Social Need and Technological Innovation, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The study of social needs has developed significantly in the past few decades. The two main theories related to humans’ social needs are Mayo’s and Marslow’s. These theories will be reviewed prior to examining one specific needs that technological innovation can serve and address. The aim of the current paper is to determine one significant and current need of today’s society that is served better today than before, due to technological innovations.

Mayo (1977) found that workers’ motivation was increased by ways of interaction more than financial rewards or changes in working conditions. His theory suggests that communication and interaction with other humans is one of the most important social needs of people.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943) suggests that social needs are in the middle of the pyramid, coming right after the need for physical well-being and safety. The theory also suggests that humans’ needs to socialize, interact with each other is important for their well-being. For the image of the pyramid, see Appendix A.

The below paper, therefore, will focus on how the technological innovations of communication technology (social media) has addressed humans’ needs to belong to groups, interact with each other and share ideas, experiences.

The Social Need

The social need to interact with other humans can be explained from biological and cognitive aspects. Social cognition within interaction was examined by Hari & Kuara (2009). The authors examine the action-perception loops during the interaction of two humans. Appendix B shows the graphical representation of the process. From the literature review, it is evident that social interaction is a human need that help people get on in today’s society. As the author states: “people need to have their own experiences about observed actions before they can understand the actions” (p. 464). From the above conclusion, it is also evident that socialization helps understanding and processing the world around and making sense of actions. The above statement is confirmed by another conclusion of the authors: “humans are able to share their understanding of the world and maintain common representations, such as art and narratives” (p. 470). Social media (in particular, Facebook) provides just that through an interface that is a result of technological innovation.

Frith & Frith (2001) state that human brain has a complicated social cognition function that help people represent their own ant others’ mental states. This indicates that human interaction is an essential building block of socialization. Social abilities are becoming more and more important in today’s world; due to globalization, increased level of one-way communication as a result of technological developments in the 20^th century. An answer to the human demand to share ideas, reflect on the increased amount of information delivered by media was developed in the end of the century; social media. The authors describe the brain process of “mentalizing”, stating that it is needed for “development of capabilities relating to the representation of actions, the goals implicit in actions, and the intentions behind them”. Representing a relationship between agents and their actions is supported by human interaction.

The sense of “connectedness” is examined by Mims, Llanes & Carlos (2013). The authors emphasize social media’s impact of one’s relationship to their personality. The research states that the use of social networks, such as Facebook have a negative impact on interpersonal competencies, therefore, the skills learned can reduce one’s interpersonal competencies at the workplace. While this argument might be valid, it is important to note that the focus of the current study is whether or not the human need of “social interaction and connectedness” is appropriately served by social media, such as Facebook. Mims et al. (2013, p. 14) state that “grant us the ability to connect with people globally, and the potential for communication is endless”. One of the hypotheses that the authors were trying to confirm was that “High Facebook use among females will be positively related to greater interpersonal skills”. (p. 17). The study did not find significant correlation between Facebook use and interpersonal orientation.

The Innovative Technological Solution

Wong (2012) states that Facebook (launched in 2004) has 845 million active users each month and soon became the “locus of social interaction” (p. 184). The author focused on how Facebook provides users with self-representation and social support; a part of humans’ social needs. The main statement of the author is that “information can be spread and passed by people rapidly, and individuals can then get help via Facebook” (p. 184). This means that people’s social needs to be connected and receive support from other human beings is served by Facebook. Self-representation is one of the methods of becoming connected and a part of the community, while creating one’s desired image is a cognitive function that is based on people’s social needs: finding a way to express themselves and identifying their place in the society. Humans’ stress and uncertainty can also be reduced through support provided by Facebook on motivational, social, and informational levels, and responds to the individual’s social need to feel valued and cared for.

Commentary

The above review of related literature has confirmed that the technological innovations of the 21^st century; internet connection and social media are able to successfully address humans’ social needs to feel accepted, connected, informed and valued. Further, Wong’s study (2014) highlighted other critical functions of social media; in particular Facebook. Social support in case of illnesses or personal problems can be provided instantly through Facebook; information about health issues, debates and initiatives concerning the individual can be shared and people can make connections based on their interest. The technological innovation of social media has increased people’s awareness of social issues, helped them express their personality and find their place in the world. In the time of globalization, when distance between cultures, people living on the same street, work colleagues has increased, Facebook has helped bringing individuals together into a community. Interaction with others is an important social need, and it is served appropriately by social media.

While there was no indication that the use of Facebook and other social media sites enhanced the quality of face-to-face interpersonal communication, it has certainly improved people’s sense of connectedness. While some authors argue that these connections and relationships built over the internet are not real and only exist in a virtual world, the validity of claims that emotional, information and social support is enhanced through social media cannot be questioned. As one of the examples quoted by Wong (2012) shows, social media can re-unite families after 37 years, help finding kidney donors, apart from providing emotional support from the community in difficult situations. Without the innovation of communication technology that allowed social media and Facebook to develop, human interactions would be completely different. Wile the cognitive and biological aspects of studying human interactions is important, the role of social media in satisfying people’s need of connectedness and belonging should not be ignored, either.

References

Hari, R. & Kujala, M. (2009) Brain basis of human social interaction: from concepts to brain imaging. Physiology Review, 89: 453–479, 2009;

Frith, U. & Frith, C. (2001) The biological basis of social interaction. Current Directions In Psychological Science.  Volume 10, Number 5, October 2001

Maslow, A. H. (1943) A preface to motivation theory. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1943, 5, 85-92

Mayo, R. J. (1977) The development and construct validation of a measure of intrinsic motivation. Dissertation Abstracts International. 37. 5417B

Mims, A., Llanes, L. & Carlos, T. (2013) An investigation into Facebook and its relationship with interpersonal skills. The 2013 WEI International Academic Conference Proceedings Orlando, USA

Wong. W. (2012) Faces On Facebook:  A study of self-presentation and social support on Facebook. Discovery–SS Student E-Journal Vol. 1, 2012, 184-214