SOCIOLOGICAL IMACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF

INDIAN SOCIETY AND WESTERN SOCIETY

(Term paper towards the fulfillment of Continuous Assessment in the subject General
Principles of Sociology)

Submitted By Submitted To

Rishabha Meena, 1351,Tanish Prabhakar, 1368 Dr. Asha Bhandari

Utkarsh, 1373, Vivekananda Virupaksha, 1378 Faculty of Policy Science

Semester-III-B

B.A., LL.B. (Hons.)

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, JODHPUR

SUMMER SESSION

(July- November 2016)

In India at present the usage of Social Networking Sites (SNS) amongst the people has vastly
increased and the usage of SNS has extensive influence on the people in numerous ways,
particularly on their interpersonal relationships. The present study is placed in this context to
examine the influence of SNS on interpersonal relationships of the people. 20 (10 Indians; 10
Foreigners) persons were selected from both Jodhpur city for generating primary data;
questionnaire and interview schedule methods were used for the said purpose. In the present
study the concept of social network and social networking sites are explained in detail
through sociological perspective. A greater section of this article is dedicated for discussing
the growth of SNS in India. It was found that the usage of SNS has effect on interpersonal
relationships of people, particularly with their members of family, friends and other relatives.
In this study peoples usage pattern of SNS, their purpose of usage of SNS, the amount of the
time they spend, their preferred SNS, degree of their trustworthiness of online friends and
much more interesting aspects have been dealt keeping the scientific research as base. It
provides an outlook for investigating the technological implications on society in the domain
of sociology.

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 3

METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 5

OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................... 6

SOCIAL NETWORK AND SOCIAL NETWROKING SITES............................................... 7

USAGE PATTERN OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES IN INDIA ................................... 8

SURVEY, RESULT, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ............................................... 10

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 28

APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................. 30

2
 INTRODUCTION

When social media first became popular, its general concept was a paradigm between people
(sociology) and technology. Public conversations made involvement from outside parties
possible. Over time, the purpose of social media has changed.

In the last decades of the 20th century the world in general, and India in particular witnessed a
remarkable and rapid advancement of information and communication technologies. During
this era communication emerged as the most popular term. Today the communication
revolution has brought people together regardless of geographical boundaries.

From time to time, new communication technologies have been invented for better individual
as well as mass communication. First, by the invention of the printing technology the new era
of mass communication began. Then, the invention of wireless communication, Radio. Later,
the invention of Television made an immense impact all over the world. And, recently,
Internet has emerged as the outstanding innovation in the field of communication in the
history of humankind.1

Rapid expansion of internet has changed the lives of many people worldwide. Very
significantly internet has brought the world into a single room. Right from getting access
news across the world to a wealth of shopping knowledge, job opportunities, and choice of
life partners there is a whole gamut of information available to internet users. Internet is now
used for communication, entertainment and information. For a long time access to
information used to be denied to the people on the basis of their gender, class or caste. But
today these barriers are being breaking down by the Knowledge Revolution.2

The contemporary period has come to be labeled variously as Information Age,

Communication Age and, the present Networking Age. The internet offers a wide variety of
communication tools. Billions of people use facilities like search engines, web pages, e-mails,
e-books, e-journals, e-newspapers, internet banking, internet telephony, conferencing, multi-

1
Boase J., Horrigan J.B., Wellman B. and Rainie Lee, The Strength of Internet Ties: The internet and email aid
users in maintaining their social networks and provide pathways to help when people face big decisions.
Washington, D.C.: Pew Internet and American Life Project (2006).
2
Boyd D.M. and Ellison N.B., Social Networking Sites: Definition, history, and scholarship, Journal of
Computer- Mediated Communication, 13(1) (2007).
3
media sharing, online news rooms, gaming, shopping, blogging, and importantly, social
networking. Today internet is an essential communication medium in professional as well as
personal life.3

Among the various tools that internet has brought our way Social Networking became a
global phenomenon. Millions of people now go online to engage in social networks.4
According to Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, there are more than 300 Social Networking
Sites (SNS) and 1.5 billion members worldwide. In recent years, usage of social networking
sites has grown rapidly. It took 38 years to attract 50 million listeners for wireless radio
system, 13 years for television to attract 50 million viewers; in 4 years the internet has attract
50 million surfers. IPods took 3 years to reach 50 million users, but Facebook, one of the
leading social networking sites, added over 200 million users in just 12 months. This shows
the penetration capacity and popularity of social networking sites.5

Social Networking Sites are a type of virtual community that has grown tremendously in
popularity.6 Through social networking people can use network of online friends and group
memberships to keep in touch with current friends, reconnect with old friends or create real-
life friendships through similar interest or groups. Besides, establishing social relationships,
social networking members can share interest and their ideas with other life-minded members
by joining groups or forums. They can also participate in discussions through SNS. Members
will be updated instantly about their friends and groups. In short, a SNS is a hub for
communication, entertainment and information.7

Apparently it is evident that the majority of the users of social networking sites are college
going students, worldwide. Students are one group that is eager to know the technological
advancements and latest trends and they accept these changes with an open mind. In India too
this fact is acknowledged by various studies and hence today the usage of SNS has become

3
Diani M., Social Movement Networks Virtual and Real, Information, Communication and Society, 3(3), 386-
401 (2001).
4
GeaninaHavarneanu, The Positive Dependence between the Rezolutiv Style and the Creative Level, Int. Res. J.
Social Sci., 2(3), 20-24 (2013).
5
Goodings L., Locke A. and Brown S., Social Networking Technology: Place and Identity in Mediated
Communities, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 17, 463-476 (2007).
6
Goodman J., Click First, Ask Questions Later: Understanding Teen Online Behaviour, Aplis, 20(2), 84-86
(2007).
7
Haveripeth Prakash D., Juvenile Justice A Hard Look, Int. Res. J. Social Sci., 2(1), 38-40 (2013).
4
large part of the students lives in Indian society. 8 The EDUCAUSE data shows that the
percentage of students who said they never use SNS has fallen from 25% to 11% in 2008.9

The increasing usage of social networking sites has far reaching impacts on interpersonal
relationships of people, which is the major theme of the present study. SNS influence the
interpersonal relationships of people in many ways.10 For example through SNS, users come
to meet other people and these people can affect the users relationships and this influence
can either be positive or negative for the users. An interpersonal relationship is a relatively
long-term association between two or more people. This association may be based on
emotions like love and liking, regular business interactions, or some other type of social
commitments. Interpersonal relationships take place in a great variety of contexts, such as
family, friends, marriage acquaintances, work, and neighborhoods.11 They may be regulated
by law, custom, or mutual agreement and are the basis of social groups and society as a
whole. These impacts are so widespread that they caught the attention of social scientists
worldwide. Hence, the proposed study makes an attempt to fill in this gap, to some extent, by
concentrating on the impact of SNS on college students.

METHODOLOGY

This study primarily uses descriptive research design. The survey technique is used to collect
demographic data about respondents behavior, beliefs, opinions, interests and the like and
the data thus generated is organized, analyzed and interpreted. A purposive sample of people
in Jodhpur city was selected for eliciting the study data. 20 people were selected from the city
of Jodhpur in which there were 10 Indians and 10 Foreigners. The primary data for this study
was generated from random people whom we found in Jodhpur while doing this research
work.

In order to gather data from the respondents questionnaire, interview schedule and survey
forms as research instruments were used as research tools. The Questionnaire which is the

8
Huang C., A Brief Exploration of the Development of Internet Use for Communication among Undergraduate
Students, Cyberpsychology and Behaviour, 11(1), 115-117 (2008).
9
Jennifer Jean Quinn, Family Relations: 21st Century Issues and Challenges, Nova Science Publishers, (2008).
10
Knouse S. and Webb S., Virtual Networking for Women and Minorities, Career Development International,
6(4), 226-228 (2001).
11
Lenhart A. and Madden M., Social Networking Websites and Teens, Washington, D.C., Pew Internet and
American Life Project, (2007).
5
primary tool of data collection is framed taking into consideration the primary objectives of
the study. With the help of few sample questions a brief questionnaire was asked from 10
Indian people and 10 Foreigner people.

It also includes comparative method of study of sociology where we compared two different
societies. The first society was India society and the second society was Western society. The
data of Indian society was collected from the Indian people living in Jodhpur. The data of
Western Society was collected from the foreigner tourists who came to visit Jodhpur. In order
to collect data, we went to Mandore Garden, Old City, NLU Jodhpur and Nai Sadak in
Jodhpur.

OBJECTIVES

Sociology is defined as The science of human society. In many, if not all cases, human
roots, organizational skills and the development of society with regard to technology have
been key attributes in the field of sociology. Technology introduces advancements and
information that plays an important part in helping a society to achieve its objectives. No
matter what those goals are, relationships are always at the heart of accomplishing them. In
this day and age of advanced (and extremely sophisticated) technology, people seem to be
making connections more easily and on a much broader scale. They are interacting in many
different ways and in some cases, the interactions are extremely creative. Of course, the
bottom line is that it always comes down to the human relationship.

i. To engage in a Sociological analysis of the concept of interpersonal relationship

with a special focus as the changing nature of inter-personal relationships.
ii. To analyze the growth in the number and the pattern of impact of Social Networking
Sites on people, particularly on their changing interpersonal relationships and the
impact of social media on their work.
iii. To analyze the awareness of cyber bullying among the people as cyber bullying has
major impact on the personality of the person and it has great social impact.
iv. To analyze whether the people has more confidence when the talk to a person face to
face or when they talk to a person via social media through chat, Watsapp, etc.

6
 SOCIAL NETWORK AND SOCIAL NETWROKING SITES

In the discipline of sociology the concept of social network refers to a social structure made
up of individuals who are connected to each other and have a complex set of relationships or
ties between themselves. In the study of society the analysis of social network is vital. Today
social network analysis has become one of the major paradigms in contemporary sociology.
Emile Durkheim, Ferdinand Tonnies, George Simmel, Jacob L. Mareno, Bronislaw
Malinowski, Alfred Radcliffe Brown, Claude Levi-Straus, John A. Bareen and many other
sociologists have given prime place to social network in their respective studies.12

George Simmel, a German sociologist stated at the importance of studying social network by
emphasizing the dynamics of triads and web of group affiliations. It is also important to note
that another eminent sociologist Jacob Mareno had developed the first sociograms in the
1930s to study interpersonal relationships. The major theme of social network is to
understand social interaction is that social phenomena should be primarily conceived and
investigated through the proportion of relation between and within units.13

Hence, the inner base for the creation of SNS is nothing but the concept of social network.
Social Networking Sites can be broadly defined as internet-based social spaces designed to
facilitate communication, collaboration, and content sharing across networks of contacts.14
Social Networking Sites allow users to manage, build and represent their social networks
online. People use Social Networking Sites for countless activities. Among the most common
uses are, connecting with existing networks, making and developing friendships/contacts,
creating an online presence for their users, viewing content/finding information, creating and
customizing profiles and so on.15

Boyd and Ellison define Social Networking Sites as web-based services that allow
individuals to construct a public or asemipublic profile within a bounded system; articulate a

12
Peluchette J. and Karl K., Social Networking Profiles: An Examination of Student Attitudes Regarding Use
and Appropriateness of Content, Cyberpsychology and Behaviour, 11(1), 95-97 (2008).
13
Pettenati M.C. and Cigognini M.E., Social networking theories and tools to support connectivist learning
activities, Journal of web based learning and teaching technologies, (2007).
14
PreetiMahajan, Use of Social Networking in a Linguistically and Culturally Rich India, The International
Information and Library Review, (2009).
15
Renuka E. Asagi and Dr S. A. Kazi, Women Desertees: Post-Desertion Problems, Int. Res. J. Social Sci., 2(1),
29- 33 (2013).
7
list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of
connections and those made by others within the system.16

Wikipedia defines Social Network Sites as an online platform that focuses on building and
reflecting social networks or social relations among people who share interests and activities.
Social Networking Sites, E-mail, instant messaging, view-and photo sharing sites and
comment posting are all tolls that help people to communicate and socialize with each
other.17

A social network is a collection of individuals linked together by a set of relations. Online

social networking sites virtually link individuals, who may or may not know each other.
They enable rapid exchange of knowledge, high levels of dialogue and collaborative
communication through text, audio and video. Individual actors have ties with other
individual actors. In this sense, these individual actors interact/ share their interests,
ideas/information with others.18

USAGE PATTERN OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES IN INDIA

Currently the usage of SNS is continuously growing prominence in India. Will Hodgman
says that Social networking continued to grow strongly in India this past year, with several
of the top global brands carving out a more prominent position,19and he also says that The
social networking phenomenon continues to gain steam worldwide, and India represents one
of the fastest growing markets at this moment. While there is certainly room for several
players in this social networking space in India, the sites that have the right blend of having
both a strong brand and cultural relevance will be best positioned for future growth.20Today
India ranks as the third largest market for the usage of social networking worldwide, after the

16
Subrahmanyam K. and Lin G., Adolescents on the Net: Internet Use and Well-Being, Adolescence, 42(168),
659- 677 (2007).
17
Valadez J. and Duran R., Redefining the Digital Divide: Beyond Access to Computers and the Internet, The
High School Journal, Feb/Mar 2007, 31-44 (2007).
18
Valkenburg P.M., Peter J., and Schouten A.P., Friend Networking Sites and Their Relationship to
Adolescents Well-Being and Social Self-Esteem, Cyber Psychology and Behavior, 9(5), 584-590 (2006).
19
Waldstrom C. and Madsen H., Social Relations Among Managers: Old Boys And Young Womens Networks,
Women in Management Review, 22(2), 136-147 (2007).
20
Weatherall A. and Ramsay A., New Communication Technologies and Family Life, Families Commission
Blue Skies report 5.06, (2006).
8
U.S., China. There are certain modifications were being made to increase the popularity of
SNS in India particularly by providing the service in few regional languages.21

21
William Fielding Ogburn and Meyer Francis Nimkoff, Technology and the Changing Family, Greenwood
Press, (1976).
9
 SURVEY, RESULT, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION22

1. Do you have a social media account? (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Watsapp)

Options Indian Percentage Western Percentage

Society Society

Yes 10 100% 10 100%

No 0 0% 0 0%

All the people on whom we conducted survey had social media account whether they were
Indian or Western. Therefore the percentage of people having account in social networking
sites is 100%.

Indian Society Western Society

Yes Yes
100% No
100% No

22
The Questionnaires of the Survey have been attached in the Appendix.
10
 2. What are your main reasons behind using social media?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

To communicate with friends and family 4 40% 6 60%

members.(Chatting and messages)

For entertainment 1 10% 0 0%

To share photos and videos. 2 20% 4 40%

Others 3 30% 0 0%

Indian Society
Stay in touch with people.
30%
For entertainment
40%
To share photos and videos

20%
Others
10%

Western Society
To communicate with friends and
family members.

For entertainment
40%
60%
To share photos and videos

Others

11
In Western Society, the people on whom the survey was conducted were tourist and therefore
furthermore, they used social networking sites so that they can share photos of their visit.
Therefore the percentage if the people in western society using social media for
communication came out to be 60% and 40 percent of people in western society used it for
the purpose of sharing the photos.

On the other hand, in Indian society, the reason given by people for using social media are
diverse. A student on whom we conducted the survey gave his reason behind using social
media as Others. The reason given by him was that he use social media was to kill time and
express idea. The result came out was that, there are 40%, 10%, 20% and 30% of the people
use social foe communication, entertainment, sharing photos and video and other
respectively.

The thing which is common in both the societies is that most of the people in both the
societies used social media to communicate with people.

12
 3. What are the positive effects do you think social media has?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Stay in touch with people (through chatting). 6 60% 4 40%

Improve relationship between people. 1 10% 2 20%

Expand social circle. 0 0% 3 30%

Others 3 30% 1 10%

Indian Society
Stay in touch with people

30%
Improve relationship between people
60%
10% Expand social circle

Others

Western Society

10%
Stay in touch with people

Improve relationship between people

40%
30%
Expand social circle

20%
Others

The positive effect of social media which was agreed by most of the people in both the
societies was to stay in touch with people. The result of this question was that, 60% people of
13
people in Indian Society and 40% people in Western Society use social media to stay in touch
with people. 10% and 20% of people in the respective societies agreed with the fact that the
positive effect of social media is that it improves relationship between the people. The people
believing that it improves relationship between the people in western society are slightly
higher than that in Indian Society. They gave reason that their family members are also added
as their friends Facebook which helps them to know more about their family members which
in turn improves relationship between them. The result which was strange was that 0%
people in India Society believes that social media leads to expansion of social circle. The
sociological explanation that we think behind this is that, since western society is developing
to which individualism is increasing due to which using of social media by the people gives
them a feeling of social belongingness to a social group.

14
 4. What are the negative effects do you think social media has?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Invasion of privacy. 0 0% 2 20%

Affect relationship between 4 40% 1 10%

families.

Affect regular social life. 2 20% 4 40%

Others 4 40% 3 30%

Indian Society
Invasion of privacy

40% Affect relationship between families

40%
Affect regular social life

20%
Others

Western Society
Invasion of privacy
30% 20%
Affect relationship between families
10%
Affect regular social life

40%
Others

When we talk about negative effect of social media , the 0 % people in Indian Society
believes that social media leads to invasion of privacy whereas 20 % people in Western
Society thinks that it leads to invasion of privacy. The statement that usage of social media
15
leads to invasion of privacy is always a true statement it always happens in latent or
manifested form but this fact was not believes by India Society is because of lack of
knowledge. 40% people in Indian Society and 10% people in Western society believes that
usage social media affects their relationship with family members. The reason behind such
wide disparity in result is that Indians believe that by using social media, they give less time
to their family members whereas the people in Western Society believes that usage of social
media helps them to improve their relationship as they can connect with their family
members online very easily and they could know very easily about what is happening in the
life of their family members. The others reason given by people was that due this, they are
able to less concentrate on their studies and this reason was common in both the societies.

16
 5. Whether using social media brings satisfaction to you?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Yes 6 60% 7 70%

No 4 40% 3 30%

Indian Society

Yes No
60%
40%

Western Society

30% Yes No
70%

60% people in Indian Society and 70% people in western society believes that social media
brings them satisfaction because they can stay in touch with people .It gives them some
sense of relief after using it. The satisfaction also comes in the form that they can easily
express their ideas. Furthermore, they also get satisfaction when they upload their photos
after which they get more and more likes. It also brigs satisfaction in the form that it gives
them a feeling of belonging to social group rather than living in isolation.
17
 6. Whether social media affects your daily routine?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Yes 4 40% 5 50%

No 6 60% 5 50%

Indian Society

60% 40% Yes No

Western Society

50%
Yes No
50%

40% people in Indian Society believe that usage of social media affects their daily routine
whereas 50% of people in Western Society believe so. 40% people in Indian Society and 50%
people in western Society do not believe so. The students were out main focus behind asking
this question. The students Indian use these social media a lot throughout the day as it
observed from the fact that they use it in class also whereas the opinion of people in western
Society towards the same question was different because most of they use it in night due to
which their daily work goes in routine.
18
 7. Whether you feel that you spend less time with your family after using social media?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Yes 5 50% 3 30%

No 5 50% 7 70%

Indian Society

50%
50%
Yes No

Western Society
30%
70%
Yes No

50% people in Indian Society believe that using social media affect their family relationship
whereas 50% people do not. The reason behind this is that after using social media, they give
less time to their family members because virtual world, for them, seems to be more
convincing than the real world. The result was not so in Western Society as the people uses it
to stay in touch with their family members and hence it improves their relationship rather
than affecting it.

19
 8. Whether using social media make you feel more confident to meet new people in real
life?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Yes 6 60% 5 50%

No 4 40% 5 50%

Indian Society
40%
60% Yes No

Western Society
50%
50% Yes No

60% of the Indians feel that Social Media helps them feel more confident to meet new people
while 40% think that it actually does not make any difference. But the situation in western
countries is quite different. There the ratio was equally divided while talking about how
confidence people are while meeting other people in the real world. Hence taking the overall
average we can see that all over the world (both Indian and western) there are more number
of people who think social media helps them gain confidence when meeting new people. This
is because they in everyday basis meet new people in the virtual world and try to study them
and thus come to know more about them which intern helps them gain confidence when the
come to the real world.
20
 9. Do you know what is cyber bullying?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Yes 4 40% 10 100%

No 6 60% 0 0%

Indian Society

40%
60% Yes No

Western Society

100% Yes No

40% of the Indians knew what cyber bullying is while 60% did not know about it. The only
reason behind such skewed ration is lack of education in Indian. While in Western countries
100% of the people knew what cyber bullying is. The ratio clearly shows that western
countries are more educated that India.

21
 10. What do think Cyber bullying is?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Messages/ photos/ videos 2 20% 1 10%

about you put online.

Having lies or rumors spread 3 30% 5 50%

about you.

Being called mean names or 1 10% 2 20%

teased in a harmful ways.

Others 4 40% 2 20%

Indian Society
20% Messages/ photos/ videos about you put
online
60% Having lies or rumors spread about you

30% Being called mean names or teased in a

harmful ways

10% Others

10%
Western Society
20%
Messages/ photos/ videos about you put
online

Having lies or rumors spread about you

20% 50%
Being called mean names or teased in a
harmful ways

Others

Majority of the people in India actually found cyber bullying to be something else other than
the options given to them. This shows how wide cyber bullying has become these days and
22
there are varied ways in which people can be cheated. While on the other hand majority of
the people in western countries found cyber bullying to be something which spreads rumors
on the internet. Another analysis which comes out of this is that cyber bullying differs from
one country to another. The reason behind different definition of cyber bullying as given by
the people is according to the different conditions, problems and issues prevailing in their
society.

23
 11. Do you feel uneasy to talk to people face to face after using social media?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

Yes 4 40% 7 70%

No 6 60% 3 30%

Indian Society

60% 40%
Yes No

Western Society

30%
70% Yes No

In India only 40% of the people said they feel uneasy when they talk to people face to face
after using social media while 60% said they dont. They reason might me their friend circle
which does not expand even in social media or might be the over population in the India
which makes people talk to other people constantly. But in western countries 70% of the
people feel uncomfortable to talk to people after using social media this is because they are
not that used to talk to so many people in their daily life.

24
 12. Why do you feel uneasy when talk to people fact to face?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

I dont feel uneasy. 6 60% 3 30%

I have less courage to talk to 1 10% 0 0%

people face to face.

I find no topics to chat with 1 10% 4 40%

people.

Others 2 20% 3 30%

Indian Society
I dont feel uneasy

20% I have less courage to talk to people face

to face.
10% 60%
I find no topics to chat with people

40% Others

Western Society
I dont feel uneasy

30% 30% I have less courage to talk to people

face to face.
I find no topics to chat with people
40%
Others

60% of the Indians have again said that they dont feel uncomfortable in talking to people
face to face. But western countries do feel uncomfortable in talking to people face to face this

25
is because they have no topic to start a conversation. The reason behind this is very simple
that actually no concrete conversation happened on social media. This reason also led to such
result in the above mentioned question due to which 10% of Indian People have less courage
to talk to people face to face whereas the same result is 0% in case of Western Society. Since,
the technology has become more advanced day by day due to which online conversation has
taken the place of face to face conversation due to which lots of topic have been discussed
between the people and hence there is no topic left on which they can discuss when they talk
face to face.

26
 13. Why do you keep on using social media even though you know it harms you?

Options Indian Society Percentage Western Society Percentage

It is too convenient and user 2 20% 4 40%

friendly.

I can find friends to express my 1 10% 2 20%

emotions freely in a quick way.

I can have feeling of belonging 3 30% 1 10%

to social group.

Others 4 40% 3 30%

Indian Society
20% It is too convenient and user
40% 40%
friendly
I can find friends to express my
30% emotions freely in a quick way
I can have feeling of belonging to
social group

Western Society
30% It is too convenient and user
friendly
40%
I can find friends to express my
10% emotions freely in a quick way
20%
I can have feeling of belonging to
social group

Majority of the Indians had no concrete answer hence they chose the option others but
western people said that it is no convenient to chat with people and stay in touch with friends
hence they are ready to take the little risk involved in it. Further, usage of social media is a
remedy to isolation and that is why 30% Indian and 10% western people uses social media as
a remedy for their isolation which ultimately give them a feeling of belongingness to a social
group.

27
 CONCLUSION

Through the above analysis it is found that the usage of Social Media influences interpersonal
relationships of people. In case of Indian Society, we found that through use of social media,
the people can be aware about their family members and hence they can share pictures with
others which make them to feel happy. The opinion regarding the impact of social media on
the work of individual in society that we found through this survey is disputed. As people
agree that it affects their work while others think that it does not affect their work.
Furthermore, currently in Indian society the crime of defamation and other cyber related
crimes are at rampant but still this survey found that the most of the Indian people who use
social media lacks awareness about cyber bullying. One of the major results of this research
is that, most of the Indian people like talking to a person face to face rather than through the
usage of social media. At the same time, most of the Indian people believe that usage of
social media affects their relationship with their family members as they cannot give time to
their family members.

At the same time, on looking at the western society, those people think that the usage of
social media does not affect their work as most of them use social media during night. The
result of this survey conducted on foreigners was that all of them knew about the concept of
cyber bullying. But when we talk about whether, they are comfortable in talking to a person
fact to face or through usage of social media, the result was completely opposite to that of
Indian society as they think that its more easy to talk to a stranger via social media rather than
face to face. We found that the usage of social media has great impact in their relationships
with their family members than it is Indian society. As came to visit Indian, so through usage
of social media, they could easily talk to their family members through Watsapp or Facebook
as contact through cell phones involved roaming charge. The result which was common in
both the societies is that even if a person knows that usage of social Medias harmful for them,
but still they use it because it gives them relief.

There are often times that one wonders how social media became so popular and why so
many people have shown such an interest in it. First of all, it is critical to understand that
human relationships are at the heart of social medias success. By no means does this
discount how important the technological aspect is. Without technology, there would be no
social media to begin with. One of the biggest reasons for the success of social media is
28
accessibility to people at incredible speeds. The interactivity of social media is what relates to
human nature. The sociological characteristics of social media can be credited with its own
progress. Human beings influence on each other is a part of the phenomenon that is
inevitable. People make choices in life (and the same applies to their interaction through
social media) in large part due to what other people do and say.

Sociology plays a tremendous role in the success of social media. Technology can be viewed
as an extremely sophisticated tool that makes things possible when it comes to social media
and human beings. As time goes on, those tools change and new ways are introduced. It is
very important to take advantage of whichever technological advances are being offered, as
long as they make sense for your business. A devotion of time and energy toward working
with new technologies will pay off in business in one way or another.

The present study provides a major base for analyzing the technological implications on
society in the domain of sociology. The present research based study confirms the
implications of social networking sites on the interpersonal relationships of college students.

29
 APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Do you have a social media account? (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Watsapp)

(i) Yes (ii) No

2. What are your main reasons behind using social media?

(i) To communicate with friends and family members.
(ii) For entertainment.
(iii) To share photos and videos.
(iv) Others.

3. What are the positive effects do you think social media has?
(i) Stay in touch with people.
(ii) Improve relationship between people.
(iii) Expand social circle.
(iv) Others.

4. What are the negative effects do you think social media has?
(i) Invasion of privacy.
(ii) Affect relationship between families.
(iii) Affect regular social life.
(iv) Others.

5. Whether using social media brings satisfaction to you?

(i) Yes
(ii) No

6. Whether social media affects your daily routine?

(i) Yes
(ii) No

7. Whether you feel that you spend less time with your family after using social media?
(i) Yes
30
(ii) No

8. Whether using social media make you feel more confident to meet new people in real
life?
(i) Yes
(ii) No

9. Do you know what is cyber bullying?

(i) Yes
(ii) No

10. What do you think cyber bullying is?

(i) Messages/ photos/ videos about you put online.
(ii) Having lies or rumors spread about you.
(iii) Being called mean names or teased in a harmful ways.
(iv) Others.

11. Do you feel uneasy to talk to people face to face after using social media?
(i) Yes
(ii) No

12. Why do you feel uneasy when talk to people fact to face?
(i) I dont feel uneasy.
(ii) I have less courage to talk to people face to face.
(iii) I find no topics to chat with people.
(iv) Others.

13. Why do you keep on using social media even though you know it harms you?
(i) It is too convenient and user friendly.
(ii) I can find friends to express my emotions freely in a quick way.
(iii) I can have feeling of belonging to social group.
(iv) Others.

31