QScience Connect - 1-Thesis, May 2023

Social media use has become ingrained in life in the 21^st century. As a result of such pervasiveness, there is extensive research on the myriad of positive and negative effects of social media use on adults worldwide. The State of Qatar is among the countries with the highest social media penetration levels relative to its population. Despite this, some people consciously choose to deactivate from social media. Through theoretical frameworks relating to models and motivations of behavioral change, this qualitative study of 26 participants sought to examine what factors influence adults in Qatar to deactivate one or more social media accounts. Results showed that four themes emerged as reasons for deactivation: impact on time, distorted value, mental/physical health and well-being, and/or a tipping point/instigating incident. Several other factors acted as barriers to or supported discontinuous social media use. This research’s theoretical and practical implications are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.

In the era of technological advancement, personalized learning trends are rising rapidly. Consequently, we are swiftly developing the traditional education scope, the social networking dimension, and its relationship with data acquisition. Notably, we live in a prospective learning ecosystem characterized by the demand of being cognitively flexible with a prolonged effect of the growth mindset. Social Media (SM) is becoming the new norm in students personal and academic lives. Surprisingly, SM consumption in the Middle East is critical, where 9 out of 10 Arab youths use at least one social media channel daily. This study explores the role of SM on thoughts and behaviors in students’ decision- making to select a university in Lebanon. The following questions were examined (1) what role does social media marketing play in Lebanese high school students’ decision-making when selecting a university to study? and (2) How do universities use social media marketing to attract new students’ enrolment? Little research was published to explore the challenging role of social media in higher educational institutions in Lebanon and how it influences the decision-making of students. Hence, this research is an exploratory study where qualitative methods were adopted to investigate the above two objectives, resulting in a proposed emerging framework.

Background: Employee motivation is a success factor for every organization. Previous studies state that motivation is a factor that triggers people when there are incentives to achieve a desired goal. Aim: This paper investigates the motivation and impact of employee performance in the banking sector. Also, the paper investigates how employees perform in their jobs based on how they are treated, compensated, and encouraged. Method: Data was gathered using a structured questionnaire with a sample of 100 employees working in one of the leading banks in Oman. Statistical measures like descriptive and chi-square analysis were used to validate the study hypotheses. Regression analysis was used to find the influence of financial and non-financial factors on employee performance. Results: The results indicated that financial motivating factors such as salary, bonus, health allowance, and house rent have a great influence on an employee's performance, with the study implicating how much the employee cares about financial motivation. Due to this, both the employee and the bank will benefit and develop in the future. Moreover, non-financial factors such as appreciation, work-life balance, job security, manager's behavior, and working hours significantly impact employees' performance. It was found that 89% of the employees are motivated by financial incentives, and 76% of them confirmed that they are motivated by non-financial incentives. Many theories have stated that when employees are motivated, they are satisfying their need for the work, resulting in better performance. The findings shed light on the factors that banks should focus on to enhance employees' job performance. The study recommends the need for a motivation scheme that directly relates to employees' productivity in the banking sector of Oman.