Social Media Governance: An Expert Perspective on Cyber-Acculturation and Subcultural Encounters

Purpose: Social media governance is a multifaceted and complex sociotechnical process, particularly when exposure to different cyber- subcultures leads to acculturation and subsequent cultural change. This research addresses the cyber-acculturation dilemma in the context of social media governance.Method: We explored the opinions of 18 Iranian media experts through online interviews to examine the manageability of the cyber-acculturation process and the measures that may guide users toward adopting positive aspects of cyber-subcultures while avoiding negative ones. Using a basic qualitative approach, we employed Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis with an inductive (bottom-up) method for data analysis.Findings: Our findings are presented in a thematic map of social media governance for cyber acculturation, which includes: Infrastructural Measures (10 sub-themes); Educational Measures (Cultural, Moral, and Media Literacy Education); Cultural Measures (6 sub-themes); Media-Based Measures (4 sub-themes); and Social Control Measures (Formal and Informal Social Control, and Inaction). We also acknowledge the unmanageable aspects of cyber acculturation (the inherent nature of acculturation and social media, and the indefinability of comprehensive criteria).Conclusion: This research contributes to ongoing debates on how governments can govern social media and cyber acculturation in the context of exposure to cyber-subcultures. The suggested map can inform governments about the nature of cyber acculturation and cyber-subcultures, enabling them to govern social media more effectively.