Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of An Evidence-Based Social Media Campaign Designed To Enhance Social Connectedness For First-Year University Students, Julie Vo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The primary purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate the feasibility of a 10-week, evidence-based social media campaign (“iBelong@Western”) targeting the social connectedness of first-year university students (n = 30; M_age = 18.5, SD = 4.9) in London, Ontario. The secondary purpose was to explore participant perceptions of the campaign and its impact on social connectedness. Developed over a 3-month period using evidence-based approaches (e.g., participatory action research, SMILE framework), the campaign was implemented from March-May, 2023. Feasibility was assessed using social media analytics and data from one semi-structured interview; participant perceptions were explored using …

Recreational Nastiness Or Playful Mischief? Contrasting Perspectives On Internet Trolling Between News Media And Avid Internet Users, Yimin Chen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The term “internet trolling” has come to encompass a wide range of disparate behaviours: ranging from abusive speech and computer hacking to sarcastic humour and friendly teasing. While some of these behaviours are clearly antisocial and, in extreme cases, criminal, others are harmless and can even be prosocial. Previous studies have shown that self-identified internet trollers tend to credit internet trolling’s poor reputation to misunderstanding and overreaction from people unfamiliar with internet culture and humour, whereas critics of trolling have argued that the term has been used to downplay and gloss over problematic transgressive behaviour. As the internet has come …

The Practice Of Curation On Instagram: A Bourdieusian Approach, Eve S. Smerchinski

MA Research Paper

Social media has become a salient part of the social world. However, social media platforms are no longer solely for conversing with others; they have become a tool for self-presentation and the curation of self. This paper explores how previous social media research and scholars can be used to understand the intentionality displayed by Instagram users as they construct their online identities and profiles. Additionally, this paper aims to further understand this process by approaching it as a process of curation through a Bourdieusian lens. Bourdieu’s sociological lens will allow for a further understanding of the intentionality behind social media …

Examining Public Health Risk Communication Via Social Media By Provincial And Local Health Authorities In Ontario During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Marc Resendes

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Risk communication campaigns are essential during public health crises to inform the public about ways to mitigate, alleviate and manage potential risks. The purpose of this study was to describe risk communication on social media by Ontarian health authorities amid COVID-19, in addition to examining the strategies that guided their social media use. This was completed through (a) a narrative review of risk communication literature; (b) a qualitative content analysis of select health authority Twitter messaging following three major COVID-19 milestones; and (c) key informant interviews with those coordinating social media responses to COVID-19. Information giving and news updates were …

The Impact Of Using Social Media To Understand The Pandemic: Does It Spread Conspiracy And Discourage Health-Protective Behaviours?, Kitara Patry

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

This study investigates the interplay between social media use for COVID-19 related information, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and the negative behaviours associated with these conspiracy theories that manifest in participants’ disregard of health-protective behaviours. Participants (N = 69) were recruited from an all-female undergraduate population and completed one online questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic information and experience with the pandemic. Questions about COVID-19 conspiracy theories and health-protective behaviours were adapted from Allington et al.’s (2020) research. A Pearson correlation analysis for using social media or traditional news as a main source of COVID-19 information was not significant with measures …

Social Media As A Predictor Of Depression Rates Among Male Versus Female Adolescents During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kaylee A. Fishback

Undergraduate Honours Theses

Technology use has drastically and progressively increased as the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to unfold. Adolescents are now reliant on technology for their education, in addition to communication with friends and family (Pfefferbaum & North, 2020). With the recency of the pandemic, research on the effects of increased internet and social media use for adolescent mental health is decidedly underdeveloped. This study aimed to fill the research gap by examining how the frequency of male and female adolescents’ social media use is associated with depression rates during the pandemic by using a longitudinal design. Participants for this study included 351 …

There Is More To Snapchat Than Snapping: Examining Active And Passive Snapchat Use As Predictors Of Anxiety In Adolescents, Nicole A. Orlan

Undergraduate Honours Theses

Social media’s adoption in society continues to increase, and past research has found significant relationships between social media use and anxiety in young adolescents. The current research focused solely on Snapchat, as it is currently one of the most popular platforms among adolescents; however, it is also one of the least researched. This research aimed to explore Active and Passive Snapchat Use as predictors of anxiety in adolescents over time. This study focused on what people are actually doing while using Snapchat rather than the amount of use. Adolescents (N = 105, 21.2% male and 78.8% female) from High Schools …

Resignation Or Resistance? Examining The Digital Privacy Attitudes And Behaviours Of East Yorkers, Kaitlyn Cavacas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Digital technologies have become enmeshed in everyday life causing the public to become exposed to potential privacy risks through data collection and aggregation practices. Further, the upsurge in use of social networking platforms has also created opportunities for privacy violations through institutional and social surveillance. Employing a qualitative thematic analysis, this study explores how adults (N=101) living in East York, Toronto, navigate privacy through their use of the internet and digital services. Participants expressed feelings of mistrust, loss of control, resignation, and perceived self-unimportance with regards to their digital data. Importantly, others noted their desire and attempts to …

Transgender Youtubers And The Power Of Coming Out: Existentialism, Gender Performance, And Self-Actualization, Meghan Miller

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The transgender community has historically faced discrimination and oppression. However, the internet has emerged as a preeminent resource for transgender people to seek community and visibility, with YouTube acting as an especially valuable visual repository of self-representation. The present research is concerned with examining how transgender YouTube creators use the platform for self-actualization through the lens of existentialist and gender performance theory. Employing a qualitative content analysis of gender disclosure videos to explore this problem, this study shows how transgender YouTubers seek personal authenticity and self-disclosure, especially with the help of and in relation to their audiences. Further, having come …

Snapchat And Its Relationship To Alcohol Consumption And Associated Behaviours, Kellie S. Thomas

Undergraduate Honours Theses

The current study examined the relationship between Snapchat use, alcohol consumption and associated behaviours and motivations. The participants in the study were 200 undergraduate students enrolled at Western University. Participants in the control condition watched a video made up of 11 Snapchats where subjects were consuming water, the experimental condition was identical except subjects were consuming alcoholic beverages. Regression analyses indicated that relationship management motivation (RMM) and self-enhancement motivation (SEM) were the most significant predictors across condition and gender. Implications are discussed.

Self Presentation Of Select Female Athletes On Instagram And Public Responses, Erin Ratelle

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Social media sites vastly have changed the ways in which athletes can interact with their fans. Positioned within the area of feminist cultural studies, this thesis employs a mixed-methods approach to examine how 8 selected female athletes display their bodies on Instagram via posted photos; how the public responds to this content via photo comments; and how these interactive postings fit with wider socio-cultural and historical contexts of women’s bodies in sport and physical activity. Using Erving Goffman’s theory on self-presentation and Jurgen Habermas’ theory on the public sphere, I conceive Instagram as both stage and space for public deliberation. …

The E-Writing Experiences Of Literary Authors, Kathleen Schreurs

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The e-writing experience is new and not yet fully understood and there is a story to be told about the enigmatic term e-writing and its impact on authors in the e-paradigm. In this study I collected understandings of e-writing by exploring the experiences of literary authors through qualitative case studies. I set out to find answers amidst two interconnected plots of inquiry. The first plot examined e language, in particular the term e-writing, and asked how authors understand the term e-writing and how their experiences contributed to that meaning. The second storyline asked how the digital revolution and resulting e-culture …

Jihad And Hashtags: Women's Roles In The Islamic State And Pro-Jihadist Social Networks, Rachel K. Inch

MA Research Paper

Over a one-year period from January 2015 to January 2016, a team of researchers collected nearly 100,000 Tweets from female operated Twitter accounts that exhibited pro-Islamic State (IS) affiliations. The following exploratory research paper aims to address two questions: (1) will identifiable patterns of engagement be revealed through a thematic analysis of Tweets posted by pro-IS women?, and (2) do these patterns illuminate the roles pro-IS women occupy online and in real-time social networks? This research paper intends to challenge the gendered assumption that women play strictly supportive roles within the boundaries of the IS, and demonstrate that IS female …

Do You “Like” Me?: Reassurance Seeking On Facebook And Depression, Callista Forchuk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The objective of this study was to expand interpersonal theories of depression by incorporating online social behaviour. This study assessed the influence of Facebook reassurance seeking on concurrent depressive symptoms, as well as the moderating role of attachment anxiety in this relation. A sample of 458 undergraduates (68% female; mean age 18.54) completed self-report computer-based questionnaires of offline reassurance seeking, Facebook reassurance seeking, attachment style, and depression. Contrary to hypotheses, Facebook reassurance seeking was not associated with depressive symptoms. However, there was an interaction whereby, for those higher in attachment anxiety, more Facebook reassurance seeking was associated with lessened depressive …

“Follow Me So I Can Dm You Back”: An Exploratory Analysis Of A Female Pro- Isis Twitter Network, Joseph A. Varanese

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study is to explore a network of female pro-Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) supporters on Twitter. To do so, I identified twenty Twitter accounts (n=20) through snowball sampling, and analyzed their network comprising 5,861 vertices and 12,034 edges. I studied the network using three social network analysis metrics—Freeman’s normalized betweenness centrality, average geodesic distance, and tie strength. Females in the sample were more influential than males, and as a result, had a greater ability to radicalize other females within their network. Further, I observed that it took females longer than expected to …

"Support For Sisters Please": Comparing The Online Roles Of Al-Qaeda Women And Their Islamic State Counterparts, Hillary Peladeau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study evaluates female roles in pro-jihadist terrorism by examining online content. Data was collected from 36 Twitter accounts of women associated with al-Qaeda (AQ) affiliated groups for a period of six months. The purpose for collecting this data was to: 1) compare how traditional female roles, as constructed within a jihadi-Salafist ideology, are reproduced and challenged on social media; 2) and determine the extent that AQ-affiliated women conform to roles outlined in Huey’s classification of females in pro-Islamic State (IS) Twitter networks. The results of this study reveal that women’s traditional roles in pro-jihadist activities are reproduced on Twitter. …

Terror On Twitter: A Comparative Analysis Of Gender And The Involvement In Pro-Jihadist Communities On Twitter, Eric W. Witmer

MA Research Paper

Social media has become the milieu of choice to radicalize young impressionable minds by terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State. While a plethora of research exists on the recruitment and propaganda efforts by terrorist organizations there is limited number of quantitative studies that observe the relationship of gender and the involvement in online radical milieus. This current research will build upon prior studies through the comparative analysis of 750 unique Twitter accounts supporting the IS and the affiliates of al-Qaeda that were non-randomly sampled between January and September of 2015. The research aimed to address the …

Contentious Information: Accounts Of Knowledge Production, Circulation And Consumption In Transitional Egypt, Ahmad Kamal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

While the 2011 Egyptian Uprising renewed attention to revolutionary news platforms such as Al-Jazeera and Facebook, citizens continued to be understudied as active consumers of information. Yet citizens’ perceptions of their informational milieu and how they responded in consuming, processing, and interpreting facts offer crucial insight into the turbulent transition that followed the initial uprising. This study analyzes Egyptian citizens’ accounts of their information environment and practices amid socio-political change. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 politically-engaged citizens from various political and professional backgrounds. Participants were asked to discuss the state of public discourse, the institutions responsible for the circulation …

Policing Cyber Bullying: How Parents, Educators, And Law Enforcement Respond To Digital Harassment, Ryan Broll

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Some prior research has emphasised how adults ought to address cyber bullying, yet little is known about how they actually prevent and respond to digital harassment. This study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the formal and informal “policing” of cyber bullying by a network of security actors: parents, teachers and school administrators, and the public police. Data were collected through a mixed methods research design consisting of semi-structured qualitative interviews with eight parents, 14 teachers, and 12 members of law enforcement (n = 34) and quantitative surveys completed by 52 parents.

Drawing upon nodal governance theory as …