Research Questions

Has social media revamped the social aspect of society or is it leading to the ultimate demise of physical social interaction? One interesting statement I found throughout my research was Why would people bother watching a full hour of the news to see that one news clip that they wanted to watch? Instead people use social media to get up to the minute updates as well as quick access to the news they desire. In 2008 it is estimated that newspaper sales will drop nearly 23.4% due to the increasing pressure from social media (Qualman, 2010). Another interesting article was the “Social Cognitive Theory of Mass communication” and it talks about the social cognitive theory and how it is related to mass communication. Bandura (2001) states, human behavior has often been explained in terms of unidirectional causation, in which behavior is shaped and controlled either by environmental influences or by internal dispositions (p. 266).

Through our research we have also uncovered the hostile side of the social media world. Young children are being exposed to potentially dangerous information, which could be detrimental to their psychological growth. With everything in this world there are positive and negative aspects, but the key is how to overcome the negative with the positive. Over time we will learn how to combat the negative aspects of social media and future developments will hopefully make social media a safe environment for young children as well as adults.

Bandura, A (2001). Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication. Journal of Media     

            Psychology, 3(3), 265–299.

Qualman, E. (2010). Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do

            Business. John Wiley & Sons.