The Networked Self: Collectivism Redefined in Civic Engagements Through Social Media Causes

2. Theoretical Background

Although the global expansion of public relations industry is widely emphasized, there isn’t much solid evidence whether practitioners make sense of globalization, thus adapt the radically changing global realm (Bardhan, 2013). The globe is now an area that underlies the dynamism of distances as well as proximities as they are experienced by both individuals and their collectivities (Rosenau, 1995). In the beginning of the last century, modernity enters history as a progressive, rationally constructed movement that liberated humankind from everyday obligations and traditional bonds praising individualism. Starting in the second half of the last century, postmodern thought protests the negative consequences of modernity. That era is accepted as the emergence of a pre-existing reverse movement of search for community. The Internet reinforces this turn of societies in the developed world that are organized around networks of individuals rather than group or local solidarities (Wellman et al., 2003). Internet use improves individual relations, strengthening social networks (Hampton & Wellman, 1999). Lee and Lee (2010) found that people accessing Internet for online community have higher sociability than non-users. Wellman’s theory of ‘networked individualism’ suggesting, “this shift toward “networked individualism” involves the transition from spatially proximate and densely-knit communities in which people belong to more spatially dispersed and sparsely-knit personal networks in which people maneuver” (Boase & Wellman, 2004, p. 1), has important implications for civic engagement through social media causes (Wellman et al., 2003).