Impact of social media on lifestyle changes of millennials

Seerat

Main idea

Social media has brought a revolution in our lives. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have changed the way we lead our lives. In this study, I would examine how Facebook is connecting people all over the world through its interface and internet with decreasing physical face-to-face social interactions. Along with decreasing physical face-to-face social interactions, psychological issues with the use of an interface to connect with world is of a major concern. Millennials are known for multitasking which can prove to be helpful to improve productivity of a person but on the other hand it can possibly reduce attention span of that person. Social media came into existence with first recognisable social media site named Six Degree, created in 1997 followed by first blogging site in 1999. Initially, social media sites such as Myspace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and many more came into existence. The revolution took place with Facebook popularity. According to the Statistics Portal the number of active users of Facebook by August 2015 was 1.49 billion. This is huge and the largest number on the list which makes it clear that Facebook is the most used social media platform.

'''Research Question                                                                                                                            '''

What changes social media platforms (Facebook) have brought in millennials lifestyle; face-to-face connections to online social network? Gen X childhood has been different as compared to that of millennials, how does millennials childhood activities affect their productivity?

Case Study

In “Exploring the relationship between perceptions of social capital and enacted support online”,  Stefanone, Kwon, and Lackaff (2012) study Facebook users. They asked participants to send requests to their Facebook friends for help in university assignment by clicking and answering single word questions. Only 21% of the requests were responded. This showed that the more number of friends on Facebook does not mean active social relationship with those friends. The social capital (number of friends) on Facebook is not actual but a perceived social capital. The large number of friends of Facebook does not mean that you talk with all Facebook friends and they are responding back or vice-versa. Facebook helps to boost number of friends which on the other hand increases a person’s self-esteem (Twenge, J. M., 2013). When teens were studied, if they did not match the number of friends with their Facebook friends list they may tend to go in depression and lower their self-esteem (Pelt J.V., 2015).

Why is it important

This research is important because the way a child grows up he tends to behave the same throughout his life. The social media has brought the world closer but on the other hand it parted us from the physical face-to-face interactions. This study would explore the changes in lifestyle after the launch of social media platform-Facebook and the positive and the negative aspects of those changes. I have particularly chosen Facebook because it has the largest number of active users (1.49 billion), which is huge in comparison to other social media platforms such a QQ (a Chinese social media site) with 832 million users and second on the list of most active user site (Statista 2015). Facebook active users are almost double the amount of the second most used social media platform. Daily time spent on social media sites by internet users worldwide is 106.2 minutes per day out of which 20 minutes per day is the average time spent on Facebook in 2014 (Statista, 2015). Thus, being such a large platform Facebook has taken over millennials lifestyle by being integrated into their lifestyle patterns. In a study, it showed that the age group 18-24 uses Facebook right after they get up in morning. This study will explore the experiences, positive or negative, with Facebook and life before Facebook was invented.

There are scenarios where people suffer from Facebook depression. When friends post creepy pictures or negative comments about a person, he/she may tend to go in depression (Pelt J.V., 2015). Similarly, depression is possible for teens if they post something and do not get a comment on that post, they might think themselves as unwanted (Pelt J.V., 2015). According to a study done in 2013 by Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E. Park, J.,Seungjae, D. et al., though Facebook provides a social connection, but when people use Facebook more often they experience the feeling of loneliness and reduction in overall life satisfaction. Thus, looking at previous studies done, which inform us about Facebook use which leads to Facebook depression, loneliness and lower the level of life satisfaction, it is very important to understand the difference between the Gen X and millennials childhood. Gen X grew without internet and social media network whereas millennials are the first generation to grow up with internet and social media network. The comparisons between these generations childhood might be able to tell us whether these issues of loneliness and depression are huge or are consistent with every new technology that comes into being.

Methods to conduct research

The research would be conducted with quantitative surveys. The survey would have questions related to the person's childhood behaviors and present behaviors. The questionnaires would be filled by millennials and Gen X. I would compare the lifestyle of millennials before and after the social media took over our lives and with Gen X. The comparison would help to figure out the difference in activities, physical and emotional behaviours of both the generations.

The study in broader concept

This study has a very broad concept as it is important everyone in the world. Facebook is being used worldwide and its impacts on humans are important to each and every person that uses it. The behaviours and activities of millennials in connection with internet and social media sites would take us to next step, which would be the behaviour of Gen Z with technology. Therefore, it is very important to do thorough research on the impacts of technology, internet, and social media platforms on humans. Such researches might be able to help in building safe and friendly technology and digital interactions for Gen Z.

References

Average daily time spent on Facebook by adults in the United States from 2010 to 2014 (in minutes). The Statistics Portal. Statista. Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/statistics/324267/us-adults-daily-facebook-minutes/

Daily time spent on social networking by internet users worldwide from 2012 to 2015 (in minutes). The Statistics Portal. Statista. Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/

Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Seungjae, D., et al. (2013). Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults. PLoS ONE 8(8): e69841. Retrieved from http://getit.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/oneclick?ctx_ver=Z39.88- 2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-          8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journ            al&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Facebook+use+predicts+declines+in+subjective+well-            being+in+young+adults&rft.jtitle=PloS+one&rft.au=Kross%2C+Ethan&rft.au=Verduyn  %2C+Philippe&rft.au=Demiralp%2C+Emre&rft.au=Park%2C+Jiyoung&rft.date=2013&    rft.eissn=1932-            6203&rft.volume=8&rft.issue=8&rft.spage=e69841&rft_id=info:pmid/23967061&rft.ext            ernalDocID=23967061

Leading social networks worldwide as of August 2015, ranked by number of active users (in millions). The Statistics Portal. Statista. Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

Pelt, J. V. (2015). Is ‘Facebook Depression’ For Real? Social Work Today. Retrieved from             http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/exc_080811.shtml

Stefanone, M. A., Kwon, K. H., Lackaff, D. (2012). Exploring the relationship between   perceptions of social capital and enacted support online. ''Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17'', 451–466. Retrieved from    http://journals1.scholarsportal.info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/10836101/v17i0004/            451_etrbposcaeso.xml

Twenge, J. M. (2013). Does online social media lead to social connection or social disconnection. Journal of College and Character, 14(1), 11-20. Retrieved from           http://getit.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/access?http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login        ?url=http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-            2004&res_dat=xri:pqm&rft_val_fmt=ori/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rfr_id=info:xri/sid:summ            on&genre=article&issn=1940-            1639&atitle=Does+Online+Social+Media+Lead+to+Social+Connection+or+Social+Disc            onnection&date=2013-01-01&spage=&req_dat=xri:pqm:accountid=14771