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Investigation Of Malaria-Related Information In Africa On Youtube, Benjamin Ombati Omwando May 2024

Investigation Of Malaria-Related Information In Africa On Youtube, Benjamin Ombati Omwando

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the proliferation of the use of social media, the public—especially patients and their family or friends, try to seek answers from resources such as Facebook, Yahoo! Answers, YouTube, MedlinePlus, and other sites. This research study centered on investigating characteristics and the relationship between users’ online patterns while using and posting information on YouTube related to health-care—in this case malaria (a life-threatening mosquito-borne blood disease). This research study applied a mixed-methods approach. Subject analysis, multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analysis, inferential analysis, and temporal analysis methods were employed to analyze and investigate users’ health information posts on YouTube in Africa. This …


Comics About Organs: Social Support And Graphic Medicine In The Awkward Yeti, Jacob Gibb Apr 2024

Comics About Organs: Social Support And Graphic Medicine In The Awkward Yeti, Jacob Gibb

Theses and Dissertations

Comic strips have always been a medium for more than humor. Many comic strips published on social media sites address mental health issues. Despite their popularity, the field of graphic medicine, which examines the intersection of health care and comics, has seen little to no examination of how these comics function on social media. Utilizing the popular comic The Awkward Yeti, this research examines how the rhetorical devices of comics make them an ideal medium for communicating about mental health issues and providing social support to social media users. This study conducts a content analysis of 15 Instagram posts from …


#Bicultural: Social Media Use, Needs Satisfaction, And Well-Being Of Immigrants, Rachel Juliane Hecke Mar 2024

#Bicultural: Social Media Use, Needs Satisfaction, And Well-Being Of Immigrants, Rachel Juliane Hecke

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between immigrant's bicultural social media use (BSM), general psychological needs satisfaction (GNS), bicultural needs satisfaction (BNS), and well-being outcomes of life satisfaction (LS) and bicultural identity integration (BII). Participants included 223 individuals who use social media and identified as bicultural (many of whom were 1st or 2nd generation immigrants, 60%). Participants completed online surveys. Results from correlations, SEM, and path analyses indicated that there were correlations between the variables of GNS, BNS, LS, and BII. BSM was correlated solely with BNS. Additionally, BNS fully mediated the association between BSM and …


The Parasocial Experiences Of Twitch Streamers, Ashley Adamian Jan 2024

The Parasocial Experiences Of Twitch Streamers, Ashley Adamian

Theses and Dissertations

The literature surrounding parasocial relationships (PSRs) has been expansive but lacks the perspective of how parasocial relationships can impact the media figure in certain contexts, specifically in regard to Twitch livestreamers and their communities. Previous research has examined how PSRs fulfill certain roles in the individual’s life, as well as some aspects that affect the relationship, such as the strength and development of the relationship. Previous research has concluded that stronger PSRs can develop from livestreaming platforms such as Twitch. This study investigates the relationship between Twitch livestreamers and PSRs. Through semi-structured interviews with seven participants, this study finds the …


Using Natural Language Processing To Understand The Lived Experiences Of People Identifying With Adhd: What Themes Emerge In Social Media Posts?, Gabby C. Scalzo Jan 2024

Using Natural Language Processing To Understand The Lived Experiences Of People Identifying With Adhd: What Themes Emerge In Social Media Posts?, Gabby C. Scalzo

Theses and Dissertations

Compared to the amount of research conducted on how to identify and understand children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), there has been relatively little work done to understand the lived experiences of adults with ADHD. Increased understanding of how adults with ADHD conceptualize themselves in the context of their diagnosis would help clinical experts tailor research and treatments to better serve these communities. However, there are several barriers towards conducting high-quality qualitative research, including time- and labor-intensity. This study, informed by qualitative research traditions, used innovative data sources (i.e., social media) and analytic techniques (i.e., machine learning) to reduce these …


How Political Elite Leverage Twitter To Polarize America, Woodson Morris Hobbs V Jan 2024

How Political Elite Leverage Twitter To Polarize America, Woodson Morris Hobbs V

Theses and Dissertations

While social media has changed how humans use the internet, Twitter has drastically reformed how individuals worldwide receive their news. As news outlets fail to keep up with the rapid dissemination of information online, Twitter has become a sounding board for the political elite who leverage the platform's immediacy and virality. This study, using Quantitative Ethnography's Epistemic Network Analysis, seeks to determine if the political elite, specifically members of Congress, are leveraging Twitter to spread polarizing information to strengthen their base. In this study, extensive coding of select members of the 118th Congress was completed and compared to Voteview.com's DW-Nominate …