Social Media Theories - Research Paper Example

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background to the study

Social media has transformed the political communication that has a profound impact on the legislative decision-making process. In this context, an analytical study is conducted in the Saudi Arabia to assess the significant role played by Twitter in the social movements, which impacts the legislative decision-making process. With the inclusion of social media tools, more specifically Twitter, which provides an interactive platform, the government of these countries will undertake actions that benefit the general members of the society by understanding their needs and preferences on various societal issues. From the beginning of 2010, social media’s usage has gained significant importance in the Arab region. In the year 2011, Twitter had around 100 million users in Arab region, where, they posted their tweets and facilitated communication on political grounds (Nazer, 2014). As a large section of the Arab population is spread across the geographical borders, therefore, they are using Twitter in order to actively participate in the political decision-making, which will bring significant outcomes on the prevailing issues.

There are a number of countries with the majority of youth population between the ages of 15 to 25 years; therefore, they are active on social platforms, such as Twitter, wherein they are informally involved in the political decision-making. United Nations Development Programme (2013) opines that in several countries, Twitter has played an important role in order to initiate and assist youth-driven programmes, which has contributed to the overall development of the economy of these countries. The entrepreneurial activity has increased to a phenomenal extent as the youth gets the right platform with the support of the government by providing them with appropriate infrastructure. The government provides a platform, which facilitates the youth to participate in project management activities, encourage youth inclusion in local and national consultation process and prepare the youth to facilitate a comprehensive change in the business environment.

1.2 Research problem

According to Diamond and Plattner (2102), the incorporation of social media (Twitter) provides transparency and exercises greater control by the government bodies, which has a profound impact on the legal decision-making policies of the nation (Diamond and Plattner, 2012). In addition, the legal rules, regulations and political decisions are very crucial for the welfare and development of the entire nation. Even though it is publicly accepted that social media has an important place in the governance of countries, there is still a lot of gap when it comes to research pertaining to Saudi Arabia. With this gap, it still remains unclear the extent to which social media has the power to dominate the political landscape of Saudi Arabia, especially when it comes to the legislative process.

According to Arab Social Media Report (2011), the society has undergone a profound change as the majority of the population in Saudi Arabia is utilising the social media platforms for transmitting information on various issues, thereby, generating awareness among the masses. The usage of social media tools is constantly increasing and is not showing any signs of reducing in the forthcoming years on a global level. Twitter is gaining significant familiarity, and the majority of the youth is making an appropriate use of this social blog in order to generate news and information on any issue. Due to a significant societal change across the region with the integration of social media, the stereotype attached to the Arab women, who are supposedly oppressed, has reduced to a significant extent. Women have increasingly participated in the social movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, which have greatly impacted the political decisions. The role of Twitter in women empowerment in Arab has been highlighted in the year survey revealed that around 62% of the women are using Twitter in order to actively participate in the social movements (The Role of Social Media in Arab Women’s Empowerment, 2013). Regardless of all these outcomes, there is nothing particularly specific in the case of Saudi Arabia.

1.3 Aim and objectives

With basis in the problem identified above, the study will be conducted with the aim of investigating how social media influences policy process in Saudi Arabia. The aim will pave way to assess the role of Twitter in the legislative decision-making process by conducting analytical and critical study of Saudi Arabia. The evolution of social networking sites has increased transparency and control over government bodies, which has a significant impact on the legal rules and regulations of the country. In addition to this, this study has been undertaken to explore the effectiveness of Twitter in addressing the various societal issues in Saudi Arabia. Twitter is a forum that facilitates the politicians to gain an insight into the recent issues that affect the interest of the general public; thereafter, government bodies formulate such policies and programmes that provide solutions to resolve such issues. Politicians are engaging with the youth on the social networking sites by actively promoting their campaigns on Twitter in both the countries. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, people are actively engaged in social media activities in order to address the emerging social issues and facilitate better legislative decisions (Youth, Political Participation And Decision-Making, 2012). Thus, the overall objectives of the research study are enumerated below:

• To examine the extent to which the parliament of Saudi Arabia and individual parliamentarians use Twitter in the search for information
• To identify ways in which citizens, civil society and social movements interact with parliamentarians and carry out advocacy agenda by the use of Twitter
• To investigate whether social media interactions between the public and parliamentarians result in actual changes in laws and policies in Saudi Arabia

1.4 Motivation for the study

With the advent of social media, communication between the political parties and the general citizens has increased to a phenomenal extent. In today’s scenario, the most widely used social media tools are Facebook, Twitter and Skype for transmitting information to citizens spread across the geographical borders (Aljabre, 2013). Social media tools are being increasingly used in the political decision-making as they make the decision-making process quicker. Online sharing of information in the political arena enhances the general awareness among people. Among various social media tools, Twitter plays a significant role in handling social movements, where, the general citizens can also participate and post their views and opinions. Twitter is a social blog site, where, anyone can post his or her views and opinions about a specific issue. Most of the politicians, today, use Twitter as it facilitates a two-way communication and politicians can gain an insight into the prevailing issues concerning the society, thereby impacting the political decision-making. For this reason, Twitter has rapidly gained importance as it provides a forum for demonstrating the politician’s views and opinions on a variety of social issues. The prime goal of the study is to evaluate the impact of social networking site, “Twitter,” on the decision makers, i.e. “the shura council” members.

With the initiation of social networking platform, the general citizens can be engaged in the political life, where, it greatly impacts the electoral campaigns. Communication between the political parties and potential voters increase; thus, Twitter plays a very significant role in analysing the potential strengths of each political party and elicits a true picture of the politicians. For this reason, Twitter has recently gained significant importance in the legislative decision-making process (Economic Commission for Africa, 2014). With the integration of social media, the views and opinions of the general public influence the political decision-making process and provide a holistic perspective on the emerging social issues. Inclusion of social media in democratic societies acts as a medium for promoting the political viewpoints. The emerging trend is celebrity endorsement, which has a significant impact on the election polls as celebrities are the major influences for the youth. It has been reflected in the survey that around 40% of the youth population, between the ages of 18- 35 years, are influenced by celebrities’ involvement in political decision-making (Gistyinka, 2014).

1.5 Research questions

In line with the objectives set, data will be collected from different sources including primary and secondary sources. While collecting data, the researcher will be seeking to answer the following questions in line with the research objectives.

1.5.1 Main research question

What is the significance of Twitter in legislative decision-making and how does Twitter impact parliamentary decision making process as a modern means of communication.

1.5.2 Sub-questions

• To what extent do the parliament of Saudi Arabia and individual parliamentarians use Twitter in the search for information?
• In what ways do citizens, civil society and social movements interact with parliamentarians and carry out advocacy agenda through the use of Twitter?
• Do social media interactions between the public and parliamentarians result in actual changes in laws and policies in Saudi Arabia?

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Overview of social media

Social media is generally considered a component of the web 2.0 technology, is a website emphasising on user-generated content, interoperability and usability (Gehl, 2011). Social media therefore concerns with the creation and exchange of information across virtual networks aided by web 2.0 technology (Gehl, 2011). Laurell (2014) posited that because of the variation in services and offers available from various social media networking sites, it is difficult to have a common definition that fits for all of them. Fountain (2013) on the other hand opined that there are common features of any typical social media site, that should be evident in a given interface for it to be described as social media. As mentioned already, one of the expected features is interactivity, resulting from the use of web 2.0 technology. Also, social media emphasises on user-generated content. In several existing literature such as Vogel et al. (2015) and Hong (2012), the user content generation feature of social media is considered its most powerful asset. This is because it is with this feature that users are empowered to use social media to dominate the social realm, including the use of social media for political discourse. Another important feature of social media is the fact that it requires user profiles, which give users unique identities while on social media platforms (Pihl & Sandström, 2013).

2.2 Policymaking and policy process

According to Cummins (2011), policymaking is the practice of creating laws and standards for a given jurisdiction, most of which case applies to governments. Policy process on the other hand entails all actions and procedures that go into formation, implementation and evaluation of laws or public policies (Hicks, Hicks & Maldonado, 2016). By these definitions, one would infer that policymaking is an aspect of policy process. Policy process, which entails policymaking is an important aspect of governance, especially the governance of countries. Because of the differences in governance systems of countries, there are many different theories on public policy making. In the proposed study, four of these theories all of which were used in the work of Kitschelt (1986) shall be reviewed. These include sociological theories of policy making, political coalition theory, domestic regime structure theory, and international systems theory. Even though these theories were first considered in the work of Kitschelt some 30 years ago, they can be considered as still relevant in political discourse today. The four theories are selected because they seem to form a spiral approach to discussions on policy making and policy process, starting from the most immediate socio-political environment to the wider international environment. Interestingly, the concept of social media works in exactly the same paradigm, starting from a user’s immediate environment to his or her social connections across the globe (Lorenzi, et al., 2014). Consequently, it will be possible to connect the four theories on public policy making with the concept of social media.

2.3 Social media theories that makes the concept fit into policy making and process

It has already been explained that policy process entails everything that happens from the point of proposing a law to when the law is enforced and then later evaluated (Cummins, 2011). The concept of social media has also been explained in the first section of the review. Preliminary search through literature showed that there are theories on social media that can help to deduce a linkage between social media and policy making. Two such theories are mass media richness theory (Lu al. et, 2014) and para-social interaction (Colliander & Dahlen, 2011). Media richness theory describes the ability of a communication medium to reproduce any information that is sent or used over it (Lu al. et, 2014). This is indeed a typical situation with social media as users tend to reproduce information on it by resending it to other people. In the case of Twitter, such an action is described as retwitting. Just as the media richness theory, it is expected that public policies will be transcended over a very large scope of coverage, reaching all people for who the laws were made (Sarikakis, 2002).

Based on the above assertion, the study will therefore seek to explore ways in which the media richness of social media can be of benefit to policy making in Saudi Arabia. Para-social interaction on the other hand explains the form of illusion of face-to-face relationship created from media interactions (Colliander & Dahlen, 2011). With the advent of social media forms like Twitter, it is possible for users to post images and videos that come with specific messages they seek to put across. There are even instances where traditional media houses post stories on Twitter with pictures and videos. Such social media practices can be said to align with the para-social interaction as they create a sense of personalised face-to-face interaction between owners of the accounts and their followers on Twitter (Chan, 2014). In policy process also, such form of interactivity is considered high important in ensuring public understanding and acceptability of the laws (Sarikakis, 2002). The proposed study will therefore be delving into how social media, particularly Twitter can be used to serve the para-social interaction role expected to be associated with policy process in Saudi Arabia.

2.4 Political system and structure in Saudi Arabia

The political system of Saudi Arabia is generally a hereditary monarchy. The political system of the country is three major arms just as is the case with most democracies across the globe (House, 2012). The braches include executive, legislative and judiciary. In the Saudi Arabia, the political system operates to ensure check and balance, as well as shared responsibility. This means that each of the three main branches of governance is autonomous, working with its own set of principles and regulations (Hegghammer, 2010). On the whole however, the government’s rights and responsibilities, including roles of the various branches is enshrined in the Basic Law of Governance, which in most other countries would typically be referred to as the constitution (House, 2012). In the proposed study, the emphasis of analysis will be on the legislative branch of government. This branch comprises the Consultative Council with the sole mandate of advising the King on issues of governance (Hegghammer, 2010). In addition to advising the King, the Council is also responsible for proposing laws to the King, even though it does not have mandate to pass or enforce the laws by itself. The Consultative Council in 2003 gained a place in the International Parliamentary Union, making it considered as a parliament in most academic discourse (Ash-Shura, 2012).

2.5 Media system and role of social media in legislative process in Saudi Arabia

There are several privately owned media outlets in Saudi Arabia but most of these are reported to be subsidized and regulated by the country’s government (BBC News, 2015). There are laws in the country, clearly defining the role of the media as educating and inspiring the public about national unity. Meanwhile, this law is widely condemned in the international practice as there are times that grievances and protests go unreported in the country since they are considered not healthy for inspiring national unity (BBC News, 205). It is not surprising that Freedom House in 2014 rated the press and internet of Saudi Arabia as “Not Free” (Freedom House, 2014). As the mainstream press practiced both traditionally and via internet is considered not free, many researchers have developed interest in investigating the role of social media in political governance.

In a study by Nina (2013), it was found that with 51% of online users in Saudi Arabia having social media accounts, there is now a new form of virtual protest against most laws in the country that takes place via Twitter. Similarly, Parmelee and Bichard (2012) report of the power of Twitter in evoking what is known as Twitter Revolution in most authoritarian governments such as Saudi Arabia. Interestingly, as Twitter becomes so powerful a social tool, in Saudi Arabia, legislators have seen the need to include this platform in their legislative process. In a study by Jones and Ahmed (2015), it was posited that the popular viewing of the funeral of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz on YouTube prompted the legislature and other government functionaries to consider the role of social media in governance. As a response, the parliament of Saudi Arabia formed a new media department with mandate, among which is the need to focus on Twitter and YouTube (Ahmed, 2015. In the proposed study, the theories of social media already identified will be reviewed to examine how Twitter can help in making the legislative process in Saudi Arabia more effective as the parliament is clearly embracing social media.

3.0 Methodology

3.1 Research method

The study will be conducted as a mixed research method. This means it will comprise the combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The qualitative method will be used to understand participant behaviour and motivations towards the use of social media in Saudi Arabia. Quantitative method will on the other hand will be used to gain descriptive characteristics associated with the use of social media in Saudi Arabia.

3.2 Research strategy

The study will be conducted as a case study. By case study, reference is made to the fact that there will be a specific issue or concept identified within a research setting, which will be critically investigated or explored through series of data collection processes (Doz, 2011). Case study is selected because it offers the researcher the opportunity of having a more in-depth exploration and understanding of the issue being researched, which is the role of social media in legislative process.

3.3 Data collection procedure

Collection of data as part of the case study will involve several procedures. Interviews and policy document analysis will be used as part of the qualitative research method. Survey and social media analysis will also be used as part of the quantitative research method. The survey and social media analysis will be used to describe the overall behaviour of participants towards the use of social media in Saudi Arabia. Below are some brief details about the survey

• Sample size: 200 people will be involved in the survey
• Participants: Participants to be used in the survey will largely be journalists, editors, bloggers, politicians, and professors. These people will be selected due to their direct involvement in the use of social media in their lines of professional duty.
• Sampling technique: Stratified sampling method
• Data collection instrument: The survey will be conducted by the use of a questionnaire.
• Nature of questions to ask: The questionnaire will ask descriptive questions which are posed in the form of close ended questions. This means the respondents will select from available options or alternatives in answering the questions.
• Part of research questions to address: The second sub-question will be answered through the survey. This question seeks to find how citizens, civil society and social movements use Twitter to address Parliamentarians and advocate for issues.

The document analysis and interview on the other hand will be to investigate the effectiveness of public participation in policymaking in Saudi Arabia through the involvement of social media. Below are some details pertaining to the interview to be conducted:

• Sample size: 20 people will be involved in the interview
• Participants: Participants to be used in the interview will largely be only parliamentarians from Saudi Arabia. They will be selected because of the extent to which the study focuses on them.
• Sampling technique: Purposive sampling method
• Data collection instrument: The interview will be conducted by the use of a structured interview guide.
• Nature of questions to ask: The interview guide will contain open ended narrative questions.
• Part of research questions to address: The first and third sub-questions will be answered through the survey. This question seeks to find how parliamentarians seek information from the public via Twitter and whether these social media interactions lead to actual changes in laws/policies.

3.4 Ethical consideration

During the data collection process, the researcher will ensure a high sense of ethical practice. This will especially be the case with data collection procedures involving human participants such as the interview and survey. For example anonymity, confidentiality, accurate reporting and physical protection of respondents against all forms of risks will be ensured.

4.0 Research plan and time line

It is planned that the research will be completed over a period of 4 years, sub-divided into 12 research sections. Each section will comprise a quarter of a year, made up of 3 months. Within each quarter, there will be a unique exercise taking place as outlined in the table below.

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6

Q7

Q8

Q9

Q10

Q11

Q12

Write introduction chapter

Get approval for introduction

Collect resources for literature review

Write literature review

Get approval for literature review

Form sample size

Develop research instruments

Conduct interview

Conduct survey

Conduct social media analysis

Conduct document analysis

Write methodology chapter

Get approval for methodology chapter

Analyse data

Write results chapter

Get approval for results chapter

Write discussion chapter

Get approval for discussion chapter

Write conclusion chapter

Get approval for conclusion chapter