Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Metroburb: American Values In Facebook Culture, Heather Marie Carlson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Using critical discourse analysis, fantasy themes were extracted from user profiles and postings to examine American values found in Facebook culture.

Core values found on Facebook worked to create not only socially recognizable identities enacted and communicated through the participants, but also a particular culture to which participants both reflected and contributed in Facebook. Themes and values extracted from findings indicate that Facebook users should be casual, technologically-aware, social, respectful and fair to others, “good little copers,” financially savvy while at the same time valuing higher education, a healthy lifestyle, family and travel.

Because Facebook is an interestingly fluid cultural …

User Motivations For Using Business Facebook Pages, Malcolm Lee Hong

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Although user motives for personal use of Facebook has been frequently researched, literature that describes user motives for business communication purposes is limited. To understand this process, this study employed uses and gratifications theory to interpret users’ motivations for communicating and using business Facebook Pages. An online survey was distributed and completed by 345 participants. This survey asked participants about their personal use of Facebook, their use of business Facebook Pages, and what type of content on Facebook they found gratifying. Content analysis was also utilized to observe users’ communicative patterns on business Facebook Pages.

It was found that, in …

Exploring Dialectics In Grandparent Grief: Communication With Family And Friends Following The Death Of A Grandchild, Ashley Nicole Duchow-Moore

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A relational dialectics perspective was adopted for this study in order to better understand the tensions and contradictions bereaved grandparents experience following the death of a grandchild. The interviews of eleven grandmothers and five grandfathers were analyzed using a qualitative/interpretive method, leading to implications regarding the nature of grandparent grief. Grandparents experienced tensions in their own grief and in their multiple roles within the family structure after a grandchild died. Grandparents expressed contradictions in their role as a stable supporter versus griever, as well as balancing the need for protection and privacy. Grandparents negotiated these tensions through conscious communicative choices …