Understanding Social Media Networking Through the Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology

Abstract

The scholars in the field of mass communication and sociology have examined the evolving role of mass in media in a society from the classical theoretical perspectives of functionalism, social interactionism, and conflict theory. Each of these sociological perspectives has reflected strong relevance in the media theories that evolved since the beginning of functionalist traditions in mass media studies by Harold Laswell and Paul Lazarsfeld in the first half of 20th century. What is interesting is that with the advancement in mass media technology and the emergence of digital media technology, these theoretical perspectives of sociology have reinvigorated their relevance over the period of time. These social theories continue to remain relevant in current times of advanced digital media communications, especially social media networking. This study moves beyond the sociology of traditional mass media and will discuss the relevance of above theoretical perspective in the present context of rapid internet-mediated human interactions viz a viz social media networking.