Social Media's Impact on Society: A Research Proposal

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HOW DOES SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGE OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH SOCIETY? 1
HOW DOES SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGE OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH SOCIETY?
Research Proposal
First Last Name
Date
California State University, San Bernardino
1. Abstract

HOW DOES SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGE OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH SOCIETY? 2
The introduction of platforms of social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter
and Facebook have changed the society single handily and altered the perspective of people
for themselves and for other people. In this research paper, the full impact of social media on
society and its people have been examined considering both, its advantages and its
implications. In the research paper, several aspects of social media are discussed. These
aspects include interpersonal relationships, familial relationships, communication and
behaviors of youth. There are various positive traits bought up by social media in society but
it has also robbed some other traits.

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2. Introduction
With the introduction of social media to society, various new forms of communication were
introduced. It has made a huge impact on the daily routines of its users. The people with
common interests are bought together by social media and the horizon of ideas has expanded
worldwide. However, all of this is having a significant impact on society and human
behavior. It allows people to become involved actively and explore without any fear of
rejection but it is the evil power of which more and more people are becoming victim every
day. In this paper, the impact of social media on society is examined.

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3. Annotated Bibliography
Orben, A. C., & Dunbar, R. I. (2017). Social media and relationship development: The
effect of valence and intimacy of posts. Computers in Human Behavior, 73, 489-
498.
For studying the impact of social media on human relationships, it is important to
study the intimate and private relations of social media users. This should be done in the
context of the kind of posts that are posted on the social media platform in today's day and
age. This research article covers the basic aspects of social media and the most crucial of
them is the connectivity with those who are living far away. Apart from this, it also discusses
the transition and transformation the social media has brought in the traditional methods of
communication, especially face-to-face communication. The reason for choosing the selected
research article for the study purpose is that it investigates the effect of reading the online
article or web content on the relationships of social media users. In addition to this, the most
intriguing part of the research is that it studied the impacts of high intimacy post and negative
posts on the social attractiveness of those who are self-discloser. It was found that the
impulsive behavior of a person is directly linked to the type of content that are posted over
some famous social media platform, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Another important aspect that has been highlighted in the paper is the comfort and
habits of social media to live within a confined space. The paper highlighted that such social
media users are more reluctant to face-to-face interactions. They act more passively in
comparison to any of the social media users. Another reason for choosing this literature is
that it suggested that feeling of homophily towards the self-discloser mediate this relation.
This knowledge can be very helpful in understanding the relationships outcomes of
homophily and self-disclosure. In addition to this, these results can be used in the proposed

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research for arguing that passive consumption being a new method of interaction barely
affects human psychology.
The research argued on the relationship closeness that can be very useful in furthering
the proposed study. It says that high level of self-disclosure causes a decline in the closeness
in a relationship. On the other hand, the case is completely opposite in the case of the low-
level self-disclosure. The authors stated that there is a direct and profound impact of the self-
disclosure valence affects the development of relationships. In addition to this, the
significance of valence has been explained. It indicates the extent of sharing the information
in a natural, positive, or negative way. One important statement given by the authors is that
people often make use of positive self-disclosures to indicate that they are incentivizing
interaction partners. This can be very useful for fostering relationships and developing new
ones. The authors also outlined that positive post on social media platforms can be very
helpful in increasing the intimacy between two people, especially when the relationship is
very weak and requires special attention. In addition to this, the disclosure of updates and
efforts are taken to send private messages on social media can be very useful in increasing
connectedness between two people living way far from each other.
Overall the paper is very much useful in understanding the social media and its
impacts on the relationships. It helped in providing knowledge about homophily and self-
disclosure perception. It is disclosed in the paper that offline self-disclosure can be very
helpful in determining whether relationship strength improves or not.

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Butler, B. S., & Matook, S. (2015). Social media and relationships. The International
Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society, 1-20.
The best part of this literature is that it serves as the best class of literature for the proposed
literature. The author clearly and deeply discussed online and offline relationships and social
media. The scale and impact of online relationships and its rising scope has been discussed in
the work. As the increasing dependence and reliance of the people on the Internet, there has
been a tremendous increase in social media users. In addition to this, there has been a
remarkable growth in the use of various communication systems, such as email and
Whatsapp. The author argued that these modern ways of communication are contradicting
with the traditional method of communication. The best part of this research article is that it
helped in understanding the three ways by which the social media dependent online
relationships can relate to the traditional mode of offline relationship. These are: 1) social
media relationships can be able to overcome the downsides of the offline relationships 2)
social media systems mandate online relationship that diminishes the offline relationships 3)
social media relationship mandates the online relationships that reinforce and complement the
offline relationship.
The best part of this literature that can be very useful for this that it explains the online
relationship as new and significant opportunities for building relationships with people living
in different places. By making use of social media, people can meet new people, befriend,
and expand their network. Majority of social networking sites allow the users to make use of
the received information to support each other. The social media is the major breakthrough
for the people living in isolated areas in making collaborative and long-lasting relationships
with people. Social media has the ability to support the building of the relationship within a
global company. Talking about the role of social media in building the online relationship,
there has been a major change in the relationships in the past two decades. The authors

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highlighted the very concerning issues related to the overuse of social media. The major
concern is that teenagers are not establishing or taking efforts to develop valuable
communication and working on honing their social skills. In today's day and age, teenagers
interact with one another through tweets, texts, or pokes. In addition to this, the authors raised
the same concern in the social setting and groups that meet in restaurant and parks. These
incidents support the fact that online relationships can eliminate offline interaction and might
damage the relationships in the worst case scenarios.
The research article supports the fact that social media system might improve the
homogeneity of relationship. But, this has some potential negative impact. These have to be
considered for the proposed research work in order to get an in-depth understanding of the
impact of social media on modern day's relationship. In addition to this, it is important to
understand that there are virtual connections which the clients support and draw in like the
genuine individual to individual connections. The creators further propose that such kind of
commitment and social arrangement is useful for building systems and dynamic gatherings
that share the basic intrigue and conduct. Be that as it may, such gatherings are regularly
focused by the outer gatherings, once in a while political to impact the gathering's
perspectives.
The most significant part of the whole article is that social media has negative impacts on the
social skills of teenagers. These have been significantly discussed in the article as social
media is considerably affecting the social fabric of society. This might be due to the lack of
face-to-face interaction of the family persons or members of the society.

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Jobilal, R. (2015). Effects of Social Media on Social Relationships: A Descriptive Study
on the Impact of Mobile Phones among Youth Population, International
Research Journal of Social Sciences,4(2), 11-16.
In today’s era of social media and networking, the first instinct of every individual in
the morning is to reach their phones for checking notifications and social media contents,
particularly the youths. It has become a significant part of the life of people and it is
becoming difficult for every individual to live without it. Based on the research conducted, in
recent years, the adoption of mobile phones by young generations has become a global
phenomenon and its impact on the youth is extensive. The foremost purpose for which the
youth are using their mobile phones is for use of social media. More than a technological
tool, it has turned into a social tool. They are using social media to maintain and organize
their social networks. However, it is also impacting the peer relationships of young people
negatively.
With the increasing use of social media and mobile phones, concerns about safety and
their overuse have increased. Amongst all, multitasking is the biggest concern. The youth are
active on social media even during their lectures. They are more occupied with texting even
when a friend is sitting next to them in a restaurant or when they are sitting with their family
members. The use of social media is also common while driving or crossing a road among
youth. All these factors are violating the traditional social behavior norms and are also
increasing concerns for safety. Further, social media is impacting the lives of youth both
socially and emotionally. People are facing various mental distress due to extreme use of
social media and mobile phones. Therefore, the use of social media is becoming physically
and emotionally dangerous for youth.

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The research conducted disclosed that the youth believe that online social networking
sites consume a lot of time from their daily routines. They also seem to have concerns about
the fact that their personal information is seen by the people who are not even their friends.
They also have the fear that the information shared on social networking sites may be used
against them. Social media is impacting the lives of youth in various negative ways, yet they
find it difficult to stay away from networking. Use of social media is significant for them as
they are of the opinion that they may be left behind if they do not use it.
The fact is that social media is not evil but its improper use is evil. The youth are
finding social media as an effective tool to stay connected. One of the many reasons to stay
connected on social media is that it helps the youth in identifying new ways of
communication. They are of opinion that using social media, they are able to communicate in
an efficient and speedy manner along with managing their work and family commitments. It
allows an individual to live a life unhindered by small talk. It helps in staying connected with
friends and family who may not always be otherwise approachable.
The online social media platforms have both been cursed and embraced by the youth.
For many youths, social media functions as a device for personal entertainment and for
others, it is also used as a source of news and information. Millions of users have been
attracted by social media, among whom many of them have integrated social media in their
daily lives. It has been highly embraced by college students as they are able to stay connected
with each other and are able to communicate more effectively and efficiently. They use these
platforms to share their achievements, failures or opinions with their friends and family.
However, it is also impacting their academic achievements negatively. It is important for the
youth to identify whether they intend to use it as a weapon or as a stepping stone. They must
weigh the pros and cons of social media and limit its use to achieve better academic
performance and various social skills.

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4. Outline
a. The main focus of the paper is given on the study of the intimate and private relations of
social media users.
1) It attempts to investigate the effect of reading the online article or web content on the
relationships of social media users. It has been mentioned in the paper that positive
content strengthens the relationship.
2) In addition to this, the paper also outlined that comfort and habits of the social media
users have made them live within a confined space. The paper highlighted that such social
media users are more reluctant to face-to-face interactions.
b. In the second paper, the author has deeply discussed the relation between online and
offline relationships and social media. In addition to this, the scale and impact of online
relationships and its rising scope has been discussed in the work.
1) It explains the online relationship as new and significant opportunities for building
relationships with people living in different places.
2) The paper explains that there is a negative impact of social media on teenagers as it is
damaging their relationships with their friends and family member.
c. The main focus is given on studying the effects of social media on social relationships of
people.
1) The author argues that social media is not evil but its improper use is evil.
2) The research conducted disclosed that the youth believe that online social networking
sites consume a lot of time from their daily routines.

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5. Conclusion
As discussed in the paper, social media is impacting society critically. It is important for
people in society to understand and grasp the pros and cons of social media as it will help
them in utilizing social media to their advantage. However, the case may not always be
against the use of social media, yet it is recommended that as a society, the people must know
how to control the use of social media, instead of letting it control the people and society. It is
important to understand that the society and its people are in charge of the narrative and not
the other way round. It must certainly be used for the benefit of society and its negative
impacts must be minimized.

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6. References
Butler, B. S., & Matook, S. (2015). Social media and relationships. The International
Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society, 1-20.
Orben, A. C., & Dunbar, R. I. (2017). Social media and relationship development: The effect
of valence and intimacy of posts. Computers in Human Behavior, 73, 489-498.
Jobilal, R. (2015). Effects of Social Media on Social Relationships: A Descriptive Study on
the Impact of Mobile Phones among Youth Population, International Research
Journal of Social Sciences,4(2), 11-16.