Social Media Commons^™

Is A Pretrained Model The Answer To Situational Awareness Detection On Social Media?, Siaw Ling Lo, Kahhe Lee, Yuhao Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Social media can be valuable for extracting information about an event or incident on the ground. However, the vast amount of content shared, and the linguistic variants of languages used on social media make it challenging to identify important situational awareness content to aid in decision-making for first responders. In this study, we assess whether pretrained models can be used to address the aforementioned challenges on social media. Various pretrained models, including static word embedding (such as Word2Vec and GloVe) and contextualized word embedding (such as DistilBERT) are studied in detail. According to our findings, a vanilla DistilBERT pretrained language …

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 …

Identity And Perception Among Aspec Consumers Of Mass Media, Jericho Franke

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The portrayals of sex and romance, as well as asexuality and aromanticism, in mass media can have a profound impact on the way asexual and aromantic media consumers view relationships and their own identities, and affect the perception and treatment of the aspec community as a whole. This study uses mixed qualitative methods of online discourse analysis and participant interviews to examine the how mass media has shaped the self-perception and life experiences relating to sex and romance among aspec audience members.

Personality And Social Media Use, Joshua Pearson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study seeks to examine the connection between social media usage and the Enneagram personality model. This connection will aid in a better understanding of what motivates individuals to use social media. The information found in this study will be applied to understanding behavioral addiction. This understanding will allow more personalized treatment for individuals already subject to these behaviors and preventive treatment for those more susceptible to behavioral addiction to social media. In order to find the connection between social media use and the Enneagram personality model, a survey including an Enneagram personality inventory, a social media use inventory, and …

Post, Share, Like: The Role Of Facebook In The Russo-Ukrainian War, Hannah Michelle Snyder

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Facebook is being used by both Russia and Ukraine as a tool of war, for very different purposes. This demonstrates that the platform no longer serves the sole function of connecting communities together. Existing literature has recognized that social media is being used in the current Russo-Ukrainian war but has yet to conduct comparative and contrastive analyses of Russian and Ukrainian social media strategies and effects. Conducting these analyses will illustrate not only what strategies are being used, but how they can be simultaneously advantageous and disadvantageous for belligerents. By focusing on one platform, Facebook, one can not only learn …

Investigating Mental Illness Perception On Social Media And The Propensity To Self-Diagnose, Camille R. Omega

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The perception of mental illness has often been studied in traditional face-to-face settings, but the research on its perception in an online setting has been growing recently. Social media platforms have allowed for important conversations regarding mental health to gain popularity and led to the formation of communities where users can share their personal experiences. It has also given professionals the opportunity to educate others on various mental health topics and answer specific questions their audience may have. From these posts and forums, users who are concerned with their mental health can be given the guidance to achieve proper assistance …

Transnational Dominican Activism: Documenting Grassroots Social Movements Through Esendom, Nelson Santana, Amaury Rodriguez, Emmanuel Espinal

Publications and Research

Dominican-descended people are one of the most dynamic Caribbean and Latin American ethnic and cultural communities in the United States. Whether in the Dominican Republic or as members of a transnational community, the Dominican population has a long and rich history of challenging the powers that be, confronting unjust acts, and opposing oppressive laws within the communities they inhabit through their civic engagement. This paper addresses one question: As Dominican society and the world have evolved, what has been the role of U.S.-based online media in sustaining, disseminating, and rescuing the long tradition of civic involvement and struggle exemplified by …

Acceptance Of Interoperable Electronic Health Record (Ehrs) Systems: A Tanzanian E-Health Perspective, Emmanuel Mbwambo, Herman Mandari

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The study assessed factors that influence the acceptance of interoperable electronic Health Records (EHRs) Systems in Tanzania Public Hospitals. The study applied a hybrid model that combined the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE). Snowball sampling technique was applied and a total of 340 questionnaires were distributed to selected clinics, polyclinics and hospitals, of which 261 (77%) received questionnaires were considered to be valid and reliable for subsequent data analysis. IBM SPSS software version 27.0 was employed for data analysis. Findings indicated that relative advantage, compatibility, management support, organizational competency, training and education, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, …

Digital Collectibles: Exploring Non-Fungible Tokens (Nfts) Through Twitter Messages, Peter Haried, James Murray

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The growing popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has created a new digital collectibles asset class and market. NFTs are unique digital tokens built on blockchain technology that can represent anything from art, property rights, certificates of authentication to sports collectibles. The use of blockchain provides the framework for digital ownership and brings the notion of scarcity to the digital NFT asset class. With the emerging NFT market and growing consumer base little work has investigated the factors behind NFT interest and participation. Using a dataset of 26,444 tweets on NBA Top Shot, one of the largest and most popular NFT …

Men's Rights Online And The Parasocial Relationship, Margaret B. Dembergh

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Multidisciplinary Studies of Bard College.

Documenting Privacy Dark Patterns: How Social Networking Sites Influence Users’ Privacy Choices, Dominique Kelly, Jacquelyn Burkell

FIMS Publications

Dark patterns are user interface (UI) design strategies intended to influence users to make choices or perform actions that benefit online services. This study examines the dark patterns employed by social networking sites (SNSs) to influence users to make privacy-invasive choices. We documented the privacy dark patterns encountered in attempts to register an account, configure account settings, and log in and out for five SNSs popular among American teenagers (Discord, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat). Based on our observations, we present a typology consisting of three major types of privacy dark patterns (Obstruction, Obfuscation, and Pressure) and 10 subtypes. These …

The Yak Is Back: Creating Community On The Digital Bathroom Stall Wall, Georgia Bates

Scripps Senior Theses

Offering access to an expanded world of contacts, activities, and self-expression, the internet has been changing the traditional landscape of the college experience for nearly two decades. The manner in which students interact with the world around them is augmented and transformed by the affordances of digital social networks like Yik Yak, an anonymous, hyperlocal networking app that has found its main market on college campuses. A hybrid ethnographic approach to Yik Yak based on participant observation and in-depth interviews spanned from Fall 2021 to Spring 2023, engaging with concepts of place and affect as they were intertwined with student …

Transitional Entrepreneurship: Unleashing Entrepreneurial Potential Across Numerous Challenging Contexts, Golshan Javadian, Anil Nair, David Ahlstrom, Kaveh Moghaddam, Li-Wei Chen, Younggeun Lee

Management Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] We are pleased to publish the special issue of the New England Journal of Entrepreneurship on transitional entrepreneurship. Transitional entrepreneurship refers to the practices of entrepreneurs from communities facing adversity who navigate substantial life transitions as they launch and manage new ventures in response to various changes and challenges in their environment. Entrepreneurship is not only a critical driver of economic growth and social development (Ahlstrom et al., 2019; McCloskey, 2010) but can also represent a life-changing transition for most, if not all, of the entrepreneurs themselves. Transitional entrepreneurship entails strategic pivots or transformations that enable entrepreneurs to …

Meta Social Technology And Religion: A Media Ritual Theory Critical Discourse, Maurice Emelu

2023 Faculty Bibliography

This paper explores the proposition that Meta social media and technology functions as a ritual platform and concludes affirmatively. It identifies and critically evaluates ritual elements on Meta’s platform. Employing media ritual theory in the context of religion, it analyzes the Meta for Faith homepage. Consequently, the investigation delves into Meta's role in enhancing or diminishing the sacred rituals integral to religion, one of society's oldest cultural institutions. The discussion expands by considering the implications of Meta for Faith offerings in religious rituals. Thus, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the increasing social technology mediatization in the rapidly …

Investigating Collaborative Explainable Ai (Cxai)/Social Forum As An Explainable Ai (Xai) Method In Autonomous Driving (Ad), Tauseef Ibne Mamun

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Explainable AI (XAI) systems primarily focus on algorithms, integrating additional information into AI decisions and classifications to enhance user or developer comprehension of the system's behavior. These systems often incorporate untested concepts of explainability, lacking grounding in the cognitive and educational psychology literature (S. T. Mueller et al., 2021). Consequently, their effectiveness may be limited, as they may address problems that real users don't encounter or provide information that users do not seek.

In contrast, an alternative approach called Collaborative XAI (CXAI), as proposed by S. Mueller et al (2021), emphasizes generating explanations without relying solely on algorithms. CXAI centers …

Portrayals Of Family Resilience In Webcomics During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Analysis, Claire Catherine Heaney

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Families and couples were challenged with stresses unlike any other as individuals faced adversities from lockdowns, as well as fears derived from the coronavirus. During the pandemic, trends of webcomics became more popular, particularly comics that depicted characters in romantic relationships dealing with “the new normal.” In this project, I suggest that social media webcomics incorporated topics of coping. The purpose of this study was to examine webcomics that documented daily life situations during lockdowns and stress-buffering skills found in couples’ interactions when dealing with concerns. Utilizing Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis, 585 romantic relationship webcomics posted from March …

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 …

Partisan Selective Exposure On Social Media During The 2020 Presidential Election, Grayce Lemon

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examines selective exposure and selective avoidance on social media during the 2020 presidential election. 147 voters participated in the survey conducted using Qualtrics. The purpose of this study was to understand whether selective exposure and avoidance behaviors differed based on voting outcome (Trump or Biden), and to test whether political ideological polarization was reflected in news consumption through social media. Taken together, the results indicate that although both voting bases engaged in selective exposure and avoidance, the propensity was the same between Trump and Biden voters. Additionally, results confirm existing hypotheses that the strength of political ideology positively …

Sport Celebrities’ Covid-19 Prevention On Social Media: The Effect Of Credibility, Social Distance, Identification, And Message’S Power Style On Health Behavioral Intentions, Kyu-Soo Chung, Chad Goebert

Faculty and Research Publications

During the COVID-19 outbreak, there emerged on social media an active cohort of sport celebrities, promoting through their messages virus-prevention behaviors. The study tested how people’s intentions to adopt COVID-19 prevention practices were affected by their perceived credibility of sport celebrities, perceived social distance of sport celebrities, and identification with sport celebrities. The study also tested how the message’s power style moderated those relations. The researchers selected four sport celebrities who were active on social media and applied powerful and powerless linguistic styles in developing their social media messages. College students (N = 284) were randomly exposed to one of …

The Need For International Ai Activities Monitoring, Parviz Partow-Navid, Ludwig Slusky

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper focuses primarily on the need to monitor the risks arising from the dual-use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dual-use AI technology capability makes it applicable for defense systems and consequently may pose significant security risks, both intentional and unintentional, with the national and international scope of effects. While domestic use of AI remains the prerogative of individual countries, the unregulated and nonmonitored use of AI with international implications presents a specific concern. An international organization tasked with monitoring potential threats of AI activities could help defuse AI-associated risks and promote global cooperation in developing and deploying AI technology. The …