Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Roles Played By Nigerian Youtube Micro-Celebrities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Aje-Ori Agbese

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian social media micro-celebrities were prominent players in the dissemination of information. This study examines the roles that one group of Nigerian micro-celebrities, YouTube video bloggers (vloggers)—also known as “YouTubers”—played during the pandemic. The research analysed the contents of COVID-19-themed videos that 15 popular Nigerian YouTubers posted on their channels between 29 February and 5 August 2020. The study was guided by the two-step flow of communication theory, in terms of which information first flows from mass media to opinion leaders, who then, in the second step, share the information with their audiences. The …

An Intersectional Approach To Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Women’S Sexualized Body-Positive Imagery On Instagram, Megan A. Vendemia, Kyla N. Brathwaite, David C. Deandrea

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Our work adopted an intersectional approach to investigate how women’s racial identity may influence how they evaluate and are impacted by body-positive imagery of women on social media. In a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment (N = 975), we examined how source race (Black vs White) and sexualization (non-sexualized vs sexualized) in body-positive images affect Black and White viewers’ impressions of self-interest, moral appropriateness, and body positivity. Results indicated that viewers generally responded more favorably to non-sexualized (vs sexualized) images: Participants reported less self-interested motivations for sharing, found the images more morally appropriate, and believed they were more …

A Four-Level Meta-Analytic Review Of The Relationship Between Social Media And Well-Being: A Fresh Perspective In The Context Of Covid-19, Joax Wong, Xin Yi Poh, Frosch Quek, Verity Lua, Nadyannam M. Majeed, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Social media, one of the most pervasive forms of technology, has been widely studied in relation to the mental health and well-being of individuals. However, the current literature on social media and well-being has provided mixed and inconclusive findings, thus creating a polarizing view of social media. These mixed findings continue to extend into the pandemic, with researchers debating over the effects of social media in the new norms of social isolation. In light of these inconclusive findings, the aim of our meta-analysis was to synthesize previous research data in order to have a holistic understanding of the association between …

To Be Not So Lonely: Support And Community Through Twitter Fan Accounts In The Harry Styles Fandom, Abigail Garrett

Honors College Theses

This study aims to examine the ways that fan accounts on social media foster community and fill the void of emotional engagement when the artist is not as active. It also looks at how fans’ parasocial relationships change when the subject of their emotional connection disappears. This study adds to previous research done on fandom, parasocial relationships, and social media. To perform this study, a close content analysis was done, focusing on one specific Harry Styles fan account on Twitter, @hsdaily. Two time periods were defined, one being a time of low activity from Harry Styles and one being high …

"Why This Post Now?" : Dramaturging Politics And Social Media, Kennedy Kemmerer

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Political events have always been influenced by the media, but social media has provided a much stronger influence than the typical newspaper or radio. Users of social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, etc.) have the opportunity to share whatever they want, to whoever they want, whenever they want. While social media has given immense opportunity for artists and creators alike, it has also given way for creators to participate in uninformed performance, whether intended or not, with their content. Are social media consumers considering whether content, specifically political content, is actually true or are they accepting it at face …

How Prolonged Social Media Use Affects Generation Z And Their New Media Literacy Skills, Ester Meyer Nunes

Global Strategic Communications Student Work

With the creation of the internet and new media platforms emerging at the beginning of the 21^st century, it has never been easier to stay connected; the world is within hand’s reach. Gen Z spends much of their day online, watching videos, chatting with friends, and creating video, text and photo content. This research explores the effects of prolonged exposure to social media, whether positive or negative.

Hate Speech Spikes On Twitter After Elon Musk Acquires The Platform, Bond Benton, Jin-A Choi, Yi Luo, Keith Green

School of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

Unmoderated social media platforms frequently become a haven for misinformation, extremism, and hate. There are challenges unique to unmoderated social media platforms that make the removal of such content and the users who spread it particularly difficult (Artime et al., 2020). When a platform’s focus is unrestricted expression from users, those looking to share and spread antisocial content will presumably use such spaces to share perspectives that would likely be restricted on other platforms. Historically, examples of such “free speech absolutist” spaces suggest that this threat is very real. Specifically, 4chan serves as a space where online anonymity coupled with …

A Preview Of Post Amnesty Twitter: Analysis Of “Groomer” On Twitter After The Colorado Springs Shooting, Bond Benton, Yi Luo, Jin-A Choi, Keith Strudler, Keith Green

School of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

On November 24, 2022 Elon Musk stated that “general amnesty” would be given to Twitter accounts previously suspended for violent threats, harassment and misinformation. This appears to reflect Musk’s previously stated intent to run the platform as a “free speech absolutist.” The question in many people’s minds is what such an incarnation of Twitter will look like. The tragic shooting at an LGBTQIA+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Nov. 19-20 and the reaction the event generated on the platform provide a case that demonstrates the tensions that will come with reduced platform moderation. “Groomer,” a previously Twitter restricted slur …

Social Media And Contentious Action: The Use And Users Of Qq Groups In China, Zixue Tai

Journalism and Media Faculty Publications

This article presents an analysis of a netnographic study of QQ groups engaged in contentious activities in China. Informed primarily by semi‐structured in‐depth interviews of 34 participants and field observations through years of grounded research, the findings shed light on the communicative dynamics and mobilization strategies of QQ groups in nurturing contentious action and motivating mass participation in social protest. In‐group communication stays highly focused on the respective mission of the groups, and it cultivates a sense of shared awareness conducive to collective action. There is also a noticeable contagion effect that transfers the spirit of contestation in terms of …

International Migrants And Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccinations: Social Media, Motivated Information Management, And Vaccination Willingness, Hyunjin Seo, Yuchen Liu, Muhammad Ittefaq, Fatemeh Shayesteh, Ursula Kamanga, Annalise Baines

School of Communication Studies - Faculty Scholarship

Objective

This study examines how those who were born outside the United States and migrated to the country in the past decade used social media and other online sites to deal with uncertainties around the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In particular, we examine how they used digital communication technologies to tap into online resources and social connections both in the United States and their origin country and how various aspects of online information management were associated with their willingness to get vaccinated against the virus.

Method

We conducted an online survey and in-depth interviews with international migrants aged 18–64 years …

Use Of Twitter Among College Students For Academics: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Stefanie Amiruzzaman, Md Amiruzzaman

Languages & Cultures Faculty Publications

For almost a decade, Twitter use and its impact on students' academic performance have been explored by many researchers. Despite growing scholarly interest, studies have been mostly quantitative in nature. The findings of previous studies are conflicting; thus, an in-depth study is needed to determine how and what impacts college students' academic performance (i.e., GPA) when they spend time on Twitter. The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of Twitter use on college students' academic performance. The present study shows that individual analysis techniques, such as quantitative or qualitative tools, are not enough to understand the underlying …

Does Social Media Accelerate Product Recalls? Evidence From The Pharmaceutical Industry, Yang Gao, Wenjing Duan, Huaxia Rui

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Social media has become a vital platform for voicing product-related experiences that may not only reveal product defects but also impose pressure on firms to act more promptly than before. This study scrutinizes the rarely-studied relationship between these voices and the speed of product recalls in the context of the pharmaceutical industry where social media pharmacovigilance is becoming increasingly important for the detection of drug safety signals. Using Federal Drug Administration (FDA) drug enforcement reports and social media data crawled from online forums and Twitter, we investigate whether social media can accelerate the product recall process in the context of …

The Effectiveness Of Facebook As A Social Network Intervention To Increase Physical Activity In Chinese Young Adults, Patrick W.C. Lau, J. J. Wang, Lynda B. Ransdell, Lei Shi

Kinesiology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: Facebook, one of the worlds' most popular online social networks, is easy to access and cost-effective. Its use to enhance individual's physical activity (PA) participation should be examined. This research reviews the effectiveness and successful features of Facebook for influencing PA behaviors in young adults (Study 1), and empirically examines the efficacy of the features purported in increase PA via a Facebook intervention (Study 2).

Methods: In Study 1, PubMed, Medline, SPORT Discus, ERIC, and Embase were searched for articles that identified successful features and effectiveness of Facebook PA interventions published between January 2005 and February 2022. In Study …

The Impact Of Hpv Vaccine Narratives On Social Media: Testing Narrative Engagement Theory With A Diverse Sample Of Young Adults, Amy E. Leader, Michelle Miller-Day, Rikishi T. Rey, Preethi Selvan, Anne E. Pezalla, Michael L. Hecht

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection are highest in young adults, who can be vaccinated against HPV if they were not vaccinated as adolescents. Since young adults increasingly access health information on social media, we tested the impact of a social media campaign with narrative-based health information on intentions related to HPV vaccination. We also aimed to understand which ads resonated most with young adults and led to higher survey completion rates. We created social media posts featuring videos promoting HPV vaccination. We launched a sponsored ad campaign on Facebook to reach young women, ages 18–26, across the country. Participants …

Understanding The Impact Of Emotional Support On Mental Health Resilience Of The Community In The Social Media In Covid-19 Pandemic, Xuan Hu, Yanqing Song, Ruilin Zhu, Shuang He, Bowen Zhou, Xuelian Li, Han Bao, Shan Shen, Bingsheng Liu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Background: Emotional support in social media can act as a buffer against the negative impact of affective disorders. However, empirical evidence relating to emotional support in social media and how it influences the wider public remains scanty. The objective of this study is therefore to conduct a prototype investigation into the translation mechanism of emotional support in social media, providing empirical evidence for practitioners to use to tackle mental health issues for the wider public. Methods: A regression model is proposed to examine the relationship between perceived and received emotional support. Received emotional support is set as the dependent variable …

How Do Information Specialists Keep Up To Date?, Aaron Tay

Research Collection Library

The working environment of information specialists is undergoing profound changes. This is primarily due to rapid advances in digitalization and automation. New databases are being set up or new functions added to established databases. At the same time, data processing and analysis have reached a new level (e.g. through machine learning). In addition, many new software tools to support daily work are being developed. But how do information specialists find out about new developments and assess the practical suitability of new tools?

Nowadays, an abundance of information on new developments in information retrieval can be found on the Internet. In …

Using Social Media In Kenya To Quantify Road Safety: An Analysis Of Novel Data, J. Austin Lee, Lyndsey Armes, Benjamin Wachira

Emergency Medicine, East Africa

Background: Road trafc injuries are a large and growing cause of morbidity and mortality in low- and middleincome countries, especially in Africa. Systematic data collection for trafc incidents in Kenya is lacking and in many low- and middle-income countries available data sources are disparate or missing altogether. Many Kenyans use social media platforms, including Twitter; many road trafc incidents are publicly reported on the microblog platform. This study is a prospective cohort analysis of all tweets related to road trafc incidents in Kenya over a 24-month period (February 2019 to January 2021).

Results: A substantial number of unique …

Which Police Departments Make Black Lives Matter, Which Don’T, And Why Don’T Most Social Scientists Care?, Robert Anthony Maranto, Wilfred Reilly, Patrick Wolf, Mattie Harris

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

In part via skillful use of social media, Black Lives Matter (BLM) has become among the most influential social movements of the past half century, with support across racial lines, and considerable financial backing (Fisher, 2019). Will this translate into public policy reforms which save Black lives? After all, higher education is a key institutional backer of BLM, and a considerable literature dating back decades (e.g., Lindblom & Cohen, 1979) casts doubt on the effectiveness of social science in solving social problems, for numerous reasons. Often, the best social science is simple counting. This paper makes two unique contributions. First, …

Girl-Next-Door To Girlboss: Taylor Swift’S Online Evolution From Puerile Pop Star To Poignant Political Influence, Clare G. Daly

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Of all society’s public figures, the social-media-savvy celebrity is arguably the most powerful. Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has amassed one of the largest followings on the internet. In recent years, she has inspired fans to act upon sociopolitical issues via voter registration, letter-writing campaigns, and music. Her digital footprint is not without contention from a slow arrival to politics to white feminist attributes present in her messaging. Through close reading across four social media platforms, I found a shift in Swift’s social media activity. In her transition from a young pop star to a global influence, I concluded that “Swifties” will …

The Handy Ir Manager: A Toolkit For Recruitment, Intake, And Promotion, Melody Herr, Jessica Kelly, Cedar C. Middleton

University Libraries Teaching and Learning

You seek fresh strategies for recruiting new collections for your institutional repository (IR). You strive to improve intake workflows and expedite metadata creation for hosted collections. You wonder how to attract users to repository content. If you see yourself in any – or all – of these scenarios, come to this session for inspiration and practical tools.

The Scholarly Communications team will present successful strategies that we’ve developed at the University of Arkansas for recruitment, intake, and promotion, using examples from our work with research centers and student journals.

Free Speech On Social Media: Unrestricted Or Regulated?, Alessandra Garcia Guevara

Student Writing

Social media has evolved into an essential mode of communication in recent years, allowing people to express their thoughts with the audience of their choice by sending private messages, posting their thoughts, or sharing their opinions. Such audiences can come from all over the world because this online technology breaks down geographic, linguistic, and cultural barriers. As a result, social media has evolved into a powerful tool for self-expression, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to participate in global debates. However, its misuse has had disastrous consequences in the real world, such as the attack on the Capitol that occurred …

Advancing Technology & Digital Lifestyles: Facilitating A Group Independent Study, Kailey Droz

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

For my senior capstone project, I facilitated a group independent study (ISP) through Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University called Advancing Technology and Digital Lifestyles. A small group of students and I critically and creatively analyzed our relationship with technology, and its impacts on the individual, interpersonal relationships, culture, and society. Prior to facilitating, I did research within the fields of cyberpsychology, social psychology, communication studies, and media studies. I am sharing my syllabus and facilitation notes, my final project (two short stories), an annotated bibliography, and a reflection on the group ISP and my process.

Here …

The Political Dynamics Of Legislative Reform: Potential Drivers Of The Next Communications Statute, Christopher S. Yoo, Tiffany Keung

All Faculty Scholarship

Although most studies of major communications reform legislation focus on the merits of their substantive provisions, analyzing the political dynamics that led to the enactment of such legislation can yield important insights. An examination of the tradeoffs that led the major industry segments to support the Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides a useful illustration of the political bargain that it embodies. Application of a similar analysis to the current context identifies seven components that could form the basis for the next communications statute: universal service, pole attachments, privacy, intermediary immunity, net neutrality, spectrum policy, and antitrust reform. Determining how these …

Rise Of Social Media Influencers As A New Marketing Channel: Focusing On The Roles Of Psychological Well-Being And Perceived Social Responsibility Among Consumers, Jihye Kim, Minseong Kim

Integrated Strategic Communication Faculty Publications

This empirical research investigated the structural relationships between social media influencer attributes, perceived friendship, psychological well-being, loyalty, and perceived social responsibility of influencers, focusing on the perspective of social media users. More specifically, this study conceptually identified social media influencer attributes such as language similarity, interest similarity, interaction frequency, and self-disclosure and examined the respective effects of each dimension on perceived friendship and psychological well-being, consequently resulting in loyalty toward social media influencers. The authors collected and analyzed data from 388 social media users in the United States via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk with multivariate analyses to test the hypothesized associations …

In A Digitally Connected World Through Likes, Hashtags And Followers - Advancing Surgical Research Through A Social Media: A Narrative Review, Sabah Uddin Saqib, Qamar` Riaz, Russell Seth Martins, Amna Riaz, Hasnain Zafar

Department for Educational Development

In this era of modern information technology, the world is now digitally connected through various platforms on social media, which has changed the way medical professionals work, communicate and learn. The use of social media in surgery is expanding, and it is now becoming an essential tool for surgical training, research and networking. Articles, journal clubs and surgical conferences are within reach of everyone regardless of geographical location worldwide. Electronic publications have now resoundingly replaced printed editions of journals. Collaborative research through social media platforms helps collect diverse data, enhancing the research's global generalisability. The current narrative review was planned …

A Framework Of Social Media Messages For Crisis And Risk Communication: A Study Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nic Depaula, Loni Hagen, Stiven Roytman, Deaundre Dyson, Dana Alnahass, Mihir Patel, Alex B. Hill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Social media are important channels for crisis and risk communication by government agencies. However, existing frameworks for studying these messages use loose and inconsistent terminology, making it difficult to build on this research and understand how message features impact message diffusion. In this study, we provide a framework based on textual and media dimensions of messages for improved analysis of social media crisis and risk communication. We apply the framework to a sample of Twitter posts from United States local, state and federal public health agencies during a year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Results show reasonable reliability levels for coding …

Tiktok’S Influence On Generation Z’S Buying Habits And Behavior, Tamara B. Munoz

Global Strategic Communications Student Work

As the digital era progresses, we continue to see how certain platforms capture the interest of various generations. Back then, Myspace rapidly appealed to millennials, and Facebook did the same with baby boomers. Today, TikTok is following their steps as it gains the interest of Generation Z in technologically advanced ways. In addition to providing entertainment, this short-video platform is now the go-to place to look for reviews of products or services. Due to this, the platform may be transforming how this age group behaves as a consumer. The overall purpose of this project was to further examine the impact …

Instagram Engagement: Comparing Sportswear Companies To Running Brands, Christian Schaaf

Communications: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Achieving an engaged social media presence is a crucial task for sports organizations in today’s expanding digital realm. “Instagram Engagement: Comparing Mainstream Sports Brands to Running Brands” explores the evolution of the sports-media relationship and specifically analyzes the engagement rates and types of content posted throughout five sportswear and running organizations’ Instagram accounts. 393 posts were analyzed and classified into three categories: metacommunicative, conceptual, and narrative (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006; Romney & Johnson, 2018). Overall, sportswear companies posted the most narrative images while running brands shared the greatest number of conceptual images. Significant difference was discovered between the number …

Reddit As A Source Of Covid-19 Information: A Content Analysis Of R/Coronavirus During The Early Pandemic, Brent Hale, Mark Alberta, Seung Woo Chae

Faculty Publications

Emerging research has begun examining the utility of social media platforms for information dissemination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following this developing thread, this work examines discourse within r/coronavirus, a Reddit forum (i.e., subreddit) developed to curate COVID-19 information that burgeoned during the early months of the pandemic. Through a content analysis of 226 posts and 2260 corresponding comments generated between February and May, 2020, this study investigated early-pandemic communication patterns in this platform, including what information was deemed important and how users framed causes and solutions. Overall, findings indicate that users of r/coronavirus prioritized information about COVID-19 spread, public health …

Presidential Rhetoric In Times Of Health Crises: From President Eisenhower To President Trump, Abbi Murphy, Justin Kirk

Honors Theses

Three major health crises in American history include the polio epidemic in the 1950s, the Ebola crisis in 2014, and the coronavirus in 2020. Each of these viruses evolved under a different President, from President Eisenhower to President Obama to President Trump. Each of these presidents spoke to the people on their respective crisis, and here I examine speeches, addresses, and social media posts in order to examine the rhetorical strategies that each President utilized. Each of them had a similar goal in mind, to eradicate the disease and quell the public’s fears. However, they all had advantages and disadvantages …