User talk:Romhilde/Archive 1

Social media

Effects on interpersonal relationships

Modern day teenagers interacting

My analysis of the first paragraph

Data suggest that participants use social media to fulfill perceived social needs, but are typically disappointed.

I cannot access this journal article, but I suspect that this statement is misleading. The study being cited explored using uses and gratifications theory (UGT) to explain why college students use social media. I have not found other studies that support the idea that people across all demographics are disappointed that social media does not fulfill their social needs. Romhilde (talk) 05:12, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

Lonely individuals are drawn to the Internet for emotional support. This could interfere with "real life socializing" by reducing face-to-face relationships.

Again, I cannot access this journal article, but based on the article's abstract, this was a limited study of undergraduate US college students. The abstract says, "Lonely [undergraduate college students] used the Internet and e-mail more and were more likely to use the Internet for emotional support than others." I doubt that this can easily be extended to all demographics without other evidence. Also, this statement mentions the Internet and not specifically social media. Romhilde (talk) 06:36, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

Some of these views are summed up in an Atlantic article by Stephen Marche entitled Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?, in which the author argues that social media provides more breadth, but not the depth of relationships that humans require and that users begin to find it difficult to distinguish between the meaningful relationships which we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships that are formed through social media.

The Atlantic is a magazine and therefore a questionable source for scientific findings. I would suggest that this sentence and reference be deleted and replaced with something from an academic peer-reviewed secondary source. Romhilde (talk) 06:36, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

Sherry Turkle explores similar issues in her book Alone Together as she discusses how people confuse social media usage with authentic communication. She posits that people tend to act differently online and are less afraid to hurt each other's feelings.

Prof. Turkle's book Alone Together seems to be an appropriate source. Not having read it myself, I am not sure whether this is the best take-away from her book. The statements that people confuse online communication with offline communication, that people are different online, and that social media users are less afraid to hurt people's feelings warrants further investigation. Romhilde (talk) 06:36, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

According to Chouinard, "You always see a bunch of friend groups hanging out together when each of them is caught up in their digital devices; they constantly want to check what everyone's tweeting, what they are doing, instead of talking to the friends they're sitting with, or holding conversation and engaging with each other"

Who is Chouinard? When I read the article being cited, it is clear that this is entirely an opinion piece, based on personal observations, and cites no primary sources or studies. The nature of the source merits immediate removal from the Wikipedia article. Romhilde (talk) 06:36, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

Some online behaviors can cause stress and anxiety, due to the permanence of online posts, the fear of being hacked, or of colleges and employers exploring social media pages. Turkle also speculates that people are beginning to prefer texting to face-to-face communication, which can contribute to feelings of loneliness.

I have no doubt that Prof. Turkle's book is an appropriate source, but it is important to put this in context. Who in particular is stressed out and anxious from social media? Which people prefer texting over face-to-face communication? It is worthwhile to investigate whether these broad statements are true across all demographics (different age groups, socioeconomic statuses, countries, etc.). Romhilde (talk) 06:36, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

Some researchers have also found that only exchanges that involved direct communication and reciprocation of messages to each other increased feelings of connectedness.

I have found this to be true in other sources, so I may add citations to support this if needed. Romhilde (talk) 06:36, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

However, passively using social media without sending or receiving messages to individuals does not make people feel less lonely unless they were lonely to begin with.

This sentiment is true, but the sentence could be reworded better. "Studies performed in the US have found that passive use of social media correlated with feelings of loneliness. Furthermore, social media users already predisposed toward feelings of loneliness are a greater risk of having increased loneliness with high usage of social media." Note that passively using social media is correlated with loneliness; it does not necessarily cause it. Also, someone does not necessarily have to be already feeling lonely to make her feel even lonelier. The key factor is predisposition to loneliness, anxiety, and insecurity. Romhilde (talk) 06:36, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

My analysis of the next paragraph

A study published in the Public Library of Science in 2013 revealed that the perception of Facebook being an important resource for social connection was diminished by the number of people found to have developed low self-esteem, and the more they used the network the lower their level of self-esteem.

This citation is inappropriate and misleading. Sri Lanka Source appears to be a news website, and the article only mentions the same study that this sentence mentions. The Wikipedia citation should be of the 2013 PLOS study itself. Furthermore, the article in Sri Lanka Source is based on opinion and anecdotal evidence rather than data and scientific study. The lack of proper citation merits immediate removal of the sentence from the Wikipedia article. Romhilde (talk) 05:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

A current controversial topic is whether or not social media addiction should be explicitly categorized as a psychological ailment.

This is a legitimate point, but the idea does not belong in the section about "effects on interpersonal relationships". Romhilde (talk) 05:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Extended use of social media has led to increased Internet addiction, cyberbullying, sexting, sleep deprivation, and the decline of face-to-face interaction.

The actual article says the following (emphasis added):

Because of their limited capacity for self-regulation and susceptibility to peer pressure, children and adolescents are at some risk as they navigate and experiment with social media. Recent research indicates that there are frequent online expressions of offline behaviors, such as bullying, clique-forming, and sexual experimentation, that have introduced problems such as cyberbullying, privacy issues, and "sexting." Other problems that merit awareness include Internet addiction and concurrent sleep deprivation.

So, the sentence in the Wikipedia article is simply inaccurate, and it is not the authors' point. The existence of social media has made it possible for things like "sexting" to exist. The authors would like parents to have increased awareness of these phenomena; they are not saying that extended use of social media causes these things. Romhilde (talk) 05:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Several clinics in the UK classify social media addiction is a certifiable medical condition with one psychiatric consultant claiming that he treats as many as one hundred cases a year.

This idea does not belong in the section about effects on interpersonal relationships. Romhilde (talk) 05:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Lori Ann Wagner, a psychotherapist, argues that humans communicate best face to face with their five senses involved.

I am not sure why this was chosen as a citation. A major theme of the journal article is whether the ideas in the movie HER are far-fetched, but there are also points about social media along the way. Ms. Wagner's conclusion is that face-to-face communication allows for stronger feelings of empathy, which in turn "may" create more honest relationships. Romhilde (talk) 05:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

In addition, a study on social media done by PhD's Hsuan-Ting Kim and Yonghwan Kim, suggests that social networking sites have begun to raise concern because of the expectations people seek to fulfill from these sites and the amount of time users are willing to invest.

This article presents original research and is not a secondary source. It violates Wikipedia's guidelines on what is appropriate reference material. Also, the journal is a very specific and narrow topic, which makes its neutrality questionable. Romhilde (talk) 05:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

The last paragraph

More studies were done by Nancy K. Baym, Yan Bing Zhang. and Mei-Chen Lin who are professors at the University of Kansas. They found that 49 percent of all social contact with kin was conducted online, while 62 percent of interactions with friends employed the internet. They also discovered that not only do more people communicated through the internet, but it had a negative affect on relations. These doctors stated they found that the internet was rated worse for maintaining relationships, and better for getting schoolwork done and exchanging information

I do not have access to this study, but I strongly suspect this study violates Wikipedia's No Original Research policy. Furthermore, these statements are misleading for two reasons. First, the study researched the behavior of only US college students, so it cannot be extrapolated to "all social contact". Second, this research was completed before the existence of Facebook and other major social media platforms, so it does not belong in this article about social media. Romhilde (talk) 18:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Use of social media in recruitment and hiring

Fascinating point from Wilson et al. "A Review of Facebook" page 211

In the United States, the use of Facebook by employers to screen or select job candidates, including interns and volunteers, often provides useful information but may open them to lawsuits that allege violation of the right to equal employment opportunity. By Federal law, employers may not make decisions about hiring, title, or compensation based on the candidate's race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability (unless it creates an undue hardship for the employer), genetic information, or veteran status. Other states, like California, have expanded this law to include sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, and plans for children. While Facebook or other social media accounts may reveal helpful information about a candidate's suitability and qualifications, social media can reveal information about candidates from many of these protected categories.

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Note to self: the link has been fixed. Romhilde (talk) 20:07, 18 August 2018 (UTC)