Social media usage and effect studies in Malaysian journals and PhD dissertations from 2004-2015
The development of social media plays a phenomenal role in Malaysia, garnering more research on the usage and impact of social media on the users. This illustrates the interest on this phenomenon is immensely growing. Despite the rising amount, previous efforts in exploring the state of social...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/75551/1/FBMK%202018%2050%20IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | The development of social media plays a phenomenal role in Malaysia, garnering more
research on the usage and impact of social media on the users. This illustrates the
interest on this phenomenon is immensely growing. Despite the rising amount,
previous efforts in exploring the state of social media studies in Malaysia is scarce
compared to the West. In keeping pace with the progression of social media, literature
on social media in Malaysia were examined for a more comprehensive outlook on the
research patterns of the field from the years 2004 until 2015. Specifically, this research
utilised quantitative content analysis and in-depth interviews. Two content analyses
were conducted on 79 articles in selected Malaysian academic journals and 12 doctoral
theses from universities in Malaysia that had conducted social media studies.
Descriptive statistics were used to identify the research patterns by adopting a
framework of analysis from past literature including: theoretical application, research
topic, methodological approach, social media type and development phases of social
media research. In-depth interviews of six mass communication and social media
scholars in Malaysia were also conducted. The interviews were conducted through an
open-ended set of interview protocols to explore their perceptions on the trends of
communication theories in social media studies. The interviews were analysed using
thematic analysis. The results indicated that social media research in Malaysia was still
in formative stage as this communication technology is considered new and Malaysian
scholars still lack of skills and experiences in understanding the field. However, a
pattern of increase was apparent on the numbers of social media studies. Moreover, the
theoretical presence in social media research in Malaysia is relatively higher than the
theoretical footings in the West. The most prevalent communication theories were uses
and gratifications, agenda-setting and diffusion of innovations. Scholars emphasised
cited theories were chosen based on the research background, personal connection and
relevancy to the social media issue. Most theories were applied as theoretical
framework, followed by merely referencing and comparison of theories. Although theoretical application in social media studies showed an upward trend, the practice of
construction and expansion of theories among Malaysian scholars is still limited,
implicating a need for a more solidified and elaborated theoretical foundation. The
findings showed that theoretical footing were underdeveloped because existing theories
were considered more relevant for their research, lack of credible scholars, no
affiliation amongst scholars and incompetency in English. Several factors were
suggested in generating theories such as acquiring solid theoretical foundation, a call
for more teamwork among scholars, improvement of facilities in institutions, upgrading
of communication programmes in universities and enhancement of quality in journals.
This study recognised the need for more research topics on the improvement and
creation of new concepts and theories for social media; better methodological rigours
and wider dispersion on the type of social media. The study concludes with main issues
of theoretical development and recommends further fundamental research for the
creation of theories to understand the usage and effect of social media on local culture
and values of Malaysian users. |
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