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Utilizing Facebook for professional integration of three ethnic groups in Israel

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Abstract

This study proposes a conceptual model for utilization of Facebook for professional integration of ethnic minorities, based on the social capital and weak social ties theories. In particular, the research focuses on differences among ethnic groups of Facebook users in their willingness to create intergroup work relations and its various influence factors. A designated questionnaire was composed and administered to 120 subjects from three ethnic groups in Israel: Jewish, Muslim-Arab and Druze. We found that the proportion of intergroup professional relations was higher on Facebook than in the offline workspace in all three groups. There were numerous differences between the three examined groups: self-disclosure was significantly higher for Druze and Jewish users than for the Arab users, while the willingness to create intergroup professional connections was much higher for the two minorities than for the Jewish users. This study contributes to understanding the factors that influence social network behaviour of different ethnic groups. Our results indicate that social networking sites can catalyse creation of intergroup professional relations. Utilization of social networking sites as a platform for professional promotion might constitute a first step in the process of professional and cultural integration of minorities in the ethnically heterogeneous society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Science, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

    Maayan Zhitomirsky-Geffet & Avraham Weic

Authors
  1. Maayan Zhitomirsky-Geffet
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  2. Avraham Weic
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Correspondence to Maayan Zhitomirsky-Geffet.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 1, 2 and 3.

1.1 Variable definition

To address the posed research questions, the dependent research variables were defined as follows:

  1. A.

    The degree of intragroup professional contacts on Facebook and in non-virtual space, as two separate variables, statements 1 and 2 in part C of the questionnaire. The respondent was asked to rate the percentage of the Facebook work-related friends who are members of his/her ethnic group out of the total number of his work-related friends on Facebook, with 0% indicating that all his friends are with members of other ethnic groups, and 100% indicating that all his friends are with members of his own group. Similarly, the percentage of professional contacts of the respondent in the non-virtual space was estimated. The two variables were examined at the categorical level, where the categories are less than a third of the connections, between one third and two thirds, more than a third, and all the connections.

  2. B.

    Preference to create professional relations with members of other groups, item 3 (statements a, b and the reversed value of responses to statement c) in Part C of the questionnaire. The answers are based on a Likert scale of 4 values, with 1 indicating disagree (preference to connect with members of the same ethnic group) and 4 indicating strongly agree (preference to connect with members of other ethnic groups). The value of Cronbach’s alpha was 0.867.

  3. C.

    Perception of the easiness of creating professional connections with members of other ethnic groups on SNS. Item 3 statement d in Part C of the questionnaire. The answers are based on a Likert scale of 4 values, with 1 indicating not at all and 4 indicating absolutely agree.

The following independent variables which reflect various influence factors of the dependent variables were defined in the study:

  1. A.

    Demographic variables, statements 1–10 in Part A of the questionnaire. Level of digital literacy, item al in Part D of the questionnaire. The score ranges from 1 (low digital literacy) to 4 (high digital literacy) with Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.866.

  2. B.

    Perception of job search through the Internet. Item 2a in Part D of the questionnaire. The score ranges from 1 to 4.

  3. C.

    The degree of preference for job search via the Internet. Item 2b in Part D of the questionnaire. The score ranges from 1 to 4.

  4. D.

    Frequency of use of SNS, items 2 and 5 in Part B of the questionnaire. The variable was examined at the categorical level, with the categories of 30 days or more, 28–20 days, 15–8 days and less than 7 days per month.

  5. E.

    Number of hours of daily use of Facebook, item 9 in Part B of the questionnaire. The variable was examined at the categorical level, with categories up to 1 h a day, more than 1–2 h, more than 2–5 h, and 5 h of daily use.

  6. F.

    Professional reasons for joining Facebook, items 3 and 6 in Part B of the questionnaire. The categorical variable was divided into the following three groups: (1) job search; (2) professional activity (e.g. self-marketing, participation in a group related to the user’s professional development or receiving updates on professional content); (3) none of the above.

  7. G.

    Using Facebook as a job search tool, item 10 in Part B of the questionnaire.

  8. H.

    The extent to which Facebook was used as a job search tool in the past. Item 13 in Part B of the questionnaire.

  9. I.

    Future job search intentions on Facebook. Item 12 in Part B of the questionnaire.

  10. J.

    The perception of the effectiveness of Facebook for job search. Item 11 in Part B of the questionnaire.

For variables G, H, I, J above the scores range from 1 to 4.

  1. K.

    Disclosure of personal information on SNS—to friends only and to the public. Two separate variables were computed from Items 7 and 8 in Part B of the questionnaire, respectively. Respondents had to select any of the following details that they publish on Facebook: Full Name/Photo/Marital Status/Date of Birth/Current Place of Residence/Former Place of Residence/List of Friends/List of Common Friends, with the score ranging from 0 to 8.

  2. L.

    Disclosure of professional-employment information on social networks—to friends only and to the public. Items 7 and 8 in Part B of the questionnaire. Respondents had to select any of the following details that they disclosed on Facebook: Current place of work/position in the current workplace/past jobs/positions in the past workplace/an institution where you study/past institutions of study/academic training, with the score ranging from 0 to 8.

  3. M.

    Sharing professional contents on SNS. Item 9 in Part B of the questionnaire. Respondents had to select any of the following types of content that they share on Facebook: content related to job search/material related to your area of work/material related to your profession/material related to your place of work, with the score ranging from 0 to 4.

1.2 The Questionnaire

figure a
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figure d

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Zhitomirsky-Geffet, M., Weic, A. Utilizing Facebook for professional integration of three ethnic groups in Israel. AI & Soc 36, 737–755 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-020-01131-7

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