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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Communication

Theses and Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2024

Social media

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

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 …


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 …


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 …