Literature Review # 4

Paul Mihailidis

Mihailidis, Paul. "The Civic-social Media Disconnect: Exploring Perceptions of Social Media for Engagement in the Daily Life of College Students." Taylor & Francis Online, n.d. Web. 08 

Summary: This article examines social networking and how it manipulates engagement and behavior within young people who are the most susceptible to this technology. Through his analysis and survey he draws conclusions about how social media affects their lives in society and on a personal level. Although students are using the internet for different outlets such as sports and news, they are generally using it for entertainment and socialization. 

Paul Mihalidis is a professor at Emerson College who focuses his work on engagement in civic life and how media affects young people. He is also the director at Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change, and has published numerous articles on his subjects of interest that include digital media engagement and how it is shaping the lives of young people.


Quotes:"Perceptions can help embrace the complex ecosystem for engagement that incorporate new media but also allow for cultural, social, political, and commercial attitudes to be included in new understandings of engagement in contemporary society. As the results of this study show, students' limited perceptions and negative attitudes toward the efficacy of social networks for daily civic life challenges assumptions of new media as a transformational tool for civic engagement, specifically in the context of young people's information and communication habits in daily life."

"The first research question asked about college students' use of social media for daily information and communication needs, and was explored using a survey instrument that assessed social media use across six categories: news, politics, relationships, privacy, leisure, and education. The survey results, not surprisingly, show a clear migration of information consumption and communication behaviors to social networks."

"Not surprisingly, social networks are the central facilitators for daily communication with peers, family, and acquaintances. When asked about the effect of social media on friendships, 39% of the sample reported feeling closer to their friends because of social media, while 26% of the sample felt that they had ‘more friends’ because of social media. Less than 3% saw social media as taking away from time with friends or making friends"

Key Term: social networks, communication, students, college, communication, engagement, disconnect, citizens, peers, information, socialization

Value: This article was an important read because through his surveys, the reader better understands what young people are doing with their tools and how in result is making them feel. It focuses on attitudes and feelings while incorporating aspects of statistical information. By understanding how students are utilizing their tools, we are able to understand the efficiency of these same tools.