifying the study as
mixed methods, multi method (qualitative and quantitative combinations), or having
used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Next, the articles were
reviewed to verify the presence of both qualitative and quantitative approaches for data
collection or analysis. The mixed methods research studies then were classified based
on their resemblance to the basic mixed methods research designs described by
Creswell and Plano Clark (2011) and Creswell (2014) (e.g., convergent parallel,
explanatory sequential, exploratory sequential). A residual category for other types of
mixed methods research Table 4. Matrix of Qualitative and Mixed Method Social Media
Research Approaches. Research Designs Case Study Ethnography Grounded Theory
Phenomenology Other Qualitative Mixed Methods Number of Studies 18 22 17 2 115 55
Data collection techniques Fieldwork and observation X X X X X Focus group X X X X
Interview X X X X X X Survey X Big dataa X Analytic approaches Coding X X X X X
Discourse analysis X X X Content analysis X

52
X X X X Statistical analysis X a Big Data refers to large data sets of content extracted
from social networking sites. 8 International Journal of Qualitative Methods designs was
used to categorize those studies that could not be classified due to unclear description
of methodology or lack of clear fit to the mixed methods research designs. A brief
summary of mixed methods research designs and examples of social media studies of
each type are provided in Table 5.

TABLE 5 - Mixed Methods Research Designs and Examples of Social Media Studies.

The mixed methods research designs described in Table 5 warrant further discussion of
how these designs have manifested within social media research. Although space
limitations prohibit discussion of every social media study, each of the basic mixed
methods designs is discussed together with representative studies that exemplify how
the designs have been applied in social media research. The residual category for other
mixed methods research studies will not be discussed further. The emphasis centers on
methodological structures regardless of research topic in keeping with the central goal
of the present literature review. In-depth analysis of research outcomes, which are
highly varied in this multidisciplinary review, is beyond the scope of this article. Prior
literature reviews already have covered a great deal of ground in the analysis of
research trends and outcomes related to specific disciplines or research questions in
social media studies as shown in Table 1.

c) Convergent Parallel Design

53
The convergent parallel design has been described as one of the most well-known
approaches of mixed methods research (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). It has been
conceptualized as a triangulation approach whereby qualitative and quantitative results
are brought together to explore a research problem from multiple angles to confirm
results (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). In fact, the word triangulation was used in some
social media studies that utilized a convergent parallel structure. For example, a study
of educational use and privacy issues on Facebook integrated web surveys and
interviews in what was called a mixed methods research design using a model of
‘‘methodological triangulation’’ (Bruneel, Wit, Verhoeven, & Elen, 2013, p. 132). Annabi
and McGann (2013) also described triangulation of multiple data sources, which were
collected in parallel for their study of the use of social media in communities of practice
in business.
A convergent parallel structure was identified in the design of 23 of the 55 mixed
methods research studies, although none of these studies were explicitly labeled as
such by the authors who simply discussed the combination of qualitative and
quantitative approaches. Studies were classified as convergent parallel based on author
descriptions of data collection and mixing of qualitative and quantitative data, which
closely resembled the description of convergent parallel design. The example cited in
Table 5 involved analysis of the use of a hallucinogenic plant called Salvia divinorum in
YouTube videos (Casselman & Heinrich, 2011). Qualitative observations were
conducted on 100 YouTube videos that showed people smoking the plant. Quantitative
meta-data, collected during the same time frame, were obtained through the use of a
web-crawler tool. The data streams were collected in parallel and combined in the
analysis and interpretation of results to discuss trends in use of the plant and patterns of
views over time on YouTube.
A notable trend among several studies with a convergent parallel structure was to mix
data obtained from people with data from social media sites or content (e.g., Facebook
profiles, YouTube videos). Quantitative and qualitative data were obtained from people
as well as social media content. The diagram in Figure 3 illustrates the convergence of
streams of quantitative and qualitative data obtained from people and social media

54
content sources. The data typically were combined during the analysis and
interpretation stages of the research process.

Fig : 8 Diagram of convergent parallel strands in social media studies

Examples of the convergent parallel structure, involving data from people and content,
illustrate how this combination has been applied in social media research. For example,
quantitative and qualitative data from Facebook posts were combined with interview
data from students who interacted with social media while in study abroad programs
(Back, 2013). Research on the differences in self-presentation on social media sites
among ethnoracial groups involved a combination of interviews, focus groups, and
quantitative content analysis of Facebook profiles of African American, Latino, Indian,
and Vietnamese ancestry students (Grasmuck, Martin, & Zhao, 2009). A study of
transparency in social media practice of organizations and public relations professionals
integrated data from a survey, interviews, and a content analysis of social media
campaigns (DiStaso & Bortree, 2012). These studies are representative of the group of
social media research articles classified as convergent parallel.

d) Explanatory Sequential Design

The explanatory sequential design is structured with a quantitative portion first followed
by a qualitative portion that further explores something uncovered during the
quantitative analysis (Creswell, 2014; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The example
social media study in Table 5 is structured in an explanatory sequential style with a

55
quantitative survey on the topic of Facebook privacy followed by focus groups to
deepen understanding of survey results (Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, & Hughes, 2009). The
explanatory sequential structure was identified in nine of the social media studies and
the majority of them (six studies) involved a survey with follow-up interviews or focus
groups. For example, a survey of students regarding their use of Facebook and
MySpace was followed up with a focus group of students who used one or both social
media sites (Chu & Meulemans, 2008). Cunliffe, Morris, and Prys (2013) adopted a
similar research design by administering a survey followed by a series of focus groups
in a study of teenage students’ use of Welsh language on Facebook. However, some
studies also involved the integration of data from social media content within an
explanatory sequential approach. For example, a study of user-created videos about
Islam on YouTube began with an analysis of videos and YouTube channel pages. The
content analysis involved coding on both quantitative and qualitative variables including
video characteristics, producer demographics, valence framing (i.e., very positive to
very negative), thematic variables such as topic or country, and a qualitative category to
explore the topic of Islam on YouTube in greater depth. The content analysis was
followed by interviews with some of the people who created the videos to learn more
about their motivations for creating and sharing their videos on YouTube
(Mosemghvdlishvili & Jansz, 2012). Another study, based entirely on Twitter content,
began with a large-scale analysis of tweets (Twitter posts) using specific tags related to
Hugo Cha´vez. Dominant opinion leaders were identified based on the propagation of
their tweets (i.e., retweet, mention, or copy more than 80% of the content). The profiles
of top opinion leaders then were analyzed as part of the qualitative research process to
examine the characteristics of these influential tweeters. This study follows the structure
of an explanatory sequential design, but it emphasizes results obtained from analysis of
social media content.
The diagram in Figure 4 illustrates the structure of explanatory sequential studies to
show how the qualitative strand builds from the quantitative strand. Data obtained from
people or content can be generated in either or both strands depending on the research
goals.

56
 Fig: 9 Diagram of explanatory sequential strands in social media studies

e) Exploratory Sequential
The exploratory sequential design is structured as a mirror opposite to the explanatory
sequential design, with a qualitative portion first followed by a quantitative portion to test
or to generalize the qualitative findings (Creswell, 2014; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).
The example social media study in Table 5 is structured in an exploratory sequential
style with qualitative interviews followed by a quantitative survey (Strano & Queen,
2012). The interviews were conducted with Facebook users as part of a study about the
use of photos on Facebook. During the qualitative portion of the study, the researchers
noticed that participants described image suppression practices involving untagging or
deletion of images. These findings were further explored with a quantitative follow-up
survey designed to learn more about the frequency of untagging or photo deletion to
manage identity on Facebook.
The exploratory sequential structure was identified in 11 of the social media studies. Six
of them were structured with the sequential combination of interviews or focus groups
conducted first with quantitative surveys conducted afterward. For example, K. H. Chen,
Shen, and Ma (2012) conducted a study of the appeal of social networking games (i.e.,
Facebook games) that began with interviews of 11 experts, who were either
experienced game players or designers. Frequencies of the appearance of leadership
traits in the YouTube videos then were generated during the quantitative content
analysis that followed. A qualitative content analysis was conducted first to identify
themes in the types of persuasive language used, the subject of the post, and additional
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features such as likes or links to websites. A quantitative analysis followed to look for
relationships among identified themes, such as style of persuasive language, and
number of likes and comments received on the posts.

Fig: 10 Diagram of exploratory sequential strands in social media

10.8 Summary and Conclusion

This article presented the results of a descriptive qualitative content analysis of 229
social media studies conducted using qualitative or mixed methods research
approaches that were published from 2007 through 2013. Overall trends for publication
and methodologies were presented followed by an analysis of mixed methods research
studies and how their structure aligns to parallel and sequential mixed methods
research designs described by Creswell and Plano Clark (2011). The upsurge of social
media use has been coupled with increased interest in learning more about human
interaction with social media and the type of content posted on social media sites. Prior
literature reviews (Table 1) have collectively uncovered much regarding social media
research trends and outcomes. The present literature review contributes to the
knowledge base by examining trends in qualitative and mixed methods research
publications, research designs, data collection techniques, and analytic approaches.

58
 CHAPTER 6
MAIN FINDINGS

59
The analysis of publication trends revealed that social media research has been
increasing over time and particularly for studies involving Facebook. The growth in
academic interest in social media is evident in both the collection of studies reviewed for
this article and the 20 prior literature reviews listed in Table 1. This suggests that social
media research is becoming increasingly commonplace and that studies emphasizing
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, social media, and social networking have entered the
mainstream of academic literature. One conclusion that can be drawn from this is that
social media research is emerging as a field of study in its own right. The majority of the
qualitative and mixed methods social media studies were conducted with established
methods such as interviews, surveys, focus groups, or content analysis. Studies were
designed to investigate people and their perceptions or use of social media, themes in
social media content, or a combination of both. Interviews and focus groups were
common strategies in these types of studies. Content analysis was a dominant analytic
approach used within studies that involved social media content such as Facebook
posts, tweets (Twitter posts), or YouTube videos. Emergent social media research
designs such as those that couple network analysis with qualitative analysis were
present but uncommon in the literature sampled for this review (see Deltell et al., 2013).
However, mixed methods research approaches involving network analysis are emerging
and evolving as researchers grapple with the challenges and benefits for studies
involving social networks (Dominguez & Hollstein, 2014).
Analysis of the 55 mixed methods social media studies indicated that nearly one half of
them (23 studies) were structured like the convergent parallel design, with the remaining
studies structured like the exploratory sequential or explanatory sequential designs
described by Creswell and Plano Clark (2011). Regardless of similarities to this
established mixed methods typology, the authors did not use terms such as convergent
parallel, explanatory sequential, or exploratory sequential in the description of methods
used. This indicates that terminologies associated with mixed methods research
designs have not yet been widely adopted by researchers conducting mixed methods
social media studies.

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5.1 Directions for Further Research

Social media studies have a central emphasis on technologies such as Facebook,

Twitter, and YouTube. However, only 61 of the 229 articles included discussion of the
use of software or other technologies to collect or to analyze data. For example, instant
messaging, voice, or video tools were used by some researchers for distance interviews
(Arnold & Paulus, 2010; Brubaker et al., 2013; Gikas & Grant, 2013; Wesely, 2013).
Tools for harvesting social media content were discussed in other studies such as
Casselman and Heinrich’s (2011) YouTube study or the Twitter study conducted by
Deltell et al. (2013). Social media content can be tedious to capture, but tools for
harvesting and analysis of online social media content are becoming more readily
available and user friendly. For example, the NCapture tool was designed to work with
NVivo to capture social media content from sites including Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube for qualitative analysis. It is beyond the scope of this article to provide an in
depth analysis of technologies for social media research, but information is available
online. Additional research on the role of technologies for studies of social media
content is warranted, given the number of studies that integrate content from social
media sites. It can be valuable to have access to software or other technologies that
support qualitative and mixed methods social media research. However, it is equally
important to use these tools in well-designed studies conducted with methods
appropriate for answering the research questions. A complete bibliography is provided
along with a categorized list of studies for review by researchers who wish to examine
further how others have conducted mixed methods social media studies. This literature
review provides a summative starting point for researchers who wish to see what has
already been undertaken by others who have conducted qualitative or mixed methods
social media studies. Future work in this area could build on alternative mixed methods
typologies that integrate interpretive and evaluative approaches that were not included
in the descriptive review presented in this article. Additional research promises to
advance knowledge of social media methodologies and promote rich discussions of
method and technology in this growing field of study.

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CHAPTER 7
RESULT

62
Despite their love of new technology and their seemingly constant text messaging,
youths favorite way to communicate with their friends is still to talk with them face to
face. As one girl Said, “It’s the only REAL way to be with each other. ‘Moments’ only
happen in person.” Many youth who prefer face-to-face communication say the main
reason they prefer it is simply because it’s more fun, but others emphasize the personal
nature of their dialogue, saying the main reason they prefer it is because they can
understand what people really mean better in person, feel more comfortable talking
about personal things face to face, or can talk more seriously in person . Several
students mentioned the pleasures of laughing together in person; one said he preferred
face-to-face communication because it’s “easier to share a laugh,” and another com
mented, “I enjoy seeing my friends laugh at my jokes.”

Among these samples who have a social networking site,half have checked their sites
from a mobile device, and do their social networking from a mobile device most or half
the time. The vast majority of youths have their own cell phone including who say they
have a “smart” phone, meaning they can use it to “check email, download apps, or go
online.” Most youth feel that, on balance, using social media has helped rather than hurt
their relationships. About half of all said social networking has helped them feel more
connected with family and friends (only few said it’s made them feel less connected,
and the rest said it hasn’t made much difference one way or the other). A similar
proportion say social networking has mainly helped their relationships with their friends ,
while just few number os students said it has mainly hurt those relationships.

Social networking sites has helped them keep in touch with friends they can’t see
regularly, it has helped them get to know other students at their school better, and it has
connected them with new people with whom they share a common interest or hobby
from all over the world not just nearby area or classmates. Mostly social networking
sites users either strongly or somewhat agree that they “love” posting photos of
themselves online — with girls a lot more likely than boys to feel that way .At the same
time, however, although a majority of teens “love” posting photos, putting pictures of
themselves online does take an emotional toll on some. Social networking sites users

63
strongly or somewhat agree that they sometimes feel left out or excluded after seeing
pictures of other people together online.

One aspect of online life that has been relatively unexplored is the frequency with which
young people come across hateful or discriminatory content — sexist, homophobic, or
racist remarks, or comments criticizing someone for their religion or for not being
religious enough. And exposure to hate speech in social media in blog posts, Facebook
pages, tweets, comments on photos, or in online chat in virtual worlds or multiplayer
computer or video games. For all their love of new media, a substantial number of youth
express at least an occasional desire to “unplug” or go back to a day when there was no
Facebook or Twittter. Some describe themselves as “addicted” to their cell phones and
get frustrated with their friends and their parents for spending so much time with their
phones and other gadgets instead of focusing on the people they’re with. Those who
express the strongest desire to unplug or go back to a time when there was no
Facebook are more likely than others to have come across racist, sexist, homophobic,
or anti-religious content.

They are also more likely to have had some type of negative reaction to social
networking, such as feeling less confident or worse about themselves after using their
social networking site. It’s possible that these experiences influenced their desire to
unplug.“less happy” youth have mixed feelings about social networking’s impact on their
social and emotional well-being. They are more likely than the happiest respondents to
say that using their social networking site makes them feel outgoing and popular but are
also more likely to say it makes them feel more depressed. At the same time, least
happy youth say that using their social networking site makes them feel less depressed
and Majority say it doesn’t make much difference one way or the other.

Due to official account of celebrity (related with every field and country), politicians have
now increased the popularity of “micro blogging” social networking site Twitter. Girls are
more likely than boys to have ever used Twitter. youth state that social networking sites
acts as platform for reconnecting with lost friends, maintaining existing
networks/relationships and sharing knowledge, ideas and opinions.

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CHAPTER 8
CONCLUSION

65
For the generation of youth today, social networking sites are so intricately woven into
the fabric of their lives that they don’t really know what life would be like without them. It
is especially reassuring to see that youth are so much more likely to get a positive boost
from using their social networking site than it is for it to make them feel low. We know
from news reports and other research that, for some young people, social networking
can contribute to feelings of depression or social isolation. The primary objective of the
study has been to shed light on the evolution of the dominance of social networking
sites among the Internet users and its eventual outcome and impact on the social
behavior patterns of youth. As with many technologies, adoption of the Internet
especially for its social uses has seen its highest levels of usage among younger users.
These digital natives see these technologies as a logical extension of traditional
communication methods, and perceive social networking sites as often a much quicker
and more convenient way to interact. That they are aware of the danger and risk
involved in these sites is a positive indicator that Indian youth are not only techno-savvy
and socially active through social networking sites but they also possess social
consciousness.
Some observers may be surprised to learn that even these
“digital natives” who have grown up with social networking
sites as a part of their lives still prefer hanging out with each
other in person. Being together in person may also involve
texting and checking your Facebook site and sometimes
annoying your friends by doing so but it is interesting that
even today’s youth see the value in being able to look a
lot, but, as one youth quoted ,
friend in the eye and make her laugh. Yes,
texting is fast and easy, and they use it a

“moments only happen in person.”It is also interesting to see hints of “Facebook fatigue”
among this age group. It appears that the time-consuming pressures of social
networking sties are beginning to take a bit of a toll, even among young people. Indeed,
there are already sizable numbers who sometimes wish they could “unplug” or even go
back to a time when there was no Facebook. Always being “on” can be tiring, and it

66
seems that even some are beginning to look for relief even if they have to pretend to
“lose” their cell phones to get it.
Of course, those who are immersed in social networking sites may not be best
positioned to assess whether it is having an impact on them or not. Parents, educators,
and child development experts all need to keep a careful eye on the role of social media
in upcoming generation lives, and these adults may offer critical insights and cautions.

After all, none of us can accurately assess the impact that relentless advertising may
have on our desires or behaviors or fully understand how our horizons may be limited or
expanded by ubiquitous cultural messages. But hearing from youth firsthand about how
they assess the impact of social networking sites on their own social and emotional
well-being is important; their perspective, while not the only one, is critical.

So we should focus on the ethical use of these social networking sites so that it serves
our society in a right way and the youth can play an important role because social
networking sites is a boon and curse both for the Indian society .In one hand it provides
away to connect our dear ones on the other side it gives a platform that become danger
for Indian heritage and culture. None of this means that there’s nothing to worry about
when it comes to youth and social networking sites .
The concerns are real: about privacy, bullying, hate speech, body image, and over
sharing, to name a few. And we won’t know for a long time how the immediacy of digital
communication may be shaping interpersonal relationships and social skills.

67
CHAPTER 9
REFERENCES

68
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