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An Open Conversation: Deliberating Perceptions Of Power Through New Media, Abigail Barnes May 2024

An Open Conversation: Deliberating Perceptions Of Power Through New Media, Abigail Barnes

Dissertations

This research aims to investigate aims to critically assess how mediated participants utilize new media spheres deliberate upon perceptions of power through rhetorical criticism and critical discourse analysis. Since the conception of social media, users have utilized the platforms to network, negotiate, and dissent from controversies through mediated public deliberation. The present study aims to nuance how Habermas’ original conception of deliberative rhetoric has transformed through new media deliberation. To exemplify this change in deliberative rhetoric, the present study will also critically evaluate online social movements through the case study of the AOC Tik Tok Challenge, responses to online controversies …


Hozier, Tiktok, And Sapphic Rhetoric, Sophia Marie Kovalcik Apr 2024

Hozier, Tiktok, And Sapphic Rhetoric, Sophia Marie Kovalcik

English Theses & Dissertations

Through the process of social circulation and critical imagination, Sappho’s poetry, which maintains rhetoric that women, nature, and love are related to ritual and feminine divinity, intersects with queer digital rhetoric. Via discussion of feminist spirituality rhetoric, Marie Cartier’s lesbian theology, and rhetorical and literary analysis of Sappho’s lyrical fragments, I explore her Ancient Greek mythological, cultural aesthetics. I then connect sapphic rhetoric to two contemporary artifacts that represent or influence contemporary feminist, digital, and queer identities: the lyrics of the Irish musician Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known as Hozier and TikTok comment sections surrounding Hozier’s music and concert clips.


Exploring Demagoguery And Political Rhetoric’S Impact Through Social Media, Avery Palsma Apr 2024

Exploring Demagoguery And Political Rhetoric’S Impact Through Social Media, Avery Palsma

Honors Thesis

Demagoguery refers to political rhetoric and activity that seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people. Demagogues are political leaders, such as Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler, who gain power by using a destructive approach to popular discourse. They influence culture by perpetuating and influencing ideologies, allowing them to take advantage of and fuel a dominating culture. Demagogues are present in today’s culture as the political divide becomes greater. This study aims to explain why demagogues are so influential and how social media might be contributing to their growth. In order to do this, three communication …


Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal Jan 2024

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …


Queer Crises: Movements From Queerness And Feelings Of White Religion In The United States, Austin Williams Miller Aug 2023

Queer Crises: Movements From Queerness And Feelings Of White Religion In The United States, Austin Williams Miller

Communication ETDs

Anchored by contemporary crises surrounding queer and trans people in the United States, I employ movements from queerness within an affective queer phenomenological framework to understand how arrangements of “white religion” (Schaefer, 2015, p. 63), a process whereby U.S. American Christian forms escape ideology into religious affective economies in the United States, relegate queer people “to the background… to sustain a certain direction” (Ahmed, 2006, p. 31). I assemble a queer rhetorical context analyzing white religious space in documentary film, secular sexual regulation through contemporary U.S. legal contexts around marriage, and settler colonial Christian nationalist political imaginations to critique how …


“We Felt Powerful And Rebellious”: Contested Spaces, Lesbian Identity, And The Evolution Of Separatism, Sarah Cooper May 2023

“We Felt Powerful And Rebellious”: Contested Spaces, Lesbian Identity, And The Evolution Of Separatism, Sarah Cooper

All Dissertations

Drawing on theoretical perspectives from lesbian studies, queer theory and studies and, feminist rhetorics while using rhetorical analysis, interviews, and archival research, this project traces the relationships lesbians have had to place, through case studies. To date, research on how space occupancy or land practices have contributed to the constitution of a contemporary lesbian identity in the United States lack scholarly attention. My following chapters ask: how has separatism historically and at present contributed to the constitution of lesbian identity? To answer, I turn to archival evidence of women’s lands in Southern Oregon, Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, and Olivia Travel. …


Master's Project: Framing Emotion In The Social Media Posts Of A Regional Sample Of National Park Sites, Sarah T. Raimondi Jan 2023

Master's Project: Framing Emotion In The Social Media Posts Of A Regional Sample Of National Park Sites, Sarah T. Raimondi

Rubenstein School Masters Project Publications

Public communication is one of the most important aspects of a natural resource manager’s job, and social media has opened new channels of communication between agencies and their audiences. Not only do most agencies now maintain an overall social media presence, but units within agencies typically create unique social media pages. This is true for the National Park Service (NPS) in the U.S., where over 400 individual parks have a social media presence. Many of these use Facebook for social media communication; Facebook is currently the largest social media platform, with over 2.8 billion monthly users. Drawing from prior research …


Right Turn At Reality: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Right Wing Negotiations On Race And Masculinity In Online Spaces, Andrew R.J. Hart Jan 2023

Right Turn At Reality: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Right Wing Negotiations On Race And Masculinity In Online Spaces, Andrew R.J. Hart

MSU Graduate Theses

The effects of right wing politically charged violence are more visible now than at any other point in recent American history. The Internet, and social media more specifically, has become a crucial nexus point in the dissemination of decentralized Alt-Right propaganda. The visual nature of social media has increased the importance of images a means of communication. Through this thesis, I analyze artifacts coming out of these spaces representing a conversation between creators and audiences, and how they work dialogically to introduce and reify symbols of white masculine supremacy within this subgroup. Through this process, I find multiple recurring patterns …


Presidents And Media During Initial Federal-Level Hurricane Relief: A Study Of Presidential Crisis Communication Efforts, Emily A. Ball Jan 2023

Presidents And Media During Initial Federal-Level Hurricane Relief: A Study Of Presidential Crisis Communication Efforts, Emily A. Ball

Honors College Theses

Public relations serves a huge role in almost every sector, including politics. Crisis communication, a subset of public relations, is very important in a setting that constantly undergoes crises. The response to these crises matters a great deal on the federal level because the outcomes can affect such a wide variety of policies and even elections. Because of this, I wanted to focus on one type of crisis that every president is almost guaranteed to face: hurricanes. To examine the effectiveness of federal-level crisis communication, I look at Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden’s responses to the worst hurricane during their …


Marketing Ploy Or Mental Health Crisis? An Analysis Of Fan Responses To Celebrity Narratives, Kayla M. Ostrander Jan 2023

Marketing Ploy Or Mental Health Crisis? An Analysis Of Fan Responses To Celebrity Narratives, Kayla M. Ostrander

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Recently, celebrities have become more candid with their narratives than ever before through use of their social media accounts. While most celebrities use their social media accounts for purposes such as showing a positive or unknown side of them or to promote their work, others have posted narratives that have come under public criticism, especially Kanye ‘Ye’ West with his recent antisemitic-themed posts. In my study I examine what Kanye’s fans and the public believes to be his motivation for his recent narratives in October 2022 and December 2022, and their reasoning for assigning these motives. I collected a total …


Black Female Athletes’ Use Of Social Media For Activism: An Intersectional And Cyberfeminist Analysis Of U.S. Hammer-Thrower, Gwen Berry's 2019 And 2021 Podium Protests, Ariel Newell Dec 2022

Black Female Athletes’ Use Of Social Media For Activism: An Intersectional And Cyberfeminist Analysis Of U.S. Hammer-Thrower, Gwen Berry's 2019 And 2021 Podium Protests, Ariel Newell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Much attention has been paid to Black male athlete activism both historically and in the contemporary movement for black lives. Black female athletes have also made historic contributions as activists, and they continue to do so. However, Black female athlete activism has not always been acknowledged or heard. This is a problem, as Black women in American sports and society face overlapping racial and gender inequities and injustices that distinctly marginalize and oppress them. However, some Black female athlete activists (BFAAs) have begun using social media to challenge media narratives about themselves, to redefine what it means to be a …


Because Potato, Candice Evers May 2022

Because Potato, Candice Evers

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This thesis project explores the phenomenological qualities of the internet; asking, since the internet is difficult to grasp, what other modes of investigation might we have available? Using an investigative framework set forth by Jack Halberstam, this thesis declines to come to knowledge solely through understanding the formal, the structural, the highly visible and mainstream. The literature that I have gathered provides a range of modes for interrogating the simultaneously central and inconsequential subject of my thesis itself: the potato. Juxtaposing the physical, political and material conditions of the potato the internet’s least academic mode of knowing: the meme. Analyzing …


Presidential Rhetoric And Media's Contribution To The Subjective Nature Of Truth In American Democracy, Bianca Miccolis May 2021

Presidential Rhetoric And Media's Contribution To The Subjective Nature Of Truth In American Democracy, Bianca Miccolis

English Honors Theses

This thesis examines the role of media on the subjectivity of truth in presidential rhetoric and its ethical implications. In my three case studies, I find that there is some form of deception by each president in their chosen form of media. I analyze Roosevelt’s use of the radio, which he uses to hide his disability and gain more executive power to combat the Great Depression. I examine Reagan’s use of television and how he fabricates an intimate relationship with the American people to enact tax reform. Finally, I investigate Trump’s use of Twitter to deflect negative publicity as he …


Controversy, Coverage And Cancel Culture: The Daily Mississippian's Reporting Of The 2018 Ed Meek Controversy, And Related Findings, Mason Thomas Scioneaux Apr 2021

Controversy, Coverage And Cancel Culture: The Daily Mississippian's Reporting Of The 2018 Ed Meek Controversy, And Related Findings, Mason Thomas Scioneaux

Honors Theses

As this thesis reflects a body of work completed by a journalism student near the conclusion of a journalism education at the University of Mississippi, I approached research and writing in that way. I interviewed three people, for an hour each, and the things I learned in those interviews greatly affected the conclusions I reached with this thesis. My full transcripts from those interviews are located in Appendices A-C. I also did a lot of scouring through articles of The Daily Mississippian from fall 2018 and otherwise; I looked at every single edition of the paper from that semester, both …


Navigating Conversations Of Environmentalism On Social Media: From The Apocalyptic To The Aesthetic, Megan Provenzale Apr 2021

Navigating Conversations Of Environmentalism On Social Media: From The Apocalyptic To The Aesthetic, Megan Provenzale

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

This project examines environmental discourse and rhetorical appeals used on Instagram by environmental influencers and addresses the lack of scholarship about social mobile commerce, Instagram, and the popularity of “eco-influencers.” My research applies post-composition studies, circulation, and visual rhetoric to two eco-influencers, Greta Thunberg (@gretathunbeerg) and Jessica Clifton (@impactforgood). I argue that Thunberg and Clifton employ aesthetic and apocalyptic rhetoric to educate and communicate with their following about reducing their carbon footprint and reversing climate change. By collecting three months of Instagram posts employed by each influencer, I identify patterns related to environmentalism, stylistic choices in captions, and presentation of …


Baby Mama – Baby Daddy Drama An Ethnography Of Communication On Black Co-Parenting Talk On Youtube, Rosalyn Whickum Aug 2020

Baby Mama – Baby Daddy Drama An Ethnography Of Communication On Black Co-Parenting Talk On Youtube, Rosalyn Whickum

Master of Arts in Media and Communication Plan II Graduate Projects

As co-parenting research continues to emerge, it is important that we include the experiences of Black families in the literature. This project attempts to explore co-parenting talk among Black mothers and fathers on YouTube through Ethnography of Communication (EOC). This EOC analyzed the genres, topics, purposes, settings, keys, participants, message form and content , and act sequences of 100 YouTube videos. From this analysis, a list of recommendations for optimal co-parenting were presented as well as four co-parenting communication roles; Aggressor, Cooperator, Supervisor, and Shifter. This project concludes with a discussion on some of the key observations made during the …


Extending Ethos In Digital Rhetorics, Andrew J. Hillen Aug 2020

Extending Ethos In Digital Rhetorics, Andrew J. Hillen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation researched the concept of ethos, or appeal to authority or trust, on the social media platform, Twitter. Looking at collections of tweets, I found that the characteristics of the Twitter platform, as well as the general qualities of writing online, pushed users to use short cuts to trust, such as focusing in on specific buzz words, or through referencing well known organizations and individuals. Users also used internet culture as its own source of authority. They demonstrated that they were up to date on the latest trends and memes, and so were trustworthy accounts to follow. Users appealed …


Menstruation Regulation: A Feminist Critique Of Menstrual Product Brands On Instagram, Max Faust May 2020

Menstruation Regulation: A Feminist Critique Of Menstrual Product Brands On Instagram, Max Faust

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Much research about advertisements for menstrual products reveals the ways in which such advertising perpetuates shame and reinforces unrealistic ideals of femininity and womanhood. This study aims to examine the content of Instagram posts by four different menstrual product brands in hopes of understanding how these functions may or may not be carried out by social media posts by these brands as well. Building on the body of research about menstrual shame and advertising, I specifically ask: How do the Instagram pages for four menstrual product brands dissuade individuality; how do they prescribe femininity; and how do these functions differ …


@Gretathunberg: Navigating Critique And Identity Within Youth Climate Activism On Twitter, Carina Robin Weadock Jan 2020

@Gretathunberg: Navigating Critique And Identity Within Youth Climate Activism On Twitter, Carina Robin Weadock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Youth climate activist Greta Thunberg sat alone on the steps of the Swedish Parliament building in September of 2018, holding a bold black and white sign and demanding action be taken in the face of the climate crisis. Ever since, her activism and Twitter presence have sparked media attention, catalyzed youth activists globally to organize marches and strike from school, and have drawn critique. This thesis employs McKerrow’s (1989) critical rhetoric to uncover dominant discourses within tweets that undermine Thunberg based on identity and to explore the potential that Thunberg’s Twitter presence might or might not hold for future youth …


Hear Me Roar, Abigail R. Seethoff Jan 2020

Hear Me Roar, Abigail R. Seethoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Hear Me Roar, a compilation of personal essays interspersed with short forms, grapples with the nuances of compliance versus autonomy in the context of the male gaze, beauty standards, and pop culture. The collection also explores what it means to treasure something—another person, an object—and how to express and deepen that affection.


Analyzing Discourse Surrounding The George Morris Ban: An Ideological Critique Of Sexual Assault Culture In Sports, Megan Mcloughlin Dec 2019

Analyzing Discourse Surrounding The George Morris Ban: An Ideological Critique Of Sexual Assault Culture In Sports, Megan Mcloughlin

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On August 6th, 2019 one of the biggest names in the equestrian community, George Morris, was barred from the sport for life based on sexual assault allegations. I have conducted a Social Constructionist discourse analysis of the online responses to this case. Overarching themes exposed flaws in the hegemonic ideals of both the sports world and American culture in its entirety. As the case continues to develop every day, I have adapted my research to reflect new findings and have found that Deflection, Bolstering, and Reflection have emerged as the major themes of this discourse. This method allowed …


When Humanity Meets Technology: Contemplating Neil Postman's Critique Of Advertising, Yingwen Wang May 2019

When Humanity Meets Technology: Contemplating Neil Postman's Critique Of Advertising, Yingwen Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project aims to contemplate Postman’s critique of advertising and offer insights to understand Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) in today’s mediated environment. As an essential component of IMC, the history of advertising demonstrates and documents that the medium of communication has an extensive influence on IMC practices. The concern about how communication media affect human perception, understanding, and behavior, resides within the central claim of the study of media ecology. Thus, this project investigates IMC through the lens of Postman’s media ecology perspectives, and argues that Postman’s prescient ideas provide both hope and constructive insights. Moreover, Postman’s thermostatic perspective, rooted …


Make The Inaugural Great Again: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Donald J. Trump’S Inaugural Address, Danielle F. Dickerson Jan 2019

Make The Inaugural Great Again: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Donald J. Trump’S Inaugural Address, Danielle F. Dickerson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I utilized three distinct theories (ideographs, dramatism, and the bully pulpit) to rhetorically analyze and assess President Trump’s 2017 inaugural address. Ultimately, I analyzed whether Trump deviated from Campbell and Jamieson’s (1985) presidential inaugural expectations. While the presidential inaugural address was the only text analyzed, implications were drawn from Trump’s rhetoric leading up to and within the inaugural. This thesis also analyzed Trump’s rhetoric through social media, specifically Twitter, and looked at the context surrounding the inaugural. I suggest, through my research, that Trump does deviate from the traditional framework of the inaugural address, and ultimately modernized …


How To Maximize Your Small Business's Impact On Social Media, Brianna J. Arnaud Dec 2018

How To Maximize Your Small Business's Impact On Social Media, Brianna J. Arnaud

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is meant to be a learning tool to help small businesses use free social media accounts as business marketing tools. The manual is broken down into chapters highlighting the importance of “Knowing your Audience,” “Branding,” “Constructing a Post,” “Using Visual Rhetoric,” and “Expanding your Audience.”. This thesis is inspired by scholars of English, internet linguistics, journalism, gender theory, professional writing, and rhetoric. It is also inspired by a survey of 18 small businesses in the Lafayette, Louisiana area. The survey helped to focus my research on the social media issues of small businesses in the southern region of …


Talking Sports: Rhetorical Benefits Of Blogging Sports Journalism, Lucas Green Jan 2018

Talking Sports: Rhetorical Benefits Of Blogging Sports Journalism, Lucas Green

Online Theses and Dissertations

The introduction of new publishing platforms like blogs into the world of sports journalism has forced journalists to modify their technique and approach to writing. This paper addresses that shift through examination of rhetorical theory, in-depth first-person research, and a culmination of rhetorical advantages for digitally publishing sports journalists. In the first section of this thesis, the author establishes the rhetorical act of blogging through the theoretical lenses of Mikhail Bakhtin and Mary Hocks while analyzing the sports blog, SB Nation. Then, the author conducts survey-driven research with actual blogging sports journalists to understand their opinions and viewpoints about blogging. …


Budweiser In The 2017 Super Bowl: Dialectic Values Advocacy And The Rhetorical Stakeholder, Benjamin P. Windholz Jan 2018

Budweiser In The 2017 Super Bowl: Dialectic Values Advocacy And The Rhetorical Stakeholder, Benjamin P. Windholz

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Organizational-public relations discourse is changing given the advent of social media, and corporate statements are evaluated under different criteria in the digital age. Grounding Budweiser’s response to controversy over their 2017 Super Bowl advertisement in terms of consumer expectations for corporate social responsibility provides a new perspective for approaching Bostdorff and Vibbert’s (1994) conceptualization of values advocacy. This study recognizes the power of the rhetorical stakeholder, a discursively created public, and demands re-evaluation of the values common to society from a co-creational OPR perspective. Conceptualizing dialectic values advocacy outlines the changing values among contemporary, common stakeholders as well as the …


On Making A Difference: How Photography And Narrative Produce The Short-Term Missions Experience, Joshua Kerby Jennings Jan 2017

On Making A Difference: How Photography And Narrative Produce The Short-Term Missions Experience, Joshua Kerby Jennings

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Short-term missions participants encounter difference in purportedly captivating ways. Current research, however, indicates the practice does not lead to long-lasting, positive change. Brian M. Howell (2012) argues the short-term missions experience is confined to the limitations of the short-term missions narrative. People who engage in short-term missions build assumptions, seek experiences, understand difference, and convey meaning, as a result of this narrative. The process of telling and retelling travel stories is integral to the short-term missions experience. Drawing upon literature on tourism, narrative, development, and photography, this study intends to evaluate the inefficacy of short-term missions through the stories which …


The Persuasive Effect Of Youtube Videos On Food Waste Habits, Deeti Gupta Dec 2016

The Persuasive Effect Of Youtube Videos On Food Waste Habits, Deeti Gupta

Master's Theses

In the past decade, food waste has emerged as one of the most important food sustainability issues in developed societies and has received increased attention from academic scholars, policymakers, environmental and other civil society organizations. There have also been a growing number of efforts to mitigate this problem, an important component of which has been education to provide consumers with a clearer understanding of the food waste problem and the methods that they can take to change their food waste behaviors. One of the educational approaches has involved social marketing. Social marketers have recently turned to YouTube and other video …


A Rhetorical Criticism Of Blackfish: Making Waves In Orca Activism, Lindsay Beisheim Jun 2016

A Rhetorical Criticism Of Blackfish: Making Waves In Orca Activism, Lindsay Beisheim

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.


Bloggers And Their Impact On Contemporary Social Movements: A Phenomenological Examination Of The Role Of Blogs And Their Creators In The Lgbt Social Movements In Modern United States, Bobby K. Huen Jan 2015

Bloggers And Their Impact On Contemporary Social Movements: A Phenomenological Examination Of The Role Of Blogs And Their Creators In The Lgbt Social Movements In Modern United States, Bobby K. Huen

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The Internet is a ubiquitous feature in everyday life, but its application to social movements has yet to be completely understood. This phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of bloggers who focused on the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement in the United States to understand the impact bloggers and their work as online activists have on existing LGBT social movement organization and operation. Data collection is gathered from semi-structured and open-ended interviews with four social movement bloggers using web-conference software over the course of three months. The results of this study indicated that internet has empowered individual activists, …