There has been a global upsurge in the use of social media across different demographics, including children. Among regions that have seen a considerable surge in social media use is the United Arab Emirates. Social media use among Emirati citizens is not only confined to adults alone, but also children, who are experiencing greater exposure to social media. Much of this is attributable to growing access to the internet and mobile technology in the United Arab Emirates. While there has been growth in the level of social media usage among Emirati children, there is very little literature that is focused on investigating how this is affecting their behavior and development. This proposal provides a deeper breakdown of this issue in the problem statement and outlines research steps that will be taken to address this significant gap in literature.
Problem Statement
According to Nazzal (2016), a study conducted by Turner, a department of Time Warner, back in 2016 revealed that at least 70% of children between 4 and 14 years in the United Arab Emirates had access to social media. The study further revealed that 62% out of the 3000 surveyed children were using a smartphone, while 56% of them had access to a tablet. This is an indication that the degree of access to social media among Emirati children is considerable. Unfortunately, very few studies have taken time to investigate how much such access influences the behavior of children. Christakis and Zimmerman (2009) supports this position by showing to research into the implications of social media on children is limited. This observation not only highlights the situation in the United Arab Emirates, but the word in general. Already, studies that have taken the initiative to gain a deeper understanding of social media use in the United Arab Emirates does not have the desirable social impact, including when assessed at family. According to Gjylbegaj and Abdi (2019), classical family virtues such as communication are suffering a great deal due to social media access and technology. The study goes on to indicate that this challenge could be tied to both adults and young people in the family. Consequently, it is safe to say that social media could be threatening critical components of UAE children’s behavioral, interpersonal, and communication construction, but there are very few studies that are committed to studying the true impact of social media on the behavior of Emirati children.
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Research Questions
Based on the problem statement outlined above, the proposed research will look to answer the following research questions:
What is the impact of social media use on the behavior of Emirati children?
Are there specific behavioral changes among Emirati children that can be directly tied to the use of social media?
What aspects of social media use are likely to influence the behavioral framework of Emirati children?
Theoretical Framework
El-Aswad (2014) conducts a study of the implications of social media use in the behavioral, cultural, and social formation of people in the United Arab Emirates. The study found that while social media opened up the society to the rest of the world, it does not do much to influence the way that people in the region practiced their culture, defined their lives, and interacted with each other. Findings from El-Aswad (2014) points towards a model that quantifies social media as a promoter of improved opportunities in communication, business, technology, and cultural exposure, but carrying very little impact on behavior and sociology. However, this position can be refuted by looking at findings from Koutamanis, Vossenand Valkenburg (2015) who find that there are mental and behavioral risks that are associated with young people using social media. This is down to the nature of content that they are exposed to while online. O'Keeffe and Clarke-Pearson (2011) shares the same position, bemoaning the unfiltered content that children experience while online. Such implications on children end up influencing the way that families which support extensive social media use are constructed. This is a position supported by Gjylbegaj and Abdi (2019), who find that social media use does have a negative impact on the way that families approach communication. Similarly, Teng, Khong and Goh (2015) identifies a pattern of delinquency in cases of hysterical social media use.
Based on the breakdown of models in literature above, it is safe to say that while there are studies that do not ascribe behavioral changes to social media use among children, or people in the UAE, there is greater convergence towards the fact that social media carries the potential to influence behavior. This proposal will utilize the model supplied by Koutamanis, Vossenand Valkenburg (2015), which associates social media use with behavioral and cognitive risks among children.
Methodology
The research will deploy a qualitative research framework, with interviews as the primary mode of data collection. While a quantitative study was considered for the research, the complexity of prospective data analysis model, especially when dealing with discrete data rued out the feasibility and viability of this approach (Mohajan, 2018). The combination of a qualitative approach with interviews as the preferred mode of data collection offers the optimal methodology for the study, because it offers a chance to collect in depth data on the subject under investigation (Aspers & Corte, 2019; McGrath, Palmgren & Liljedahl, 2019). For data analysis, the study will conduct a thematic analysis of the interview responses, which will be collected from experts in the field of social media use and individuals that have had a firsthand experience with Emirati children who are currently exposed to social media.
Bibliography
Aspers, P., & Corte, U. (2019). What is qualitative in qualitative research. Qualitative sociology , 42 (2), 139-160.
Christakis, D. A., & Zimmerman, F. J. (2009). Young children and media: Limitations of current knowledge and future directions for research. American Behavioral Scientist , 52 (8), 1177-1185.
El-Aswad, E. S. (2014). E-folklore and cyber-communication among Emirati youth. International Journal of Intangible Heritage , 9 , 49-62.
Gjylbegaj, V., & Abdi, H. M. (2019). The effects of social media on family communication in the UAE. Media Watch , 10 (2), 387-397.
Koutamanis, M., Vossen, H. G., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2015). Adolescents’ comments in social media: Why do adolescents receive negative feedback and who is most at risk?. Computers in Human Behavior , 53 , 486-494.
Nazzal, N. (2016). Study finds children aged 4 to 14 already use social media . Retrieved from https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/study-finds-children-aged-4-to-14-already-use-social-media-1.1685849
O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics , 127 (4), 800-804.
Mohajan, H. K. (2018). Qualitative research methodology in social sciences and related subjects. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People , 7 (1), 23-48.
McGrath, C., Palmgren, P. J., & Liljedahl, M. (2019). Twelve tips for conducting qualitative research interviews. Medical teacher , 41 (9), 1002-1006.
Teng, S., Khong, K. W., & Goh, W. W. (2015). Persuasive communication: A study of major attitude-behavior theories in a social media context. Journal of Internet Commerce , 14 (1), 42-64.
