Personal Interest Project

The general topic of my PIP is the younger generation’s (specifically Gen Y and Z – the digital natives) inherent captivation with social media and the moral and social quandary this poses. The benefit of social media is ambiguous to say the least; does it serve as a tool to better network with the world around you? Or are its effects much more negative in nature?

Accordingly, my hypothesis in relation to my topic is that “Social media isolates individuals (with focus given to the digital natives) by negatively socialising them with subpar social abilities”. I aim to achieve a concrete conclusion on whether or not my hypothesis is accurate, and how and why the networking giant Facebook has undoubtedly changed the socialisation process for present and future generations.

Specific areas to be investigated are the continuities or changes to social interaction between individuals, as well as the socialisation process and any variances to the process that may surface due to gender (my cross cultural element). This topic was developed from a genuine interest in the enculturation of individuals into contemporary Western society, and how this may differ negatively compared to more traditional methods of socialising with others, apparent in the previous pre-Facebook generations.

To compliment my secondary research for this topic, I will conduct further primary research consisting of a questionnaire to formulate a basis for public opinion, a focus group consisting of 3 males and 3 females from Gen Y or Z, interviews aimed towards those of older generations, and finally, my own personal reflection to act as a cross reference to what others have said from Gen X or Y. Integration of course concepts – 158 words

The topic outlined in my Introduction relates to the Society and Culture course in that it is essentially a study on the continuities or changes (brought upon by the onset of technology; Facebook) to the process in which social interaction occurs between individuals (i. e. persons) due to being socialised and encultured differently in our modern world (contrasted with those of previous generations). My topic can also be seen as an exploration into the power of Facebook over the psychological environment of individuals and their response towards it.

Gender will also play a large role as it is he cross cultural element I’ve chosen to study. In my PIP I will not only try to integrate the past and present into my analysis, but also speculate about what the future holds in regards to my topic (i. e the elements of time). Facebook itself is a form of social media, as well as being a familiar element of pop culture. Application of Methodologies – 272 words In terms of research methodologies for primary research, I aim to gather sufficient quantities of both qualitative and quantitative data to have a balance of statistical and subjective data to integrate with my secondary research.

I have decided on the use of a questionnaire distributed online with no restrictions to applicants so as to gain mainly qualitative data and a solid public opinion of the topic at hand. The advantages are that I am able to get balance of both types of qualitative and quantitative data from a single research methodology and my sample size is merely limited to those with an internet connection (meaning they will probably be familiar with Facebook).

Disadvantages include the insincerity of answers due to the anonymity of the internet, and the uncontrolled parameters of the sample – i. . I may not achieve my goal of equal gender. A focus group containing equal amounts of male and female participants of generation Y and/or Z will make up large amounts of qualitative data and shed some light on what the regular users of Facebook have to say in regards to my topic. The disadvantage to this methodology, however, is that it is extremely open ended and hard to record and thus analyse as well as being problematic to plan for 6 people to be free on the same day.

The use of a semi-structured interview, aimed to reveal what older generations have to say about my topic will also make up the bulk of my qualitative data considering how interviews produce very deep subjective responses. Much like the focus group however, it is time consuming and hard to plan. Log Diary – 163 words The development process of my PIP (specifically searching for a topic) was turbulent to say the least. Initially, several topics came to mind straight away, inspired by my micro world – for example my faith, or lack thereof, was a potential topic, especially due to the rise of secularism and the spread of Buddhism.

Eventually I had narrowed it down to 2 topics, socialisation in an increasingly sexualised society or something attributed to social media. I had written a complete introduction for the former when I realised that it would be ridiculously difficult to research this topic ethically and instead settled for the latter. This was the right choice as information (including reliable, unbiased work by sociologists) pertaining to social media was much more plentiful and much less scandalous.

It was interesting to note how there were papers dedicated to both sides of the argument on the benefits of social media, allowing me to find and formulate a conclusion for myself in this PIP. Analysis of Secondary Research/ Secondary Research Chapter – 490 words It was a pleasant surprise to find such excellent content in abundance to form the basis for my Secondary Research (In fact an article in the Guardian has a rather extensive list of related resources) – I had chosen the topic beforehand and yet it seems several articles where written specifically just for me.

The most important of which is undeniably Sherry Turkle’s “Alone Together” which is an exploration of how and why technology in general has caused humans in contemporary society to feel alone and isolated and changes that have occurred to the socialisation process that has made this possible. It was reassuring knowing that the Turkle had more than enough credentials for this book as I probably wouldn’t have accepted some of her somewhat perplexing ideas otherwise; for example a recurring idea is the importance for human solitude and the difference between solitude and isolation.

The theme of isolation is prevalent throughout the book and she applies several theories (The Goldilocks Effect: we crave a precise amount of human contact, not too little or we will feel alone, not too much because we value privacy – just right) as a result of her own primary research. Turkle’s reliability is reinforced as she is constantly referenced throughout the rest of my secondary resources as a forerunner of sorts to the study of the psychological effects of technology.

In regards to my PIP, all articles are interrelated strongly with the concept of continuity and change (though there is a focus more on the present and future rather than the past)and the article from the APA (American Psychological Association) even has a small section in the interview dedicated to gender (according to Turkle her research shows that women, especially those in their younger years are more ikely to develop an obsession with checking status updates and being constantly linked into the social network). Turkle’s thorough primary research only helps to further my curiosity as to what my own finding will uncover in my PIP. Another issue prevalent in all the articles is the deterioration of human social skills. Turkle brings up the point that we are now able to edit our responses online to portray ourselves how we want us to appear, but not who we really are.

She also notes insincerity as an effect of technological communications: she implies friendship is now less heartfelt due to the insignificance of constant “friend requests” as well as the general moral decay of those obsessed with Facebook, reflected in the findings of the Internet Psychologist website – we are constantly checking our phones in inappropriate social situations such as dinner, in board meetings and even at funerals.

To conclude, the discovery of the book Alone Together was a great breakthrough for me and will be the critical piece of Secondary Research for my PIP. The rest of the articles are literally just supplementary information, reinforcing issues, ideas and theories already apparent in Alone Together. Annotated Secondary Resources – 511 words Turkle, Sherry. (2013) Alone Together: Why we expect more from Technology and Less from Each Other. Basic Books.

Alone Together is an exploration of the effects of technology (with focus on the internet, text messaging, and artificial intelligence replacing human contact) on human psyche. Interestingly enough, Turkle had published an earlier book (Life on the Screen) as an optimistic account of the freedom of online identity; however, all optimism was dropped in this book as she notes the decay of human social expertise as a result of the aforementioned factors in the opening sentence (therefore there is no bias present in this text as she has explored both sides of the argument).

The book was incredibly insightful and thought-provoking as I found myself noticing examples in the book right inside my micro-world. Combine this with the reliability of the author (Turkle is a professor of Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT, the founder of the MIT initiative on Technology and self and also a licensed clinical psychologist) this book will undoubtedly serve as one of my principal secondary research sources and will probably form the basis of my PIP.