Social Media Commons^™

Influencers, Cognitive Goods, And Labor Conditions In The Platform Economy: Delving Into The Careers Of Influencers In North America And South Asia, Saiba Dilnaz Haque

Senior Theses

Social Media is one of the most significant agents of influence on minds, thus it is not surprising that many individuals are becoming entrepreneurial by becoming Influencers to monetize the seemingly easy job. I focus on the evolving labor conditions related to influencers while expanding on Maurizio Lazzarato’s Marxist framework of immaterial labor to investigate connotations of the platform economy. I expand upon a concise literature review on the link between the acceleration of entrepreneurial endeavors and Social Media, the concepts of influencing as labor coined by Crystal Abidin, micro-celebrities, self-branding, and a discussion of immaterial labor to provide a …

Jeopardy! In Crisis: What Is Corporate Culture Issues Affecting The Entertainment Industry?, Evan Nemeroff

Student Theses and Dissertations

Cultural issues like sexism, racism, and social movements have impacted the entertainment industry, specifically the game show sector. This research identified how these prevalent matters in our society have affected celebrities by looking into the type of people who lead game shows, revealing if certain demographics such as race and gender influenced whether particular individuals were chosen to host a program. Included within this research are studies that portray how the game show industry has been biased explicitly towards one gender for several decades. Further research looks into a scandal that Sony faced when it had to name a successor …

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 …

“Green” Marketing In The Apparel Industry: The Spectrum Of Veracity, Stephanie R. Keane

Honors Theses in Science, Technology, and Society

Apparel companies’ propensity for manipulation in their marketing of environmental initiatives contributes to immense environmental pollution from petrochemical textile material production. Public scrutiny pressures these businesses to adopt “green” initiatives to avoid losing devoted consumers. In some cases, these initiatives disguise the real operations of a company or claim benignity for the company when this is not the reality. Previous business ethics research analyzed the emergence of “greenwashing” in corporations and thus concluded that corporations market themselves as eco-friendly to portray commodification as sustainable. In the form of case studies, this paper scrutinizes four companies: Zara, Patagonia, Lululemon, and Pact. …

Measuring Fake News Acumen Using A News Media Literacy Instrument, Tyler W. S. Nagel

Journal of Media Literacy Education

News media literacy education is gaining increased attention in the age of fake news and post-truth America. However, as with any pedagogical goal, it is important to be able to evaluate the success of the delivery. In a survey built on existing news literacy frameworks, 1476 students at a large Canadian polytechnic answered questions about their own news literacy, fake news acumen, and news consumption habits. Analysis of the data suggests that conscientious fake-news attitudes and behaviors are correlated with an existing news media literacy scale, providing a method of evaluating the success of fake news education efforts.

Effective Green Marketing Strategies On Social Media: Selling Companies And Their Consumers On Investing In Carbon Offsetting And Solar Energy In 2021, Melvin Richard Springer Iv

Honors Theses

In a digital world where consumers and businesses alike care significantly about sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR), the success of startup companies hinges on constant, clear, and thoughtful communication. Through my research into successfully marketing such concerns on social media as well as my internship at Clearloop, I discovered some of the best ways to convince both companies and consumers that preserving the planet should be a primary concern for every environmentally conscious company. Companies that ignore their impacts on the environment are synonymous with companies doomed to fail in the 21^st century. Clearloop’s model of partnering with …

A Content Analysis Of Queer Slang On Tik Tok, Kuri Benitez

Student Research Submissions

Social media platforms’ concentration of diversity and interactions has accelerated the rate of cultural change on the Internet. With the rise of Tik Tok, a video-sharing social media platform, language used by marginalized groups is being incorporated into the platform’s slang due to the rapid rotation of trends. This study aims to provide data to a new field related to Tik Tok culture and the effects of trends on marginalized groups.

Using qualitative content analysis, this article studies an LGBTQ+-inspired Tik Tok trend to determine if the portmanteau of “-ussy”’s meaning has changed from its original use and if trends …

Rising From The Ashes: An Analysis Of How One Infamous Promotional Event Caused A Company's Ruin And A Concept On The Future Of Influencer Experiences, Janis B. Kruger

Honors Theses

This thesis and its research focuses on the topic of modern influencer marketing through digital media. Throughout the thesis, traditional marketing tactics and the power of influence is discussed, and then it moves into the topic of modern advertising and the role that modern social media influencers play in reaching the consumer. The methodology behind influencer marketing is explained and consumer behavior is analyzed. The 2017 Fyre Festival promotional event is then used as an example to dissect this marketing tactic and how the event impacted the future of influencer marketing. Finally, a modern-day, hypothetical campaign based on the concept …

Getting Psyched About Memes In The Psychology Classroom, Lisa M. Kath, Gordon B. Schmidt, Sayeedul Islam, William P. Jimenez, Jessica L. Hartnett

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Internet memes are a ubiquitous part of internet culture and a common communication tool among students. Because they are a good medium for expressing ideas and concepts in a concise and fun manner, memes are a potentially valuable tool for teaching and engaging students.

Statement of the Problem: Instructors may not know how to use memes in classroom assignments or activities to support learning objectives.

Literature Review: Students finding or creating their own class-related content is an empirically-supported way to enhance learning. Instructors can enhance learning by using multimedia approaches (pictures/videos in addition to words), which is a good …

(Un)Matched: Racialized Narratives Of U.S.-Based Japanese Men, Masculinity, And Heterosexuality In Online Dating Apps, Keisuke Kimura

Communication ETDs

In this study, I documented and examined U.S.-based Japanese men’s narratives about their day-to-day experiences in and across online dating contexts. Through the analysis of narratives, I critiqued how multilayered differences (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and more) working with dominant social structures affect their everyday experiences within the spectrum of power, privilege, and marginalization in the transnational space. Specifically, the overarching purposes and goals of this study were to better understand U.S.-based Japanese men’s online dating experiences and to critique the relationalities of how Japanese men’s narratives (i.e., micro-level context) and their beliefs/attitudes within and between cultural communities …

Influences Of Youtube Advertising On Young Adults: A Social Identity Perspective, Nathakorn Srithong

Master's Theses

Social media sites, such as YouTube, have provided a platform for many individuals to have online communities and form their own audiences through their shared interests and a sense of belonging. YouTube exemplifies a social environment in which everyone has the potential to be both the consumer and the producer of content and suggests the speed at which social networking innovations can transform the way we interact with other users. Corporations began to deviate new strategies to engage this new online market and have created a salient area to study the potential problems that may arise when ads present cultural …

My Journey To Create A Space For Young Adults To Grow In Community, Chelsea Simmeth

Creative Studies Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project focuses on the development of a safe space for young adults to come together, create community and engage in activities. There is a gap in college-age students’ ability to find community outside the university. This project focuses on creating a place where they would be able to meet new people, play sports, and board games, and do arts and crafts. The development of marketing strategies, event planning checklists, and locations for holding events are outlined for the Young Adults (YA)- UNITE (Upbeat, New, and Inviting Transformational Environment) program.

Evaluating The Use Of A Mobile App In High School Seniors To Monitor Cellphone Use While Driving: A Quality Improvement Project, Kristen Mankus

DNP Projects

Background: Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in teenagers in the United States. Driver distraction is responsible for more than 58% of teen crashes. Evidence from 9 critically appraised articles including two systematic reviews support the need to reduce distracted driving among teenagers; mobile applications along with education can impact behavioral change to encourage teens to refrain from this unsafe practice.

Purpose: The use of the mobile application “Safe2Save” that financially rewards users for not unlocking their cellphone while driving may motivate teenagers to reduce this high-risk behavior. The global aim for this project is …

A Communications Audit Of Selected Equine Assisted Activities And Therapies (Eaat) In Northwest Arkansas, Laykyn Rainbolt

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Digital media, including websites and social media platforms, are becoming a staple in the marketing and communication field to reach consumers. Although digital media can offer high dissemination rates to a broad audience, it can also be time consuming without current training or resources to allocate to it. Nonprofits struggle to maximize their reach and effectiveness through social media due to limited staff, time, resources, and training (Bernritter et al., 2016; Bjork et al., 2016; Lovejoy & Saxton, 2012; Tao et al., 2021). Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies organizations in Northwest Arkansas selected for this study showed high use of …

How The Financial Services Industry Is Utilizing Social Media To Expand Their Client Base, Kristen Stewart

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Social media is becoming an increasingly important aspect of all companies’ marketing strategies. It is almost imperative for companies to advertise through social media if they want to have a fair chance of reaching the younger generation. In fact, “the majority (97%) of Gen Z consumers say they now use social media as their top source of shopping inspiration; 65% say they use social media to find entertaining content; and 61% of them are specifically interested in watching more video content” (Kastenholz, 2021). This proves that social media can make a significant and lasting impact on a company’s success. Social …

Public Accounting Firm Statement Analysis: A Predictive Model To Identify Semantic Criteria To Enhance Firm Discussion Addressing Racial Injustice, Courtney Rochelle Lam

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Tiktok As A Digital Activism Space: Social Justice Under Algorithmic Control, Brittany Haslem

Institute for the Humanities Theses

TikTok, a video sharing application, has become the center of viral internet culture. The app has risen in popularity so quickly that scholarly literature investigating its vast societal impact is still nascent. TikTok is not only used to discuss popular culture topics and create trends, but also being utilized as a tool for social justice activism in the United States in the wake of a tumultuous year with major events such as the coronavirus pandemic, a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the 2020 presidential election. TikTok activism is not without critiques, ranging from concerns of foreign government …

“And We’Re Happy, So Happy, To Be Modern Women”: Dissociative Feminism On Screen And In Literature, Michaela Elizabeth Flaherty

Honors Scholar Theses

On-screen and literary works have increasingly represented a new, digital-age wave of postfeminism: dissociative feminism, which rejects happy-go-lucky, sex-positive fourth-wave feminism, instead embracing nihilism. Fleabag, the titular character of the hit BBC miniseries Fleabag (2016–9), embodies dissociative feminism, though she ultimately comes to reject this darkly relatable perspective. However, social media largely ignores this latter, essential aspect of her character arc and has taken to romanticizing Fleabag’s feminist ideology, effectively constructing a harmful and dangerous virtual echo chamber of dissociative feminism. Participants in this online discourse should instead turn to the HBO limited series I May Destroy You (2020) for …

Addressing Public Perceptions About Cell-Based Meat And Cellular Agriculture Through Metaphors, Yvette Emma Hubbard

English Theses & Dissertations

Today’s food movement places organic, holistic, and natural foods as priority. The idea aims for better human health, a farm-to-table community, and environmental sustainability. Soon a new meat alternative will become part of the ongoing food movement. What is it? Cell-based protein. It is a protein alternative to livestock protein. It is real protein from a real breathing animal. Cell-based beef for example is grown in a lab with cells from a living cow that does not have to die or be slaughtered. It is destined to become the new protein architecture on the horizon. Parts of this paper are …

A Content Analysis Of The Female Tiktok Influencer: How Smis Alter Their Image And Self-Presentation Based On Their Communities., Sydney R Dotson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Influencer marketing is a growing industry on social media platforms, like TikTok. Influencers have the power and authority to control the purchases and habits of their audiences, however, the communities of these followers can be just as influential. According to TikTok For Business (2021), “part of the excitement of [TikTok] is derived from people having the power to choose the spaces they want to be part of, and the content they want to interact with.” The purpose of this study is to determine if social media influencers alter their image and self-presentation based on their community. The study examines the …