IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/src/jbsree/v9y2023i3p325-334.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Facebook and the Spiral of Silence: Examining the Social Media Dynamics among Female Students in Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Rafique, Naila
  • Iqbal, Saima
  • Malik, Amna

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the way in which female Facebook users engage in political discourse, aligning its inquiry with Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's seminal Spiral of Silence theory (1974). Focusing on key variables like participants' perceived opinion climate, willingness to express opinions, fear of social isolation, the research explores the dynamics within two distinct Facebook audience compositions: the expansive macro climate and the intimate micro-climate. The former encompasses a diverse range of connections, from old friends to online communities, while the latter involves daily interactions with friends, family, and significant others. Survey data (quantitative analysis) has been collected targeting university students in the federal capital and Rawalpindi. This study corroborates earlier findings, affirming the presence of the Spiral of Silence phenomenon on Facebook. Notably, it reveals that Pakistani women who use Facebook are more likely to express themselves in micro groups with friends and relatives compared to macro-Facebook communities with lots of individuals. The study confirmed that fear of isolation has a major impact on opinion expression in macro circles, and that opinion climate evaluation is significant for both circles.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafique, Naila & Iqbal, Saima & Malik, Amna, 2023. "Facebook and the Spiral of Silence: Examining the Social Media Dynamics among Female Students in Pakistan," Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies, CSRC Publishing, Center for Sustainability Research and Consultancy Pakistan, vol. 9(3), pages 325-334, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:src:jbsree:v:9:y:2023:i:3:p:325-334
    DOI: http://doi.org/10.26710/jbsee.v9i3.2779
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publishing.globalcsrc.org/ojs/index.php/jbsee/article/view/2779/1624
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/http://doi.org/10.26710/jbsee.v9i3.2779?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:src:jbsree:v:9:y:2023:i:3:p:325-334. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Prof. Dr. Ghulam Shabir (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/csrcmpk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.