Does Social Media Enhance the Public Sphere? An In-depth Analysis

This essay explores the impact of social media on the public sphere, utilizing observation as a primary data collection method. It analyzes various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, noting the prevalence of social media usage and its influence on public opinion. The research employs a qualitative approach, focusing on the nature of comments, posts, and reactions to evaluate the value of information shared. The study reflects on the challenges of observation as a research method, particularly concerning past events and individual attitudes. Ultimately, the essay concludes that social media significantly influences the public sphere by providing forums for discussion and knowledge sharing, impacting beliefs, understanding, and information dissemination. Desklib provides this and many other solved assignments for students.

Does social media enhance the public sphere?
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Introduction
There are several methods of data collection which are used in research study. Each
research method chosen should be specific to subject question that research intends to answer.
As a researcher, it is important to understand the importance of choosing the suitable method of
data collection (Vernuccio 2014, p. 214). Failure to choose the right data collection method in
the research may result to inaccurate data as well as unreliable results that cannot be used to
make business decisions. There are several methods used in data collection such as interviews,
questionnaire and observation among others. In this case, observation would be used to collect
required data for statistical analysis. Social media have had substantial effect since it came into
existence due to its vast number of users. With its ease of access from computers to mobile
phones, social media has turned to be global mirror where all sorts of information is being
discussed in forums (Ceron et al. 2014, p. 346). Social media contribution cannot be ignored as it
has been shaping social believes, understanding and sharing of information. Therefore, it would
be worthy to evaluate how social media enhances the public sphere.
Methodology
The study of media as public sphere would be analyzed through use of observation in
order to provide a breakthrough on its contribution in the society. Observation is one of the
methods commonly used to collect data that does not required direct participation of a resource
person. In observation, researcher would be expected to make use of common sense in order to
extract required data from resource person (Simmons, Nelson & Simonsohn 2011, p. 1360-
1361). Through observation, it would be possible to analyze behavioral characteristics of social
media users while in various platforms. Data collection while using observation would follow
qualitative methodology where analysis would be based on nature of comments, posts made and

reactions from social media users. As a method of study, observation has some features that
makes it more reliable. These features can have either positive or negative contribution towards a
specific study. These features are; physical and mental activities as they are used to determine
individual reactions (Denscombe 2012, p. 103). In this case, posting and discussion of questions
related to educational matters while observing various reactions would require mental evaluation
to analyze the value of issues raised. Similarly, observation should be done with a specific aim of
unearthing if actually social media have a bearing on public perception of events. The final
characteristic applicable in this study is use of eye observations while trying to come into
conclusion. According to Iosifidis (2011), this method is one of the most preferred method of
data collection because an experienced researcher would be able to make actual and reliable
decisions from individual eye observation.
Research Summary
The focus of the discussion would be on types of social media that are commonly used by
all people worldwide. Some of the social media platforms that are in use are; Facebook, twitter,
Instagram and you tube. From the analysis, it has been observed that, 90% of world population
have access to one of the social media platforms (Halpern & Gibbs 2013, p. 1161). Commonly,
many of the social media are Facebook members. To make this research a success, social media
observation would be done by monitoring what Facebook users post on the walls, react to posts a
that have impact on people lives as well as comments posted by their opponents. While on these
Facebook and Twitter forums, it would be possible to interact with several users. Interaction
would be done anonymously by just posting topics and initiate its contribution in order to be able
to monitor several contributions (Chan, Fung & Chien 2013, p. 3-4). Similarly, the type of
information that social media users have great deal of contribution would be noted to help

analyze topics that generate hot debates among forum members. Since social media can be used
as an educational platform, it would be very important to twist the nature of study and focus on
value of information shared (Denscombe 2012, p. 103). The value of information would be
accessed on different spheres of life. Since ease of access to information is very important,
information from comments on how a certain platform is simple to use and access would
evaluated.
Critical reflection
Having done this research with aim of evaluating the perception people have on use of
social media as well as quality of information received from it, this study is of great importance.
The adopted approach was mainly attributed to by the nature of the data required from users. It
would not be simple to approach social media users and inquire from them the perception they
have or the value they get from twitter, Facebook and YouTube among others. Qualitative
method has been of value to this study because no actual data has been collected. Qualitative
nature of study does not involve factual data collection as it focuses on evaluating the value
associated with each statement from resource person. Most of the observations made required
intensive analysis of statements in order to deduce intensive meaning rather than generally
perceived meaning. Observation as a method of data collection has its challenges when it comes
to data collection. First, it is quite difficult to study past events through observation because
ability to view data on real time cannot be reversed. Finally, in cases where study involves
analyzing individual altitude observation cannot be used because it involves sense of feeling.
Conclusion

Social media has actually been branded the guide of digital life. Most of people make
access to social media platforms with aim of looking for specific contribution toward a problem
they are facing. It is a common phenomenon to find forums which are focused on specific topics
such as marriage and career development. It is from these forums where some of group members
would try to learn and implement concepts gained from social media discussions. Some other
members from the forums would make use of ideas gained to build their career as well as
strengthen their marriages if some valuable items features out. In this regard, it would be quite
impossible to presume the role social media is playing in today’s society as it has influenced
public sphere.
Bibliography
Ceron, A., Curini, L., Iacus, S.M. and Porro, G., 2014. Every tweet counts? How sentiment
analysis of social media can improve our knowledge of citizens’ political preferences with an
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Chan, Z.C., Fung, Y.L. and Chien, W.T., 2013. Bracketing in phenomenology: Only undertaken
in the data collection and analysis process. The Qualitative Report, 18(30), pp.1-9.
Denscombe, M. 2012. Research methods in research proposals: a practical guide maidenhead:
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Halpern, D. and Gibbs, J., 2013. Social media as a catalyst for online deliberation? Exploring
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Iosifidis, P., 2011. The public sphere, social networks and public service media. Information,
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Simmons, J.P., Nelson, L.D. and Simonsohn, U., 2011. False-positive psychology: Undisclosed
flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant.
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Vernuccio, M., 2014. Communicating corporate brands through social media: An exploratory
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