The Use of Social Networks in Shaping Public Opinion in Jordan Regarding Public Affairs: "Facebook as a Model"

      This study aims to identify the impact of social networks' (with Facebook as a model) handling of Jordanian unemployment issues on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral levels. The study is based on the Media Dependency Theory and surveyed 400 Jordanian individuals. The results reveal the distribution of social media use in discussing unemployment, with Facebook dominating at 82.8% of total discussions. Facebook's wide popularity and accessibility across different societal segments make it the primary platform for expressing social and economic issues. Unemployment is closely followed by the public, with 48.0% of the sample always tracking this issue, reflecting its significant impact on their daily lives. Additionally, 48.3% sometimes follow the topic, indicating a substantial number of people are interested but may not keep up with every development. Conversely, a very small percentage, 3.8%, rarely follow unemployment issues, suggesting that this group might be less affected or interested in other matters.
Overall, these results demonstrate high awareness and considerable interest in unemployment and its societal impact. The findings also reveal a statistically significant correlation between the intensity of exposure to Facebook pages following the unemployment issue and the reasons for relying on these pages. Furthermore, there is a statistically significant correlation between the reasons for exposure to Facebook pages following the unemployment issue and the communicative effects in shaping public opinion.
The study recommends enhancing interaction and engagement with the audience. Effective strategies should be developed to interact with audience comments and questions, thereby boosting participation and increasing trust. Additionally, live dialogue sessions with specialists should be organized to discuss the latest developments and address public inquiries. Professional use of graphic techniques, such as employing graphs and infographics, is also advised.