Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Formation Of Tiktok’S Influencer-Led Mental Health Community: A Content Analysis Of Social Penetration Theory, Kellie Ford Stillwell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The following research used a qualitative content analysis to explore the communicative and communal characteristics of online communities that form around the topic of positive mental health communication on the social media platform TikTok. These characteristics were analyzed in the context of social penetration theory in consideration of how TikTok influencers use thematic messaging and acts of self-disclosure to build and enhance their online communities centered on positive mental health communication. In total, 135 TikTok videos and their accompanying comment feeds were analyzed to identify emergent themes, patterns, and concepts relative to the communicative and communal characteristics that define online …

Fake News And Social Media: The Impact Of Emotional Lexicon On Interactive Behaviors, Charles Bishop Montjoy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As issues with fake news continue to increase, so does the need to understand better the motivation for interacting with these types of articles. Social media has become a primary source for finding news. Individuals within social media have the option to share, like, and comment on new articles. Interventions such as fake checkers, rater comments, and other types of warnings have been proven helpful in slowing the believability and interactive behaviors of fake news articles on social media sites. This qualitative, phenomenological study interviewed five participants to gain insight into how individuals experience the negative emotional lexicon within fake …

A New Mother’S Cry: Analyzing Traditional Social Support Versus Online Social Support In Relation To The Postpartum Crisis, Emily Hughes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The present study examines the gap that remains involving the transition from traditional to online social support that many mothers have participated in and how this change in communication methods during postpartum recovery may contribute to mental health disorders. This qualitative study aims to examine the differences in lived experiences among mothers regarding in-person and online forms of social support and how these experiences may impact a new mother’s mental well-being. Based on previous research, the present study hypothesizes that a more significant amount of online social support compared to in-person support will result in a detriment to a new …

The Power Of The “Like”: A Quantitative Study On The Facebook Emoji As Social Support, Lina Rawlings

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study aimed to evaluate how receiving a Facebook “like” correlates to the perception of social support and how much this correlation is moderated by the age and gender of the users. The social information processing theory guided the study, providing a framework to explain how communicators adapt to the restriction of nonverbal cues by creating surrogates to maintain interpersonal relationships in computer-mediated communication circumstances. For the central research question, findings revealed that receiving a Facebook “like” positively correlates with perceptions of social support from Facebook friends and family. While no significant correlation was found between the gender of …

Communication And Community: The Impact Of Closed Facebook Groups On Athletic Trainers, Allison M. Schwartz-Strickland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative research study will use semi-structured interviews to explore the motivations of athletic trainers using social media for professional collaboration. The socio-psychological tradition is used to frame the study. Communities of practice, uses and gratification theory, and the Wisdom of the Crowd model are used as the guiding theoretical perspectives as they provide a framework for understanding how and why athletic trainers use social media. This qualitative study sought to show the impact of closed Facebook Group participation on athletic trainers. How athletic trainers understand patient privacy laws when participating in closed Facebook groups for athletic trainers will also …

The Influencer Effect: Exploring The Persuasive Communication Tactics Of Social Media Influencers In The Health And Wellness Industry, Deborah Marie Deutsch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With the emergence of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, social media influencers (SMIs) have been a growing source of information in the health and wellness industry. Through their creative, informative, and appealing content, SMIs have the innate ability to reach and attain a large following on social media platforms. The purpose of this study is to ascertain an understanding of the persuasive tactics employed by SMIs in the creation and dissemination of information in the health and wellness industry. Using the theoretical framework of Aristotle’s Rhetorical Appeals and Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm, this qualitative study seeks to examine …

Facebook Usage By Small-Town Governments: A Multi-Case Study In Southwestern Virginia, Adam Luke Tolbert

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this mixed methods multi-case study is to analyze (1) how small-town governments are using the Facebook social media platform to serve residents; (2) the results that are experienced by the small-town governments and residents in the town’s use of Facebook; and (3) the factors that influence the small-town governments to use Facebook to serve residents. The setting for the study is three small-town governments (Abingdon, Lebanon, and Marion) located in Southwestern Virginia. The theoretical framework guiding this study is the T3 Framework for Innovation by Dr. Sonny Magana. This theoretical framework, originally created to assess the use …

Self-Image As A Micro Reality: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Social Media Influencers And Adolescent Followers, Jessica Amanda Consterdine

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study aimed to investigate content depicted by social media influencers and examine how its engagement aligns with the theoretical components of social comparison theory, providing an understanding of how adolescents view self-image. The parasocial relationships between social media influencers and adolescent followers on Instagram were investigated by exploring how the relationship dynamic is challenged with paid endorsements, envy by followers, and strategic communication. Incorporating content analysis with thematic analysis from the most popular social media influencers on Instagram, findings revealed a relationship between hashtag usage and the adolescent creation of self-image micro realities. The analysis demonstrated a strong correlation …

Exploring The Relationship Between Mothers And Daughters As It Directly Impacts Social Media Use And Body Image From An Adolescent’S Perspective, Desiree Winslow Saleh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how adolescent females between the ages of thirteen and nineteen feel and think about their relationship with their mothers, and examine how this impacts social media use and body image. Although greatly and typically applied to quantitative research studies, the tripartite influence model of body image was the primary theory that guided this study. With the immediate accessibility to social media platforms, young women are recognizing a decline in their body satisfaction. Social media serves as another social pressure for adolescents to navigate and is filtered through their pre-existing perceptions of …

The Etiology Of A New Era: Where Heroes Become Zeros And Victims Become Villains, Traci Jo Harmon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The United States is in a state of turmoil. Unlike any time before this, division in the country is overtaking the COVID-19 pandemic as the biggest threat to life and liberty. Previous research is contradictive in identifying the etiology of anti-police rhetoric, anti-Christian rhetoric, and victim-blaming. The current research attempts to find out if mainstream and or social media is the etiology of the racial, religious, and victim division in The United States. Attitudes towards law enforcement, Christians, and victims were measured against platforms for current events, hours per day on mainstream and social media, age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Significant …

A Case Study On How Hbcus Use Social Media To Reduce Uncertainty Of Covid-19, Kelsey Anne-Gabrielle Armstrong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This case study aims to understand how HBCUs use social media to deliver crisis communication messages to students about COVID-19 and how the HBCU culture impacts student perspectives. The theory guiding this study is uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1974), as it explains the communication strategies used to reduce uncertainty during a crisis. Data collection was conducted using semi-structured interviews and content analysis. Data analysis strategies included deductive and inductive coding and directed content analysis. The study results provide insight into how the HBCU culture impacts the perspective of an HBCUs response to COVID-19 and overall crisis communication messaging …

Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones But Words Will Never Hurt Me...Until I See Them: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Trolls In Relation To The Gricean Maxims And (Im)Polite Virtual Speech Acts, Angelika C. Smith-Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The troll is one of the most obtrusive and disruptive bad actors on the internet. Unlike other bad actors, the troll interacts on a more personal and intimate level with other internet users. Social media platforms, online communities, comment boards, and chatroom forums provide them with this opportunity. What distinguishes these social provocateurs from other bad actors are their virtual speech acts and online behaviors. These acts aim to incite anger, shame, or frustration in others through the weaponization of words, phrases, and other rhetoric. Online trolls come in all forms and use various speech tactics to insult and demean …

Developing Interpersonal Relationships Between Deaf And Hearing People Using Instagram, Kimberly Ann Erskine

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to understand how deaf and hard of hearing individuals use Instagram to interact with and develop interpersonal relationships with hearing individuals. The researcher used her personal experience as a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community to connect with members of the researched population on a personal level. The theories guiding this study were Elihu Katz’s uses and gratifications theory, Joseph B. Walther’s social information processing theory (SIPT), and Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur’s media dependency theory. These theories were applied to help the researcher gain a better understanding of the …

Promoting Mental Treatment In The Arab World, Aya Emam Hassanein

Masters Theses

This study investigates why mental health has been neglected in the Arab world and what strategies could be used to promote it and break the stigma associated with mental disorders. The literature review reveals that the most prominent barriers preventing mental treatment in the Arab world are cultural stigma, poverty, illiteracy, false beliefs regarding the causation of the illness, conflicts in countries, and a scarcity of mental health services and research. The review also discusses the most common mental illnesses in the Arab world and how the culture affects the process of treatment. Additionally, it discusses the possible solutions proposed …

Rethinking Connection: Spirituality, Social Media, And Crisis Of Faith In Young Adult, Connie L. Beckham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

​This phenomenological study aims to understand the impact of social media and spiritual formation or faith development in young adults in the United States. The theory guiding this study is provided by theorists of identity and development, including Erik Erikson, James Marcia, and James Fowler (Verschueren, 2017). Specifically, Fowler identified a direct correlation between identity and faith development to more modern identity considerations and historical data relating to existentialism and other crises (Lamont, 2020). The data was collected from interviews with young adults to explore the impact of social media and faith among young adults. The interviews included thirteen questions …

A Phenomenological Study Of Social Media Usage In Southern Baptist Churches In The Atlanta Metropolitan Area, Patricia Maria Rankin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore social media usage according to leaders from churches in the Southern Baptist Convention in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. For this study, social media was defined as any social media networking platform used to share the Gospel. The research was guided by the mathematical theory of communication (Shannon, 2001; Weaver,1953) developed by Shannon, Weaver, Schramm, and Berlo. The communication model effectively understands and explores the literature gap regarding God and how He communicates with His people. The study started with purposeful sampling and recruitment of participants, who then voluntarily completed the …

The Effects Social Media Has On Depressive And Neuro Developmental Disorders, Daniel James Goble

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social media has played a huge role in society today and is one of the most common activities in everyday life for people of all ages. Due to the long amount of time that most users spend on social media daily, some trends seem to grow and become very visible over time that have a negative impact on mental health but also on neuro developmental disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorders are identified through a list of symptoms and characteristics that show a problem in how the brain is developing. Due to social media still being very new in this generation and with …

And The Oscar Goes To... Tiktok, Dawson Bley

Senior Honors Theses

Companies have been forced to take note of the emerging social media app, TikTok, which has attracted more than a billion users to its platform and invited businesses into an uncharted market ready to be exploited. By seeking to understand and employ the unique features which have led to TikTok’s far-reaching success, many companies can similarly improve their position. In particular, traditional movie companies, which have recently suffered blows at the box office due to factors such as competition with online streaming, could benefit from an analysis of this tech to restore lost engagement and revenue. Specifically, how can the …

Social Media Perceptions Of Academic Performance And Self-Esteem As Defined By Female Adolescents, Michele T. Miller

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The essential need for developing social interaction and relationships through participation on social media has begun to have an influence on academic performance and self-esteem in adolescents. This study examined the perceptions of adolescent females on the effect social media has had on both academic success and self-esteem. The literature reviewed the effects social media has on this population as it relates to these two areas. This was a qualitative study with 10 participants ages 11-15. A convenience group of participants were interviewed through in-person discussion whenever possible or through Google Meet/Zoom meetings. Questions were posed from an interview guide …

What’S Sparking The Madness? Exploration Of Social Media Possibly Influencing Aggression Amongst Online Users, Tia Porterfield

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation is to address the research gap regarding social media platforms having a possible influence when provoking experiences of internal (i.e., emotions/feelings and cognitions) and/or external (i.e., behaviors) forms of aggression and problematic internet use in their online community members. A brief examination of the aggression-frustration hypothesis will construct a foundational theoretical framework of the emotional and behavioral processes that may occur in users while utilizing their preferred social media platform. Recent peer- reviewed literature will be examined to highlight the existing research gap. The present study will attempt to explore possible explanations behind users’ motives …

The Stages Of Environmentalism And How The Movement Can Be Maintained Through Generation Z, Emma Jean Vanden Brink

Masters Theses

The state of a social movement is characterized by the stages through which it progresses. The environmentalism movement began hundreds of years ago when humans first noticed how significantly their actions influenced the nature around them. The movement advanced with the arrival of the industrial era and modern society. According to Stewart et al. (2012), there are five main stages through which a social movement proceeds: genesis, social unrest, enthusiastic mobilization, maintenance, and termination. Today, environmentalism is in the maintenance stage, as determined by the current organizational structure of the movement. The objective of this study was to determine how …

Missional Social Media: Content And Strategies For Missions Organizations, Kathryn Larson

Senior Honors Theses

Technology can be used in amazing and creative ways to spread the gospel and create community across borders. The Apostle Paul used the communication tool of his time, letters, to communicate with churches from a distance. Today’s tools include social media which, when used properly and with intent, can positively influence an organization in the name of the gospel. Missions organizations have an incredible opportunity to use strategies and content to create a viable social media ministry. Theories such as the Community Development Theory and various reception theories contribute to an understanding of two-way communication and engagement between organization and …

The New Adolescent: How Social Media Has Changed The Landscape And How Counselors Can Respond, Jonna Byars, Brad Imhoff, Daria Borislavova White

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Adolescents today occupy a different social space than any previous generation. Technology and social media have changed behavior and relationships, and there are many psychological consequences including rising levels of loneliness, depression, and suicide. As counselors we must recognize the changed world our children inhabit, and develop new strategies for helping teens and those who relate to them. How counselors can best respond to this new social space and original research on the impact of social media in several cultures will be covered.

Influencer Marketing: Consumer Responses To Instagram Influencers, Gloriann Schaefer

Senior Honors Theses

Influencer marketing is the promotion of services and products through individuals with a large social media following. The research contained within this thesis will discuss the topic of influencer marketing and the responses of the consumers targeted. This study observed the different types of responses and comments that followers of Instagram influencers left on their posted content.

The themes and characteristics of responses of Instagram influencer followers will be found through a qualitative content analysis. The study is supported by self-presentation theory, which suggests that individuals, in this case social media influencers, present themselves in a way that results in …

Online Social Relationships: Ethical Considerations For Counselors, David Brown

Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the increasing popularity of social media, it is imperative that counselors understand the outcomes of relying heavily on the Internet for social connectedness. This program will review online vs. in-person relationships, consider social media’s influence on well-being and relationships, and discuss the role of social media and therapy.

Social Media In Sports: A Phenomenological Study Of Athletes And Online Communication, Garrett Bireline

Masters Theses

This study investigates the intersection where the shared experience of sports meets the shared experience of social media. Empirically quantitative literature and data regarding social media has been well-documented from the perspective of understanding macro-level trends (Duggan & Brenner, 2012; Lenhart, et al., 2010). However, few to no studies have sought to learn the views, feelings, and experiences of unique populations from the micro, individual level. This method of research threatens to silence the voice of the individuals of select populations, and offers no hope of their ever being heard. Specifically, this study seeks to understand how collegiate athletes at …

Understanding Blogging And Copyright Infringement Within A Pinterest Generation, Ashley Mcalpin

Masters Theses

Copyright infringement within a Pinterest generation is growing at an alarming rate. This study sought to explain the phenomenon of stealing on Pinterest through a study of social interaction and perception thereof. The author found that the overall concept of interaction was widely misunderstood, along with the current copyright laws, leading to a broken sense of ethicality among the Pinterest generation. Through this study the impact of peer interaction, in compliance with the standards of Bandura's Social Learning theory (1977), was reviewed and found applicable to the Pinterest generation today. This study proved it relevant to further research the ethical …

Digital Immigrant Teacher Perceptions Of Social Media As It Influences The Affective And Cognitive Development Of Students: A Phenomenological Study, Robert Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to describe how digital immigrant teachers perceive the influence of social media on the affective and cognitive development of students at three high schools in Alabama. As the prevalence of social technologies is increasing, educators must understand how it is affecting students in order to instruct students and utilize technologies in an effective manner. Thus, a phenomenological study should inform teacher practitioners on how to address concerns and issues associated with social media in order to positively influence the learning environment. Ten teachers were selected from one private and two public high …

Media Convergence Of Newspapers: A Content Analysis Of The Houston Chronicle's Print- And Web-Based Content, Amanda Sullivan

Masters Theses

The channels of news media have changed. The traditional route of receiving news via a newspaper has evolved into a more digital path, leaving many to question the future of the print publication. This study evaluates the print- and Web-based content of the Houston Chronicle. The researcher adds to the field of research on news media by analyzing the online and print content of the publication, creating a new way to categorize and evaluate the subject matter by placing it into four categories: repetition, adaptation, representation, and unique. The researcher seeks to answer three research questions, discovering how each medium …