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Social Media

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Electronic Theses and Dissertations

2018

Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Effects Of Social Proof Through Social Media On Perceptions Of Responsibility, Taylor Powers Dec 2018

The Effects Of Social Proof Through Social Media On Perceptions Of Responsibility, Taylor Powers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Situational crisis communication theory, also referred to as SCCT, is a central and very well-developed theory in the field of crisis communication. The goal of SCCT is to create a response strategy based on stakeholders’ levels of attributions of responsibility. SCCT states there are two main factors stakeholders take into consideration when attributing responsibility to an organization in crisis: crisis type and performance history. While the previously stated factors are very important, the progressive development of social media is not taken into consideration in this theory, specifically the use of social proof through social media channels. According to the principle …

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“Friendship With A Brand”: Parasocial Interaction With Burger Brands On Social Media, Alexander E. Carter May 2018

“Friendship With A Brand”: Parasocial Interaction With Burger Brands On Social Media, Alexander E. Carter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study represents a content analysis of the efforts of real-world brands to facilitate parasocial interaction with their followers. The researcher examined these social media exchanges through the scope of parasocial interaction theory, uncertainty reduction theory, and social response theory. The researcher examined posts in mid to late August 2017 and utilized a code sheet to find confirmed parasocial interaction triggers by brands, and examples of parasocial interaction in the posts of those brands’ followers. The researcher looked to see if the utilization of previous research in controlled environments could provide the framework for studying the non-controlled conditions of …

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Eggplants And Peaches: Understanding Emoji Usage On Grindr, Emeka E. Moses May 2018

Eggplants And Peaches: Understanding Emoji Usage On Grindr, Emeka E. Moses

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on how gay men communicate on the Grindr dating app. Prior research has been conducted on how gay men construct their online identities, however, few studies explore how gay men experience interactions online, negotiate their relationships with other men online, and perceive other users. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 20 men who use the Grinder app, a location-based dating app used by men who have sex with men. Additional data were collected by observing user profiles on the app, which is free and public. This comprehensive, qualitative study of gay men who use Grindr provides insights …

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The Motivations And Uses Of Instagram, Rehab Althobaiti May 2018

The Motivations And Uses Of Instagram, Rehab Althobaiti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instagram is revolutionary in social media and networking, but little is known about the factors, social or psychological, that motivate users to become constant users on this app. A comprehensive survey was created, 277 college-aged Instagram users responded about their motivation, attitude, purpose, and primary activities regarding Instagram. The results show that Instagram users have five fundamental social and psychological motives: social interaction, archiving, self-expression, escapism, and peeking. Results showed that males were different from females in the following areas of using Instagram: create a personal space, interact with a number of people, keep in touch with friends far away, …

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Political Journalists Tweet About The Final 2016 Presidential Debate, Hannah Hopper May 2018

Political Journalists Tweet About The Final 2016 Presidential Debate, Hannah Hopper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Past research shows that journalists are gatekeepers to information the public seeks. Using the gatekeeping and agenda-setting theory, this study used a content analysis of tweets from political journalists during the final 2016 presidential debate to examine social media usage in efforts to convey information to followers and whether social media has allowed for journalists to present a more transparent view of candidates to the public. This study used feminist political theory to further analyze whether the tweets from political journalists portrayed Hillary Clinton, the female candidate, with stereotypical “female” traits, such as more emotional and more trustworthy. Applying these …

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Throne Of Fans: Examining The Roles Of Feminism, Platform And Community In An Online Fandom, Sarah Leiser Jan 2018

Throne Of Fans: Examining The Roles Of Feminism, Platform And Community In An Online Fandom, Sarah Leiser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis involves examining the influence of feminism, platform and community on the fandom of Sarah J Maas (SJM) novels on the social network site Tumblr. The goals are to show how a shift to an open social network site has changed the practice of fandom and how various feminisms are applied to popular culture and learned through Tumblr. An ethnographic study and textual analysis on SJM fandom posts and interactions on Tumblr were utilized in order to reach these goals. The observations and analysis examines the data in three categories: the established characteristics of fandom on Tumblr, the characteristics …

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Las Hijas De Violencia: Performance, The Street, And Online Discourse, Madison M. Snider Jan 2018

Las Hijas De Violencia: Performance, The Street, And Online Discourse, Madison M. Snider

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores street harassment as a contentious practice in the rhetorical spaces of the street and social media posting through a case study of the performance group Las Hijas de Violencia. Through anarchistic direct action resistance tactics, the group confronted harassers in the streets of Mexico City and their recordings launched global media interest which led to viral online sharing. Widespread sharing of their performance led to the creation of public discursive space, through comments sections, which was utilized to measure attitudes toward street harassment and feminist direct action protest. Contextualized in a growing call for an end to …

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#Fashioningidentity And #Performingauthenticity: Communicative, Relational, And Affective Labor In The Digital Frontier Of Fashion And Lifestyle Blogging, Jessica L. Neumann Jan 2018

#Fashioningidentity And #Performingauthenticity: Communicative, Relational, And Affective Labor In The Digital Frontier Of Fashion And Lifestyle Blogging, Jessica L. Neumann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fashion and lifestyle blogs serves as a new cultural space, where bloggers are viewed as influencers and set cultural, societal standards of an ideal womanhood. Female bloggers' various forms of labor - specifically, communicative, relational, and affective - establish a blogger's role in social and economic life and reiterate the significance of consumerism as a hallmark of femininity. Fashion and lifestyle bloggers are typically women, whose labor sustains the fashion and lifestyle blogging ecosystem. This occurs through consistent, branded communication; cultivating connections and relationships with followers and fellow bloggers; and transference of affect across digital divides, in real time, through …

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Social Media Usage By Municipal Elected Officials For Open Government Community Engagement, Sarah Stoeckel Jan 2018

Social Media Usage By Municipal Elected Officials For Open Government Community Engagement, Sarah Stoeckel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As public administration has evolved with the technological advances in today's society, it can be challenging to ensure the demands of the public are being met in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and engagement. Nonetheless, a focus on community remains at the forefront of public administration. When looking at technology and the community, the tool known as social media emerges. Social media has allowed people to interact in new ways and therefore, has allowed the government to interact with citizens in ways they have not been able to in the past. In addition to attempting to modernize public administration, there has …

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App-Ily Ever After - Self-Presentation And Perception Of Others On The Dating App Tinder, Johnathan Dunlop Jan 2018

App-Ily Ever After - Self-Presentation And Perception Of Others On The Dating App Tinder, Johnathan Dunlop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Location-based real-time dating (LBRTD) apps have become an increasingly common way for people to broaden their social network and meet others for the purposes of dating, friendship, and more. This investigation focused on Tinder, presently the most widely-used LBRTD app. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-three current and recent Tinder users to gain insight into their self-presentation strategies and impressions of others on the app. The questions concentrated around four major topic areas: use of photos, use of bio text, perception of others, and real or imagined deception. A grounded theory approach was used to frame the data. From this, …

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Using Hashtags To Disambiguate Aboutness In Social Media Discourse: A Case Study Of #Orlandostrong, Nicholas Dearmas Jan 2018

Using Hashtags To Disambiguate Aboutness In Social Media Discourse: A Case Study Of #Orlandostrong, Nicholas Dearmas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the field of writing studies has studied digital writing as a response to multiple calls for more research on digital forms of writing, research on hashtags has yet to build bridges between different disciplines' approaches to studying the uses and effects of hashtags. This dissertation builds that bridge in its interdisciplinary approach to the study of hashtags by focusing on how hashtags can be fully appreciated at the intersection of the fields of information research, linguistics, rhetoric, ethics, writing studies, new media studies, and discourse studies. Hashtags are writing innovations that perform unique digital functions rhetorically while still hearkening …

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#Rest In Digital Peace: Examining Attachment Dimensions' Relationship To Grief Messages On Facebook, Kendall Uhrich Jan 2018

#Rest In Digital Peace: Examining Attachment Dimensions' Relationship To Grief Messages On Facebook, Kendall Uhrich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Grief is a natural reaction to loss that can include behaviors and thoughts that are emotional, physical, and spiritual (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015). With the rise of social media, grief is now performed in a different and more public manner. The current literature has established the connection between how one grieves and their attachment dimension of either attachment anxiety or attachment avoidance (Bowlby, 1980; Schenck, Eberle, & Rings, 2016; Waskowic & Chartier, 2003; Worden, 1983). Attachment dimensions have also been correlated with social media usage, primarily the use of Facebook (Hart, Nalling, Bizer, & Collins, 2015; Lin, 2015). Findings from …

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Celebrities, Fans, And Queering Gender Norms: A Critical Examination Of Lady Gaga's, Nicki Minaj's, And Fans' Use Of Instagram, Brandy Dieterle Jan 2018

Celebrities, Fans, And Queering Gender Norms: A Critical Examination Of Lady Gaga's, Nicki Minaj's, And Fans' Use Of Instagram, Brandy Dieterle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation used queer rhetoric as a lens for studying queering gender norms on Instagram by using Lady Gaga's, Nicki Minaj's, and fan posts as case studies. The research considers how celebrities may use social media, like Instagram, for queering gender norms, and what this might look like. This research also aimed to better understand if and how fans may take up celebrities' efforts at queering gender norms and, in turn, queer gender norms in their own Instagram posts where they tag Gaga or Minaj. To conduct this research, I took a multimodal methodological approach and collected and coded 1,000 …

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