Digital Commons Network^™

Strangers Switching Their Identities: Cultural Identity Management And Performance On Social Media A Qualitative Analysis Of International Students’ Intercultural (Ex)Change Processes And Perceptions Regarding Their Stay In The United States And Countries Of Origin, Vivian Kretzschmar

All Theses

In this globalized world, cross-country travel for education has been a prevalent (5.6 million students identified as international students in 2020) and ever-increasing (with a predicted increase of 250% by 2030) trend through the past decades. The sojourn impacts the students’ experience of the new culture and the ensuing shocks and adaptations. The understanding of something as complicated as culture, trying to be integrated into a new culture, and its perception to individuals, of course, have their ways of distinct communication trends through social media.

The struggle of maintaining and changing one’s cultural identity and adaptation across cultures has been …

Cultivation 2.0: The Mediated Environment As Message In The 21st Century, Chelsea Slack

All Dissertations

It is hard to deny social media and its omnipresence is affecting users. What’s more, the online mediated environment is becoming increasingly diverse, with more social media platforms being created and used each year. What is social media doing to us? How do different platforms affect views of users? To answer these questions, this study applied cultivation theory to the mediated environment, which included the social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok. With 413 respondents, the results of this study indicated that Facebook consumption is related to first order cultivation effects, and non-Facebook platforms contribute to …

On Moving Beyond And Looking Behind: An Analysis Of Contemporary Queer Of Color Digital Art And Performance, Caroline Kinderthain

All Theses

Queer theory has long limited its revolutionary potential by prioritizing white gay cis men in the fight for political and social change. Theorists like Roderick Ferguson, José Esteban Muñoz, Gloria Anzaldua, Audre Lorde, and Jasbir Puar, to name a few, have expanded the foundations of queer theory to account for queer people of color and the potential for queer futurity. The innovative work on queer utopia that is set up in Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia is the foundation for the performance and art analyses that shape this project. To contextualize the queer utopian looking that I find crucial to these objects, …

"We've Had Enough": Youth Activists' Pathways To Participation And Social Media Practices Following The Parkland Shooting, Allyson Marie Wilcox

All Dissertations

After the 2018 shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students across the United States participated in a national school walkout to protest school shootings. In conducting this study, I set out to examine two aspects of youth activism in relation to social media. First, how social media affected pathways to participation for high school students who participated in the National School Walkout. Second, how youth used social media in their activism.

Multiple case study (Yin, 2014) was used to explore how eight youth activists who organized and conducted a march for gun control laws reacted to …

Behind The Handle: Exploring The Experience Of Social Media Managers For Professional Sports Teams, Megan Courage

All Theses

The current study aims to expand sports communication literature from an organizational standpoint. Current literature does not recognize social media departments as an integral part of organizational communication, but rather as a function of public relations (PR) strategy. This study consists of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with social media managers currently working for a professional sports team. Participants discuss their experience working within a professional sports organization, including their interdepartmental structure and relationships, and aspects of their job that they think the general public would be surprised to learn. The study builds upon existing literature concerning sports communication, social media, PR, …

The Effectiveness Of Multimedia Digital Graphics In The Context Of A Simulated Content Environment, Christopher Knox

All Theses

The overall purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the effectiveness and potential benefits or shortcomings of digital motion graphics when utilized in the context of a real-world marketing effort. It is vital to evaluate whether or not the understanding we currently have of motion graphics as a tool for effective communication still remains consistent when principles of visual noise, attention capacity limits, pairing with physical materials, and coordination across mediums are taken into consideration. Participants in this study were asked to interact with prepared content within the framing of a simulated social media feed viewed on a computer or …

Exploring Destination Image Themes On Twitter, Before, During, And After Terror Attacks In Paris: An Application Of Agenda Setting Theory, Zeynep A. Gedikoglu

All Dissertations

Paris, France is one of the most popular tourism destinations in the contemporary tourism industry. In November 2015, Paris experienced the deadliest terror attacks in its history. Newspapers and broadcast media spread the information through news, while masses have utilized social media to get instant information. The main purpose of this study is to explore how the destination image of the capital of France, Paris, is affected by the terror crisis. The study has explored user-generated social media data before, during, and after the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris to understand factors of the destination image. Correspondingly, by accessing …

Integrating Decision Aids To Enhance The Sensemaking Process Of Online Information Consumers In Social Media, Amal Pradeep Ponathil

All Theses

With the increase in the number of online review websites, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has become a vital information source for consumers. People share their views on the Internet in different forms from blogs to reviews on various websites. At the same time, people prefer to remain anonymous or use fake virtual identities for reasons extending from privacy to enjoyment. This freedom afforded by anonymity has led people to write posts without fully considering the potential consequences of their actions. Moreover, there is increasing concern about the trustworthiness of such posts as there is typically no editorial process for verification of …

The Role Of Selected Social Media Platforms In Travel To Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Ugand, Ingrid Nyonza Nyakabwa

All Theses

In recent years, numerous sources of social media have increasingly played an important role in tourism marketing, and have had a profound effect on Destination Management Organisations' ability to effectively promote their destinations. With the emergence of more social media platforms, there are more tourism stakeholders recognising the increased importance to access information for tourists related to their destinations of interest. For example, tourist destination managers use Social media to provide information about their travel and tour packages, specific tourist attractions, accommodation costs, guiding services, and all other travel related information. Tourists use social media in their planning process to …

The Role Of Social Media As A Constraint Negotiation Resource: Implication For Collegiate Women's Sporting Event Attendance, Yuilynn Miao

All Theses

Clemson University has experienced low attendance rates at women's sporting events over the past few years. Undergraduate students are possibly limited in their intention to attend these events by various constraints (i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural). Although these constraints can reduce students' intention to attend women's sporting events, the negotiation process can reduce and possibly overcome the impact of these barriers through various resources and strategies. Social media is one popular negotiation tool that provides equal opportunity for many potential users and is not limited by time or location. This study framed social media as a constraint negotiation resource, exploring …

Snowedout Atlanta: An Analysis Of How Stakeholders Engaged In A Facebook Online Support Group During A Crisis, Meredith Leigh Morgoch

All Theses

In 2014, snowstorms hit the southern U.S. and paralyzed the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area. The people of Atlanta and the surrounding areas accessed a Facebook group page, SnowedOut Atlanta (SOA), and some used it to strategically survive the storm. The social media posts produced by the residents of Atlanta before and after the storm provide a rich case of study for health-related, crisis Communication and social media scholars. The objective of this thesis was to investigate the use of social media for the SOA Facebook group through the analyses of wall posts. In order to explore this line of inquiry, …

Translating Knowledge Of Autism Spectrum Disorders To Action Through Tool Development And Exploration, Rebecca A. Garcia

All Dissertations

Translational processes are needed to move research development, methods, and techniques into clinical application. The knowledge to action framework organizes this bench to bedside process through three phases including: research, translation, and institutionalization without being specific to one disease or condition. The overall goal of this research is to bridge gaps in the translational process from assay development to disease detection through a mixed methods approach. A literature review identifies gaps associated with intestinal permeability and autism spectrum disorders. Mining social media related to autism and GI symptoms captures self-reported or observed data, identifies patterns and themes within the data, …

Social Media Public Relations Practices Of Community Non-Profit Organizations, Megan Stockhausen

All Theses

This thesis examines the use of social media for public relations in the non-profit sector. Specifically, self-perceptions and the implementation of social media by non-profit organizations was investigated through both interviews with social media practitioners and content analysis of Twitter. Through the lens of the five principles of dialogic communication, as set forth by Kent and Taylor (1998), eight community non-profit organizations were analyzed in a multiple case study. One interview and 150 tweets from a 12 month period were examined for each organization to determine the motivations for employing social media and whether dialogic communication was used to interact …

Cybersociology A To Z, Katherine Butler

All Theses

My prints explore the prevalence of the Internet in contemporary culture and how online communication has affected maturation and an individual's growing perception and representation of self. By combining commonly used Internet jargon and a traditional alphabet flashcard motif, I have created an Alphabet Series that allows me to draw comparison between online and offline spaces, as well as to describe the way in which the Internet as a social tool has changed communication mutually across the digital and actual realms. Using the most popular social media websites for North American adolescents as a reference, I have explored the way …

Organizational Communication And The Meanings Of Social Media As Cultural Mediums: A Case Study Of Intramural Sport Participants' Interpretations Of Online Presence, Madeline Blair

All Theses

This thesis analyzes the relationship between organizational communication and social media presence in organizational culture. Using a university intramural sport program (UIM) as a case study, this study addresses the role of organizational members' interpretations of the introduction of social media into organizational processes and culture. This study an attempt to reveal a disconnect between organizational communication techniques and social media as cultural mediums by offering an interpretive approach to analysis of the UIM culture using Craig and Tracy's (1995) grounded practical theory. Ten interviews with UIM student employees and sport players were conducted and data were analyzed qualitatively. Findings …

Building Non-Profit Communities Online: A Case Study Of A Hospital Facebook Page, Mary Parker

All Theses

Businesses and organizations are increasingly using online communities to extend brand loyalty from the real world to the virtual world of consumers and other key stakeholders. However, the return on investment for launching an online community can only be realized when appropriate audiences are attracted and interact. This two-phase research study explores a recently launched online community representing a rural hospital in South Carolina. This thesis includes a literature review, in-depth description of the methodology I used, results of a survey and textual analysis of a Facebook page, and a discussion of best practices and future suggestions. I hope that …

Social Media As A Branding Tool In Heterogeneous Organizations: A Collective Case Study Approach, Heather Dunn

All Theses

The concept of branding can be applied to an endless list of topics including products, organizations, and individuals. Just as a product line can have a brand identity, so can a university, business or non-profit. This thesis details a study on universities, businesses and non-profits and how they use social media as a branding tool. In this thesis, I provide a brief literature review, describe my methodologies, describe in detail the research of each of the three cases and finally, draw conclusions and suggest future research. This thesis ends with a list of references and additional readings that provide insight …