Social Media for Social Behavior Change

What if we could make a simple change right now that could improve our self and our surrounding better? We would probably make that as soon as we know how to do it, right? But we need to realize that our environments have a powerful influence on us that often we did not notice.

That is the main problem because we could end up doing things that we’ve never intended without knowing its reason. So, we can say, changing behavior is notoriously difficult. Maybe, we wouldn’t just be breaking our habit, but also the community tradition or our social norm.

Sociologist defines social change as changes in human synergies and relationship that transform cultural and social institutions. And changes require time and often have profound and longterm consequences for society. The change could begin with how and when we communicate with others. As Ashforth & Mael said, social identity theory demonstrates how humans perceive themselves through their interactions with others, the status of their network, and support from institutions. So, I think, all of the challenges facing our society today is absolutely dependent on understanding others’ behavior as human being, and solving the problems changing human behavior.

The first step we could do, listen and understand others’ points of view on most issues. Acknowledge those points that define our values is unnecessary, yet find ways to work together towards positive change that reflects our shared values. It is the art of ethical compromise that has the potential to create a longer-lasting transformation. The conversation topics often were, but listening and understanding from others were not. We must nurture public dialogue and work with intentionality to bring together people with different viewpoints.

“All social change begins with a conversation.” – Margaret J. Wheatley

The example of social behavior change can be seen in the way we communicate and interact nowadays. Social media has successfully changed the way we interact and communicate with each other. Erik Qualman once said, the power of social media is it forces necessary changes. Social media has provided a scope where we can find community outside the boundaries of where we live, so we can interact with thousands of people all over the world. And social media allow us to share and acquire opinions with a far wider participant. Therefore, we can use social media to make another social change by creating a valuable public dialogue. But before we use social media to make a social change, we should change our perspective about social media itself. We need to understand the way to use social media wisely and make the most of it. For example, the way we converse and our writing techniques could affect our communication with each other. The example of social behavior change can be seen in the way we communicate and interact nowadays. Social media has successfully changed the way we interact and communicate with each other. Social media has provided a scope where we can find community outside the boundaries of where we live, so we can interact with thousands of  people all over the world. And social media allow us to share and acquire opinions with a far wider participant. Therefore, we can use social media to make another social change by creating a valuable public dialogue. But before we use social media to make a social change, we should change our perspective about social media itself. We need to understand the way to use social media wisely and make the most of it. For example, the way we talk and our writing techniques could affect our communication with each other. Conveying messages in simple way, and easy to understand without losing its value, is one of the communicating techniques through social media.

“Social change can be seen as a mosaic, taking that which is broken and creating something new.”

– Terry Tempest Williams

References

Cross, J. (n.d.). Three Myths of Behavior Change – What You Think You Know That You Don’t. TEDxCSU.

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5d8GW6GdR0&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

Mahoney, L. M., & Tang, T. (n.d.). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change (1st ed.). Wiley

Blackwell.