Social Media & Cultural Diversity In Information Organisations
This blog post brings to light the complex nature of cultural diversity in the realm of social media in an organisational setting. Join me as I explore the benefits and pitfall of this complex web and offer suggestions of how to successfully navigate this dynamic landscape.
We learn cultural messages through social learning. This process, known as “cultural learning,” involves the social learning capacities that enable cumulative cultural evolution (Zhong, 2022). To understand how we adapt to technology, like social media, we need to explore the cultural learning process that influences our usage and behaviour (Zhong, 2022). Cultural learning allows individuals to quickly adapt to cultural settings within technological domains (Zhong, 2022). Relying on cultural learning helps people adjust more swiftly to evolving technological contexts than if they were solely relying on their individual learning experiences and existing knowledge. This concept would be highly beneficial when using social media in an information organisation when your target audience comes from diverse cultural backgrounds. For example, using technology and social media effectively helps individuals enhance their awareness and understanding of multicultural citizenship education (Kumi-Yeboah & Smith, 2016).
According to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2009), electronic resources and multilingual/multicultural access are crucial in the digital age, allowing multicultural communities to engage with their own languages and access diverse content, fostering cultural preservation and exchange. Libraries, embracing Web 2.0 technologies, enable users to create and share content, participate in social networking, and utilise tools like blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking to tailor information to specific cultural needs. IFLA (2009) list other online communication tools, such as SMS and VoIP, to enhance interactions making information accessible and comprehensible for linguistically diverse communities, ultimately promoting cultural diversity and inclusivity in the digital realm. The tools listed above are quite old in the world of the information landscape and today we have countless resources to further enhance cultural diversity and inclusivity. Social media is a great example of this, with platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. All these platforms allow for sharing of diverse cultural content in innovative ways. NSW Department of Education (2022) agrees with IFLA’s beliefs that social media allows users to learn about themselves and diverse groups of people. This is important for people to feel a sense of belonging and develop an appreciation for different perspectives.
Unfortunately, with the good also comes the bad. There is a dark side to social media and cultural diversity. Social media is a platform where hate speech and negativity can be a common occurrence. Kennedy’s (2020) study on the negative impact of social media on indigenous people highlighted some disturbing facts including:
- 80% of participants witnessed hate speech at least once a week.
- Digital media, including social media, is seen as a new platform for the exercise of colonial violence, contributing to intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities.
- Negative content that poses the most significant concerns from an Indigenous perspective includes direct threats of violence, racism, white supremacy, and challenges to Indigenous identity.
- Negativity on social media is reported as a daily occurrence for most participants, indicating a pervasive issue.
These finding are alarming and information organisations must be aware of the potential risks of such negative behaviour occurring on their social media platforms. Luckily, there are a number of strategies information organisations can follow to minimise the risk of such adverse behaviours occurring on their social media platforms. There are a number of guides available for information organisations to follow to avoid such catastrophes. Here are a few of the main steps organisations can take according to Hursh (2021):
- Create a social media policy for staff:
- Emphasise transparency and personal responsibility in online identity and opinions
- Specifies authorised staff for official library accounts and outlines account management procedures.
- Designates responsibility for social media strategy development and implementation.
- Prohibits inappropriate content and safeguards patron privacy.
- Defines moderation roles, scenarios for customer service responses, and criteria for post/comment removal.
2. Create a social media policy for your community:
- Library welcomes participation on all social media platforms.
- Users are encouraged to keep postings and comments appropriate for all audiences.
- Library reserves the right to remove inappropriate content. Inappropriate content includes obscene material, hate speech, personal attacks, threats, private information, potentially defamatory statements, plagiarised material, and unrelated commercial, political, or religious messages.
- Library reserves the right to ban or block users violating the policy.
- The library is not responsible for content posted by others on its social media platforms.
We must be aware of the different ways individual cultures communicate and interact with social media platforms. Different cultures have diverse cultural norms that impact communication styles. Libraries must recognise these differences in order to develop an effective communication strategy in the social media space (Mon, 2015). A study by Sheldon et al. (2017) demonstrated different behaviours of students from two separate cultural groups, Croatian and American, when using Instagram. Although motivation for using Instagram did not vary between the two cultural groups the way they used the platform did. Croatian students lean towards collective behaviour on Instagram, emphasising social interaction. In contrast, American students tend to focus on individualistic trends, prioritising self-promotion and documentation. Young & Rossmann (2017) asked a great question, “who is your community?” Young & Rossmann (2017) believe that it is much easier to communicate with someone you know rather than a stranger. This can be related to interactions with diverse cultures on social media as it is important to know how different cultures communicate and their motivations for specific behaviours on social media sites. Once you know the behavioural differences between cultures you can target dialogue that appeals to specific groups of people.
I have covered a number of areas including the benefits and pitfalls of cultural diversity in social media including its ability to bring communities together or tear them apart. It is important to remember information organisations have the power to safeguard against the negative aspects by creating thorough social media policies to reduce the risk of unsavoury outcomes. Information professionals have the power to pave the way for a more inclusive and respectful digital community.
References
Hursh, A. (2021, February 8). How To Create a Library Social Media Policy for Your Staff and Your Community That Encourages Interaction and Keeps Everyone Safe. Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion. https://superlibrarymarketing.com/2021/02/08/socialmediapolicy/
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2009). Multicultural Communities: Guidelines for Library Services 3rd ed, 2009. https://repository.ifla.org/bitstream/123456789/462/1/multicultural-communities-en.pdf
Kennedy, T. (2020, November). Indigenous Peoples’ Experiences of Harmful Content on Social Media. Macquarie University. https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/135775224/MQU_HarmfulContentonSocialMedia_report_201202.pdf
Kumi-Yeboah, A., & Smith, P. (2016). Critical Multicultural Citizenship Education among Black Immigrant Youth: Factors and Challenges. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 18(1), 158–182. https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v18i1.1079
Mon, L. (2015). Social Media and Library Services (1st ed.). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-02292-0
NSW Department of Education (2022). What are the benefits of social media? Digital Citizenship. https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/articles/what-are-the-benefits-of-social-media
Sheldon, P., Rauschnabel, P. A., Antony, M. G., & Car, S. (2017). A cross-cultural comparison of Croatian and American social network sites: Exploring cultural differences in motives for Instagram use. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 643–651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.06.009
Young, S. W. H., & Rossmann, D. (Eds.). (2017). Using social media to build library communities : a LITA guide. Rowman & Littlefield.
Zhong, B. (2022). Social media communication: trends and theories. John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Social networking platforms have become integral facets of individuals’ lives, encompassing both personal and professional domains. This rise of social networking platforms brings to light several issues that must be acknowledged and examined in order to ensure the safety and best interest of organisations and individuals. There are 5 main points I would advise a Social Media Policy Working Group regarding the development of a policy when employees use Web 2.0 tools and spaces for work and personal use while using organisations’ computers/network and time. These include:
- Ensuring clear objectives for social media use are communicated and understood by all employees. This will ensure the organisations objectives for the page are the focus at all times and avoid issues including level of productivity. As social media is used for both personal and professional purposes, guidelines to maintain balance and avoid personal use during working hours will avoid impacting productivity in the workplace (Demeka et al., 2018). This can be achieved through ongoing training of all employees ensuring they are up to date with any changes to policy (Junestrom, 2019).
- Take a proactive approach by following policy guidelines and risk management protocols (Demeka et al., 2018) including acceptable behaviour including lawful and non-disruptive conduct and meet the organisation’s expectations in regard to appropriate communication, content, language and engagement.
Employees must be aware of platform specific protocols and ensure customers are aware of these protocols. For example, employees ensure customers are aware of appropriate interactions, content and tone. Out lining these protocols is important to assist in the maintenance of the
organisations reputation (Soens & Claeys, 2021).
- Be aware and address any privacy or security concerns including sensitive information. All employees cannot share any personal or confidential information on any public forums as this will protect the organisation and individuals involved. Strict security guidelines must be followed in regard to logging in, including changing passwords regularly, especially when someone has left the organisation (Corsillo, 2019).
- Ensure employees understand their responsibility to moderate any content to make sure all information and correspondence on the platform is aligned with the organisations values and code of conduct. Employees must understand the different level of breaches and the appropriate action to be taken if a breach occurs (Australian Maritime Safety Authority, 2017).
References
Australian Maritime Safety Authority. (2017, November 21). Social media terms of use. https://www.amsa.gov.au/news-community/social-media/social-media-terms-use
Corsillo, G. K. (28 June, 2019). Staying social:Why your library needs social media policies. http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2019/06/staying-social-why-your-library-needs-social-media-policies/
Demek, K. C., Raschke, R. L., Janvrin, D. J., & Dilla, W. N. (2018). Do organizations use a formalized risk management process to address social media risk? International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 28, 31-44. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2017.12.004
Juneström, A. (2019). Emerging practices for managing user misconduct in online news media comments sections. Journal of Documentation, 75(4), 694-708. doi:10.1108/JD-09-2018-0143
Soens, E., & Claeys, A.-S. (2021). Can organizations guide employees’ social media behavior? The benefits of incentive rather than restrictive social media guidelines. Journal of Communication Management, 25(4). https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-02-2021-0017
Managing our personal identities online can be complex and often confusing. Adjei et al’s. (2020) study on digital identity management outlined how managing our personal identities involved a balancing act between sharing and privacy. The study highlighted discrepancies between peoples claimed privacy concerns and actual behaviour on social media. Personally, I often feel I’m walking a tight rope when making decisions on what to share. I feel I air on the side of caution when sharing personal details online but yet have had my credit card hacked multiple times. It’s true we are constantly assessing the risks and trustworthiness of online sites and managing the many influences the digital landscape exposes us to (Adjei et al, 2020) but, what we think and our actions do not always line up. We need to be mindful of our digital footprint and use security settings with caution (Adjei et al., 2020).
Brandtzaeg & Chaparro-Domínguez’s (2020) research on understanding identity transition in social media brought to light a number of important points. Social media users have their lives displayed for the world to see and this brings a number of challenges including how they manage personal information from younger years, where they experimented, and develop this into a professional identity. We all made mistakes when we were younger, but should we be judged for something that happened more than 5 years ago by a prospective employer? Should we have to censor what we post about our personal lives because it may impact our professional lives? The shift from youth to professional has led some individuals to face challenges and feel trapped by their digital persona on social media (Brandtzaeg & Chaparro-Domínguez, 2020). Feher (2019) states when creating an online image, it is vital to actively manage and control the information we share to portray ourselves in the way we envisioned.
The way we are perceived is one thing, but protecting our personal data is another. Personal data protection should be a priority and we must actively manage and control the information we share (Feher, 2019). With the evolving digital landscape, the way we interact and manage our online presences must also evolve (Feher, 2019) and education and awareness are imperative. It is important for individuals to maintain vigilance when it comes to their digital identity. Transparency should be priority when it comes to personal data and organisations must be proactive and ensure people are educated and empowered with knowledge on data protection.
References
Adjei, J. K., Adams, S., Mensah, I. K., Tobbin, P. E., & Odei-Appiah, S. (2020). Digital identity management on social media: Exploring the factors that influence personal information disclosure on social media. Sustainability, 12(23), 9994. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/9994
Brandtzaeg, P. B., & Chaparro-Domínguez, M.-Á. (2020). From youthful experimentation to professional identity: Understanding identity transitions in social media. Young, 28(2), 157-174.
Feher, K. (2019). Digital identity and the online self: Footprint strategies – An exploratory and comparative research study. Journal of Information Science, 47(2), 192-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551519879702
The article I chose to analyse is ‘Will Using Social Media Benefit or Harm Users’ Self-Esteem?’ by Yang Han and Feng Yang. This article brings to light the argument that the positive or negative impact social media has on a person’s self-esteem is related to relational-closeness. The article has a strong introduction as the author’s identify the inconsistencies in recent research on the positive or negative impact social media has on a person’s self-esteem. For example, Social support has been seen as boosting self-esteem, and studies have shown a positive link between using social media and one’s self-esteem (Nabi et al., 2013; Tao & Cheng, 2018 as cited in Han & Yang, 2023). Yet, in opposition to these discoveries, alternative studies propose that the use of social media may have a negative impact on individuals’ self-esteem (Jan et al., 2017; Jiang & Ngien, 2020 as cited in Han & Yang, 2023). These recognised inconsistencies are the motivation behind the research conducted by the authors of the article as they aimed to reconcile the contradictory findings.
The article provides detailed descriptions of two studies conducted to determine the relationship between relational-closeness and the impact social media has on a person’s self-esteem. Thus, arriving to the conclusion that a high level of relational-closeness has a positive impact on self-esteem whereas, low level of relational-closeness has a negative impact on self-esteem. The article maintains a critical perspective by outlining and acknowledging the limitations of the research including the use of a wider variety of social media platforms as each have unique features and product positioning and varying market influences.
I agree with the findings from this research article but feel more in depth and detailed research would help to pinpoint and analyse the complex nature of this issue. The article relies on perceived social support and generalises as it is based on Chinese social media platforms. It does not focus on other factors that may impact the relationship between social media and self-esteem. Other factors to consider could include individual differences, personality traits and motivations for using social media. Furthermore, Global perspectives would allow for greater depth and understandings. All these factors could have a colossal impact on how people perceive their self-esteem when interacting on social media. The issue is so complex and multilayered and future research must ensure it continues to explore the multifaceted nature of the impact social media has on people.
References
Han, Y., & Yang, F. (2023). Will Using Social Media Benefit or Harm Users’ Self-Esteem? It Depends on Perceived Relational-Closeness. Social Media + Society, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231203680
