RAPID: Social Media during Rapid Transition

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This research will examine the impact of online social media, when a nation first becomes open to this new technology-based form of communication. Relatively few countries in the world lack social media penetration, but from time to time additional nations offer global connectivity to their citizens. Cuban citizens will soon get dramatically more access to the Internet. How will their increased access to the global network change their view of the world? What can this teach us about the impact of social media on the developing world? What can it teach us about the impact of social media on society more generally? This kind of change forms a unique natural experiment that can reveal fundamental characteristics of social media in society.In this work, researchers will perform in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews with citizens of a newly connected society about their use of social media. Interviews will be conducted in their language via text-based chat and audio (Skype and phone) wherever possible. With permission, subjects' online postings will also be analyzed. Data will be analyzed via a grounded theory approach. The research will focus on a nation where changes have not yet begun to affect ordinary citizens. As a result, the research team will be able to gain insights into pre-existing attitudes and hopes for the future. Over this critical coming year, they will be able to track how those attitudes change. This qualitative work is valuable in itself and will also form the basis for a machine learning study designed to automatically track changes in public opinion as expressed via social media.