Digital Commons Network^™

Leveraging The Power Of Social Media To Maximize Organizational Learning And Drive Performance, Camilla C. Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative ethnographic study addresses the phenomenon of rapid social media expansion, which creates organizational challenges. Ongoing development of advanced technology products means that effective organizations must be more adaptive and receptive to new approaches and changes in their environment. In a hyper connected society, one where workers are linked through social media--at work, home, vacation, in a restaurant, or anywhere else--organizations need to unify their communication systems to leverage the potential that enhanced and collaborative communication can yield (Meister & Willyerd, 2010). The research undertaken is directed at obtaining data on levels of social media penetration into organizational learning …

The Significance Of Social Media And Website Use In The Promotion Of Regional Festivals, Áine B. Organ

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the significance of social media and the use of website in the planning of an event. In any industry, communication is vital to the development process. This communication is especially important in the event planning industry. Communication with suppliers, civil servants, clients and general publics is an element of every event. Promotion falls under the communication process. This promotion can be done via: press releases; fliers; posters; word of mouth; traditional media and social media. Social media is a growing importance in relation to the promoting of events.

Those who have worked …

Game-Changer: A Case Study Of Social-Media Strategy In Big Ten Athletic Departments, Makayla Hipke, Frauke Hachtmann

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This study used a case study approach to develop an understanding of how social media strategy is developed and deployed in Big Ten Conference athletic departments and to explore the issues associated with it. Based on in-depth interviews with department officials, the following six themes emerged: connecting with target audiences; varied approaches in coordination of postings; athletic communications as content gatekeepers; desire to incorporate sponsors and generate revenue; focusing on building fan loyalty through engagement; and challenges of negativity and metrics. The social media strategy in Big Ten Conference athletic departments appears to be driven by athletic communications/sports information departments …

Pinning Motherhood: The Construction Of Mothering Identities On Pinterest, Kate Griffin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the new social media site, Pinterest, to uncover the processes through which mothers construct self- and public-identities. Despite being valued at over $3.8 billion dollars (Perez 2013), having an impressive user retention rate (Moore 2014), and having a highly gendered user base (Tekobbe 2013), Pinterest has been the site of limited sociological inquiry. Seventeen semi-structured qualitative interviews on mothering and Pinterest use were conducted with central Florida mothers who have a Pinterest account and at least one child between 6 months and 10 years old. Through analysis based in a grounded theory approach, three central themes emerged …

Non Profit Organizations And Social Media: An Exploration Into How Non Profit Organizations Use And Misuse Social Media Outlets Utilizing Framing And Public Spheres, Alexandra Chiulli

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This thesis researched how well social media works with NPOs to effectively communicate with their supporters. Being in a technology age, NPOs have had to embrace social media as being the main form of communication; however, this does not mean that all like to use it. One of the main conflicts in NPOs using social media as the main communicative tool is the loss of personal interaction with their supporters. NPOs began with having to utilize interpersonal communication only and with the new age of technology, they are struggling with keeping up with the different sites as well as the …

The Role Of Social Media In Public Relations, Jake Chappelle

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This thesis provides an assessment of how organizations utilize social media sites in public relations. The study investigates the relationships between social media (SM) and public relations (PR), particularly on the nature and effects of standalone SM functions in communications, or PR divisions of various businesses. By applying the Uses and Gratification Theory, this paper will briefly explore how business leaders use social media for the benefit of their companies, because with social media being a powerful, and global public relations tool, information and communication has become properly managed. Social (networking) media has gained popularity in the business sectors of …

Building And Maintaining Legitimacy Online: Unicef's Use Of Facebook, John Kraps

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Pursuit Of Empowerment: The Evolution Of The Romance Novel And Its Readership In Fifty Shades Of Grey, Amy Elizabeth Quale

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the new-adult romance work Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James and the novel's readership to identify the evolution of the romance genre and the ways in which the genre is used as a tool for empowerment. As the genre evolves, subgenres develop with the new "empowering" characteristics. As new technologies present themselves to readers, readers have more opportunities to participate with one another and affect the genre's evolution. I assert that Fifty Shades of Grey and the romance community are limited by the patriarchal values traditionally portrayed by the genre; however, the nature of the …

Public Social Network Sites And Social Recruiting, Abby Peters

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Social network sites (SNSs) are an increasingly popular form of social media used by individuals and organizations. As these platforms continue to transform the way people communicate with one another, they are simultaneously revolutionizing the way individuals interact with organizations. Part of this dramatic change is apparent in the processes by which organizations are recruiting employees and job seekers are pursuing employment. To investigate these phenomena, I employed the diffusion of innovations theory in a SNS context to examine the relationship between organizations' use of their corporate career website and their use of SNSs as recruiting sources. Subsequently, I used …

Factors Affecting Student-Athletes' Perceptions Of Online Privacy Issues On Twitter: A Communication Privacy Management Perspective, Amanda Jo Pulido

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Based on the communication privacy management perspective, this study examined student-athletes' perceptions of privacy issues on Twitter. This study used an online questionnaire survey to survey 5,576 student-athletes within C-USA. A total of 113 valid responses were used in the statistical analyses. Several linear regression analyses found that student-athletes' perceived control of private information flow on Twitter and their perceptions of choice significantly predicted the total months of using Twitter. Perceived control of private information flow on Twitter also predicts how many times they will check Twitter. Finally, student-athletes' perception of boundary ownership/linkage also predicts the total amount minutes spent …

Effective Networked Nonprofit Organizations: Defining The Behavior And Creating An Instrument For Measurement, Andrea Leigh Hernandez

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This correlational research design, which included a convenience sample of 157 nonprofit staff and board member responses to a Likert-type survey, was used to conduct a principle components analysis (PCA) to develop subscales related to networked nonprofits. As defined in the study, a networked nonprofit has a set of intentionally built trusting relationships and has systems and strategies that engage various stakeholders in meaningful conversations. They achieve their missions by developing strong partnerships where they invest in the goals of other organizations to mobilize resources for a common shared mission and values. While there were correlations between the level respondents …

Tweeting In The Agora: An Historical Documentary Of Educational Structures And Discourse In Ancient Greece And In Modern Social Media, Jill Maraldo

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the systems and structures of formal and informal education in Ancient Greece under the leadership of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and the systems and structures of education and discourse on social media, specifically on blogs and Twitter. Using historical documentary research methodology of primary and secondary sources, the researcher analyzed, compared and contrasted these systems and structures and examined the implications for today's educational leaders.

The four research questions of this study were:

1. According to select primary sources from 400 B.C.- 322 B.C. (heretofore referred to as ancient times) and historical secondary sources about that …

Cross-National Ongoing Crisis Communication On Social Media: A Comparative Analysis Of Twitter Regarding Asiana Airlines Crash Crisis In South Korea And Us, Young Kim, Myoung-Gi Chon, Andrea Miller

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this study is to help fill a gap in research that examines sustained cross-national crisis communication using social media. Using the 2013 Asiana Airlines crash crisis, a content analysis was conducted, analyzing the airlines’ 1,685 tweets and 1,386 public’s responses in terms of type of tweets, message strategies and publics’ emotions, communication tools (text, video, photo, hyperlinks, #hashtag, and conversation), and message tones. During the crisis, the organization used the same crisis response, a very passive response, as the US and Korean publics. As a result, the crisis response af ected different emotions of the publics based …

Dealing With “Prodromes” Through Social Media: Pre-Crisis Communication Of Hyundai Regarding Its Overestimated Gas Mileage Issue, Wonjun Chung, Young Kim

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Compared to post-crisis communication, pre-crisis communication has received little attention in strategic communication research. As the population and use of social media platforms increase, so does the role they play in strategic pre-crisis communication. Based on a message framing approach, this study focused on examining how Hyundai Motor company (hereafter Hyundai) communicated with its publics through social media channels as a platform for their strategic pre-crisis communication response to the current technical issue, regarding its models’ overestimated Miles Per Gallon (MPG) flaw. A content analysis of 303 social media messages posted by both parties produced three significant findings: i) Hyundai …

[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 …

The Relationship Between Social Media And Empathy, Franklin M. Collins

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The relationship between social media and empathy has not been explored extensively. Research on the expression of emotion and the association with empathy displayed on social media websites have been minimally explored. This study sought to support findings that chatting online leads to expressions of empathy (Rosen, 2012) and a positive relationship exists between conversing with others online and empathic expression (Ivcevic & Ambady, 2012. Empathic concern was hypothesized to show a positive relationship with one’s likelihood to chat, time on Facebook, and emotional connection to Facebook or Facebook usage. Empathic concern also was predicted to be greater among computer …

Social Media In The Financial Services Industry, Nathaniel Gibbs, Perry Haan

AMTP Proceedings 2014

Innovative strategies set a company apart from its competitors. Lindsay and Hopkins (2010) said strategy is making the most of a current situation and devising a plan for the future. Likewise, if banks and other financial organizations want to enhance their brands, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, boost innovation, increase revenue, and maintain their competitive positions, they need to embrace social media. Social networks are used by marketers to connect and communicate with customers (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Organizations must be receptive and flexible to remain relevant in the business environment (Bouckenooghe, Devos, & Van den Broeck, 2009). The environment …

Information Disclosure On A Chinese Social Media Platform, Lixuan Zhang, Clinton Amos, Iryna Pentina, Bj Blackwood

AMTP Proceedings 2014

The nature of social media encourages people to contribute voluntarily to public web and inevitably, leaving a persistent and cumulative repository of personal information. Aware of the privacy risks, about one third of the Internet users in the United States have expressed concerns of their personal privacy. However, users are often cavalier in the protection of their own data profile. There is often a discrepancy between users’ intentions to protect privacy and their actual heavier. This behavior is often terms as “privacy paradox”. The privacy paradox might arise because users balance between risks and benefits of disclosing information on social …

Are Qr Codes Here To Stay Or Are They A Thing Of The Past?, Monica B. Fine

AMTP Proceedings 2014

Quick response (QR) codes, a type of two-dimensional barcode, are a marketing tool used all around the world. Particularly, in Japan and China QR codes have been gaining popularity. Early adopters with higher education and recent promotional marketing campaigns are utilizing this mobile, information-sharing tool. QR codes are now widely used as a marketing tool by many companies. This research investigates consumers’ perception of QR codes. An increasing amount of firms and sales representatives are using QR codes as a channel to market their products/services to their customers’ mobile devices. The following questions will be the focus of this study: …

Intensity Of Linkedin Usage By “Truly Small” Firms To Promote Business-To-Professional Interactions, Lisa Witzig, Joe Spencer, Nikole Maki

AMTP Proceedings 2014

LinkedIn is the largest business-oriented collaborative tool enabling Professional-to-Professional (P2P) and Business-to-Professional (B2P) connections. Regardless of organizational type, there are distinct advantages for firms to utilize LinkedIn. This research builds on previous work examining the intensity of LinkedIn usage by organizational type -- Fortune 200, INC 200, Fortune 200 Non-profits – by focusing on truly small businesses and small non-profits with revenues between $500K to $2M revenue. The study of approximately 1000 organizations finds that truly small non-profits and small businesses utilize the B2P features of LinkedIn significantly less than all three types of larger organizations. This paper applies a …

Online Experiences Of Adolescents With Asperger's Syndrome And High-Functioning Autism, Shin Ruu Ko

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the online experiences of 10 adolescents with Asperger's Disorder (AD). This study was exploratory in nature and employed a qualitative approach. Three research questions guided this study: (a) What are the positive and negative online experiences of youth with ASD?, (b) What are the perceptions of online interactions in comparison to offline interactions held by youth with ASD?, and (c) What experiences with social connectedness and cyberbullying do youth with ASD have as a result of Internet usage? Four themes and 14 subthemes emerged during the process of analyzing the data: (a) Benefits of Internet Usage (Social, …

Based On Teacher Perceptions, Would The Use Of Social Media Via Mobile Devices In Grades 9-12 Classrooms Increase Student Engagement In Learning Activities?, Rodney J. Johnson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research study addressed teachers’ perceptions of the use of social networking via mobile devices and the impact that social media accessed via mobile devices has on the learning engagement of students in grades 9-12 in select Louisiana high schools, in a rural southern parish of the United States (Gibbs, 2012). The study examined teachers’ perceptions of whether or not the use of social media improved students’ engagement in learning activities. Some researchers assert that the use of social media and smart cell phones is both the current and future mode of communication and that educators would do well to …

Message Appeals Used By Nonprofits On Twitter To Increase Public Engagement, Lilliana Laura Lopez

LSU Master's Theses

As social media becomes a more prominent tool for mass communication, nonprofit organizations are using social networking sites as a means to communicate with their target audiences and recruit supporters. This study explores how nonprofits are using Twitter, a microblogging website, to communicate with their audiences during the year-end charitable giving period and investigate which messaging acquires audience engagement. This was determined by investigating nonprofit organizations’ use of Twitter’s multimedia features and the different types of message appeals used when tweeting about their organization’s year-end campaign. Another aim of this study was to identify which message appeals in online charitable …

Perceptions Of Collegiate And Professional Black Male Athletes Based On The Media, Dionell Mcneal

LSU Master's Theses

This study focuses on how media usage can affect one’s perceptions of Black collegiate and professional male athletes. While early research focused solely on traditional media, this study focuses on social media as well. This study investigates the relationships between the amounts of time spent using traditional and social media, and the perceptions of athletes in regards to their physical capability, the likelihood of being criminals, and prevalence of committing violent crimes. To explore relationships, this study utilized a total of 145 White participants. Findings showed a positive relationship existed between social media usage and perceptions of criminal-like characteristics. It …

Art Tweets: A Content Analysis Of Social Media Activity Among Six Top Art Museums In The U.S.A., Patricia Ann Milford-Hoyt

LSU Master's Theses

This study presents a content analysis of Twitter posts tagged with one of six institutions to establish uses and gratifications with this medium and the art museum industry. Due to industry norms, copyright law, museums traditionally do not permit photography and therefore may limit the advancement of their mission through misuse of the social media. This study establishes a baseline by seeking to understand how museums and individual account holders engage on Twitter within the art museum space as well as begin to unearth whether museums are misusing this media outlet and limiting their potential to educate the public while …

Why Pass On Fashion Viral Message? The Moderating Role Of Consumers’ Fashion Traits, Message Traits And Individual Dynamics Traits In Social Media, Caroline Makena Kobia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Social media is being used as platforms for viral marketing. Although there is some evidence on the usefulness of viral marketing from the marketers’ perspective, little is known about the motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers engaged in this marketing instrument. As the social media platform continues to grow, understanding the characteristics and motivations of key players is invaluable for marketers and communicators who deal with message strategy and media outreach. Fashion companies have noticed this change and want to be present in the social media in different ways. This research represents a comprehensive attempt to examine the factors that …

The Dog Ate My Homework: A Qualitative Study Of Students' Views Of Their Homework Experiences, Elizabeth Yvette Stogner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Students’ voices are underrepresented in the professional literature and public conversations regarding homework; therefore, this study was designed to include students’ voices in future conversations. This study examined the responses of ten high school students enrolled in an eleventh grade English Language and Composition Advanced Placement (AP) class at a rural public school. The findings of this study answer the research questions: 1. What are students’ experiences with homework? 2. In what ways have these experiences shaped students’ views of homework? Over a period of 16 weeks, the researcher gathered qualitative data via students’ responses to essay writing, a questionnaire, …

Tweeted Out: Management Tools To Prevent Social Media From Monopolizing Your Time, Ashley A. Ahlbrand

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Online Social Networks To The Rescue: Fulfilling The Ten Essential Public Health Services, Melanie D. Mason, Maureen P. Bezold

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Budget cuts and shortages in the public health workforce have contributed to the reduction of public health services in 91% of state health departments (SHDs). To adjust for these changes, health departments must discover novel ways to deliver essential public health services to their constituents. Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of the content published on SHDs’ Twitter pages to determine if online social networks were used to fulfill the ten essential public health services. While 42 SHDs had a Twitter page, the volume and content of tweets varied. Although tweets were posted that related to all ten of the essential …

A Mightier Pin: Creating A Credible Reference Library On Pinterest At Murray State University, Rebecca Richardson, Candace Vance, Elizabeth Price, Jeffrey Henry

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This case study shows how the reference librarians at Murray State University use Pinterest as an added component in reference services. Statistics were collected in an attempt to monitor the number of items shared with the number of people who actively follow each board. This study will help interested reference librarians gain an understanding of how this social media site can be used to promote online resources, both those owned by the institution and those available freely on the internet. It will also serve as an example of how reference librarians can build a reference library within the confines of …