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\textcolor{GJMediumGrey}{\rule{\textwidth}{2pt}} \vskip16pt \textcolor{GJBlue}{\large\bfseries\abstractname\space} }{% \vskip8pt \textcolor{GJMediumGrey}{\rule{\textwidth}{2pt}} \vskip16pt } \usepackage[absolute,overlay]{textpos} \makeatother \usepackage{lineno} \linenumbers \begin{document} \author[1]{Prof. Philip J. Auter} \affil[1]{ University of Louisiana at Lafayette} \renewcommand\Authands{ and } \date{\small \em Received: 12 December 2013 Accepted: 2 January 2014 Published: 15 January 2014} \maketitle \begin{abstract} Several posts were made on the public walls of over 50 Facebook website that are targeted ad Arabs and Muslims in the West. Participants were asked to fill out an online survey questioning the amount of time they spent using Facebook on a daily basis, the gratifications they obtained from Facebook use, and how they feel about themselves and their culture. In this initial survey, a total of 43 usable responses were obtained --predominantly Saudis living in the USA.Results showed that using Facebook in general was typically done for "relaxation." However, when Facebook is used for culturally or religiously specific purposes, it was found to be associated with the importance of group membership (membership self esteem). Such use was found to be significantly gratifying to participants for a variety of personal and professional reasons. Some gratifications obtained from this type of Facebook use were linked to specific cultural self esteem characteristics.Although results of this study offer insight into utilization of Facebook by people who may want to maintain a "connection with home," it is important to point out that the sample is relatively small and homogeneous. Further research should expand on this study to see if these results are more wide spread. \end{abstract} \keywords{} \begin{textblock*}{18cm}(1cm,1cm) % {block width} (coords) \textcolor{GJBlue}{\LARGE Global Journals \LaTeX\ JournalKaleidoscope\texttrademark} \end{textblock*} \begin{textblock*}{18cm}(1.4cm,1.5cm) % {block width} (coords) \textcolor{GJBlue}{\footnotesize \\ Artificial Intelligence formulated this projection for compatibility purposes from the original article published at Global Journals. However, this technology is currently in beta. \emph{Therefore, kindly ignore odd layouts, missed formulae, text, tables, or figures.}} \end{textblock*} \let\tabcellsep& \section[{Introduction}]{Introduction}\par acebook is more of a phenomenon than just a social media. Since its inception in 2004, Facebook has grown to more than 800 million users worldwide (Olivarez-Giles, 2011). If it were a country, Facebook would be the third most populous country in the world (The Economist, 2010). People use the Internet in general and Facebook and other social media in particular, for a variety of reasons, from selfpromotion to group affiliation \hyperref[b21]{(Roy, 2008)}. Content analysis has shown that although people of different cultures use Facebook in similar fashions, there are distinct differences in their usage patterns and the types of messages they post \hyperref[b2]{(Auter \& Elmasry, 2012)}. Men and women in the Middle East do show differences in Facebook use than their peers in the United States {\ref (Auter \& Elmasry)}.\par The purposes of the current study is to see how members of the Arab and Muslim communities in the United States --both citizens and visitors --might use Facebook to help stay connected to their culture and religion. \section[{II.}]{II.}\par Review of the Literature a) Social Identity and Collective Self Esteem Social Identity: Research shows that people naturally attempt to fit into a niche within their social surroundings. George Herbert Mead's thesis work argues that society and the individual shape each other simultaneously \hyperref[b25]{(Stryker, 1994)}. Depending on the particular surroundings people may attempt to exist within multiple groups, identify only with one group and see other groups as their competition, or attempt to coexist and collaborate with other groups. The social groups with which an individual associates are often based on commonalities such as race, faith, or ideology \hyperref[b20]{(Hogg \& Ridgeway, 2003)}.\par Group dynamics often consist of an "us" verses "them" ideology. Norms, accepted social behavior, are established within specific group. Persons outside of the group who do not fit into what is considered normal for said group are labeled as outsiders {\ref (Hogg \& Timdale, 2005)}. Group membership is, at a fundamental level, fed by the need to be accepted. People become associated with groups in order to improve their self-esteem. It has been found that low self-esteem creates an environment in which discrimination becomes gratifying. This gratification through discrimination necessitates the formation of social groups \hyperref[b22]{(Rubin, 1998)}. In the event that the particular group becomes somehow disgraced or socially irrelevant group members may seek to leave the group or improve the general acceptability of the group within society \hyperref[b6]{(Brown, 2000)}. Many social media sources such as social networking sites like Facebook have contributed to these social distinctions.\par Facebook offers users an ideal environment to form social groups within. Users list their race, religious and political views, and many other personal and subjective facts about themselves \hyperref[b3]{(Barker, 2009)}. From this information the website then suggests users to other people whom they may know or be interested in connecting with. In essence, social networks create an online outlet for users to organize themselves into online groups that replicate their actual place in society {\ref (Watts, Dodds \& Newman, 2002)}.\par Collective Self Esteem and Social Media: Selfesteem is a concept in psychology, which can be defined as "a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of her or his own worth" (Wikipedia.org). This is obviously shaped with the help of different factors constituting one's view of the self. Research displays that there's a direct relation between feelings of self-worth and the feelings of being part of and belonging to a group \hyperref[b16]{(Hunter, 2001)}. Collective self-esteem is referred to as the individual's self-concept and social identity deriving from the sense of belonging to a group \hyperref[b12]{(Gangadharbatla, 2008)}. It therefore goes without saying that the group detains a key role in shaping and molding individuals' personality and sense of person.\par Accordingly, collective self-esteem and group belonging have been assessed to be the primary motives for social network site (SNS) use \hyperref[b3]{(Barker, 2009}). An analysis of data has been made of Facebook users to further analyze the link between social well-being and activity online. Data confirmed that the intensity of Facebook use could strongly predict the measures of self-esteem and satisfaction with life in general (Steinfield, \hyperref[b10]{Ellison \& Lampe, 2007)}.\par It is clear that self-esteem, group belonging and social well-being in general are all strongly related to the use of social media sites such as Facebook. The connection to friends, family, or groups of people with which one relates and is part of generates a sense of cyber social entourage, which results in higher selfesteem. This complex relation creates a deep connection to sites like Facebook. In a way, the webpages represent each one's own personal social bubble where they are active popular members of social network sites. \section[{b) Uses and Gratifications of Social Media}]{b) Uses and Gratifications of Social Media}\par Facebook is the most popular social network currently in operation. Studies have become increasingly interested in people's motives for using Facebook. Many people report that they keep Facebook running throughout the day, though they do not actively read updated the entire time they are logged in. People who report themselves as daily users seem to gain some sense of gratification from checking the Facebook newsfeed as they report feeling the need to check it several times a day \hyperref[b23]{(Sejrup, 2009)}.\par One of the advantages of Facebook is its message feature. A message can go out to as many people as one wishes and one can be fairly certain that all recipients will relieve and read the message within a day. Status updates are also being used as a means of distributing information to hundreds, in some cases thousands, of people in seconds \hyperref[b23]{(Sejrup, 2009)}. Though some people use these mass communication tools to promote upcoming club meetings and other events, a vast majority of users essentially use Facebook to access the latest gossip about their friends {\ref (Bumagarner, 2007)}.\par People use Facebook for a variety of reasons. Men are more likely than women to use the platform for dating purposes. Women are the primary culprits of using Facebook to learn the latest gossip (Racke, 2010). Usage patterns also vary depending on motives. Many users are tool-specific users; they only use Facebook for specific tools and may rarely, if ever, use other features of the site (Steinfield, Ellison, Lampe, \& Wohn, 2011). For instance, some members use Facebook to acquire and spread information. These users were more likely to join politically oriented Facebook groups than to use the site for recreational purposes \hyperref[b19]{(Park, Kee, \& Valenzuela, 2009)}.\par Social media offers a variety of gratifications that cause users to become engaged in a particular media outlet. While many people use social media to catch up with friends? There are people who utilize this new information medium for business and political reasons \hyperref[b19]{(Park, Kee, \& Valenzuela, 2009)}. \section[{c) Arab and Muslim Social Media Use}]{c) Arab and Muslim Social Media Use}\par Facebook and Twitter have become extremely popular in Muslim countries. In Turkey especially Facebook is used by roughly 94\% of university students (Akyuldiz \& Argan, 2010). The United Arab Emirates is also one of the world's most Facebook-using countries. Social networking provides users with a variety of benefits. The ability to see what others are saying about popular topics and share one's own opinion was one of the top reasons for using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter given by a group of United Arab Emirates residents in a recent survey(Al Jenaibi \& Bedreya, 2011). Recently social media has been used in far more significant ways that to simply share unimportant and random thoughts.\par Among a surveyed group of Turkish students reasons for using Facebook include meeting new people and getting help with homework in addition to following and keeping in touch with friends (Akyuldiz \& Argan, 2010). On top of keeping up with friends and school, students, particularly Muslim students, are beginning to utilize Facebook for religious and political reasons. Studies show that many Muslim youth are members of Facebook groups that are affiliated with Islam in some way, be it Muslim charities such as Islamic relief or joining the Facebook group for their local Muslim Student Association or mosque. Many students said that they felt that Facebook was beneficial for organization purposes within Islamic circles and also provided a way to reach out to their non-Muslim peers (Shahnaz \& Wok, 2011). One group of Muslim youth in Sudan started a Facebook group called Youth for Change that aimed to peacefully protest the oppressive Sudanese government. A message from the group went out to thousands of Sudanese youth with the message, "The people of Sudan will not remain silent anymore" (Gettleman, Kushkush, 2012). Similar stories have occurred throughout the Arab world. Social media has certainly played a crucial role in the recent revolution in Egypt, Tunisia, and other Arab countries. The availability of information via social media is making social change a tangible reality throughout much of the Middle East. With the ability to distribute information en mass onceoppressed and information-starved people are being given easy access to a veritable plethora of information that their oppressive rulers cannot deny or stop from circulation \hyperref[b13]{(Ghannam, 2011)}. \section[{d) "Homesickness" or "Disconnectedness"}]{d) "Homesickness" or "Disconnectedness"}\par When examining any population living abroad, the concept of homesickness and disconnectedness is a key factor that must be taken into consideration. Just through studies done over the growing numbers of international students all around the globe, the phenomenon is clear: when abroad, the feelings of disconnectedness and melancholy are omnipresent \hyperref[b4]{(Betts, 2008)}. This distress and unhealthy psychological state becomes part of the emigrant's everyday life. Feelings of not belonging, missing one's family and friends, and most importantly being surrounded by an alien environment to which one must adjust to are all critical aspects creating the dynamics of the life of the émigré (Brouwers, Eurlings-Bontekoe \& Verschuur, 2000). Geographical relocation, change and transition are all considered to be the common denominator for the feelings of anxiety, depression, homesickness and disconnectedness \hyperref[b11]{(Fisher, 2010)}.\par Arab Muslims living in the U.S. face all these challenges on a daily basis. The Arab and Muslim culture are family oriented and even more focused on the community as a whole. The western or American lifestyle comes with a culture shock resulting in a state of constant reminiscing. Nostalgia comes constantly into play and mixes with the daily stress of international lifestyle (trying to learn the language, bumping up against new cultural habits) resulting in overwhelming feelings of homesickness. {\ref (Yeh \& Inose, 2003)}.\par Research shows that social media in general and Facebook in particular, play a major role in the experience abroad. A unique combination of having friends from the country of origin and belonging to groups related to the immigrant's religion or cultural background give a certain sense of belonging (Hendrickson, Rosen \& Aune, 2010). It's almost like having a piece of home with you across the globe. By looking over the notifications tab one can take a cheap ticket back home and maybe even engage in discussions connecting to the motherland and numbing the feelings of being so far away. \section[{III. Research Questions and Hypotheses}]{III. Research Questions and Hypotheses}\par Based on the literature, the e following research questions and hypotheses were developed for this study.\par IV. \section[{Method}]{Method}\par There were several steps involved in the methodology of this study. First, a survey was developed to inquire about the various demographic and psychographic variables that were operationalized in the hypotheses and research questions. Second, a two stage process was initiated to obtain the necessary set of respondents to reply to the survey. Open Facebook pages that appeared to be targeted to the Arab and Muslim communities in the U.S. were identified. Once these pages were identified, the researchers posted requests to the pages requesting that members of those groups ("friends" of those pages) please respond to our survey. \section[{a) Survey}]{a) Survey}\par An electronic survey was created in a portion of Google Docs called Google Forms. Google Forms is a free online surveying tool. Results from a Google Forms survey are saved as a spreadsheet file in Google Docs {\ref (Google, 2012a;}\hyperref[b14]{2012c)}. Results were to be later exported from the spreadsheet and imported into the statistical program, SAS JMP \hyperref[b8]{(Carver, 2010)}. (See Appendix A for survey items.) \section[{b) Demographic Questions}]{b) Demographic Questions}\par The survey consisted of a number of demographic items including respondent's age, gender, race/ethnicity, country of birth, country of citizenship, country of residence, occupation, and religion.\par RQ1: How will cultural self esteem vary by demographic characteristics such as age, gender, country of birth/citizenship, etc? RQ2: How will gratifications obtained from Facebook use vary by demographic characteristics such as age, gender, country of birth/citizenship, etc? RQ3: How will amount of Facebook usage correlate with strength of a person's cultural self-esteem? RQ4: How will amount of Facebook usage for cultural and religious purposes correlate with strength of a person's cultural self-esteem? RQ5: How will amount of gratification obtained from Facebook use correlate with strength of a person's cultural self-esteem? H1: Amount of Facebook usage will be positively correlated with amount of gratification obtained from Facebook use. H2: Amount of Facebook usage for cultural and religious purposes will be positively correlated with amount of gratification obtained from Facebook use. \section[{c) Facebook Usage Amounts}]{c) Facebook Usage Amounts}\par Respondents were also asked on an average day, about how many minutes they believe that they spend on Facebook in general as well as Facebook groups that are specifically related to their culture or religion. \section[{d) Gratifications from Facebook Usage}]{d) Gratifications from Facebook Usage}\par In addition to demographic and Facebook usage questions, respondents were asked to respond on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree to a 23-item measure of gratifications obtained from Internet use \hyperref[b21]{(Roy, 2008)}. Survey questions were adapted to specifically address Facebook usage. When averaged, the 23-item measure allows researchers to determine the overall level of gratification obtained from Facebook use. The scale can also be broken down into six sub-dimensions, which express how important to a user the following gratifications are: self development, wide exposure, user friendliness, relaxation, career opportunities, and global exchange {\ref (Roy)}. \section[{e) Cultural Self-Esteem}]{e) Cultural Self-Esteem}\par To determine how individuals felt about their cultural group and their place within that group, respondents were asked to respond on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree to a race (culture, ethnicity) specific version of a 16-item instrument that measures Cultural Self-Esteem (CSE) \hyperref[b9]{(Crocker, 2011;}\hyperref[b17]{Luhtanen \& Crocker, 1992)}. While the scale can be combined to present an overall cultural self-esteem index, the authors recommend that researchers focus more directly on the four subdimensions of CSE: membership self-esteem, private collective self-esteem, public collective self-esteem, and importance to identity {\ref (Crocker)}. \section[{f) Facebook Page Selection}]{f) Facebook Page Selection}\par In order to find respondents for the survey, the researchers searched Facebook from Arab and Muslimoriented Facebook pages of groups based in the U.S. Facebook was searched using the terms "Islamic Center", and "Muslim Student". These were then sifted through and sites were selected that met all of these criteria: They had to appear to be organizations based in the U.S. They had to have at least 100 "likes." They had to have some postings. And they had to have open walls where any Facebook user could post a comment.\par With this method, a total of 55 Facebook pages were selected to post the survey invitation on. (See Appendix B for list of sites.) These included 39 community Islamic Center/Mosque sites, 13 university student associations and three other sites. Sites surveyed were based in small and large communities in \hyperref[b16]{19} states and the District of Columbia. (See Appendix B.) \section[{g) Respondents}]{g) Respondents}\par In order to find Arab and Muslim Americans and visitors to the U.S. that may be interested in filling out the survey, each of the Facebook sites listed was sent the following post several times over a one month period:\par As a result of these requests, a total of 54 respondents agreed to participate in the study and filled out the online questionnaire. After removing respondents that were not currently residing in the U.S. and those in the U.S. that were not from the MENA region, the sample totaled 43. \section[{h) Analysis}]{h) Analysis}\par Data was downloaded from Google Docs. All responses were analyzed with the statistical program SAS JMP \hyperref[b8]{(Carver, 2010)}. Because of the exploratory nature of this research, results were accepted that had the more forgiving probability of error set at p = .10 or lower.\par V. \section[{Results}]{Results} \section[{a) Basic Demographics}]{a) Basic Demographics}\par After respondents were removed from the sample that were not currently living in the West or that, based on demographic responses, appeared to be neither Arab nor Muslim, the total sample was 43 respondents. The sample ranged in age from 19 to 35, but the average (both mean and media) was 25. The respondes were 63\% male (N = 27) and 27\% female (N = 16). Seventy-two percent of the respondents were born in Saudi Arabia (N = 31), about 14\% (N = 6) were born in the USA; and 98\% of the sample (N = 41) reported their religion as Islam. Over 80\% (N = 34) of the respondents were students.\par Respondents tended to use Facebook for general purposes for about 100 minutes per day, with a minimum of zero minutes used and a reported maximum of 1020 minutes (17 hours) per day. The median response was 100, but the mean was 134 minutes --probably bumped up a bit the two highest reported amounts (978 and 1020 minutes respectively.) Ninety percent of the sample used Facebook on a daily basis for general purposes for 260 minutes (about 4.3 hours) or less. The middle 50\% of the respondents used FAcebook for between 40 and 180 minutes on a daily basis for general purposes.\par On average, respondents reported using Facebook for culturally or religiously specific purposes Hello: Prof. Philip Auter and Ms. Nagham Elkarhili are conducting a research study of how people use Facebook group pages and what they gain from the experience. Please take a moment to follow the link below and complete our short survey. All responses will be anonymous. Thank you in advance for your assistance: http://tinyurl.com/SocialNetworkGratifications about 20 -40 minutes per day, or ¼ to â??" of typical daily use (M = 38.58 minutes; media = 30 minutes). The two respondents that reported extremely high overall Facebook usage reported culturally and religiously specific Facebook use in line with the remainder of the sample. \section[{b) Research Questions}]{b) Research Questions}\par The first research question enquired about how cultural self esteem (CSE) would be affected by various demographic variables. Although there is a variation, ttest revealed no significant difference based on gender. Nor was a significant difference determined based on age. With such a small and homogeneous sample, CSE could not be compared across other demographic variables.\par The second research question asked if there was any gratification obtained (GO) difference by the various demographics. No significant difference was found by age or gender. With such a small and homogeneous sample, GO could not be compared across other demographic variables.\par No significant difference was found when comparing cultural self-esteem by general Facebook usage. However, there was a nearly significant negative relationship between general FB use and the subvariable of private CSE (F = 2.17 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .14).\par Although not significant with this sample size, it appears that the more one used Facebook in general, the lower one's private self esteem.\par Alternatively, there was a significant positive relationship between cultural / religious FB use and the sub variable of CSE labeled "membership self esteem." The greater the FB use for these reasons, the greater the person's feeling of membership in the group. (F = 3.67 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .06).\par Analysis of research question 5 revealed some interesting responses. Some gratifications obtained were found to be positively correlated with several cultural self-esteem sub variables as well as the scales overall. The gratification, "global exchange," was found to be significantly positively correlated with overall perceptions of cultural self-esteem (F = 4.49 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .04). It was especially positively correlated with the CSE variable, "membership self-esteem" (F = 5.68 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .02).\par Membership self-esteem (a CSE sub variable) was specifically found to be positively correlated with the U\&G scale overall (F = 3.19 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .08) and positively correlated with the U\&G sub variable "selfdevelopment" (F = 5.12 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .029). The CSE sub variable of "private cultural self-esteem" was found to be positively correlated with the U\&G sub variable "wide exposure" (F = 3.87 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .055). \section[{c) Hypotheses}]{c) Hypotheses}\par Hypotheses 1 and 2 suggested that Facebook usage (general or culturally specific) would be positively correlated with gratification obtained from the Facebook experience. General usage of Facebook (hypothesis 1) was found to be positively correlated with using FB for relaxation (U\&G sub variable 4, F = 3.68 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .06).\par Culturally specific FB use (hypothesis 2) was found to be positively correlated gratifications obtained from FB use overall (F = 9.65 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .0034). It was also specifically found to be positively correlated with the gratifications of self development (F = 8.90 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .0048); user friendliness (F = 4.28 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .045); relaxation (F = 8.34 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .0062); and career opportunities (F = 7.78 {\ref [1,} {\ref 41]}, p = .008). \section[{VI. Discussion}]{VI. Discussion}\par In this small, homogeneous sample, findings were consistent with other research and expectations. General usage of Facebook was quite a bit greater than use for culturally or religiously specific reasons. And the primary reason for general Facebook use appeared to be relaxation.\par However, when Facebook was used for culturally or religiously specific purposes, it was found to be associated with the importance of group membership (membership self esteem). This suggests, particularly for people that are expatriates or are otherwise disconnected from their primary cultural influences, that this type of usage can minimize homesickness and help users to maintain their concept of group membership.\par In fact, utilization of Facebook for cultural and religious reasons was found to be highly gratifying overall. In addition to relaxation, it was found to be an easy process --perhaps a relatively simple way to try and stay connected. This type of participatory group involvement was considered by respondents to both gratify self development needs as well as enhance their future career opportunities.\par The main challenge of this study was the relatively small and homogeneous sample size. Although 55 websites were contact, the majority of respondents came from an initial few sites that were more closely affiliated with the co-authors. It would be ideal, in future research, if responses could be obtained from a wider variety of participants in order to allow for more generalizability. Still, the current research is supportive of other work being performed to study the value of social networking sites to their users. It is hoped that the current findings can add to the body of knowledge in this growing field of resesarch. We are all members of different social groups or social categories. We would like you to consider your race or ethnicity (e.g., Arab-American, Muslim/American, Middle-Eastern, Non-Arab Muslim) in responding to the following statements. There are no right or wrong answers to any of these statements; we are interested in your honest reactions and opinions. * Please respond to the each of the following statements along a 5-point range from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. \footnote{© 2014 Global Journals Inc. (US)} \backmatter \subsection[{Appendix A: Survey Instrument}]{Appendix A: Survey Instrument} \subsection[{Social Network User Gratification Survey}]{Social Network User Gratification Survey}\par Thank you for agreeing to participate in our survey about Facebook group usage. It will help us to better understand the benefits users feel they receive from such group interactions. Please fill out the following questions to the best of your ability. This is an academic research project intended for presentation at research conferences and possible publication in an academic journal. Results from all survey respondents will be averaged and your individual responses will not be seen by anyone. All survey responses will be anonymous and confidential. \subsection[{* Required}]{* Required}\par On an average day, how many minutes do you believe you spend on Facebook in general? * If you are on there for more than one hour per day, please convert your estimate to minutes only: For instance 2.5 hours would be 150 minutes.\par On an average day, how many minutes do you believe you spend on Facebook groups that relates to your culture and religion? * If you are on there for more than one hour per day, please convert your estimate to minutes only. For instance 2.5 hours would be 150 minutes.\par Do you use the culturally specific Facebook group(s) to... * Please respond to the each of the following statements along a 5-point range from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. \subsection[{Appendix B: Facebook Sites Surveyed}]{Appendix B: Facebook Sites Surveyed}\par Islamic centers/mosques, Arab/Muslim student organizations, and other Arab/Muslim oriented Facebook sites for organizations based in the United States were contacted and their members asked via wall post to participate in the study survey. Sites were found by doing Facebook searches on the following terms: "Islamic Center", and "Muslim Student". Pages were eliminated that had fewer than 100 "likes" and / or that did not allow wall posts by non members. Sites that were contacted were based in 19 states and the District of Columbia. 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