An Explorative Study of Social Media’s Effect on Family Feuds and

Voting Behavior

Ranjeet Kaur and Sneha Sengupta

The Bhopal School of Social Sciences, India

Keywords Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, Political Party, Family Feuds.

Abstract This research study delves into the associative idea on how political parti es incorporate social media as a

promotional tactic to communicate their agendas to the mass. People have become spontaneous in terms of

reacting to a specific news thereby changing their mindset according to the information planted in their minds.

The sole drop of contention lies in the probability of misleading and unverified information which reaches

the viewers in no time. It becomes even more concerning when the information is being circulated with no

reliability check to the known groups. It aims to analyse how effective branding is channelised through social

media platforms to promote their party’s agenda and ideologies; how AI algorithms can deeply affect the

mindset and allow people to change their decisions. Additionally, it also throws light on how digital media/

social media is leading to difference in opinion thereby leading to family feuds of varying intensity.

1 INTRODUCTION

The world has witnessed advancement in a plethora

of fields, the foremost being ‘technology’ which is

reigning the human mind, by and large. The

dissemination of information is not just propagated

through a single channel rather the networking has

gone strong and beyond. Nowadays, data is at your

fingertips, social media which acts as the instant

messenger is brimming with content captured from

multiple fields. People are not dependent on print

media alone, or waiting for news at 9 to glance

through the current affairs. For instance, every second

notification which pops up on the device delivers

information on variegated political issues within the

spur of the moment. People have become

spontaneous in terms of reacting to a specific news

and changing their mindset according to the

information planted in their minds. Nonetheless, the

only concerning factor is the probability when

misleading and false/ unverified information with no

background or reliability check is circulated through

different mediums by the masses. People are prone to

accept the information without verifying the facts

which in turn can bring a multihued and perplexed

mixture of opinions and recommendations on the

table. Drop of the hat, this often leads to

disagreements in the family and among peer

members. When information is perceived differently

by each individual, it tends to create a gap between

individuals and groups.

2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H1- Social Media and news channels have

significant influence on family feud.

H2- Artificial Intelligence does lead to family

feuds.

H3- Social Media and news channels do impact

the voting behavior of individuals.

H4- Artificial Intelligence impacts the voting

behavior of individuals.

H5- Party Politics use Social Media to influence

voting behavior during COVID-19 pandemic.

2.1 Research Methodology

The exploratory research study incorporated a non-

probability convenient sampling technique for

collecting the data through a questionnaire. It applied

the measurement using a 5-point Likert Scale and

assembled using Google Forms. The questionnaire

was circulated and conferred to the known group of

Kaur, R. and Sengupta, S.

An Explorative Study of Social Media’s Effect on Family Feuds and Voting Behavior.

DOI: 10.5220/0012500700003792

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 663-666

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

663

beneficiaries, friends and acquaintances in Indian

States, including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,

Jharkhand, Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West

Bengal. The questionnaire primarily targeted the

audience who were eligible to cast their vote in India.

The form minted 142 responses from different age

groups (18 and above).

The sample size for the exploratory research was

ascertained using Raosoft Software. The sample size

calculated by the software was 104. Jamovi Software

has been used for further exploration, enhancement,

calculation and analysis of data. The reliability (N-

142) falls under the ideal reliability range of 0.708.

This clearly indicates that the questionnaire survey is

admissible for further scope of study.

Table 1: Social media platform preferences..

Social Media Platform

Percentage

Number of Responses

Print Media

2.1%

Digital Media

48.6%

Both

49.3%

Table 2: Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Human Behaviour.

Variables (AI1- AI5)

Mean

Standard Deviation

My political ideologies are influenced by social media and

news channels.

3.62

0.857

AI has changed my family's perspective too.

3.51

0.951

I referred to AI during lockdown for quick access to

information

4.17

0.790

AI is not wholly neutral in decision making.

3.83

0.808

AI could take control of my mental processes.

3.25

1.216

Table 3: Chances of Family Feud while watching News.

Variables (FF1- FF5)

Mean

Standard Deviation

My hours of watching new channels increased during

pandemic times.

3.77

1.11

My family's political opinion often matches mine.

3.27

1.02

Due to political differences, feuds are common in my

family.

2.81

1.21

Creates a communication gap between the family members.

2.88

1.29

Sometimes, it leads to an unsettled family

environment.

2.73

1.23

Table 4: Influence of Social Media on Voting Behaviour.

Variables (VB1- VB5)

Mean

Standard Deviation

Social Media campaigns develop my inclination

towards a political party.

3.40 0.946

My family's voting behaviour is influenced by

these campaigns.

3.14

1.095

PAMIR 2023 - The First Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies- | PAMIR

664

I followed comments/ tweets of a leader, especially

during lockdown.

3.08

1.179

I rely on social media to derive information about a

political party.

3.32

1.170

Misleading information on social media diverts

voting choice.

3.99 1.017

Table 5: Party Politics and Social Media during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Variables (PP1- PP5)

Mean

Standard Deviation

During the pandemic, I only shared news with

prior verification.

3.71 0.950

Social Media offered an exposure to understand

party politics during lockdown.

3.81

0.798

I generally promote content which fulfills my political

preference.

3.24

1.017

I analyse the news with a balanced approach.

3.92

0.817

Social Media has been a game changer for political parties

during elections.

4.20

0.774

Table 6: Hypothesis tested are supported in the analysis.

Hypothesis

Independent Variables

Dependent Variables

Accepted/ Rejected

Accepted

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework for the research; Social Media, Artificial Intelligence and Politics are the independent

variables whereas Family Feud and Voting Behaviour are the dependent variables.

An Explorative Study of Social Media’s Effect on Family Feuds and Voting Behavior

665

2.2 Demographic Output

The questionnaire was a close-ended sampling space

to collect responses from people considered from the

age group of 18 to 50 and above. The demographic

details post collection of the responses showed 67.8%

females (96 responses) and 32.4% males (46

responses). Majority of the respondents belong to the

age group of 18-30 years i.e. 86.86% (123 responses),

next in line was the age group of 50 and above which

accounted for 6.3% (9 responses). Thereafter, the

least responses were observed in the age category of

31-40 and 41-50 respectively for which the

percentage was equitably noted to be 3.5% (5

responses).

Amidst the given responses, 64.6% (93 responses)

of the population belonged to the Nuclear setup while

35.4% (51 responses) belonged to the Joint Family

setup.

2.3 Analysis and Interpretation

This explorative study involves the analysis of four

distinct variables namely- Artificial Intelligence

(AI1-AI5), Family Feuds (FF1-FF5), Voting

Behaviour (VB1-VB5) and Party Politics (PP1-PP5).

For each variable five constructs were developed and

thereafter the mean scores and deviation were

ascertained.

I generally promote content which fulfills my

political preference. 3.24 1.017

I analyse the news with a balanced approach.

3.92 0.817

Social Media has been a game changer for

political parties during elections. 4.20 0.774

3 CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATION

This research study has tried to explore the influence

of social media on family feuds and voting behavior.

Social Media and Artificial Intelligence were

introduced as the independent variables laying direct

effect on voting behavior of an individual and

circumscribing family feuds. Politics/ Party Politics

plays a dual meditating role between family feuds and

voting behavior.

In the yesteryears, when news was merely a

stipulated bulletin, it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea to

track the immediate instances and agenda of each

political party. However, with the advancement of

private news channels, it has become easier to gauge

the political framework at large. Political branding

and promotion have also become frequent. The fiery

political debates are not just limited to the panels of

the newsroom but are also reciprocated within the

domestic settings leading to disagreements in the

family. Fake and paid news, lower quality journalism

make media just a lapdog of political parties.

Awareness is crucial. Fact-checking platforms

must be funded and endorsed by government agencies

to realize the void created through waves of

misinformation. Moreover, the Election Commission

of India ensures to display authenticated data for the

candidate whose nomination is filed for the given

constituency. This will in turn help the voters to

gauge their political decisions and choose the right

candidate for the given post. Hands-on exposure must

be introduced from the early stage in schools and

colleges by establishing induction programmes,

certificate courses and awareness drives for the young

minds which will help to cipher the voting process,

study the voting manifestos and choose the ideal

candidate as per their discretion.

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