Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Studying The Effects Of High School Athletics Social Media, Justin Scott

Honors Theses

This research project focuses on high school athletics social media pages and their relevance to high school communication audiences and institutional communication goals.

I conducted two in-depth interviews with school officials from a large Michigan high school, a survey of the high school sports social media followers, and an analysis of data from that high school’s Facebook page.

I was able to determine that seeing social media content from high school athletics pages had a positive relationship with how the school’s quality of social media communication was perceived, intentions to attend athletic events, and an increased awareness of the school’s …

Canines For Disabled Kids, Erin Jerrett, Margarita Mnatsakanyan, Colleen Reynolds, Yin Wang

School of Professional Studies

Canines for Disabled Kids have been working on behalf of children and their families to educate communities and promote service dog partnerships for almost twenty years. Their advocacy with local legislatures, business owners, and community leaders highlighted the difficulties encountered when differentiating service dogs from emotional support/comfort dogs. Service dogs are entitled to access by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), while emotional support/comfort dogs are not protected under the federal statute or to the same rights. Canines for Disabled Kids proposed a study to obtain a current count of licensed service dogs in the Commonwealth and investigate the feasibility …

Newsroom Convergence Of Print And Online Media: A Study Of The Gulf News And Alittihad In The Uae, Ahmed Saddiq Mohamed Mansoori

Philosophy Dissertations

The media industry in the UAE, like elsewhere in the world, is experiencing significant changes due to the innovations brought by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Newsrooms are especially the center of such changes, forcing media owners and managers to recognize that convergence of print and online media is inevitable to sustain their newspapers. This research intends to develop an assessment method to determine how newspapers are performing in a convergent media environment. To investigate the three types of newsroom convergence levels (coordination, cross-media, and full integration); the study develops an assessment model for the ten dimensions of newsroom convergence …

Animal Welfare Frames: How Social Media Messages Bridge The Gap Between The Protein Industry And Consumers, Olivia Norton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The two articles in this thesis used content analysis to analyze and compare animal welfare related website and Twitter content of the top five animal protein producing companies in the United States. In the first article, the animal welfare website content of Cargill, Tyson Foods Inc., Smithfield, JBS® and Sysco were analyzed for persuasive frames, common topics, and key terminology to describe their corporate positions on animal welfare. Sysco’s main page devoted to animal welfare dominated the word count with 1,045 words, while JBS®’s main animal welfare page used only 265 words to communicate the company’s views. The most commonly …

A Study Of The Urban Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) Population In Baton Rouge, Louisiana Using Social Media, Ahsennur Soysal

LSU Master's Theses

Foxes are timid yet resourceful animals that are integrated into many urban environments. Because they are elusive, collecting information about the number of urban foxes, their diet and spatial distribution, their interactions with the ecological community in their urban habitat, as well as residents’ response to them, is difficult. Involving stakeholders to participate in the data collection on wildlife via citizen science on social media is one way to overcome this complication, while simultaneously engaging residents in the ecology happening around them. Therefore, we used social media as the platform to engage the public to document and map the foxes …

Weather Communication On Twitter: Identifying Popular Content And Optimal Warning Format Via Case Studies And A Survey Analysis, Joshua D. Eachus

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The use of Twitter as a channel for weather information inspires a deeper analysis of key information nodes during episodes of high impact weather, especially local meteorologists. To optimize communication on the channel, it is important to understand what kinds of messages produce exposure and attention among users—which translates to knowledge that could improve the reach of a warning. Literature identifies two key models that well describe the cognitive processing of tweets and warnings. The Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) describes risk perception and the factors that enable or disable one from acting on a warning. Particularly through environmental and …

From Guest To Host: Cultural And Language Conflict In The Korean American Catholic Parish, Irene H. Park

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Pastoral ministry in the context of Korean American Catholic parishes brings many challenges, including that of cultural conflict. Frequent miscommunications occur between the Korean speaking and English speaking groups who coexist in these parishes. Considering some of the socio-cultural and theological factors of this issue, which are explored in this paper, a pastoral plan utilizing social media is proposed.

Is Every Tweet Created Equal? A Framework To Identify Relevant Tweets For Business Research, Thad Chee

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Theses & Dissertations

It is a life or death matter for a firm to observe its environment and identify new threats or opportunities quickly. Information technology has increased firm’s speed and agility in responding to environmental changes. Social media offers a vast and timely source of environmental information that firms can readily use gauge public sentiment. Twitter is a high-speed service that allows anyone to “tweet” a message to any interested parties. Firms can access near instantaneous changes in the public mood about any topic by using Sentiment Analysis. These topics range from predicting equities prices to predicting election outcomes. A gap exists …

Trolling Twitter, Eric Vorst

Dissertations

Political polarization is a defining feature of the contemporary American political landscape. While there is little doubt that elite polarization levels have risen dramatically in recent decades, there is some debate over the existence of a corresponding rise in mass polarization. Recent scholarship on mass polarization has cited evidence related to citizens’ positions on public policy issues, party sorting, and geographic polarization; however, questions remain as to the nature and extent of mass polarization in online spaces. Specifically, more needs to be known regarding how expressions of elite polarization influence the formation of polarized communities within social media.

This dissertation …

The Queer Allure Of Digital Sociality, Benjamin Parrish Haber

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the resonance between queer sociality and emergent forms of digital communication. Drawing from queer theory and LGBTQ social histories, this dissertation charts the convergence of digital social modulation with the polyvalence, promiscuity, and mutability of queer sociality. A close analysis of the infrastructure and design of Facebook, Snapchat, Grindr, and other queered social media platforms demonstrates how digital capitalism’s desire for lifelong compulsive engagement is in part facilitated by an appropriation of the ongoingness of queer sexuality and relationality. In highlighting the key role of temporality, aesthetic, and affect in regulating the creation and circulation of digital …

Who Posts Selfies And Why?: Personality, Attachment Style, And Mentalization As Predictors Of Selfie Posting On Social Media, Nancy Adler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the phenomenon of selfie posting on social media and its relationship to narcissism, the Dark Triad, impulsivity, attachment style, rejection sensitivity, and reflective functioning. The sample was made up of 499 participants who completed an online survey consisting of personality measures and open- and closed-ended questions about selfie posting behavior. Data were analyzed using a negative binomial regression model.

Results: The study found that individuals with high levels of the Dark Triad trait of psychopathy post more selfies on social media than do individuals with low levels of the trait. The Dark Triad trait of narcissism was …

Advancing Democracy One Tweet At A Time, Landon T. Hester

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis takes a broad look how citizens use social media to foster political discussion, enhance political knowledge and engage in political participation in the United States. In this study, democracy is broken down into three empirically measurable components: political discussion, knowledge and participation. To begin, I provide an in-­‐depth review of past research examining the impact social media has on each element of democracy. In addition, I analyze data collected from a novel social media panel of 3,811 Twitter users by researchers from Louisiana State University (Davis et. al, 2017). From this, I measure the impact that Facebook and …

Marketing Strategy Of School Of Professional Studies In China, Jiahui Liu, Jing Wang, Shuo An, Wengxing Wang, Yiwei Wang

School of Professional Studies

Chinese students are the most visible international presence at many universities across the United States, and the number continues to grow. Since 2010, The number of graduate students studying abroad has entered the period in which the increase has been declining. Under the circumstance of the weak global economy and high cost of education, the administration needs to attract the attention of Chinese students. In the process of competing for applicants, how to develop marketing strategies to attract students’ eyeballs has become an important means of trying to increase school income through Chinese students. The marketing strategy mentioned in this …

Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo’S New Dream Center: Bringing Awareness And Increasing Student And Staff Outreach Through Social Media, Brenda Itzel Garcia

Journalism

The following study investigates how using social media as a platform for Cal Poly’s new Dream Center will increase the percentage of outreach and promote awareness among students and staff.

The number of undocumented students on campus continues to grow every year since 2012 when former President, Barak Obama, first introduced introduced DACA. However out of 65,000 undocumented students who graduate high school in the United States, only 10% continue to pursue a higher education, and only 8% of those students actually complete and undergraduate degree.

The purpose of having a dream center is to increase the graduation rates, have …

How Visual Communication Strategies, Brand Familiarity, And Personal Relevance Influence Instagram Users’ Responses To Brand Content, Lijie Zhou

Dissertations

This study comprehensively investigated the effects of visual themes, visual perspective, personal relevance, and brand familiarity on brand constructions (attitude-toward-brand, brand love, brand respect, and three dimensions of brand image) on Instagram. The study consists of two parts. In Study 1, the main and interaction effects of visual design elements on individuals’ visual attentions, brand recognition, and attitude toward brands were examined by using a 4 (visual theme: customer-centric, employee-centric, product-centric, and non-branded) × 2 (view perspective: first-person view vs. third-person view) between-subject eye-tracking test. In Study 2, a 4 (visual theme: customer-centric, employee-centric, non-brand, and product-centric) ×2 (brand familiarity: …

Proving Marketing Roi: A Digital Marketing Framework, Andrew Wiltsie

Master of Arts in Media and Communication Plan II Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study is to analyze emerging literature on the best practices in selecting marketing objectives, web analytics/KPI goals, and marketing mix channels by using digital marketing to provide executives with proof of marketing ROI. Evidence-based research was used to analyze emerging trends in digital marketing by combining literature on setting marketing objectives, web analytic and KPI goals, and selecting marketing mix channels. This study contributes a framework that can be used by both educators and practitioners to showcase the most common practices in digital marketing and how they can be applied to create an effective and efficient …

Do I Deserve To Spend? Social Support And Spending Pleasure, Kawon Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite evidence of people posting their consumption experience on online social networks to fulfill the needs of social support, a systemic understanding of how social support obtained via online social networks affects post-consumption behaviors related to spending remains elusive. This dissertation aims to answer the question of how social support via online social networks affects consumer’s post-consumption behavior by investigating in what form and from whom consumers obtain online social support. To do so, the purpose of this dissertation is to examine how online social support from others influences perceptions of deservingness which then influences spending pleasure. This dissertation focuses …

Social Network Impact On Corporate Performance And Governance, Jonathan Chew Hoe Khoo

Dissertations and Theses Collection

Motivated by the centrality measures constructed in Larcker, So and Wang (2013), I affirm that board connectedness positively affect firm performance in Singapore, and even if we were to measure firm performance by Tobin's Q. The impact on firm performance persists over at least four years. Controlling for Corporate Governance using a proprietary database, the Singapore Corporate Governance Index, only the Eigenvector centrality under simple-weighted and hyperbolic-weighted projections survives the robustness test, suggesting that firstly, the local proxy of Corporate Governance based on OECD principles possibly controls for what is proxied by the Betweenness, Closeness and Degree centrality measures, and …

Social Media Use By Non-Profit Organizations In Kenya, Irene M. Malinga

Masters Essays

Social media is used by individuals, companies, government institutes and organizations to communicate to the public, to market their products, as well as conduct public relations. In Kenya, companies, individuals and the government have mastered the public relations and marketing aspect of social media, yet local organizations are still struggling with finding their voice in the social media spaces. However, local organizations have mastered the act of using social media to reach their audiences. Although research has been done on how many Kenyan users are on various social media platforms, there is less information on how organizations use social media …

Reconceptualizing The Work Of A Content Provider For An Online Audience: A Case Study For How Pedagogical Strategies Can Provide Models Of Engagement For Producers Of Entertainment, Diane Cooke

English Theses & Dissertations

With the interconnectivity of the Internet, and the availability of affordable media compositional tools, the proliferation of online media continues to grow exponentially. However, each day is still comprised of a fixed 24 hours, with far fewer hours spent in active media consumption. Considering the global potential for content to be found (Moreville), discovered (Cormier) or spread (Jenkins), content providers are looking for ways to attract, cultivate and hopefully expand their audiences amid all this digital clutter. In the field of entertainment, this challenge is complicated when small content providers are not aligned with an online, curated network such as …

Changing Times: An Examination Changing Video Entertainment Sources And Cable Tv Companies Communicating With Customers, Chad Christenson

Master of Arts in Media and Communication Plan II Graduate Projects

The debate of customers canceling their cable TV subscriptions and relying on a mix of free and subscription based streaming video providers for their video entertainment has been ongoing for several years. A combination of low cost alternative video sources, rising programming costs, and changing viewing habits are causing small cable TV companies to review their strategies for attracting new customers. This study focuses on two groups of consumers referred to as the cord-cutters and cord-nevers. The cord-cutters are consumers who had cable TV service and canceled, and the cord-nevers are consumers who have never had cable TV as their …

A Political Ecology Of Information: Media And The Dilemma Of State Power In China, Michael L. Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I employ a Weberian concept of social power in order to theorize the challenges posed by, and the varieties of state response to, the dilemma of state power: the need of all states to empower societies with social capacities that may, in turn, threaten state interests. Through a comparison of traditional and new forms of media in China, I show that rather than posing qualitatively new types of challenges to authoritarian states, new media exacerbate the dilemma of state power. They do so because along each of three dimensions of social control, new media shift the relationship …

Black Models Matter: Challenging The Racism Of Aesthetics And The Facade Of Inclusion In The Fashion Industry, Scarlett L. Newman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The global fashion market is expanding every day, but often, the global fashion runways do not reflect that reality. On average, black models make up for six percent of models used on the runway during the fashion month calendar. This small percentage is also mirrored in advertisements and editorials featured in popular fashion magazines. In the 1970s, black models were met with great opportunities, and that success trickled down into the 1980s and the 1990s. As the 90s came to a close, top designers opted for an aesthetic that ultimately excluded models of color, but black models beared the brunt …

The Consequences Of And Factors Affecting Perceptions And Use Of Technology, Patrick Gardner

Honors Theses

Technology and its impacts on society are the subject of constant debate. Technology has been influential in creating a global economy, which has given people more time for leisure activities. However, technology has also produced unintended by-products, including issues such as a dependence on foreign nations for commodities like food. Analyzing both the positive and negative consequences of technology can help people better understand both its regional and global impacts. In turn, this knowledge can help us make more beneficial choices regarding how we use technology moving forward. This thesis explores how technology positively and negatively affects society, and will …

Promoting Beneficial Social Media Use In Lonely College Students With Film, Francesca P. Ricapito

Journalism

This study explores the relationship between loneliness and approaches to social media in relation to college students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Understanding why and how individuals engage with social networks can provide avenues into which they can establish online habits that are beneficial to their overall wellbeing. Qualitative data was gathered from interviews with two members of faculty and staff as well as four students, their responses recorded and interpreted as an essay film. Respondents expressed the need for awareness and mindfulness when approaching social media by periodically assessing their own activities and feelings while …

Modernizing A Podcast Media Organization Via Social And New Media Rebranding Methods, Randi A. Hair

Journalism

The following study and subsequent public relations campaign is intended to explore the difficulties, opportunities, caveats and all facets of transitioning a traditional travel media organization to new media. It unearths the pitfalls/barriers that naturally occur and aggregate over time when an organization or journalist (specifically “Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer” in this scenario) has not adapted nor altered their practices for changing common practices in the media industries. In this campaign, journalist Thomas Wilmer is seeking to increase his podcast audience and digital presence.

The research conducted for this study is two-fold. Firstly, the research demonstrates best practices …

Like, Comment, And Share: Distortion Of Information On Facebook, Sungwoo Hong

Global Honors Theses

Social media users all around the globe use Facebook to stay connected with each other, and it is a dominant source of news: “over 63% of users acquire their news from social media” (Schmidt, 2017, p.3035). The connectivity of social media has created unintended consequences that promote or influence creation and dissemination of misinformation. By literature review and using real world example, this research identifies sources and provocation of inaccurate news, and explores how user interaction within social media promotes dissemination of distorted information.

Wardle (2017) from FirstDraftNews, suggests that there are seven distinct types of content and eight different …

Effects Of Para-Social Presence On The Consumer Decision Journey, Ayda Tahmasbi

Communication Studies

Para-social presence is investigated in this research study to determine its effects on the consumer decision journey. Attachment styles are also taken into consideration as a possible influence on establishing para-social presence. This study specifically looks at an internet personality’s social media platforms, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and her social media marketing efforts for the release of her new book, Almost Adulting. This study found statistically significant relationships between increasing level of para-social presence across Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Further, the study found that para-social presence has a positive correlation with consumers’ initial consideration, purchase decision, and post-purchase experience. Finally, …

Innovative Dance Music Productions: Social Media Marketing Campaign, Savannah M. Smith, Julia P. Melmon

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Social Media And The Voice Of The Department, Brittany N. Rios

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

More law enforcement agencies are adopting social media as a progressive policing strategy each year. They utilize it for several reasons including, community outreach and engagement, public relations, notifying the public of safety concerns, recruitment, intelligence gathering for investigations, among other uses (IACP, 2017). This study explores Southern California Law Enforcements’ use of social media through a survey and content analysis. First, the survey results suggest that more than 93% of departments surveyed concentrate on community outreach through their social media channels. Second, the content analysis results suggest that when media (pictures/video), links, and hashtags (#), are included in posts …