Social Media Research

Conventional media research has centered on radio and television for many years.  However, the growing influence of social media calls for a concise focus from a new generation of media researchers.  Perhaps those researchers are currently sitting in our college classrooms.  What can we, as professors, do to guide them and prepare them?

Maybe studies on television and radio will wane, as they are replaced by Internet and social media forms.  If this point is true, then we are charged to allow academic and scientific studies of the influence of social media as class assignments, senior projects, dissertations and journal articles.  Perhaps we encourage students to submit such work to regional or statewide academic conferences.  At Ashland University, we hold a yearly Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities symposium for our students.  Increasingly, student studies and presentations are examined the role of social media on individuals, our society and our world.

Again, what can we do to stimulate and support this impending area?

Social Media Literacy

What makes us literate?  The ability to read or to speak well are certainly critical components of literacy.  But in this digital age can we process so much divergent information that knowledge becomes so rare? Maybe literacy is more than a bombardment of data that can be turned into bits of recitation.  Social media literacy, as I surmise it, is not a linear thing; rather, it is a carefully understood ability to master an ever-changing technology, creatively access widespread connections and clearly evaluate messages.

Digital Natives Revealed

Anyone born after 1990 is now described as a Digital Native.  This term, coined by educator Marc Prensky in 2001, describes a generation immersed in interactive technology.  All facets of digital native life is dependent upon the Internet, mobile technologies and social media.  It is an instant existence that reaches education, entertainment and employment while enabling personal communication and philosophical beliefs.

But are Digital Natives as predominant as professed by Prensky and others?  Are Digital Natives found globally?  What factors, beyond when one was born, influence true digital native status?  For instance, Google an article called Young People Are Not as Digitally Native as You Think.  This New York Times article might surprise you.

Social Media and its Global Importance

As an introduction to the global impact of social media, it is critical to comprehend why social media hold such a relevant position in our lives.  Perhaps the following article on Instagram and social media envy is a good place to start.