The Effect of Using Social Media Networks on the Political Awareness of the Saudi Youth - Research Proposal Example

Name & No: Unit: Date: Research proposal Title: The effect of use of social media on the political awareness of the Saudi youth Introduction Social media has experienced a significant continuous growth across the Arab world and has been coupled with major shifts in regard to usage trends. As a tool that was only used for purpose of entertainment and social networking, social media is now infiltrating in various aspects of daily lives of a significant number of Arabs especially the youths. As a result, it is affecting the way they engage with civil society movements and interact socially. Currently, utilisation of social media has evolved to political participation and social change. The use of internet as well as its tool of social media has been used by many as an instrument in facilitation of ideas. According to Arab Social Media Report series (2012), there has been a substantial growth in the use of Twitter and Facebook in the Arab world. This dissertation will address the extent to which the Saudi youth use social media networks such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter as tools for generation of political awareness. It will employ established theories of communication that were created long before the growth of social media, to explain the inherent characteristics of social media that make it appealing to the Saudis youth. By analysing the way youths use social media through established communication theories, one will be able to see how the internet and social media characteristics promote the requirements for collective action. Key research questions What social networks are mostly used in Saudi youth? What are the reasons behind the use of these social networks by the youth of Saudi? To what extent is political aspect part of the experience of social network? How do social networks raise the political awareness of Saudi youth? Background of the project and its significance It is with observation of history in mind that anyone who intends to analyse the effect of social media and internet within the society must acknowledge its dialectical nature and with full knowledge of modern subjectivity. According to the work of Hass (2011), the telegraph, television, printing press and cassettes among others are exposed to various challenges in regard to the existing order of their day. Like these earlier technologies, social media is not decisive: the governments can repress social media or use it in a way that will motivate supporters (Kellner, 2002). In the work of Morozov (2011), he explains how the spring revolutions in the Arab world such as Tunisia and Egypt led to promotion of budding dialogue in regard to the effect of social media and networking as a political mobilisation tool towards the prodemocracy movements and change regime. Some political pundits, journalists as well as academics embraced social media as it served as an undeniable force for good. They stated that “democracy is just a tweet away” (Morozov, 2011, 37) or as a Google executive in Egypt said that “if you really want to liberate society, then just provide them with internet” (Hofheinz, 2011, 1417). Use of internet and social media has thus been regarded as one of the effective tools of the disenfranchised and weak against the leaders that are authoritarian. These results to what Kristof (2009) referred to as “quintessential 21-st century conflict” where on one side, the government thugs fire bullets and on the other side, the youthful protesters fire “tweets”. Even before the Arab spring in Egypt and Tunisia, Iran also labelled the revolutions “Twitter revolutions” a phrase that has been embraced by international media leading to an impression of a young, hip as well as a tech-savvy generation that is overthrowing the archaic authoritarian rulers. This is achieved through monopolization on “digital gap” (Ilhem, 2009). The political and societal transformation has been sweeping the Arab region, especially the youth which has led to empowering of large population segments. According to Arab Social Media Report series (2012), use of facebook and Twitter has grown substantially across the Arab world. For instance, as of December 2011, the total number of the users of Facebook and Twitter in the Arab world stood at more than 37 million, a figure that double since the previous year, that is, 2010. In addition, the report state that penetration of Facebook users was more than 10% in the Arab region by 2010 up from under 6% in 2010. It is also important to note that Facebook users increased by 77% in 2011 where the youth (15 – 29 years) in the Arab region make about 70% of the users of Facebook, a number that is steadily increasing since 2011. The report also noted that estimated number of Twitters in Arab region per month as at 2012 was more than 650, 000 with an estimated 36 million tweets (Arab Social Media Report series, 2012). . It is in the light of such review of literature that this dissertation of the effect of social media on the political awareness of the Saudi youth will be addressed. Theories of communication Use of social media as an effective tool for mobilisation and organisation can be based on various established theories: Lasswell”s functionalist theory of the media (Mattelart, and Mattelart, 1998) and Granovetter’s theory of weak ties (Granovetter, 1973). Although these theories are more based on sociology than international relations and were developed before social media, they can be use adequately in explanation of the effect of social media as a form of communication in the political awareness of Saudi youth. Based on Lasswell’s theory, sociology of social media gives an analytical framework in regard to the study of communication. The framework favours content analysis which in turn will be utilised to analyse how Saudi youth use social media for political awareness. Castell’s network theory can also be used effectively in explanation of how social network characteristics can be valued for political awareness through creating weak ties, the egalitarian nature of communication through online and the anonymity that the internet provides (Castells, 1996). The networks in social media are based on such weak ties-acquaintances with other people whom one may have mutual friends or may share common goals or interests. It is worth noting that the strength of weak ties lies in the abilities of these people to introduce new information and ideas where through the use of internet, these ties are forged at an incredible speed without geographical barriers. Research methodology The dissertation will examine the effect of social media on the political awareness of Saudi youth based on social content analysis of primary sources of social media outlets and also on examination of secondary source accounts from academic journals and mainstream media. The analysis will also involve online survey based on close ended and a few open ended questions. The participants will be between 15-29 years where reaching them will include posting survey to Twitter and Facebook and interception of participants around learning institutions and places of work. Use of quantitative research will assist in seeing exactly how many respondents used Twitter, Facebook or both to interact with news outlets and politicians indicating their interests in politics. Qualitative analysis will help in gaining a better understanding in regard to how youth use social media interact with politicians and one another and how to further their political knowledge (Mauch, & Namgi, 2003). Research timetable Activity Timing Meet supervisor Weeks 1, 3, 7,9, &14 Literature review Week 2 Identification of methods and materials Week 3 Design research protocol Week 3 Start fieldwork Week 4 Finish fieldwork Week 6 Input data Week 7 Analyse data Week 8- 10 Write methods Week 9-11 Write discussion Week 12-13 Bind and submit research report Week 14 Ethical issues Ethical issues in this research will be based on recruitment, privacy, confidentiality, or anonymity, consent, verification of age, data sharing and terms of service (Glatthorn, 1998). Given that the recruitment of the participant is “pull” based, the participants can discuss an invitation as well as inform one another without our control or influence. Response to invitation of participants is interactive rather than static, can lead to unexpected outcomes and subsequent posts may led to modification of the information that has already been posted. Based on consent, there is no way that will ensure the age or the level of maturity for participants. However, the participants can be accessed based on their institutions. Although IP addresses are mostly traceable and Tweets contain identifiers, the researcher and the research assistants will be responsible for the privacy in order to instil the confident of the participant. Conclusion Saudi youth mostly use Facebook and Twitter. Youths usually use social media to connect with friends as well as getting updated on current affairs of the nation in terms of their favourites such as sports and music among others. It is expected that use of social media for Saudi youths will increase their political awareness as they use it to gather information. Social media is expected to play a critical role due to its robust growth in Saudi’s youth and it will be an enabler of youth empowerment. With the formation of various movements in Arab region, the youth is expected to utilise social media to grow the sense of empowerment of young people. This suggests that social media will continue to empower large number of Saudi youth in future. In the point of view of the society, such empowerment will continue to be realised as long as the great mass of young Arabs will embrace social media as an objective of influence the change in their societies. As a result, the way government interact with different societies will also change leading to transformations. These transformations will continue to increase at a faster pace resulting to bypassing the controls and restrictions of existing governments. 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Mauch, J, &Namgi P 2003, Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation: a handbook for students and faculty, New York: Dekker Morozov, E 2011, The Net Delusion, London: Penguin Books, pp. 37. The Arab Social Media Report series, Accessed 9th March, 2013, www.ArabSocialMediaReport.com Read More