Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Evolution Of Computational Propaganda: Trends, Threats, And Implications Now And In The Future, Holly Schnader

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Computational propaganda involves the use of selected narratives, social networks, and complex algorithms in order to develop and conduct influence operations (Woolley and Howard, 2017). In recent years the use of computational propaganda as an arm of cyberwarfare has increased in frequency. I aim to explore this topic to further understand the underlying forces behind the implementation of this tactic and then conduct a futures analysis to best determine how this topic will change over time. Additionally, I hope to gain insights on the implications of the current and potential future trends that computational propaganda has.

My preliminary assessment shows …

Inside The Virtual Ambazonia: Separatism, Hate Speech , Disinformation And Diaspora In The Cameroonian Anglophone Crisis, Sombaye Eyango Jules Roger

Master's Theses

This study examines the dynamics of the anglophone separatist claims in Cameroon, the so-called “Anglophone Crisis”. I focus on explaining why the separatist claims reemerged in 2016 after being shut down for about 20 years. It explains how the Anglophone separatist revendications have sustained over time despite the extremely centralized power of the Paul Biya government.This paper first argues that the Anglophone Crisis is more than an identity struggle between Anglophone/Francophone Cameroonians, but rather a conflict about historical and institutional grievances, political competition, and regional politics involving the neighboring state of Nigeria.

Second, it verifies the hypothesis that the sustainability …

Brand Communication Through Social Media Influencers: How Organizations Can Advance Effective Relationships With Smis In Brazil, Andressa Ferreira Gaertner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to shed light on how brands can build relationships with social media influencers (SMIs). By replicating Pang et al. (2016) research in different cultural settings, the present study identified internal and external influences that are important for SMIs routines in Brazil, generating additional enlightenment into the Mediating the Media model for SMIs and evaluating to what extent cultural differences may impact the proposed theoretical framework. The research was conducted in two major parts. The first replicated the method used previously by Pang et al. (2016), performing in-depth interviews with eight SMIs. In the second …

Exploring The Role Of Social Media In The Identity Development Of Trans Individuals, B. Doss

MSU Graduate Theses

This study explores the role of social media in the identity development of trans individuals and whether it can be viewed as a means to gain social support and thus enhance positive identity development. Traditional models of identity development, as well as those for trans individuals, count social support as a key factor in psychosocial well-being, and adaptive coping. However, many trans people may face difficulty in finding or accessing direct social support. This study consisted of five semi-structured interviews with trans individuals exploring their experiences using social media and their perceptions of its influence on their identity development. Using, …

Newsroom Narratives And Newsroom Solutions: Local Print Media In The Digital Age, John Pendygraft

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks solutions to vexing problems facing media institutions today by exploring media narratives n the context of established anthropological theory. It is based in one local newsroom, the Tampa Bay Times, where I have worked for 22 years. The ethnography is a personal journey that draws on those decades of newsroom experience, social science theory, participant observation, interviews with journalists, and personal reflections. It examines dangerous historic periods of social dehumanization to put the political nature of today’s local print media crisis in context, and concludes that the greatest modern challenges to legacy journalism’s broken business model …

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 …

Analysis Of Family-Health-Related Topics On Wikipedia, Yanyan Wang

Theses and Dissertations

New concepts, terms, and topics always emerge; and meanings of existing terms and topics keep changing all the time. These phenomena occur more frequently on social media than on conventional media because social media allows a huge number of users to generate information online. Retrieving relevant results in different time periods of a fast-changing topic becomes one of the most difficult challenges in the information retrieval field. Among numerous topics discussed on social media, health-related topics are a major category which attracts increasing attention from the general public.

This study investigated and explored the evolution patterns of family-health-related topics on …

Study On Recovery Of Bad Social Media Reviews In The Hospitality Industry Using Project Management Principles, Franck Legrand

Dissertations and Theses

This research is about hotel guest recovery on social media. Whenever a guest has a bad experience during their stay, they share their opinion on social media. Negative reviews can damage hotel’s performance. This research seeks to gather information on the expectations of guest based on their personal experiences. Answering guests’ complaints on social media is a difficult task, as it requires an understanding of each guest personality traits. This thesis develops a methodology in order to understand the personality of guests, provide a clear response to answer the guests feedback on social media, help hotel managers to regain trust …

An Investigation Of Autism Support Groups On Facebook, Yuehua Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Autism-affected users, such as autism patients, caregivers, parents, family members, and researchers, currently seek informational support and social support from communities on social media. To reveal the information needs of autism- affected users, this study centers on the research of users’ interactions and information sharing within autism communities on social media. It aims to understand how autism-affected users utilize support groups on Facebook.

A systematic method was proposed to aid in the data analysis including social network analysis, topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and inferential analysis. Social network analysis method was adopted to reveal the interaction patterns appearing in the groups, …

Nonprofit Public Relationships On Social Media: The Public's Perspective, Brooke Lauren Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This work explores the effect of social media on expectations held by nonprofit publics as they seek to build and maintain relationships with nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in the context of expectancy violation theory, social capital, and the situational theory of publics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 individuals who follow a nonprofit on social media to understand the public perspective on nonprofit organizations' relationship building and maintaining behaviors on social media. The study found that nonprofit publics do have specific expectations for how NPOs should build and maintain relationships on social media (i.e., high-quality posts, level of interaction being limited …

Communication Audit For Groundswell Startups, Abeer Janakat

Theses and Dissertations

This design project provides Groundswell Startups with a set of suggestions for its communication strategies based on a communication audit. The suggestions are based on marketing and communication literature, as well as, research conducted with internal and external members of Groundswell’s community. Qualitative research methods like a social media content analysis along with a focus groups and interviews were utilized to conduct the audit. The social media content analysis explores analytics features provided by Groundswell’s different platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The intent behind the communication audit and following suggestions is to support Groundswell in shaping a go-to high tech …

Exploring The Association Between How Social Media Affects Attitudes Toward Marijuana Legalization, Troy Adam Aubut Ii

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

As support for marijuana legalization continues to rise, it’s important to explore how the use of social media may be affecting the attitudes of Americans around this controversial topic. Social media has become a part of everyday life for most as it allows easy communication to anyone anywhere and allows the exchanging of influential ideas over a broad range of topics, especially marijuana legalization. As such, this study utilized data from the 2016 General Social Survey to examine the relationship between how the general use of social media affects attitudes toward marijuana legalization. The findings of this study suggest that …

The Influence Of Instagram Selfies On Female Millennials’ Appearance Satisfaction, Diliara Bagautdinova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scholars have proved negative effects of social network sites on women’s body image caused by social comparison processes. However, only a few studies have examined the effects of Instagram on women’s appearance satisfaction and no selfies were taken into consideration in regard to that issue. The purpose of this research was to examine the social comparison theory through the lens of Instagram selfies and determine the effects of selfies on women’s appearance satisfaction. In-depth interviews with 26 female millennials, ages 18 to 32, reveal the re-defined standard of an ideal body image, shifting away from being skinny to becoming fit, …

Social Media's Influence On Pre-Trial Publicity, Kelly Kondroski

Student Theses

In an age where more and more people are turning to social media for news information it can only be concluded that those same people are vulnerable to some type of exposure to pretrial publicity. Research has supported the idea that pretrial publicity creates premature judgments of guilt towards the accused and the more exposure a person has on a case the more strongly their opinions of guilt tend to be. Social media has quickly become a platform that users turn to receive news information, including details about cases that are in process of going to trial. Because its high …

Like And Shout: Brand Loyalty, Framing, And Fan Interactions On The Byu Football Facebook Page, Zachary Anderson Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This research is intended to provide the stewards of social media for Brigham Young University's football program with information that will allow them to make better decisions on what kind of content will maximize engagement and enhance brand loyalty among fans and consumers on Facebook. Using several variables, including the type or theme of content, post frequency, and sponsorship, content was compared against that from the University of Oregon's football program for the 2017 season. The results, found using quantitative data analysis, reveal that some variables have a significant impact on the quantity of engagement from viewers for both programs …

Social Media Use And Its Impact On Relationships And Emotions, Spencer Palmer Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

A large majority of the people throughout the world own a smartphone and access social media on a daily basis. Because of this digital attachment, the author sought to understand to what extent this use has impacted the users' emotional well-being and offline interpersonal relationships. A sample size of 627 participants completed a mixed-methods survey consisting of Likert scale and short answer questions regarding social media use, emotional well-being and interpersonal relationships. Results revealed that the more time an individual spent on social media the more likely they were to experience a negative impact on their overall emotional well-being and …

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.

Constant Connection: College Students’ Smartphones Attachment And Close Relationship Attachments Across Domains, Angela M. Pezzella

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

This study aims to conceptualize the way individuals, more notably college students and emerging adults, use their smartphones, applying an attachment framework. Recently, research has shifted from using vocabulary akin to addiction, and researchers are beginning to see similarities and consistencies in how individuals relate to their phones and how attachment was originally conceptualized in the infant-mother relationship. Moreover, research is moving away from considering attachment as categorical, and is instead considering it continuous, and as varying in domains from individual to individual. This research used a new assessment tool (the YAPS) to assess college students’ attachment to phones, their …

Social Media Addiction And Its Implications For Communication, Courtney Nicole Wainner

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

My Choice Greens, Alina Zulfikarova, Amelia Mohr, Hesi Zhang, Ruiqi Huang, Sean Tatar, Yuhao Zhou, Zijun Zhou

School of Professional Studies

My Choice Programs for Independent Living is a nonprofit in Worcester, Massachusetts that helps individuals with special needs. In 2016, My Choice Programs added a branch to their organization called My Choice Greens. My Choice Greens is committed to growing fresh produce in their hydroponic farm. The profit generated from selling their vegetables is put back into direct programming for My Choice Programs. My Choice Greens is the first hydroponic farm in Worcester, but unfortunately not many people are aware of their program. Also, since they are a small nonprofit, they do not have sufficient funding or resources to market …

Social Networking Sites And Gaining Political Support., Blake A. Gerstner

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Since the turn of the Century, Social Networking Sites (SNSs) have become a normal part of most modern American lives. As this has happened, we have seen a spillover of the entertainment and informational nature of these sites into the American political system. Specifically, these sites are used to build support, gain votes and seats, and mobilize political movements by gaining attention and recognition on these sites. Much study has gone into how effective these online campaigns are in doing their job of gaining different kinds of support, but few, if any, have studied how these sites could be used …

A Social Media Plan For The Changemakers’ Playground, Meng Cong, Ciara Kilian, Xinling Wang, Sumanth Wilson, Chenyu Yan

School of Professional Studies

The purpose of this project was to create a social media plan for the Changemakers’ Playground campaign. The Changemakers’ Playground is a website thought up by our client, Sarah Lange, whereby ordinary individuals doing extraordinary things in their community can be celebrated for the work they are doing. Each person featured on the website, also known as a Changemaker, was interviewed by Sarah and that interview was split into three videos to be posted on the Changemakers’ Playground website throughout the week they are being featured. In short, our task was to create the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram content to …

Utilization Of Social Media In Strengthening Communication In Long Distance Relationships, Lexie Gutzmann

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of individuals, who have experienced long distance relationships, and utilize the instant access of communication through technology to strengthen and maintain their connection despite their geographical distances. Using a qualitative design, individuals between the ages of 20-30 were asked questions about their experience of utilizing social media and technology as a mode of communication to sustain their long distance relationship. The researcher analyzed the data by looking for codes and themes within the participant’s answers. The findings indicated that the participants found that social media and technology were beneficial in …

Sports Fan Interaction: A Comparison Of Teams To Determine The Common Thread Between Fan Engagement Across Social Media, Emma L. Ishee

Honors Theses

This study focused on the utilization of social media by collegiate athletic teams and how it relates to their interaction with their fan base. The aim of this study was to determine if a particular platform or post type gained the most fan interaction. The study also examined whether the men’s or women’s teams receive more interaction from fans. A random number generator selected three collegiate athletic teams from three different school in three conferences. Data was collected in the week leading up to the opening game. Ultimately, the results were not able to prove one type of post more …

Networks Of Isolation: The Case Of Donald J. Trump, Facebook, And The Limits Of Social Movement Theory, Carol L. Stimmel

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The 2016 election that catapulted Donald J. Trump to the U.S. presidency has raised questions for how Facebook may have enabled the emergence and coalescence of a social movement among traditionally improbable voters. The research in this paper engages with contemporary social movement theory, assessing its adequacy for explaining the role of Facebook as a primary method for facilitating a social movement among the civically-alienated, who are the most unlikely of all Americans to join an organized collective for change. From a methodological perspective, the exploration takes up the case as a strategy of inquiry to explore social movement theory …

Perception, Literacy And Confidence In Monitoring Of Snapchat Among Parents Of Adolescents And The Creation Of A Snapchat Educational Workshop, Aerial C. Holmes

Honors Theses

Various research studies have indicated that parental monitoring of social media is important and beneficial to children. However, some parents report that it is difficult to understand and that they lack an overall confidence in their ability to monitor. The purpose of this project was to analyze the relationship between parental confidence in their ability to monitor social media with social media literacy and attitudes/perceptions toward Snapchat. Forty-two participants were recruited through communication with local parent-teacher organizations, posted ads on The University of Southern Mississippi campus, and social media. The participants were given a survey that measured and assessed their …

Scroll In Color: Examining How Colors In Instagram Pictures Illicit Emotions In Users, Chelsi Crockett, Susan Waters

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study aims to understand if colors in Instagram pictures causes emotions in users. The methods involved in this study included a survey where respondents were presented with questions asking them how certain colors made them feel and users were also presented with pictures with varying color undertones and asked which picture made them feel a specific emotion. This study may provide indications for further research and advertising and public relations techniques using social media, specifically Instagram and utilizing colors within Instagram pictures.

Reactions To Fda E-Cigarette Regulation : How Vape Shops In Different Socioeconomic Areas Of Kentucky Use Facebook., Brooke A. Moody

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

In May 2016 the FDA deemed e-cigarettes a tobacco product. The “deeming rule” gave regulation to e-cigarettes where none had existed prior. Some of the regulations included: prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, prohibiting giving away free e-cigarette products, requiring FDA-approved warning labels on e-cigarette packaging, and requiring pre-market authorization of all new e-cigarette products. The consequences of these regulations primarily affected e-cigarette manufacturers and vape shops, where most e-cigarette sales take place. In July 2017 the FDA announced an extended timeline for some e-cigarette regulations, citing the reason as having limited research on if, and how, e-cigarettes can …

Online Socialization And Delinquency: Expanding The Study Of Peer Influence In Criminology, Timothy Mccuddy

Dissertations

Criminologists typically study peer influence within traditional contexts such as schools and neighborhoods. Spurred by the ubiquitous use of electronic devices, recent research finds that online peer delinquency can also have deleterious effects on adolescent behavior. This has important implications for the study of delinquency since youth today are digital natives, meaning their developmental years are spent in a world reliant on technology and Internet-connected devices. Through the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC), adolescents can forge friendships with those found within the cyber context, a virtual environment unrestricted by the confines of space and time. This context not only provides …

The Effects Of Smartphones On Social Lives: How They Affect Our Social Interactions And Attitudes, D'Juan Gladden

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

New technologies available with cellular devices and the introduction of smartphones have become a large part of individual’s lives in the past few decades. Smartphones have the ability to perform almost every operation necessary for individuals at any time or place. Smartphones are means for individuals to communicate quickly while interacting on other websites and social networking platforms at the same time. Each day the capabilities of smartphones continue to grow and allow users to establish more information through these mediums, without the extra work of using other devices and programs. The study investigated the daily usage of smartphones by …