Digital Commons Network^™

Social Media User Relationship Framework (Smurf), Anne David, Sarah Morris, Gareth Appleby-Thomas

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The use of social media has spread through many aspects of society, allowing millions of individuals, corporate as well as government entities to leverage the opportunities it affords. These opportunities often end up being exploited by a small percentage of the user community who use it for objectionable or unlawful activities; for example, trolling, cyber bullying, grooming, luring. In some cases, these unlawful activities result in investigations where swift retrieval of critical evidence required in order to save a life.

This paper presents a proof of concept (PoC) framework for social media user attribution. The framework aims to provide digital …

Personal Branding Strategies Of Female Entertainment Influencers On Tiktok, Shaofu Wang

Theses

This thesis employs quantitative content analysis to investigate the strategies used by female entertainment influencers (FEI) on TikTok to attract followers. The study investigated the six FEIs with the most followers on the TikTok and Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok), three each from both platforms. This study focuses on the visual framework strategy as the theoretical basis to analyze female entertainment influencers’ videos (N=90). The results show that FEIs tend to wear casual clothes and shoot videos with simple backgrounds. Most shooting angles are half-length or full-body shots, which do not display multiple feminine movements in videos.

Regression analyses were …

Digime: An Interactive Experience To Ease The Education Of Social Information Sharing, Kexin 'Coco' Wang

Theses

Ever since digital and social media activities made their way into our day-to-day lives, things have become very different. People are continuously glued to their mobile devices, including children. Besides the tv screen time, mobile media time for 0-to-8 year-olds has tripled between 2013 and 2017, from an average of 15 minutes per day to 48 minutes per day1. As digital exposure is increasing at earlier ages, the danger of social information sharing increases as well.

Children do not often realize that they are giving out a vast quantity of their personal information, and even their parents' to the internet …

Barrier-Free Assistant, Jiajia Li

Theses

With the rapid development of the Internet in recent years, social media is also changing and influencing people's social ways. Become an indispensable part of people's social life. Social contact should belong to the whole people, and daily communication is the demand of everyone. However, some particular groups still need to face many obstacles when using social media. For Pre-lingually deaf people, sign language is their first language, and English is their second language. Sometimes when they read some information in the second language, they can't fully understand it, which leads to obstacles when they use social media. Secondly, in …

The Role Of Popular Media In 2016 Us Presidential Election Memes, Kyra Osten Hunting

Journalism and Media Faculty Publications

The 2016 US presidential election was marked by the extensive role that social media played in the construction of the candidates as well as by the growth of a number of forms of digital political rhetoric, including memes. The subgenre of popular culture-based political memes that draw on well-known entertainment media, particularly those with large fandoms like the Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises, reveal inequities in gender representation in entertainment media that are replicated when these media become source material for memes. Memes based on popular culture that are designed to celebrate female candidates are disadvantaged by having a …

Alone: A Dataset For Toxic Behavior Among Adolescents On Twitter, Thilini Wijesiriwardene, Hale Inan, Ugur Kursuncu, Manas Gaur, Valerie L. Shalin, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit P. Sheth, I. Budak Arpinar

Publications

The convenience of social media has also enabled its misuse, potentially resulting in toxic behavior. Nearly 66% of internet users have observed online harassment, and 41% claim personal experience, with 18% facing severe forms of online harassment. This toxic communication has a significant impact on the well-being of young individuals, affecting mental health and, in some cases, resulting in suicide. These communications exhibit complex linguistic and contextual characteristics, making recognition of such narratives challenging. In this paper, we provide a multimodal dataset of toxic social media interactions between confirmed high school students, called ALONE (AdoLescents ON twittEr), along with descriptive …

The Terms, Logan Bicknell, Namhee Kim

Theses

Society as a whole isn’t aware of how their personal data on social media is being used and collected after clicking agree to the Terms and Conditions.

Although many Americans claim they care about protecting their personal and private information, many readily agree to the terms and conditions without realizing the implications of such actions. "A Deloitte survey of 2,000 consumers in the U.S found that 91% of people consent to legal terms and services conditions without reading them. For younger people, ages 18-34 the rate is even higher with 97% agreeing to conditions before reading," (Cakebread, 2017). In readily …

Case Study Analysis Of Shared Visual Arguments And Propaganda Techniques Of Russian Propaganda Posters And Russian Internet Memes, Cindy D. Vasquez

Communication Theses - Archive

Rhetoric, the study of argument using logic, has been studied for centuries. However, there is some disagreement among scholars on whether or not argumentation can be applied to visual imagery. Images are noted to have more emotional appeal than text does. Visual propaganda was mass produced in the form of propaganda posters, most popularly in the early 20th century. In more recent times, the sharing of images has moved to social media, popularly through memes. This paper analyzes two Soviet propaganda posters produced by one Soviet publishing house, Litizdat, and two memes created by the Russian organization the Internet Research …

We've Got You Covered, Meghan Cooper

Graduate Scholarly Works

White paper for the Health Promotion and Wellness department and the Condom Concierge program.

Aesthetics Of Food: The Role Of Visual Framing Strategies For Influence Building On Instagram, Shuhan Yang

Theses

This thesis employs quantitative content analysis to investigate how social media influencers use aesthetic image design to engage followers. The study investigates the ten most-followed food influencers on Instagram in the United States. The study looks at the effectiveness of visual framing strategies, focusing on the images (N = 120) of influencers which have received more than 10,000 likes in 2017. Results show that food influencers prefer to post images about cooked food, without any decorations, using high contrast colors and close-up shots. Raw food images were found to be associated with cluttered composition and far away shoots, whereas cooked …

The Role Of Visual Identity Design In The Evolution Of Luxury Fashion Brand Strategy, Jia Cai

Theses

Fashion luxury brands have taken longer than other retail segments to understand and adapt to consumer behavior changes created by the digital revolution over the past decade. Digital and social media has created a fundamental shift in consumers expectations of their shopping experiences.

The big debate in the luxury fashion industry has been whether the integration of ‘off-line’ and ‘on-line’ actually creates value or reduces the exclusivity associated with the brands. In the past, luxury brands have relied on traditional marketing channels such as print and direct mail to engage their high-value customers. Additionally, the industry has placed an enormous …

Right-Wing, Nationalist Discourses And Counter-Discourses On Twitter During The European Migrant Crisis, Ramona Kreis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines right-wing, nationalist-conservative discourses on Twitter. Specifically, this study explores the features of right-wing discourses and counter-discourses in the context of the European migrant crisis in 2015 and the terrorist attack in Berlin, Germany, in 2016. Informed by critical discourse analysis and multimodal discourse analysis, the analysis focuses on discursive strategies and semiotic and multimodal resources found in tweets that either endorse or challenge anti-refugee stances during the aforementioned time frames. Additionally, this study explores to what extent the platform-specific technological affordances facilitate dialogic interaction between users who express right-wing opinions and users who challenge right-wing discourses.

The …

Sufism’ Channels Of Communication In Contemporary Era, Zaenal Abidin Eko Putro, Ida Nurhayati, Pradiptia Wulan Utami

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

It is widely known that Sufi order group (kelompok tarekat) has grown in many areas of Indonesia since the influx on Islam in archipelago several centuries ago. The religious group is currently still persistence elsewhere in Indonesia until nowadays. Usually, a Sufi order member has a special obligation to recite some sort of Quranic verses given by their Sufi teacher. Generally, the goal they want to achieve by joining sufi order is to calm their mind over worldly problems. Here, this is the importance to look at how they communicate with one another, especially delivering a message from the teacher …

The Meaning Of Instagram Use For Rheumatoid Arthritis Information, Deborah Lewis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social media use related to chronic disease has become pervasive, yet few researchers have examined the influence of social media on health care message dissemination and health care outcomes. In this study, the use of Instagram, an image-rich social media platform, for sharing health information was examined. Nurses, as key providers of patient information, need to understand the relative effectiveness of different types of social media for health information, how social media is currently used by health care consumers, and how to best use various social media platforms to improve patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to gain …

Can We Reduce Social Comparison And Fear Of Missing Out With Labels On Instagram?, Taylor Martinek

Departmental Honors Projects

The rapid rise in social media platforms has led to an increase of research surrounding its uses and effects. Thus far, results are heavily mixed with researchers finding both positive and negative effects. Activist campaigns, such as Status of Mind, have chosen to highlight negative outcomes such as increased social comparison and fear of missing out (FOMO). They have proposed platforms introduce a label to be placed on edited posts to help remind viewers they have been altered and are not an accurate depiction of reality. The current study examines whether labels are effective in reducing social comparison and …

Social Media Best Practices In Academic Libraries (2018), Bettina Peacemaker, Sue Robinson

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Data

In order to understand current trends and use of social media in libraries, VCU Libraries created and conducted an online survey using SurveyMonkey. Our approach was informed by the study of social media and public relations practice conducted by Wright and Hinson (Wright, Donald K. and Michelle Drifka Hinson. 2015. “Examining Social and Emerging Media Use in Public Relations Practice: A Ten-Year Longitudinal Analysis.” Public Relations Journal 9).

The VCU Libraries survey consisted of 23 multiple-choice, multiple-answer, and open ended questions. The survey was distributed to email discussion lists frequented by library professionals involved in management or communications. The data …

Decoding A New Age Of Informal Learning: Describing Public Pedagogy For The Web, Alison Holland

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The everyday, informal, out-of-school learning adults participate in has drastically changed in the past two decades as information and interaction online has grown and evolved (Blaschke, 2012; Skyrme, 2001). Instead of attending in-person workshops and noncredit courses, sending away for fact sheets and the like, much informal learning today occurs online, often beginning with a search engine or social network. However, long-standing, nonprofit, and governmental institutions have largely failed to understand and capitalize on the new information and education ecosystem, while nimble start-ups (e.g., Wikipedia) have thrived (Fuad-Luke, 2009; Skyrme, 2001). This dissertation aims to provide a model for a …

Catpanion: A Ui/Ux Ios-Based App Design To Support Cat Adoptions, Chenchen Ji

Theses

Homeless and abandoned cats are becoming an issue in urban areas around the world: a majority of them may carry illnesses that may lead to infectious diseases. Once back in the wild, cats may also harm the ecological equilibrium of urban areas as they are known to be hunters of birds and smaller mammals.

The popularity of online cat-related material has ballooned over the past decade. Within the confines of social media, cat-related matters have gained an enormous amount of attention. Due to the increase in cat enthusiasts, celebrities occasionally help post information about cats and have even helped ask …

Music & Media: A Senior Recital & Honors Project, Kayla Luteran

Honors Projects

Music & Media: A Senior Recital & Honors Project is a cross-media marketing strategy. The main purpose of this project was to develop visually appealing, informative graphic elements and branding to effectively promote a musical performance. This is interdisciplinary in nature and includes written and oral communication.

While many music students post about their senior recital on social media or place flyers, they do not develop a thorough methodology for generating buzz about their event. Although musical preparation is of utmost importance for a performance, I believe that time should be spent on all aspects of planning the recital. With …

The Self And Other: Portraying Israeli And Palestinian Identities On Twitter, Jason Deegan, John Hogan, Sharon Feeney, Brendan Orourke

Articles

The conflict between Israel and Palestine has lasted over half a century, with both sides enduring military and political turmoil. This paper explores how Twitter is being used as a medium to portray identities in the conflict. We examine the tweets contained in the @IDFspokesperson and @ISMPalestine Twitter accounts between late 2015 and early 2016. Using textual analysis, we gain an insight into how these Twitter accounts, defined by the conflict, are used in portraying the self and the other.

But First, Let Me Take A Selfie: A Content Analysis Of Female And Male Celebrity Selfies On Instagram, Maureen Grace Elinzano

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to analyze the differences between women and men and their selfies on the popular social media application Instagram. Past research and notions in popular culture show that women take more selfies than men do, and that they place more time and effort into their selfies than men do. The goal is to show that women may not solely do the action of taking and posting selfies and that the stereotype of taking and posting selfies being a feminine action should not be prevalent. We conducted a thorough visual content analysis of selfies on Instagram …

Curriculum Change In Undergraduate Strategic Communications Programs: How Strategic Communications Programs Are Adapting To 21st Century Media, Allyson B. Goodman

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The year 2014 has been described by scholars as transformative in how consumers interact with technology and media. Pointing to such digital milestones as the explosion of social media and mobile technology and the decline of traditional television ratings, these scholars have described the evolution as a move from a broadcast era to a postbroadcast era of media. This mass media evolution has opened a digital talent gap between the skills needed by the industry and the abilities of current and potential employees.

Focusing on undergraduate strategic communications programs, this research discusses the current status of new and social media …

Online Communication Settings And The Qualitative Research Process: Acclimating Students And Novice Researchers, Katherine Gregory

Publications and Research

In the last 20 years, qualitative research scholars have begun to interrogate methodological and analytic issues concerning online research settings as both data sources and instruments for digital methods. This article examines the adaptation of parts of a qualitative research curriculum for understanding online communication settings. I propose methodological best practices for researchers and educators that I developed while teaching research methods to undergraduate and graduate students across disciplinary departments and discuss obstacles faced during my own research while gathering data from online sources. This article confronts issues concerning the disembodied aspects of applying what in practice should be rooted …

Oh Snap: Chatstyle In The 2016 U.S. Presidential Primaries, David Painter, Eisa Al Nashmi

Faculty Publications

Based on Goffman’s theories of self-presentation and framing, this exploratory investigation adapted Videostyle and Webstyle protocols to analyse the 2016 US presidential primary candidates’ Snapchat posts. This quantitative content analysis (N = 871) coded for the visual content, production techniques, nonverbal content and frames used by the five candidates who used Snapchat as a strategic tool to engage voters throughout the course of the 2016 US primary campaign. The results indicate Clinton (D) deviated from the other candidates in the visual and nonverbal content as well as the frames used in her snaps. The implications of these findings on …

The Rise Of The Listicle: Using Eye-Tracking And Signal Detection Theory To Measure This Growing Phenomenon, Jason Robert Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

As online technology continues to progress, the modes of communication through which content can be shared have exponentially grown. These include advances in navigational options for presenting information and news online. Though the listicle has been around for centuries, the internet has proliferated its growth, as content producers rely on its structure as a vehicle for sharing information. This research shows that in the case of listicles, format had no direct effect on recall, however, participants who had a greater interest in the content showed significantly higher levels of memory sensitivity. This critical finding suggests that news outlets and content …

How Instagram Content Affects Brand Attitudes And Behavior, Ming (Bryan) Wang, Valerie K. Jones

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This paper examines the effectiveness of communication on Instagram, a type of visual social networking site, by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Results show that the TSA’s Instagram account elicited stronger emotional reactions than a private consumer product business Instagram account. More importantly, perceived usefulness of content, perceived persuasive intent of content, and negative emotions all affected attitudes toward the TSA. Additionally, perceived usefulness of content and negative emotions also influenced communicative action regarding the TSA account. Findings demonstrate the emotional impact of visual communication and the role of both cognitive and affective evaluations in changing attitudes and behavior …

A New Materialist Approach To Visual Rhetoric In Photoshopbattles, Jonathan Paul Ray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to examine the visual rhetoric of one online community. Drawing heavily from the work of Laurie Gries (2015), I track the evolution of an image as it circulates through a forum of photo manipulators in the group “PhotoShopBattles.” While Gries’ work traced the evolution of the iconic Obama Hope poster and its iterations in various media, this project restricts its observations to the images posted to one webpage, focusing on one evolutionary chain. By narrowing the focus to one internet forum page that evolved over the course of one week, we can observe linear …

Public Relations In The Restaurant Industry: Using Visual Social Media To Increase Consumer Relationships, Carly M. Cady

Journalism

As daily social media usage grows, marketing through these platforms become increasingly important for public relations professionals. Instagram, one of the most popular social media platforms, provides a new way to instantaneously reach millions of potential customers through the use of visuals. However, with limited knowledge of this new public relations tool, standing out and creating a successful presence for your business is difficult. This study is to explore how visual social media, specifically Instagram, can be used to increase consumer knowledge in the restaurant industry.

Investigation of current literature regarding the topic and gathered opinions of industry professionals will …

Meeting Students Where They Are Online, But Leading Them Somewhere More Interesting: Reflections On Teaching The Facebook Class, Jeffrey T. Manuel, Matthew Schunke

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This article describes a unique interdisciplinary course on social media and the self developed and taught by the authors at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The article describes challenges facing humanities faculty who wish to teach on topics with high societal currency and student interest. Current research into humanistic approaches to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter is summarized. The authors discuss their inquiry-driven pedagogy in the classroom, how the course was redesigned based on student feedback, and assignments designed to encourage critical thinking about students' use of social media. Finally, the article argues that humanities faculty should offer …

Fashion Photography On Social Media: Insights From Hong Kong Fashion Image Producers, Athena Choi

Staff Publications

This study draws on fashion and culture theories to explore the influence of visual sharing culture on social media in fashion. The objective is to interpret the perceived creative values and the meanings of such cultural phenomenon from the perspective of fashion media industry in Hong Kong. In-depth interviews, in the exploratory semi-structured format, were adopted in which 20 fashion image producers in Hong Kong were interviewed regarding their increasing involvement in professional fashion image making and blogging. Among the 20 respondents, 12 respondents were younger generation of image producers with experience around 3 years, while 8 respondents have been …