The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Vol.

16(3), 2011, article 8

Diffusion of Innovations:
The Adoption of Facebook among Youth in Malaysia

Normah Mustaffa
Faridah Ibrahim
Wan Amizah Wan Mahmud
Fauziah Ahmad
Chang Peng Kee
Maizatul Haizan Mahbob

School of Media and Communication Studies

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
43600. Bangi Selangor
MALAYSIA
 The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Vol. 16(3), 2011, article 8

Diffusion of Innovations:
The Adoption of Facebook among Youth in Malaysia

Normah Mustaffa, Faridah Ibrahim, Wan Amizah Wan Mahmud,

Fauziah Ahmad, Chang Peng Kee & Maizatul Haizan Mahbob

ABSTRACT
The popularity of social media has invited questions about how and why people use Facebook.
With its ability to allow users to post or change their content, Facebook has emerged as the most
pervasive and the most personal of the new media. It has generated questions about the factors
that influence users to adopt or reject it and about the their level of involvement in the “Facebook
community.” The decision to adopt or reject Facebook is subject to a wide variety of factors. Past
researchers have shown that social variables such as peer support or peer pressure, shared values,
and mentors influenced people’s choices regarding new innovations and technologies. Through a
survey method, this paper seeks to address the factors that have an impact on the adoption of
Facebook among youths and to enhance our understanding of the diffusion of Facebook in
Malaysia. Results indicated that youths were influenced by peer pressure to use Facebook.
Spending time on Facebook appears to be part of the daily routine of most Malaysian youth.

Keywords: Facebook, adoption, youths, social media, peer pressure, innovation, government
involvement.
______________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction
The year 2011 sees Malaysia focusing on celebrating innovation and creativity. Fifty-
three years after independence, Malaysia is a quickly developing country with the
“1Malaysia” concept leading its efforts at reorientation and a new direction geared
toward greater unity and success. Malaysia seeks harmonious living among its diverse
cultural groups, constant economic growth, political stability and the elevation of living
standards, all grounded within a unique diversity of living patterns that is steeped in
tradition, but yet able to accommodate and withstand the onslaught of global culture
without losing local cultural balance (Nobaya Ahmad & Samsudin A. Rahim, 2008).
Nevertheless, the introduction and advancement of global media have brought new
challenges and change to the social and cultural milieu of young people. The mass media
and popular culture are the medium for affecting change on a large scale, and it has
succeeded to help shape messages that reach millions of young people.

We live today in an increasingly hyper-interconnected world, a global society of

communicative interaction and exchange that stimulates profound cultural
transformations and realignments, a society largely defined by globalization and the
arrival of new technologies. In essence, the changing global media landscape is shaping
the socialization processes, values, and beliefs of young people, and influencing young
people’s decisions, in areas such as educational choice, employment and leisure.

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Malaysians, especially the younger generation, live in a much richer media environment
today as compared to even a decade ago. In this new social media environment, they are
no longer a passive audience which depends on traditional media to get information, but
rather actively contribute to the content of the new media. The new media and ICT in
general are seen as a means to speed up and accelerate development if applied properly.
The Malaysian government has realized the potential of the new social media and ICT
and is doing everything possible to maximize its use and to reap the benefits.
Government policies are very important to help utilize the ICT innovation to bring about
development (Ali Salman, 2009).

According to Lampe et al., (2011: 2), the term “social media” includes a range of tools
and services that allow direct user interaction in computer mediated environments.
Recently, many government units have either tried, or are considering trying, social
media as a way to interact with stakeholders. Social media usage has often followed a
few key paths. Firstly, policy makers see social media as a way of micro-broadcasting
news about policies to target stakeholders. Secondly, policy makers see social media as a
way to “crowd source” feedback about policy. In this framework, stakeholders can
submit ideas and content to policy makers who filter content for worthwhile information.
Finally, lastly, social media interactions in third party sites like online newspapers and
large-scale services like Facebook can be mined for stakeholder opinions.

According to Effective Measure and the Malaysian Digital Association, Facebook is

ranked first among the most popular websites visited by Internet users in Malaysia.
Almost everyone has a Facebook account and even those who are less technologically
savvy have found a way to make sense of it. They think of it as a tool to reconnect with
long lost friends. Having realized the potential of Facebook, more and more people are
trying to use this social networking site. As with any communication technology, the
future of Facebook will eventually be determined by public response. While Facebook is
undergoing a rapid diffusion process, it is important to monitor not only how users use it
as a new medium, but also how potential users perceive Facebook as compared to other
social sites.

Realising the growing popularity of Facebook among users in utilizing social networking
sites, it is not surprising that the government is beginning to view this network as a valid
mechanism to reach audiences, including youths. Tim O’Reilly (2010: 12-13) notes that
“information produced by and on behalf of its citizens is the lifeblood of the economy
and the nation; government has a responsibility to treat that information as a national
asset.” As in the case of this country, Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib
Tun Abdul Razak took a step ahead in building his own Facebook for sharing thoughts in
current issues and disseminating ideas to the Malaysian public. By 2009, he had over
120,000 “friends” from all over the world. This shows his commitment in using
Facebook as a new way of interacting and disseminating information to the mass public
especially youths.

In a related matter, the former Minister of Youth and Sports Ministry, Datuk Ismail Sabri
Yaakob launched Rakan Cyber (Cyber Friend) as part of Rakan Muda Program (Friends
of the Young Program) to bring youths closer to the information and communication
technology. The ministry also provides a Facebook for youths to exchange and express
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opinions. This is parallel with developing and optimizing the energy and financial
resources in order to maximize results and generate better quality in terms of life and
well-being for the youths in support of the country’s development.

Social media and the diffusion of innovations

The four main elements that are involved in the process of diffusion are innovation,
communication channels, time and the social system. The initial element that sparks
diffusion is the invention or introduction of something new into the social system. This
invention or introduction needs the members of the social system to adopt it, which
involves some form of communication to convince them to reach a mutual understanding
to accept change. This is the diffusion of innovation theory forwarded by Rogers (1983,
p. 5) that holds that diffusion is the “process by which an innovation is communicated
through certain channels over a period of time among the members of a social system.”
Rogers explains that an innovation is “an idea, practice, or object that is perceived to be
new by an individual or other unit of adoption.” Furthermore, communication “is a
process in which participants create and share information with one another to reach a
mutual understanding.” It is a kind of social change that involves deliberation and
alteration or acceptance of the adopters in the social system. This is so because, when
new ideas are proposed, they can be diffused and adopted or rejected, leading to certain
consequences in the social system. Adoption of ideas can be slow or fast, depending on
the social values, belief and culture of a society.

How potential adopters view a change agent affects their willingness to adopt new ideas.
Messages are concerned with new ideas and this, of course, involves some degree of
uncertainty and deliberation which sometimes need much convincing, persuasion and
time to reach a decision. Another important determinant of the adoption rate of an
innovation is its compatibility with the values, beliefs and past experiences of individuals
in the social system. The rate of diffusion is defined as the speed that the new idea
spreads from one consumer to the next. Rogers (1983) asserted that a diffusion process in
a social system follows an S-Curve in which the adoption of a technology begins with
slow change, is followed by rapid change and ends in slow change as the product matures
or new technologies arise. Adoption, tracked through the diffusion curve, is a decision-
making process in which an individual passes from initial knowledge to attitude-
formation toward the innovation, to a decision to adopt or reject it. Figure 1 illustrates the
five groups of adopters categorized on the basis of the acceptance of innovativeness.
Figure 1: Adopter Categorization on the Basis of Innovativeness

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As illustrated in the above figure, the categories follow a normal curve where the
innovators are in the 2.5% adopters who are educated, appreciative of new technology
and willing to tolerate problems and take risks. They are active information seekers about
new ideas. The early adopters comprised 13.5% of the bell curve. They are susceptible to
changes in the society and are receptive to innovation as they envision great gains in
competitive advantage from adopting a new technology. The early majority comprised
34% of the curve. This group of adopters is very practical, though very deliberative; they
are motivated by evolutionary changes prior to the adoption of new technology. The next
34% of the adopters are the late majority who are often sceptical and at the lower social
economic ladder. They do have the motivation to adopt technology, but often rely on
advisers to help them make sense of any new invention. The laggards fill up the final
16% of the bell curve and are sceptical toward any kind of technology said to enhance
productivity.

The adoption of Facebook in Malaysia

Youth of today face a myriad of challenges. They enjoy a higher level of affluence and
tend to be technologically savvy. The United Nations defines youth as persons between
the ages of 15 of 24 years (United Nations, 2005), but in Malaysia, the Youth Society and
Youth Development Act 2007 defines as those who are aged between 15 and 40-years-old.
Griffin (1997: 97) points out that youth are “treated as a key indicator of the state of the
nation itself.” However, in the National Youth Policy in Malaysia which was formulated
in 1985 and revised in 1995, the main targets of its programs are youth in the age bracket
of 15 to 25 years old.

Youth between 15 and 25 years make up a substantial portion of the population, and they
carry greater responsibility toward further progress in the country as it moves toward a
progressive, harmonious and united civil society as envisioned in the Malaysia Vision
2020. In 2003, there were 4,684,700 in this age group (18.7% of the population), of
which 2,375,400 were male and 2,309,300 were female. Most of this age group is still in
secondary school, college or university. They are considered by the government as a
primary national asset and the future of the nation. Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-
2010), the government has allocated RM2.2 billion for activities related to the
development of these young people.

The economic demands of the new global era require the development of a knowledge-
based society for nation building purposes. Currently, the Malaysian workforce is mainly
derived from youth who will be the agents of change for economic and social growth of
the society. On that note, the Knowledge Content in Key Economic Sectors has identified
youth as the target group for ICT with the hope that their strength will steer Malaysia
toward the development of K-economy and K-society on par with other countries across
the globe (Tengku Nor Rizan et al., 2005). Malaysia is an active global player in youth
development and is serious in confronting issues concerning youth locally and globally.
Realizing the importance of monitoring the status of youth development in Malaysia, the
Ministry of Youth and Sports, in line with the government’s focus on the Ninth Malaysia
Plan has governed to enhance human capital development amongst youths in order to
create first class human capital.

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The existence of social media has created a more democratic sphere among the citizens.
At the press of a button or a touch of a finger on the screen, consumers are able to
channel out opinions to get chains and chains of feedback—globally for that matter.
Nielsen Media Index indicated that Internet users increased to 21% world’s population in
2008 with almost 4 in 10 users spending between one to two hours on the Internet every
day. Email, surfing and information gathering are familiar traits among Malaysians, but
the more popular activities among “netizens” are online TV/music/games (47%),
message/chat/blogging (45%) and reading newspaper/magazines shows (35%) the least.
About 90% of Malaysians use Facebook as their prime social media network. 5.14%
Malaysians visit Youtube, while another 1.97% frequent the latest media network
Twitter. MySpace was one of the favourite among Malaysian a few years back, but it is in
6th place and continues to lose popularity.

The possible application through user-generated content has transformed users from
content consumers to content producers, supporting the democratization of knowledge
and information. Social media come in the form of podcasts, social blogs, weblogs, news
portals, internet forums, etc., to create a public sphere communications sphere. Having
public sphere elements, these forms of social media are very interactive and dynamic
channels of news and information. They allow citizens to access information, send
messages, offer views and opinions, and deliberate over critical issues. Consumers are
able to upload videos, photographs, texts comments and the like forming a highly
interactive cybersphere. Social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Youtube,
Twitter etc., have allowed consumers to chat, to exchange information and also to be
persuasive unlike radio and television.

The popularity of Facebook has shown a special increase in its use among youth. As of
April 2009, Facebook has over 200 million active users worldwide. In Malaysia, the
number of users has reached 10 million, with 38% being 18 and 24-years-old
([Link], 2010). This makes Malaysia the 17th largest concentration of
Facebook users in the world and 3rd behind Indonesia and the Phillipines in South East
Asia.

As the number of users increases, it is necessary for scholars, parents and educators alike
to understand the activities youth perform online and the influences of Facebook on their
lifestyle. As is always the case, any new technology or innovation is subject to abuse,
which may affect its continuous adoption (sustainability of use), thereby making its
impact less felt, or its potential or benefit less realized. It is against this background that
laws and regulations are crucial in order to monitor the use of innovation and prevent it
from abuse. Laws and regulations will instil confidence of the people who use the
innovation (Ali Salman, 2009). Several monitoring methods should be provided so that
people can avoid being victims of online crimes. One of the emerging crimes is
cyberstalking. Cyberstalking is defined as the use of the Internet or email to stalk, harass
or threaten another individual. When youth provide real-life information, including
additional ways to contact them online, they become potential victims of cyber stalking
(Huffaker 2006).

Another area crime involves online gangsters. A main page article in The Star dated May
11, 2011, reported that underworld gangs were utilizing social networking sites like
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Facebook as a platform to recruit new gang members, including secondary school

students. The gangs would even organize illegal events such as illegal races and gang
fights via these websites. They would offer protection to anyone who joined the gang,
and some even tried to lure students to be a new gang members by offering free alcohol.
It is said that students from most major towns in the country are being targeted by these
cybergangs. Meanwhile, somel Facebook users have expressed surprise that the
authorities were not aware of such pages on social networks, for they have been in
existence for quite some time. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein has
vowed that a massive crackdown will soon be launched to stop secret society gangs from
recruiting students via Facebook or other comparable means as part of the fight against
drug trafficking gangsters recruiting school students, a problem that has now spread to
many parts of the country. He also gave his assurance that the ministry would make use
of the relevant agencies as they had the expertise to tackle the worrying trends.

According to Huffaker (2006), a more frightful scenario involves sexual predators and
pedophiles using Facebook to contact teenage authors. Finkelhor et al. (2000) also found
that almost 20% of teenage users have been approached or have received sexual
solicitation within the last year of Internet use. One in thirty teens had been aggressively
solicited, meaning that the predator asked to meet them, called them on the telephone or
sent them regular mail, money or gifts.

Cyberbullying, in which electronic communication is used to bully or harass an

individual, is similar to cyberstalking, but involves fellow classmates or peers. While it
may not sound as worrisome as stalking or solicitation by adult predators, cyberbullying
can still have negative effects for teenagers, in the same way as real-world physical
bullying or harassment. While school administrators are becoming increasingly aware of
the problems of physical bullying in school, few are aware that students are being
harassed through the Internet (Huffaker 2006).

As social media risks come in various forms, a prompt response to any complaint or
threat would help avoid a massive disaster in online communication. Problems affecting
youth are considered cancerous. If left unobserved and uncontrolled, they may affect the
well-being of the entire communities and nations at large. This is so because youth are a
national asset of all nations; they are the human resources that build nations here and
now, and at the same time provide the potential leadership to shape them in the future.
Therefore, understanding the how and why of Facebook adoption among youths in this
country would contribute to our knowledge of their usage and purpose and the factors
that influence the adoption of Facebook.

The national strategy of any country should delineate the role of the private sector, civil
society organizations (CSOs) and government, and provide a road map for harnessing the
ICT to address the development problems faced by the country. The identification of the
specific roles may be based on the nature of the services. Those services that are in the
nature of a public good may be better provided by the state or the CSOs, whereas the
services which are in the nature of private goods may be better served by the private
sector. In devising such a national strategy, the role of inputs from pilot projects, if there
are any, cannot be discounted. Such a policy has to be based on a realistic assessment of
what ICT could do in the given socio-economic environment (Ali Salman, 2009).
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The study
Past researchers have explored a set of variables that may influence people’s choices
regarding new innovations and technologies. For example, several studies have
investigated the influence of social variables such as peer support or peer pressure, shared
values, and mentors. In view of the current transformations within the context of the
various governmental policies and the changing media landscape, this study aims to
gauge the how and why young people use Facebook in their daily lives. This study was
conducted by using survey methods. 200 questionnaires were administered to young
people in the age group between 15 and 25-years-old in Klang Valley.

Demographic background.

Table 1 presents the distribution of Facebook users among the various categories of
youths. Of the respondents, 48% were males, 52% females. They comprised 50% Malay,
35% Chinese, 12.5% Indian and 2.5% other ethnic. Of the total respondents, 48.5% hold
a bachelor degree, 37% a diploma, 11.5% A Level and only, and 3% hold a Masters
degree. The majority of the respondents are students (83%), followed by professional
workers (14%) and 3% unemployed.

Table 1: Demographic background

Item Frequency (%)

Gender Male 96 48.0
Female 104 52.0

Ethnic Malay 100 50.0

Chinese 70 35.0
Indian 25 12.5
Others 5 2.5

Education Masters 6 3.0

Bachelor 97 48.5
Diploma 74 37.0
A Level 22 11.5

Status Student 165 83.0

Professional 28 14.0
Unemployed 7 3.0

Amount of Facebook experience

Table 2 shows the time spent on Facebook: 42% spent between 1-3 hours a day, 21%
spent less than 30 minutes a day, 20% spent between 30 to 60 minutes a day and only
17% spent more than 3 hours a day of their time on Facebook. As 83% of the respondents
are students, it is assumed that the 17% youths who spent more than 3 hours a day of
their time on Facebook are students.

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Table 2: Time spent on Facebook

Item Frequency (%)

Time < 30 42 21.0
spent min/da 40 20.0
y 84 42.0
30-60 34 17.0
min/da
y
1-3
hours/
day
>3
hours/
day

As shown in Table 3, 116 respondents (58%) identified themselves as novices in their

level of experience in using Facebook; 79 respondents (39.5%) ranked their level of
experience as proficient; while 5 of the respondents (2.5%) ranked themselves as experts.
The demographic table shows that the self-identified experts spent more than three hours
a day of their time on Facebook. The data shows that the level of experience in using
Facebook among youth is increasing. The increased amount of time spent in new
technology will enhance the knowledge and experience of these youth, besides feeling
satisfied with the online media. Accordingly, if the usage and adoption rate of Facebook
increases, it is only natural that the experts will become more expert, the proficient will
reach the expert level and the novice climb up to the level of proficiencyl. Using
Facebook does not require much learning. Users just need to know which button to click,
and when they do it consistently every day they can reach the expert level.

Table 3: Level of experience in using Facebook

Level Frequency (%)
Novice 116 58.0
Proficient 79 39.5
Expert 5 2.5

The adoption rate

Self-identified adopter behavior categories were analyzed. Table 4 shows that 98 of the
respondents (49.0%) identified themselves as late majority, 63 as (31.5%) early majority
and 16 (8.0%) early adopters. Only 5 respondents (2.5%) saw themselves as innovators
and 18 respondents (9.0%) admitted to being laggards. The data shows the number of
respondents who slowly adopt Facebook in their routines. Late majority formed the
highest population among the adopters, who, in the standard deviation curve are often
sceptical and are lower on the socio-economic ladder. They are sceptical of change, are
often uncertain about new ideas and wait for most others in the system to adopt first.
Innovators in this adoption rate category makes up only 2.5% and they are found to be
the same respondents from Table 3 above, this means that they are innovators because

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they are already expert in the usage of Facebook: they have the confidence and are able to
understand and apply complex technical knowledge about Facebook. These innovators
play an important role in the diffusion process of Facebook as they dare launch new ideas
and introduce new inventions in the system by importing innovation from outside the
system’s boundaries. They subsequently take roles as gatekeepers in the flow of new
ideas in the system. The early majority makes up the second largest population (63%)
because they normally follow with deliberate willingness in adopting innovations but
they seldom lead (Rogers 1983).

Table 4: Levels of acceptance (adoption rate)

Level Frequency (%)

Innovators 5 2.5
Early 16 8.0
adopters
Early 63 31.5
majority
Late 98 49.0
majority
Laggards 18 9.0

Purpose of use

The respondents were asked five non-exclusive questions about the purposes of Facebook
usage. Table 5 shows that the majority of the respondents used Facebook to communicate
with friends (67.0%) and to reconnect with old friends (65.5%). Only 22.0% used
Facebook for playing games, but 34.5% used it for establishing their networking and
39.0% used Facebook to help them in handling daily routines. Facebook is used to
communicate and to reconnect with friends, new and old, to create, to share, to exchange
information and to establish networking. The exchange of information becomes the
essence of diffusion process through which an individual communicates a new idea.
Media channels like Facebook in particular are efficient means to inform audience of
potential adopters about the existence of an innovation—to create awareness knowledge.

Table 5: Purpose of use

Purpose Frequency %
Communicating 134 67.0
with friends
Reconnecting 131 65.5
with old friends
Makes routine 78 39.0
life easier
Establishing 69 34.5
networking
Playing games 44 22.0
Note: Non-exclusive.

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Social factors that influenced the usage of Facebook

With regard to the most influential factor that affected the adoption of Facebook among
youth, Table 6 shows that peer pressure (50.5%) was the most influential factor, followed
by current trends (27.0%) and personal interest (16.5%). It shows that people tend to use
Facebook because they were persuaded by their peers, who have been using the new
media. The use of Facebook enables friends to keep in touch and maintain friendship, and
this is one way to stay connected. Peer pressure contributed the most to the adoption of
Facebook and only 6.0% were influenced by anonymous invitation.

Table 6: Social factors that influence the use of Facebook among youth

Factor Frequency (%)

Peer 101 50.5
pressure
Current 54 27.0
trends
Personal 33 16.5
interest
Invitation 12 6.0

Cross-tabulation was conducted between the social factors and levels of acceptance.
Table 7 exhibits the percentage of influencing factors among the different levels.

Table 7: Cross-tabulation of social factors by levels of acceptance

Level 1&2 3 4 5
Factor
Peer pressure 28.6% 49.2% 54.1% 61.1%
Current trends 38.1% 38.1% 21.4% 5.6%
Personal interest 28.6% 11.1% 15.3% 27.7%
Invitation 4.7% 1.6% 9.2% 5.6%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
Note: 1 & 2 = Innovators and Early adopters; 3 = Early majority; 4 = Late majority; 5 = Laggards.

As innovators have only 5 counts, they were grouped with early adopters for further
analysis. Peer pressure was the most influential factor for laggards (61.1%), late majority
(54.1%) and early majority (49.2%); but not for innovators and early adopters (28.6%).
The influence of this factor kept decreasing when moving up the level. At the earliest
levels of acceptance, i.e. innovators and early adopters, current trends made the most
influential factor (38.1%). Current trends were found to be the second influential factor
for early majority (38.1%) and late majority (21.4%). There were only 5.6% of the
laggards who claimed that they were influenced by current trends but, surprisingly 27.7%
said were affected by personal interest to use Facebook. This figure was quite closed to
the innovators and early adopters (28.6%). Generally, anonymous invitation did not have
much impact to any of the levels.

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Discussion
This study offers an insight into the use of Facebook among youth in Klang Valley. The
study examines the Facebook adoption rate, the factors that influence youth to adopt
Facebook and the purpose of using it among youth. The findings indicate that the
adoption rate was still in the category of late majority; that is, people who wait until most
of their peers adopt the innovation. Although they are sceptical about the innovation and
its outcomes, peer pressure may lead them to the adoption of the innovation. To reduce
the uncertainty of the innovation, interpersonal networks of close peers should persuade
the late majority to adopt it. Then, the ‘late majority’ will feel that it is safe to adopt
(Rogers, 2003, p. 284).

The findings of this study supported the notion that peer pressure may lead young people
to adopt Facebook. The majority of them were persuaded by their peers to adopt
Facebook as stated in Table 6. They use Facebook as a means of communication with
other friends and as a way to reconnect them to their old friends. They claimed that
Facebook was slightly used for playing games, making networking and helping in their
daily routines.

According to Nobaya Ahmad and Samsudin A. Rahim (2008), youth generally comprise
the most media and technology literate sector of the society. With the increase in Internet
usage, youth culture today is highly mediated. The Internet is able to provide youth all
over the world with instant access with a wide variety of diverse cultural forms and
styles. There is no doubt that radios and televisions will remain popular in the lives
among global youth, but the Internet is often displacing them as a primary influence.
There is a high concentration of media activities among young people today; therefore,
their construction of reality is partly and directly influenced by various media images.
The media has always been seen as powerful shapers and causes of homogenization
between cultures.

When considering how much time adolescents are in contact with the popular media, be
it television, magazines, advertising, music or the Internet, it is clear that it is bound to
have a marked effect on their behaviour and lifestyle. This is especially the case when the
medium itself is concerned with the lifestyle of young people. Latiffah and Samsudin
(2000) assert that media penetration means that young people are spending relatively
more time with communication media, and it can be assumed that this will lead to a
higher exposure to its contents. There are concerns with the media content as it is the
integral component of young adult’s socialization. From media content, they will develop
social constructs about themselves and the environment.

Conclusion
The popularity of the use of Facebook among youths is well known and access to
Facebook has continued to grow in classrooms, as well as in the households. Facebook
describes itself as a “social utility that connects people with friends and others who work,
study and live around them.” Facebook is now a firmly established forum for keeping in
touch with old friends and for meeting new ones. It has a large appeal in the Malaysian
scene. Users share personal information like profile photos, age, birth dates, names,
relationship status, sibling’s name, employers, what town and state they live in and what
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school they attend. The diffusion of innovations in online media has provided a culture of
information, pleasure and relative autonomy, all of which are of particular appeal to
society's youth. This has implications not only for young people themselves but also for
their relationships within the family and between generations.

The emergence of globalization means youth’s sphere of experience has become global
and local at once. Young people are often among the first to take advantage of the
introduction to new technologies. Subsequently, the challenge is to give culturally valid
meaning to the use of new technologies. UNESCO and UNEP are working together to
understand young people's consumption behaviour and work with them in promoting
more sustainable consumption patterns for the future.

It is hoped that the findings of this study will be helpful in discussing the potential effects
and satisfaction of using Facebook. Its uses and implications could provide
recommendation on the measures taken by the government to encourage community
development in Malaysia as we continue to move into the ICT era. The integration of
bottom-up and top-down approaches should be employed in reviewing the needs of
Facebook among youth in order to understand their routine tasks. The government should
develop a mentoring system and set performance indicators to regularly assess and
measure this phenomena. The Malaysian government encourages its citizen to utilize ICT
in almost all forms of life possible. It has taken proactive attitude to encourage ICT
diffusion usage by providing Multimedia Act that states, among others, that it will not
perform any act of censorship in web content and will give this responsibility to the web
users. The task of the government is to develop ICT usage and provide responsible bodies
to regulate the running of this industry.

About the Authors:

Normah Mustaffa is currently the chairperson of School of Media and Communication

Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
She holds a doctoral degree in communication from Cardiff University, United Kingdom.
Her research interests primarily focus on journalism, visual communication and new
media. Her current work focuses on the use of Facebook among youth; and audience
perception of media credibility. She can be contacted at normahm@[Link].

Faridah Ibrahim is an Associate Professor from the same school and her research focus
is on journalism particularly peace journalism and media ethics. She can be contacted at
fbi@[Link].

Wan Amizah Wan Mahmud is a senior lecturer from the same school and her research
interest is on film censorship. She can be contacted at wan_amizah@[Link].

Fauziah Ahmad is a senior lecturer from the same school and her research interest is on
semantics and framing of news, youth and media studies. She can be contacted at
zuhair@[Link].

Chang Peng Kee is a senior lecturer and head of Communication and Information
Management Programme, School of Media and Communication Studies, Universiti
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 The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Vol. 16(3), 2011, article 8

Kebangsaan Malaysia. His expertise is on public relations and framing. He can be

contacted at chang@[Link].

Maizatul Haizan Mahbob is a lecturer at the same school and currently submitted her
PhD thesis at Universiti Sains Malaysia in public policy and e-governance. She can be
contacted at maiz@[Link].

References:
A. Rahim, S. & L. Pawanteh. 2003. “The Emerging Generation.” In Communication
Issues, edited by Samsudin A. Rahim. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Ampang Press

Salman, Ali. 2009. “ICT, the New Media (Internet) and Development: Malaysian
Experience.” The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 15(1),
article 5. Retrieved December 29, 2011 from [Link]/volumes-issues/vol15-
[Link].

Finkelhor, D., K. J. Mitchell & J. Wolak. 2000. Online Victimization: A Report on the
Nation’s Youth. Durham NH: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Huffaker, D. 2006. “Teen Blogs Exposed: The Private Lives of Teens Made Public.”
Paper presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAS), St.
Louis, MO.

Griffin, C. 1997. “Representations of the Young.” In Youth in Society, edited by J. Roche

& S. Tucker. London: Sage Publications.

Lampe, C., R. LaRose, C. Steinfield, & K. DeMaagd. 2011. “Inherent Barriers to the Use
of Social Media for Public Policy Informatics.” The Innovation Journal: The Public
Sector Innovation Journal, 16(1), article 6. Retrieved December 29, 2011 from
[Link]/volumes-issues/[Link].

Nobaya Ahmad & Samsudin A. Rahim. 2008. “World Programme of Action for Youth:
A Malaysian Response.” Malaysian Institute for Research in Youth Development.
Serdang: UPM.

O’Reilly, T., 2010. “Government as a Platform.” Pp. 11-39 in Open Government:

Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice, edited by D. Lathrop & L.
Ruma. Sebastopol CA: O’Reilly Media.

Pawanteh, L. S. A. Rahim, 2000. “teen@[Link]: Mediasation and emerging

patterns of lifestyle among young adults in Malaysia.” Paper presented at the ASEAN
Internet forum: Developing a Self-regulatory Framework for Protecting Children and the
Young, November 2-4, 2000, Kuala Lumpur.

Rogers, E. M. 1983. Diffusion of Innovations (3rd ed.). New York: Free Press.

Tengku Nor Rizan, Noraza Ahmad Zabidi, Hazita Azman, Siti Hamin Stapa, Jamilah
Mustafa, Kalthum Ibrahim, Norwati Mohd Yusof & Zaini Amir. 2005. “E-literacy
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Awareness Amongst Rural Youth.” Paper presented at the Symposium of Language and
Linguistics (SoLLs2011), Bangi, Selangor, November 21-23, 2005.

United Nations. 2005. World Youth Report 2005. New York: United Nations Department
of Economic and Social Affairs.

Samsudin A. Rahim

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