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Culture, Norms, and the Impact of Social Media

Exam Information

  • Exam 1 Date Change: The first exam has been moved from 9/29 to 10/1 (Wednesday).

Understanding Culture

  • Culture Defined: Culture encompasses the material and nonmaterial attributes that members of an organization or society create and utilize to execute tasks essential for collective life. Essentially, it is "the entire way of life of a group of people" (Ferris and Stein).

Material and Non-Material Culture

  • Material Culture: Refers to "Any physical thing that a people create, use or appreciate…" (Ferris and Stein). This includes tangible objects.

  • Non-Material Culture: Comprises "[I]deas associated with a cultural group, including ways of thinking and ways of behaving" (Ferris and Stein). Key components of non-material culture include:

    • Knowledge

    • Beliefs

    • Norms

    • Values

    • Rituals

    • Symbols

    • Language

Norms and Sanctions

  • Norms: Are rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members.

    • Folkways: Norms for routine, casual interaction (e.g., table manners).

    • Mores: Norms considered important to society’s well-being and possessing great moral significance (e.g., prohibitions against theft).

    • Taboos: The strongest type of norms, representing deeply ingrained prohibitions, the violation of which is considered abhorrent (e.g., incest).

  • Sanctions: Mechanisms used to enforce norms.

    • Formal/Informal: Formal sanctions are institutionalized (e.g., legal penalties), while informal sanctions are spontaneous and arise from daily interactions (e.g., disapproving glance).

    • Positive/Negative: Positive sanctions reward conforming behavior (e.g., praise), while negative sanctions punish deviant behavior (e.g., criticism).

Cultural Variations and Perspectives

  • Dominant Culture: Refers to the prevalent values, norms, knowledge, and practices of the most powerful groups within a given culture.

  • Cultural Hegemony: Occurs when alternative ways of doing and seeing things (other cultural elements) are devalued or marginalized in favor of the dominant culture's views.

  • Subculture: A unit within a larger culture that shares many characteristics of the main culture but distinguishes itself through certain important differences.

    • Examples of Self-Proclaimed Subculture Membership (based on respondent data): Gamer ($13 \%),$ Hip Hop ($8 \%),$ Athlete/Jock ($33 \%),$ Influencer ($5 \%),$ KPop ($5 \%).

    • Historical Examples (70s/80s Subcultures): Punk, Preppies/Yuppies, Madonna Wannabes, Pat Benatar Wannabes, Rockabilly, Fitness/Aerobics, Glam (Hair Bands), New Wave, Valley Girl, Surfer Dudes, New Romantics, Skinheads, Funk.

  • Counterculture: A unit within the larger culture whose norms and values are in direct conflict with the dominant culture. They often actively oppose mainstream societal norms.

    • Examples: Civil Rights Activists, Hippies, Amish, Flat Earthers.

Cultural Differences and Interpretation

  • Cultural Variance: Highlights the differences in cultures across various times and places.

  • Ethnocentrism: The tendency to evaluate other cultures based on one's own norms, values, and beliefs, typically assuming the superiority of one's own culture.

  • Cultural Relativity: The principle that another person’s behavior should be interpreted and understood within the context of their own culture, rather than through the lens of one's own.

Illustrative Cases of Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativity:

  • The Meaning of a Kiss (V-J Day in Times Square, 1945): Alfred Eisenstaedt's photograph depicts an "uninhibited sailor" kissing a "white-clad girl." While seen as a celebratory moment in American culture, the context of unsolicited public affection could be viewed differently in other cultural contexts or even retrospectively within American culture.

  • Danish Parenting vs. New York Law (True Story):

    • Annette Sorensen (Denmark) and Exavier Wardlaw (NYC) were arrested for leaving their 14-month-old daughter outside a Manhattan restaurant on a chilly day while they dined inside.

    • Danish Perspective: In Denmark, it's a common practice for babies to nap outside, even in cold weather, due to a strong cultural belief that fresh, cold air is beneficial for children. Danish baby carriages are large and difficult to bring inside cafes, which are often smoky. Children wear special "polar survival suits" from October to April.

    • New York Perspective/Ethnocentric Reaction: Passersby called 911, police intervened, and the child was placed in foster care, highlighting a conflict in cultural norms regarding child safety and parenting practices.

    • Outcome: The case was eventually dropped. The mother sued New York City for $20 million and won $66,000 due to a strip search.

  • American Customs Considered Offensive in Other Countries (Sophie-Claire Hoeller, Business Insider):

    • Examples include: Tipping, sitting in the back of a cab, throwing a thumbs-up, laughing with your mouth open, calling the USA "America," being fashionably late or on time (depending on the culture), having one hand in your pocket, using your left hand for anything, opening a present immediately, wearing casual clothing (sweatpants, flip-flops) in public, altering meals, showing the soles of your feet, keeping shoes on indoors, drinking someone else's alcohol, men showing skin, eating in non-food serving establishments, telling people to help themselves, touching, keeping clothes on in saunas/steam rooms, asking certain questions, refusing food, not declining gifts, polishing off your meal, and blowing your nose.

Social Media and Its Impact

Social Media Usage Among Fall '25 Students

  • Time Spent Online (Typical Day):

    • Less than an hour: 4.00 \%

    • Between 1 and 3 hours: 34.00 \%

    • More than 3 hours but less than 5 hours: 30.00 \%

    • Between 5 and 8 hours: 28.00 \%

    • More than 8 hours: 4.00 \%

    • Not on social media: 0.00 \%

    • Most students (approximately 64 \%) spend between 1 and 5 hours on social media daily.

Impact of Social Media Usage on Students (Perceptions from 1 = Never to 5 = Always)

  • Mean Scores for Experiences After Spending Time on Social Media:

    • Feeling entertained: 4.02 (Highest mean)

    • Feeling like you've wasted time: 3.68

    • Feeling like you learned something: 3.28

    • Feeling supported: 2.9

    • Feeling bad about yourself: 2.74

    • Feeling lonely: 2.74

    • Feeling angry: 2.51

    • Feeling like you met someone special (friend or partner): 2.2

    • Feeling like you educated others: 2.08 (Lowest mean)

  • Key Impacts: Students most frequently report feeling entertained, followed by feeling they've wasted time, and learning something. Negative impacts like feeling bad about oneself, loneliness, and anger are also moderately reported.

  • Concern Regarding Negative Feelings: The percentage of individuals feeling lonely (2.74 mean) or bad about themselves (2.74 mean) after social media use is a concern. These feelings might be caused by social comparison, exposure to curated unrealistic lives, cyberbullying, or a lack of genuine social interaction compared to in-person experiences.

Trends in Social Media Usage (2012 - 2024 - Pew Research Center)

  • Platform Popularity (U.S. Adults):

    • YouTube and Facebook consistently show high usage, with YouTube generally leading or matching Facebook over the years.

    • Instagram has seen steady growth and remains highly popular.

    • TikTok has rapidly increased in popularity since data became available (pre-2021).

    • Other platforms like Pinterest, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter), and Reddit show varying levels of usage. BeReal is a newer platform with lower overall usage.

  • Shift in Survey Mode: A change in survey methodology occurred, moving from phone-only (up to 2021) to web/mail (2023), and then web/mail/phone (2024), which may influence trend data interpretation.

Social Media Usage, By Age (Pew Research Center, Feb. 1 - June 10, 2024)

  • Age Groups and Platform Preferences:

    • Ages 18-29: Highest usage of Instagram (76 \%$), Snapchat (65 \%$), TikTok (59 \%$), and Reddit (46 \%$). YouTube (93 \%$) and Facebook (68 \%$) are also very popular.

    • Ages 30-49: High usage of YouTube (94 \%$) and Facebook (78 \%$). Instagram (66 \%$) and WhatsApp (40 \%$) are also significant.

    • Ages 50-64: YouTube (86 \%$) and Facebook (70 \%$) remain dominant. Instagram (36 \%$) sees a notable drop compared to younger groups.

    • Ages 65+: Primarily use YouTube (65 \%$) and Facebook (59 \%$), with usage significantly declining for other platforms.

Social Media Usage, Teens (13-17) (Pew Research Center, Sept. 18 - Oct. 10, 2024)

  • Top Platforms for Teens:

    • YouTube: 95 \%

    • TikTok: 90 \%

    • Instagram: 63 \%

    • Snapchat: 61 \%

  • Other Platforms: Facebook (32 \%$), WhatsApp (23 \%$), X (Twitter) (17 \%$), Reddit (14 \%$), Threads (6 \%$). These are less popular among teens compared to the top four.

Impact on Youth Culture

  • Changes in Youth Culture since before Social Media (25-30 years ago): The rise of social media has likely introduced new norms, values, beliefs, and elements of nonmaterial culture. Examples could include: norms around online self-presentation, value placed on digital popularity/influencing, beliefs about constant connectivity, new forms of language (e.g., emojis, internet slang), and rituals around online sharing. This has fundamentally altered how youth interact, form identities, and consume information compared to previous generations.