Read the three statuses below and think of three different scenarios where the original status listed could be interpreted to mean something different. For example, if the status update was, "Goodbye,
Module 1 Theories
Cultivation Theory
Cultivation theory explains that regular and frequent exposure to certain types of social media information have an effect on a person's attitudes and behavior. Cultivation theorists believe that social media has effects that are small, gradual, indirect, and cumulative - they add up over time to change a person's attitudes and behaviors, kind of like a stalagmite building up on a cave floor over the years.
Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory explains that we learn through observation. According to social learning theory, the three pieces of this puzzle are the person, the modeled behavior, and the environment. We form a model of behaviors without needing to actually do it ourselves - we can see someone almost being hit by a car in the street and know that we need to be very careful in the street without being (nearly) hit ourselves. We can watch a YouTube video on makeup application or car repair and then go on to try the process in real life.
Agenda Setting Theory
Agenda setting theory explains that social media influences people regarding what to think about rather than what to think. This theory holds that social media influences and amplifies our existing beliefs, and that people are willing to look to social media to cue us as to where we should focus our attention. You might see this as waves of people on your social media sites tend to post about similar issues, which gets you (and them) thinking about them more and leads to more posting for a while. Then the attention goes somewhere else. For example, for a while, the gold and white / blue and black dress was lighting up social media sites (google it if you don't know), which led to a lot of discussions on visual processing and the work our brains do. Then along came the next big item on the agenda.
Uses and Gratification Theory
Uses and gratification theory identifies that people look to social media to escape from challenges or be entertained. This theory assumes that people are not passive, but are actively searching out and using the information they are consuming from social media sites.
Schemas
Schemas are ways of organizing our world. We all have stereotypes that help us classify people and things. Schemas are not a theory, per se, but an explanation on how our memory organizes information. Jean Piaget developed the use of schemas to explain not only how we categorize our knowledge, but how we utilize that knowledge as well.
For example, if someone asks you to describe a Republican or a Democrat, how would you do that? You may have a particular schema of a person belonging to one or the other political party. Your information on political parties may be extensive or limited, so how you explain a person from each party will reflect that level of expertise. If you were someone who routinely watches a particular 24-hour news network, your schema may change toward a particular party as you assimilate the new information into your original framework (schema) of that political party.
In the same light, viewing the social media networks may alter or accommodate your existing schema to fit the new information.
Theories in Action
There is more to social media interaction than what is just on the surface. Which brand of windshield wipers do most people like? How many people see this group's posts? Does that person really live in a house that looks so amazing and eat gourmet food all the time? Are that person's links usually interesting and worth clicking through? And why does that person have 10 cat updates a day? We make snap judgments about these kinds of things and more as we browse through social media. Our reactions shape our thinking, both about the people and businesses themselves and about many topics in general (like political issues).
One of the challenges of understanding the effects of social media on behavior is determining how much interaction and the type of social media content engaged/viewed. For instance, if someone primarily watches YouTube videos, does watching these videos change the person's world view, attitudes, or how the individual acts overall?
Another example would be online games. What effect does playing violent online video games several hours a day have on a person? Does that effect change with age and maturity level? All of these questions help determine how social media influences the common conceptions of reality.
| Cultivation Theory Example Cultivation theory implies that regular and frequent exposure to certain types of social media contents does have an effect on a person's attitudes and behavior. Now, if cultivation theory was universal, why wouldn't that imply that all people are susceptible to the social media influence? This, of course, is an overestimation. One example: Personality may be a factor in the efficacy of the cultivation effect. Nabi and Riddle (2008) found that trait-anxious and high-sensation seekers are more susceptible to cultivation towards crime. This appears logical since not all people who play violent online video games routinely are susceptible to being more violent unless they already have a propensity for violence. Violent online video games, such as GunBlood, Executioner 2, and Hobo, have become franchise titles with multiple editions, massive online followers, and dedicated forum for gamers (Sage Journals, 2013). However, cultivation effects may not be the only explanation for the popularity of such games. For example, these games may be popular purely because of their entertainment value, social group usage, or availability. Think about what you read. If you are often reading commentary with a skew one way, you might begin to actually lean that way. If a friend posts several pieces with a particular angle, you probably will start to associate it with them. | Social Learning Let's look at social learning theory a bit more. In the early 1960s, a simple experiment had a profound impact on helping understand one way in which we learn. Children observed adults hitting a Bobo doll (an inflated toy that is weighted on the bottom so when it gets hit it will tilt but not fall over) and from that observation, learned that it was okay to mimic the adult behavior and hit the doll. The ramifications of this experiment were evident in the now long-standing debate on television violence and its impact on behavior in children and adolescents. Albert Bandura's experiment provided the foundation for social learning theory which implies that we learn through observing others. A good example of social learning theory and the social media is in the multitude of instructional programs such as learning how to paint, cook, exercise, build furniture, and remodel homes. Pinterest is one social media site where there is a lot of sharing and social learning. Many people go to Pinterest to browse ideas for projects. Why does a person watch a particular political program? Your first answer may be, "To acquire information regarding a particular topic," however there may be other reasons. For example, some social media sites may be attempting to set an agenda or persuade the viewer, similar to the way an advertiser tries to sell a product. The viewer may also watch a particular program from an entertainment viewpoint. This could be true even for political programming. |
Getting back to violent online video games, the games would obviously not be setting some sort of agenda (unless of course the Legend of Zelda games had some meaning other than defeating bosses and monsters to rescue Princess Zelda), but they could be a means of escaping the present reality. Just like books, comics or graphic novels, cartoons (anime), and movies, online video games are a form of entertainment that allows individuals to escape whatever issues and challenges they are having. The need to escape and the ability to discriminate between the violence of the game and actual violence, especially in children and adolescents, have been part of an intense debate for some time.
Agenda setting can also be found among groups of people, especially as people begin to be known for something. If someone posts about their fabulous dinner menu, others might be more likely to go look for fabulous dinner menus of their own, which leads us back around to social learning.
Social learning theory explains that we learn through observation (remember the Bobo doll?) Thus, it stands to reason we learn from what we watch and read. One of the ways we process information is through schemas, or categories we create. This has some significant ramifications when it comes to how we interpret and utilize social media information, especially as we examine stereotypes and social media. Schemas can help us understand how we categorize groups in order to help us both generalize and discriminate between groups. We live in a diverse society, but not all areas are as diverse as others - there is no curator to ensure that people are getting a balanced representation of anything. The knowledge gained regarding a particular group may come entirely through what we learn from social media, and it could be entirely skewed based on where and how it was learned. If a YouTube video has the propensity to stereotype certain groups or even underrepresent groups, this may have an effect on an individual's schema regarding those groups, especially if that is the only real interaction the person has had with the group.
Our relationships can be affected by social media as well. If you have a friend who is always posts wonderful handmade jewelry, you might come to associate that with them - and whether you like it or not can affect your thoughts about that friend. It might be a big piece of their online presence, even if it's not a big part of their offline life. You can also see how very important a good social media presence is for businesses, non-profits, even things like schools, nursing homes, hospitals, law enforcement, and community groups! It is a way these entities can affect how people see them and develop their relationships, both interpersonally as well as between the consumer and the business. Good social media presence can mean brand loyalty, choosing one nursing home over another, wanting to sign up for something like a community alert, supporting one business or non-profit over another with a donation, etc.
References
Nabi, R. L., & Riddle, K. (2008).Personality traits, television viewing, and the cultivation effect. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 52(3), 327-348.
Key Takeaways
Our world is increasingly more interconnected, and social media plays an important role in this world. We see social media every day in our lives: in advertisements, shopping reviews, connecting with professional contacts, and even when we interact digitally with friends. Social media is all around us.
One way we can understand and examine social media is using psychological theories. Cultivation theory (small and consistent inputs cultivates changing views), social learning theory (learning by observing), agenda setting theory (allowing social media to tell us what to think about), uses and gratifications theory (actively using social media to escape), and schemas (how we group and understand information) are all useful in better understanding the impact social media has on our lives.
There are many important things from this module, but three key points to take away from this week are:
There is more to social media interactions than what you see on the surface.
Social media affects our relationships with people and groups.
We consume, engage, and are affected by social media (almost) daily.
