Social Media Commons^™

Predicting Events Surrounding The Egyptian Revolution Of 2011 Using Learning Algorithms On Micro Blog Data, Benedikt Boecking, Margeret A. Hall, Jeff Schneider

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

We aim to predict activities of political nature in Egypt which influence or reflect societal-scale behavior and beliefs by using learning algorithms on Twitter data. We focus on capturing domestic events in Egypt from November 2009 to November 2013. To this extent we study underlying communication patterns by evaluating content-based and meta-data information in classification tasks without targeting specific keywords or users. Classification is done using Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Support Distribution Machines (SDM). Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) is used to create content-based input patterns for the classifiers while bags of Twitter meta-information are used with the SDM to …

The Public Sphere As Site Of Emancipation And Enlightenment: A Discourse Theoretic Critique Of Digital Communication, David Ingram, Asaf Bar-Tura

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Habermas claims that an inclusive public sphere is the only deliberative forum for generating public opinion that satisfies the epistemic and normative conditions underlying legitimate decision-making. He adds that digital technologies and other mass media need not undermine – but can extend – rational deliberation when properly instituted. This paper draws from social epistemology and technology studies to demonstrate the epistemic and normative limitations of this extension. We argue that current online communication structures fall short of satisfying the required epistemic and normative conditions. Furthermore, the extent to which Internet-based communications contribute to legitimate democratic opinion and will formation depends …

Let’S Play: Understanding The Role And Significance Of Digital Gaming In Old Age, Julie A. Skalsky Brown

Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology

Despite a marked increase in the use of digital games among older persons, there is insufficient research that provides insight into the gaming experiences of this population. A major demographic shift within the senior gaming market has ushered in a new perspective on the use of digital games as a tool for physical and cognitive health, and improved socialization. It is proposed that individual notions of play, which are developed over the life course, influence digital game play engagement and interaction preferences, and contribute to well-being. This study explored how self-perceptions of play over the course of the senior gamer’s …

Strong-Tie Social Connections Versus Weak-Tie Social Connections, Mark A. Rademacher, Kevin Y. Wang

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Discussions regarding the strength of social ties relate to social capital theory. As Robert Putnam describes it, social capital theory suggests that social networks have value at the micro (individual), meso (community), and macro (societal) levels. An individual's social network is comprised of multiple, multiplex social ties of varying strengths. Strong ties exist among individuals connected within densely knit, homogenous networks such as those involving kin and close friends. Weak ties exist among individuals connected within sparse, heterogeneous networks such as those involving acquaintances.

Viral Marketing, Kevin Y. Wang, Mark A. Rademacher

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Viral marketing refers to the application of traditional word-of-mouth marketing to the online environment. Originally developed by Steve Jurvetson and Tim Draper in 1997, the term is used to describe online techniques designed to generate peer-to-peer conversation and buzz about a company, brand, product, or service. A message that contains something of value or appeal is diffused throughout members of a given social network, and ideally across networks, in an exponential fashion, much like the spread of a virus in medical parlance. The rapid adoption of digital and social media tools by politicians has led to an increased visibility and …

Media Versus Individual Frames And Horizontal Knowledge Gaps: A Study Of The 2010 Health Care Reform Debate Online, Kevin Y. Wang, David J. Atkin, Tuen-Yu Lau

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

This study explores the relationship between online news coverage, media use, and political knowledge in the contemporary media environment. Using the debate over health care reform legislation in 2010 as the backdrop, content analysis was performed on 1,268 stories from 10 online news outlets over a 1-month period to identify the media frames being perpetuated by more ideologically partisan versus nonpartisan media organizations. A survey was then conducted with 333 participants to investigate media audience news consumption patterns and their individual frames regarding the issue of health care reform. Results suggest that a person’s individual frames held concerning health care …

Science-Fictional North Korea: A Defective History, Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

Kafkaesque, Orwellian, eerie, surreal, bizarre, grotesque, alien, wacky, fascinating, dystopian, illusive, theatrical, antic, haunting, apocalyptic: these are just a few of the vaguely science-fictional adjectives that are now associated with North Korea. At the same time, North Korea has become an oddly convenient trope for a certain aesthetic – an uncanny opacity; an ominous mystique – that many writers and artists have exploited to generate striking science-fictional effects in texts with little or no connection to North Korean reality. (The 2002 Bond film Die another Day, for example, draws from North Korea’s science-fictional aura to animate North Korean super-villains who …

An Integrated Marketing Communications Plan For The Great American Comedy Festival, Johnny Carson Theatre, Norfolk, Nebraska, Adnormal Strategies, Emily Schaefer, Tony Nelson, Dominique Brown, Kary Benson, Mickey Mcconkey, Katheryn Schuller, Amanda Gammel, Max Wesely

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Client: The Great American Comedy Festival

Campaign Purpose: In the summer of 2014, members of the Great American Comedy Festival approached our team of 8 advertising and public relation students with a specific task. The proposed task was to help increase attendance as well as raise awareness for future Great American Comedy Festivals. Our team’s mission is to present innovative ideas that will help our client generate an increase in attendance and to also provide them with beneficial tactics for future festivals.

Research: For our campaign, we accumulated various data through both secondary and primary research. Our secondary …

Crisis Communication Through Text Message And On Social Media, Larae Wade

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

People Do Not Just Snap: Watching The Electronic Trails Of Potential Murderers, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

The author argues that the international community should continue working together to devise rules for monitoring specific Internet sites, as human lives are at stake. Preemptive measures could prevent the translation of murderous thoughts into murderous actions. Designated monitoring mechanisms for certain websites that promote violence and seek adherents for the actualization of murderous thoughts could potentially prevent such unfortunate events. The intention is to draw the attention of the international community' multi agents (law-enforcement agencies, governments, the business sector, including Internet Service Providers, websites administrators and owners, civil society groups) to the urgent need of developing monitoring schemes for …

Technostress: Theoretical Foundation And Empirical Evidence, Christian Maier

Christian Maier

The main objective of this dissertation is to provide theoretical explanations and empirical evidence for the causes and consequences of technostress. The results of this dissertation posit that the IT usage context matters. This means that users perceive technostress when using IT for work and for private purposes; but the causes and consequences differ for both contexts. In the case of using IT for work, technological characteristics and techno-stressors cause employees to feel exhausted at the end of their work day, feel dissatisfied with their job, and develop intentions to quit their job. In the case of IT usage for …

Assessing Learning And Performance In The Student-Run Communications Agency, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR

This presentation is a case study illustrating methods and instruments used successfully to determine learning in a student-run agency where students are engaged with real-world clients and projects. Through enrollment in a capstone course in campaign management, Communications undergraduates become part of a student-run advertising and public relations agency. Seven formative and summative evaluations by students, graduate teaching assistants, instructors, and clients are used to assess students’ individual and collective concept knowledge and demonstration of specific skills. Although the assessment effort presented here is specifically tailored for the student-run agency, it could be adapted to work well in a variety …

Romantic Relationship Stages And Social Networking Sites: Uncertainty Reduction Strategies And Perceived Relational Norms On Facebook, Jesse Fox, Courtney Anderegg

Faculty Publications - Department of Communication and Cinematic Arts

Due to their pervasiveness and unique affordances, social media play a distinct role in the development of modern romantic relationships. This study examines how a social networking site is used for information seeking about a potential or current romantic partner. In a survey, Facebook users (N= 517) were presented with Facebook behaviors categorized as passive (e.g., reading a partner’s profile), active (e.g., ‘‘friending’’ a common third party), or interactive (e.g., commenting on the partner’s wall) uncertainty reduction strategies. Participants reported how normative they perceived these behaviors to be during four possible stages of relationship development (before meeting face-to-face, after meeting …

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us: Defining The Line Between Personal And Professional Context On Social Media, 35 Pace L. Rev. 398 (2014), Raizel Liebler, Keidra Chaney

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram allow individuals and companies to connect directly and regularly with an audience of peers or with the public at large. These websites combine the audience-building platforms of mass media with the personal data and relationships of in-person social networks. Due to a combination of evolving user activity and frequent updates to functionality and user features, social media tools blur the line of whether a speaker is perceived as speaking to a specific and presumed private audience, a public expression of one’s own personal views, or a representative viewpoint of an entire …

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: Chinese College Students’ Self-Presentation On Social Networking Sites, Qinghua Yang, Zongchao Li

Faculty Publications

Social media have provided new means of self-presentation. Because individuals are able to post notes, pictures, and videos, social media users can construct their personal images on social networking sites (SNSs) and build links with their various communities. This study aims to find out how Chinese college students perceive other users' online self-presentations and how they conduct their own self-presentations through posting pictures on SNSs. Using photo-elicitation as the primary methodology, the authors conducted two.focus groups with male and female participants respectively. With grounded theory as the framework, the qualitative data show gender differences in the attitudes towards extreme self-presentation, …

The Lone Flower: A Collaborative Cybernovel, Western Kentucky University Department Of Communication

Communication Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Cyberbook: An Introduction To Topics In Cyberculture, Western Kentucky Univeristy Department Of Communication

Communication Student Publications

No abstract provided.

[Introduction To] Identity And Leadership In Virtual Communities: Establishing Credibility And Influence, Dona J. Hickey, Joe Essid

Bookshelf

The presence and ubiquity of the internet continues to transform the way in which we identify ourselves and others both online and offline. The development of virtual communities permits users to create an online identity to interact with and influence one another in ways that vary greatly from face-to-face interaction.

Identity and Leadership in Virtual Communities: Establishing Credibility and Influence explores the notion of establishing an identity online, managing it like a brand, and using it with particular members of a community. Bringing together a range of voices exemplifying how participants in online communities influence one another, this book serves …

Freedom Of The Press In Cuba From 2002-2013: Voices Of Post-Revolutionary Exiled Cuban Journalists, Writers And Dissidents In The U.S., Karen E. Anaya

Departmental Honors Projects

The role of media in any society is determined by the level of press freedom in that society. Freedom of the press can be best seen in the relationship between the government and mass media institutions. Since the end of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the Cuban regime has been criticized by organizations all over the world for allegedly limiting press freedom in the island. Despite the wide controversy, little is known about the state of freedom of the press in Cuban media in the last few years. This study set out to investigate the level of press freedom enjoyed …

Get @ Us! Using Social Media To Market Libraries, Assist Patrons And Revitalize Outreach Efforts, Katy Kelly, Gwen Glazer

Roesch Library Faculty Publications

The rise of social media created a whole new world for libraries in terms of public relations, marketing, and outreach-and it has created a new world for library staff members as well. Social media, outreach, and marketing are integral parts of our day-to-day work at university libraries.

Our duties include managing our libraries' social media channel, through platforms that can reach thousands of people in an instant. These platforms provide jumping-off points for opportunities and challenges: keeping up with social media's charge to be instantaneous, fresh, and innovative while maintaining libraries' core values of helping users and facilitating knowledge.

We …