Searching For Tiktok: Integrating Tiktok Into A One-Shot Library Session, Timothy Berge

Loex Conference Proceedings 2025

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Phenomenon Of Celebrity Journalism In The Digital Era, Edwin Mutugi Kuria

Master of Arts in Digital Journalism

An outcome of the Internet is the widespread use of social media, which has been instrumental in creating a new breed of journalists who can bypass traditional gatekeepers and reach audiences directly. The era of social media has provided celebrity journalists with additional platforms to reach audiences besides traditional mainstream media outlets. Therefore, the study sought to examine the phenomenon of celebrity journalism in the digital era. The specific objectives were to assess celebrity journalism in the content of modern journalistic practices, examine how it manifests itself, and determine how celebrity journalism affects public interest remit of the media. A …

Strategy For Establishment Of A Swahili Creative Economy And Innovation Ecosystem: Kiwandeo Kreative District, Lamu, Kenya, Omar Swaleh Abubakar

Executive Masters in Media Leadership and Innovation

This capstone explores the strategic establishment of the Kiwandeo Kreative District, a focal point of Swahili creative economy and innovation ecosystem in Lamu, Kenya. It examines how Lamu’s rich Swahili cultural heritage, coupled with global trends in creative economies, can drive economic transformation through the establishment of a creative district. A comprehensive literature review explores concepts such as creative districts, media leadership, partnerships, infrastructure and capacity development, highlighting best practices and identifying gaps addressed by this study. This study highlights key challenges, including lack of networking opportunities, weak policy frameworks, limited capacity development and infrastructure deficits while uncovering opportunities in …

Kid Clickbait: Online Privacy Concerns For The Children Of Today's Social Media Movement, Kiara Green

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

“That Middle School Is Trash!!!!”: Public Knowledge About Local Schools On Social Media, Ashley Carey

Education Faculty Publications

Purpose: Americans frequently turn to online social networking sites (OSNs) as a source of news and information. Yet the role of OSNs in knowledge formation about local public schools remains underexamined. This study explores how public knowledge about local schools is constructed on Facebook. Research Methods/Approach: This ethnographic case study centers on a large “private” Facebook group in the community of Oldtown (pseudonym). Drawing on digital public sphere theory, this study examines who posts about the schools on Facebook, what they post, and how interaction shapes the collective knowledge about local schools on Facebook and beyond. Findings: Posts with the …

Alternative Theories Of Covid-19: Social Dimensions And Information Sources, Wesley Shrum, Paige Miller, Nana Osei Asiamah, Fangyue Zou

Faculty Publications

While scientific understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic increased, conspiracy theories undermined the foundations of public health policy, making it significantly more difficult both to discuss and to implement. Popular alternative narratives include the claim that government was using restrictions to control people's behavior, and that the pandemic was caused by 5G cellular technology. We examine the extent to which alternative beliefs were associated with sociodemographic characteristics and the sources through which people acquired information during the pandemic. Our analysis uses a demographically balanced online survey of 10,022 participants from 50 US states, collected during August of 2021. Results indicate that …

Ceo Social Media Activity And Insider Trading, Zhichuan Li, Claire Y.C. Liang, Zhenyang Tang

School of Business

This article studies the relationship between CEOs' social media activity and their insider trading behavior. Drawing on psychological evidence linking online activity to risk-taking, we find that active CEOs on social media exhibit higher risk preferences and engage more in insider trading—particularly in terms of incidence, intensity, and profitability. The effects are primarily driven by insider buys (rather than sells), which are more likely to involve material non-public information, and such opportunistic trades may increase firm reputational risk. Further analysis reveals that certain corporate governance mechanisms, such as blackout policies and compensation structures, help mitigate the negative impact. © 2025 …

The Triangle Of Social Media, Mental Health, And Activism: Lessons From July 2024 Anti-Discrimination Students Movement In Bangladesh, Md Belal Hossain

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This project explores social media, mental health, and activism as three interconnected avenues of academic inquiry in the context of a student movement called the Anti-Discriminatory Students Movement (ADSM), that took place in July-August 2024 in Bangladesh. The movement, also called July Revolution (Bangladesh), overthrew a 16-year-ruling autocratic government and propelled the nation towards significant structural and political reform efforts. Utilizing a mixed method approach, including key informant interviews (N=6) and an online survey (N=396), it investigates how the triangle of social media, mental health, and activism evolved during this movement. Interview analysis reveals five major themes: 1) Ambiguity in …

The Effects Of Medical Misinformation About Vaccines On Parents Of Pediatric Patients, Mya Izabela B. Emelia

Nursing | Senior Theses

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention designed for parents of pediatric patients who are vaccine hesitant and its impact on childhood vaccination rates. This research proposal aims to assess whether targeted education addressing vaccine misinformation, safety concerns, and benefits influences parental decision-making and improves vaccine uptake.

Methods

Parents of pediatric patients will be recruited from pediatric clinics and community health centers. Participants will complete a baseline survey before receiving an educational intervention addressing vaccine misinformation, social media-driven misconceptions, and hesitancy. A post-intervention survey will then assess changes in vaccine hesitancy, …

Lingering Legacy: The Impact Fan Reactions Had On Media Framing In The Rossi-Marquez Rivalry, Maryann Lozowski

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study examines the influence that fan commentary has on media framing in sports journalism, especially in times of intense rivalry. The rivalry chosen for this specific study was Marc Marquez-Valentino Rossi as seen in the MotoGP championship. This research discusses the cyclical nature between the interaction of fan and media while shaping popular narratives in sport. A qualitative analysis of media headlines and fan comments was conducted comparing those found at the start of the rivalry in 2015, with reporting at its height, to that of the legacy reporting seen in the years that followed. Findings in this study …

Justice, Common Good, And Connectivity: A Thomistic Evaluation Of The Role Of Social Media In Shaping Global Integration, J S. Booth

Master's Theses

The growing influence of social media presents important implications for global integration and governance where platforms can rapidly be leveraged to promote cohesion, a sense of community or, sadly, as a powerful tool for societal fragmentation. The challenges and potential benefits of social media usage are examined in the context of a State’s integration responsibilities from a Thomistic ethical and moral perspective which emphasizes the need for justice and promotion of the common good. An assessment will be included on how social media platforms have been utilized to inform and mis-inform citizens under recent governmental integration campaigns and disintegration efforts …

Oh Mother, Where Art Thou Paycheck?: Answering The Mommy Blogger Dilemma With Increased Privacy And Financial Protections For Minors, Sarah M. Parker

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This paper provides an overview of the current child entertainment laws and highlights the need for increased protection of minors working on social media, ultimately arguing for the adoption of a nationwide Coogan Law modeled after Illinois' law and the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation. The paper provides a sample Uniform Coogan Code that jurisdictions could adopt to implement such protections for minors online, including provisions covering required savings, financial access by parents, and the right to be forgotten.

Likes, Comments, And Rhetoric: Demagoguery In The Age Of The Internet And Social Media, Andrea Posada

CMC Senior Theses

As the internet and social media have created spaces for politics, they have also facilitated the opportunity for demagogic behavior to become accessible and widespread online. This thesis compares how Donald Trump and Kamala Harris utilized social media in their respective 2016 and 2024 campaigns. It examines why Donald Trump’s online use was demagogic and harmful to political practices. I begin by defining demagoguery, providing two case studies of how demagogic behavior has existed in politics, and explaining different constraints against demagoguery. Through a history of the impact of technology on politics, I describe how the internet has evolved to …

Tort Liability For Failure To Age Gate: A Promising Regulatory Response To Digital Public Health Hazards, Matthew B. Lawrence, Brett Frischmann, Avi Sholkoff

Faculty Articles

Tort liability for failure to “age gate” is a promising legal response to the public health hazards of AI, social media, sports gambling, and other digital spaces. Tort liability for failure to “age gate” hinges liability for harms to minors on an app’s failure to take reasonable steps to prevent minors from gaining access or otherwise to apply appropriate governance rules, such as privacy-protective default settings or ensuring genuine parental consent. While no one legal response is a panacea, tort liability for failure to age gate carries several distinctive advantages that make it a particularly promising option at this stage …

Marketing The Message: Maximizing Engagement With Digital Publications Through Social Media, Email, And Analytics, Rich Evans

AADEJ - The Communicator

This article outlines a strategic approach for professional associations to enhance engagement with their digital publications in today's digital-first environment. Drawing from the Michigan Dental Association (MDA)'s transition to a fully digital Journal, it emphasizes the vital role of marketing and analytics. Key recommendations include leveraging social media for strategic visibility (e.g., summarizing articles, tagging authors, video pitches), implementing direct email delivery to members (e.g., monthly digests, audience segmentation), and ensuring easy website integration for accessible content. The piece also stresses the importance of mobile-responsive design, clear formatting, and multimedia embedding to improve the digital reading experience. It suggests evaluating …

From Likes To Legislation: How The Internet Has Facilitated Hate Speech, Anti-Dei Discourse And Policy, And Threatens Our Democracy, Carmen Lynn Benavides-Garb

Undergraduate Scholarship

I argue that the way hate speech, and Anti-DEI rhetoric spreads online, through social media and algorithms, has impacted real-world Anti-DEI policies, attitudes, and overall backlash. In this essay I will begin by discussing the four themes found in my literature review, 1) Online Hate Speech, 2) Social Media and Algorithms, 3) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and 4) Anti-DEI Movements. From there, I will discuss the historical background of DEI movements in America to provide context about what makes this moment in history unique. I will then discuss the role of the Trump Presidency in relation to Anti-DEI work. …

The Role Of Social Media In Students’ Learning: Perceptions From The Us And China, Jia Pang

CGU Theses & Dissertations

In an era where digital technologies permeate nearly every aspect of daily life, social media emerged as a powerful yet contentious tool in education. This study aims to addresses the broader challenge of understanding how social media reshapes student learning experiences, both positively and negatively, in an increasingly interconnected and information-driven world. The theoretical framework of this qualitative study is built on the principles of connectivism and Phillips’s Model. The data sources for this study include interview data from 30 participants in the United States and China, as well as university policy documents related to social media usage from universities …

Echo Chambers On The Left, Echo Chambers On The Right: How Socioideological Identity Emotion Shape Social Interaction Behavior On Social Media, Dean Carl Jackson

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation investigates how echo chambers emerge on social media by shifting the lens from aggregate patterns of information exposure to moment-by-moment, individual level interaction decisions between peers. I theorize that selective exposure online is not only about what content people consume or avoid, but also about selective social exposure—accepting, rejecting, or sharing with the sources of that content—guided by sociopolitical identity, ideological distance (ID), and discrete emotions. To test this, I employ two survey experiments using real tweets varying in ideological extremity and measure user’s likelihood to Block, Follow, Retweet, or reply, alongside self-reported emotional reactions and ID between …

The Impacts Of Social Media On Teacher Environment Perceptions, Victoria Puglia

Doctoral Dissertations

Social media significantly influences teachers’ perceptions of their professional environment, shaping job satisfaction, respect, autonomy, and professional support. This dissertation, split into three articles, investigates how exposure to positive, negative, or mixed social media posts impact these perceptions, addressing concerns surrounding teacher well-being and attrition in K-12 education. The study began with a literature review in Article 1 to establish a theoretical framework, followed by a series of validation steps to refine a survey instrument aligned with teaching perception constructs in Article 2. The final survey was administered to 406 K-12 teachers across the United States in Article 3, using …

#Mmiw On Instagram: Contemporary Representations Of Missing Indigenous Women, Girls, And Two-Spirit People​, Sydney E. Cathcart, Renu Pariyadath

University of South Carolina Upstate Student Research Journal

This research paper overlooks the disproportionate number of missing persons and violence towards Indigenous groups, particularly women. Communication research has pointed to mass media lacking coverage on missing or murdered cases of Indigenous people, contributing to invisibility of the issue and lack of attention to the problem. Individual efforts to increase sources of information have been utilized in social media to make up for where mass media lacks. Social media creators who look to raise awareness, mobilize grassroot actions, and expand community ties. Content analysis was used to analyze content in Instagram under hashtags relevant to #MMIW–Missing and Murdered Indigenous …

The Rise Of Digital Activism: How Social Media Drives Racial Justice Movements, Angelica Ngoho

A with Honors Projects

Social media has revolutionized racial justice movements by organizing action and amplifying voices.

How Art Centers In Michigan Use Social Media To Communicate Mission, Alexandria Milot

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The use of social media for marketing purposes has become a widespread practice for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Social media can assist in communication efforts in many ways, including communicating an art center's mission. However, with limited documentation of the use of social media marketing within these organizations, it can be challenging to know how current art centers are using social media and if their social media marketing strategy is reaching their intended audiences. This research explores how art centers in Michigan use social media to communicate their mission to their audience and if it matches the organization’s original purpose …

Uncovering The Effects Of Non-Hedonic Social Media Use On Knowledge Workers’ Depression Through The Conservation Of Resources Theory, Xiling Cui

Department of Hospitality and Business Management

Leveraging the conservation of resources theory, this study investigates the influence of non-hedonic social media (SM) uses, namely broad socialization, deep communication, information retrieval, and information sharing, on forming knowledge-working professionals’ depression through SM overload and strain. The analysis of a two-wave data collection with 440 participants suggests that broad socialization and information sharing have both positive and negative effects indirectly on depression. In contrast, deep communication and information retrieval are beneficial in reducing depression. Our study contributes to the existing literature by exploring the distinct effects of the four non-hedonic social media use on depression.

“I Know More About What We Can’T Do Than What We Can”: Division I Women’S Sports Athletes’ Perceptions Of Name, Image, And Likeness, Jalyn Jimerson, Courtney Jones, Quinn Lukens, Marina Miller, Sarah Stokowski, Michael Godfrey, Trevor Bopp, Chris Corr

The COSMA Journal

This study investigated women’s sport athletes’ perceptions of their ability to profit off name, image, and likeness (NIL) as current participants in collegiate athletics. Researchers conducted comprehensive semi-structured interviews with eight women’s sport athletes representing four NCAA Division I member institutions. Participants explained how institutionally organized programmatic educational initiatives primarily codified impermissible forms of NIL compensation while often omitting information about permissible NIL opportunities. Furthermore, participants considered themselves minimally involved in the NIL space, feeling on the low to average side of NIL engagement compared to their athlete-peers competing in men’s sports. The findings of this study are informative for …

An Integrated Machine Learning Approach For Identifying Emergency Rescue Messages On Social Media During Natural Disasters, Wael Khallouli, Jiang Li, Jingwei Huang, Ghaith Rabadi, Samuel Kovacic

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

During large-scale disasters, emergency call centers are often overwhelmed by the large volume of rescue requests and calls for help. Consequently, people are turning to social media platforms to seek assistance. Rescue information posted on these platforms is extremely valuable for first responders to make informed rescue decisions. Therefore, the automatic identification of these requests from the vast amount of data posted on social media during crises is critical yet challenging. This work presents our ongoing research on applying deep learning techniques to extract actionable rescue information from social media during crises. We proposed a novel deep learning model that …

Treating Social Media Addiction In Adolescents: A Scoping Review With Implications For Music Therapy Practice, Roman D. Swain

Theses and Dissertations--Music

With the rapid expansion of online connectivity, concerns have emerged regarding the influence of digital interactions on adolescents’ real-world relationships and mental health. Social media use can expose adolescents to harmful content and disrupt the brain’s pleasure centers, increasing the risk of developing addictive patterns of use. Such disruptions may interfere with daily functioning and contribute to negative mental health outcomes. Given the impact of music on the brain’s reward system, music therapy may offer a beneficial approach for helping adolescents develop mindfulness of social media use and strengthen offline social connections. This thesis presents a scoping review of current …

Social Media Through A Binary Lens: The Impact On College Students & Their Mental Health, Piper Mallchok

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is important to first understand how individuals use social media so that we can then understand how and why their use will change the individual impact social media will have. Some students experience a decline in their mental health when their social media use changes. There is an abundance of research on college students and social media, respectively, that also addresses gender as a variable. In this review, the research will be studied to further understand the voices of those who are not commonly included in research that operates under a gendered framework. Additionally, these ideas will be compared …

Marketing Strategy For Hartville Potato Chips Team 3, Chase Marquis, Joseph Ferguson, Nicole Faulhaber, Chole Maragos, Megan Shissler, Tyler Indermuhle

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will work closely with Hartville Potato Chips to create a position for the company. Utilizing different marketing techniques, the team will conduct, analyze, communicate, and present information in a real-world setting. This experience will allow for growth in small group and professional development areas.

From Intent To Invent: An Exploration Of The Entrepreneurial Learning Strategies Of Entrepreneurially-Intentioned Individuals When Navigating Social Media As An Informal Learning Environment, Joshua Lyndon Gray

Theses and Dissertations

The journey from entrepreneurial intention to entrepreneurial invention involves various considerations for individuals with an intention to start a business in the next 3 years. While some individuals with entrepreneurial intentions pursue higher education prior to starting a business, some start businesses without graduating from a degree program—prompting an exploration of various entrepreneurial learning options. This study uncovered the learning strategies employed by individuals with entrepreneurial intentions when navigating informal learning environments, particularly social media, through a phenomenological qualitative approach. The study explored the phenomenon of entrepreneurial learning experiences through investigating the use of social media platforms as informal learning …

Enhancing Brand Equity Through Branded Content Experience On Social Media: Developing And Testing A Moderated Mediation Model, Muhammad Waqas, Muhammad Adnan Waseem, Nauman Wajid, Irfan Irfan

Plymouth Business School

This study examined the relationship between branded content experience and brand equity by focusing on the mediating role of brand trust and the moderating role of consumer regret of interacting with branded content on social media. In testing the hypotheses proposed in this study, survey data were drawn from a sample of social media users and examined through structural equation modeling. The results indicate that branded content experience positively influences brand equity directly and indirectly via brand trust. In addition, moderated path analysis indicated that regret weakens the direct effect of branded content experience on brand trust and its indirect …