Communication Commons^™

The National Security Internet, Anupam Chander

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In response to widespread foreign surveillance and growing geopolitical distrust, governments are erecting a national security internet. Pioneered by China, national firewalls have gone global. But where firewalls sought to keep information out, they now seek to keep data in. Governments keen to avoid their citizens’ data from falling into foreign hands demand not only that personal data be stored on local servers, but also require that it be stored on local servers by local companies—what this Article calls “data localization squared.” Enforcing this demand requires a new mechanism of transnational control: immunity from foreign jurisdiction. Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, …

Social Media And Public Opinion In Times Of Conflict: How Arab Social Media Impacted International Perspectives On The Gaza War, Mariam Rizk

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examines how Arab social media content creators impacted the international public perception of the 2023 Gaza war through English-language content. The research is conducted through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants: 4 Arab social media content creators and 15 English-speaking university students (13 American citizens and 2 international students studying in American universities). Through these semi-structured qualitative interviews, the research investigates the agenda-setting capabilities of social media during conflicts and identifies effective cross-cultural communication strategies. The study employed purposive sampling with snowball technique, targeting content creators with established social media presence (37,000-426,000 Instagram followers) and university students who …

An Impact Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of Utilizing Informal Health Communication Interventions To Spread Health Recommendations And Change Public Perception, Lina Mohamed Ezzat Ahmed Abdel Mawgoud

Theses and Dissertations

Brain health is an increasingly urgent but critically under-addressed public health priority in Egypt and the wider MENA region. Despite its centrality to aging, productivity, and overall quality of life, public understanding of brain health remains limited, and stigma continues to shape responses to dementia and cognitive decline. This study evaluates the effectiveness of informal, culturally adapted health communication as a tool to shift perception, increase awareness, and promote behavior change among non-medically trained adults in Egypt.

Grounded in global evidence on cognitive reserve, neuroplasticity, and the life-course approach to brain health, the intervention translated expert-informed brain health recommendations into …

Normalizing Ai: The Evanishing Effect And Rethinking The Machine Heuristic, Bumju Jung, Cameron W. Piercy, Patric R. Spence

Human-Machine Communication

This study examines how people evaluate factual claims attributed to human journalists versus artificial intelligence (AI) news bots, and how these evaluations are shaped by individual endorsement of the machine heuristic. An online experiment (N = 233) used a 2 (Agent: human vs. AI) × 2 (Information Veracity: accurate vs. inaccurate) design in which participants viewed a short tweet embedded in either a human or AI profile and then rated perceptions of source credibility, objectivity, bias, and accuracy. Endorsement of an AI-focused machine heuristic was significantly associated with higher source credibility, perceived objectivity, and perceived accuracy, and lower perceived bias, …

Strategi Personal Branding Youtuber Asian Survivor Dalam Membangun Motivasi Donasi: Studi Analisis Konten Video Youtube, Muhammad Sulthon Asykur, Hasyim Asyari

Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis Terapan

ABSTRACT

Content creators face significant challenges in maintaining audience engagement and social relevance amidst dynamic platform algorithms. This study analyzes YouTuber Asian Survivor's personal branding strategy in building authenticity, engagement, and audience donation motivation using a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative analysis employed t-tests and binary logistic regression on 101 videos, while qualitative analysis was conducted through in-depth interviews and observation. Results indicate that neither vulnerable nor inspiring narrative types significantly differentiate engagement levels; however, videos that successfully raised donations exhibited significantly higher engagement rates. Regression analysis proved that an increase in engagement rate raises donation probability by 2.5 times. Qualitative findings …

Pabrik Gula Di Tangan Netizen: Pemanfaatan User Generated Content (Ugc) Sebagai Mesin Promosi Film, Muthiah Khansa Basyirah, Khairunnisa Devani Aqtus Permana Putri Putri, Peny Meliaty Hutabarat, Yunita Miftahul Jannah

Jurnal Sosial Humaniora Terapan

Social media continues to drive growing digital trends in Indonesia, including marketing strategies. TikTok has become one of the social media platforms capable of gaining wider exposure due to its ability to create viral content. In line with the increasing use of TikTok, the phenomenon of User Generated Content (UGC) has emerged. This study aims to examine UGC in the marketing strategy of the film Pabrik Gula (Sugar Factory) to improve effective communication, close relationships with audiences, and creative content production strategies. This study uses User Generated Content (UGC) as the research subject and Pabrik Gula as the object, using …

Livestreaming A Doitocracy: Platform-Jumping Participatory Practices In Modular Synthesis Gear Cultures, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

Earth Modular Society (EMS) is a cross-platform community dedicated to live hardware modular synthesis, with their primary efforts going into a 24/7 modular “radio station” that livestreams on Twitch and YouTube, and a supporting Discord chat server. Although part of the broader modular synthesis gear culture (a large-scale social formation that coalesces around specific classes of fetishized technical objects), EMS represents a new development in gear cultures as it foregrounds live performance and minimizes the accrual of status via conspicuous consumption. The normative governance structures of platform-specific gear culture communities preclude all but one or a handful of users from …

Peran United In Diversity (Uid) Sebagai Ngo Dalam Mewujudkan Sdgs 17: Partnerships For The Goals Melalui Kolaborasi Lintas Sektor Di Indonesia, Tamara Ibra Nina Hidayat, Anak Agung Ayu Intan Parameswari

Jurnal Sosial Humaniora Terapan

Penelitian ini menganalisis peran United in Diversity (UID) sebagai organisasi non-pemerintah (NGO) dalam memperkuat kemitraan multi-pihak untuk mendukung implementasi Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17: Partnerships for the Goals di Indonesia. Menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif deskriptif, penelitian ini menelaah bagaimana UID berfungsi sebagai platform kolaborasi yang menghubungkan pemerintah, sektor swasta, akademisi, masyarakat sipil, serta mitra internasional dalam mendorong agenda pembangunan berkelanjutan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa UID berperan sebagai fasilitator utama kemitraan lintas sektor melalui inisiatif seperti Tri Hita Karana (THK) Forum, yang pada tahun 2022 berhasil memobilisasi estimasi komitmen blended finance lebih dari USD 30 miliar untuk proyek-proyek yang terkait dengan berbagai …

Digital Influencer Sebagai Faktor Pembentuk Brand Awareness Produk Time Phoria Di Kalangan Generasi Z, Maura Najwa Maitsa, Hudi Santoso, Enden Darjatul Ulya, Rici Tri Harpin Pranata

Jurnal Sosial Humaniora Terapan

Digital influencers play an important role in building brand awareness among Generation Z through digital marketing communication. This study aims to analyze the characteristics of digital influencers, including credibility, expertise, and attractiveness, as factors shaping brand awareness of the beauty product Time Phoria among Generation Z who consume content on the TikTok platform. The study adopts a descriptive quantitative approach using a survey of 100 respondents who met the research criteria. The results show that credibility, expertise, and attractiveness of digital influencers contribute positively and significantly to brand awareness, with credibility identified as the most dominant factor. These findings highlight …

Homemaking In Hashtags: A Rhetorical Study Of Hannah Neeleman’S #Tradwife Narrative Across Social Media, Emma Arneson

Speaker & Gavel

This study analyzes the rhetorical construction of Hannah Neeleman’s “tradwife” persona across TikTok, Instagram, and her commercial website. Using Fisher’s narrative paradigm and McGee’s fragmentation thesis, it examines how curated domestic imagery, entrepreneurial branding, and selective storytelling shape cultural narratives of femininity, domestic labor, and agency. Focusing on August 2024 posts following a high-profile media controversy, the analysis reveals how fragmented digital content generates emotional coherence despite ideological contradictions. The findings demonstrate how audiences assemble meaning from partial narratives, illustrating the persuasive power of fragmented rhetoric in shaping contemporary discourse on gender and traditional values.

Nasionalisme Di Era Artificial Intelligence: Scoping Review, Mudita Vidyananda, Angelina Regina Halim, Patricia Irene, Muhammad Firliansyah Maliki, Ivana Suryaprawira, Bonar Hutapea

Jurnal Sosial Humaniora Terapan

This paper aims to map and thematically present the existing literature on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI), identity, and AI Nationalism, following a scoping review approach. A systematic search was conducted across the Scopus, Web of Science, ACM Digital Library, and Google Scholar databases to identify relevant studies. The selected studies, published between 2020-2025, focus on the impact of AI on identity and geopolitics, resulting in six papers included in the final synthesis. The analyzed studies employed various methods, including conceptual, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Data extracted from each study included author, publication year, objectives, methodology, and key …

Impact Of Instagram Flyers In Higher Education: Within Resident Assistant Program Attendance Marketing, Mary J. Mcdonald

Liberal Studies (MA) Final Essays

This exploratory pilot study examines whether posting Instagram digital flyers affects Resident Assistant (RA) program attendance in the higher-education Housing and Residence Life (HRL) context. Instagram has emerged as a dominant channel of communication among Generation Z (1997-2012). As a result, higher education institutions have increasingly used social media to prompt student engagement and foster belonging, in hopes of strengthening retention. Using a quasi-experimental matched comparison design, attendance data from the 2024 academic year without Instagram flyers were compared to the 2025 academic year with Instagram flyers. The independent variable was the implementation of Instagram digital flyers, and the dependent …

Digital Diplomacy And Activism: Sustaining Institutional Legacy Through State-Proxy Discursive Competition In The Aftermath Of The Usaid 2025 Suspension, Maryam Alaa Elprince

Capstone and Graduation Projects

This study examines how the 2025 suspension of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) transformed the arena of U.S. foreign-aid diplomacy by eliminating the agency’s operational capacity and erasing its digital presence, thereby redistributing discursive authority across a fragmented communicative field. The research aims to determine how diplomacy adapts when a bilateral institution central to American soft power is dismantled through top-down decision, and whether discursive power exercised online can extend institutional relevance and legitimacy beyond structural collapse. Using an interpretivist qualitative design that combines digital-forensic reconstruction, document-based content analysis, and elite interviews  with top ranking officials, the …

Viral Misunderstandings: Reddit Posts And The Covid-19 Infodemic, Julia C. Knutson

Scripps Senior Theses

Information epidemics or “infodemics” became the center of misinformation conversations, due to a global increase in information spread surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. While many academic scholars and institutions, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) attribute the cause of infodemics to anti-science attitudes and the public’s lack of scientific literacy, scholars in Science, Technology, and Society argue that analyzing misinformation within these isolated bounds limits our understanding of its underlying social and historical contexts. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study for misinformation analysis reveals a gap in our current understanding of how people who resonate with or spread …

Crisis Communication In The Influencer Era: A Crisis Response Analysis Of Poppi And Alani Nu, Meredith E. Staley

Honors College Theses

As social media continues to reshape modern public relations practice, beverage brands like Alani Nu and Poppi offer relevant examples of influencer-driven communication and crisis response. This honors thesis compares and contrasts these brands following two major crises: Poppi’s influencer vending machine campaign and the health concerns and backlash surrounding Alani Nu’s energy drinks. Despite the well-known prevalence of these brands, there is little scholarly research examining their crisis communication strategies. Guided by Situational Crisis Communication Theory, this study uses a combination of social and news media content analysis to evaluate how each brand responded to its respective crisis. Each …

Socio-Spatial Patterns Of Suicide Mortality In The United States, Kushagra Tiwari, M. Amin Rahimian, Marie-Laure Charpignon, Philippe J. Giabbanelli, Praveen Kumar

VMASC Publications

Suicides cause more than 49,000 deaths per year in the United States, including 55% associated with the use of a firearm. Across states and counties in the US, suicide mortality exhibits substantial geographical and sociodemographic heterogeneity. However, the role of large-scale social networks in shaping this variation remains underexplored. To assess how both the risk of suicide mortality and the effect of firearm restriction policies propagate through inter-county social ties, we integrate data on county-level suicide mortality (2010–2022) and the Facebook Social Connectedness Index (SCI), a continuous measure of the strength of social ties between counties used to derive weighted …

Morals Without Movement: Veganism, Contentious Politics, And The Lifestyle Politics Constraint, Luke M. Carfaro

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines whether veganism constitutes a social movement through Social Movement Theory frameworks, emphasizing Sidney Tarrow's Power in Movement. Through analysis of veganism's empirical properties (collective challenge, common purpose, collective identity, and sustained interaction) and key procedural mechanisms (framing, mobilizing structures, and repertoires of contention), this thesis determines that veganism fails to meet the empirical criteria of a social movement and is more accurately classified as a lifestyle movement—a movement in which political participation is expressed through private consumption rather than sustained collective contention. Using the Make America Healthy Again movement as a counterexample, this thesis comparatively illustrates …

Adolescent Girls’ Experiences Of Digital Dating Abuse Through Social Media: A Scoping Review, Kiara E. Rodriguez

Social Work Theses

Teen dating violence (TDV) is a prevalent adverse childhood experience with lasting psychological and behavioral consequences. As adolescents increasingly engage with social media, with 95% of teens aged 13-17 reporting using it, digital spaces have become a significant context in which dating abuse can occur. Digital dating abuse (DDA) refers to patterns of abusive behaviors that are directed toward a dating partner through digital technologies, including social media and mobile phones. Despite the growing role of social media in adolescent relationships, research on how adolescent girls experience DDA in these contexts remains limited. The central question for this scoping review …

Social Media Appearance Pressures And Body Dissatisfaction In Collegiate Athletes: Model Refinement, Group Differences, And Exploratory Insights, Hannah Hunter Miller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In considering athletes’ body image, it is necessary to examine the psychosocial factors, and related psychological processes, that influence it. The body-related pressures athletes experience while navigating social media represent a relatively new and increasingly influential factor that warrants further investigation. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to replicate and refine Miller and colleagues’ (in press) model; (2) to examine differences in model variables and relationships across demographic and contextual groups; and (3) to explore aspects of social media perceived as contributing to appearance pressures, as well as strategies athletes may use to mitigate these pressures and their …

Gen Z Perspectives On Mental Health Service Interaction: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Reddit Discourse, Victor A. Aguiar

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Compared to prior generations, Generation Z engages with mental health and mental health service interaction in distinct ways, frequently using social media platforms to share experiences, concerns, and opinions. Previous research has examined mental health discourse on Reddit; however, much of this work relies on inductive thematic approaches and offers limited focus on mental health service interaction and the factors influencing utilization. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study examines how Generation Z discusses mental health service use through online discourse. Public Reddit posts authored by users identifiable as Generation Z, based on self-reported age, school enrollment, …

Causal Effect Estimates Of Online E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure On Future E-Cigarette Harm Perception And Use, Paul T. Harrell, Nicholas T. Williams, Kara E. Rudolph, Rachel Ayala Guzman, Ateeqa Ijaz, Nicole Rychagov, Aaron Null, Silvia S. Martins

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Background

Globally, over 10 million youth use e-cigarettes; United States use, in particular, dramatically rose in the late 2010's, exceeding year-over-year increases from any other substance in over four decades. This rise has been partially attributed to youth online e-cigarette marketing exposure, but has not been appropriately studied.

Methods

We examined youth data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) spanning the dramatic increase period (Waves 4, 4.5, and 5; 2016-2019). We estimated average risk differences (RD) for Wave 5 e-cigarette harmfulness perception and use comparing all youth versus no youth reporting past-month online e-cigarette marketing exposure in …

Towards Developing A Career Technology Fit Framework And Analyzing Its Influence On Work-Related Outcomes Among It Professionals, Gunjan Tomer

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

With growing attrition rate and significant demand for skilled IT professionals, the importance of studying their behaviour has become important for both academia and industry. Despite ample amount of research, there is still a gap between theory and practice. Based on our qualitative study conducted on Indian IT professionals we propose that technology allocation might contribute in understanding the behaviour of IT professionals. We found that IT professionals evaluate the technology allocated to them based on their individual career motives. This evaluation, either positive or negative, influences their job outcomes. Further, we explored the factors that make a technology preferable …

High Technology And The Developing State: The Arrival Of Supercomputers In India, Ramesh Subramanian

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

While India has made vast strides in information technology in the last few decades, its success is mainly attributed to its software, rather than its hardware sector. In fact, India’s attempts at developing computer hardware that can match international standards have largely been unsuccessful. A notable exception is its development of a series of supercomputers that match and exceed many international standards. This paper looks at an interesting period in India’s computing history – namely the 1980s and 1990s – focusing on its development of an indigenous supercomputer. During that period, supercomputers were thought to be the sole privy of …

Responsible People Analytics For Remote-Work Decisions: A Machine-Learning Benchmark For Classifying Perceived Productivity, Ruth Menjivar, Nima Molavi, Narges Mashhadi Nejad

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study examines whether employee-perception survey data can support responsible people-analytics decisions about remote-work productivity. Using the public New South Wales (NSW) Remote Working Survey 2021 (N=1,512), the study benchmarks statistical and machine-learning classifiers for self-reported perceived productivity classes (same, less, or more productive when working remotely relative to onsite work), not objective output, under default, class-weighted, and resampling protocols. Main evidence comes from 5×5 repeated stratified cross-validation using macro F1 and balanced accuracy with fixed model specifications. Class-balanced separability is modest. Random Forest, CatBoost, and LightGBM form a leading cluster with overlapping confidence intervals (macro F1 ≈0.51–0.52). Affective/well-being items, …

The Value Of Personal Data Ecosystems: A Flemish Media Sector Case Study, Maarten De Mildt, Melanie Verstraete, Sofie Verbrugge, Didier Colle

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Personal Data Stores (PDSs) have been proposed as a privacy-preserving approach to data sharing that increases individual control over personal data while enabling new forms of cross-organizational collaboration. This collaboration leads to the emergence of Personal Data Ecosystems (PDEs). Despite growing interest in PDEs, limited research has examined how the organizational and economic barriers identified in prior studies manifest in practice. This paper investigates these challenges through a case study of the Flemish media sector within the Solid4Media project, which explores the use of PDSs to support data sharing and personalization across media organizations. Using a qualitative research design, data …

The Impact Of Social Media Movements On Policy Changes Made In The United States, Michelle Levy Korine

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study focuses on researching the relationship between social media movements and policy changes in the United States. Over the last decade, digital platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and X have become important tools to encourage political involvement. These platforms have led to an increase in public participation, movements to become more popular and to organize protests. Many current studies focus on the social and cultural aspects of online activism, but fewer examine wither these movements lead to the legislative change asked for.

This thesis relies on the question, "To what extent does social media activism contribute to policy change …

Creation And Representation: Rhetorical Effectiveness Of Audience Construction Within The Deaf Vlogging Community, Imani Rodriguez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Diverse minority groups use YouTube as a platform to share stories, grow brands, and develop communities online. While previous research has investigated Deaf-focused videos on YouTube, past focus has been on video genres, creator purpose, and how content engages with existing representation and stigma (Hibbard & Fels, 2011; Li et al., 2022; Souza et al., 2023; Martzos et al., 2021; Oliveira et al., 2021; Parton, 2016). There has also been research on how online communities can initiate open conversation for many minority groups that may not be possible due to location, disability, or censorship (Case, 2012).

This research focuses on …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Youtube-Based Dietary Messaging On Type 2 Diabetes For South Asians, Sukhmani K. Dhaliwal

Honors Undergraduate Theses

While South Asians experience a disproportionately high risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), culturally tailored dietary guidance remains limited within healthcare settings. As digital platforms increasingly serve as sources of health information, YouTube has grown as a prominent space for the publishing and consumption of dietary advice. This study examines how diet-related messaging about T2DM is communicated in YouTube videos directed at South Asian populations.

Using qualitative thematic analysis, 21 videos published between 2016 and 2025 by influencers with a wide reach were analyzed. Videos were selected based on relevance to South Asian audiences, focus on dietary management of …

Social Media, Masculine Body Ideals, And The Drive For Muscularity: A Serial Mediation Model Across Sexual Identities, Sean P. Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Body image concerns among men are increasingly prevalent yet remain understudied compared to women’s experiences. Drawing on objectification theory, the present study examines the relationship between social media influence and men’s drive for muscularity through a serial mediation model. Specifically, the present study investigates whether the internalization of masculine body ideals and engagement in body surveillance behaviors mediate the link between social media influence and the drive for muscularity. Furthermore, the present study model attempts to explore how these processes differ across sexual identities, given evidence that sexual minority men face distinct sociocultural pressures regarding appearance. Adult male-identifying social media …

Too Warm To Win Big? Unpacking The Backer Dynamics Behind Female Crowdfunding Success Using A Warmth And Competence Perspective, Dan Liu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

While crowdfunding is often heralded as a democratized funding avenue that empowers women with higher success rates, this study reveals a more nuanced picture of gender dynamics. The Stereotype Content Model suggests that women are often perceived as warmer but less competent. Using a large dataset from Kickstarter, we find that female-led projects can attract more backers, likely due to warmth-driven appeal, but receive smaller average contributions, potentially due to concerns about risk linked to lower perceived competence. However, the total funding raised by female-led campaigns is comparable to that of male-led ones, showing no clear advantage or disadvantage. This …