socialogy resarch paper

Running head: FORMAL OUTLINE 1

FORMAL OUTLINE

Topic: Formal Outline

Student Name

Institution

Introduction

Social media is one of the outcomes of internet technology; it can be defined as a platform where people exchange social stuff such as pictures and messages. Currently there are various social media sites such as face book, twitter and 2go, which are competing to share the thirsty populations. Social media platforms are gaining popularity because of their warm informality, convenience and the fact that they do not have so many requirements to enter. Well this informality is the undoing of the social media. Within the short time it has been around, it has had a huge impact on society (negative and positive). However, the negative influences seem to be taking over the positive ones. I consider social media as a social problem rather than a personal problem because it is affecting large number of people across the globe and age limits all at the same moment (Megat I, 2009). This source will be used as the thread throughout the outline since it presents the two sides of the problem.

Sociology-this is the study of human social behavior, its origins, developments, its organizations and the institutions. It looks at how people interact and how issues of social stratification influence their interactions.

An American sociologist, Charles Mills to describe the awareness of relationship between experience and the wider society, coined sociological imagination. It is an understanding that some things we do (think social in this case) have outcomes.

The above two terms relate to the impact of social media to the society in that, it is a study of social human behavior and it has some outcomes manifested in the larger society.

Problem statement

Social media is having a negative impact on the youth in the society.

Literature review

Megat (2009), a director of licensing department in the United States of America (SKMM) explores the impact of the social media. He analyses how the internet developed socially from the Email, websites and into social networks. According to him internet, internet is all over and accessible to anyone and hence accessing social media networks is no challenge as well. He explores the expansion of internet from business application initially to the current social burst. People are now flocking various social medial for relationships. However, social media is gaining economic and political importance apart from its traditional social functions.

In his study, he explores the social, economic and political functions the social media is assuming. For instance, businesses are using social media to advance their sales while politician are advancing their political courses through social networks (ProCon.org, 2011). He too has explored the negative impact the social media is having on the society especially to the youth. The social media with time, according to him may constitute a major economic cost as more people become addicted to the social media (Megat, 2009).

Neelamalar & Chitra (2009) conducts research on the effects of the social media on a chosen social group in India. In comparison to Megat analyses, their research is weakened as it only focuses on one group in the whole country. The youth are the most affected by the social media but the society is also influence (Neelamalar & Chitra, 2009).Megat exploration is of great advantage and it will benefit scholars and other interested parties with adequate, organized and well-researched information. While Megat analysis of social media and its impact, is focused on the wider society, Neelamalar & Chitra analysis is focused on some section (youth) and hence limited in focus (Neelamalar & Chitra, 2009).

Data and methods

The data collection method applied in this research is interviews; the interviews will be conducted, through emails, social media as well as through questionnaires (Bryfonski, 2012). A sample of the population (youth and adults will be used). It is deemed that a sample (which is representative of course) will offer convenience of the research, not to mention that it will significantly lower the research cost. However, just as it is, sample and as much as it is representative, it cannot capture all aspects of the populations and this constitutes is major disadvantage (Bryfonski, 2012).

Theory

Functionalism theory looks at the society as a complex structure resulting from its complex parts and as such, the outcomes in the society are net results of interaction of all those parts (Lauer & Handel, 1977). The theory of social conflict emphasizes the fact that society is made up of social classes. Therefore, outcomes in the society are as a result of struggle between these classes. On the other hand, symbolic interactionism is a social framework within, which people interact and accord symbolic meaning to some items or events as they interact. My social problem relates more to symbolic interactionism theory because with the social media society has become a world of symbolism in interactions. Various social media networks and interactions are laden with symbolism (Lauer & Handel, 1977).

The social media is having negative impact on youth in the society. Despite its apparent advantages, the social and economic costs seem to be taking toll. Going forward therefore, there need to be policy frameworks to regulate the use of social media among the young people. Otherwise, we risk having a generational gap created by wastage of youth especially those caught in the warps of social media revolution (Lauer & Handel, 1977).

References

Megat I. (2009) impact of social networking: impacts of the social network on the society Retrieved from, myconvergence.com.my/main/images/stories/PDF.../MyCon06_50.pdf

Neelamalar M. & Chitra. P. (2009) New media and society: A Study on the impact of social networking sites on indian youth. University of Beira Interior. Web. Retrieved from www.ec.ubi.pt/.../pdf/neelamalar-new-media

ProCon.org (2011) “Are social networking sites good for our society?” Social networking critical working, web (501) (c) (3). Retrieved from http://socialnetworking.procon.org/

Bryfonski, D. (2012). The global impact of social media, Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press

Lauer, R. H., & Handel, W. H. (1977). Social psychology: The theory and application of symbolic interactionism, Boston: Houghton Mifflin