Social Media and Orientation to Time 1

Social Media and Orientation to Time

M. Fiello, M. Ameel, & R. Christman
Carroll University

Social Media and Orientation to Time 2

Introduction
Back in 1969, the first known Internet service provider was available for use in the
United States. In 1997, the world was opened up to the start of social media with the beginning
of blogging and the ability to chat with others on AOL (Curtis, 2013). Then, in the early 2000s, a
breakthrough of many social media sites came out, allowing people to link up with past friends
and get to know more people from anywhere in the United States. The sites that started this trend
were Friendster, Myspace, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Flickr. Social media gave people a way to
display their entire lives on the Internet for others to see. Social media is transforming our lives
as we speak; never before have people become so connected. This has affected the ways people
and companies communicate with others in regards to business-to-business and business-toconsumer relationships. The different social media platforms can strengthen different generations
whether its the millennials, Generation Xers, and even baby-boomers. Ask yourself this, Are
your parents and grandparents on social media? Most would answer yes.
Social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Vine,
FourSquare, Swarm, the list goes on, allows users to share and exchange information, ideas, and
pictures/videos in a virtual community. Research suggests social media is different from
traditional and industrial media in regards to quality of communication. With that being said, the
Internet provides these websites to allow people to interact as they wish to share items and ideas
with others. People are able to share personable content and engage in conversations with other
members on said site.
There are many forms of social media people can choose to belong to, anywhere from
blogs to business sites like LinkedIn, which is a professional network unlike any other form of
social media platform. Going off that note, social media has evolved for different audiences and

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targeted groups of people. For facebook the targeted range originally was just for college
students to become connected, but has now shifted to a global social media platform where
people of all ages, races, genders, etc. can come together as share their own stories. Twitter is a
fast growing social media platform that focuses on more direct content. Because of the 140
character limited in a single tweet, users who enjoy using this platform are usually young
professionals who share links to their followers with relevant information in regards to their
profession, or even something funny and engaging. Instagram is another fast growing social
platform thats main target audience is 13-17 year olds who enjoy photos rather than statuses
about each others lives. Finally, as previously mentioned, LinkedIn is a professional network for
those starting their careers and/or in their careers looking to expand their network. As we can see,
these different social platforms serve a niche group of people.
These sites give people a way to share their thoughts, pictures, career successes, and so
on and so forth. The American culture today is largely affected by social media. According to
surveys, a majority of people use social networking sites daily (Molyneaux, O'Donnell,
Kakekaspan, Walmark, Budka, & Gihson, 2014). Most people nowadays have phones that can
also access social media, which makes it even easier for someone to access it in everyday
situations. According to Pew Research: Social Networking Fact Sheet in 2014,
The growing ubiquity of cell phones, especially the rise of smartphones, has made social
networking just a finger tap away.

Fully 40% of cell phone owners use a social

networking site on their phone, and 28% do so on a typical day. Young people, blacks,
Hispanics, the highly educated and those with a higher annual household income are
more likely to use SNS on their phones than other groups.

Social Media and Orientation to Time 4

Looking specifically at the textbook, it has been observed that Americans tend to identify
as being long-term oriented. Merkin (2004) defines long-term orientation as a disposition people
have towards time by which they focus more on the future and long-term goals than the present
and past. There are many social media networks that let people document their lives, which
makes it easier to look into their past. Looking at the most commonly used social media
platform, Facebook, what used to be called your profile, which is where you share photos, have
friends post to your page, and more is now called your Facebook Wall. People show long-term
orientation by scrolling down their Wall to view past posts by friends, family and other users.
To this day, Facebook has relaunched the user interface of the Wall and has transformed it to
ones Timeline. The Timeline is the new Facebook profile that tells your life story through
photos, friendships, and personal milestones, like graduating from college or traveling the world.
On the other hand though, many are using social media to promote themselves, and get them
further in their future career. For instance, the site LinkedIn is mostly used for professional
networking and has helped many people find careers and internships and form a wider
professional network which is relatively short-term. Most of these connections formed on
LinkedIn are to start that conversation and get your online resume out there for fast results,
specifically for getting interviews.

Research Question
Does social media have a positive effect on the American long-term orientation lifestyle?
This study will explore the relationship between social media activity and a long-term orientation
lifestyle. This topic is newer to this generation so many studies and findings have not yet been

Social Media and Orientation to Time 5

published therefore the findings needed to be sought out. Studies have proven that Americans
live a long-term orientation lifestyle, but none have gone on to show the relationship between
this lifestyle and their use of social media.
The American culture is seemingly a fast-paced and very individualistic. Americans
often put themselves first and tend to focus on their own goals rather than those of their family
and friends. Although friends, families, and relationship can play a huge role in the lives of each
individual, these connections are not necessary as prevalent as they are in other cultures. This
culture is taught to look out for themselves and do what best benefits themselves instead of being
a linked unit with the family. Even in the world of social media, where everything from personal
information, pictures, and posts can be seen by others, Americans often pay most of their
attention on updating their own profiles in place of exploring what their friends have posted.
In this study, the focus is if there is evidence of a long-term orientation lifestyle found in
social media of Americans or not. Social media is often updated daily and gives a wonderful
insight into the lives of its users. With this resource, it is a good idea to observe social media
activity to research communication. Since there are millions upon millions of social media users
throughout the world, multiple cultures preferences towards orientation of time will most likely
be clear to see by browsing through multiple profiles. Therefore, this study works to find the
American preference of orientation of time through research of social media sites as well as
interviewing social media users.
Findings
Through interviews, personal experience, and research the findings allowed extensive
analysis of social media. Americans activities on social media provide clear evidence of their
tendency to live a long-term oriented lifestyle. Signs of this can even be seen at a young age as

Social Media and Orientation to Time 6

children are taught to be cautious of their online activities because future employers will be able
to view their pictures and posts. With the arrival of these social media sites, many new
opportunities are now possible as well, which many users take full advantage of.
While interviewing other students at Carroll University, we discovered that most students
use social media for future goals, such as getting a job or meeting people who can help further
their careers. In an interview with Carroll freshman, Michaela Holmes, she admitted, The only
reason I got a LinkedIn was to network and try to find internships and jobs. The interviewing
process revealed that LinkedIn is largely used to work towards creating a better future for
oneself.
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are a few more social media sites that also have
opportunities to help one reach their career goals. Businesses often use them to expand upon
their market.

These platforms can be used to promote ones business, reach out to new

customers, and network with other businesses. As a result of this, advertising now has a huge
role in social media. It is even possible now for popular users to be paid to advertise on their
accounts to their followers. Anything done online will lead to some type of advertisement from
someone, and the only way to get rid of them is to pay each site.
Conclusion
Since the start of the Internet in 1969, the goal people thought about was how to use this
Internet to make life easier. The overall consensus ended up being to use it in schools and
businesses, which might have been unknowingly, but was pushing Americans towards a more
long-term oriented lifestyle. In today's culture, it would be hard to even get away from the
Internet because it is everywhere you go. The findings all show that the American lifestyle is
long-term oriented, but saying that it is a positive affect would be up to the reader. A positive

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relationship could be defined in different ways. One is that as the American use of social media
goes up, so does the amount of long-term orientation lifestyle. The other definition could be
saying that positive is meant as good, saying that a long-term lifestyle is beneficial to Americans.
This is not necessarily the case though because it prevents people from living in the now.
With over 70% of Americans using social media, many people in this culture are using it
to expand on their personal brand. This particular use of these sites have clearly proven that
Americans often live a long-term orientation lifestyle. With the arrival of this new technology,
Americans, as well as many citizens from other First World countries, can work towards helping
their future goals. Unfortunately, this often keeps Internet users from living in the moment and
enjoying their life to the fullest. They are taught at a young age to continuously be thinking of
the future and to make decisions that best benefit their later life. The question then becomes,
when is it time to finally bask in all the decisions that have been made and enjoy what your life
had become.

Social Media and Orientation to Time 8

References
1) Curtis, Anthony. (2013). A Brief History of Social Media. Mass Communications
Dept. University of North Carolina.
http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/NewMedia/SocialMedia/SocialMediaHistory.html

2) Martin, Judith N., Thomas K. Nakayama (2014). Experiencing Intercultural

Communication: An Introduction. (5th ed.). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc.

3) Molyneaux, H., O'Donnell, S., Kakekaspan, C., Walmark, B., Budka, P., &
Gihson, K. (2014). Social Media in Remote First Nation Communities. Canadian
Journal Of Communication, 39(2), 275-288.

4) Merkin, R. S. (2004). Cultural Long-Term Orientation and Facework Strategies.

Atlantic Journal Of Communication, 12(3), 163-176.

5) Obar, J. A. (2014). Canadian Advocacy 2.0: An Analysis of Social Media

Adoption and Perceived Affordances by Advocacy Groups Looking to Advance Activism
in Canada. Canadian Journal Of Communication, 39(2), 211-233.

6) PewResearch Internet Project (2014, January). Social Networking Fact Sheet.

Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/