USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR PROMOTION OF WESTERN CULTURE IN PAKISTAN: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Social Media is an emerging concept about the awareness of media messages consumption or information evaluation on virtual communication platforms, specifically in social networking websites. With the advent of communication technologies and emergence of web 2.0, the dynamics of war are also shifting from traditional warfare to information warfare having no geographical as well as content related boundaries. Therefore, the role of modern information and communication technologies is very important to study in the context of Social Media effects fare where social media is being used as a tool of Social Media effects fare. This study aims to assess the problems and need of information literacy among the social media users of Pakistan. Conceptually, it takes roots from Social Media effects literature and Social Media literacy. Methodologically, we conducted survey of social media users of Pakistan. Data was collected from purposively selected 300 respondents (150 males and 150 females) having different age groups. For this purpose, we developed Social Media effects Awareness and Social Media Literacy Scales to understand, detect and respond to the hybrid threats. The study found the trends of social media usage, exposure to propaganda messages and reaction of social media users in Pakistan. It recommends that Social Media and information literacyis better for planning against Social Media effects which may be a threat to national interest instead of introducing strict laws.