3.2 Hypotheses
Individualism index explores the “degree to which people in a society are integrated into groups.” Individualistic societies have loose ties that often only relate an individual to immediate family. They emphasize the “I” versus the “we.” Collectivism describes a society in which tightly-integrated relationships tie extended families and others into in-groups. These in-groups are laced with undoubted loyalty and support each other when a conflict arises with another in-group (Hofstede, 2011). The implication of this is that when users have strong individualistic attitude (i.e. high individualism index), they would not care so much about people within their immediate social circle. Therefore, we posit that they would barely feel …show more content…
Indulgence is defined as “a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun.” Its counterpart is defined as “a society that controls gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms.” Indulgent societies believe themselves to be in control of their own life and emotions; restrained societies believe other factors dictate their life and emotions (Hofstede, 2015). We consider the use of social media platforms as a means of spending leisure time and for the purpose of enjoyment. Hence, social media platforms are indulgence activities. When the indulgence index is high, the culture or society seeks for enjoyment and leisure activities. Hence, we expect that the usage pattern will be high in these …show more content…
Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world with active users from all around the world. (Facebook, 2016). It is suitable for our study due to its global adoption, making the data useful for studying cultures across continents. Users of Facebook input their personal information on their status or profile. Some examples are their name, gender, date of birth, e-mail address, sexual orientation, marital status, interests, hobbies, favorite sports team, favorite athlete, or favorite music. Also, it is possible to specify your Facebook friends, post messages, publish pictures or other content. However, extracting this information is not easy, because;
1) Facebook users can make certain information not publicly available and therefore not visible to non-friends.
2) Facebook users are not obliged to fill in fields and therefore, many users do not specify all possible information about themselves.
3) The information provided from users is not always true.
4) There could be ethical issues when we collect personal
Individualism index explores the “degree to which people in a society are integrated into groups.” Individualistic societies have loose ties that often only relate an individual to immediate family. They emphasize the “I” versus the “we.” Collectivism describes a society in which tightly-integrated relationships tie extended families and others into in-groups. These in-groups are laced with undoubted loyalty and support each other when a conflict arises with another in-group (Hofstede, 2011). The implication of this is that when users have strong individualistic attitude (i.e. high individualism index), they would not care so much about people within their immediate social circle. Therefore, we posit that they would barely feel …show more content…
Indulgence is defined as “a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun.” Its counterpart is defined as “a society that controls gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms.” Indulgent societies believe themselves to be in control of their own life and emotions; restrained societies believe other factors dictate their life and emotions (Hofstede, 2015). We consider the use of social media platforms as a means of spending leisure time and for the purpose of enjoyment. Hence, social media platforms are indulgence activities. When the indulgence index is high, the culture or society seeks for enjoyment and leisure activities. Hence, we expect that the usage pattern will be high in these …show more content…
Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world with active users from all around the world. (Facebook, 2016). It is suitable for our study due to its global adoption, making the data useful for studying cultures across continents. Users of Facebook input their personal information on their status or profile. Some examples are their name, gender, date of birth, e-mail address, sexual orientation, marital status, interests, hobbies, favorite sports team, favorite athlete, or favorite music. Also, it is possible to specify your Facebook friends, post messages, publish pictures or other content. However, extracting this information is not easy, because;
1) Facebook users can make certain information not publicly available and therefore not visible to non-friends.
2) Facebook users are not obliged to fill in fields and therefore, many users do not specify all possible information about themselves.
3) The information provided from users is not always true.
4) There could be ethical issues when we collect personal