Cultural Analysis Within the past decade, social media has gained worldwide popularity and has become a platform for every day communication. Users are beginning to use social media to fulfil many basic psychological needs in terms of making connections with others and finding a personal identity. The question is: How is social media affecting the way we communicate? How have critics and academics in our culture responded to the upsurge in social media? As social media continues to grow, so does the amount of research on the topic. A study on communication in social networks was conducted in 2013 by Megan Sponcil and Priscilla Gitimu in which 96 Midwestern university students answered a questionnaire inquiring about their social media usage. Questions in the “survey included the following areas: demographics, extent of usage of social media, effect on communication, and attitudes of self” (Journal of Technology 13). Studies show that those who use social media communicate with family and friends more often than those who do not (Journal of Technology 13). Social networking sites provide a channel for easy communication with all networks of friends within one medium. The authors make an unstated claim that although the communication may not be meaningful, social media allows users to stay connected to those they care about. Users of these sites have also been discovered to have a stronger sense of self concept with a .651 Pearson correlation between media use and sense of self concept (Journal of Technology 13). This implies these profiles on social media can help individuals better define who they want to be and what they want to show the world. However, these facts are valid only for college students. They didn’t have any other types of people in their study so they don’t have grounds to qualify these findings for the general population. The data makes the claim that these effects of social media are positively influencing our culture by allowing users to stay connected to those they cannot talk to every day. The authors use these findings to explain why social media has gained such popularity in recent years. This popularity is not exclusively for staying connected with friends either. A 2013 study conducted by Melissa Clark, head of Department of Management and Marketing at University of North Alabama, and Joanna Melancon head of Department of Marketing, Western Kentucky University, in which participants answered a questionnaire inquiring about relationship satisfaction, trust, commitment, loyalty, word of mouth and customer satisfaction. The results concluded that companies who actively participate in social media “tend to have better relationships with their followers in terms of customer satisfaction and loyalty” (International Journal of Marketing Studies 132). From this, we can make the assumption that when companies use social media, it helps them to connect better with their customers. However, participants in the study were asked only about companies who use social media. The data could be labeled as biased because they didn’t include data on companies who do not participate in social media. The authors might be making hasty generalizations when interpreting their findings. Popular networking sites are commonly used as a marketing tool because “social media followers perceive higher levels of relationship investment [and] report higher perceptions of relationship quality…than do non followers” (International Journal of Marketing Studies 132). This type of media has even started a new form of advertising. People follow company’s social networking sites to receive coupons and tweet their experiences. This new wave of marketing is changing the way we communicate not only as friends and family, but as consumers. Staying connected to others, however, is just the surface level of what social media does for users. These websites have been discovered to indulge many of our basic psychological needs. This past year, Louis Leung, head of the Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey in the School of Journalism & Communication at The Chinese University of Hong Kong conducted a study in in which 596 interviewers were asked via telephone some of their motivating factors for social media use. This survey concluded that social media has been able to satisfy “five socio-psychological needs [including] showing affection, venting negative feelings, gaining recognition, getting entertainment, and fulfilling cognitive needs” (Computers in Human Behavior 997). This claim can provide more insight as to why users feel the need to visit these sites so often. However, the reading did not cover other ways that people can fulfil these needs, therefore, it shows bias. The author makes an unstated assumption that through these forums, society has found comfort in being able to communicate their views within their network of friends. The research implies that the feedback received from friends on a number of these sites allow users to feel validated in their opinions. The benefits of social media are clear. However, this newfound popularity of online communication may be detrimental to face to face interaction. A recent 2012 study conducted by marketing researchers in Turkey has inferred that young people are spending the majority of their day on social media and actually communicate online more than they do in real life. Basing this research off a survey, they discovered the motivating factors for this excess of use can be identified as the fundamental needs for socialization and sense of belonging (Social Behavior and Personality 12). From this, we can assume that the accessibility of communication with the outside world through a simple screen has made it all too easy to fulfil these social needs. The survey is exclusively looking at adolescents’ ages 12 to 17 so these findings could not be examined on a general level. This may take away from the relevancy of these findings. The authors make the unstated claim that the innovation of mobile devices has put a toll on old fashion forms of communication. It seems it is impossible to escape from the virtual world because ‘friends’ are always posting something new on some type of social networking site. Communication is forever changed because of this. One would wonder if this excess time spent on social media is beneficial to relationships and relationship growth on these sites. Time investment in offline relationships helps growth and development so it seems logical that time spent online would help users grow closer to their network. To the contrary, a study conducted by the Department of Psychology at Groningen University would prove otherwise. After collecting a sample of 117 participants ages 18 to 63, they concluded that “time spent using social media [is] not associated with larger offline networks, or feeling emotionally closer to offline network members” (CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking 253). The data suggests that the surplus of time spent on social networks is actually not contributing to any type of relationship growth between network ‘friends’. Although, it would be beneficial for them to have more participants in the study, the ages of the participants are varied, which makes the study more reliable in terms of making the results more generalized. The authors makes the claim that those who spend more time making connections offline would most likely have healthier relationships with more individuals. This evidence could be used to prove the idea that a person cannot use social networking as their only form of communication. Dohyun Ahn and Dong-Hee Shin from Sunkyunkwan University asked 300 Korean adult participants to complete an online survey asking about their social media habits. Results show that social media helps users feel more connected but does not help to avoid social isolation. Face to face communication helps people feel more connected and helps them avoid social isolation (Computers in Human Behavior 2453). This claim is unbiased because not only do they do research on social media communication, but they also include other types of communication. The sample of participants is large as well so the spread is reliable. The research demonstrates relying solely on virtual interaction with others is not a viable option for a healthy lifestyle. I can infer that social media provides an outlet for people to feel connected to their family and friends. It helps users to frame themselves into the person they want to be. It can improve users sense of belonging, well-being, connectedness. However, time spent solely on social media does not affect relationship quality with followers or friends nor can it mediate social isolation. Social media cannot replace face to face communication, but it can help users with many socio-psychological needs.

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