While many people enjoy using social media for interpersonal, communicational, educational, business, entertainment and gaming purposes, others criticize it for exacerbating a variety of problems such as consumer privacy, social anxiety, cyberbullying, the proliferation of misinformation, cybercrime, and ethical concerns among others. Advocates champion its benefits, but critics often claim that its use and abuse can have significantly detrimental ramifications.
Your task is to identify and research a substantial problem related to social media, and to come up with an implementable solution to address it without abandoning its use. Research the problem, explore its significance, find out what has already been done to address it, and devise an innovative proposal to help resolve it. Your goal is to promote realistic and healthy ways to use social media, and not to exclusively critique, demonize, or discontinue its use.
Get started here.
Reference resources provide a starting point for your research projects.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference provides hundreds of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, and more in one place. Below is a sample of keyword searches in Credo Reference related to this topic.
- Social Media
- “Social Media” AND Issues OR Problems
- “Social Media” AND “Radicalization”
- “Social Media Addiction”
- “Social Networking Service”
Call Numbers and Subject Headings
You can use the list of call numbers and subject headings below as keyword searches in our catalog and databases, or you can go to these sections of the library to find books on these topics.
- HM 741 – 743 General Works / Online Social Networks
- HM 851 – 856 General Works / Information Society
Books
Books from Lane Library
All books in this list are located either in the Franzen Center on Floor 3A or are e-books.
- The misinformation age : how false beliefs spread / BF323.E7 O23 2019
- Critical statistics : seeing beyond the headlines / HA29 .D38195 2019
- Digital Madness: How Social Media is driving our Mental Health Crisis and How to Restore Our Sanity / HM742 .K373 2022
- Protecting children online? : cyberbullying policies of social media companies / HM742 .M58 2017
- Socialnomics : how social media transforms the way we live and do business / HM742 .Q83 S624 2013
- LikeWar: The weaponization of social media / HM742 .S5745 2019
- The Death of Truth / HM851 .B7418 2024
- Ten arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now / HM851 .L3579 2018
- Privacy Pandemic / KF 1262 .C65 S65 2023
- Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard / LB3013.3 .H662 2015
- The culture of connectivity : a critical history of social media / ebook
- Social media issues / ebook
- Sex and social media / ebook
- Social media : influences on education / ebook
- Social Media and Digital Stress / ebook
- i-Minds 2.0 : how and why constant connectivity is rewiring our brains and what to do about it / ebook
- Sport, Social Media, and Digital Technology : Sociological Approaches / ebook
- Young People and Social Media: Contemporary Children’s Digital Culture / ebook
- The Quest for Attention : Nonprofit Advocacy in a Social Media Age / ebook
- Research Exposed : How Empirical Social Science Gets Done in the Digital Age / ebook
Search terms for additional books in Lane Library’s catalog:
Discovery Search: Search Lane Library’s books, ebooks, and articles in one place.
Articles
Databases
The following databases are useful places to search for animal related articles. Contact a librarian if you would like more information on how to search for articles on your specific topic.
- Academic Search Complete: Wide range of academic disciplines, including for scholarly and popular journals.
- New York Times: Access to news and archival content from NY Times. If you run into a paywall, here is more information on how to sign up.
- ProQuest Research Library: Includes both popular and scholarly periodicals covering a variety of subjects, with over 3300 titles available in full text.
- ProQuest Social Science Journals: Social science topics.
Get articles from other libraries
If you cannot find a full-text version of the article you need, request it through interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan is a free service that allows you to borrow books and articles from other libraries. Find answers to frequently asked questions about ILL here.
Government Sources, Statistics, and Websites
Government sources
- Social Media Guidelines: Governmental Agency guidelines for using social media
- Health and Human Services Social Media advisory: Advisory information on the detrimental effects of social media on youth
Statistics
- CIA World Factbook : Background information on each country in the world
- Gallup polls : Polls on a variety of topics by a trusted organization
- Proquest Statistical Abstract : Statistics from federal agencies
- World Almanac : Collection of statistics and rankings
