The Impact of Social Media on Omani Youth: A Multimodal Project.

Since the inception of the Omani Renaissance, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has emphasized the importance of Omani youth: They play a key role in the making of all sustained development plans, and are the next generation of participants in national decision-making. They are also the first generation of Omanis whose lives are inescapably impacted by social media. This study therefore explores social media use of young Omanis (ages 20-35) to (1) uncover effects social media have on their familial and social communication behaviors (private participation) and (2) identify best practices (especially for the government) for using social media to successfully engage young people in these realms (public or civic participation). Specifically, the project asks the following research question: What is the reality of social media impact on Omani youth? To answer this question, the project collects both quantitative and qualitative data. It systematically and scientifically analyzes young Omanis' posts on Twitter and on WhatsApp, and situates them in broader cultural context through qualitative methods (i.e., discourse analysis, ethnographic observations and focus group discussions) and quantitative methods (i.e., questionnaires and interviews). The project will increase understanding of the role of social media in the everyday lives of Omani youth, while also identifying strategies to facilitate use of social media to improve their lives as members of families and as Omani citizens. To undertake this important work, a team of local researchers with diverse (but related) specializations in linguistics, social science research methods, mass-communication, and sociology -- is recruited. Diverse data collecting methods will be used, including quantitative analyses of questionnaires that give a bird s-eye view of practices and attitudes, discourse analysis of published posts on various social media sites, ethnographic observations that illuminate social media as a fixture in everyday life, and focus group discussions that engage multiple viewpoints. Because of the quantitative and qualitative nature of the collected data, the project uses the most advanced (and holistic) analytical framework in social sciences (i.e., Mediated Multimodal Analysis Theory). Omani undergraduate and graduate (MA and PhD) students from Sultan Qaboos University will participate actively in the project; given its direct relation to their needs and aspirations, they will be invested in and benefit from-- its success. They will gain experience in shaping research design, collecting and analyzing data, learning about new analytical frameworks and disseminating findings. The project will enable Omani students to work closely and actively with local and one international scholar; they will develop knowledge about social media s role in Oman, practical skills in research and communication, and deeper understandings of the role of social media and their own roles as Omanis--in the future of Omani family life and the nation s progress. The contributions of this national project are manifold: It explores the reality of the impact of social media on Omani society, using the experiences of young adults as a lens. In so doing, the project aims to answer questions posed mainly by the Ministry of Social Development. The project also has practical implications: Strategies and practices that are identified and piloted can be implemented by government organizations to effectively communicate with Omani s next generation of leaders, and to facilitate their active participation in society via social media. In this way, the project answers calls posed by the Ministry of Information. It also will make international contributions: As social media usage is increasing across the globe, this project will mark Oman as a leader in examining such impact at an early stage in the Arabian Gulf. Most importantly, the project creates a participatory research environment that benefits Oman as a whole: Young Omani graduates and researchers from across Oman who participate will gain valuable research experience; uncover important connections between social media and the realms of family (private participation) and government (public or civic participation