Review of Literature Paper
Journal of Business & Economics Research – First Quarter 2014 Volume 12, Number 1
Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 1 The Clute Institute
The Social Media As Echo Chamber:
The Digital Impact Nadia Yusuf, King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia
Nisreen Al-Banawi, King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia
Hajjah Abdel Rahman Al-Imam, King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT
The media serve as the channels used to deliver information or research data for any purpose.
With media and technology combined, if today a person is sitting in one corner of the world, he or
she can send knowledge and words to an unimaginable number of people without fear of being
interrupted or argued with. This paper explores the impact of media technology in our lives. The
advent of the “social media” is playing a role in all facets of our lives. Its overriding existence
with free search engines has changed the trends in education, economics, politics, and our day-to-
day routine. Here we highlight how the quest of technology in the form of “social media” has
been an important aspect of getting this world expressed in terms of bytes. The social media
include web-based technology that has changed communication into a more interactive dialogue.
The social media have completely transformed the way we connect or reconnect with old friends
and acquaintances, entertain ourselves, pursue our hobbies, shop, relax, and look for jobs. The
social media are the primary communication medium today for a new generation of digitally
aware consumers.
Keywords: Social Media; Information; Business; Education; Marketing
INTRODUCTION
s defined by Wikipedia, “Social media is a media for social interaction among people in which they
create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual networks and communities”
(Rosenberg, 2013). This definition applies primarily to any form of business interactions, rather than
for personal socializing. Social media search tools also help users search for conversations relevant to the topics they
care about most, whether one’s favorite sport, favorite food, or celebrity, or one’s company's brand name.
Companies use the social media as a tool for direct conversation with their customers in terms of providing valuable
details about their products. Usually the dialogue is not one-way, enhancing a company’s chances to give good
customer service in this competitive market. In recent years, the use of social media has turned out to be the
benchmark for advertising in every successful business. The social media have helped provide thousands of jobs
throughout the nation, fostered a new industry where thousands more have created income opportunities online, and
facilitated countless sales over the past few years. Thus, the social media have recently empowered global societies
to mastermind better futures for their nations.
HISTORY
The media have existed since ancient times when gestures and paintings were the main source of
communication. In the centuries since the beginning of the Renaissance, the world has witnessed a huge
transformation of media from alphabetic writing to printing, and in the last few decades, from printing to electronic
media and computer communication. Technology has made communication increasingly easier through history.
Finally, in recent years, the social media have become a very significant tool for social networking.
The current social media did not develop overnight. The Internet that we now have - and depend upon to
deliver varied information to our homes - evolved through the years, beginning with telegraph and progressing
A
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through telephone and e-mail (electronic mail). ARPANET, BBS, CompuServe, and Geocities represent interactive
sites that have managed to bring the world together. The web world grew as more and more social sites were
developed for fun, entertainment, and information for digital users. The first BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) came
online in the late 1970s (Chapman, 2009). Online forums have also played a vital role in the evolution of the social
web.
It has been an exciting decade so far for the development of social media, but despite the growing number
of services competing for the attention of the audience, only a few have established themselves over the past few
years. In 2000, the social site Google developed the ability to read our minds as how we visualize the search results
we want (Google.com, 2012). Further, it established a 10-language version, exploring the whole world. At present,
Google Search is the most used engine on the World Wide Web.
Political Influence
In the first quarter of 2011, the Middle East witnessed many uprisings, termed social media revolutions,
and it is believed that Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter played the role of catalyst role in igniting changes in the
Middle East, especially in Egypt. The turmoil that ended a 30-year-old oppressive regime in Egypt resulted from the
social media’s uniting the youth, helping them to organize and coordinate protests against the government.
Presently, Syrian videos displayed on social sites have kept people united and aware of what is happening within
that country. The social media has taken us into a new era of politics with the possibility of unifying a large number
of people all over the world.
Generalized Impact
Arguably, social networks are having an impact on the way the next generation will lead; we might call it
the “Facebook effect” (World Economic Forum, 2011). The Internet has democratized access to information and, to
some extent, relationships. Leadership relies on effective communication, and communication is what social
networks are all about. Everybody, from big businesses to independent businesses, is using some form of social
media marketing plan as a part of daily life. This paper looks at how the social media have penetrated our lives on a
daily basis. How deep-seated have social media become in people’s lives?
Social Media
Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, LinkedIn, MySpace, Orkut, and YouTube are a few common examples in a
huge list of websites that comprise social networking services. Some of these have even managed to shape a whole
new generation on the Web. These websites are focused on bringing people together to interact through chat rooms,
and they provide easy-to-use publishing tools via inexpensive personal Web pages. The world's biggest social
network is expected to seek a $75 billion to $100 billion valuation in its IPO, the most anticipated stock offering
from Silicon Valley since Google Inc. went public in 2004 (Neil, 2012). Facebook was designed to accumulate lists
of “friends” as well as bring together people with similar interests. It has added a number of features over the past
few years, including messaging, chatting, posting photos and uploading videos. YouTube, the first major video
hosting and sharing site, was launched in 2005. Users have the freedom to upload videos or to embed them on other
websites. Now YouTube has launched a service to provide television shows and movies under license from their
copyright holder (www.webgranth.com). The advent of social news and bookmarking sites in the mid-2000s brought
about a whole new way of seeing what is going on in the world and discovering interesting content. News became
more widely available, thanks to social media websites. Twitter, founded in 2006, gained a lot of popularity during
the 2007 South by Southwest (SxSW) conference (Chapman, 2009). Twitter has also spawned a number of third-
party sites and apps, turning it into more of a platform than a single service. There are Twitter clients for updating
and managing followers, services that track Twitter trends, and services for posting photos and videos directly to
Twitter.
Social Media – Getting Economical
If you placed an ad on page 3 in a newspaper with a circulation of 100,000 or bought some air time on a
broadcast watched by 5 million, you probably didn’t think about the readers who bought that paper only for the
Journal of Business & Economics Research – First Quarter 2014 Volume 12, Number 1
Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 3 The Clute Institute
sports news or the viewers who popped out of the room during the commercials to put a kettle on – and that’s even
before we talk about circulation figures inflated by the assumption that every paper was read by 3 or 4 people
(Online Journalism Blog, 2009). Online we know exactly how many people have looked at a specific page, the
contents, and how many have clicked on the advertisements. You can also track which page users were coming from
and which one they went to next, the search terms they were using, the location of their access, and more, depending
on how much data they provided. Thus, social media has changed traditional marketing so that it is now “integrative
marketing” (Carter, 2011). How businesses manage that integrative social media portfolio will determine their
success or failure. Marketing is now sourced down to the end user. If you don’t meet the needs of the customer, you
will hear about it. It’s a completely new way to sell products. So far, the measurement of success is done by clicks
and impressions.
Reduced Cost
Web technology, which is now mobile, has reduced the cost of news-gathering, production, and distribution
to almost nil (Online Journalism Blog, 2009) and new tools are being made all the time that reduce the time cost
even further. When publishing is as easy as making a phone call, it causes problems for any business that has to
maintain or pay debts on costly legacy production systems. Social networks are more powerful and efficient than
delivery vans, and you don’t need to sell a certain amount of information to make them viable. Meanwhile, the
monopoly on advertising has gone. Before, choices for advertisers might have been limited, but now they can
choose from dozens of local media outlets, national directories, international outlets, search engines, or social
networks – or spend money on becoming media producers themselves. This competition has driven the cost down
and innovation up. Since anyone can publish, anyone can distribute, and retailers can talk to customers directly, why
should they advertise in a newspaper or magazine? Audio, video, text, photography, animation – it all becomes 1
and 0 in “bytes.” The value of an organization lies not only but also within its walls but also beyond them.
The Rise of the PR Industry
News organizations have become training grounds for the PR industry. Journalists who cannot live on
newspaper wages have been leaving to work in PR for some time now, which means that the costs of training and
recruitment will increase. Good graduates from journalism schools are often hired by PR even before they enter the
news industry, leaving the news industry in a dilemma as to how to attract the best brains. The social media
empower the consumer, creating buying efficiencies. As another, interesting phenomena, the social media create
better employees through the use of private networks. It also allows retirees of a company to continue to contribute
via a social media platform. Thus, it is now crucial to understand social media in order to figure out the best way to
use it strategically to further your business or brand. E-Marketer estimates that marketers spent $2 billion to
advertise on social network Websites worldwide in 2008 (eMarketers, 2009).
Figure 1, a prediction from before 2009, projected that worldwide ad spending would increase 17%, to
$2.35 billion. “A double-digit rise in spending is certainly good news at a time when forecasters are shrinking their
worldwide online ad spending projections to the low single digits,” noted Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior
analyst and author of the report, “Social Networking Worldwide: Ad Spending and Usage.” “But the expected
growth in social network spending in 2009 is half of what eMarketer had projected it would be in our previous
forecast in December 2007.” More than 210 million people in Europe visited a social networking site during one
month (Matadeen, 2009). Though there are many activities that people can engage in on social network sites –
games, applications, listening to music – the key benefit is that they are an easy way to stay in touch and share
information with friends and acquaintances.
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Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 4 The Clute Institute
Figure 1: Online Social Network Advertising Spending Worldwide (2008-2013)
The slogan “Find your customers before they search” from Ad Tech on Facebook is sending out a message
to brands that Facebook is the place for companies to advertise effectively on the Web. Facebook poses a direct
challenge to Google with this new overtly commercial strategy. Facebook is clearly trying to sell the idea that on its
site companies can reach out to customers before they even know what they are looking for, in opposition to using a
search engine, such as Google (Barnett, 2010). Add this to the fact that people have started to shop on social
network sites using shopping aggregators and it becomes clear that Facebook is certainly trying to build a web
within the Web.
E-commerce, one of the biggest social networks on the planet, is going to become larger rapidly because
major brands, such as Avon, have started to sell their products via the site. In its bid to attract major advertising
money, Facebook is trying to pull all that’s great about the Web – messaging, shopping, photo-tagging, location
sharing, question-answering – into one place.
If Facebook can get people to conduct most of their Web activities through its service, it can increase the
time spent on the site by the increasing number of users – and then charge increasing amounts to brands for serving
targeted adverts. Companies need to keep abreast of the huge changes and upcoming commercial opportunities on a
site that is rapidly heading towards a billion users. Facebook’s best service to companies is to get people talking,
which brands can do through dedicated pages and highly innovative advertising campaigns.
Social Media & Economics
Businesses are also sharpening their skills in marketing and advertising through social networking sites
(Hunter, 2008). Through online social networking, companies are better able to advertise to specific markets or
discover, monitor, and engage with loyal brand advocates. In addition to just advertising, they can research target
markets and industry trends, notify the public about new products, release announcements, and, perhaps most
important, discover disgruntled customers and address their concerns.
In every economy, there is a force that supersedes the economy, which often produces a better economic
future than one might otherwise expect (Nathan, 2011). In the current economy, the social media are the driving
force, not only because they have changed the whole concept of online marketing, but also because they have
provided millions of job opportunities since 2009, online and offline (Socialf5 Blog, 2011). There was a time when
people used social websites for chatting and personal interaction only. However, because these media are
increasingly becoming a part of the corporate world, the social media have grown in status, and people have started
looking at social media jobs more respectfully.
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The number of jobs created by social media companies is very substantial: Facebook has 2000 employees,
Twitter 300 employees, LinkedIn 900 employees, and Groupon 4500 employees. The economic impact of these
thousands of newly employed workers in itself is a boost to an economy, since 2008. Social media has also tended
toward a shift away from traditional employment to self-employment. People are creating businesses based on social
media, than rather following instructions from their bosses. Moreover, business is now being generated through
social media. This is the reason why Facebook ads contribute the bulk of Facebook’s estimated $4 billion in
revenue.
The social media are considered to be the only technology that makes communication easier and creates
jobs. The social media are associated with both economic output and income. In their spare time, people prefer to
browse on or otherwise interact with the Web. Instead of watching soaps on TV, people have begun to blog and
create other Web content, thus making them a part of labor force of the social media economy. Investors have begun
to invest in such start-up and with this capital, development communities have been able to learn and create new
technologies that are making it faster and easier for people to share content. Facebook alone has 5 billion posts per
week. This situation creates another problem, though, because the social Web is focused on the production of
content irrespective of its consumption (Vosters, 2011).
The social media are also having a destructive effect on major existing industries like traditional advertising
media are becoming less and less effective as members of its audience become more networked and attentive to one
another (Fischer, 2009). Manipulation is not a part of the social media landscape, but the fact that it is difficult for
anyone to broadcast and be heard by large audience networks on the Web at one time means it is more difficult; and
it will, in the end, be the exception rather than the norm.
In addition, it is good to note that all growth markets in the future will be niche markets. Thus, in the short
term, social media’s gains in economic investment may be offset by the disruptive role they have in traditional
industries. In the past, technology changes led, through obvious and simple routes, to large-scale increases in
productivity and demand. In the longer term, as the culture adapts to the full potential of the social media, there may
be large-scale increases in productivity; but in the near term, the social media are not providing a clear path for
investment. Gains in efficiency and productivity are not certain, and even the ROI for the social media as applied
throughout the economy is still subjective rather than proven.
The tourist economy provides an important source of revenue to many local and state municipalities, but
budget cuts and the changing use of media and technology require that many tourist bureaus strategically change the
way they promote their areas (Presidio, 2011). The new media provide not only a less expensive approach to
marketing for tourism bureaus during economic deficiencies but also a timely response to areas in crisis. Finally,
they offer many opportunities for visitors and residents alike to engage with their hometown or the city they are
visiting, instantly telling their personal stories to attract potential visitors or keeping them at bay, based on their own
experiences.
Thus, with these mixed results, the social media are becoming a tough game for research companies to call
(Gaffney, 2009). Several recent reports present divergent looks at ad spending projections and the potential size of
key players, all pointing to the possibility that spending in this area is more spontaneous than search, display, or
even traditional media. eMarketer, expects US advertisers to spend $171.01 billion on paid media this year, up 3.6%
over 2012 spending levels, according to our most recent forecast of US ad spending (eMarketers, 2013). The 3.6%
growth rate will be down somewhat from last year’s 4.3% increase, attributable largely to boosts from the Summer
Olympics and a national election season. Spending growth for 2014 will be up, with help from the Winter Olympics,
midterm elections and the FIFA World Cup, as growth rates hover between 3.1% and 4.1% for the rest of the
forecast period.
Spending on social media by marketing companies is expected to increase, a sign that these efforts can be
deployed quickly and inexpensively in a recession (Odell, 2009). These messages have the potential to move rapidly
through word-of-mouth and can deliver measurable results. However, the data also suggest that marketing through
social media remains in the experimental phase. The social media budgets to increase as a direct result of the
weakened economy. These budgets, however, comprise a very small portion of overall marketing expenditures, so
small in fact, that the social media have yet to gain enough footing to deserve a marketing line item.
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In short, Facebook embodies a new generation of social media organizations that have significant global
impact and that create economic value through enabling ecosystems of businesses to flourish
(www.theecommercepro.com). Because the traditional narrow measures of economic impact are limited, it is critical
to consider the broader impact of Facebook in allowing other parties to create value across the economy. Across the
whole of the European Union and Switzerland, the report shows that Facebook has supported 232,000 jobs and
enabled an estimated €15.3 billion of economic activity in 2011.
Social Media & Education
In the digital world, opportunities for education are available as never before. Ask anyone over the age of
50 with a PhD what it was like to get the information that they needed as graduate students, and they will generally
begin to rant and discuss how young people these days have it so easy. It has been speculated that the ease in
obtaining information will lead to a decline in respect for intellectuals, but that seems unlikely. Knowing how to
search for something is merely the first step to real comprehension, which involves a deeper understanding and
critical analysis. On the whole, intellectualism and its pursuits will always command respect. Technology is
changing our world, and we have to understand the implications of its use for our children’s education. The
education may be affected by technology in a very real way, and the timeless goals of education should be respected.
The social media have their drawbacks, too, in terms of classroom education. Though teachers are using
online tools to empower students to take part in their education, doing so may also expose students to inappropriate
material, sexual predators, and bullying and harassment by their peers (www.huffingtonpost.com). Teachers who are
not careful with their use of the sites can fall into inappropriate relationships with students or publicize photos and
information they believed were kept private. For these reasons, critics are calling for regulation and for removing
social networking from classrooms, despite the positive effects they have on students and the essential tools they
provide for education in today's digital climate. Here, we look at some of the positives and negatives in the effects of
the social media on education.
Positive Points
1. It’s free. We still have to pay for Internet and technology in homes and school buildings, but software costs have gone down significantly (Couros, 2011). As educators continuously have to deal with budget cuts, it is
important that we use tools that cost little. Safety is essential, but with a little hard work in teaching Internet
safety and setting up certain sites, the software often costs nothing.
2. It cuts down on isolation. The opportunity to connect is there for those who are willing to take it. 3. It builds tolerance and understanding of cultural diversity. The social media provide a great opportunity not
only to read content from different people and to hear their perspectives but also actually to talk with
people. Having the opportunity to connect with people all over the world breaks down a lot of barriers and
builds understanding.
4. It can amplify passion. Passion is a term that has been used a great deal in education. We now have the opportunity to not only connect with people of different cultures, but to people with similar interests and
create innovation in new areas. The child who does not find anyone in the classroom with similar interests
is no longer limited in searching for someone with shared interests.
5. It can open up the world of education, which is already (and needs to be yet more) open. The parents, who may not know the teacher in the next grade, can simply follow teachers’ blogs to learn about some of their
practices. This ability breaks down walls and helps to build relationships with families and in the
community.
6. The education of a nation’s youth to its full height of academic rigor and standing is a complex process that nearly always spans more than a decade, requires tens of thousands of dollars, dozens of teachers, and of
course, technology (Wilhelm, 2011). Technology can be a powerful tool for learning, but it can be the same
for cheating. It can be used to inform, and to distort. It can boldly open new doors, even as it flings open
some that were perhaps best left closed; not every topic is appropriate for all age groups. While some
involved in the world of education still want to stress cursive penmanship and hand-editing, it is hard not to
admit that technology – specifically and mostly the Internet and personal computing – has transformed the
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modern world. Modern students were raised with technology, for better or for worse, so we must be careful
not to cheapen the impact of what might otherwise be a strong education.
Negative Points
1. Many students rely on the accessibility of information from the social media specifically and the Web in
general to provide answers (Dunn, 2011). Such an approach means a reduced focus on learning and
retaining information.
2. Students who attempt to multi-task in ways like checking social media sites while studying show reduced
academic performance. Their ability to concentrate on the task at hand is significantly reduced by the
distractions from YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.
3. The more time students spend on social sites, the less time they spend socializing in person. Because of the
lack of body signals and other nonverbal cues, social networking sites are not an adequate replacement for
face-to-face communication.
4. The popularity of social media and the speed at which information is published have created a lax attitude
towards proper spelling and grammar. Thus, students’ ability to write effectively without relying on a
computer’s spell check feature has been reduced (www.guardian.com).
5. The degree to which private information is available online and the anonymity the Internet seems to
provide has made students forget the need to filter the information they post. Many colleges and potential
employers investigate an applicant’s social networking profiles before granting an interview or offering a
job. Most students don’t constantly evaluate the content they’re publishing online, which can bring about
negative consequences months or years down the road.
What Next?
How can parents mitigate the negative aspects of social media while improving upon the positive results?
Moderating their children’s access to social media is one excellent method. Most of the negative aspects can be
overcome by reducing the amount of time spent on social network sites. Provide ample time for face -to-face social
interaction, like having some family leisure time in which you discuss their studies in a relaxed atmosphere or
inviting friends and family. Paying attention to their academic progress and addressing any issues will go a long way
towards keeping the negative aspects of social media from influencing their studies. So, too, will providing fun,
face-to-face social interaction with loved ones.
One study, which analyzed how students performed when using Twitter, found that students who were
asked to contribute to class discussions and to complete assignments using Twitter increased their engagement over
a semester more than twice as much as a control group (www.huffingtonpost.com). Use of social networking not
only benefits students, but also provides new opportunities for communication amongst teachers and administrators.
According to a report featured in The Journal of Educational Technology Systems, tech savvy administrators are
using blogs as a tool to keep parents, teachers, and students informed of events in their schools. Nobody would
dispute that the risks of children’s using social media are real and are not to be taken lightly. However, there are also
dangers offline. The teachers and parents who embrace social media say the best way to keep kids safe, online or
offline, is to teach them.
CONCLUSION
The social media are not just a toy; rather, they provide tools that can be used to build a business. This tool
must be used with respect, as one false move and one’s account could be closed down. The aspects discussed above
may help us to understand the importance of social media. Personal branding is very important to Internet marketers,
and social websites offer them an opportunity to do something right – or very wrong, which brings up a second
point. Most people are pushing a product or business instead of offering value. However, if a business offers value,
people will be interested. Adding valuable content using social media and helping people solve their problems is a
great way to start building a relationship. Because of the global nature of the social media, one can establish contact
with almost everyone, no matter where in the world they are. The social media content that one puts out determines
one’s success or failure in using social networking sites. Finally, a person or business can set up pages that people
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can follow or can use to request information. This is also where people can learn about companies and products. The
social media have really made the world a smaller place; they are here to stay, and people from all walks of life can
profit from learning to use them to their full potential.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Dr. Nadia Yusuf (Indian national), is a doctorate in Economics, and majored in Microeconomics. Dr. Yusuf’s thesis
is based on the role of lead bank in financing the agricultural sector in India, with reference to Aligarh District.
Presently, Dr. Yusuf works as an Assistant Professor, at Economics Department in King Abdul-Aziz University,
Jeddah, KSA. Dr. Yusuf teaches students using a systematic plan of lectures, demonstrations, discussion groups,
laboratory work, shop sessions, seminars, case studies, field assignments and independent or group projects. E-mail:
nadiayusuf112@hotmail.com (Corresponding author)
Dr. Nisreen Al-Banawi, Head of the Economics at King Abdul-Aziz University. Dr. Al-Banawi is a member of
Saudi Economic Association and the Saudi Association for Population studies. Dr. Al-Banawi’s teaching experience
since 1989 is in Micro and Macro Economics, labour Economics, Mathematical Economics and Health-care
Economics. Dr. Al-Banawi has authored, varied articles in Maritime Economics. E-mail:
nadia112yusuf@hotmail.com
Dr. Hajjah Abdel Rahman Al-Imam, Assistant Professor, Economics Department, King Abdul-Aziz University.
National of Sudan, Dr. Al-Imam has been residing in Saudi Arabia for the past 20 years, teaching in the same
faculty. Including this paper, Dr. Al-Imam has a number of other papers published in various conferences
proceedings and journals.
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Journal of Business & Economics Research – First Quarter 2014 Volume 12, Number 1
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