Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

The Responsible Project, Shannon N. Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this thesis is to create a public relations campaign consisting of a series of promotional videos filmed specifically for Patagonia, the outdoors sportswear company, emphasizing their corporate social responsibility for viewing on their social media and web-based platforms. The commercials will feature three Colorado non-profit organizations tied to Patagonia through Patagonia's Growing Grassroots Grant program.

Bible As Interface, Michael Paul Hemenway

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The book is undergoing a major technological transition as print wanes in its dominance and the internet and mobile devices transform our reading and writing technologies. With the entangled histories of bible and book, our emerging technological age and its transformation of the materiality of bible forces us to engage bible as something irreducible to a book. The connections between the major technological transition from roll to codex in antiquity and the contemporary move toward the internet and mobile technologies as reading platforms encourage us to consider bible as an interface that affords high surface area, collaboration, and anarchy. Building …

Your Face Betrays You: A Fantasy Theme Analysis Of Lie To Me, Caroline Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research concerning the consequences of edutainment has revealed that television shows have the capability to influence audience members. As the lines between education and entertainment are becoming increasingly blurred, viewers may not be aware of how watching such shows impacts them. Lie to Me is a popular edutainment television series that educates viewers about the power of micro expressions. Ekman has dedicated a large part of his life to the development of research related to micro expressions. The show’s main character, Cal Lightman, portrayed Paul Ekman’s special talents and knowledge through his ability to detect micro expressions. The first three …

Alternative Models Of Connectivity: Reclaiming Networked Spaces, Philip M. Bain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alternative networking is a growing field of study and practice due to advancements in computer networking hardware, and software protocols. Methods of integrating alternative networking configurations into infrastructure present enhanced forms of empowerment and embodiment for participants. Through an analysis of multiple hardware and software examples, this research suggests that practices of sharing and collaboration, which are embedded in the history of computer networking, have the potential to reinvigorate the notion of a virtual public sphere, and support the ideals of digital democracy.

Gender, Personality, And Self Esteem As Predictors Of Social Media Presentation, Heng Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In an age when people make and maintain relationships in online environments, creating and sustaining impressions online becomes equally important. For a better understanding of social networking sites usage, the present study examines the influence of gender, personality, and selfesteem on social media presentation. The goal of this study is to investigate individuals‘ expressions through social media in order to determine if they reflect the author‘s gender, personality, and levels of self-esteem. Quantitative analysis was used in this study through survey and SPSS content analysis. The researcher found that neuroticism was related to selfpresentation, and agreeableness is related to Facebook …

Governing Confidence: Rhetoric, Affect, And Post-Crisis Financial Education, Samuel M. Jay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The 2007-08 financial crisis has been characterized as a “crisis of confidence” (Akerlof & Shiller, 2009), a span of time during which the non-discursive energy needed to compel Americans towards profit-producing decisions evaporated. Amidst this decline, the US lost its competitive edge in the global marketplace. Initial responses to the crisis by national leaders failed, triggering a revision to reasoning that resulted in a new argument taken up by central government: the lack of financial knowledge experienced by the majority of US citizens led to a population of ignorant decision makers lacking the confidence needed to take the risks necessary …

Technology Use In Rural Appalachia: A Pilot Study Of The Implications For Pediatric Behavioral Health, Courtney E. Lilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technology is a promising means for increasing rural individuals’ access to behavioral healthcare. However, the range of technology use in rural areas is currently unknown. The aims of this study were to examine the use of technology in rural areas, the relationship between technology use and willingness to access pediatric mental health services via videoconferencing, and this relationship within the context of other critical variables linked to service uptake. Data were collected at 2 pediatric primary care clinics. While no significant relationship was found between technology use and willingness to use videoconferencing, a significant relationship emerged between previous service seeking …

The Frame Of Social Media In Academic And Industry, Weiwen Zhou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the development of technology, the communication between people has changed rapidly. Social media is a type of digital network designed to share content with other internet users based on their preferences and associations. The purpose of this research was to understand how industry press and the professional market place frame social media today. Moreover, this research showed the explored current social media pedagogy in business and communication programs to see if it matches the need of industry expectations. This study was a content analysis of the text-based study that uses a qualitative software-Leximancer to analyze data. The result suggested …

Advertising's Red Light, Heather Small

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis paper discusses the theory and motivation behind The Advertising's Red Light, my thesis project. Section 1 describes my personal methods for producing artwork that creates cultural commentary. The history of the usage of sex in advertising is described and explains how advertising today has become pornographied. Section 2 discusses the conception of Advertising's Red Light as an artwork. The piece was developed as a method of creating cultural commentary about the world of advertising today and its implementation of pornography. My aim is to bring to the viewer's attention just how close today's advertising is to genuine pornography …

Cops, Cameras And Accountability: User-Generated Online Video And Public Space Police-Civilian Interactions, Douglas Alan Kelly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video captured by increasingly ubiquitous civilian cameras and communicated to a mass audience over the Internet is capable of bypassing police jurisdictional influence over traditional mass media and may be affecting police-civilian interactions in American public space as the initial cusp of a paradigm shift. Historically, the ability to visually record activities in public space was reserved to those with the resources and the motivation to devote to the task. Police and traditional mass media wielded power through cameras, power often not available to the public. Today, police often find their cameras outnumbered by those under autonomous citizen control. An …

Turtle Cam: Live Multimedia Interaction For Engaging Potential Visitor Population To Canaveral National Seashore, Brian Alfred Tortorelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project expands the outreach of the Canaveral National Seashore to its visitors, potential visitors, and virtual visitors through its goals in conservancy and preservation of its natural resources. This paper is involved with the current iteration of a series of digital media projects, the Sea Turtle Nest Camera, also known as, Turtle Cam. It details how and why this project was designed to be an ongoing initiative to assist in those goals.

The Digital Folklore Project: Tracking The Oral Tradition On The World Wide Web., Jasen Bacon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I collected forty-two e-mail forwards over the course of four months, and from those I formulated a framework that adapts existing theory in collection and study of real-world folklore to the emerging folk communities that exist on the internet. Through this analysis I prove that the same genres of folklore that is routinely collected by folklorists have been adapted to fit the digital environment of the internet. I then use the framework that I lay out to perform a study of the e-mails themselves.

Texting Versus Talking: Age Sex And Extroversion As Predictors Of Frequency And Preference Among An Undergraduate Cohort., Chris J. Labowe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines text messaging behavior of ETSU undergraduates. Data come from a survey of 485 students enrolled during the 2010 fall semester. The current study explores the effects of sex, age, and extroversion on (1) the volume of texts a person sends and (2) preferences for texting or calling. The study also explores the use of cell phones as a means of avoiding others during co-present interaction. Findings reveal that age is the strongest predictor of text messaging, with younger respondents being more likely to text. The study also finds that women prefer texting, while men prefer voice calls. …

Social Media In Higher Education: Building Mutually Beneficial Student And Institutional Relationships Through Social Media., Megan L. Fuller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social applications such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have driven the public growth of Web 2.0. Universities and colleges are using social media to reach student prospects, keep contact with current students and alumni, and provide a mechanism for group collaboration and interaction in the classroom. Higher education institutions are influenced by current social media trends, and figuring out how to effectively interact with various constituencies within the social media environment can be challenging.

In this study, a group of higher education students were surveyed about their social media practices and preferences with a focus on education-related activities. The goal …

Beyond Cyberpessimism And Cyberoptimism: The Dual Nature Of Social Network Site Interaction., Jeremy David Makely

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis applies methodological and micro-sociological insights derived from the pioneering social psychologist Georg Simmel (1858-1918) to the contemporary social media platform, Facebook. In opposition to previously-reported one-sided, polarized analyses (i.e. either/or, pessimistic or optimistic), this study suggests a more nuanced judgment: interaction viewed as social exchange reveals that individuality is often promoted though can occasionally be hindered; while most exchanges are ill-suited for sustaining interpersonal value, they ironically facilitate enhanced trust; and finally, the unique structure of site-based exchange generally facilitates rather than undercuts constructive conflict.

Fashioning The Self: Performance, Identity And Difference, Jessica L. Neumann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project will examine cultural and rhetorical communication studies to determine how these modes of analysis can be compared with interdisciplinary literature to better understand the role fashion plays within everyday performances and the shaping of identity. Criticisms by second-wave feminist scholars have focused on the fashion industry's overarching male influence; in more recent scholarship, feminist academics have often considered an affinity for fashion to be un-feminist and oppressive. I argue that fashion can instead be viewed as a tool for female agency and expressing individuality, rather than just a mode for reinforcing gendered norms. Using feminist rhetorical analysis …

The Visual Divide Islam Vs. The West, Image Peception In Cross-Cultural Contexts, Hatem Nazir Akil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Do two people, coming from different cultural backgrounds, see the same image the same way? Do we employ technologies of seeing that embed visuality within relentless cultural and ideological frames? And, if so, when does visual difference become a tool for inclusion and exclusion? When does it become an instrument of war? I argue that we‘re always implicated in visuality as a form of confirmation bias, and that what we see is shaped by preexisting socioideological frames that can only be liberated through an active and critical relationship with the image. The image itself, albeit ubiquitous, is never unimplicated - …

Residential Broadband Access For Students At Walters State Community College., Mark A. Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the availability of internet access for students attending Walters State Community College during the spring semester 2010. In particular, it is unknown to what degree broadband internet access is available in the counties that Walters State considers the service area of the college.

The research was conducted during the spring semester 2010 including the months February, March, and April of 2010. Data were gathered by surveying currently enrolled students of the college. Twelve percent of the population responded to the study. The survey instrument covered the areas of demographics, Internet connection type …

Unfiltered?: A Content Analysis Of Pro Athletes' "Twitter" Use., Justin A. Shockley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As new media grow, so do the users who navigate the virtual world. People and organizations are forced to adapt in order to stay relevant in a technologically driven marketplace. The sports world has been changed drastically because of new media. Athletes no longer communicate with the general public solely through traditional media outlets such as newspapers. Social networking sites such as Twitterallow athletes to directly communicate with mass audiences. This direct communication raises several questions with regard to dynamics of communication and uses of Internet portals. A content analysis examined professional athletes' "Twitter" posts to help …

Vignetwork: An Exquisite Corpse Network Of Short Films, David Scott Calhoun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vignetwork (www.Vignetwork.com) is the name for an online system of interconnected short films that comes from the combination of the terms vignette and network. By developing Vignetwork as an experiment in narrative structure, it is possible to analyze what a hypertext is and what it means as a tool, environment, and model for understanding the world. By comparing it to various other films, projects, and ideas, Vignetwork emerges as a parable for how individuals define themselves in a shared, crowded world.

Dogs And Technology: Our Most Beloved Companions In Twentieth And Twenty-First Century America, Claire V. Bow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the suburban rush and steep rise in household technological devices in the mid-twentieth century, Americans have drawn apart from each other, a shift that has coincided with a rise in both dog ownership and the adoption of handheld mobile devices. This paper argues that these phenomena, which are both ubiquitous and intimate in many American households, reflect one of the most basic and static human needs: the need for emotional connection. Furthermore, it is the unique combination of canine and digital elements that replace human-to-human social networks; networks that were once both literally and figuratively tightly drawn. In the …

A Web 2.0 Strategy For The Meek School Of Journalism And New Media, Lauren Zimmerman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper explains the evolution of the web from a "read only" format to a "read and write" format in which users generate content also. Using the components of a Web 2.0 platform, such as blogging, social networking, and podcasting, a strategy for the Meek School of Journalism and New Media is proposed. This strategy aims to help recruit new students to the school as well as inform current students about events and news. Recommendations included in the paper will discuss specifically how the meek school of journalism can adopt a Web 2.0 strategy with the assistance of its faculty, …

Adult Texting In Context : Exploring Norms For Mature Users Of Text-Messaging Technologies., Angela M. Barlow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An online survey exploring the patterns of adult text-message use was completed by 150 traditional college age young adults ages 18-24 and 171 adults ages 25-68. Because youth traditionally are among the first group to adopt new communication technologies, much research has been conducted among the adolescent and young adult population regarding the prevalence and importance of text-messaging; however, a research deficit exists regarding adult textmessage use. Data gathered from this survey were categorized and analyzed for emergent content regarding the use of text-messaging, what roll texting plays in adult's communication patterns, the sociological impact of text-messaging on survey respondents, …

Faculty Perceptions About Instructional Technology In Eight Community Colleges In The Tennessee Board Of Regents Higher Education System., Nicole Cardwell-Hampton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine faculty members' perception of the status of technology support and services, their attitudes towards the incorporation of technology in general and with specific applications, and the barriers they perceive to technology use. Additionally, the study focused on the association among the predictor variables of faculty members' gender, age, professional status, years of higher education teaching experience, and tenure versus nontenure status with their degree of technology use.

An online survey was designed to collect data to address the research questions in the study. The survey consisted of 44 questions, including areas for …

Exploring Expression-Based Apprehension In Online And Traditional Sections Of A General Education, Introductory Communication Course., Tabitha Leah Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Apprehension negatively impacts student learning. As online and hybrid communication courses continue to be offered it is important to expand and update research regarding the following constructs: communication apprehension, receiver apprehension, writing apprehension, and computer apprehension. This study examines correlations between and among these constructs, differences by gender and course format, and changes between pre- and posttest results. Students enrolled in traditional and online sections of a basic communication course completed pre- and posttests consisting of a demographic survey, the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension, the Receiver Apprehension Test, the Writing Apprehension Test, and the Computer and Web Attitude Scale. …

Outside The Frame: Towards A Phenomenology Of Texts And Technology, Anthony Crisafi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The subject of my dissertation is how phenomenology can be used as a tool for understanding the intersection between texts and technology. What I am suggesting here is that, specifically in connection with the focus of our program in Texts and Technology, there are very significant questions concerning how digital communications technology extends our humanity, and more importantly what kind of epistemological and ontological questions are raised because of this. There needs to be a coherent theory for Texts and Technology that will help us to understand this shift, and I feel that this should be the main focus for …

A Genre Of Collective Intelligence: Blogs As Intertextual, Reciprocal, And Pedagogical, Rachel Gramer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the rhetorical features of blogs that lend them dialogic strength as an online genre through the lens of Mikhail Bakhtin's theories of speech genres, utterances, and dialogism. As a relatively new online genre, blogs stem from previous genres (in print and online as well as verbal), but their emergence as a popular form of expression in our current culture demands attention to how blogs also offer us different rhetorical opportunities to meet our changing social exigencies as online subjects in the 21st century. This thesis was inspired by questions about how blogs redefine the rhetorical situation to …

Sixth-, Seventh-, And Eighth-Grade Students' Experiences With The Internet And Their Internet Safety Knowledge., Tonya Berrier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to a 2002 National Center for Education Statistics report, 98% of schools in 2001 were connected to the Internet and 63% of public classrooms had Internet connections. According to a 2003 United States Census Bureau report, 68.3% of homes with children subscribed to the Internet. These statistics reveal the scope of access children have to the Internet. This study focused on the children's voice by investigating the children's report of their online activities and their awareness of cyber security, ethics, and safety issues. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the specific reported online activities and …

Employee Use Of The Internet And Acceptable Use Policies In The Academic Workplace: Controlling Abuse While Creating Culture., B.J. King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of the Internet has grown substantially, especially since the late 1990s. Businesses are relying increasingly on the Internet and intranet as tools to promote productivity. Use of the Internet has several implications for institutions of higher education. Some of the issues institutions are faced with include legal liability for defamatory postings and sexually explicit materials, monitoring versus privacy, motivations to abuse Internet privileges, and use of the Internet to create a corporate culture. Institutions of higher education need to consider how the Internet is being used and how it should be used when acceptable use policies are being …

Touching Is Good: An Eidetic Phenomenology Of Interface, Interobjectivity, And Interaction In Nintendo's "Animal Crossing: Wild World", Bryan G. Behrenshausen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Situating video games and the meaningful practice of playing video games for future study by the discipline of communication, this eidetic phenomenology centers the focus of such inquiry at the site of the body. As video game studies have heretofore largely ignored or presupposed a bifurcation between player and video game, a phenomenology is likewise crucial to investigating the lived experience of video gaming as an embodied activity by theoretically eschewing such subject/object distinctions and methodologically generating genuinely new, heuristic spaces for thinking about this phenomenon. In particular, the existential phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, which emphasizes the body as necessarily …