Social Media and Technology: Evolution of Social Interactions

Social Media and Technology - the Evolution of Social Interactions

Social Media and Technology

Technology has changed humanity and the whole concept of human interactions in dramatic ways over the last few decades. What we have now is an internet revolution; an era of superior digital connectivity, where the internet controls literally every aspect of human life, from the acquisition of social capital to the maintenance of well-being and social status. Gone are the days when time and space limitations forced people to choose their friends and partners from their immediate environment; today, people can share their interests in many different ways, and build relationships using many different online platforms. Thanks to the influx of social media platforms such as Twitter, MySpace, Orkut, Facebook, etc., the development of relationships, both real-life and virtual, has become increasingly easy. Interpersonal and face-to-face interactions are not as significant as they were a few years back; oratorical and charisma skills, once keystones in an individual's ability to interact, are no longer commonplace -- it is easier and perhaps time-saving to add someone on Facebook than to invite them for a snack. The bottom-line is that technology is changing us both emotionally and physically. However, even as we enjoy all this and let ourselves be taken over by this digitalization, there is need to assess the current digital trend, and try to examine how it could the shape the future; how will people relate with each other in the near future; or rather, should we just let computer mediated communication (CMC) take over face-to-face interactions?

Social Media and Relationship Satisfaction: we all appreciate the fact that communication is an integral part of society; it is evident, right from the creation story, that man cannot live in isolation. Utz and Beukeboom (2011) express that above everything else, communication seeks to achieve satisfaction. Satisfaction derived from communication is even more important in the case of online relationships because the parties then do not interact and converse physically (Shah, Shah & Sivitanides, 2012). In this case, the length/frequency of communication and the terminology fundamentally determine the satisfaction of each partner and the extent to which the relationship is likely to grow. Satisfaction ultimately determines the outcome of a relationship, be it online or real-life. Text messaging, Twitter, and Facebook are crucial aspects of the relationship cycle, especially for young people aged between fifteen and thirty-five, the target group for this study. This inquiry seeks to establish the relationship between social media and relationship satisfaction; particularly, whether CMC is beneficial or detrimental to relationship satisfaction. The author reckons that it would be prudent to understand this relationship because technology is showing no signs of slowing down, and neither is relationship-formation online. Such an understanding would shed some light and help us predict the likely trend in relationship development.

After reviewing the existing literature, the researcher concludes that closeness/intimacy is a key construct of relationship maintenance and by extension, relationship satisfaction. This inquiry aims at investigating how people within the target group manage their relationships through social media, and the extent to which they rely on these online platforms to bring about psychological intimacy and satisfaction. To achieve this aim, it will focus on analyzing, by way of case studies, the overall quality of CMC, as well as the amount of time spent in such communication. The overriding aim is to bring out the actual dialogue and content of computer mediated communications, and compare the same to face-to-face interactions. The methodology of comparing and contrasting features and elements of CMC and face-to-face interactions has been found appropriate. Two research questions have been formulated in this regard;

RQ1: What is the overall quality of relationships based on CMC vis-a-vis face-to-face interactions?

This question aims at shedding insight into how people develop and maintain their relationships while relying fully on computer mediated communications; and assessing the likelihood of such a relationship having the same level of satisfaction and quality as one based on face-to-face interaction.

RQ2: What is the relationship between the media platform used and the creation of intimacy/closeness in a relationship?

This question sheds insight into the forms of social media used; and assesses whether the intimacy/closeness and satisfaction derived from a method is a major determinant in the choice and selection of communication methods.

The two research questions above will form the basis of the questionnaire used in the data collection.

Research Methodology

Constructivist Methodology

The study adopted a constructivist approach, requiring one undertaking the same to "debate back and forth his or her own understandings with those of the stakeholders and the literature to construct the most viable position possible" (Lloyd, 2007, p. 63). Such an approach was deemed appropriate because the study, seeking to shed insight into how people use social media settings to create meaning to their relationships, is deemed to attract multiple constructions and ideologies; and the researcher would have to make use of observation, documentation, and interpretation techniques to understand these in a cohesive way, and develop a viable position, without influencing or manipulating the participants (Klenke, 2008). Furthermore, the approach involves a significant degree of face-to-face interactions, observation and note-taking, all of which minimize the danger of developing skewed interpretations and blind spots quite common in studies involving socially-constructed phenomenon such as this (Klenke, 2008; Lloyd, 2007; Lauckner, Paterson & Krupa, 2012).

The study focuses on how members of the target group interact with each other in their day-to-day life experiences. Two unstructured interviews will be conducted to enable the researcher gather sufficient data on the behavior of each participant. A case study will be used to increase the credibility of the findings. Glaser (2004) expresses that case study reporting assists in the validation of socially-constructed processes, particularly because it allows for the sampling and observation of many cases.

The constructivist approach incorporates the aspect of negotiation, yielding a dialectical and hermeneutic position that can be used as a basis for future research. However, it is not without its share of disadvantages -- findings based on it cannot be generalized to the entire population (Lloyd, 2004). Although this problem could be minimized by using a larger sample size, the cost and time limitations surrounding the inquiry would not allow for any additions. All the same, credibility will be ensured through source scanning. Reputable sources, including books and articles from the university library will be used to provide meaningful answers to the research questions and ensure objective interpretation.

Participants

An online survey will be posted on SurveyMonkey.com, running for one week, and advertising its link through email and social media networks. The study will target young people aged between fifteen and thirty-five. To be eligible to participate in the survey, an individual will have to be within this age bracket, and a social media user. Participants will be asked to log in to their Facebook or Twitter accounts in order to take part in the survey.

Purposeful and snowball sampling techniques will be employed in the survey. Purposeful sampling is, in basic terms, utilized in the description of the technique of selecting respondents "who know the information (or have had, or are having the experience) in which you are interested" (Jones, Torres & Arminio, 2013, p. 107). By posting the survey on social media platforms, the researcher is sure to obtain a sample that not only provides the necessary depth, but also addresses the various goals of a favorably high degree of breadth.

Participants will be encouraged to share the link to the survey via email and social media to increase the number of participants and create a snowballing effect. Additionally, an email sign-up will be passed around to students in the researcher's class willing to take part in the same. The email sign-up process would be such that once a participant gets their email registered, the researcher sends them a follow-up email containing the link to the survey. Just like those participating through social media platforms, participants using the email sign-up modality will be encouraged to pass on the information to others. The snowball technique will ensure that some form of balance is maintained, particularly with regard to participant demographics. There will be a total of eight questions; four related to RQ1 and four to RQ2, taking anywhere between ten and twenty minutes to complete. The questions will require participants to provide information on issues ranging from interpersonal relationships to social media use before finally submitting their sheets online to a personalized Facebook/Twitter timeline.

In addition to the online survey, the researcher intends to interview ten participants face-to-face, maintaining the same level of confidentiality as in the online case. Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) will be used to transcribe the collected information. Information gathered from both the online survey and the in-depth interview will be stored electronically awaiting interpretation.

Data Collection Instrument

Data will be gathered through both online survey and in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The methods will make use of a common interview form (see appendix 1). Data and questions will be well-organized to enable participants thoroughly understand what is expected of them. The subject matter is of a rather personal nature, and the researcher reckons that participants would be more comfortable sharing some of the information with a trusted party than with a stranger. In this regard, provision will be made and the participants' reactions to the analysis taken into consideration. The study intends to be fair, accurate, and valid to itself, as well as to the participants, and all questions will, therefore, be related to the research questions.

Interview question number one: How would you describe your i) online relationships and ii) real-life relationships? This question seeks to obtain the view of the participant on the nature of either relationship. It aims at analyzing the nature of CMC-based relationships vis-a-vis face-to-face interactions.

Question two: What techniques do you use to maintain those relationships that are based fully on CMC? This question seeks to give insight into the different ways and techniques that people use to maintain relationships with people/friends/relatives that they rarely or never get to see. This information is crucial as it shows how CMC-based relationships are cultivated.

Question Three: What would you regard as satisfaction in a relationship? To what extent have your satisfaction needs been met in your i) online relationships and ii) real-life relationships?

This inquiry aims at gaining understanding into what CMC-based relationships have to offer vis-a-vis face-to-face interactions. This question helps the study assess whether or not CMC provide the level of satisfaction needed to sustain a relationship.

Question Four: What differences, if any, do you feel or see in the satisfaction and quality of your online interactions vs. face-to-face interactions? This question seeks to obtain the difference in quality between medium-based interactions and real-life interactions.

Question Five: What communication styles do you use when communicating i) on social media and ii) face-to-face? This question demonstrates how people use communication to achieve psychological intimacy and closeness in either relationship. The response given says a lot about the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of either mode of interaction.

Question Six: What media platform do you commonly use to communicate online? What are your reasons? This question reveals the most preferred medium of online communication, and brings out the degree to which the expectation of satisfaction/psychological intimacy/closeness influences the choice of medium.

Question Seven: What kind of rules do you personally hold regarding the usage of your preferred media? This question helps the study analyze how people manage their CMC-based relationships; and assess whether this management has any relationship with the derivation of satisfaction/psychological intimacy/closeness.

Question Eight: In your opinion, does the frequency of interaction determine the level of satisfaction derived from CMC-based relationships? Why? The author reckons that the nature of a medium is not the only factor influencing the choice of online communication media; other factors such as the frequency of interaction come into play. This question seeks first-hand information from the study's primary stakeholders on whether or not the frequency of interaction has an influence on the level of satisfaction derived from CMC-based relationships.

Appendix 1 presents the full details of the interview form to be used in the study.

Interview Technique

Features: An interview, essentially, is a communicative process, through which a researcher converses and extracts information from a respondent (Franz, 2012). Information extracted from an interview, therefore, is largely influenced by the informant, whose actions and interpretations are often dictated by personal experiences (Franz, 2012). This implies that every interview generates subjective information shaped not by facts, but by what the respondent has gone through (Franz, 2012).

This study is of a qualitative nature, which implies that it is aimed at providing insight into phenomena such as respondent behaviors, attitudes, opinions, thoughts, and feelings, which cannot be observed directly. Qualitative interviewing bases its operation on the assumption that the view of others is not only knowable, but also meaningful. To get the most out of this perspective, a qualitative researcher has to make use of interviewing as well as observational tools.

Franz (2012, p. n.pag) puts forth three categories of interviews; "structured interviews; unstructured interviews; and semi-structured interviews." In basic terms, structured interviews "provide all the questions that the interviewer must ask on the form, and the interviewer is then not allowed to stray from any of those questions" (Franz, 2012, p. n.pag). Unstructured interviews are the exact opposite; the interviewer is not guided by any questions, and flexibility follows the flow of the interview (Franz, 2012). This study adopts a semi-structured interview approach, where the interviewer, in this case the researcher, plans the interview questions, but allows some form of flexibility. The degree of flexibility in every interview will be based on the subjective opinion of the researcher.

Interview Procedure: Franz (2012) advances a five-step procedure for conducting semi-structured interviews. The very first step is to generate a brainstormed list of interview questions, covering all the topics and issues to be covered in the study. For a qualitative study, the questions should be open-ended, and of course easy to ask, short, clear, and simple. The second step involves revising the questions and fine-tuning the same into an interview form (see appendix 1). Once the interview form has been generated, the researcher schedules the interview, in a process that involves, among other things, "finding a location and time that is convenient for the participant" (Franz, 2012, n.pag). The next step is conducting the actual interview; the interviewer is guided by the interview form, and uses the same to keep the discussion on track. In this study, the conversations will be taped and transcribed later on. Taping was deemed appropriate because it provides rich data and ensures that cognitive processing is not blocked (Franz, 2012). The final process involves analysis. Theme analysis will be adopted for this particular study; the interviewer will "code the interview data for key idea or themes that have been discussed by multiple participants" (Franz, 2012, n.pag). Table 3.1 presents the summary of the interview process.