Social Media and Leadership: Minnesota, USA

Problem statement 

Social media is taking the world by storm, positions of leadership are no exception. On its tenth birthday, Facebook, the most popular social media platform worldwide, had more than a billion users according to Sedghi (2014). Besides Facebook, there are other platforms which command a huge following, they include Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Communication and leadership go hand in hand and as a result, social media finds itself a niche. Social media is simple to use compared to other traditional modes of communication like memos, letters, and physical meetings which took ages to reach their audience. To what extent has the same type of communication innovations impacted the Minnesota society?

Leadership is about influence. According to Boulianne (2015), social media has the ability to mobilize people and information and enlarge social networks. Jucan et al. (2013), is cognizant of the fact that social media gives leaders the opportunity to offer strategic and tactical leadership. It essentially means that social media has effects to leadership that were unprecedented. Weeks et al. (2015), believes that social media can be used by people who want to gain political leadership through imposing their opinions on others. It is therefore evident that social media offers leaders chances of exerting personal influence on their subjects. The effects of the same remain vague in Minnesota especially from the political and corporate leadership perspectives. 

The Gap. 

Limited research has been conducted regarding the most effective social media platforms that people in positions of leadership can use to exert more influence on their subjects. Further, the effects of using social media by leaders in the State of Minnesota are largely unidentified. It therefore falls within the precincts of this study to address shortages in the said areas. 

Annotated bibliography. 

Boulianne, S. (2015). Social media use and participation: A meta-analysis of current research. Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 524-538.

The article aims at evaluating the effect of social media in relation to political activities in USA and beyond, most notably, Obama presidential campaigns the Arab spring respectively. The study is an analysis of 36 studies relating to social media, civic and political leadership. The study revealed that there is a positive relationship between social media utilization and participation in the civil and political dimensions. The study raised questions regarding whether the effects of social media use were causal and transformative but it gave directions on where answers to the same can be found. 

The text focuses much on political leadership and gives lip service to corporate leadership at the same time. The study gives those with political ambitions a reality check concerning what and what nots that can be of particular use to them especially in the campaign season. The study is indispensable due to its bare knuckle approach on the truths that surround political leadership and the use of social media. The study will offer a sound and reasonable benchmark and reference when evaluating the potential effects of social media to the political and administrative activities. The study will guide and generate research activities which at all levels should be enjoyable and engaging at the same time. 

Jucan, M., Jucan, C., & Rotariu, I. (2013, January). “The Social Destination”: How Social Media Influences the Organizational Structure and Leadership of DMOs. In Proceedings of World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (No. 78, p. 1410). World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (WASET).

This study is a classical depiction of how social media has been used successfully in the corporate world. The study is addressing the shortcomings of the study by Boulianne (2015). The study revealed that the majority of the changes we see in businesses today has arisen as a result of social media. It is further agreed that business leaders have the choice of using social media to elicit interest in their brands as well as incorporating the same to their basic business operations. Social media tools that offer the biggest leverage to business leaders has been identified and analyzed. 

The study is relevant since it opens a frontier through which further studies can be based on. It establishes a specific effect on a particular business activity (tourism) and the same approach can be used to evaluate the effect and applicability of social media to the businesses of Minnesota. 

Weeks, B. E., Ardèvol-Abreu, A., & de Zúñiga, H. G. (2015). Online Influence? Social Media Use, Opinion Leadership, and Political Persuasion. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, edv050.

Opinion leaders are the main study centers in this study. It is hypothesized in the study that highly active users (prosumers) are opinion leaders and will change the attitudes and behaviors of others. The study uses experimental research and it was found out that personal influence is within reach using social media. The study has a particular liking for political influence. The study revealed that social media attracts people who are looking for products (commercial) and news. From there, social interactions have important consequences both politically and commercially. 

The study is important as it establishes a particular method of establishing consequences (effects) of social media use. Week et al. (2015) has supplemented her research using scholarly research all of which are well researched, timely and descriptive. 

PART 2

Purpose statement

The purpose of conducting this qualitative study will be to explore the effects of social media and communication technologies on leadership in Minnesota, USA.

Justification of the study’s suitability for a qualitative approach

The phenomenon under investigation involves human social behavior on how social media and communication affects the leadership executed by the leaders. As Roshan & Deeptee (2009) suggest qualitative research is the most appropriate in explore the human behavior which is not easily quantifiable as is the case here. In this particular study, qualitative study will involve the collection, analysis and interpretation of data on how leaders are influenced by social media and communication technology. 

This study fits in the research arena of social science as it relates to investigating the behavior of leaders under the influence of social media and communication technology. For this reason, the most appropriate research approach will be the qualitative study. The study is based on the epistemology of idealism. Epistemology here relates to the theory of knowledge while idealism relates to the social context of the study. The nature of the study will be exploratory where it will make inquiry on the assessing how well the social media is being used by the leaders, it will also generate some explanations of the phenomenon, and determine the feasibility for a more detailed study (Esch & Esch, 2013). The quantitative research is highly dependent of the analytic and integrative skills of the researcher as well as personal knowledge on the social context of where data is collected.

The data for this study will be collected from across the political and corporate leadership in Minnesota, USA. Data will be sought to find out how well the leaders have absorbed the social media and how they are applying the communication technologies in effecting their duties. 

Research questions

1. Which social media platform and communication technologies have the leaders widely adopted?
2. How has the influx in social media and communication technologies helped in shaping the leadership in Minnesota State?

Annotated Bibliography

1. Turcotte, J., York, C., Irving, J., Scholl, R., & Pingree, R. (2015). New Recommendations From Social Media Opinion Leaders: Effects on Media Trust and Information Seeking. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 520-535.

The paper carried out a research to determine the trust levels between the traditional news platforms vis-à-vis the new avenues associated with social media. The study was carried out using Facebook API to determine the trust levels for the media outlets. The data for the research was collected experimental design. The study found out social media had more trust levels where there was a recommendation by quality opinion leaders. Social media platforms also provide a better platform for interaction between the leaders and the people they represent. This enhanced level interaction facilitates democracy. 

The research paper will be helpful in conducting this study as it will provide information on the why the social media platforms have gained popularity among leaders. Through its analysis, the research gap emerges in that it only tells of the increased trust levels but does not indicate how the quality of leadership is influenced by the social media and communication technologies. 

2. Douai, A., Auter, P., Wedlock, B., & Rudyk, B. (2014). The Influence of Social Media in the Early 21st Century. Global Media Journal , 90-111.

This meta-analysis paper seeks to analyze the modern social media on the users’ information behaviors and other aspects of the social media consumption between 2001 and 2011. It entails academic scrutiny on the proliferation of social media in the social and political life. The article identifies the various platforms offering social media interconnection such as micro-blogging, social networking site, picture sharing, video as well as games.

The study is a credible and resourceful one in the completion of this study. Being a meta-analysis study it is comprised of reviews of articles on social media and it influence for over a decade between 2001- 2011. This cross-sectional data presented here will facilitate creating a picture of the trends in social media including its spread and adoption.

3. Schafer, M., & Taddicken, M. (2015). Opinion Leadership Revisited: A Classical Concept in a Changing Media Environment. International Journal of Communication, 956-959.

The study identifies the challenges that opinion leadership has been facing due to the interaction old and new media. It analyses the related research articles on opinion leadership and showing the pattern in development and how social media has changed the face of the opinion leadership. Through the analysis, the article suggests that the mass media influence is not directly felt by individuals but rather it is the influence of the opinion leaders whose interpretation becomes influential. The article identifies that with the fast-spreading communication internet access, there is increasing pervasive in social relations which poses challenge to opinion leadership requiring them to make appropriate adjustments. The article is relevant for this research in that it expounds on why the opinion leadership is undergoing transformation. It also helps in identifying the research gap which it does not address on the need to investigate the exact adjustments in the opinion leadership due to influence of social media.

References.

Boulianne, S. (2015). Social media use and participation: A meta-analysis of current research. Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 524-538.

Douai, A., Auter, P., Wedlock, B., & Rudyk, B. (2014). The Influence of Social Media in the Early 21st Century. Global Media Journal , 90-111.

Esch, p., & Esch, L. (2013). Justification of a Qualitative Methodology to Investigate the Emerging Concept. Journal of Business Theory and Practice.

Jucan, M., Jucan, C., & Rotariu, I. (2013, January). “The Social Destination”: How Social Media Influences the Organizational Structure and Leadership of DMOs. In Proceedings of World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (No. 78, p. 1410). World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (WASET).

Roshan, B., & Deeptee, P. (2009). Justifications for Qualitative Research in Organisations. The Journal of Online Education.

Turcotte, J., York, C., Irving, J., Scholl, R., & Pingree, R. (2015). New Recommendations From Social Media Opinion Leaders: Effects on Media Trust and Information Seeking. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 520-535.

Schafer, M., & Taddicken, M. (2015). Opinion Leadership Revisited: A Classical Concept in a Changing Media Environment. International Journal of Communication, 956-959.

Weeks, B. E., Ardèvol-Abreu, A., & de Zúñiga, H. G. (2015). Online Influence? Social Media Use, Opinion Leadership, and Political Persuasion. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, edv050.