Ambivalent attitudes towards social media

• Authors: Andrzej Szymkowiak , Urszula Garczarek-Bąk
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The use of social media (SM) is prevalent not only in private, but also in professional areas, and its overall involvement in our lives has grown immensely over the past decade. According to Bishop (2018), this is a phenomenon unlike anything seen throughout history. Previous studies on SM have analysed this subject unilaterally – giving greater emphasis to the positive or negative impact on its users. This novel article analyses the problem of the co-existence of opposing emotions towards SM based on the example of Facebook. Data from 274 young respondents (since teenagers and young adults spend on average 2–3 hours a day connected to SM sites, more so than other groups) (Healey, 2017), were collected on various areas of SM usage perception. The results present the existence of ambivalent attitudes towards Facebook threefold: as a place for building relationships, as a source of knowledge about the life of friends, and as a source of information. The article raises doubt as to what extent SM has an impact on their users in the future. The issue of SM affecting the user (no matter their age) generally focuses on the negative aspects (SM are being blamed for increasing mental health problems among young people) (Girl Effect team, 2018); therefore, the fidings here suggest that a balanced perspective is required, also including some positive aspects.

Keywords

EN

social media; ambivalence; online users

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej
• Journal: Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, sectio H – Oeconomia
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 1

Dates

published

2019

online

2019-10-14

Contributors

author

Andrzej Szymkowiak

author

Urszula Garczarek-Bąk

References

• Au-Yong-Oliveira, M., Gonçalves, R., Martins, J., & Branco, F. (2018). The social impact of technology on millennials and consequences for higher education and leadership. Telematics and Informatics, 35(4), 954-963. DOI: 10.1016/j.tele.2017.10.007
• Bik, H. M., & Goldstein, M. C. (2013). An introduction to social media for scientists. PLoS Biol, 11(4), e1001535. DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001535
• Bishop, L. (2018). The True Purpose Of Social Media 2018. Retrieved from https://umidigital.co.uk/blog/true-purpose-of-social-media-2018/
• Borenstein, A. (2017). Building a Brand with Enterprise Social Media – A Look at AO.com. Retrieved from https://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2017/04/building-a-brand-with-enterprise-social-media-a-look-at-ao-com/ [access: 18.05.2019].
• Cambridge Dictionary. (2018). Meaning of “ambivalent” in the English Dictionary. Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ambivalent [access: 18.05.2019].
• Cheng, X., Fu, S., & de Vreede, G.-J. (2018). A mixed method investigation of sharing economy driven car-hailing services: Online and offline perspectives. International Journal of Information Management, 41, 57-64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.03.005
• Future of working. (2018). 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking. Retrieved from https://futureofworking.com/10-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-social-networking/ [access: 18.05.2019].
• Girl Effect team. (2018). How social media affects young people. Retrieved from https://www.girleffect.org/stories/how-social-media-affects-young-people/ [access: 18.05.2019].
• Gruzd, A., Tiryakian, E. A., Wellman, B., & Takhteyev, Y. (2011). Imagining Twitter as an Imagined Community. American Behavioral Scientist, 55(10), 1294-1318.DOI: 10.1177/0002764211409378
• Healey, J. (2017). Social Media and Young People. Vol. 415. Thirroul, N.S.W.: The Spinney Press.
• Kim, H. H.-s. (2016). The impact of online social networking on adolescent psychological well-being (WB): a population-level analysis of Korean school-aged children. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 22(3), 364-376. DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2016.1197135.
• Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(4), 357-365. DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2009.03.002
• Moreau, E. (2018). The Pros and Cons of Social Networking. A look at the ups and downs of being so digitally connected to people. Retrieved from
• https://www.lifewire.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-social-networking-3486020 [access: 18.05.2019].
• O'Keeffe, G. S., Clarke-Pearson, K., Council on, C., & Media. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 800-804. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2011-0054
• Osterrieder, A. (2013). The value and use of social media as communication tool in the plant sciences. Plant Methods, 9(26).
• Romero, D. M., Galuba, W., Asur, S., & Huberman, B. A. (2011). Influence and Passivity in Social Media. Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 6913.
• Rowlands, I., Nicholas, D., Russell, B., Canty, N., & Watkinson, A. (2011). Social media use in the research workflow. Learned Publishing, 24(3), 183-195. DOI: 10.1087/20110306
• Smith, K. (2019). 121 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts. Retrieved from https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts/ [access: 18.05.2019].
• Statista. (2018a). Most famous social network sites worldwide as of October 2018, ranked by number of active users (in millions). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ [access: 18.05.2019].
• Statista. (2018b). Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 3rd quarter 2018 (in millions). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/ [access: 18.05.2019].
• Ventola, C. L. (2014). Social Media and Health Care Professionals: Benefits, Risks, and Best Practices. Pharmacy & Terapeutics, 39(7).
• Walton, A. G. (2017). 6 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#d9c166c2e5af [access: 18.05.2019].
• Westerman, D., Spence, P. R., & Van Der Heide, B. (2014). Social Media as Information Source: Recency of Updates and Credibility of Information. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19(2), 171-183. DOI: 10.1111/jcc4.12041

Identifiers

DOI

10.17951/h.2019.53.1.111-118