The Journal of Social Media in Society
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A Mixed Methods Examination of 21st Century Hiring Processes, Social Networking Sites, and Implicit Bias
No full textGeneral U.S. hiring practices have evolved with the emergence of online social networking sites (SNSs) despite a lag in formal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mandates. This mixed methods study examines hiring professionals’ use of SNSs in hiring determinations across a variety of industries as well as within advertising agencies specifically. The latter of which focuses primarily on hiring procedures for account executives. Online survey data from 300 hiring professionals demonstrate reliance upon SNSs during various stages of the hiring process for candidate hiring and rejection, and interview data from 12 agency hiring professionals across the U.S. reveal similar findings in the ad industry. Within the ad industry, which is actively trying to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, a shift appears to have occurred away from hiring professionals’ explicit biases to implicit biases against racial and ethnic minority candidates whose demographic information is often publicly displayed via their digital footprints. Managerial implications for impression formation, implicit bias, and third person effects in the hiring and retention of minority employees in the ad industry are discussed
Power, Metaphor, and the Closing of a Social Networking Site
Get PDFThis project expands root-metaphor analysis by examining the closure of a once popular social networking site, advancing critical interrogation of ownership vs. the idea of online spaces as “communities.” Yahoo! 360° participants used private sphere root-metaphors of home, family, and community constituting a space of intimacy, camaraderie, and care. The closing exposed previously unseen power differentials between participants and Yahoo! Participants reacted by using the metaphor of war and violence to frame the actions of Yahoo
Social Media in a Subjective-science Mode: The “Facebook Likes” Study Reconfigured with Self-reference
Get PDFA Cambridge University study of more than 58,000 users of the popular social medium Facebook examined the extent to which the Facebook "Likes" button predicted behaviors and attributes of a diverse nature (IQ, sexual identity, political and popular-culture preferences, religious affiliation, and the like). Despite revealing several intriguing and statistically significant relationships, the research sheds scant light on the nature of the subjectivity at play. In a Q-methodological study of a sample of subjectively communicated responses to the Cambridge research, three versions of the subjective interface between the users of Facebook and the social medium are reported. Implications for studying the social-psychological aspects of social media from the methodological principle of self-reflection are discussed
Factors Affecting the Adoption of Social Network: A Study of Facebook Users in Bangladesh
No full textThis study is intended to identify the underlying motives of Bangladeshi people’s adoption of social networking sites (SNS) and to determine existing differences in these purposes in terms of their educational level, age and gender. A sample of two hundred students has been selected applying quota sampling. Personal face-to-face interview and electronic survey with structured, close-ended questionnaire having 34 questions placed under nine factors (Involvement, Usefulness, Usage, Trust, Convenience, Openness of Information, Making New Contact, Audience and Acceptability) and rated on five point Likert scale was used. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and independent sample t-test have been applied for data analysis. Results indicate that, Involvement, Usefulness and Convenience are the three most important and Trust is the least important factor affecting adoption. In terms of educational level and gender there is no significant difference in perception. However, perception regarding Involvement, Usefulness and Convenience differ significantly in terms of age
Impact of Traditional and Internet/Social Media Screening Mechanisms on Employers’ Perceptions of Job Applicants
No full textThis study examined employers’ perspectives of applicants’ employability via traditional methods (resume, job interviews, etc.) and nontraditional methods (internet/social media). Drawing from qualitative interviews with employers, results showed that older employers only checked candidates once online, whereas younger employers checked candidates multiple times. Respondents cited the internet/social media as an inexpensive way to conduct a cursory background check on job applicants. But they mostly used the internet/social media to weed out applicants, not to be more inclusive with applicant pools. Implications for employers and job applicants are discussed.
Principals’ Perspectives on Social Media in Schools
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to gather information from Texas school principals regarding their perspectives on social media as an instructional tool. This study examined current uses of social media in the schools, principals’ perceptions of the educational value of social media, the necessity for digital citizenship, the potential barriers to using social media, and device usage. Overall, principals indicated via online questionnaire that they were using social media to communicate with stakeholders and there was enthusiasm toward using social media in the classroom for instructional purposes. However, the use of social media to promote 21st century skills remains has yet to reach its full potential and remains an elusive target. Principals also acknowledged implementing social media as instructional tools was a complex process
Cues about Cues in Political Comments on Social Media: Effects of Commenters’ Attractiveness and Claims of Cognitive Effort
Get PDFHumans strive for balance between their motivations for accurate judgments and their cognitive effort. Although heuristic cues provide cognitive shortcuts, heuristic-based processing does not guarantee quality judgments. Based on the heuristic-systematic model, this study investigates if social media users select cues to use for their judgments based on cue applicability and reliability, which can facilitate more effective heuristic processing. The present study examine if (1) commenters’ physical attractiveness and their claims of cognitive effort influence the effects of their comments about a political candidate on the viewer’s attitude toward and vote intention for the candidate, and (2) if the viewer’s political interest moderates the influences. The results indicate that vote intention is significantly influenced by the cognitive effort cue whereas attitude is significantly influenced only when the viewer is interested in politics. The attractiveness cue does not have a significant influence
“Actually Having Conversations and Talking to People”: Defining Social Media Engagement
Get PDFWhile previous attempts to conceptualize social media engagement have yielded limited building blocks to clarify the phenomenon, those attempts primarily resulted in frameworks generated by advertising, organizational literature, and media histories. Instead of asking users how they understand engagement within social media contexts and spaces, previous attempts myopically defined the concept by pointing at the way users use the social tools given them. This study asked heavy social media users to provide a definition of social media engagement without referencing previous advertising, marketing, organizational, or media research terms, and without referencing specific social media spaces or technologies. The results show that users conceptualize social media engagement as a connective and interactive phenomenon where users attend to others in ways that speak to collective understanding of the world and time. Generated from these thematics, social media users appear to comprehend engagement as communication that requires attentiveness to others without being constrained by technology
The Influence of Snapchat on Interpersonal Relationship Development and Human Communication
Get PDFThis study focuses on Snapchat, a cellphone picture-sending app and its influences on interpersonal relational development and the current understanding of the communication process. Using qualitative interview technique, 75 people were interviewed. These interview responses led to the identification and discussion of seven themes in the realm of interpersonal relationship and human communication. These themes range from moving a relationship from the experimenting to intensifying stage, reinitiating family relationships, relationship maintenance, and avoiding partners. The findings of this study also highlight the significance of a non-response, the level of risk involved in Snapchat messaging, and methods of identity management via Snapchat. Finally, this is a unique study in its approach, which is an effort to look at virtual human communication trends that are contributing to the development and reshaping of interpersonal relationship development models. Also, this investigation provides a new lens of opportunity through which scholars can look at McLuhan’s long-debated claim that the medium is the message.
I Am Woman, But Not Roaring: An Examination of Similarities and Differences in How Male and Female Professional Athletes are Using Twitter
No full textThe Twitter activity of male and female athletes was analyzed in this study to determine how they connect with fans and enhance their public profile. The emergence of social media provides female athletes more control over their public image. Drawing on research in public relations, a quantitative content analysis of tweets produced by athletes was examined using the dialogic principles and the use of the structural features of the platforms. Findings from this study indicated some difference between male and female athletes’ use of Twitter. Males employed the “generation of return visits” principle along with the use of hashtags that indicate a more strategic use of social media, and female athletes tended to produce original tweets with useful information and frequently interacted with other users.