impact of social media on culture essay

Likes, Shares, and Beyond: Exploring the Impact of Social Media in Essays

Table of contents

• 1 Definition and Explanation of a Social Media Essay
• 2.1 Topics for an Essay on Social Media and Mental Health
• 2.2 Social Dynamics
• 2.3 Social Media Essay Topics about Business
• 2.4 Politics
• 3 Research and Analysis
• 4 Structure Social Media Essay
• 5 Tips for Writing Essays on Social Media
• 6 Examples of Social Media Essays
• 7 Navigating the Social Media Labyrinth: Key Insights

In the world of digital discourse, our article stands as a beacon for those embarking on the intellectual journey of writing about social media. It is a comprehensive guide for anyone venturing into the dynamic world of social media essays. Offering various topics about social media and practical advice on selecting engaging subjects, the piece delves into research methodologies, emphasizing the importance of credible sources and trend analysis. Furthermore, it provides invaluable tips on structuring essays, including crafting compelling thesis statements and hooks balancing factual information with personal insights. Concluding with examples of exemplary essays, this article is an essential tool for students and researchers alike, aiding in navigating the intricate landscape of its impact on society.

Definition and Explanation of a Social Media Essay

Essentially, when one asks “What is a social media essay?” they are referring to an essay that analyzes, critiques, or discusses its various dimensions and effects. These essays can range from the psychological implications of its use to its influence on politics, business strategies, and social dynamics.

A social media essay is an academic or informational piece that explores various aspects of social networking platforms and their impact on individuals and society.

In crafting such an essay, writers blend personal experiences, analytical perspectives, and empirical data to paint a full picture of social media’s role. For instance, a social media essay example could examine how these platforms mold public opinion, revolutionize digital marketing strategies, or raise questions about data privacy ethics. Through a mix of thorough research, critical analysis, and personal reflections, these essays provide a layered understanding of one of today’s most pivotal digital phenomena.

Great Social Media Essay Topics

When it comes to selecting a topic for your essay, consider its current relevance, societal impact, and personal interest. Whether exploring the effects on business, politics, mental health, or social dynamics, these social media essay titles offer a range of fascinating social media topic ideas. Each title encourages an exploration of the intricate relationship between social media and our daily lives. A well-chosen topic should enable you to investigate the impact of social media, debate ethical dilemmas, and offer unique insights. Striking the right balance in scope, these topics should align with the objectives of your essays, ensuring an informative and captivating read.

Topics for an Essay on Social Media and Mental Health

• The Impact of Social Media on Self-Esteem.
• Unpacking Social Media Addiction: Causes, Effects, and Solutions.
• Analyzing Social Media’s Role as a Catalyst for Teen Depression and Anxiety.
• Social Media and Mental Health Awareness: A Force for Good?
• The Psychological Impacts of Cyberbullying in the Social Media Age.
• The Effects of Social Media on Sleep and Mental Health.
• Strategies for Positive Mental Health in the Era of Social Media.
• Real-Life vs. Social Media Interactions: An Essay on Mental Health Aspects.
• The Mental Well-Being Benefits of a Social Media Detox.
• Social Comparison Psychology in the Realm of Social Media.

Social Dynamics

• Social Media and its Impact on Interpersonal Communication Skills: A Cause and Effect Essay on Social Media.
• Cultural Integration through Social Media: A New Frontier.
• Interpersonal Communication in the Social Media Era: Evolving Skills and Challenges.
• Community Building and Social Activism: The Role of Social Media.
• Youth Culture and Behavior: The Influence of Social Media.
• Privacy and Personal Boundaries: Navigating Social Media Challenges.
• Language Evolution in Social Media: A Dynamic Shift.
• Leveraging Social Media for Social Change and Awareness.
• Family Dynamics in the Social Media Landscape.
• Friendship in the Age of Social Media: An Evolving Concept.

Social Media Essay Topics about Business

• Influencer Marketing on Social Media: Impact and Ethics.
• Brand Building and Customer Engagement: The Power of Social Media.
• The Ethics and Impact of Influencer Marketing in Social Media.
• Measuring Business Success Through Social Media Analytics.
• The Changing Face of Advertising in the Social Media World.
• Revolutionizing Customer Service in the Social Media Era.
• Market Research and Consumer Insights: The Social Media Advantage.
• Small Businesses and Startups: The Impact of Social Media.
• Ethical Dimensions of Social Media Advertising.
• Consumer Behavior and Social Media: An Intricate Relationship.
• The Role of Social Media in Government Transparency and Accountability
• Social Media’s Impact on Political Discourse and Public Opinion.
• Combating Fake News on Social Media: Implications for Democracy.
• Political Mobilization and Activism: The Power of Social Media.
• Social Media: A New Arena for Political Debates and Discussions.
• Government Transparency and Accountability in the Social Media Age.
• Voter Behavior and Election Outcomes: The Social Media Effect.
• Political Polarization: A Social Media Perspective.
• Tackling Political Misinformation on Social Media Platforms.
• The Ethics of Political Advertising in the Social Media Landscape.
• Memes as a Marketing Tool: Successes, Failures, and Pros of Social Media.
• Shaping Public Opinion with Memes: A Social Media Phenomenon.
• Political Satire and Social Commentary through Memes.
• The Psychology Behind Memes: Understanding Their Viral Nature.
• The Influence of Memes on Language and Communication.
• Tracing the History and Evolution of Internet Memes.
• Memes in Online Communities: Culture and Subculture Formation.
• Navigating Copyright and Legal Issues in the World of Memes.
• Memes as a Marketing Strategy: Analyzing Successes and Failures.
• Memes and Global Cultural Exchange: A Social Media Perspective.

Research and Analysis

In today’s fast-paced information era, the ability to sift through vast amounts of data and pinpoint reliable information is more crucial than ever. Research and analysis in the digital age hinge on identifying credible sources and understanding the dynamic landscape. Initiating your research with reputable websites is key. Academic journals, government publications, and established news outlets are gold standards for reliable information. Online databases and libraries provide a wealth of peer-reviewed articles and books. For websites, prioritize those with domains like .edu, .gov, or .org, but always critically assess the content for bias and accuracy. Turning to social media, it’s a trove of real-time data and trends but requires a discerning approach. Focus on verified accounts and official pages of recognized entities.

Analyzing current trends and user behavior is crucial for staying relevant. Platforms like Google Trends, Twitter Analytics, and Facebook Insights offer insights into what’s resonating with audiences. These tools help identify trending topics, hashtags, and the type of content that engages users. Remember, it reflects and influences public opinion and behavior. Observing user interactions, comments, and shares can provide a deeper understanding of consumer attitudes and preferences. This analysis is invaluable for tailoring content, developing marketing strategies, and staying ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Structure Social Media Essay

In constructing a well-rounded structure for a social media essay, it’s crucial to begin with a strong thesis statement. This sets the foundation for essays about social media and guides the narrative.

Thesis Statements

A thesis statement is the backbone of your essay, outlining the main argument or position you will explore throughout the text. It guides the narrative, providing a clear direction for your essay and helping readers understand the focus of your analysis or argumentation. Here are some thesis statements:

• “Social media has reshaped communication, fostering a connected world through instant information sharing, yet it has come at the cost of privacy and genuine social interaction.”
• “While social media platforms act as potent instruments for societal and political transformation, they present significant challenges to mental health and the authenticity of information.”
• “The role of social media in contemporary business transcends mere marketing; it impacts customer relationships, shapes brand perception, and influences operational strategies.”

Social Media Essay Hooks

Social media essay hooks are pivotal in grabbing the reader’s attention right from the beginning and compelling them to continue reading. A well-crafted hook acts as the engaging entry point to your essay, setting the tone and framing the context for the discussion that will follow.

Here are some effective social media essay hooks:

• “In a world where a day without social media is unimaginable, its pervasive presence is both a testament to its utility and a source of various societal issues.”
• “Each scroll, like, and share on social media platforms carries the weight of influencing public opinion and shaping global conversations.”
• “Social media has become so ingrained in our daily lives that its absence would render the modern world unrecognizable.”

Introduction:

Navigating the digital landscape, an introduction for a social media essay serves as a map, charting the terrain of these platforms’ broad influence across various life aspects. This section should briefly summarize the scope of the essay, outlining both the benefits and the drawbacks, and segue into the thesis statement.

When we move to the body part of the essay, it offers an opportunity for an in-depth exploration and discussion. It can be structured first to examine the positive aspects of social media, including improved communication channels, innovative marketing strategies, and the facilitation of social movements. Following this, the essay should address the negative implications, such as issues surrounding privacy, the impact on mental health, and the proliferation of misinformation. Incorporating real-world examples, statistical evidence, and expert opinions throughout the essay will provide substantial support for the arguments presented.

Conclusion:

It is the summit of the essay’s exploration, offering a moment to look back on the terrain covered. The conclusion should restate the thesis in light of the discussions presented in the body. It should summarize the key points made, reflecting on the multifaceted influence of social media in contemporary society. The essay should end with a thought-provoking statement or question about the future role of social media, tying back to the initial hooks and ensuring a comprehensive and engaging end to the discourse.

Tips for Writing Essays on Social Media

In the ever-evolving realm of digital dialogue, mastering the art of essay writing on social media is akin to navigating a complex web of virtual interactions and influences. Writing an essay on social media requires a blend of analytical insight, factual accuracy, and a nuanced understanding of the digital landscape. Here are some tips to craft a compelling essay:

• Incorporate Statistical Data and Case Studies

Integrate statistical data and relevant case studies to lend credibility to your arguments. For instance, usage statistics, growth trends, and demographic information can provide a solid foundation for your points. Case studies, especially those highlighting its impact on businesses, politics, or societal change, offer concrete examples that illustrate your arguments. Ensure your sources are current and reputable to maintain the essay’s integrity.

• Balance Personal Insights with Factual Information

While personal insights can add a unique perspective to your essay, balancing them with factual information is crucial. Personal observations and experiences can make your essay relatable and engaging, but grounding these insights in factual data ensures credibility and helps avoid bias.

• Respect Privacy

When discussing real-world examples or case studies, especially those involving individuals or specific organizations, be mindful of privacy concerns. Avoid sharing sensitive information, and always respect the confidentiality of your sources.

• Maintain an Objective Tone

It is a polarizing topic, but maintaining an objective tone in your essay is essential. Avoid emotional language and ensure that your arguments are supported by evidence. An objective approach allows readers to form opinions based on the information presented.

• Use Jargon Wisely

While using social media-specific terminology can make your essay relevant and informed, it’s important to use jargon judiciously. Avoid overuse and ensure that terms are clearly defined for readers who might not be familiar with their lingo.

Examples of Social Media Essays

Title: The Dichotomy of Social Media: A Tool for Connection and a Platform for Division

Introduction

In the digital era, social media has emerged as a paradoxical entity. It serves as a bridge connecting distant corners of the world and a battleground for conflicting ideologies. This essay explores this dichotomy, utilizing statistical data, case studies, and real-world examples to understand its multifaceted impact on society.

Section 1 – Connection Through Social Media:

Social media’s primary allure lies in its ability to connect. A report by the Pew Research Center shows that 72% of American adults use some form of social media, where interactions transcend geographical and cultural barriers. This statistic highlights the platform’s popularity and role in fostering global connections. An exemplary case study of this is the #MeToo movement. Originating as a hashtag on Twitter, it grew into a global campaign against sexual harassment, demonstrating its power to mobilize and unify people for a cause.

However, personal insights suggest that while it bridges distances, it can also create a sense of isolation. Users often report feeling disconnected from their immediate surroundings, hinting at the platform’s double-edged nature. Despite enabling connections on a global scale, social media can paradoxically alienate individuals from their local context.

Section 2 – The Platform for Division

Conversely, social media can amplify societal divisions. Its algorithm-driven content can create echo chambers, reinforcing users’ preexisting beliefs. A study by the Knight Foundation found that it tends to polarize users, especially in political contexts, leading to increased division. This is further exacerbated by the spread of misinformation, as seen in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election case, where it was used to disseminate false information, influencing public opinion and deepening societal divides.

Respecting privacy and maintaining an objective tone, it is crucial to acknowledge that social media is not divisive. Its influence is determined by both its usage and content. Thus, it is the obligation of both platforms to govern content and consumers to access information.

In conclusion, it is a complex tool. It has the unparalleled ability to connect individuals worldwide while possessing the power to divide. Balancing the personal insights with factual information presented, it’s clear that its influence is a reflection of how society chooses to wield it. As digital citizens, it is imperative to use it judiciously, understanding its potential to unite and divide.

Delving into the intricacies of social media’s impact necessitates not just a keen eye for detail but an analytical mindset to dissect its multifaceted layers. Analysis is paramount because it allows us to navigate through the vast sea of information, distinguishing between mere opinion and well-supported argumentation.

This essay utilizes tips for writing a social media essay. Statistical data from the Pew Research Center and the Knight Foundation lend credibility to the arguments. The use of the #MeToo movement as a case study illustrates its positive impact, while the reference to the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election demonstrates its negative aspects. The essay balances personal insights with factual information, respects privacy, maintains an objective tone, and appropriately uses jargon. The structure is clear and logical, with distinct sections for each aspect of its impact, making it an informative and well-rounded analysis of its role in modern society.

Navigating the Social Media Labyrinth: Key Insights

In the digital age, the impact of social media on various aspects of human life has become a critical area of study. This article has provided a comprehensive guide for crafting insightful and impactful essays on this subject, blending personal experiences with analytical rigor. Through a detailed examination of topics ranging from mental health and social dynamics to business and politics, it has underscored the dual nature of social media as both a unifying and divisive force. The inclusion of statistical data and case studies has enriched the discussion, offering a grounded perspective on the nuanced effects of these platforms.

The tips and structures outlined serve as a valuable framework for writers to navigate the complex interplay between social media and societal shifts. As we conclude, it’s clear that understanding social media’s role requires a delicate balance of critical analysis and open-mindedness. Reflecting on its influence, this article guides the creation of thoughtful essays and encourages readers to ponder the future of digital interactions and their implications for the fabric of society.

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How Does Media Influence Culture and Society?

Introduction.

The impact of social media on culture cannot be overestimated. It had a great influence on the cultural changes in society, so that the role of men and women has been defined by the mass media. In the process, it affected both intercultural and international communication. Many people globally have been trying to understand the meaning of culture and its influence on how human beings behave (Purvis 46).

So, how does media influence culture and society? This essay tries to answer the question in detail, examining the terms separately and discussing the connection. Besides, the author touches upon another crucial question: how does culture affect global media?

Definitions of Culture

Different sociology scholars have tried to come up with various definitions of culture, with many of them having a lot of contradictions. The media has been instrumental in explaining to the public its meaning and enabling everyone to have a cultural identity. The well-being of people can only be guaranteed if they have a strong and definite identity that influences their sense of self and their relationship with other people who have a different cultural identity.

The difference in beliefs and backgrounds helps people from different societies to relate and negotiate well. Intercultural relations have continued to fail because many people are not aware of their cultural identity. The internet and mass media have been instrumental in promoting globalization which has led to many positive influences on the culture of different societies and races across the world.

Many societies have been able to add new aspects to their cultures as a result of globalization, which is greatly facilitated by the internet and the mass media (Purvis 67). Globalization enables us to have an overview of different cultures across the world and, in the end, be in a position to copy some positive aspects. These papers will highlight the importance of media in culture construction and how the media has led to intercultural socialization.

How Does Media Affect Culture?

Learning about other cultures through the media can create some stereotypes, which can be negative at times. The media plays an important role in educating people and making them familiar with some cultures so as to avoid stereotypes. Examples of stereotypes that have been created by the media include portraying Muslims as terrorists and Africans as illiterates.

By educating people about different cultures and emphasizing the positive aspects, the media can play an important role in constructing the cultures of different societies across the world and, in the process, avoiding prejudice and stereotyping. The mass media has got a large audience that gives a lot of power to influence many societal issues. The media advocates for social concerns and enables communication and exchange of positive cultural values among different societies (Purvis 91).

The mass media presents information about a particular region of culture to the whole world, and it s therefore very important for the information to be properly investigated before the presentation. Global sports such as the World Cup enjoy a lot of following across the world, and the media has the power to influence many cultural aspects during such tournaments.

Many ideas concerning males and masculinity have been constructed by the media. The media portrays a man as brave and without emotions and women as fearful and emotional in television programs and movies. The media forms the idea of a real man in society as one who is aggressive and financially stable. Women are portrayed as housekeepers, and the children grow up with this information.

The media has constructed a new image of beauty which has continued to influence many women and even young girls across the world. Since beauty has been associated with having a slim figure, many women and young girls have become very enthusiastic about weight control and have also been influenced to change their diet. Schools and parents have failed to educate children about sexuality and, in the process leaving the media as the only source of information about sexuality (Siapera 34).

According to traditional cultures, it is often taboo to talk about sexuality with children, but this is bound to change because schools and parents realize that it is no longer sensible to avoid talking to children about sex-related issues. The media plays a very important role in ensuring that societal norms, ideologies, and customs are disseminated. Socialization has been made possible and much simpler because of the media.

Through socialization, different societies are able to share languages, traditions, customs, roles, and values. The media has become a significant social force in recent years, especially for young people. Whereas the older generations view the media as a source of entertainment and information, the majority of young people see it as a perfect platform for socialization.

The media highlights different values and norms and the possible consequences of failing to adhere to societal norms and values. Through the media, society is able to learn how to behave in different circumstances according to one’s role and status (Siapera 34). The media helps in portraying models of behavior that are supposed to be followed by society and its members.

How Does Media Influence Culture & Society?

The media is a fundamental agent of socialization whose operations are very basic compared to other agents such as schools, families, and religious groups. The internet has got different forms of socialization, such as Facebook and Twitter, that have completely revolutionalized the way people socialize in recent times.

Apart from the internet, other media agents that have become very fundamental in socialization include the radio, newspapers, magazines, and tabloids, just to mention a few. Through these media agents, ideas and opinions can be shared and exchanged.

The internet has emerged to be very the most powerful audio-visual medium since it can now be accessed by many people across the world. Through the internet, one is able to influence others or be influenced by other people who use the internet to share and exchange their opinions. Television is another media agent that has really enhanced socialization in many ways (Siapera 71).

Television gives people a good platform to give their opinions on various topics and issues affecting human life. The opinions shared on television reach a large number of people because television is a mass media that is capable of reaching a large audience. The media is often rapid and interactive and is a perfect socialization agent for young people who watch the television most of the time compared to elderly people.

Since the youth form the majority of the audience, many media houses are always smart enough to present topics and programs that appeal to young people. Media houses have the power to manipulate their audience in a skillful manner for the audience to buy into their ideas and messages. The media is able to make some products look appealing to the general public, an example being the status one would acquire if they possessed the latest cell phone in the market (Siapera 85).

The mass media has become a very vital agent in the development of children and the behavior of adults. Although the mass media has some negative influences on the audience, its benefits tend to override the negatives. There are some programs on television that have useful information, like the teachings of some foreign languages that are essential for social interaction.

Programs that teach languages are very beneficial to both children and adults in international socialization. Other programs enable children to be creative and dynamic in their thinking. These programs enable both children and adults to be more knowledgeable and affect their way of doing things. It is, therefore, very important for parents and guardians to be wary of the type of programs their children watch because some programs can end up having a negative influence on them.

Programs with vulgar language and violence should be avoided by children because they can influence them negatively. Different networks have really affected the sense of reality in our society. Internet networks have continued to depict some issues that are out of touch with reality (Siapera 85). The issue of stereotypes that have been mentioned in this paper has greatly been cultivated by networks.

People who get information about certain types of people and cultures without real experience can end up having a wrong impression about a particular race, culture, or region that is contrary to the reality of the situation on the ground. Networks have affected our culture by highlighting some cultures as being primitive and, in the process, prompting people to have a cultural shift.

In conclusion, it is important to note that the media has a very important role in shaping our culture. The media has promoted globalization, and in the end, people from different nationalities and cultures are able to exchange values and ideas that are beneficial to their lives.

The mass media and the internet have greatly contributed to the cultural construction of many societies across the world and therefore making them become very important agents of socialization. Mass media agents such as the television, internet, films, and radio have been very instrumental in promoting socialization by providing a perfect platform for exchanging ideas and opinions on various issues that affect life. Networks have also been able to affect different cultures across the world.

Some of the issues highlighted in films and movies are always fiction, but society tends to practice them in reality, which has led to some serious consequences. Networks and organizations have made the world to become a global village. Networks and organizations will no doubt continue to influence the culture of many societies since there is so much information being passed across different networks and organizations. The media will continue to influence people’s way of life both in the present and in the future.

Works Cited

Purvis, Tony. Get Set for Media and Cultural Studies . New York: Edinburgh University Press, 2006. Print.

Siapera, Eugenia. Cultural Diversity and Global Media: The Mediation of Difference. New York: Jon Wiley and Sons, 2010. Print.

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• Age and the Agents of Socialization
• Socialization for the Transmission of Culture
• Socialization as a Lifelong Process
• The Impact of Media Bias
• Values Portrayed in Popular Media
• Envisioning the media ten years from now
• Mass Media Impact on Society
• The Effects of Media Violence on People

MINI REVIEW article

Cross-cultural communication on social media: review from the perspective of cultural psychology and neuroscience.

• 1 School of International Economics and Management, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
• 2 School of Economics, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
• 3 Institute of the Americas, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Introduction: In recent years, with the popularity of many social media platforms worldwide, the role of “virtual social network platforms” in the field of cross-cultural communication has become increasingly important. Scholars in psychology and neuroscience, and cross-disciplines, are attracted to research on the motivation, mechanisms, and effects of communication on social media across cultures.

Methods and Analysis: This paper collects the co-citation of keywords in “cultural psychology,” “cross-culture communication,” “neuroscience,” and “social media” from the database of web of science and analyzes the hotspots of the literature in word cloud.

Results: Based on our inclusion criteria, 85 relevant studies were extracted from a database of 842 papers. There were 44 articles on cultural communication on social media, of which 26 were from the perspective of psychology and five from the perspective of neuroscience. There are 27 articles that focus on the integration of psychology and neuroscience, but only a few are related to cross-cultural communication on social media.

Conclusion: Scholars have mainly studied the reasons and implications of cultural communication on social media from the perspectives of cultural psychology and neuroscience separately. Keywords “culture” and “social media” generate more links in the hot map, and a large number of keywords of cultural psychology and neuroscience also gather in the hot map, which reflects the trend of integration in academic research. While cultural characteristics have changed with the development of new media and virtual communities, more research is needed to integrate the disciplines of culture, psychology, and neuroscience.

Introduction

Cross-cultural communication refers to communication and interaction among different cultures, involving information dissemination and interpersonal communication as well as the flow, sharing, infiltration, and transfer of various cultural elements in the world ( Carey, 2009 ; Del Giudice et al., 2016 ). With more than half of the world’s population using social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and WeChat, communication across culture has become smoother and more frequently ( Boamah, 2018 ; Chin et al., 2021 ). Subsequently, cultural exchanges, collisions, conflicts, and integration among various nationalities, races, and countries on these platforms have become obvious, and related research articles by scholars in different disciplines have increased ( Papa et al., 2020 ). In traditional cross-cultural research, experts often divide different cultures based on their boundaries, such as countries, races, languages, and so on. However, with the development of digitalization, new cultural relationships have been formed both within and outside geopolitical boundaries, and new understanding and theories are needed to explain the motivation, process, and implications of cross-cultural communications in the digital era ( Chin et al., 2020 ). Research in this field is an emerging area, and scholars are studying from different perspectives ( Xu et al., 2016 ; Santoro et al., 2021 ). Cultural psychology and neuroscience are two main base theories, and they show a trend of integration, such as cultural neuroscience and cultural neuropsychology. In this case, it is important to highlight the important achievements of this field and identify potential research gaps to provide potential directions for further research. This review aims to provide an overview of cross-cultural communication research from the perspective of cultural psychology and neuroscience and identify the integrating trend and potential directions.

Method and Source

We used the Web of Science (WoS) database to select relevant articles published between January 2010 and December 2021. The following inclusion criteria were used:

1. The document types should be articles rather than proceedings papers or book reviews. And the articles should be included in the Web of Science Core Collection.

2. When searching for articles, the topic should include at least two keywords: “cultural psychology,” “neuroscience,” “social media.”

3. Articles must be published after 2010 to ensure the content of the literature is forward.

4. This study should investigate the integration of cultural psychology and neuroscience or explore cultural issues in social media from the perspective of cultural psychology or neuroscience. The content could be cultural conflict and integration on social platforms, explanations of cultural conflict and integration on social platforms, or integration of neuroscience and cultural psychology.

Based on the above inclusion criteria, 85 relevant studies were searched, analyzed, and evaluated. These documents were identified according to the procedure illustrated in Figure 1 . The following combinations of keywords were used: (cultural psychology AND social media), (neuroscience AND social media), (cultural psychology AND neuroscience), [social media AND (cross-cultural communication OR cultural conflict OR cultural integration)], and (neuroscience, cultural psychology, and cross-cultural). The number of studies was further reduced by limiting the document type and time range. Consequently, we obtained an initial pool of 544 articles. To ensure the relevance of the literature in the initial pool, we reviewed the titles and abstracts of these articles. Articles targeting pure neuroscience and information technology were excluded and 72 articles were retained. We selected 65 articles after reviewing the full text. For most papers excluded from the initial pool, cultural issues on social media were not the main topic but digital media or culture itself. The most typical example of irrelevant articles was that culture or cultural psychology was only briefly mentioned in the abstracts. Moreover, 20 additional relevant articles were identified via full-text review of citations and first author searches. Using the above steps, 85 articles were selected for the literature review.

Figure 1 . Schematic representation of literature search and selection procedure.

Overview of Selected Articles

Here, frequency refers to the percentage of occurrences of an item in the total number of studies. The keywords “acculturation,” “cultural evolution” occurred frequently together with “social media,” “culture,” and “neuroscience.” This is as expected because psychologists and economists have long known that human decision-making is influenced by the behavior of others and that public information could improve acculturation and lead to cultural evolution. The popularity of social media clearly gives public information an opportunity to spread widely, which has caused an increase in research on the cross-cultural communication of social media. In the last decade, the link between cultural issues and social media research has grown. This is reflected in the knowledge graph ( Figure 2 ). Keywords “culture” and “social media” generate lots of links with “social media” and “mass media,” which is shown in blue node groups and white node groups. “Social media” and “cultural globalization,” “biculturalism,” “acculturation” also form node convergences. The integration of neuroscience and cultural psychology is also represented in Figure 2 as an orange node group. These integration trends can also be verified in the time dimension. As time passes, keyword frequencies have changed from a single component of “social media” or “culture” to a multi-component of “social media,” “culture,” “acculturation,” “neuroscience,” “cultural evolution.” The frequency of all keywords is presented through the overall word cloud.

Figure 2 . Keywords knowledge graph.

We identified three different research topics from the 85 selected articles: cross-cultural communication on social platforms, explanation of cultural conflict and integration on social platforms, and the integration of neuroscience and cultural psychology. Existing literature has analyzed and studied the interaction between cross-cultural users, enterprises, and countries on social media. For instance, some scholars have found that social media play a significant role in negotiating and managing the identity of transient migrants relating to the home and host culture during the acculturation process ( Cleveland, 2016 ; Yau et al., 2019 ). Social media usage by expatriates also promotes cultural identity and creativity ( Hu et al., 2020 ). In addition to the discussion of existing phenomena, many articles have discussed the causes of social media cultural transmission. A new research field, cultural neuroscience, indicates the integration of neuroscience and cultural psychology. These issues are reviewed in the following sections.

There were 44 articles on cultural communication on social media, which accounted for 51.76% of the 85 selected papers. Among these, there were 26 studies on cultural communication on social media from the perspective of psychology, five articles from the perspective of neurology, four articles about enterprises using social media for cross-cultural operations, and nine articles about how governments use social media for cross-cultural communication. Although there are 27 articles that discuss the trend of integration of psychology and neuroscience, few use integrated methods to analyze the behavior of cross-cultural communication.

From Perspective of Cultural Psychology

Cultural psychology researchers have focused on why information is shared. Some scholars have divided the reasons into individual and network levels ( Wang et al., 2021 ). Studies have explored information sharing within a specific domain, such as health information and news dissemination ( Hodgson, 2018 ; Li et al., 2018 ; Wang and Chin, 2020 ). Cultural psychology provides a rich explanation for the factors that influence cultural communication. Cultural background affects the process of cultural communication, such as self-construal, which the host country may alter it ( Huang and Park, 2013 ; Thomas et al., 2019 ). This may influence communication behaviors, such as people’s intention to use social media applications, attitudes toward social capital, social media commerce, and sharing behavior itself ( Chu and Choi, 2010 ; Han and Kim, 2018 ; Li et al., 2018 ).

Factors other than culture cannot be ignored: public broadcast firms and fans promote communication, controversial comments may draw more attention, the sociality of the social media capsule expands the scope of information communication, and how news is portrayed has changed ( Meza and Park, 2014 ; Jin and Yoon, 2016 ; Hodgson, 2018 ). Demographic factors, such as sex and age, are not ineffective ( Xu et al., 2015 ). The experiential aspects have also been noted ( Wang et al., 2021 ). Scholars have also noted the importance of cultural intelligence ( Hu et al., 2017 ).

The topic that researchers are most interested in is the relationship between society and individuals. Many studies have focused on the influence of collectivist and individualist cultures, such as social media users’ activity differences, attentional tendencies, and self-concept ( Chu and Choi, 2010 ; Thomas et al., 2019 ). There are some other interesting topics, such as the relationship among multicultural experiences, cultural intelligence, and creativity, the evaluation of the validity of the two measures, the changing status of crucial elements in the social system, and the government effect in risk communication ( Hu et al., 2017 ; Ji and Bates, 2020 ). Extending to the practical level, mobile device application usability and social media commerce were evaluated ( Hoehle et al., 2015 ; Han and Kim, 2018 ).

At the methodological level, researchers have bridged the gap between reality and online behaviors, and the feasibility of social media dataset analysis has been proven ( Huang and Park, 2013 ; Thomas et al., 2019 ). Some new concepts have been examined and some models have been developed ( Hoehle et al., 2015 ; Li et al., 2018 ). The most common method is to quantify questionnaire information ( Chu and Choi, 2010 ; Hu et al., 2017 ; Han and Kim, 2018 ; Li et al., 2018 ; Wang et al., 2021 ). The online survey accounted for a large proportion of respondents. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to evaluate other measures ( Ji and Bates, 2020 ). Researchers are particularly interested in the metric approach ( Meza and Park, 2014 ). Some combine other methods, such as profile and social network analyses ( Xu et al., 2015 ). Scholars have used qualitative research to obtain detailed feedback from respondents ( Jin and Yoon, 2016 ; Hodgson, 2018 ). Content analysis was also used ( Yang and Xu, 2018 ).

From Perspective of Neuroscience

Neuroscientific explanations focus on understanding the mechanisms of cultural conflict and integration. Neuroscience researchers are concerned about the effects of the brain on cultural communication and the possible consequences of cultural communication on human behavior and rely on the study of the brain as a tool. Neuroscience can be used to study how people behave in reality. Given the similarity between offline and online behaviors, neuroscience can study online behaviors and link them to cultural communication ( Meshi et al., 2015 ). Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, both inside and outside the laboratory, have become the subject of neuroscience studies. One example of long-term studies outside the laboratory is the study of natural Facebook behavior that was recorded for weeks ( Montag et al., 2017 ).

Motivation research is a well-documented topic. The reason for using social media, motivation to share information, and neural factors related to sharing behavior have been discussed ( Fischer et al., 2018 ). Many scholars have connected motivation with social life based on the inseparable relationship between online behaviors and social life. Some academics hope to provide predictions of real life, such as forecasting marketing results, while some warned of the risks, in which tremendous attention has been paid to the situation of adolescents ( Motoki et al., 2020 ). They are susceptible to acceptance and rejection ( Crone and Konijn, 2018 ). Behavioral addiction and peer influence in the context of risky behaviors also lead to public concern ( Meshi et al., 2015 ; Sherman et al., 2018 ).

On a practical level, neuroscience studies have made predictions possible through the findings of activity in brain regions linked to mentalizing ( Motoki et al., 2020 ). Judgments of social behavior are also warranted, and peer endorsement is a consideration ( Sherman et al., 2018 ). Thus, the dangers of cultural communication can be alleviated.

At the methodological level, the feasibility of linking directly recorded variables to neuroscientific data has been proven, which provides a methodological basis for further studies linking neuroscience and cultural communication ( Montag et al., 2017 ). Neuroscience researchers have shown a preference for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, which include functional and structural MRI scans ( Montag et al., 2017 ; Sherman et al., 2018 ). Although some scholars have pointed out the shortcomings of MRI research and attempted to use the electroencephalographic (EEG) method, most scholars still use MRI and combine it with other methods, such as neuroimaging ( Motoki et al., 2020 ). Despite the similarities in the methods used, there were differences in the scanned areas. Some researchers scan multiple regions, such as the ventral striatum ( VS ) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), while others focus on analyzing the content of a single region, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAcc; Baek et al., 2017 ). Related characteristics have been discussed, such as theta amplitudes that affect information sharing ( Fischer et al., 2018 ). Some inquire whether the different properties of brain regions can lead to different results ( Montag et al., 2017 ).

Integration of Neuroscience and Cultural Psychology

Of the 85 papers we selected, 27 discussed the integrated development of psychology and neuroscience, and the number of articles in this discipline increased. Cultural psychology has made remarkable progress in identifying various cultural traits that can influence human psychology and behavior on social media. Cultural neuroscience as a cross-subject of the rise in recent years, through the integration of psychology, anthropology, genetics, neuroscience, and other disciplines, explains the interaction of culture and the human brain, and how they jointly affect the neural mechanism of cognitive function. At an early stage, scholars presented the interactive dynamic evolutionary relationship between the brain and culture from multiple perspectives ( Moffittet et al., 2006 ). However, with technological improvements in brain imaging, it is possible to solve and explore interactions between the human brain, psychology, and cultural networks using an empirical approach.

Cultural characteristics have dramatically changed during the last half-century with the development of new media and new virtual ways of communication ( Kotik-Friedgut and Ardila, 2019 ). Existing research has shown that the neural resources of the brain are always adapted to the ever-increasing complexity and scale of social interaction to ensure that individuals are not marginalized by society ( Dunbar and Shultz, 2007 ). The interaction between biological evolution and cultural inheritance is a process full of unknowns and variables. Therefore, research on the relationships between culture, psychology, and neuroscience will progress together.

At the methodological level, communication on social media by users from different backgrounds provides a new research environment and massive data for cross-disciplinary research. Big data on social media and AI technology can analyze not only the reactions, emotions, and expressions of an individual but also the relevant information of an ethnic group or a cultural group. A number of neurological and psychological studies are beginning to leverage AI and social media data, and the two disciplines are intertwined with each other ( Pang, 2020 ; Wang et al., 2021 ). This quantitative analysis also helps enterprises and government departments to understand and affect cultural conflicts and integration ( Bond and Goldstein, 2015 ).

Different Schools of Thoughts

Social media provides platforms for communication and facilitates communication across cultures; however, the specific content exchanged is considered from the perspective of cultural proximity. Although some scholars think that social media can significantly promote mutual acceptance and understanding across cultures, others have realized that digital platforms actually strengthen the recognition and identity of their respective cultures ( Hopkins, 2009 ). To study the motivations, results, and implications of cross-cultural communication in virtual communities and conduct an empirical analysis, psychologists and neuroscientists provide their grounds and explanations.

Current Research Gaps

Although there are many articles discussing the trend of integration of psychology and neuroscience, few of them use integrated methods to analyze the behavior and implications of cross-cultural communication, mainly on cultural evolution and social effects. There are both practical and theoretical needs to be addressed to promote deep integration. For example, both private and public departments urgently need to learn scientific strategies to avoid cultural conflicts and promote integration. Further, a systematic and legal theory is also needed for scholars to conduct research in the sensitive field, which may be related to privacy protection and related issues.

Potential Future Development

For the research object, the classification of culture in emerging research is general, while with the development of big data methods on social media, cross-cultural communication among more detailed groups will be a potential direction. For the research framework, although cultural neuroscience is already a multidisciplinary topic, the ternary interaction among the brain, psychology, and culture in a virtual community will be very important. For the research method, brain imaging technology-related data and social media data may cause issues, such as privacy protection, personal security, informed consent, and individual autonomy. These legal and ethical issues require special attention in the development process of future research.

Cross-cultural communication research in the digital era not only needs to respond to urgent practical needs to provide scientific strategies to solve cultural differences and cultural conflicts, but also to promote the emergence of more vigorous theoretical frameworks and methods. Existing articles have mainly studied the reasons and implications of cultural communication on social media from the perspectives of cultural psychology and neuroscience separately. The CiteSpace-based hot topic map also shows the clustering trend of keywords related to cultural psychology and neuroscience, reflecting the intersection of the two fields. At the same time, there are many links between the two keyword nodes of “culture” and “social media,” which indicates that there is no lack of studies on cultural communication on social media from the perspective of cultural psychology. While cultural characteristics have changed with the development of new media and big data and related technologies have improved significantly, more research is needed to integrate the disciplines of culture, psychology, and neuroscience both in theory and methods.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

This paper was funded by the Beijing Social Science Fund, China (Project No. 21JCC060).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: cross-culture communication, social media, cultural psychology, neuroscience, cultural neuropsychology, social neuroscience

Citation: Yuna D, Xiaokun L, Jianing L and Lu H (2022) Cross-Cultural Communication on Social Media: Review From the Perspective of Cultural Psychology and Neuroscience. Front. Psychol . 13:858900. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.858900

Received: 20 January 2022; Accepted: 14 February 2022; Published: 08 March 2022.

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Copyright © 2022 Yuna, Xiaokun, Jianing and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Han Lu, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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• Social Media Seen as Mostly Good for Democracy Across Many Nations, But U.S. is a Major Outlier

2. Views of social media and its impacts on society

Table of contents.

• Most do not think they can influence politics in their country
• The perceived impacts of the internet and social media on society
• Majorities view social media as a way to raise awareness among the public and elected officials
• Widespread smartphone ownership while very few do not own a mobile phone at all
• Most say they use social media sites
• Frequent posting about social or political issues on social media is uncommon
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A: Classifying democracies
• Appendix B: Negative Impact of the Internet and Social Media Index
• Appendix C: Political categorization
• Classifying parties as populist
• Classifying parties as left, right or center
• Appendix E: Country-specific examples of smartphones
• Appendix F: Country-specific examples of social media sites
• Pew Research Center’s Spring 2022 Global Attitudes Survey
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

When asked whether social media is a good or bad thing for democracy in their country, a median of 57% across 19 countries say that it is a good thing. In almost every country, close to half or more say this, with the sentiment most common in Singapore, where roughly three-quarters believe social media is a good thing for democracy in their country. However, in the Netherlands and France, about four-in-ten agree. And in the U.S., only around a third think social media is positive for democracy – the smallest share among all 19 countries surveyed.

In eight countries, those who believe that the political system in their country allows them to have an influence on politics are also more likely to say that social media is a good thing for democracy. This gap is most evident in Belgium, where 62% of those who feel their political system allows them to have a say in politics also say that social media is a good thing for democracy in their country, compared with 44% among those who say that their political system does not allow them much influence on politics.

Those who view the spread of false information online as a major threat to their country are less likely to say that social media is a good thing for democracy, compared with those who view the spread of misinformation online as either a minor threat or not a threat at all. This is most clearly observed in the Netherlands, where only four-in-ten (39%) among those who see the spread of false information online as a major threat say that social media has been a good thing for democracy in their country, as opposed to the nearly six-in-ten (57%) among those who do not consider the spread of misinformation online to be a threat who say the same. This pattern is evident in eight other countries as well.

Views also vary by age. Older adults in 12 countries are less likely to say that social media is a good thing for democracy in their country when compared to their younger counterparts. In Japan, France, Israel, Hungary, the UK and Australia, the gap between the youngest and oldest age groups is at least 20 percentage points and ranges as high as 41 points in Poland, where nearly nine-in-ten (87%) younger adults say that social media has been a good thing for democracy in the country and only 46% of adults over 50 say the same.

The publics surveyed believe the internet and social media are affecting societies. Across the six issues tested, few tend to say they see no changes due to increased connectivity – instead seeing things changing both positively and negatively – and often both at the same time. 

A median of 84% say technological connectivity has made people easier to manipulate with false information and rumors – the most among the six issues tested. Despite this, medians of 73% describe people being more informed about both current events in other countries and about events in their own country. Indeed, in most countries, those who think social media has made it easier to manipulate people with misinformation and rumors are also more likely to think that social media has made people more informed.

When it comes to politics, the internet and social media are generally seen as disruptive, with a median of 65% saying that people are now more divided in their political opinions. Some of this may be due to the sense – shared by a median of 44% across the 19 countries – that access to the internet and social media has led people to be less civil in the way they talk about politics. Despite this, slightly more people (a median of 45%) still say connectivity has made people more accepting of people from different ethnic groups, religions and races than say it has made people less accepting (22%) or had no effect (29%). 

There is widespread concern over misinformation – and a sense that people are more susceptible to manipulation

Previously reported results indicate that a median of 70% across the 19 countries surveyed believe that the spread of false information online is a major threat to their country. In places like Canada, Germany and Malaysia, more people name this as a threat than say the same of any of the other issues asked about. 

This sense of threat is related to the widespread belief that people today are now easier to manipulate with false information and rumors thanks to the internet and social media. Around half or more in every country surveyed shares this view. And in places like the Netherlands, Australia and the UK, around nine-in-ten see people as more manipulable.

In many places, younger people – who tend to be more likely to use social media (for more on usage, see Chapter 3 ) – are also more likely to say it makes people easier to manipulate with false information and rumors. For example, in South Korea, 90% of those under age 30 say social media makes people easier to manipulate, compared with 65% of those 50 and older. (Interestingly, U.S.-focused research has found older adults are more likely to share misinformation than younger ones.) People with more education are also often more likely than those with less education to say that social media has led to people being easier to manipulate.

In 2018, when Pew Research Center asked a similar question about whether access to mobile phones, the internet and social media has made people easier to manipulate with false information and rumors, the results were largely similar. Across the 11 emerging economies surveyed as part of that project , at least half in every country thought this was the case and in many places, around three-quarters or more saw this as an issue. Large shares in many places were also specifically concerned that people in their country might be manipulated by domestic politicians. For more on how the two surveys compare, see “ In advanced and emerging economies, similar views on how social media affects democracy and society .”

Spotlight on the U.S.: Attitudes and experiences with misinformation

Misinformation has long been seen as a source of concern for Americans. In 2016 , for example, in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, 64% of U.S. adults thought completely made-up news had caused a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current events. At the time, around a third felt that they often encountered political news online that was completely made up and another half said they often encountered news that was not fully accurate. Moreover, about a quarter (23%) said they had shared such stories – whether knowingly or not.

When asked in 2019 who was the cause of made-up news, Americans largely singled out two groups of people: political leaders (57%) and activists (53%). Fewer placed blame on journalists (36%), foreign actors (35%) or the public (26%). A large majority of Americans that year (82%) also described themselves as either “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the potential impact of made-up news on the 2020 presidential election. People who followed political and election news more closely and those with higher levels of political knowledge also tended to be more concerned.

Among adult American Twitter users in 2021, in particular, there was widespread concern about misinformation: 53% said inaccurate or misleading information is a major problem on the platform and 33% reported seeing a lot of that type of content when using the site. 

As of 2021 , around half (48%) of Americans thought the government should take steps to restrict false information, even if it meant losing freedom to access and publish content – a share that had increased somewhat substantially since 2018, when 39% felt the same.

Most say people are more informed about current events – foreign and domestic – thanks to social media and the internet

A majority in every country surveyed thinks that access to the internet and social media has made people in their country more informed about domestic current events. In Sweden, Japan, Greece and the Netherlands, around eight-in-ten or more share this view, while in Malaysia, a smaller majority (56%) says the same.

Younger adults tend to see social media making people more informed than older adults do. Older adults, for their part, don’t necessarily see the internet and social media making people less informed about what’s happening in their country; rather, they’re somewhat more likely to describe these platforms as having little effect on people’s information levels. In the case of the U.S., for example, 71% of adults under 30 say social media has made people more informed about current events in the U.S., compared with 60% of those ages 50 and older. But those ages 50 and older are about twice as likely to say social media has not had much impact on how informed people are compared with those under 30: 19% vs. 11%, respectively.

In seven of the surveyed countries, people with higher levels of education are more likely than those with lower levels to see social media informing the public on current events in their own country.

Majorities in every country also agree that the internet and social media are making people more informed about current events happening in other countries. The two questions are extremely highly correlated ( r = 0.94), meaning that in most places where people say social media is making people more informed about domestic events, they also say the same of international events. (See the topline for detailed results for both questions, by country.)

In the 2018 survey of emerging economies , results of a slightly different question also found that a majority in every country – and around seven-in-ten or more in most places – said people were more informed thanks to social media, the internet and smartphones, rather than less. 

In some countries, those who think social media has made it easier to manipulate people with misinformation and rumors are also more likely to think that social media has made people more informed. This finding, too, was similar in the 2018 11-country study of emerging economies: Generally speaking, individuals who are most attuned to the potential benefits technology can bring to the political domain are also the ones most anxious about the possible harms. 

Spotlight on the U.S.: Social media use and news consumption

In the U.S. , around half of adults say they either get news often (17%) or sometimes (33%) from social media. When it comes to where Americans regularly get news on social media, Facebook outpaces all other social media sites. Roughly a third of U.S. adults (31%) say they regularly get news from Facebook. While Twitter is only used by about three-in-ten U.S. adults (27%), about half of its users (53%) turn to the site to regularly get news there. And a quarter of U.S. adults regularly get news from YouTube, while smaller shares get news from Instagram (13%), TikTok (10%) or Reddit (8%). Notably, TikTok has seen rapid growth as a source of news among younger Americans in recent years.

On several social media sites asked about, adults under 30 make up the largest share of those who regularly get news on the site. For example, half or more of regular news consumers on Snapchat (67%), TikTok (52%) or Reddit (50%) are ages 18 to 29. 

While this survey finds that 64% of Americans think the public has become more informed thanks to social media, results of Center analyses do show that Americans who mainly got election and political information on social media during the 2020 election were less knowledgeable and less engaged than those who primarily got their news through other methods (like cable TV, print, etc.).

Majorities or pluralities tend to see social media leading to more political divisions

Around half or more in almost every country surveyed think social media has made people more divided in their political opinions. The U.S., South Korea and the Netherlands are particularly likely to hold this view. As a separate analysis shows, the former two also stand out for being the countries where people are most likely to report conflicts between people who support different political parties . While perceived political division in the Netherlands is somewhat lower, it, too, stands apart: Between 2021 and 2022, the share who said there were conflicts increased by 23 percentage points – among the highest year-on-year shifts evident in the survey.

More broadly, across each of the countries surveyed, people who see social division between people who support different political parties, are, in general, more likely to see social media leading people to be more divided in their political opinions.

In a number of countries, younger people are somewhat more likely to see social media enlarging political differences than older people. More educated people, too, often see social media exacerbating political divisions more than those with less education. 

Similarly, in the survey of 11 emerging economies conducted in 2018, results of a slightly different question indicated that around four-in-ten or more in every country – and a majority in most places – thought social media had made people more divided.

Publics diverge over whether social media has made people more accepting of differences

There is less consensus over what role social media has played when it comes to tolerance: A 19-country median of 45% say it has made people more accepting of people from different ethnic backgrounds, religions and races, while a median of 22% say it has made them less so, and 29% say that it has not had much impact either way.

South Korea, Singapore, Italy and Japan are the most likely to see social media making people more tolerant. On the flip side, the Netherlands and Hungary stand out as the two countries where a plurality says the internet and social media have made people less accepting of people with racial or religious differences. Most other societies are somewhat divided, as in the case of the U.S., where around a third of the public falls into each of the three groups.

Younger people are more likely than older ones in most countries to say that social media has increased tolerance. This is the case, for example, in Canada, where 54% of adults under 30 say social media has contributed to people being more accepting of people from different ethnic groups, religions and races, compared with a third of those ages 50 and older. In some places – and in Canada – older people are more likely to see social media leading to less tolerance, though in other places, older people are simply less likely to see much impact from the technology.

In most countries, people who see social media leading to more divisions between people with different political opinions are more likely to say social media has made people less accepting of those racially and religiously different from them than those who say social media is having no effect on political division. People who see more conflicts between partisans in their society are also more likely than those who see fewer divisions to place some of the blame on social media, describing it as making people less accepting of differences.  

Results of an analysis of the 11-country poll did find that people who used smartphones and social media were more likely to regularly interact with people from diverse backgrounds – though the question did not ask about acceptance , just about interactions. The publics in these emerging economies were also somewhat divided when it came to their opinions on how social media has led to people being more or less accepting of those with different viewpoints.

Mixed views on whether social media has made people discuss politics civilly

Across the countries surveyed, a median of 46% say access to the internet and social media has made people less civil when they talk about politics. This is more than the 23% who say it has made them more civil – though a median of 26% see little impact either way.

In the U.S., the Netherlands and Australia, a majority sees the internet and social media making people less civil. Roughly seven-in-ten Americans say this. Singapore stands out as the only country where around half see these technologies increasing civility. All other countries surveyed are somewhat divided.

People with higher levels of education tend to see less civility thanks to social media relative to those with lower levels of education.

In most places surveyed, those who think social media has made people more divided politically, compared with those who say it has had no impact on divisions, are also more likely to say social media has made people less civil in how they talk about politics.

Across advanced economies, people generally recognize social media as useful for bringing the public’s and elected officials’ attention to certain issues, for changing people’s minds and for influencing policy choices. A median of 77% across the 19 countries surveyed say social media is an effective way to raise public awareness about sociopolitical issues. Those in the UK are particularly optimistic about social media as a way of bringing public attention to a topic, with about nine-in-ten holding this belief. People in France and Belgium are the least convinced about social media’s role in raising public awareness, but majorities in both countries still say it’s effective for highlighting certain issues among the public.

Many also consider social media effective for changing people’s minds on social or political issues (65% median). Confidence in social media’s effect on changing people’s minds is strongest in South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. Germans, Belgians, Israelis and French adults are more skeptical, with no more than about half seeing social media as effective for changing people’s minds on sociopolitical issues.

Views on social media as a way to bring the attention of elected officials to certain issues are similar. A median of 64% consider social media effective for directing elected officials’ attention to issues, and this view is especially prevalent in South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. People in Belgium, Hungary and France are less convinced.

Somewhat fewer consider social media effective for influencing policy decisions (61% median). Israelis are particularly doubtful of social media as a way for affecting policy change: A majority of Israelis say social media is an ineffective way of influencing policy decisions, and about half in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany agree. About a fifth in Poland also did not provide an answer.

An additional question was asked in the U.S. about social media’s role in creating sustained social movements; roughly seven-in-ten Americans say social media is effective for this. Younger Americans, as well as those with more education or higher incomes, are more likely than others to hold this view. Social media users and those who say social media has been generally good for U.S. democracy are also more likely to believe social media is effective at creating sustained social movements.

Age plays a role in how people in many of the 19 nations surveyed view social media’s role in public discourse. Those ages 18 to 29 are especially likely to see social media as effective for raising public awareness. For example, in France, 70% of those ages 18 to 29 see social media as an effective way of raising public awareness. Only 48% of those 50 and older share this view, a difference of 22 percentage points.

Similarly, younger adults are also more likely to consider social media an effective way for changing people’s minds on issues. The difference is greatest in Poland and Germany, where younger adults are 24 points more likely than their older counterparts to see social media this way. There are fewer differences between younger and older adults when it comes to social media’s effectiveness for directing elected officials’ attention and influencing policy decisions. Younger adults are also generally more likely to be social media users and provide answers to these questions.

Education and income are other demographic characteristics related to people’s view of social media as a way to influence public discourse. In 11 countries, those with incomes higher than the median income are more likely than those with lower incomes to consider social media effective for raising public awareness about sociopolitical issues. Those with more education are similarly more likely to consider social media effective for elevating sociopolitical issues in the public consciousness in eight countries. People with lower levels of education and income are somewhat less likely than others to provide answers to questions about social media’s effectiveness for influencing policies, changing minds and bringing attention to issues.

Social media usage is also connected to how people evaluate these platforms as a way to affect public discourse and policy choices. In nearly all countries, social media users are more likely than those who are not on social media to say social media is effective for raising public awareness, and social media users are also more likely to consider social media useful for changing people’s minds in 11 of 19 countries. The differences are greatest in Israel in both cases. Israeli social media users are 47 points more likely than non-users to say social media is effective for raising awareness and 38 points more likely to consider it effective for changing people’s minds on sociopolitical issues. Different views between social media users and non-users are less common when it comes to social media as an effective way for bringing elected officials’ attention to issues or influencing policy decisions. Social media users are also more likely than non-users to answer these questions.

Among social media users, those who are more active are more likely to consider social media an effective avenue for shaping people’s views and attention. Those who post about political or social issues at least sometimes on social media have a greater chance of seeing social media as effective for raising awareness for sociopolitical issues than those who post rarely or never in 16 countries. For example, in Spain, 84% of social media users who post sometimes or often see social media as an effective way to bring awareness to issues, compared to 71% of users who never or rarely post. Similarly, social media users who post more frequently are more likely to see social media as effective for changing minds in 13 countries, for influencing policy decisions in 15 countries, and bringing elected officials’ attention to issues in 12 nations.

People’s views of social media as a way to spread awareness or affect change are additionally related to how they see democracy. The beliefs that social media is effective for influencing policy decisions and for bringing issues to the attention of elected officials or the public are especially common among people who also believe they have a say in politics. For example, in Germany, 60% of people who say people like them have at least a fair amount of influence on politics also say social media is effective for affecting policy choices. In comparison, 43% of Germans who do not think they have a say in politics also think social media can influence policy decisions.

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6 Example Essays on Social Media | Advantages, Effects, and Outlines

Got an essay assignment about the effects of social media we got you covered check out our examples and outlines below.

Social media has become one of our society's most prominent ways of communication and information sharing in a very short time. It has changed how we communicate and has given us a platform to express our views and opinions and connect with others. It keeps us informed about the world around us. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have brought individuals from all over the world together, breaking down geographical borders and fostering a genuinely global community.

However, social media comes with its difficulties. With the rise of misinformation, cyberbullying, and privacy problems, it's critical to utilize these platforms properly and be aware of the risks. Students in the academic world are frequently assigned essays about the impact of social media on numerous elements of our lives, such as relationships, politics, and culture. These essays necessitate a thorough comprehension of the subject matter, critical thinking, and the ability to synthesize and convey information clearly and succinctly.

But where do you begin? It can be challenging to know where to start with so much information available. Jenni.ai comes in handy here. Jenni.ai is an AI application built exclusively for students to help them write essays more quickly and easily. Jenni.ai provides students with inspiration and assistance on how to approach their essays with its enormous database of sample essays on a variety of themes, including social media. Jenni.ai is the solution you've been looking for if you're experiencing writer's block or need assistance getting started.

So, whether you're a student looking to better your essay writing skills or want to remain up to date on the latest social media advancements, Jenni.ai is here to help. Jenni.ai is the ideal tool for helping you write your finest essay ever, thanks to its simple design, an extensive database of example essays, and cutting-edge AI technology. So, why delay? Sign up for a free trial of Jenni.ai today and begin exploring the worlds of social networking and essay writing!

Want to learn how to write an argumentative essay? Check out these inspiring examples!

We will provide various examples of social media essays so you may get a feel for the genre.

6 Examples of Social Media Essays

Here are 6 examples of Social Media Essays:

The Impact of Social Media on Relationships and Communication

Introduction:.

The way we share information and build relationships has evolved as a direct result of the prevalence of social media in our daily lives. The influence of social media on interpersonal connections and conversation is a hot topic. Although social media has many positive effects, such as bringing people together regardless of physical proximity and making communication quicker and more accessible, it also has a dark side that can affect interpersonal connections and dialogue.

Positive Effects:

Connecting People Across Distances

One of social media's most significant benefits is its ability to connect individuals across long distances. People can use social media platforms to interact and stay in touch with friends and family far away. People can now maintain intimate relationships with those they care about, even when physically separated.

Improved Communication Speed and Efficiency

Additionally, the proliferation of social media sites has accelerated and simplified communication. Thanks to instant messaging, users can have short, timely conversations rather than lengthy ones via email. Furthermore, social media facilitates group communication, such as with classmates or employees, by providing a unified forum for such activities.

Negative Effects:

Decreased Face-to-Face Communication

The decline in in-person interaction is one of social media's most pernicious consequences on interpersonal connections and dialogue. People's reliance on digital communication over in-person contact has increased along with the popularity of social media. Face-to-face interaction has suffered as a result, which has adverse effects on interpersonal relationships and the development of social skills.

Decreased Emotional Intimacy

Another adverse effect of social media on relationships and communication is decreased emotional intimacy. Digital communication lacks the nonverbal cues and facial expressions critical in building emotional connections with others. This can make it more difficult for people to develop close and meaningful relationships, leading to increased loneliness and isolation.

Increased Conflict and Miscommunication

Finally, social media can also lead to increased conflict and miscommunication. The anonymity and distance provided by digital communication can lead to misunderstandings and hurtful comments that might not have been made face-to-face. Additionally, social media can provide a platform for cyberbullying , which can have severe consequences for the victim's mental health and well-being.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the impact of social media on relationships and communication is a complex issue with both positive and negative effects. While social media platforms offer many benefits, such as connecting people across distances and enabling faster and more accessible communication, they also have a dark side that can negatively affect relationships and communication. It is up to individuals to use social media responsibly and to prioritize in-person communication in their relationships and interactions with others.

The Role of Social Media in the Spread of Misinformation and Fake News

Social media has revolutionized the way information is shared and disseminated. However, the ease and speed at which data can be spread on social media also make it a powerful tool for spreading misinformation and fake news. Misinformation and fake news can seriously affect public opinion, influence political decisions, and even cause harm to individuals and communities.

The Pervasiveness of Misinformation and Fake News on Social Media

Misinformation and fake news are prevalent on social media platforms, where they can spread quickly and reach a large audience. This is partly due to the way social media algorithms work, which prioritizes content likely to generate engagement, such as sensational or controversial stories. As a result, false information can spread rapidly and be widely shared before it is fact-checked or debunked.

The Influence of Social Media on Public Opinion

Social media can significantly impact public opinion, as people are likelier to believe the information they see shared by their friends and followers. This can lead to a self-reinforcing cycle, where misinformation and fake news are spread and reinforced, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.

The Challenge of Correcting Misinformation and Fake News

Correcting misinformation and fake news on social media can be a challenging task. This is partly due to the speed at which false information can spread and the difficulty of reaching the same audience exposed to the wrong information in the first place. Additionally, some individuals may be resistant to accepting correction, primarily if the incorrect information supports their beliefs or biases.

In conclusion, the function of social media in disseminating misinformation and fake news is complex and urgent. While social media has revolutionized the sharing of information, it has also made it simpler for false information to propagate and be widely believed. Individuals must be accountable for the information they share and consume, and social media firms must take measures to prevent the spread of disinformation and fake news on their platforms.

The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health and Well-Being

Social media has become an integral part of modern life, with billions of people around the world using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stay connected with others and access information. However, while social media has many benefits, it can also negatively affect mental health and well-being.

Comparison and Low Self-Esteem

One of the key ways that social media can affect mental health is by promoting feelings of comparison and low self-esteem. People often present a curated version of their lives on social media, highlighting their successes and hiding their struggles. This can lead others to compare themselves unfavorably, leading to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.

Cyberbullying and Online Harassment

Another way that social media can negatively impact mental health is through cyberbullying and online harassment. Social media provides a platform for anonymous individuals to harass and abuse others, leading to feelings of anxiety, fear, and depression.

Social Isolation

Despite its name, social media can also contribute to feelings of isolation. At the same time, people may have many online friends but need more meaningful in-person connections and support. This can lead to feelings of loneliness and depression.

Addiction and Overuse

Finally, social media can be addictive, leading to overuse and negatively impacting mental health and well-being. People may spend hours each day scrolling through their feeds, neglecting other important areas of their lives, such as work, family, and self-care.

In sum, social media has positive and negative consequences on one's psychological and emotional well-being. Realizing this, and taking measures like reducing one's social media use, reaching out to loved ones for help, and prioritizing one's well-being, are crucial. In addition, it's vital that social media giants take ownership of their platforms and actively encourage excellent mental health and well-being.

The Use of Social Media in Political Activism and Social Movements

Social media has recently become increasingly crucial in political action and social movements. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have given people new ways to express themselves, organize protests, and raise awareness about social and political issues.

Raising Awareness and Mobilizing Action

One of the most important uses of social media in political activity and social movements has been to raise awareness about important issues and mobilize action. Hashtags such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, for example, have brought attention to sexual harassment and racial injustice, respectively. Similarly, social media has been used to organize protests and other political actions, allowing people to band together and express themselves on a bigger scale.

Connecting with like-minded individuals

A second method in that social media has been utilized in political activity and social movements is to unite like-minded individuals. Through social media, individuals can join online groups, share knowledge and resources, and work with others to accomplish shared objectives. This has been especially significant for geographically scattered individuals or those without access to traditional means of political organizing.

Challenges and Limitations

As a vehicle for political action and social movements, social media has faced many obstacles and restrictions despite its many advantages. For instance, the propagation of misinformation and fake news on social media can impede attempts to disseminate accurate and reliable information. In addition, social media corporations have been condemned for censorship and insufficient protection of user rights.

In conclusion, social media has emerged as a potent instrument for political activism and social movements, giving voice to previously unheard communities and galvanizing support for change. Social media presents many opportunities for communication and collaboration. Still, users and institutions must be conscious of the risks and limitations of these tools to promote their responsible and productive usage.

The Potential Privacy Concerns Raised by Social Media Use and Data Collection Practices

With billions of users each day on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, social media has ingrained itself into every aspect of our lives. While these platforms offer a straightforward method to communicate with others and exchange information, they also raise significant concerns over data collecting and privacy. This article will examine the possible privacy issues posed by social media use and data-gathering techniques.

Data Collection and Sharing

The gathering and sharing of personal data are significant privacy issues brought up by social media use. Social networking sites gather user data, including details about their relationships, hobbies, and routines. This information is made available to third-party businesses for various uses, such as marketing and advertising. This can lead to serious concerns about who has access to and uses our personal information.

Lack of Control Over Personal Information

The absence of user control over personal information is a significant privacy issue brought up by social media usage. Social media makes it challenging to limit who has access to and how data is utilized once it has been posted. Sensitive information may end up being extensively disseminated and may be used maliciously as a result.

Personalized Marketing

Social media companies utilize the information they gather about users to target them with adverts relevant to their interests and usage patterns. Although this could be useful, it might also cause consumers to worry about their privacy since they might feel that their personal information is being used without their permission. Furthermore, there are issues with the integrity of the data being used to target users and the possibility of prejudice based on individual traits.

Government Surveillance

Using social media might spark worries about government surveillance. There are significant concerns regarding privacy and free expression when governments in some nations utilize social media platforms to follow and monitor residents.

In conclusion, social media use raises significant concerns regarding data collecting and privacy. While these platforms make it easy to interact with people and exchange information, they also gather a lot of personal information, which raises questions about who may access it and how it will be used. Users should be aware of these privacy issues and take precautions to safeguard their personal information, such as exercising caution when choosing what details to disclose on social media and keeping their information sharing with other firms to a minimum.

The Ethical and Privacy Concerns Surrounding Social Media Use And Data Collection

Our use of social media to communicate with loved ones, acquire information, and even conduct business has become a crucial part of our everyday lives. The extensive use of social media does, however, raise some ethical and privacy issues that must be resolved. The influence of social media use and data collecting on user rights, the accountability of social media businesses, and the need for improved regulation are all topics that will be covered in this article.

Effect on Individual Privacy:

Social networking sites gather tons of personal data from their users, including delicate information like search history, location data, and even health data. Each user's detailed profile may be created with this data and sold to advertising or used for other reasons. Concerns regarding the privacy of personal information might arise because social media businesses can use this data to target users with customized adverts.

Additionally, individuals might need to know how much their personal information is being gathered and exploited. Data breaches or the unauthorized sharing of personal information with other parties may result in instances where sensitive information is exposed. Users should be aware of the privacy rules of social media firms and take precautions to secure their data.

Responsibility of Social Media Companies:

Social media firms should ensure that they responsibly and ethically gather and use user information. This entails establishing strong security measures to safeguard sensitive information and ensuring users are informed of what information is being collected and how it is used.

Many social media businesses, nevertheless, have come under fire for not upholding these obligations. For instance, the Cambridge Analytica incident highlighted how Facebook users' personal information was exploited for political objectives without their knowledge. This demonstrates the necessity of social media corporations being held responsible for their deeds and ensuring that they are safeguarding the security and privacy of their users.

Better Regulation Is Needed

There is a need for tighter regulation in this field, given the effect, social media has on individual privacy as well as the obligations of social media firms. The creation of laws and regulations that ensure social media companies are gathering and using user information ethically and responsibly, as well as making sure users are aware of their rights and have the ability to control the information that is being collected about them, are all part of this.

Additionally, legislation should ensure that social media businesses are held responsible for their behavior, for example, by levying fines for data breaches or the unauthorized use of personal data. This will provide social media businesses with a significant incentive to prioritize their users' privacy and security and ensure they are upholding their obligations.

In conclusion, social media has fundamentally changed how we engage and communicate with one another, but this increased convenience also raises several ethical and privacy issues. Essential concerns that need to be addressed include the effect of social media on individual privacy, the accountability of social media businesses, and the requirement for greater regulation to safeguard user rights. We can make everyone's online experience safer and more secure by looking more closely at these issues.

In conclusion, social media is a complex and multifaceted topic that has recently captured the world's attention. With its ever-growing influence on our lives, it's no surprise that it has become a popular subject for students to explore in their writing. Whether you are writing an argumentative essay on the impact of social media on privacy, a persuasive essay on the role of social media in politics, or a descriptive essay on the changes social media has brought to the way we communicate, there are countless angles to approach this subject.

However, writing a comprehensive and well-researched essay on social media can be daunting. It requires a thorough understanding of the topic and the ability to articulate your ideas clearly and concisely. This is where Jenni.ai comes in. Our AI-powered tool is designed to help students like you save time and energy and focus on what truly matters - your education. With Jenni.ai , you'll have access to a wealth of examples and receive personalized writing suggestions and feedback.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Social Media — Social Media Impact On Society

Social Media Impact on Society

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The Impact of Social Media: Is it Irreplaceable?

July 26, 2019 • 15 min read.

Social media as we know it has barely reached its 20th birthday, but it’s changed the fabric of everyday life. What does the future hold for the sector and the players currently at the top?

• Public Policy

In little more than a decade, the impact of social media has gone from being an entertaining extra to a fully integrated part of nearly every aspect of daily life for many.

Recently in the realm of commerce, Facebook faced skepticism in its testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on Libra, its proposed cryptocurrency and alternative financial system . In politics, heartthrob Justin Bieber tweeted the President of the United States, imploring him to “let those kids out of cages.” In law enforcement, the Philadelphia police department moved to terminate more than a dozen police officers after their racist comments on social media were revealed.

And in the ultimate meshing of the digital and physical worlds, Elon Musk raised the specter of essentially removing the space between social and media through the invention — at some future time — of a brain implant that connects human tissue to computer chips.

All this, in the span of about a week.

As quickly as social media has insinuated itself into politics, the workplace, home life, and elsewhere, it continues to evolve at lightning speed, making it tricky to predict which way it will morph next. It’s hard to recall now, but SixDegrees.com, Friendster, and Makeoutclub.com were each once the next big thing, while one survivor has continued to grow in astonishing ways. In 2006, Facebook had 7.3 million registered users and reportedly turned down a $750 million buyout offer. In the first quarter of 2019, the company could claim 2.38 billion active users, with a market capitalization hovering around half a trillion dollars.

“In 2007 I argued that Facebook might not be around in 15 years. I’m clearly wrong, but it is interesting to see how things have changed,” says Jonah Berger, Wharton marketing professor and author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On . The challenge going forward is not just having the best features, but staying relevant, he says. “Social media isn’t a utility. It’s not like power or water where all people care about is whether it works. Young people care about what using one platform or another says about them. It’s not cool to use the same site as your parents and grandparents, so they’re always looking for the hot new thing.”

Just a dozen years ago, everyone was talking about a different set of social networking services, “and I don’t think anyone quite expected Facebook to become so huge and so dominant,” says Kevin Werbach, Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics. “At that point, this was an interesting discussion about tech start-ups.

“Today, Facebook is one of the most valuable companies on earth and front and center in a whole range of public policy debates, so the scope of issues we’re thinking about with social media are broader than then,” Werbach adds.

Cambridge Analytica , the impact of social media on the last presidential election and other issues may have eroded public trust, Werbach said, but “social media has become really fundamental to the way that billions of people get information about the world and connect with each other, which raises the stakes enormously.”

Just Say No

“Facebook is dangerous,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) at July’s hearing of the Senate Banking Committee. “Facebook has said, ‘just trust us.’ And every time Americans trust you, they seem to get burned.”

Social media has plenty of detractors, but by and large, do Americans agree with Brown’s sentiment? In 2018, 42% of those surveyed in a Pew Research Center survey said they had taken a break from checking the platform for a period of several weeks or more, while 26% said they had deleted the Facebook app from their cellphone.

A year later, though, despite the reputational beating social media had taken, the 2019 iteration of the same Pew survey found social media use unchanged from 2018.

Facebook has its critics, says Wharton marketing professor Pinar Yildirim, and they are mainly concerned about two things: mishandling consumer data and poorly managing access to it by third-party providers; and the level of disinformation spreading on Facebook.

“Social media isn’t a utility. It’s not like power or water where all people care about is whether it works. Young people care about what using one platform or another says about them.” –Jonah Berger

“The question is, are we at a point where the social media organizations and their activities should be regulated for the benefit of the consumer? I do not think more regulation will necessarily help, but certainly this is what is on the table,” says Yildirim. “In the period leading to the [2020 U.S. presidential] elections, we will hear a range of discussions about regulation on the tech industry.”

Some proposals relate to stricter regulation on collection and use of consumer data, Yildirim adds, noting that the European Union already moved to stricter regulations last year by adopting the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) . “A number of companies in the U.S. and around the world adopted the GDPR protocol for all of their customers, not just for the residents of EU,” she says. “We will likely hear more discussions on regulation of such data, and we will likely see stricter regulation of this data.”

The other discussion bound to intensify is around the separation of Big Tech into smaller, easier to regulate units. “Most of us academics do not think that dividing organizations into smaller units is sufficient to improve their compliance with regulation. It also does not necessarily mean they will be less competitive,” says Yildirim. “For instance, in the discussion of Facebook, it is not even clear yet how breaking up the company would work, given that it does not have very clear boundaries between different business units.”

Even if such regulations never come to pass, the discussions “may nevertheless hurt Big Tech financially, given that most companies are publicly traded and it adds to the uncertainty,” Yildirim notes.

One prominent commentator about the negative impact of social media is Jaron Lanier, whose fervent opposition makes itself apparent in the plainspoken title of his 2018 book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now . He cites loss of free will, social media’s erosion of the truth and destruction of empathy, its tendency to make people unhappy, and the way in which it is “making politics impossible.” The title of the last chapter: “Social Media Hates Your Soul.”

Lanier is no tech troglodyte. A polymath who bridges the digital and analog realms, he is a musician and writer, has worked as a scientist for Microsoft, and was co-founder of pioneering virtual reality company VPL Research. The nastiness that online existence brings out in users “turned out to be like crude oil for the social media companies and other behavior manipulation empires that quickly came to dominate the internet, because it fuelled negative behavioral feedback,” he writes.

“Social media has become really fundamental to the way that billions of people get information about the world and connect with each other, which raises the stakes enormously.” –Kevin Werbach

Worse, there is an addictive quality to social media, and that is a big issue, says Berger. “Social media is like a drug, but what makes it particularly addictive is that it is adaptive. It adjusts based on your preferences and behaviors,” he says, “which makes it both more useful and engaging and interesting, and more addictive.”

The effect of that drug on mental health is only beginning to be examined, but a recent University of Pennsylvania study makes the case that limiting use of social media can be a good thing. Researchers looked at a group of 143 Penn undergraduates, using baseline monitoring and randomly assigning each to either a group limiting Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat use to 10 minutes per platform per day, or to one told to use social media as usual for three weeks. The results, published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology , showed significant reductions in loneliness and depression over three weeks in the group limiting use compared to the control group.

However, “both groups showed significant decreases in anxiety and fear of missing out over baseline, suggesting a benefit of increased self-monitoring,” wrote the authors of “ No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression .”

Monetizing a League (and a Reality) All Their Own

No one, though, is predicting that social media is a fad that will pass like its analog antecedent of the 1970s, citizens band radio. It will, however, evolve. The idea of social media as just a way to reconnect with high school friends seems quaint now. The impact of social media today is a big tent, including not only networks like Facebook, but also forums like Reddit and video-sharing platforms.

“The question is, are we at a point where the social media organizations and their activities should be regulated for the benefit of the consumer?” –Pinar Yildirim

Virtual worlds and gaming have become a major part of the sector, too. Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader says gamers are creating their own user-generated content through virtual worlds — and the revenue to go with it. He points to one group of gamers that use Grand Theft Auto as a kind of stage or departure point “to have their own virtual show.” In NoPixel, the Grand Theft Auto roleplaying server, “not much really happens and millions are tuning in to watch them. Just watching, not even participating, and it’s either live-streamed or recorded. And people are making donations to support this thing. The gamers are making hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Now imagine having a 30-person reality show all filmed live and you can take the perspective of one person and then watch it again from another person’s perspective,” he continues. “Along the way, they can have a tip jar or talk about things they endorse. That kind of immersive media starts to build the bridge to what we like to get out of TV, but even better. Those things are on the periphery right now, but I think they are going to take over.”

Big players have noticed the potential of virtual sports and are getting into the act. In a striking example of the physical world imitating the digital one, media companies are putting up real-life stadiums where teams compete in video games. Comcast Spectator in March announced that it is building a new $50 million stadium in South Philadelphia that will be the home of the Philadelphia Fusion, the city’s e-sports team in the Overwatch League.

E-sports is serious business, with revenues globally — including advertising, sponsorships, and media rights — expected to reach $1.1 billion in 2019, according to gaming industry analytics company Newzoo.

“E-sports is absolutely here to stay,” says Fader, “and I think it’s a safe bet to say that e-sports will dominate most traditional sports, managing far more revenue and having more impact on our consciousness than baseball.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Facebook has begun making deals to carry e-sports content. In fact, it is diversification like this that may keep Facebook from ending up like its failed upstart peers. One thing that Facebook has managed to do that MySpace, Friendster, and others didn’t, is “a very good job of creating functional integration with the value they are delivering, as opposed to being a place to just share photos or send messages, it serves a lot of diversified functions,” says Keith E. Niedermeier, director of Wharton’s undergraduate marketing program and an adjunct professor of marketing. “They are creating groups and group connections, but you see them moving into lots of other services like streaming entertainment, mobile payments, and customer-to-customer buying and selling.”

“[WeChat] has really instantiated itself as a day-to-day tool in China, and it’s clear to me that Facebook would like to emulate that sort of thing.” –Keith Niedermeier

In China, WeChat has become the biggest mobile payment platform in the world and it is the platform for many third-party apps for things like bike sharing and ordering airplane tickets. “It has really instantiated itself as a day-to-day tool in China, and it’s clear to me that Facebook would like to emulate that sort of thing,” says Niedermeier.

Among nascent social media platforms that are particularly promising right now, Yildirim says that “social media platforms which are directed at achieving some objectives with smaller scale and more homogenous people stand a higher chance of entering the market and being able to compete with large, general-purpose platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.”

Irreplaceable – and Damaging?

Of course, many have begun to believe that the biggest challenge around the impact of social media may be the way it is changing society. The “attention-grabbing algorithms underlying social media … propel authoritarian practices that aim to sow confusion, ignorance, prejudice, and chaos, thereby facilitating manipulation and undermining accountability,” writes University of Toronto political science professor Ronald Deibert in a January essay in the Journal of Democracy .

Berger notes that any piece of information can now get attention, whether it is true or false. This means more potential for movements both welcome as well as malevolent. “Before, only media companies had reach, so it was harder for false information to spread. It could happen, but it was slow. Now anyone can share anything, and because people tend to believe what they see, false information can spread just as, if not more easily, than the truth.

“It’s certainly allowed more things to bubble up rather than flow from the top down,” says Berger. Absent gatekeepers, “everyone is their own media company, broadcasting to the particular set of people that follow them. It used to be that a major label signing you was the path to stardom. Now artists can build their own following online and break through that way. Social media has certainly made fame and attention more democratic, though not always in a good way.”

Deibert writes that “in a short period of time, digital technologies have become pervasive and deeply embedded in all that we do. Unwinding them completely is neither possible nor desirable.”

His cri de coeur argues: that citizens have the right to know what companies and governments are doing with their personal data, and that this right be extended internationally to hold autocratic regimes to account; that companies be barred from selling products and services that enable infringements on human rights and harms to civil society; for the creation of independent agencies with real power to hold social-media platforms to account; and the creation and enforcement of strong antitrust laws to end dominance of a very few social-media companies.

“Social media has certainly made fame and attention more democratic, though not always in a good way.” –Jonah Berger

The rising tide of concern is now extending across sectors. The U.S. Justice Department has recently begun an anti-trust investigation into how tech companies operate in social media, search, and retail services. In July, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the award of nearly $50 million in new funding to 11 U.S. universities to research how technology is transforming democracy. The foundation is also soliciting additional grant proposals to fund policy and legal research into the “rules, norms, and governance” that should be applied to social media and technology companies.

Given all of the reasons not to engage with social media — the privacy issues, the slippery-slope addiction aspect of it, its role in spreading incivility — do we want to try to put the genie back in the bottle? Can we? Does social media definitely have a future?

“Yes, surely it does,” says Yildirim. “Social connections are fabrics of society. Just as the telegraph or telephone as an innovation of communication did not reduce social connectivity, online social networks did not either. If anything, it likely increased connectivity, or reduced the cost of communicating with others.”

It is thanks to online social networks that individuals likely have larger social networks, she says, and while many criticize the fact that we are in touch with large numbers of individuals in a superficial way, these light connections may nevertheless be contributing to our lives when it comes to economic and social outcomes — ranging from finding jobs to meeting new people.

“We are used to being in contact with more individuals, and it is easier to remain in contact with people we only met once. Giving up on this does not seem likely for humans,” she says. “The technology with which we keep in touch may change, may evolve, but we will have social connections and platforms which enable them. Facebook may be gone in 10 years, but there will be something else.”

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Social media use, social identification and cross-cultural adaptation of international students: A longitudinal examination

Leonor gaitán-aguilar.

1 Erasmus Research Center for Media, Communication, and Culture (ERMeCC), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Joep Hofhuis

Kinga bierwiaczonek.

2 Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Carmen Carmona

3 Department of Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Associated Data

The anonymized data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

The mobility experience is an important life event for international students, and achieving successful psychological and sociocultural adaptation is crucial for this experience to be positive. Through a three-wave longitudinal study among international students enrolled at universities in Spain, Portugal, and Poland ( n = 233), we examined the relationships between social media use, social identification, and (sociocultural and psychological) adaptation across time. Results of cross lagged panel modeling (CLPM) showed that social media contact with home nationals predicted greater identification with this group. Social media contact with host country nationals predicted poorer adaptation. Social media contact with other international students did not show any effects, while identification with this group predicted better adaptation. Our results point to the dynamic nature of the adaptation process, showing that the role of social media use and identification targeted at different social groups may play different roles than was previously found in cross-sectional research.

Introduction

The number of international students enrolled in tertiary education, which increased from 2 million in 1998 to 6.1 million in 2019, continues rising due to educational policies that encourage mobility and intercultural skills in the current globalized market ( OECD, 2021 ). The mobility experience can be an exciting opportunity for this group. However, adapting to a host country can also be stressful, and result in homesickness, feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression ( Brunsting et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, challenges arise that range from language barriers and learning how to adjust to the new context, to questioning (new) identities ( Gautam et al., 2016 ). Although these challenges are experienced differently by different individuals (see Demes and Geeraert, 2015 ), scholars and practitioners have been in search of protective factors that may benefit the overall population of international students, to ensure a positive educational experience ( Kuo, 2014 ; Yu et al., 2014 ).

One major protective factor that has emerged from the literature are social ties ( Kuo, 2014 ). Social ties facilitate cross-cultural adaptation ( Brunsting et al., 2018 ) across different contexts and populations ( Bierwiaczonek and Waldzus, 2016 ) as they provide international students with necessary resources to cope with the challenges of international transitions, and to develop a sense of belonging in a new country ( Ward et al., 2001 ). While the major theoretical models of acculturation (e.g., Berry, 1997 ; Ward et al., 2001 ) mainly focus on host and home culture ties, international students’ environment reflects complex intergroup dynamics with multi-national and multicultural social networks that can influence their acculturation process ( Hendrickson et al., 2011 ; Pekerti et al., 2020 ; Szabó et al., 2020 ). Thus, in order to contribute to a more comprehensive approach to international student adaptation, the first aim of the present study is to explore the role that social identification with the group of other international students has in cross-cultural adaptation, in addition to the social identification with home- and host national groups.

Furthermore, recent technological advancements have opened up new opportunities for social interaction while abroad ( Wen, 2020 ). Especially the development of social media networks has had a profound impact on the experiences of international students, for example for offering additional social support ( Hofhuis et al., 2019 ; Li and Peng, 2019 ; Pang, 2020 ) and expanding one’s social network during and after international transitions ( Croucher and Rahmani, 2015 ). The majority of studies in this area focus on the role that social media play in keeping communication with family and friends in the home country and with host nationals in the host country (e.g., Cemalcilar et al., 2005 ; Park et al., 2014 ; Park and Noh, 2018 ; Hofhuis et al., 2019 ; Pang, 2020 ) again overlooking other available social groups, such as fellow foreigners. Thus, the second aim of the current study is to analyze the effect of social media on the cross-cultural adaptation of international students considering the different available social groups in the host country.

Since sojourner adaptation is a dynamic process evolving over time, scholars have called for more longitudinal research in studying this phenomenon ( Smith and Khawaja, 2011 ; Ward and Geeraert, 2016 ; Brunsting et al., 2018 ; Shu et al., 2020 ; Bierwiaczonek and Kunst, 2021 ; Kunst, 2021 ). Longitudinal designs give insights into the temporal order and direction of the relationship among variables ( Bryman, 2012 ), critical for assessing factors that change over time during the acculturation process ( Ward et al., 1998 ; Hechanova-Alampay et al., 2002 ; Demes and Geeraert, 2015 ; Bierwiaczonek and Kunst, 2021 ). Therefore, they contribute to a better understanding of theoretical assumptions regarding the dynamic relationship between different predictor variables and the adaptation of migrants and sojourners ( Ramos et al., 2016 ; Ward and Szabó, 2019 ). Pioneering longitudinal research in this field has examined social media use (e.g., Hendrickson and Rosen, 2017 ; Hu et al., 2018 ; Billedo et al., 2019 , 2020 ), social identification (e.g., Cemalcilar and Falbo, 2008 ; Geeraert and Demoulin, 2013 ; Hirai et al., 2015 ; Waßmuth and Edinger-Schons, 2018 ) and acculturation (e.g., Serrano-Sánchez et al., 2021 ) among the international student population. However, with some exceptions ( Hirai et al., 2015 ; Hendrickson and Rosen, 2017 ), previous longitudinal research has focused on host and home country groups only. Thus, the third aim of the present study is to examine social media use and social identification with the three main groups available in the host society and their longitudinal effects on cross-cultural adaptation.

In sum, the present study departs from the notion that international students’ acculturation processes, operationalized through identification with different groups of individuals in the host society, can have a positive or negative impact on adaptation over time. Furthermore, the development and popularization of social media has opened up new ways in which sojourners can seek contact and exchange experiences with others, which may in turn affect their social identities. This study is one of the first to examine how these processes affect each other across time, using a longitudinal approach.

Cross-cultural adaptation

The consensus among scholars is that cross-cultural adaptation has two dynamic dimensions that develop over time ( Demes and Geeraert, 2015 ; Hirai et al., 2015 ): psychological and sociocultural adaptation ( Searle and Ward, 1990 ; Ward and Searle, 1991 ; Ward and Kennedy, 1994 ; Ward et al., 2001 ). Psychological adaptation refers to the general well-being of the acculturating individual. It is usually examined using a stress and coping approach; sojourners learn to deal with the stress of living abroad using different resources ( Ward et al., 2001 ; Ward and Szabó, 2019 ). Accordingly, previous studies have identified numerous stressors influencing psychological adaptation, including language barriers, perceived discrimination, and unfamiliar social norms ( Smith and Khawaja, 2011 ), but also social coping resources, such as social ties and social support ( Smith and Khawaja, 2011 ; Bierwiaczonek and Waldzus, 2016 ).

Sociocultural adaptation, based on the culture learning approach and reflecting a learning curve over time, refers to sojourners’ ability to manage everyday tasks in the new culture. This entails identifying and internalizing the specific norms, values, and behaviors of the host society, and developing practical skills to navigate the new culture ( Ward et al., 2001 ; Wilson et al., 2013 ; Ward and Szabó, 2019 ). Among the factors affecting sociocultural adaptation are previous cross-cultural experiences, language proficiency, contact with host nationals ( Wilson et al., 2013 ), length of stay in host country, discrimination, belonging and social interactions ( Brunsting et al., 2018 ; Vakkai et al., 2020 ). Social ties are relevant for both dimensions of adaptation, although for different reasons: they help with psychological adaptation by enhancing coping, and with sociocultural adaptation, by facilitating culture learning ( Bierwiaczonek and Waldzus, 2016 ). Because both dimensions are dynamic ( Demes and Geeraert, 2015 ; Hirai et al., 2015 ), we argue that the relationship between social ties and adaptation can be best understood across time.

Social identification and cross-cultural adaptation

One of the major predictors of both psychological and sociocultural adaptation is the sojourner’s acculturation process ( Ward and Kus, 2012 ). Acculturation is defined through beliefs, attitudes, values, and identities that migrants and sojourners develop as a result of having intercultural contact ( Berry et al., 2006 ). According to Vuong and Napier (2015) , this development occurs as individuals evaluate (new) cultural values, that if found central to their self-concept are retained, and if not, discarded. Acknowledging the role of social ties in this process, the current study approaches acculturation from a social identity perspective ( Tajfel and Turner, 1986 ), which proposes group belongingness as a cornerstone of individuals’ self-concept that guides beliefs and behaviors. Thus, we zoom in on identification processes that international students undergo as a result of their interactions with different social groups while studying abroad, and analyze their effect on cross-cultural adaptation ( Ward et al., 2001 ).

Encounters with host nationals who speak a different language and act according to unfamiliar social norms, may make this intergroup context salient, accentuate the foreignness of international students, and boost a feeling of belonging elsewhere ( Bierwiaczonek et al., 2017 ). Yet, research shows that feelings of identification and belonging to groups in one’s current environment are crucial to maintaining healthy well-being, self-esteem, and even somatic health ( Greenaway et al., 2015 ) in the face of challenges such as intercultural transitions (e.g., Taušová et al., 2019 ). Therefore, adaptation may be easier if international students have a group they feel they belong to and identify with. Intergroup research (e.g., the rejection-identification model; Branscombe et al., 1999 ) showed that members of minorities increase their identification with their minority in-group as a way to cope with adversities coming from the majority (e.g., prejudice). This holds true in the case of international students; identification functions as a coping mechanism that can help them face acculturative stressors ( Schmitt et al., 2003 ; Ramos et al., 2013 ).

However, research also shows that identifying with some groups helps adaptation, while identifying with others can hinder it ( Ramos et al., 2013 ; Gomes et al., 2014 ; Bierwiaczonek et al., 2017 ; Beech, 2018 ). Therefore, it is crucial to account for the different identity groups available to international students in order to better grasp the role of identification processes in cross-cultural adaptation ( Verkuyten et al., 2019 ). This study includes the three main groups that international students interact with in the host country ( Bochner et al., 1977 ; from here onwards ‘target groups’): people from their home country that live in their host country (local home nationals), people from their host country (host nationals), and other international students.

Identification with local home nationals

While studies showed the overall negative effect of home country identification, especially for sociocultural adaptation ( Ward and Searle, 1991 ; Berry et al., 2006 ), few differentiated between identification with home nationals in the home country and home nationals in the host country ( Szabó et al., 2020 ). Yet, this latter group may offer more benefits. By sharing the same contextual experience in the host country, this group can become a major source of social support, enhance a greater sense of belonging, promote home culture values, and share cultural skills that are relevant in the host society ( Ward et al., 2010 ). Also, losing one’s home country networks as a consequence of moving abroad may hinder adaptation, while having local home national networks available (virtually or face to face) may enhance international students’ well-being and prevent isolation ( Sawir et al., 2008 ). Thus, we expect that high identification with local home nationals is associated with better psychological (Hypothesis 1a) and sociocultural adaptation (Hypothesis 1b) over time.

Identification with host nationals

While host nationals might not be the most accessible or preferred identity group for international students (e.g., Ramos et al., 2016 ), if available, they can become a valuable coping and learning resource ( Berry et al., 2006 ). In acculturation studies, identification with this group tends to predict positive adaptation outcomes ( Sam and Berry, 2010 ). Sojourners with higher host-national identification seem to experience better sociocultural adaptation (e.g., Ward and Kennedy, 1994 ; Cemalcilar et al., 2005 ) and report higher well-being (e.g., Waßmuth and Edinger-Schons, 2018 ; Serrano-Sánchez et al., 2021 ). Thus, we expect that high identification with host nationals is associated with better psychological (Hypothesis 2a) and sociocultural adaptation (Hypothesis 2b) over time.

Identification with other international students

Possibly because study abroad is often a short-term experience, international students tend to be less involved with host nationals ( Ward et al., 2001 ), and more in contact with other international sojourners who are in a similar situation (e.g., Sigalas, 2010 ; Fincher and Shaw, 2011 ; Williams and Johnson, 2011 ; Schartner, 2015 ). Fellow international students share the same experience of being away from home and face similar acculturative and academic challenges, which may bring them closer together and allow for a stronger social identification. Only a limited number of studies have been conducted on the effects of this particular social identity. The general conclusion seems to be that social ties and support from international students are positively related to more adaptive acculturation strategies ( Kashima and Loh, 2006 ; Sullivan and Kashubeck-West, 2015 ; Cao et al., 2018 ), and that social identification with this group may mitigate the negative effects of acculturative stressors, such as prejudice and perceived discrimination (e.g., Schmitt et al., 2003 ; Bierwiaczonek et al., 2017 ). In line with these findings, we expect that social identification with international students has a positive impact on both psychological (Hypothesis 3a) and sociocultural adaptation (Hypothesis 3b).

The impact of social media use

Media channels are important tools that sojourners have at their disposal during the adaptation process ( Moon and Park, 2007 ; Alencar and Deuze, 2017 ). This may be especially true for social media, which allow for rapid and synchronous interpersonal communication across the globe facilitating contact with diverse networks worldwide ( Boyd and Ellison, 2007 ; Forbush and Foucault-Welles, 2016 ). Social media contribute to the acculturation process by providing access to social support and relevant information throughout the international experience ( Park et al., 2014 ; Billedo et al., 2019 ; Hofhuis et al., 2019 ; Pang, 2020 ). Given that today’s international students are among the first native users of the internet, social media represent main communication and informational resources that are used daily with diverse groups in both personal and professional settings ( Wang et al., 2012 ; Tkalac Verčič and Verčič, 2013 ).

Earlier research has found that social media use with different groups (e.g., host or home nationals) may increase identification with those groups ( McKelvy and Chatterjee, 2017 ). For instance, Cemalcilar et al. (2005) found that international students who communicated via social media with other co-nationals increased their identification with this group; similar results have also been found for the group of host nationals (e.g., Sawyer and Chen, 2012 ). Not all information on social media is relevant for the acculturation experience of international students, and different factors can mediate the effects of social media use (e.g., language; Li and Tsai, 2015 ). Thus, international students might evaluate and filter the information and values shared through social media, and if deemed useful, incorporate them into their self-concept (see mindsponge mechanism; Vuong and Napier, 2015 ).

Although acculturation research has supported the relationship between social media and social identification, its dynamic, longitudinal and differential effects on adaptation considering multicultural groups in the host country remain understudied ( Yu et al., 2019 ; Pang, 2020 ). Thus, in an effort to acknowledge the changing and dynamic nature of acculturation and adaptation ( Sam and Ward, 2021 ), and identify predictors that lead towards a successful cross-cultural adaptation ( Ward and Szabó, 2019 ), we analyzed the long-term effects of social media use. In the current study, we positioned social media use with the three target groups as a predictor of cross-cultural adaptation through time, by increasing the identification that international students develop towards those groups. Thus, we expected that social media use would have a positive effect on social identification with each of the target groups of local home nationals (H4a), host nationals (H4b), and international students (H4c) over time. To summarize the hypotheses outlined in the present study, a general conceptual model is provided in Figure 1 .

Conceptual model of the effects of social media use and social identification variables on the psychological and sociocultural adaptation of international students during their sojourn.

Materials and methods

Sample and procedure.

We tested our hypotheses in a quantitative longitudinal study. To determine the sample size, we ran a Monte Carlo power analysis using the R package bmem ( Zhang, 2014 ) for a cross-lagged power model with four variables measured at three times, assuming stability coefficients of β = 0.60 for all auto-regressive paths (i.e., a variable at T1/T2 predicting the same variable at T2/T3) and small lagged effects ( β = 0.20) for all lagged paths (i.e., a variable at T1/T2 predicting a different variable at T2/T3). This analysis indicated that 250 participants were needed to detect a lagged effect of this size with a power of 0.76 in a model with no equality constraints, and 200 participants in a model with equality constraints (see the Results section for more details).

Data were collected using a self-reported quantitative survey at three different time points (T1, T2, and T3) with the same group of participants. Our sample consisted of exchange students (mainly from the Erasmus program) or foreign students enrolled in an international program in different universities in Spain, Portugal and Poland. These universities were chosen because we had access to study programs in these countries that facilitated contact with participants. Most participants (95.0%) were humanities and social science students recruited through e-mail with the support of an international or exchange student coordinator at the receiving institution. The remaining 5.0% were recruited online by distributing a personalized link in different online communities. No compensation was offered to participants. All procedures, as described in this paper, were approved by the ethics review board of the first author’s institution. It is important to note that all data were collected before the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, so the results of the study were not affected by this event.

The first wave of the study (T1) was collected at the beginning of the Fall semester throughout October and early November 2018. The second wave (T2) was collected throughout December. Finally, the third wave (T3) was collected at the end of the semester during the month of February of the following year. 320 participants completed at least one of the four scales in the questionnaire in at least one time point of the study (N T1 = 191, N T2 = 157, N T3 = 121; note that new participants were contacted at T2, hence total N is higher than N at T1). For this study, we only retained participants that completed the full questionnaire in at least one wave and accounted for the missing data in other waves (see Missing data section for further explanation). Thus, the final sample consisted of 233 (N T1 = 132, N T2 = 118, N T3 = 108).

The mean age of the participants was 22.19 years ( SD = 3.19, Range = 18–46), 70.4% were females; 71.7% were studying in Spain, 21.0% in Portugal, and 6.0% in Poland. In total, 35 nationalities were represented in the sample (see figures in the Supplementary materials ). The majority of participants were from a European country (84.1%), such as Italy (26.6%), France (18.5%), Germany (13.3%), and United Kingdom (6.4%). From other continents, the most represented countries were Brazil (2.1%), United States (1.7%), Japan (1.3%), and Australia (0.9%); 5.2% did not report their nationality.

Social Media Use was measured with a 9-item scale by asking respondents about their frequency of social media use ( Rosen et al., 2013 ; Sheldon and Bryant, 2016 ). Items included ‘How often do you interact with profiles (tagging, posting, sharing, etc.)’ and ‘How often do you private or group text chat’. A Likert scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 7 (Very often) was provided. The scale was presented three times to evaluate social media use with the three target groups: local home nationals (α T1 = 0.92, α T2 = 0.94, α T3 = 0.92), host nationals (α T1 = 0.91, α T2 = 0.89, α T3 = 0.90), and international students (α T1 = 0.87, α T2 = 0.89, α T3 = 0.92).

Social Identification was operationalized using a 6-item scale, adapted from Mael and Tetrick (1992) , that measures identification with a psychological group based on shared experiences and characteristics. Items included ‘When someone criticizes [target group], it feels like a personal insult’ and ‘When I talk about [target group], I usually say “we,” rather than “they”’. A Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree) was presented. The participants responded to the scale three times to address the identification they had with the three target groups: local home nationals (α T1 = 0.75, α T2 = 0.75, α T3 = 0.81), host nationals (α T1 = 0.82, α T2 = 0.79, α T3 = 0.85), and international students (α T1 = 0.85, α T2 = 0.83, α T3 = 0.85).

Psychological Adaptation was measured with the complete 10-item scale by Demes and Geeraert (2014) . Sample items included ‘Excited about being in the host country’ and ‘Sad to be away from your home country’. Items were presented with a Likert scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 7 (Always), negative items were reverse-coded prior to analysis to match a better adaptation with a higher score (α T1 = 0.83, α T2 = 0.83, α T3 = 0.84).

Finally, Sociocultural Adaptation was measured with nine items from the revised scale (SCAS-R) by Wilson et al. (2017) , which measures cultural competencies in the host country. Items included ‘Building and maintaining relationships’, ‘Finding my way around’, and ‘Interacting at social events’ (α T1 = 0.78, α T2 = 0.83, α T3 = 0.86). A Likert scale was presented ranging from 1 (Not at all competent) to 7 (Extremely competent).

Missing data

To check for the missingness mechanism, we compared, in a series of t-tests, participants who finished all three waves of the study with those who completed one or two waves. Completers did not differ significantly from dropouts on any of the focal variables of this study (all p s > 0.05, e.g.: psychological adaptation, t (131) = −1.36, p  = 0.18; sociocultural adaptation, t (130) = 0.10, p  = 0.925; identification with host nationals t (132) = −1.80, p  = 0.07, social media use with host nationals t (132) = −1.13, p  = 0.26). This pattern was consistent with the missing at random (MAR) mechanism ( Rubin, 1976 ; see also Graham, 2009 for an overview of missing data mechanisms). We used full information maximum likelihood to account for missing data (viable technique under MAR; Schafer and Graham, 2002 ; Graham, 2009 ), hence all results refer to N  = 233.

Model construction

For the current study, we specified three cross-lagged panel models (CLPM), one for each target group (local home nationals, host nationals, internationals). Each model included T1, T2, and T3 scores on psychological adaptation, sociocultural adaptation, social media use with one of the target groups, and social identification with the same group. Cross-lagged panel models are used to estimate cross-lagged effects of one variable at an earlier time on another variable at a later time through the analysis of residual change, controlling for earlier levels of the outcome variable; thus, allowing to establish temporal precedence between variables ( Selig and Little, 2012 ; Kearney, 2017 ). However, results need to be interpreted with caution since they are time-interval dependent ( Kuiper and Ryan, 2018 ), and the nature of the variables studied does not allow for causal inference solely from statistical models ( Selig and Little, 2012 ). All analyses were conducted in the R package lavaan 0.6–5 ( Rosseel, 2012 ). In all cases, we accounted for non-normal distributions of the four variables (all Kolmogorov–Smirnov p s < 0.001) by using robust maximum likelihood (MLR) estimation with Yuan-Bentler scaled χ 2 test statistics and Huber-White robust standard errors.

We regressed the T2 score of each variable on its own T1 value and the T1 values of the remaining variables, and the T3 score of each variable on its own T2 value and the T2 values of the remaining variables. A conservative test of the causal order of variables requires the lagged effects to be the same between all timepoints ( Mund and Nestler, 2019 ). Therefore, we constrained all auto-regressive paths, all lagged paths between variables and all within-wave residual correlations between variables to equality between all timepoints. These constrained models showed a close fit to the data for local home nationals (Model 1), χ 2 (38) = 56.603, p  = 0.027, CFI = 0.950; TLI = 0.921; SRMR = 0.072; RMSEA = 0.045, 90% CI [0.016, 0.068], p close  = 0.582; for host nationals (Model 2), χ 2 (38) = 47.956, p  = 0.129, CFI = 0.970; TLI = 0.952; SRMR = 0.073; RMSEA = 0.032, 90% CI [0.000, 0.058], p close  = 0.819; and for internationals (Model 3), χ 2 (38) = 45.069, p  = 0.200, CFI = 0.978; TLI = 0.966; SRMR = 0.057; RMSEA = 0.029, 90% CI [0.000, 0.059], p close  = 0.897.

To ensure that the constrained models were the optimal representation of the data, we additionally tested unconstrained models (i.e., models with all paths estimated freely except for stability coefficients) and we compared them to the fully constrained models. Setting all paths free did not improve model fit significantly for local home nationals (Model 1), ∆χ 2 (18) = 27.174, p  = 0.076; for host country nationals (Model 2), ∆χ 2 (18) = 21.839, p  = 0.239; and for internationals (Model 3), ∆χ 2 (18) = 17.531, p  = 0.487. Therefore, we retained the fully constrained models for all three target groups.

Hypothesis testing

Below, we present the results per target group and focus only on the significant lagged effects found in the three models outlined. A full overview of descriptive statistics ( Supplementary Table S1 ) cross-lagged estimates ( Supplementary Tables S2 – S4 ) and covariance estimates ( Supplementary Tables S5 –S 7 ) can be found in the Supplementary materials . For each group we first describe results according to the effects of identification on cross-cultural adaptation (H1, H2, or H3), and then describe findings related to the effect of social media on identification (H4).

Identification and social media use with local home nationals

Hypothesis 1 predicted a positive effect of identification with local home nationals on both psychological (a) and sociocultural adaptation (b) of international students; Hypothesis 4a predicted a positive effect of social media use targeted at local home nationals on the identification with that group. Our findings showed no lagged effect of identification on either dimension of adaptation, which prompted us to reject Hypothesis 1a and 1b. However, social media use targeted at this group at an earlier wave was positively associated with identification with this group at a later wave, showing support for Hypothesis 4a. Unexpectedly, sociocultural adaptation at an earlier wave was positively associated with social media use targeted at local home nationals at a later wave, while psychological adaptation at an earlier wave was negatively associated with identification with local home nationals at a later wave (see Figure 2 ).

Cross-lagged panel model of the relationships between social media use and social identification with local home nationals, and psychological and sociocultural adaptation of international students. Only significant paths are shown. Results have been standardized and constrained to equality between time points. Model Fit: χ 2 (38) = 56.603, p = 0.027, CFI = 0.950; TLI = 0.921; SRMR = 0.072; RMSEA = 0.045, 90% CI [0.016, 0.068], p close = 0.582; N = 233.

Identification and social media use with host nationals

In the case of host nationals, Hypothesis 2 predicted a positive effect of identification with this group on both psychological (a) and sociocultural adaptation (b) of international students; Hypothesis 4b, predicted a positive effect of social media use targeted at host nationals on the identification with that group. Contrary to our expectations, no lagged effect was found of identification with host nationals on either dimension of adaptation; similarly, social media use targeted at this group had no lagged effects on identification. Therefore, Hypotheses 2a, 2b, and 4b were not supported. Interestingly, social media use targeted at host nationals at an earlier wave was negatively associated with psychological adaptation and had no lagged effect on sociocultural adaptation (see Figure 3 ).

Cross-lagged panel model of the relationships between social media use and social identification with host nationals, and psychological and sociocultural adaptation of international students. Only significant paths are shown. Results have been standardized and constrained to equality between time points. Model Fit: χ 2 (38) = 47.956, p = 0.129, CFI = 0.970; TLI = 0.952; SRMR = 0.073; RMSEA = 0.032, 90% CI [0.000, 0.058], p close = 0.819; N = 233.

Identification and social media use with other international students

In the case of other international students, Hypothesis 3 predicted that social identification with this group would have a positive effect on both psychological (a) and sociocultural adaptation (b); Hypothesis 4c predicted a positive effect of social media use targeted at international students on the identification with that group. The analysis showed that identification with the group of international students at an earlier wave was positively associated with psychological adaptation at a later wave, but not with sociocultural adaptation. Thus, Hypothesis 3a was supported while Hypothesis 3b was rejected. Opposite to our expectations, social media use targeted at international students did not have lagged effects on identification, which prompted us to reject Hypothesis 4c. Finally, psychological adaptation at an earlier wave was positively related to sociocultural adaptation at a later wave (see Figure 4 ).

Cross-lagged panel model with three time points of the relationships between social media use and social identification with other international students, and psychological and sociocultural adaptation of international students. Only significant paths are shown. Results have been standardized and constrained to equality between time points. Model Fit: χ 2 (38) = 45.069, p = 0.200, CFI = 0.978; TLI = 0.966; SRMR = 0.057; RMSEA = 0.029, 90% CI [0.000, 0.059], p close = 0.897; N = 233.

Findings and theoretical implications

Previous research has identified the importance of social media in the acculturation process of international students, highlighting possible benefits that range from creating and maintaining social ties, to fostering identification with the groups they interact with ( Cemalcilar et al., 2005 ; Park and Noh, 2018 ; Hofhuis et al., 2019 ). The results of this study, however, suggest that those benefits may depend on the groups international students interact with. Furthermore, the current research also responds to the call for more longitudinal research, that allows for a better understanding of the acculturation process across time ( Ward and Geeraert, 2016 ; Ward and Szabó, 2019 ) and contributes to the discussion of theoretical relationships that are mostly based on cross-sectional research ( Bierwiaczonek and Kunst, 2021 ; Kunst, 2021 ). In a cross-lagged model, we tested the longitudinal effects of social media use on social identification of international students with three target groups: (1) local home nationals, (2) host nationals, and (3) other international students. We also examined the longitudinal effect of identification with each of these groups on the psychological and sociocultural adaptation of international students. Below we discuss our results and their theoretical implications separately per target group.

Local home nationals

Poorer psychological adaptation predicted greater identification with the group of local home nationals. Contrary to our expectations, these results suggest that the negative association between identification with co-nationals (living in the home country) and psychological adaptation found in previous research (e.g., Lim and Pham, 2016 ; Hofhuis et al., 2019 ; Gibbs et al., 2020 ), might hold true for the group of local home nationals as well. Differently than previous cross-sectional studies, which place adaptation as an outcome, our findings suggest that this association may reflect a response to struggling with psychological adaptation. Similarly to Pekerti et al. (2020) , we argue that poor psychological adaptation, reflecting a struggle with the stressful aspects of intercultural transitions, may lead international students to seek their national in-group as a coping mechanism. This group, perhaps the most salient and obvious in-group ( Cachia and Maya-Jariego, 2018 ), is likely more available and easier to connect with than other groups present in the host country context; thus, students are likely to turn to the local home national in-group to fulfill their need for connectedness and belonging ( Ward et al., 2001 ; Collins, 2010 ), which might not be completely fulfilled by their social networks back home (e.g., Nguyen et al., 2021 ).

As we expected, social media targeted at the group of local home nationals had a positive lagged effect on the identification with this group. This finding goes in line with previous studies that have explored this relationship. For example, consuming social media related to local home nationals may reinforce the identification with this group by exchanging information that can only be interpreted with shared meaning, such as migration background or local language (e.g., C. Li and Tsai, 2015 ). Social media use with local home nationals may represent a way to buffer acculturative stress related to the loss of networks from the home country and provide bonding experiences in the host country context ( Sandel, 2014 ) that in turn increase the identification with this group. Furthermore, social media targeted at local home nationals may be perceived as trusted channels of information that reinforce home cultural values that are central to international students’ identity ( Vuong and Napier, 2015 ).

Although we did not contemplate a direct association between social media and adaptation variables in our hypotheses, previous literature showed that social ties and social media contact with local home nationals may hinder sociocultural adaptation in the long term (e.g., Geeraert et al., 2014 ; Rui and Wang, 2015 ). Surprisingly, our findings suggest that this might not be the only scenario. Specifically, in our sample, better sociocultural adaptation of international students preceded an increase in social media use targeted at local home nationals, suggesting that international students first needed to navigate and adapt in their host society in order to connect with their local national in-group. These results can be best understood when keeping in mind that sociocultural adaptation implies successfully navigating a new cultural milieu ( Ward and Szabó, 2019 ) which can help in accessing different social ties (e.g., Sakurai et al., 2010 ), including local home nationals.

Host nationals

Our main result regarding the group of host nationals is that social media use targeted at this group predicted poorer psychological adaptation of international students; no other lagged effects were found, which points to the possibility that host nationals might be the least accessible identity group (e.g., Ward et al., 2001 ; Ramos et al., 2016 ). Our findings reveal that, while social media use with host nationals may help reduce acculturative stress in some instances (e.g., Park et al., 2014 ; Cao et al., 2018 ; Li and Peng, 2019 ; Billedo et al., 2020 ; Pang, 2020 ), it may also hinder sojourner’s well-being in a longer term. On the one hand, the information accessed through social media use with host nationals might not correspond with the core values of international students, preventing them from practicing values that might help their adaptation ( Vuong and Napier, 2015 ). On the other hand, the findings might reflect the challenges faced by international students when using social media targeted at host nationals. For example, attempts to connect with host nationals via social media may trigger feelings of disconnect from the host national group, a decrease of perceived support from that group (e.g., Billedo et al., 2019 ), or simply result in confusion and misunderstandings due to language barriers. In other words, international students might experience greater challenges when trying to connect with host nationals ( Szabó et al., 2020 ), negatively affecting their well-being and psychological adaptation (e.g., Bethel et al., 2016 ; Taušová et al., 2019 ).

International students

Social identification with other international students predicted better psychological adaptation, and this, in turn, predicted better sociocultural adaptation; no lagged effects were found related to social media use targeted at this group. Our findings point to the importance of the international student group as one main resource to achieve cross-cultural adaptation. We argue that proximity and the sharing of experiences might allow for the benefits of social identification to take place during the acculturation experience ( Bierwiaczonek et al., 2017 ).

These findings go in line with previous research that emphasizes the importance of bonding experiences and friendships among the international student group during the sojourn ( Hendrickson et al., 2011 ; Beech, 2018 ; Quinton, 2020 ). International students share an experience that transcends different areas of their lives; they are in a new host country, move around similar contexts within and outside university walls and face similar academic and acculturating challenges. Thus, students may be motivated to actively look for the group of international students, as they represent a more immediate source of support (e.g., Beech, 2018 ; Pekerti et al., 2020 ; Shu et al., 2020 ), and enhance the feeling of belonging ( Kashima and Loh, 2006 ; Gomes et al., 2014 ; Schartner, 2015 ; Bierwiaczonek et al., 2017 ; Taušová et al., 2019 ).

In line with Taušová et al. (2019) , we believe that a comprehensive model of acculturation needs to consider the role of fellow sojourners for individual outcomes, as this appears to be one important group to share the experience of adaptation with. This is especially important in the case of international students, who usually embark on short-term mobility and move around in spaces that enhance the contact with other internationals (e.g., Fincher and Shaw, 2011 ; Williams and Johnson, 2011 ; Hendrickson, 2018 ); which may influence how open to other cultures they become ( Vuong and Napier, 2015 ) and their future life choices ( Nada and Legutko, 2022 ).

In this context, the lack of lagged effects of social media use targeted at other international students may be surprising. In our view, this lack may suggests that social media alone are not a sufficient means to significantly support the acculturation process (e.g., Damian and Van Ingen, 2014 ; Rui and Wang, 2015 ) or the process of building identification with other international students, and in-person experiences might actually be the decisive component. Therefore, future research could compare face to face contact and social media contact, to identify under what conditions social media may play a positive role in acculturation and cross-cultural adaptation of international students.

Limitations and future research

As any empirical study, this research bears some limitations. We observed a high dropout rate, however, this is common struggle of longitudinal research, and we accounted for it in the best way possible by using full information maximum likelihood. Another limitation of the present work is that data collection was based on self-reports. The scales in the study have been widely used in the field, which allows us to directly compare our findings to previous work. However, future research should also consider using divergent measures, such as behavioral data, when studying variables related to intercultural skills and adaptation ( Ward, 2022 ).

Considering this study’s longitudinal nature and the length of the questionnaire, several relevant variables describing social media use had to be omitted. For example, previous studies have found that the way sojourners communicate with different cultural groups is influenced by media richness (e.g., Lee and Katz, 2015 ; McKelvy and Chatterjee, 2017 ), and that the benefits of social media use for cross-cultural adaptation may depend on the individual’s active or passive social media use ( Pang, 2020 ). Furthermore, social media purposes and specific social media platforms can impact differently the acculturation process (e.g., Cao et al., 2018 ; Hu et al., 2018 , 2020 ). Thus, future research could longitudinally test these and other aspects of social media use for international students’ adaptation.

Practical implications

Our findings exemplify the importance of addressing the multicultural groups that are part of international students’ lives while abroad. Although the feeling of belonging to a group in the host country is of utmost importance for the well-being of international students, it seems that the benefits might arise when the group shares similar experiences. Therefore, practitioners and university staff involved in the process of student mobility should promote meaningful relationships among international students as they can be one important source of support. Furthermore, as our results show that social media use can have a negative impact on students’ well-being, we encourage university staff to promote a critical use of social media among the population of international students, especially when these media are targeted at host nationals. Recognizing that different groups can have different benefits or disadvantages might aid the cross-cultural adaptation process of international students.

The main aim of this longitudinal research was to explore how the different groups that are available to international students within the host country impact their cross-cultural adaptation, namely through social identification processes and social media use targeted at these groups. In sum, our findings show that identification processes with groups that share similar experiences are vital for the adaptation of international students, and that the benefits of social media during the acculturation process may depend on the different groups that are targeted through these channels. However, more longitudinal research on cross-cultural adaptation is needed to fully understand this dynamic process and the role that social media, a key ingredient of the contemporary study abroad experience, play in the adaptation and acculturation of international students.

Data availability statement

Ethics statement.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by ESHCC Ethics Review Committee, Erasmus University Rotterdam. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

LG-A collected part of the data, performed the statistical analyses, and wrote the paper. JH collected part of the data and co-wrote the paper. KB performed the statistical analyses and provided essential revisions to the paper. CC collected part of the data and provided essential revisions to the paper. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

The APC for this publication is supported by the University of Oslo. The data collection described in this paper was supported by a scholarship from the European Commission through the European Master in the Psychology of Global Mobility, Inclusion and Diversity in Society (G-MINDS) awarded to the first author.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1013375/full#supplementary-material

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How Harmful Is Social Media?

By Gideon Lewis-Kraus

In April, the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt published an essay in The Atlantic in which he sought to explain, as the piece’s title had it, “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid.” Anyone familiar with Haidt’s work in the past half decade could have anticipated his answer: social media. Although Haidt concedes that political polarization and factional enmity long predate the rise of the platforms, and that there are plenty of other factors involved, he believes that the tools of virality—Facebook’s Like and Share buttons, Twitter’s Retweet function—have algorithmically and irrevocably corroded public life. He has determined that a great historical discontinuity can be dated with some precision to the period between 2010 and 2014, when these features became widely available on phones.

“What changed in the 2010s?” Haidt asks, reminding his audience that a former Twitter developer had once compared the Retweet button to the provision of a four-year-old with a loaded weapon. “A mean tweet doesn’t kill anyone; it is an attempt to shame or punish someone publicly while broadcasting one’s own virtue, brilliance, or tribal loyalties. It’s more a dart than a bullet, causing pain but no fatalities. Even so, from 2009 to 2012, Facebook and Twitter passed out roughly a billion dart guns globally. We’ve been shooting one another ever since.” While the right has thrived on conspiracy-mongering and misinformation, the left has turned punitive: “When everyone was issued a dart gun in the early 2010s, many left-leaning institutions began shooting themselves in the brain. And, unfortunately, those were the brains that inform, instruct, and entertain most of the country.” Haidt’s prevailing metaphor of thoroughgoing fragmentation is the story of the Tower of Babel: the rise of social media has “unwittingly dissolved the mortar of trust, belief in institutions, and shared stories that had held a large and diverse secular democracy together.”

These are, needless to say, common concerns. Chief among Haidt’s worries is that use of social media has left us particularly vulnerable to confirmation bias, or the propensity to fix upon evidence that shores up our prior beliefs. Haidt acknowledges that the extant literature on social media’s effects is large and complex, and that there is something in it for everyone. On January 6, 2021, he was on the phone with Chris Bail, a sociologist at Duke and the author of the recent book “ Breaking the Social Media Prism ,” when Bail urged him to turn on the television. Two weeks later, Haidt wrote to Bail, expressing his frustration at the way Facebook officials consistently cited the same handful of studies in their defense. He suggested that the two of them collaborate on a comprehensive literature review that they could share, as a Google Doc, with other researchers. (Haidt had experimented with such a model before.) Bail was cautious. He told me, “What I said to him was, ‘Well, you know, I’m not sure the research is going to bear out your version of the story,’ and he said, ‘Why don’t we see?’ ”

Bail emphasized that he is not a “platform-basher.” He added, “In my book, my main take is, Yes, the platforms play a role, but we are greatly exaggerating what it’s possible for them to do—how much they could change things no matter who’s at the helm at these companies—and we’re profoundly underestimating the human element, the motivation of users.” He found Haidt’s idea of a Google Doc appealing, in the way that it would produce a kind of living document that existed “somewhere between scholarship and public writing.” Haidt was eager for a forum to test his ideas. “I decided that if I was going to be writing about this—what changed in the universe, around 2014, when things got weird on campus and elsewhere—once again, I’d better be confident I’m right,” he said. “I can’t just go off my feelings and my readings of the biased literature. We all suffer from confirmation bias, and the only cure is other people who don’t share your own.”

Haidt and Bail, along with a research assistant, populated the document over the course of several weeks last year, and in November they invited about two dozen scholars to contribute. Haidt told me, of the difficulties of social-scientific methodology, “When you first approach a question, you don’t even know what it is. ‘Is social media destroying democracy, yes or no?’ That’s not a good question. You can’t answer that question. So what can you ask and answer?” As the document took on a life of its own, tractable rubrics emerged—Does social media make people angrier or more affectively polarized? Does it create political echo chambers? Does it increase the probability of violence? Does it enable foreign governments to increase political dysfunction in the United States and other democracies? Haidt continued, “It’s only after you break it up into lots of answerable questions that you see where the complexity lies.”

Haidt came away with the sense, on balance, that social media was in fact pretty bad. He was disappointed, but not surprised, that Facebook’s response to his article relied on the same three studies they’ve been reciting for years. “This is something you see with breakfast cereals,” he said, noting that a cereal company “might say, ‘Did you know we have twenty-five per cent more riboflavin than the leading brand?’ They’ll point to features where the evidence is in their favor, which distracts you from the over-all fact that your cereal tastes worse and is less healthy.”

After Haidt’s piece was published, the Google Doc—“Social Media and Political Dysfunction: A Collaborative Review”—was made available to the public . Comments piled up, and a new section was added, at the end, to include a miscellany of Twitter threads and Substack essays that appeared in response to Haidt’s interpretation of the evidence. Some colleagues and kibbitzers agreed with Haidt. But others, though they might have shared his basic intuition that something in our experience of social media was amiss, drew upon the same data set to reach less definitive conclusions, or even mildly contradictory ones. Even after the initial flurry of responses to Haidt’s article disappeared into social-media memory, the document, insofar as it captured the state of the social-media debate, remained a lively artifact.

Near the end of the collaborative project’s introduction, the authors warn, “We caution readers not to simply add up the number of studies on each side and declare one side the winner.” The document runs to more than a hundred and fifty pages, and for each question there are affirmative and dissenting studies, as well as some that indicate mixed results. According to one paper, “Political expressions on social media and the online forum were found to (a) reinforce the expressers’ partisan thought process and (b) harden their pre-existing political preferences,” but, according to another, which used data collected during the 2016 election, “Over the course of the campaign, we found media use and attitudes remained relatively stable. Our results also showed that Facebook news use was related to modest over-time spiral of depolarization. Furthermore, we found that people who use Facebook for news were more likely to view both pro- and counter-attitudinal news in each wave. Our results indicated that counter-attitudinal exposure increased over time, which resulted in depolarization.” If results like these seem incompatible, a perplexed reader is given recourse to a study that says, “Our findings indicate that political polarization on social media cannot be conceptualized as a unified phenomenon, as there are significant cross-platform differences.”

Interested in echo chambers? “Our results show that the aggregation of users in homophilic clusters dominate online interactions on Facebook and Twitter,” which seems convincing—except that, as another team has it, “We do not find evidence supporting a strong characterization of ‘echo chambers’ in which the majority of people’s sources of news are mutually exclusive and from opposite poles.” By the end of the file, the vaguely patronizing top-line recommendation against simple summation begins to make more sense. A document that originated as a bulwark against confirmation bias could, as it turned out, just as easily function as a kind of generative device to support anybody’s pet conviction. The only sane response, it seemed, was simply to throw one’s hands in the air.

When I spoke to some of the researchers whose work had been included, I found a combination of broad, visceral unease with the current situation—with the banefulness of harassment and trolling; with the opacity of the platforms; with, well, the widespread presentiment that of course social media is in many ways bad—and a contrastive sense that it might not be catastrophically bad in some of the specific ways that many of us have come to take for granted as true. This was not mere contrarianism, and there was no trace of gleeful mythbusting; the issue was important enough to get right. When I told Bail that the upshot seemed to me to be that exactly nothing was unambiguously clear, he suggested that there was at least some firm ground. He sounded a bit less apocalyptic than Haidt.

“A lot of the stories out there are just wrong,” he told me. “The political echo chamber has been massively overstated. Maybe it’s three to five per cent of people who are properly in an echo chamber.” Echo chambers, as hotboxes of confirmation bias, are counterproductive for democracy. But research indicates that most of us are actually exposed to a wider range of views on social media than we are in real life, where our social networks—in the original use of the term—are rarely heterogeneous. (Haidt told me that this was an issue on which the Google Doc changed his mind; he became convinced that echo chambers probably aren’t as widespread a problem as he’d once imagined.) And too much of a focus on our intuitions about social media’s echo-chamber effect could obscure the relevant counterfactual: a conservative might abandon Twitter only to watch more Fox News. “Stepping outside your echo chamber is supposed to make you moderate, but maybe it makes you more extreme,” Bail said. The research is inchoate and ongoing, and it’s difficult to say anything on the topic with absolute certainty. But this was, in part, Bail’s point: we ought to be less sure about the particular impacts of social media.

Bail went on, “The second story is foreign misinformation.” It’s not that misinformation doesn’t exist, or that it hasn’t had indirect effects, especially when it creates perverse incentives for the mainstream media to cover stories circulating online. Haidt also draws convincingly upon the work of Renée DiResta, the research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, to sketch out a potential future in which the work of shitposting has been outsourced to artificial intelligence, further polluting the informational environment. But, at least so far, very few Americans seem to suffer from consistent exposure to fake news—“probably less than two per cent of Twitter users, maybe fewer now, and for those who were it didn’t change their opinions,” Bail said. This was probably because the people likeliest to consume such spectacles were the sort of people primed to believe them in the first place. “In fact,” he said, “echo chambers might have done something to quarantine that misinformation.”

The final story that Bail wanted to discuss was the “proverbial rabbit hole, the path to algorithmic radicalization,” by which YouTube might serve a viewer increasingly extreme videos. There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that this does happen, at least on occasion, and such anecdotes are alarming to hear. But a new working paper led by Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth, found that almost all extremist content is either consumed by subscribers to the relevant channels—a sign of actual demand rather than manipulation or preference falsification—or encountered via links from external sites. It’s easy to see why we might prefer if this were not the case: algorithmic radicalization is presumably a simpler problem to solve than the fact that there are people who deliberately seek out vile content. “These are the three stories—echo chambers, foreign influence campaigns, and radicalizing recommendation algorithms—but, when you look at the literature, they’ve all been overstated.” He thought that these findings were crucial for us to assimilate, if only to help us understand that our problems may lie beyond technocratic tinkering. He explained, “Part of my interest in getting this research out there is to demonstrate that everybody is waiting for an Elon Musk to ride in and save us with an algorithm”—or, presumably, the reverse—“and it’s just not going to happen.”

When I spoke with Nyhan, he told me much the same thing: “The most credible research is way out of line with the takes.” He noted, of extremist content and misinformation, that reliable research that “measures exposure to these things finds that the people consuming this content are small minorities who have extreme views already.” The problem with the bulk of the earlier research, Nyhan told me, is that it’s almost all correlational. “Many of these studies will find polarization on social media,” he said. “But that might just be the society we live in reflected on social media!” He hastened to add, “Not that this is untroubling, and none of this is to let these companies, which are exercising a lot of power with very little scrutiny, off the hook. But a lot of the criticisms of them are very poorly founded. . . . The expansion of Internet access coincides with fifteen other trends over time, and separating them is very difficult. The lack of good data is a huge problem insofar as it lets people project their own fears into this area.” He told me, “It’s hard to weigh in on the side of ‘We don’t know, the evidence is weak,’ because those points are always going to be drowned out in our discourse. But these arguments are systematically underprovided in the public domain.”

In his Atlantic article, Haidt leans on a working paper by two social scientists, Philipp Lorenz-Spreen and Lisa Oswald, who took on a comprehensive meta-analysis of about five hundred papers and concluded that “the large majority of reported associations between digital media use and trust appear to be detrimental for democracy.” Haidt writes, “The literature is complex—some studies show benefits, particularly in less developed democracies—but the review found that, on balance, social media amplifies political polarization; foments populism, especially right-wing populism; and is associated with the spread of misinformation.” Nyhan was less convinced that the meta-analysis supported such categorical verdicts, especially once you bracketed the kinds of correlational findings that might simply mirror social and political dynamics. He told me, “If you look at their summary of studies that allow for causal inferences—it’s very mixed.”

As for the studies Nyhan considered most methodologically sound, he pointed to a 2020 article called “The Welfare Effects of Social Media,” by Hunt Allcott, Luca Braghieri, Sarah Eichmeyer, and Matthew Gentzkow. For four weeks prior to the 2018 midterm elections, the authors randomly divided a group of volunteers into two cohorts—one that continued to use Facebook as usual, and another that was paid to deactivate their accounts for that period. They found that deactivation “(i) reduced online activity, while increasing offline activities such as watching TV alone and socializing with family and friends; (ii) reduced both factual news knowledge and political polarization; (iii) increased subjective well-being; and (iv) caused a large persistent reduction in post-experiment Facebook use.” But Gentzkow reminded me that his conclusions, including that Facebook may slightly increase polarization, had to be heavily qualified: “From other kinds of evidence, I think there’s reason to think social media is not the main driver of increasing polarization over the long haul in the United States.”

In the book “ Why We’re Polarized ,” for example, Ezra Klein invokes the work of such scholars as Lilliana Mason to argue that the roots of polarization might be found in, among other factors, the political realignment and nationalization that began in the sixties, and were then sacralized, on the right, by the rise of talk radio and cable news. These dynamics have served to flatten our political identities, weakening our ability or inclination to find compromise. Insofar as some forms of social media encourage the hardening of connections between our identities and a narrow set of opinions, we might increasingly self-select into mutually incomprehensible and hostile groups; Haidt plausibly suggests that these processes are accelerated by the coalescence of social-media tribes around figures of fearful online charisma. “Social media might be more of an amplifier of other things going on rather than a major driver independently,” Gentzkow argued. “I think it takes some gymnastics to tell a story where it’s all primarily driven by social media, especially when you’re looking at different countries, and across different groups.”

Another study, led by Nejla Asimovic and Joshua Tucker, replicated Gentzkow’s approach in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they found almost precisely the opposite results: the people who stayed on Facebook were, by the end of the study, more positively disposed to their historic out-groups. The authors’ interpretation was that ethnic groups have so little contact in Bosnia that, for some people, social media is essentially the only place where they can form positive images of one another. “To have a replication and have the signs flip like that, it’s pretty stunning,” Bail told me. “It’s a different conversation in every part of the world.”

Nyhan argued that, at least in wealthy Western countries, we might be too heavily discounting the degree to which platforms have responded to criticism: “Everyone is still operating under the view that algorithms simply maximize engagement in a short-term way” with minimal attention to potential externalities. “That might’ve been true when Zuckerberg had seven people working for him, but there are a lot of considerations that go into these rankings now.” He added, “There’s some evidence that, with reverse-chronological feeds”—streams of unwashed content, which some critics argue are less manipulative than algorithmic curation—“people get exposed to more low-quality content, so it’s another case where a very simple notion of ‘algorithms are bad’ doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. It doesn’t mean they’re good, it’s just that we don’t know.”

Bail told me that, over all, he was less confident than Haidt that the available evidence lines up clearly against the platforms. “Maybe there’s a slight majority of studies that say that social media is a net negative, at least in the West, and maybe it’s doing some good in the rest of the world.” But, he noted, “Jon will say that science has this expectation of rigor that can’t keep up with the need in the real world—that even if we don’t have the definitive study that creates the historical counterfactual that Facebook is largely responsible for polarization in the U.S., there’s still a lot pointing in that direction, and I think that’s a fair point.” He paused. “It can’t all be randomized control trials.”

Haidt comes across in conversation as searching and sincere, and, during our exchange, he paused several times to suggest that I include a quote from John Stuart Mill on the importance of good-faith debate to moral progress. In that spirit, I asked him what he thought of the argument, elaborated by some of Haidt’s critics, that the problems he described are fundamentally political, social, and economic, and that to blame social media is to search for lost keys under the streetlamp, where the light is better. He agreed that this was the steelman opponent: there were predecessors for cancel culture in de Tocqueville, and anxiety about new media that went back to the time of the printing press. “This is a perfectly reasonable hypothesis, and it’s absolutely up to the prosecution—people like me—to argue that, no, this time it’s different. But it’s a civil case! The evidential standard is not ‘beyond a reasonable doubt,’ as in a criminal case. It’s just a preponderance of the evidence.”

The way scholars weigh the testimony is subject to their disciplinary orientations. Economists and political scientists tend to believe that you can’t even begin to talk about causal dynamics without a randomized controlled trial, whereas sociologists and psychologists are more comfortable drawing inferences on a correlational basis. Haidt believes that conditions are too dire to take the hardheaded, no-reasonable-doubt view. “The preponderance of the evidence is what we use in public health. If there’s an epidemic—when COVID started, suppose all the scientists had said, ‘No, we gotta be so certain before you do anything’? We have to think about what’s actually happening, what’s likeliest to pay off.” He continued, “We have the largest epidemic ever of teen mental health, and there is no other explanation,” he said. “It is a raging public-health epidemic, and the kids themselves say Instagram did it, and we have some evidence, so is it appropriate to say, ‘Nah, you haven’t proven it’?”

This was his attitude across the board. He argued that social media seemed to aggrandize inflammatory posts and to be correlated with a rise in violence; even if only small groups were exposed to fake news, such beliefs might still proliferate in ways that were hard to measure. “In the post-Babel era, what matters is not the average but the dynamics, the contagion, the exponential amplification,” he said. “Small things can grow very quickly, so arguments that Russian disinformation didn’t matter are like COVID arguments that people coming in from China didn’t have contact with a lot of people.” Given the transformative effects of social media, Haidt insisted, it was important to act now, even in the absence of dispositive evidence. “Academic debates play out over decades and are often never resolved, whereas the social-media environment changes year by year,” he said. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting around five or ten years for literature reviews.”

Haidt could be accused of question-begging—of assuming the existence of a crisis that the research might or might not ultimately underwrite. Still, the gap between the two sides in this case might not be quite as wide as Haidt thinks. Skeptics of his strongest claims are not saying that there’s no there there. Just because the average YouTube user is unlikely to be led to Stormfront videos, Nyhan told me, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t worry that some people are watching Stormfront videos; just because echo chambers and foreign misinformation seem to have had effects only at the margins, Gentzkow said, doesn’t mean they’re entirely irrelevant. “There are many questions here where the thing we as researchers are interested in is how social media affects the average person,” Gentzkow told me. “There’s a different set of questions where all you need is a small number of people to change—questions about ethnic violence in Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, people on YouTube mobilized to do mass shootings. Much of the evidence broadly makes me skeptical that the average effects are as big as the public discussion thinks they are, but I also think there are cases where a small number of people with very extreme views are able to find each other and connect and act.” He added, “That’s where many of the things I’d be most concerned about lie.”

The same might be said about any phenomenon where the base rate is very low but the stakes are very high, such as teen suicide. “It’s another case where those rare edge cases in terms of total social harm may be enormous. You don’t need many teen-age kids to decide to kill themselves or have serious mental-health outcomes in order for the social harm to be really big.” He added, “Almost none of this work is able to get at those edge-case effects, and we have to be careful that if we do establish that the average effect of something is zero, or small, that it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be worried about it—because we might be missing those extremes.” Jaime Settle, a scholar of political behavior at the College of William & Mary and the author of the book “ Frenemies: How Social Media Polarizes America ,” noted that Haidt is “farther along the spectrum of what most academics who study this stuff are going to say we have strong evidence for.” But she understood his impulse: “We do have serious problems, and I’m glad Jon wrote the piece, and down the road I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a fuller handle on the role of social media in all of this—there are definitely ways in which social media has changed our politics for the worse.”

It’s tempting to sidestep the question of diagnosis entirely, and to evaluate Haidt’s essay not on the basis of predictive accuracy—whether social media will lead to the destruction of American democracy—but as a set of proposals for what we might do better. If he is wrong, how much damage are his prescriptions likely to do? Haidt, to his great credit, does not indulge in any wishful thinking, and if his diagnosis is largely technological his prescriptions are sociopolitical. Two of his three major suggestions seem useful and have nothing to do with social media: he thinks that we should end closed primaries and that children should be given wide latitude for unsupervised play. His recommendations for social-media reform are, for the most part, uncontroversial: he believes that preteens shouldn’t be on Instagram and that platforms should share their data with outside researchers—proposals that are both likely to be beneficial and not very costly.

It remains possible, however, that the true costs of social-media anxieties are harder to tabulate. Gentzkow told me that, for the period between 2016 and 2020, the direct effects of misinformation were difficult to discern. “But it might have had a much larger effect because we got so worried about it—a broader impact on trust,” he said. “Even if not that many people were exposed, the narrative that the world is full of fake news, and you can’t trust anything, and other people are being misled about it—well, that might have had a bigger impact than the content itself.” Nyhan had a similar reaction. “There are genuine questions that are really important, but there’s a kind of opportunity cost that is missed here. There’s so much focus on sweeping claims that aren’t actionable, or unfounded claims we can contradict with data, that are crowding out the harms we can demonstrate, and the things we can test, that could make social media better.” He added, “We’re years into this, and we’re still having an uninformed conversation about social media. It’s totally wild.”

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Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences , 2024, 7(2); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070239 .

Research on Impact of Social Media on Cultural Adaptation among International Students

Kexi Chen, Guangxin Gu

School of Journalism and Communication, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China

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In response to the surge in globalization and the thriving higher education market since the 1970s, studying abroad has become an increasingly preferred choice. The global population of international students has witnessed a significant rise, with notable challenges faced by students, as highlighted in Chen's (2004) study on Chinese students in the 1990s heading to the United States. These challenges included difficulties in forming meaningful social connections with locals, hindering their integration into American society. The study explores the evolution of individuals' social media usage patterns when relocating to a new cultural milieu and its role in facilitating cultural adaptation among international students. Amid rapid transformations in today's media landscape, social media emerges as a central tool for information seeking, personal and emotional aspects, as well as professional endeavors. The paper delves into the intricate relationship between social media and cultural adaptation, investigating its impact on genuine relationships and its significance in the cultural assimilation of international students. Through a qualitative research design, the study utilizes in-depth interviews with Chinese and international students to unravel the complexities of social media's role in connecting, participating, and fostering emotional connections in the acculturation process. The findings shed light on the nuanced ways in which social media influences the lives of international students and its implications for their cultural integration.

Social Media; Cultural Adaptation; Uses and Gratifications Theory

Cite This Paper

Kexi Chen, Guangxin Gu. Research on Impact of Social Media on Cultural Adaptation among International Students. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2024) Vol. 7, Issue 2: 273-278. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070239.

[1] Berry, J.W., Poortinga, Y.H., Segall, M.H., Dasen, P.R., (1992). Cross-cultural Psychology. Cambridge University Press. 

[2] Chen, X. M. (2004). Sojourners and “foreigners”: A study of cross-cultural interpersonal communication among Chinese students in the United States. Education Science Press.

[3] Dwumah Manu, B., Ying, F., Oduro, D., Antwi, J., & Yakubu Adjuik, R. (2023). The impact of social media use on student engagement and acculturative stress among international students in China. Plos one, 18(4), e0284185.

[4] Guo, J., & Gao, R. (2023). How Many Days Always Facing the Screen “Listening” to Classes—A Communication Study of “Non-Academic” Behavior in Online Courses. Journalist, (03), 71-81. doi:10.16057/j.cnki.31-1171/g2.2023.03.009.

[5] Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Utilization of mass communication by the individual. In J. G. Blumler & E. Katz (Eds.), The Uses of Mass Communications: Current Perspectives on Gratifications Research (pp. 19–32). Sage.

[6] Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., yi Lin, L., Rosen, D., ... & Miller, E. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the US. American journal of preventive medicine, 53(1), 1-8.

[7] Steptoe, A., Shankar, A., Demakakos, P., & Wardle, J. (2013). Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(15), 5797-5801.

The Often Overlooked Positive Side of Social Media

What healthy tech use actually looks like..

Updated May 16, 2024 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

• Young Americans flourish digitally, feeling connected and benefiting from positive social comparison.
• Social comparison online can inspire well-being, especially with similar peers and inspiring content.
• Social media can strengthen teen friendships and support, enhanced by parental involvement and digital skills.

Yes, social media poses many challenges. They are designed to keep us hooked and release the neurotransmitter dopamine that makes us spend way more time on it then we intended to. And yes, specifically for young female adolescents, image-based platforms can significantly impact body image and self-esteem . But , social media can also lead to digital flourishing, inspiration, feelings of loving connection and social support.

Do these positive effects make up for all the negative ones? Probably not. But, thinking about the problems from a solution-oriented, positive framework can broaden the ways in which we can think about solving such issues. That is, in addition to pushing for phone-free schools and norms to push the age limit for social media use to 16 years, as proposed in Jonathan Haidt’s new book The Anxious Generation, we can think about what healthy and nourishing technology looks like that fosters well-being, resilience , and character strengths in young adults. We need to know what “healthy” tech use actually looks like to foster it.

My research is based on the framework of positive psychology, which explores ways in which we can live our best lives, rather than lives in the absence of illness. Over the past 10 years, I have explored ways in which media in general, as well as new media such as social media and computer-mediated communication, can lead to happiness and fulfillment for ourselves as well as prosociality and greater connectedness to others.

Here are three key insights from positive media psychology:

1. Young Americans do digitally flourish. With a sample representative of the American population, my recent research revealed that younger individuals (18-34) perceive themselves to flourish digitally more than older individuals, even when controlling for the amount of time spent communicating online in general. Young adults specifically indicated feeling more connected when communicating digitally and engaged in positive social comparison more so than older adults. The latter finding specifically speaks against a lot of earlier research, and press releases for that matter, that showcase the detriments of online social comparison for well-being. But, if we look closely, more recent evidence accumulates that indicates positive well-being effects from social comparison processes online.

2. Social comparison online can lead to inspiration and positive well-being effects. A recent review on the role of social comparison on social media from one of my colleagues from the University of Nuremberg shows that social comparison can lead to well-being for specific people under specific conditions. For example, one of my own studies showed that when college students share inspiring content on Facebook with others, over time, they feel more love and compassion toward others. In another study , we found that inspiring social media and online video use, but not overall time spent on social media, was positively related to everyday experiences of gratitude , awe , vitality and prosocial motivations and behaviors. Similarly, research from Sheffield Institute in the U.K. further shows that social comparison on Instagram is more likely to lead to inspiration when adolescents compare themselves to similar others instead of unachievable influencers. Thus, one of the conditions for whether social comparison may lead to positive or negative effects also stems from the content we consume and the people we follow. So, let’s keep in mind: social comparison is not always bad and young adults do experience inspiration online that is oftentimes overlooked.

3. Social media strengthens teens' friendships more so than it harms them. We are living in a digitized world. And while us old millennials picked up the home phone to talk to our friends for hours in our room, today teens do this on their mobile device. In a Pew Research study from 2022 that surveyed U.S. teens 13-17 years of age, 80% of teens say that social media makes them more connected to what’s going on in their friend’s life, 71% say they have a place where they can show their creative side, and 67% say they like that they have people on social media who can support them through tough times. Moreover, a teenager's mindset matters . The Pew study also revealed that those who believe social media has a general positive effect on their peers also experience more positive personal experiences than those that believe social media has an overall negative effect on their peers. Such a positive outlook on technology can be influenced by a multitude of factors, but specifically for young teenagers , parents play an active role in their kids' digital lives. In fact, parental involvement can be the deciding factor whether a teen digitally flourishes or not. In a study I co-authored that was just published last month, in April 2024, in the Journal of Child Development , we tracked adolescents’ (11-21 years of age, average age 15) digital flourishing for a year and found that for half of the sample their digital flourishing score was high to begin with and remained mostly stable over time (with slight increases in positive social comparison). For the other half of the sample, digital flourishing was lower to begin with and specifically self-control decreased over time. What differentiated the two groups was that the first, highly flourishing group, had parents with high digital skills and a keen investment into their teenager’s tech live.

Don’t get me wrong. I am no denier of the problems that social media brings and I'm all for new COPPA2.0 regulations and other initiatives put forth by admirable institutions such as The Center for Humane Technology and the Digital Wellness Institute. But when we approach these problems from a positive psychology perspective, we might discover resources and strength in the consumer and tech platforms themselves that we can leverage to avoid or lessen the harm and promote thriving.

Sophie H. Janicke-Bowles, Ph.D., is a positive media psychologist working as an Associate Professor at Chapman University in California.

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Why TikTok Users Are Blocking Celebrities

A TikTok movement is calling for followers to block famous people over their stances on the Israel-Hamas war. It began at the Met Gala.

By Elizabeth Paton

As protests over the war in Gaza unfolded blocks away, last week’s Met Gala was largely devoid of political statements on the red carpet. That the organizers of fashion’s most powerful annual spectacle (one for which tickets cost $75,000 this year ) achieved this feat proved surprising to many observers . Less than two weeks later, though, a fast-growing online protest movement is taking shape. At least, it is on TikTok, the social media platform that was a sponsor of the Met event.

Blockout 2024, also referred to as Operation Blockout or Celebrity Block Party, targets high-profile figures who participants feel are not using their profiles and platforms to speak out about the Israel-Hamas war and wider humanitarian crises. Here’s what has happened so far, what supporters hope to achieve and why it all began.

How did it start?

The criticism began on May 6, when Haley Kalil ( @haleyybaylee on social media ), an influencer who was a host on E! News before the event, posted a TikTok video of herself wearing a lavish 18th-century-style floral gown and headdress with audio from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film “Marie Antoinette,” in which Kirsten Dunst proclaims, “Let them eat cake!”

The clip (for which Ms. Kalil later apologized and which was deleted) was viewed widely. Given the current global conflicts and humanitarian crises, critics described it as “tone deaf.” Then posts emerged comparing ostentatious costumes worn by celebrities on the Met red carpet to scenes from “The Hunger Games,” in which affluent citizens in opulent outfits wine and dine while watching the suffering of the impoverished districts for sport.

Images of Zendaya, a Met Gala co-chair, spliced with photographs of Palestinian children , incited the online masses. A rallying cry soon came from @ladyfromtheoutside , a TikTok creator who found inspiration in Ms. Kalil’s parroting of Marie Antoinette.

“It’s time for the people to conduct what I want to call a digital guillotine — a ‘digitine,’ if you will,” she said in a May 8 video post with two million views . “It’s time to block all the celebrities, influencers and wealthy socialites who are not using their resources to help those in dire need. We gave them their platforms. It’s time to take it back, take our views away, our likes, our comments, our money.”

“Block lists” of celebrities thought to be deserving of being blocked were published and widely shared online.

What do the social-media protesters want?

The movement is made up of pro-Palestinian supporters who have been assessing the actions and words of A-listers in order to decide if they have adequately responded to the conflict. If they have said nothing or not enough, the movement calls for those supporting Gaza to block that celebrity on social media. What constitutes sufficient action by the famous person — be it calls for a cease-fire, donations to aid charities or statements — appears unclear and can vary from celebrity to celebrity.

What is the point of blocking celebrities?

“Blockout” supporters argue that blocking is important because brands look at data on the followers and engagement of influencers and celebrities on social media before choosing whether to work with them to promote a product. Blocking someone on social media means you no longer see any posts from the person’s accounts, and it gives the blocker more control over who has access to their own updates and personal information. It can have more impact than unfollowing a celebrity account because many product deals thrive on targeted ads and views that can accumulate even if a user simply sees a post, without liking or sharing it.

If enough people block a content creator, it could reduce the creator’s ability to make money . Also, adherents of this thinking say, why follow someone whose values don’t align with yours?

Who are the key targets?

Attendees with huge followings, like Zendaya, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, have been at the top of the chopping blocks. But so have celebrities who didn’t attend the gala this year, including Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez.

Vogue, which according to Puck News published 570 Met Gala stories on its platforms and recorded more than a billion video views of content from the night, has also been targeted because of its ties to the event.

“The Met Gala is by far and away Vogue’s biggest cash cow,” Elaina Bell, a former Vogue employee, said in a TikTok post with 850,000 views . She explained that the event sold sponsorships “based on the data of past events,” adding, “How the Met Gala is seen is so important to the bottom line of Vogue specifically but also to Condé Nast.”

And wasn’t there some ballyhoo about the theme?

It certainly raised some eyebrows. The dress code was “The Garden of Time,” inspired by the J.G. Ballard short story of the same name. It’s an allegorical tale about an aristocratic couple isolated in their estate of fading beauty harassed by an enormous crowd preparing to overrun and destroy the space. Rather on the nose.

Are there critics of the movement?

Yes. Some posts say the blockout is a negative example of “ cancel culture .” Others suggest that, like other social media-led movements , it is digital posturing that generates little meaningful change.

Some argue that celebrities do not have a duty (or the awareness) to speak out on complicated geopolitical issues, and they question why it matters what famous people think about those issues, anyway. Others feel the movement has blurred parameters, given that some A-listers, like Jennifer Lopez and Billie Eilish, have previously shown support for a cease-fire in Gaza but are being punished for not speaking up now.

So what has come out of it so far?

Several stars on the widely circulated block lists, including Lizzo and the influencer Chris Olsen , posted their first public videos asking followers to donate in support of aid organizations serving Palestinians. Blockout supporters have also worked to “boost” celebrities who have recently spoken about the conflict, like Macklemore, Dua Lipa and The Weeknd.

According to metrics from the analytics company Social Blade, many names on block lists have lost tens or hundreds of thousand of followers per day since the “digitine” began. But murky claims that stars like Kim Kardashian have lost millions of followers are unsubstantiated.

What happens now?

Will more A-listers start speaking out on the red carpet as a result of the lists? It is too soon to tell. But for frequent users of TikTok, the brand aura of the Met Gala is being profoundly altered. And while social-media-led boycotts are by no means unprecedented, this latest movement is a clear example of the growing power of creators to redistribute or even weaponize ​platforms that are cornerstones of a modern celebrity-centric — and capitalist — system.

Elizabeth Paton reports on the global fashion industry for The Times, a topic she has covered for more than a decade. She is based in London. More about Elizabeth Paton

The Rise of TikTok

News and Analysis

In an attempt to rein in the amount of weight loss posts , TikTok said it will work to remove content about drugs like Ozempic, extended fasting and more from the “For You” feed.

A bill that would force a sale of TikTok  by its Chinese owner, ByteDance — or ban it outright — was passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Biden. Here’s why the U.S. is forcing the social media platform to be sold or banned .

ByteDance owns both TikTok and Douyin, and although TikTok has more users around the world, Douyin is the company’s cash cow and a China mainstay. So what is Douyin ?

A food editor documents the high, the low and the mid from a week’s worth  of influencer restaurant suggestions on TikTok.

At a time of heightened confusion and legal battles over access to abortion, women are turning to the social media platform to talk about their abortions  and look for answers.

Has there ever been an app more American seeming than TikTok, with its messy democratic creativity, exhibitionism, utter lack of limits and vast variety of hustlers? Here’s how the platform has changed America .

The Linkage Between Digital Transformation and Organizational Culture: Novel Machine Learning Literature Review Based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation

• Open access
• Published: 21 May 2024

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• Tobias Reisberger   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0003-0190-7368 1 ,
• Philip Reisberger   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0004-4678-4151 1 ,
• Lukáš Copuš   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9502-830X 1 ,
• Peter Madzík   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1655-6500 1 &
• Lukáš Falát   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2597-7059 2  

Organizational culture is a crucial component of innovation in company success, particularly in the setting of the information economy. The purpose of this research is to conduct a bibliometric analysis in order to identify dominant research topics, their potential shifts, and recent developments in the fields of organizational culture and digital transformation. It demonstrates a machine learning–supported method for identifying and segmenting the current state of this research field. The literature was identified from the Scopus database through a search query. The analyzed amount of papers (3065) was published in 1619 sources (journals, proceedings, books, etc.) with various research impacts. Identifying the dominant research topics resulted in eight topics: Social Media Connectivity; Digital Innovation Ecosystems; Socio-economic Sustainability; Digital Workforce Transformation; Digital Competence and Cultural Transformation; Knowledge, Culture, and Innovation; Data and Resource Management; and Digital Transformation Maturity. The results showed a shift in the research field on organizational culture related to digital transformation towards the subject area of business, management, and accounting, with increasing research interest and impact for the Digital Workforce Transformation as well as for the Knowledge, Culture, and Innovation topics.

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Introduction

In recent years, the world has gone through many events that have changed how we live, relax, work, or communicate. These changes are still resonating in the business environment, for example, in the transition to partial or complete work from home and bring several challenges that organizations have to deal with (Yang et al., 2023 ). One of the crucial areas is the socialization of employees and the formation and maintenance of organizational values expressed by the organizational culture (Noto et al., 2023 ).

Organizational culture has been well-researched since the early 1980s (O’Reilly et al., 1991 ; Schein, 1985 ). The focus originated in American-based qualitative studies and shifted over time towards a more international perspective (Cameron & Quinn, 1999 ; Denison & Mishra, 1995 ; Hofstede, 1998 ), as well as adopting a more quantitative viewpoint with many published papers (O’Reilly et al., 2014 ). Several different areas of organizational culture have already been analyzed, including performance, motivation, leadership, and innovation, among many others (Affes & Affes, 2022 ; Aasi & Rusu, 2017 ; Abu Bakar et al., 2021 ). One of the up-to-date research areas is the topic of digitalization.

The advent of automation and digitalization and the resulting digital transformation in recent history have significantly impacted many markets and organizations and influenced the behaviors and expectations of customers. Digital transformation is driven by several external factors, including the rapid growth and adoption of new technologies that foster e-commerce, big data, a changing competitive landscape, and altered consumption behavior, driven by better-informed, connected, and more empowered customers (Verhoef et al., 2021 ). It provides many challenges and opportunities, including relevant impacts on organizational culture (Alloghani et al., 2022 ). In recent years, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant influence on organizational culture (Daum & Maraist, 2021 ; Spicer, 2020 ).

Even before the pandemic, the fast development of digital technologies, including automation, smart technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and robots, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is radically altering the nature of work and of organizations (Nimawat & Gidwani, 2021 ). The combination of technological advancements was coined as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 by Klaus Schwab in late 2015 (Schwab, 2015 ). The speed and scope of current technological changes are prompting concerns about the extent to which new technologies will fundamentally alter organizational cultures, workplaces, or completely replace workers (Acemoglu & Autor, 2011 ; Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2014 ; Frey & Osborne, 2017 ).

These Industry 4.0 developments and an agile workforce are all components of a global digital transformation that changed the workplace dynamics and led to significant changes in organizations and employee behavior. Due to the unexpected interruption brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, working from anywhere has become the new standard for millions of people worldwide (Özkazanç-Pan & Pullen, 2020 ).

The combination of these two driving forces will have a lasting effect on the formation and effectiveness of organizational culture in the future (Kniffin et al., 2021 ; Trenerry et al., 2021 ). However, the number and range of publications in recent years on organizational culture, digital transformation, Industry 4.0, and COVID-19 make it necessary to provide a structured overview of the published literature.

Firstly, this paper shall give an overview of the research being conducted on organizational culture and digital transformation and identify the main research areas, authors and journals. The methods utilized are outlined, along with the applied bibliometric tools. Secondly, this paper aims to provide an overview of the status quo of research by identifying the different research clusters with its critical analysis.

Literature Review

Research on organizational culture and digital transformation.

Over time, the concept of organizational culture has been the center of attention for many researchers. It has been the main focus of study of several scientific works, especially in management and business (Mohelska & Sokolova, 2018 ; Streimikiene et al., 2021 ; Vallejo, 2011 ).

The concept of organizational culture has been studied from different angles, with researchers exploring the role that organizational culture can play and which factors impact organizational culture (Guzal-Dec, 2016 ; Polyanska et al., 2019 ; Zeng & Luo, 2013 ).

A high number of researchers agree with Schein’s ( 1985 ) model, which asserts that there are three levels at which an organizational culture may be conceptualized: fundamental presumptions and beliefs, norms and values, and cultural artifacts (Chatman & O’Reilly, 2016 ). From the perspective of the organization and its working environment, organizational culture emerges from behavior in which basic assumptions and beliefs are shared and seen as given by organizational members (Schein, 1985 ).

Academics primarily focused on organizational culture’s definition, connotation, structural components and type categorization in the 1980s; most of this research was qualitative (Cui et al., 2018 ). Even though there was no universal agreement on the meanings of organizational culture at the time, Schein’s framework (Schein, 1992 ) was somewhat representational in the academic world. Research on organizational culture then evolved from mainly qualitative research to quantitative studies in the 1990s (Cameron & Quinn, 1999 ; Denison & Mishra, 1995 ; Hofstede, 1998 , 2001 ; O’Reilly et al., 2014 ). According to Cui et al. ( 2018 ), contemporary views of organizational culture are seen as a key factor for success, promoting organizational effectiveness and performance (Gregory et al., 2009 ), organizational innovation (Hogan & Coote, 2014 ), and organizational identity (Ravasi & Schultz, 2006 ). Organizational culture is now considered a key component of innovation in company success, particularly in the setting of the information economy (Büschgens et al., 2013 ). Cartwright identifies nine relevant factors that drive the cultural transformation in organizations that enable successful business practices (Cartwright, 1999 ).

Organizational culture has two basic academic foundations: sociology (organizations have culture) and anthropology (organizations are cultures). The sociological position has become dominant in recent years (Cameron & Quinn, 1999 ). Based on this, there are two opposing viewpoints regarding the possibility of managing organizational culture — the functionalist and symbolist view (Schueber, 2009 ). The functionalist perspective regards culture as an organizational variable (Alvesson, 1993 ), and it can be determined by management (Meek, 1988 ; Silverzweig & Allen, 1976 ). According to the functionalist perspective, culture is seen as something that the organization possesses and can be controlled (Barley et al., 1988 ; Smircich, 1983 ). The symbolist viewpoint regards culture as a representation of what an organization is rather than anything it has . This implies major challenges in controlling or managing organizational culture (Morgan, 1986 ; Smircich, 1983 ). Functionalists would argue that the culture should be changed to fit the strategy, whereas symbolists would propose that the strategy should be adjusted to the organization’s culture (Ogbonna, 1992 ; Senior, 1997 ). In this paper, the functionalist view is supported by implications of the results.

Digitalization is defined as “the transformation of business models as a result of fundamental changes to core internal processes, customer interfaces, products and services, as well as the use of information and communications technologies” (Isensee et al., 2020 ). However, digitalization and digital transformation are quite different. A company may embark on several digitalization initiatives, from automating procedures to retraining staff members to utilize computers. On the other hand, businesses cannot conduct digital transformation as projects. Instead, this more general phrase refers to a client-centered strategic business transformation that calls for adopting digital technology and organizational changes across all departments (Verhoef et al., 2021 ).

An executive’s view that does not distinguish between digitalization and digital transformation could lead to an insufficient strategic focus (Li & Shao, 2023 ). Digital transformation efforts will often involve several digitalization projects, which require management sponsorship and the willingness to change existing structures and practices. Various papers have studied the challenges that may arise from organizational culture when adopting new technologies and structures, e.g., agile practices (Anwar et al., 2016 ; Ghimire et al., 2020 ; Raharjo & Purwandari, 2020 ), technology adoption (Melitski et al., 2010 ), or even Green Supply Chain Management (El Baz & Iddik, 2021 ). As the business becomes primarily customer-driven, digital transformation necessitates improving how well the organization manages change (Anghel, 2019 ).

Industry 4.0 began in the twenty-first century with the development of cyber-physical systems (CPS), the Internet of Things (IoT), the Internet of Services, smart factories, and cloud computing. It continues today (Hermann et al., 2016 ; Kagermann et al., 2013 ; Liao et al., 2017 ; Xu et al., 2018 ). It is characterized as a combination of CPS and IoT in the manufacturing industry, which can have repercussions for value creation, company growth, work organization, and downstream businesses (Kagermann et al., 2013 ; Kiel et al., 2017 ). The advent of Industry 4.0 involves significant changes for organizations and societies and has various effects on nations, businesses, industries, and society (Schwab, 2015 ). Industry 4.0 implementation is a complicated process involving horizontal, vertical and seamless integration and will rely on the synergies between the business and stakeholders from many functional domains (Müller, 2019a , 2019b ; Wang et al., 2016 ). In particular, many organizations fail to capture their Industry 4.0 vision and strategy throughout the change process (Schumacher et al., 2016a ). Other important factors that hinder the application of a successful digital transformation towards a functional Industry 4.0 concept are fear of uncertainty and wrong expectation of requirements (Balasingham, 2016 ). Willingness to adopt this technology is another reason to fail (Adebanjo et al., 2021 ). Organizations aiming to incorporate and adopt digital transformation into their operational procedures must recognize and assess important critical factors (Nimawat & Gidwani, 2021 ).

Organizational communication and collaboration styles have changed due to globalization, advancements in information and communication technologies (ICTs), an increase in hybrid work models and the rise of computer-mediated groups (Sharma et al., 2022 ). With the knowledge economy, digital culture, and recent technological innovations, new working styles have quietly emerged in organizations (Powell et al., 2004 ). Then, the spreading of the coronavirus and the required shift in transition to remote working acted as a catalyst for how organizations operate and employees engage. The drastic changes in the workplace naturally affected employees and spurred changes in their behavior and attitudes (Caligiuri et al., 2020 ). The corresponding research topic of COVID-19-related impacts and the implications on digital transformation in the context of organizational culture is relatively new. Many partial aspects that have gained new relevance during the corona pandemic have already received attention in the research community over the past 20 years.

Therefore, this study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis in order to identify dominant research topics, their potential shifts, and recent developments in the fields of organizational culture and digital transformation. The most significant research articles or authors and their related relationships can be found using the scientific computer-aided review process known as bibliometric analysis. It can help to forecast the possible direction of such identified fields and is widely applied in academic research (Diem & Wolter, 2013 ). This method aids in providing a thorough overview of the subject as well as visually summarizing its patterns and trends (Baker et al., 2020 ; Zhou et al., 2020 ).

Overview of Bibliometric Reviews

The topic of organizational culture has had a large number of contributors in the past decades. Several articles were published on organizational culture as bibliometric studies (Cicea et al., 2022 ). Only a few reviews were conducted on digital transformation in organizations related to organizational culture (e.g., as digitalization). Table 1 lists a few publications on these topics.

Overview of Systematic Reviews

Apart from bibliometric literature reviews, many authors have conducted systematic literature reviews on various research areas relating to organizational culture and digital transformation. As seen in the following non-conclusive overview in Table  2 and Table  3 , researchers have focused their attention on heterogeneous study fields like performance-orientation, entrepreneurship, Industry 4.0, agile practices, work-from-anywhere, SMEs, and many others. This broad overview indicates that the topic of organizational culture plays a very relevant role in recent research, especially in the context of digital transformation.

The provided overview on digital transformation research mainly focuses on functional areas and its application. The center of research is the implementation, readiness, adoption, as well as barriers, opportunities, and challenges. Additionally, research fields like examining potential directions (Belinski et al., 2020 ; Kamble et al., 2018 ; Pagliosa et al., 2019 ; Piccarozzi et al., 2018 ; Schneider, 2018 ; Sony & Naik, 2020 ); implementation, readiness and adoption (Çınar et al., 2021 ; Pacchini et al., 2019 ; Sung & Kim, 2021 ); barriers, opportunities, and challenges to the adoption and implementation of Industry 4.0 (Bajic et al., 2021 ; Raj et al., 2020 ); and sustainability (de Sousa Jabbour et al., 2018 ; Luthra & Mangla, 2018 ) are analyzed.

The main focus areas, among many others, which are influenced by digital transformation are agile and collaborative teamwork and management (Kerber & Buono, 2004 ; Huang et al., 2003 ; Sheppard, 2020 ; Parry & Battista, 2019 ; Singer-Velush et al. 2020 ; Hamouche, 2020 ), adaptive business culture in dynamic , supportive , environments , with focus on employee well-being , work design , open innovation , workforce effectiveness (Am et al., 2020 ; Ngoc Su et al., 2021 ; Baker et al., 2006 ; Žižek et al., 2021 ; Parry & Battista, 2019 ; Bélanger et al., 2013 ; Carnevale & Hatak, 2020 ), and recent technological developments (Ågerfalk et al., 2020 ; Bloom et al., 2015 ; Bondarouk & Ruël, 2009 ; Johnson et al., 2020 ; Spreitzer et al., 2017 ; Wiggins et al., 2020 ).

Research Gap

The research mentioned in the aforementioned literature review sought to examine several factors of organizational culture and digital transformation. However, reviews of literature based solely on a systematic or bibliometric methodology have significant drawbacks. Studies of systematic literature reviews are frequently in-depth and typically handle only a small number of documents. As a result, the findings are more constrained (Moher et al., 2015 ; Page et al., 2021 ). Contrarily, bibliometric reviews are concentrated on a wider range of the studied areas. They mostly reveal major trends as an outcome (Cobo et al., 2011 ; van Eck & Waltman, 2010 ). Using machine learning to find latent patterns in textual data is one of the most popular study methods in the field of bibliometric review (Han, 2020 ; Mariani & Baggio, 2022 ). Automated processing is used to analyze the scientific publications for our study. It employs an advanced machine learning–based methodology to extract topics from the scientific literature. This paper contributes to the existing literature by answering the following research questions:

Research Question 1 (RQ1) . How has the organizational culture — digital transformation relationship evolved over time?

The number of publications on digital transformation is growing, and organizational culture is a well-established research area with years of academic work. Consequently, a bibliometric analysis of the growth of the top journals, articles, and most cited publications may be able to provide relevant insights.

Research Question 2 (RQ2) . What are the dominant research topics on organizational culture and digital transformation?

The total number of publications on the subject of this study is rapidly increasing. Therefore, we may apply machine learning to extract particular study ideas from a large body of published scientific literature.

Research Methodology

This paper aims to establish the trends of research papers in the field of organizational culture research with a focus on digital transformation. The authors conducted the review of the literature using bibliometric analysis and a machine learning method.

Researchers often undertake bibliometric analysis with the main goal to determine the body of knowledge on a certain subject, to provide an assessment of the research already conducted, and to develop networking structures for the scientific community. Five steps ( study design , data collection , data analysis , data visualization , and interpretation of results ) represent the workflow of science mapping and were used to apply the bibliometric approach and network analysis (Aria & Cuccurullo, 2017 ).

The review usually starts by determining the database that contains the input data. The only source for this paper are the bibliographic records from the Scopus database as data collection input. This source has been considered reliable in prior works. Scopus, developed by Elsevier B.V., is the largest database of scientific peer-review literature hosting more than 27,950 journal published articles (Elsevier, 2023 ). It was chosen for this study as it is the largest and most relevant scientific database in the world, covering most of the publications available. This includes consistent repositories of documents as well as additional information such as country of all the authors, citations per document, and further information that is relevant in terms of quality and quantity for the study.

The search query was developed after identifying the research area. This was done by splitting the topic into three fields of research. The first set was organization with the corresponding synonyms followed by culture (second set). The third was digital transformation and its phases digitization and digitalization following Verhoef et al. ( 2021 ) and its synonyms including Industry 4.0 . The database was queried using additional synonyms and alternative spellings to increase the study’s coverage.

To collect these articles, the combination of the following keywords was selected:

Digital transformation , digitalization , digitalisation , digitization , digitisation combined with Industry 4.0 search terms fourth industrial revolution , 4IR , 4-IR , industry 4.0 and the organizational culture related keyword organisation *, organization *, firm , company , corporate , enterprise , business and culture .

The search criteria were then determined. The authors used the title , abstract and keywords from the articles provided by the Scopus database (TITLE-ABS-KEY). This resulted in 3077 identified papers. The search query and result are shown in Table  4 . The search was conducted on March 30, 2023.

After collecting the data, all documents with no abstracts were removed. The authors also removed all documents with abstracts defined as: “[No abstract available]”. After this removal, the dataset consisted of 3065 documents. The applied dataset was made up of the following eight variables: authors, title, year, source, cited by, abstract, authors keywords, index keywords. A total of 139 documents were tagged as Review . In addition, to answer the research question RQ1, we joined our dataset with a dataset that defined individual subject areas for each journal. Thanks to such an expanded dataset, we were able to better structure the results.

Topic Modelling

In order to be able to answer research question RQ2, we needed to perform an analysis of the sentific field. There are several ways to conduct a literature review. Instead of the standard literature review process, we decided to carry out the literature review based on machine learning. This way of analyzing the scientific field allowed us to assess a much larger number of documents and thus make the literature review more relevant. Our review based on machine learning analyzed 3065 document abstracts in total.

Before the actual process of identifying individual research topics in the selected area, it was necessary to perform text preprocessing and then divide the analyzed documents into individual topics. Data preprocessing included several steps which are common in text analytics. After removing some special characters, we removed punctuation, further removed numbers and stopwords defined in the tm package in R. In addition, we defined other custom stopwords that were removed from the corpus of abstracts. Then we then removed the extra spaces and stemmed the words in the document. The last step was to delete custom stopwords Footnote 1 specific to our area of interest. In this case, these were words that were irrelevant to our field of research and, in our opinion, did not add value to the resulting analysis. We defined these words based on the frequency analysis of stemmed words from the corpus of analyzed abstracts. The mentioned procedures were performed in the R programming language using the tm and SnowballC packages. After removing the specific stopwords, we finally removed the extra spaces. Subsequently, a document-term matrix (dtm) was created, which contained the frequencies of all individual words in every document. Since the dtm itself also contained low-frequency words, we removed words that appeared in less than 0.5% of the abstracts in the resulting matrix. The resulting dtm contained 1108 words.

After preprocessing the text of the abstracts, we proceeded to structure the abstracts into research topics. We implemented the mentioned process, also called topic modeling, using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation method, also known as LDA (Blei et al., 2003 ). LDA is a probabilistic generative process, the result of which is a set of topics that represent the composition of the entire space into individual parts. Based on the words in individual documents, the so-called latent topical structure is created, while latent topics are a mixture of several documents. Based on the posterior estimates of the hidden variables, we can estimate the structure of the latent topics. Hidden variables in our case represent latent topical structure (Blei & Lafferty, 2009 ).

Topic modeling using LDA was implemented in the R programming language using the topicmodels library. Topic modeling itself assumes the number of topics into which the entire space needs to be divided. There are several approaches for finding the number of topics. Since the approach based on the evaluation of statistical criteria resulted in a large number of topics, we decided to prefer an expert approach. This approach consisted in manually assessing the interpretability of the most frequent words in individual alternatives. As part of the testing itself for a suitable number of topics, we gradually manually evaluated solutions with the number of topics k  = {6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}.

To quantify the parameters of the LDA model, we used Gibbs sampling (Gelfand, 2000 ; Griffiths & Steyvers, 2004 ; Grün & Hornik, 2011 ). For parameter quantification, we used 2000 iterations, taking into account only every 200th observation for a higher degree of independence between. For each k, we repeated the process five times, always recording only the best solution. Based on the results of the expert analysis, we chose a solution with the number of topics k  = 8. Finally, we realized the visualization of topics, which was performed using the ldavis package (Sievert & Shirley, 2014 ).

Development of Related Research Papers

The direct or indirect role of organizational culture in various processes of digital transformation has been the subject of a lot of research. The studies that formed the basis for our analysis were identified from the Scopus bibliometric database through a search query, which is presented in the “ Research Methodology ” section. The data was collected on March 30, 2023, while on this date, 3065 valid documents were registered in the mentioned database. A significant increase in the number of studies has only been noticeable since 2018. Still, it must be said that studies investigating the links between organizational culture and digitalization appeared sporadically even before that. Figure  1 shows an overview of the annual development of published papers and the number of citations related to the given papers. We can notice that in the last 5 years, research has an exponential character (measured through the number of published papers per year), but at the same time, this research area is interesting for academics (measured through the absolute number of citations).

Development of published papers related to organizational culture and digital transformation

The analyzed amount of papers were published in 1619 sources (journals, proceedings, books, etc.) with various research impacts. Table 5 shows the ranking of the sources that had the greatest impact on research on organizational culture and digital transformation in terms of the total number of citations. The research impact is primarily dominated by journals that directly or indirectly deal with the business environment, which is natural considering the nature of the papers. Of the ten listed top influential papers, as many as seven are from the last 5 years, which indicates that since 2018, research interest and the research impact of the given topic have grown dramatically.

Each analyzed document in our dataset was assigned to one of the 28 subject areas used by the Scopus database for their classification. Such an assignment took place based on pairing information about the journal in which the given article is located with the categorization of the journal according to the subject areas of the Scopus database. Figure  2 shows an overview of research interest and research impact for the individual subject areas.

Overview of research impact and research interest of subject areas

Until 2019, ENGI (engineering) was the most frequent category, while a dramatic increase in papers in the BUSI (business, management, and accounting) group can be seen in the last four years. This increase has caused BUSI to be the subject area with the most outstanding research impact and research interest. No such significant changes were recorded in the other subject areas. Possible reasons for the increased interest of researchers in the field of BUSI in the topic of organizational culture and digital transformation are indirectly indicated by some current studies. For example, the study by Priyanto et al. ( 2023 ) emphasizes the importance of proactively modernizing a business to maintain a competitive edge. The need to increase the competitive edge was also pointed out in the study by Troise et al. ( 2022 ), in which the authors examined the relationships between SMEs’ agility (measured by digital technologies capability, relational capability, and innovation capability) and the effects of agility on three outcomes (financial performance, product and process innovation). These studies and many others (Alomari, 2021 ; Carvalho et al., 2020 ; Chaurasia et al., 2020 ; Tessarini Junior & Saltorato, 2021 ) emphasize the managerial aspect of digitalization, which could explain the dramatic increase in research interest and research impact that we have seen over the last 4 years.

These results are also confirmed by a more detailed analysis of the development of the annual number in the five most numerous subject areas (Fig.  3 ). In the left part, we can see the absolute number of articles in the given subject areas, while the dominance of BUSI is visible mainly in the last three years. However, comparing the share of papers in particular subject areas is very interesting (right part of Fig.  3 ). We see that the increase in the BUSI subject area is continuous, while the share of SOCI (social sciences) and COMP (computer science) is decreasing in the long term. Areas such as ENGI and DECI (decision science) maintain a relatively constant share. According to the long-term trend, it can be assumed that the share of the BUSI subject area will grow in research on topics related to organizational culture and digital transformation in the coming years.

Development of papers in top 5 subject areas — absolute numbers (left) and share (right)

Topics Identification and Their Development

By analyzing the abstracts of the individual papers, it was possible to categorize documents into thematically related clusters using LDA. Such clusters contain papers with the occurrence of the same terms and are called topics. The individual steps of extracting topics from the analyzed dataset are listed in the “ Topic Modelling ” section. To choose the number of topics, several experiments were carried out with the aim of identifying such a constellation in which the individual topics would be well interpretable and, at the same time, sufficiently distinguishable from each other. The number of topics k  = 8 was selected by expert assessment according to these criteria. The results and a brief description of the topics via the top-5 most frequent terms can be found in Fig.  4 as an intertopic distance map between two principal components (PC).

Intertopic distance map

Eight identified topics were analyzed with regard to the most frequented words, and at the same time, the most cited articles in the given topic were also used for their better characterization. This allowed these topics to be named and briefly characterized:

Social Media Connectivity (Topic-1)

This topic includes various aspects of digital and social media, as well as online platforms and the cultural impacts of digital technologies. The Social Media Connectivity topic focuses on main areas like the rise of social media (Munar, 2012 ; van Dijck, 2013 ), its platforms (Mikos, 2016 ; Morris, 2015 ), as well as structural change (Kim, 2020 ; Peukert, 2019 ). The articles of topic-1 explore a wide range of subjects in particular such as social media strategies, digital engagement with heritage, digital storytelling, cultural globalization, and the transformative effects of digital technological change. There are many different inter-organizational subcultures present within organizations that are dealing with convergence and cooperation across media platforms. According to Erdal ( 2009 ), cooperation between those cultures is frequently linked to competition. It is the topic with the most significant research interest (measured through the number of papers), and at the same time, it is the topic with the highest research impact (measured through the number of citations). There are 458 related papers in this topic with a sum of all citations of 91% (based on a 6000 citation strip).

Digital Innovation Ecosystems (Topic-2)

This topic captures the overarching theme of digital transformation across various domains. It emphasizes the integration of digital technologies, innovation processes and the development of ecosystems to drive transformative change in industries and organizations with regard to culture. Regarding the function of organizational culture throughout this transformation process, two alternative viewpoints may be seen. When individuals are empowered to use their problem-solving skills, their capacity for learning and their sense of responsibility, a culture may result in a workforce that is people-centered and engaged driving the integration of digital technologies. On the other hand, there is a culture that focuses primarily on promoting this technology for the purpose of managing or substituting processes neglecting the input and use of people (Rossini et al., 2021 ). The main subjects of this topic include healthcare (Jacob et al., 2020 ), manufacturing (Reinhardt et al., 2020 ), and a digital transformation focus of information systems and organizational practices (Ulas, 2019 ). Additionally, the challenges for the organization and management in rapidly changing environments are analyzed (Granlund & Taipaleenmäki, 2005 ). This topic has a relatively considerable research interest with 419 papers published, but its research impact is average with 51%.

Socio-economic Sustainability (Topic-3)

The Socio-economic Sustainability topic captures the intersection of digital transformation, sustainability and socio-economic considerations across a wide variety of domains such as urban development (Anttiroiko, 2016 ), corporate responsibility and sustainability (Etter et al., 2019 ; Lăzăroiu et al., 2020 ), technology management (Tasleem et al., 2019 ), and organizational practices with regard to culture, among others. In the case of sustainable performance, all forms of organizational culture — based on the types defined by Quinn and Spreitzer ( 1991 ) — have a positive effect on sustainable performance (Gebril Taha & Espino-Rodríguez, 2020 ). There is also a strong correlation between organizational culture and eco-innovation (Reyes-Santiago et al., 2017 ). Furthermore, the sharing economy and its cultural effects towards consumption and ownership are analyzed (Dabbous & Tarhini, 2021 ). The third topic has an average research interest, counting 367 papers and a slightly below-average research impact of 42% compared to the other topics.

Digital Workforce Transformation (Topic-4)

Digital Workforce Transformation highlights the themes of digital transformation with the focus of organizational resilience, leadership, and the impact of technology on work culture and employee well-being. The main focus is on the employee-work relationship, including subjects like leadership (Cortellazzo et al., 2019 ; Guzmán et al., 2020 ), employee well-being (Coldwell, 2019 ; Theurer et al., 2018 ), and resilience (McFadden et al., 2015 ). In particular, the implications on cultural organizational characteristics, operations, digital transformation, and financial planning of COVID-19 for work, workers, and organizations are analyzed (Kniffin et al., 2021 ; Obrenovic et al., 2020 ). As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations have changed their mode of operation. They adopted a pure work from home model or make use of a hybrid mode of operation. Establishing a communicative work from home culture will result in increased employee satisfaction (Fay & Kline, 2011 ; Mandal et al., 2023 ). Organizations have to educate their employees concerning these new processes and technologies. Individuals dislike change, so organizations must coordinate training and awareness programs to demonstrate the advantages of new digital platforms and related technologies (Mandal et al., 2023 ). Regarding research interest, this topic is average with 381 papers, and its research impact is slightly below average with 42%.

Digital Competence and Cultural Transformation (Topic-5)

This topic refers to the concepts of competence in the digital era, cultural transformation, innovation, and sustainability. These articles explore different aspects of digital transformation (Suárez-Guerrero et al., 2016 ), the impact of digital competence on various sectors (Konttila et al., 2019 ), cultural factors in innovation and enterprise, and the intersection of technology and culture (Mohelska & Sokolova, 2018 ). The role of leadership in the transformation of organizational culture is also a focus of analysis (Sá & Serpa, 2020 ). From the point of view of research interest, this is a minor topic (355 papers) that simultaneously has a relatively small research impact (33%).

Knowledge, Culture and Innovation (Topic-6)

Knowledge, Culture, and Innovation captures the common themes of knowledge management (Gandini, 2016 ; Yeh et al., 2006 ), organizational culture (Dubey et al., 2019 ), innovation, and the transformative effects (Ungerman et al., 2018 ) of digitalization across various sectors. Digital innovation is linked to organizational culture by the digital capabilities of an organization (Zhen et al., 2021 ). The capabilities required by management in dynamic environments are examined in particular (Karimi & Walter, 2015 ). Research interest, counting 388 papers, as well as research impact, with 56%, of this topic are both average.

Data and Resource Management (Topic-7)

The Data and Resource Management topic encompasses the concepts of digitalization, Industry 4.0, data management, quality management, organizational culture and the impact of technology on various industries (Durana et al., 2019 ; Gunasekaran et al., 2019 ; Sony et al., 2020 ). These titles explore different aspects of implementing Industry 4.0, including the utilization of big data (Chiang et al., 2017 ), improving organizational performance through digital transformation (Ananyin et al., 2018 ) and the role of data-driven decision-making in different sectors. A number of relevant factors for Industry 4.0 implementation like the development of Industry 4.0-specific know-how, securing financial resources, integration of employees into the implementation process, and the establishment of an open-minded and flexible corporate culture are analyzed. (Veile et al., 2020 ). The research interest of this topic is the smallest of all with only 315 papers, and its research impact is also relatively small with 34%.

Digital Transformation Maturity (Topic-8)

This topic covers the concepts of digital transformation, Industry 4.0, maturity models, organizational culture, and the impact of technology on business strategies and performance (Gajsek et al., 2019 ; Teichert, 2019 ). These titles explore various aspects of digitalization, technology implementation, strategic management, organizational resilience, and the adoption factors of Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing industry (Kohnová et al., 2019 ). The analysis shows that factors like organizational identity, dematerialization, and collaboration play a key role in the digital transformation (Tronvoll et al., 2020 ). The size of research interest of this topic is average (382 papers), but its research impact is among the largest (of 80%).

These topics are sufficiently distinguishable from each other not only from an interpretive point of view but also within the position in the intertopic distance map (Fig.  4 ). In the coordinates of two principal components, almost all topics are relatively isolated, meaning they are sufficiently distinguishable from each other. In one case, however, a statistical similarity was identified, namely for topic-2 Digital Innovation Ecosystems and topic-8 Digital Transformation Maturity (Fig.  4 top left). This finding suggests that there is some interrelationship between the two topics. After a closer examination of the articles from both topics, it was found that topic-2 and topic-8 share a rather similar basis of content. The central point of investigation in these articles is the identification of various (success) factors and challenges that arise for organizations and their cultures during the phase of digital transformation (AlBar & Hoque, 2019 ; Cichosz et al., 2020 ; Shardeo et al., 2020 ). Topic-2 builds on this common foundation by focusing on systems and functional aspects. There, the organization’s implementation, integration, and management of tools and data (ERP, big data) is examined. Additionally, this topic focuses on the organization’s life cycle, evolution, business models, and processes like DevOps and Agile development (Gupta et al., 2019 ; Jacob et al., 2020 ; Nascimento et al., 2019 ). On the other hand, the majority of the articles in topic-8 focus on a perspective with regard to the organizational readiness of the organization towards changes related to Industry 4.0, including the impacts those changes will have on culture, the implications for strategy, and the general organization’s maturity through the examination of maturity models (Ganzarain & Errasti, 2016 ; Mittal et al., 2018 ; Santos & Martinho, 2020 ; Schumacher et al., 2016a , b ).

The eight topics identified are not static and their development may change over time. To capture such changes, we analyzed the share of papers (research interest) and the share of citations (research impact) of papers in the last 10 years. We did not analyze the absolute numbers but their relative share primarily to avoid the risk of distortion caused by the exponential increase in the number of articles and citations. The results can be found in Fig.  5 .

Development of research interest (top) and research impact (bottom) in last 10 years

Several findings can be seen in Fig.  5 . The first of them is a marked decrease in topic-1 both from the point of view of research interest and the point of view of research impact. As mentioned earlier, this topic is currently one of the most important. However, trend analysis shows that its importance is declining relatively quickly. It is gradually being replaced by topics with higher research interest (e.g., topic-4) or research impact (e.g., topic-6).

The downward trend of topic-1 Social Media Connectivity can be explained with the growing maturity of this research field. In the early start of the new millennium, the rise of social networks and communication platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, and other social media services and applications changed the way of communication and collaboration. As of 2023, this field of research is established and many papers have been published and cited already. Based on our search query, there were 458 papers identified with over 5400 citations in total from 1997 to 2023.

The second finding is the gradual emergence of new topics. These are topics that almost or did not exist 10 years ago. The most significant representative of such topics is topic-4, which almost did not exist in 2013, but is currently one of the most important topics. The upward trend of topic-4 Digital Workforce Transformation is strongly connected with the emergence of new working modes and cultural shifts within the organizational landscape due to COVID-19 pandemic related effects. The rise of topic-4 with a strong focus on the employee-work relationship and employee well-being is relatively new. This was triggered with the start of the worldwide pandemic (COVID-19). The worldwide pandemic had a significant impact on how people worked and communicated. This remote work model has many implications on a number of different fields like organizational culture, collaboration, employee motivation, and productivity, among many others. Thus, the requirement for employees and the organizations to adapt to this new work reality open up many new research fields. The growing topic-6 Knowledge, Culture, and Innovation combines knowledge management, organizational culture, and innovation in regard to the transformative effects of digitalization across various sectors. This topic recently gained special attention because the world economy is facing challenges during the pandemic caused by less international business and trade and increased costs (Amirul et al., 2023 ). Competitive advantages through knowledge management, knowledge sharing, and innovation are the key to deal with the (project) uncertainty many companies face (Borodako et al., 2023 ).

The third finding is that increasing research interest does not necessarily increase research impact. For example, we can mention topic-5 Digital Competence and Cultural Transformation , which is gradually gaining research interest, but its research impact is the smallest of all. However, it should be noted here that research impact is based on processing the number of citations, which can generally have a time delay.

A more detailed characterization of topics is also possible by comparing them to the analyzed subject areas. Figure  6 shows the decomposition of individual topics into subject areas. The basis for this decomposition was the papers themselves.

Decomposition of topics to subject areas

Several findings can be seen in Fig.  6 . Topic-1, which currently dominates research impact and research interest, but has a negative trend, is most associated with papers from the SOCI subject area. If we compare these results with the analysis of subject areas (Fig.  2 ), we can conclude that there are two parallel phenomena — a decrease in interest in both SOCI and topic-1. This topic played a key role in the past, but its outlook, as well as the outlook of organizational culture research in relation to digital transformation in the SOCI subject area, is negative. On the other hand, we can see that the BUSI subject area is most prominently represented in topic-6. By comparing the development of BUSI and the development of topic-6, we can also notice parallel phenomena — in this case, however, with a positive trend. Both topic-6 and the BUSI subject area have been growing in recent years, and it is assumed that this could be the case in the following years as well. In the past the focus of research has been on identification and introduction as well as adaptation of new technologies that drive the trend of digital transformation. With this established foundation, nowadays, the research shifts more towards the application and impacts of these technologies in organizations and its consequences on innovation-orientation, knowledge generation and sharing as well as cultural effects (Kronblad et al., 2023 ). This can be seen with the strengthening of topic-6. Other topics appear more heterogeneous from the point of view of subject areas, and the papers that fall into them are from different subject areas.

This article begins with a brief review of organizational culture research in relation to digital transformation. Later, an overview of the research area was presented based on the 3065 publications listed and identified in the Scopus database. To answer research question 1, we have identified the key journals, papers and authors and have shown the development of publications over time. Research interest and research impact of the given topic have grown dramatically since 2018. According to research areas, from 2004 until 2023, the share of papers (research impact) as well as the share of citations (research interest) is mainly contributed to the subject area of BUSI (with a share of more than 25%). The dominance of BUSI has been visible mainly in the last 3 years.

The identification of the dominant research topics (research question 2) resulted in eight topics: Social Media Connectivity , Digital Innovation Ecosystems , Socio-economic Sustainability , Digital Workforce Transformation , Digital Competence and Cultural Transformation , Knowledge, Culture and Innovation , Data and Resource Management , and Digital Transformation Maturity . The topic with the most significant research interest (measured by the number of papers) and the highest research impact (measured by the number of citations) is Social Media Connectivity (topic-1). This is because of the strong role of this topic in the past. The outlook is declining for this topic as well as the related subject area SOCI. Two rising topics were identified. In recent years Digital Workforce Transformation (topic-4) and Knowledge, Culture, and Innovation (topic-6) gained strong interest. Both are from the area of BUSI.

To fulfil the aims of the article, following the completion of the literature review, we were able to identify a number of research topics that are distinct due to the methodology that we have utilized. As a result of their development over time, some of these topics are also relatively new; for instance, as of 2013, topic-4 ( Digital Workforce Transformation ) did not exist at all. In light of the fact that the topics have developed over time, it is clear that the most important areas influencing culture have been transformed under the conditions brought about by digital transformation.

Implications

Firstly, this study demonstrated a machine learning–supported method for identifying and segmenting the current state of this research field. This method, as used in this paper, can be applied to other fields to obtain a systematic overview of research topics.

Secondly, organizational culture has been a field of research for many years and research on digital transformation is constantly growing. The interrelation of these two research areas is relatively new, and their findings will have a lasting effect on the formation and effectiveness of organizational culture in the future.

With the increased interest in Digital Workforce Transformation and Knowledge, Culture, and Innovation , we could identify a shift in the research field on organizational culture in relation to digital transformation towards the subject area of BUSI. Those two rising topics show a need to focus on the impact of technology on work culture and employee well-being, as well as on knowledge management and innovation in relation to organizational culture.

The long-term trend of the share development of the BUSI subject area indicates that this area will also grow continuously in the future. From 2019 onwards, the constant increase of papers published per year implies that additional distinct new topics will be established in this field of research. These and other future trends will help researchers to focus on relevant topics and areas for their work.

A possible explanation for this shift in research could derive from the impact technological changes have on businesses today. The work-related requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for many technological advancements due to the necessity to work instantly remote, changing many processes and all communication to digital. This growing importance of technology for every business could lead to an increased relevance and importance for management practice as well as for researchers. An additional cause for organizations to reevaluate matters related to knowledge and innovation is the pervasive integration and accessibility of AI technology in routine business operations. The alignment of current processes, particularly the innovation process within organizations, with this novel capability will be a subject of interest for managers and researchers as well.

Following the functionalist perspective on organizational culture, the management of organizations can attempt to control and change culture (Alvesson, 1993 ). The introduction of these two topics has significant implications for management practice. A strong organizational culture that is people-centered is essential for successful knowledge-driven organizational innovation. As a result, managers must pay special attention to the factors that influence work culture, address the challenges that arise during the transformation, and understand and improve their organization’s digital capabilities.

Managers can focus their efforts on a variety of areas to foster an adaptable, innovative, and supportive work culture while effectively leveraging technology for digital transformation. Enhanced emphasis is placed on the behavior and collaboration of the team and managers, while these recommendations also encompass measures pertaining to the structure and processes.

The delegation of decision-making authority and work ownership responsibility to employees by managers is a critical structural element. Utilizing data to facilitate well-informed decision-making can provide support for this. Establishing a work environment that offers adequate resources and support, including tools, training, and assistance in adjusting to digital transformations and fostering innovation, is an additional critical element (Veile et al., 2020 ). Furthermore, it is beneficial to measure and communicate progress by assessing the impact of digital transformation on work culture, employee well-being, knowledge management, and innovation on a regular basis. The manager should be willing to make the necessary cultural changes to align, adapt, and evolve organizational culture in the digital age (Cortellazzo et al., 2019 ).

During digital transformation, an open and productive organizational culture will be fostered through the promotion of a flexible and inclusive work environment that actively solicits employee feedback and input, with a focus on employee well-being (Coldwell, 2019 ). Managers who set a good example and encourage their employees’ continuous learning and skill development, as well as cross-functional collaboration, will be better able to promote an adaptive organizational culture in an increasingly digital and competitive landscape (Sá & Serpa, 2020 ). Creating a culture that values innovation and encourages employees to come up with new ideas and solutions, as well as celebrating successful innovations, can help managers create a people-oriented work culture that is essential for organizational innovation (Karimi & Walter, 2015 ). This can be seen in the increased interest in the area on Knowledge, Culture, and Innovation by organizations as well as by researchers.

Limitations and Future Research

This study has a number of limitations, which can be mainly attributed to the way the analysis was conducted. The focus of this study is on an automated bibliometric analysis of the literature. While the quantitative focus has many advantages, it also has some limitations. The main advantage includes the possibility to process and analyze a large number of papers via automation and machine learning techniques. A total of 3065 papers were analyzed. This approach — in comparison to a standard systematic literature review — does not analyze the papers manually. Therefore, some relevant documents could be missing, as well as some irrelevant ones might be included. The authors have selected a search query that yields highly relevant search results. Thus, it is assumed that the share of notable articles that are missing is very small and therefore neglectable and does not have a significant impact on the results.

The applied dataset covers most of the important publications, but all the data comes from just one database (Scopus). This is not comprehensive, and some relevant articles (or journals) could be excluded. In addition, some information may be missing because the source of analysis is not the full text of the articles. Another limitation comes from the fact that the primary focus in the topic modeling are the abstracts of the relevant papers and not the whole text. The analysis of the full text could potentially provide a more extensive understanding, but at the same time, it would take much longer.

We decided on the expert approach by determining the number of topics, as the statistical approach resulted in a large number of topics. This may be of a subjective nature, but it resulted in eight well interpretable and sufficiently distinguishable topics. The title, abstract, and keywords of each topic’s top-30 papers (based on citation count) were used to name each topic. This results in subjective topic names but helps to sum up each topic with a generalized distinct phrase.

This study suggests a number of possible future directions for additional research. It is recommended to extend the data sources to other databases than Scopus as well as the search query. This could result in capturing an increased number of relevant papers. In this research two developing, fast growing topics (topic-4 and topic-6) were identified. Further research should concentrate on examining this trend and focusing on those topics.

Future research could concentrate on finding various organizational culture types that reflect and favor those two emerging topics. Considering Quinn and Rohrbaugh’s CVF (Cameron & Quinn, 1999 ; Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983 ), the characteristics of the adhocracy culture type may align with the aspects connected to Digital Workforce Transformation and Knowledge, Culture and Innovation as this culture type values innovation and flexibility. This can be supported through the systematic research and cultural audits in organizations.

Data Availability

The data and code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Reisberger, T., Reisberger, P., Copuš, L. et al. The Linkage Between Digital Transformation and Organizational Culture: Novel Machine Learning Literature Review Based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation. J Knowl Econ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02027-3

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The Huge Impact of Online Entertainment in New Zealand

New Zealand is experiencing a major change. Digital technology is taking over the entertainment world, and online platforms, including online casinos, are changing how Kiwis enjoy media. This is a big deal. It’s altering everything from social interactions to cultural identity. As more New Zealanders embrace digital entertainment, it’s crucial to understand its big effects on the nation’s social fabric.This article was developed by NZCasinoHex .

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Booming growth and widespread acceptance.

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The Evolution of Streaming and Digital Media

On-demand services revolutionizing media consumption.

Streaming services are changing how New Zealanders watch TV and listen to music. Platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and TVNZ OnDemand offer consumers a vast array of content. This allows unprecedented freedom in choosing what, when, and how to watch. Binge-watching has become a norm, a significant departure from traditional scheduled programming.

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The rise of digital interactions.

The rise of online entertainment is changing the game. It’s facilitating digital interactions that are replacing traditional face-to-face gatherings. Think about it—social media platforms, online forums, and multiplayer gaming environments are becoming the new hot spots for socialization. No more need to leave the house or coordinate schedules. Now, you can connect with people anytime, anywhere. It’s a revolution in how we interact, and it’s making socializing more convenient and more dynamic than ever before. This is the future, and it’s incredible.

These platforms are doing more than just bringing people together—they’re enhancing social interactions in ways we’ve never seen before. With features that encourage sharing, discussion, and collaboration, online platforms are making it easier to engage and stay connected. Whether it’s through a lively debate in a forum, a collaborative project in a multiplayer game, or sharing experiences on social media, these digital venues are helping in making deeper, more meaningful connections. It’s a new era of interaction. It’s powerful, it’s innovative, and it’s transforming how we connect with each other. The possibilities are endless, and the benefits are enormous.

Cultural Identity and Community Cohesion

Digital media shaping new zealand’s cultural narrative.

Online entertainment impacts New Zealand’s cultural identity in significant ways. It exposes Kiwis to a global array of media, potentially diluting local culture while providing a platform for local creators to share their work internationally. This global exposure can enhance understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures while promoting New Zealand’s unique cultural heritage worldwide.

Strengthening Community Values Through Digital Platforms

Online platforms can strengthen community cohesion by creating shared experiences and creates a sense of belonging. National events streamed online unite viewers across the country, while online gaming tournaments bring together participants from diverse backgrounds. These shared digital experiences are powerful in building national unity and promoting inclusive community values.

The impact of online entertainment on New Zealand’s social fabric is vast and multifaceted. As the country works through these changes, it’s crucial to consider both the opportunities and challenges presented by digital entertainment. By creating an environment that values both innovation and responsibility, New Zealand can ensure that the evolution of its entertainment positively contributes to its people’s social and cultural well-being.

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Building a culture of public service on hybrid work

A big unanswered question around the furor over forcing Canada’s public servants back to the office for three days a week is how to instil traditional values and ethics in employees who aren’t in the office together every day – especially when thousands of new hires may have never worked in the office or been trained on those values.

Privy Council Clerk John Hannaford made the renewal of longstanding values and ethics a top priority when he took the job a year ago. The core values are respect for democracy, respect for people, integrity, stewardship and excellence. The challenge is to build a culture around those values to guide the work of public servants in a rapidly changing world.

The government announced in early May that public servants must work in the office for a minimum of three days a week by Sept. 9. Executives are required to work four days in the office.

The office mandate is a polarizing issue that goes beyond worker and management rights and goes to the core of the very role of the public service.

“I think it’s one of the biggest tensions the public service has faced in the last quarter century,” says Zachary Spice r, an associate professor of governance and public administration at York University.

“I can see the logic of reinforcing the responsibility of being a public servant by being together. I buy that argument, but I don’t have a lot of data to back it up.”

Last week, unions vowed a “summer of discontent” to pressure the government into reversing the order. Treasury Board then upped the ante by arguing that the very notion of the public service is at stake.

Treasury Board maintains that three days a week in the office maximizes the benefits of working in person, such as better collaboration, onboarding new recruits and building a performance culture “consistent with the values and ethics of the public service.”

Christiane Fox, deputy clerk of the Privy Council Office, who is spearheading the ethics discussion across departments for Hannaford, says the move to three days is “very much about who we are as an organization.”

“We’re better if we have more in-person time. It doesn’t mean only in-person time, but it does mean a bit more than we were doing.”

The government says it is searching for the right balance between in-office and remote work to foster a positive public service culture. But how much time do people need in the office to have a sense of shared purpose?

“I don’t think the government has made the case on the value of coming to work,” says Lori Turnbull, a professor at Dalhousie University’s faculty of management.

At the same time, she wonders: “How do you build a culture when people don’t come to the same office? I’m not saying you can’t. But the transmission of cultural values has to come from somewhere.”

The public service values and ethics code was built on the work of a deputy minister task force 30 years ago that produced the Tait report , which is still considered the bible of what it means to be a public servant.

“The first principle is (that) we’re here to serve the public interest,” says Ralph Heintzman, a values and ethics expert who co-wrote the Tait report.

“We’re here to serve Canadians and the democratic government. The issue (of hybrid work) should be approached from that perspective, not from that of individual workers. It might turn out the right answer is somewhere down the middle and a mixture of work from home and the office.”

Longstanding values, generational shift

Hannaford began the ethics exercise with the premise that traditional values still hold and it’s time to reaffirm those principles and their application today, given the public service’s massive growth and generational shifts.

Millennials are quickly becoming the largest cohort of workers. At least 40 per cent of public servants today have worked only for the Trudeau government. About 80,000 were hired over the past five years. However, many were not onboarded in the same manner as previous generations and some haven’t even set foot in an office.

Much of the debate has raged about the impact on worker rights and preferences. Unions give short shrift to the idea of increasing in-office presence to improve performance and build culture.

Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, told the CBC that in-office work should be for operational reasons, not “some patronizing, vague HR idea like teamwork or collaboration.”

Public servants say many offices don’t have enough desks or lockers, meaning some of them end up working in hallways and cafeterias. They complain they spend their office days on Zoom calls they could do from home.

Remote work during the pandemic gave public servants newfound power and control over their time – and they’re not letting go without a fight. They feel more productive, enjoy better work-life balance and have more child-care options. Plus, it’s cheaper: no commuting, parking, restaurant or takeout lunches.

What does it mean to be a public servant?

Spicer, who teaches values and ethics, expects the government will face clashes between “individual values and organizational values.”

“There hasn’t been a lot of weight put behind ethics … and we now have a lot of younger folks coming in who don’t have the same kind of understanding of what it means to be a public servant, what it means to act purely within the public interest,” he says.

John Hannaford relaunches ethics and values discussion in the public service A scrutiny of the public service not seen in more than 20 years Allegations of threats and lying perturb the federal public service

Spicer says many have a weaker connection to the notion of public service. Some still have the “spark” and see it as a calling. Others, however, see it as little more than a secure and steady job with benefits. Then there are advocates who want to advance a cause, such as climate change or sustainability.

The last group is more likely to quit if they don’t see progress, if their advice isn’t taken or if a change in government takes policy in a different direction or undoes policies, Spicer says.

New recruits are also more culturally diverse. Many have experience in the private sector, other levels of government or are transitioning between sectors. They tend to be professionals, bring expertise from their respective fields and often identify more closely with their profession’s code of conduct than with traditional public service norms.

The era of social media and gig employment

Spicer says they grew up on social media and juggling different jobs. Many see no reason why they can’t voice their opinions on social media or pursue a side hustle while working in government – both of which were traditionally frowned upon and are still controversial.

Public servants claim to be more productive since they began working from home, but a consensus that government needs fixing has emerged. It is too big, slow and risk-averse to deliver its basic services, let alone get ready for the world’s crises. On top of that, trust in government is dropping.

Turnbull says the political timeline “is already so much faster than the public service timeline” and working from home slows that down. The “values-transmission question” is urgent, especially with so many new public servants, she argues.

Fox says the government is committed to a hybrid work model, but departments must be more deliberate about creating a workplace culture that reflects “who we are.”

“We’ve got to have more emphasis on our environment and our learning within so people feel that they’re part of something larger and they understand the responsibilities that come with that.”

Linda Duxbury , a professor of management at Carleton University and expert on work-life balance and remote work, counters that both the unions and the government are misguided in the battle over hybrid work.

She argues there is no one-size-fits-all solution and that people need to be where the jobs can be done. A meat inspector must go to a processing plant and a customs officer must go to the border, but many other public service jobs can be done from anywhere.

However, she added that public servants’ complaints about time and money spent commuting and on lunches and child care are not the employer’s problem. These gripes also don’t fly with Canadians.

“Your job is to serve the public. So, are you serving them? Are you serving yourself?” she asks.

Duxbury says both the government and unions need to “stop with the stupid rhetoric” and start designing jobs to get the best work done. “There is not a simple solution here, so stop talking as if there is.”

This article was produced with support from the Accenture Fellowship on the Future of the Public Service. Read more about that here .

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