Log Off To Level Up: The Effect Of Social Media Hiatus On Goal Pursuit, Nekysha L. Y. Jalil, Yong Han Tan, Andree Hartanto, Eddie M. W. Tong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Concerns are growing that social media, with its constant notifications and attention-grabbing content, may distract individuals and hinder progress toward important goals. Despite its pervasive presence in our lives, the impact of social media on goal achievement has not been thoroughly studied. This within-subject experimental study aims to investigate the effects of social media hiatus (SMH), a short abstinence from social media usage, on goal pursuit processes. Participants (N= 107) completed daily diaries over three consecutive days of SMH and three days of regular social media use. SMH was manipulated by blocking participants’ access to multiple social media platforms. The …

The Artificial Artist: Considering Ai’S Impact On Image Copyright, Alyse Mandelblatt

Communication Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to create empirical results to ground what has been a largely theoretical discussion about the effect of artificial intelligence (AI) on copyright law in the United States. AI has disrupted traditional ideas of creativity and expression, which are vital communication tools. Copyright is a regulatory agent to encourage the production of unique communication products by giving owners complete rights to their work. Copyright principles conflict with current AI model training practices. This research considers how AI literacy may provide insight into copyright knowledge and AI attitudes for prediction of how common law and AI regulation policy may …

Of The Land And Sea: A Critical Ecocultural Analysis Of Disney's Frozen And Moana, Maggie A. Andress

Communication Undergraduate Honors Theses

Within the modern era of performative inclusivity and widespread greenwashing, it is critical to examine popular media through an ecocultural lens to determine if said media is being handled responsibly as a social practice and if a discursive atmosphere is being created. This paper takes an ecocultural critical analysis of Disney’s worlds of Frozen and Moana, inspecting their treatment of the human, treatment of the more-than-human, and human/more-than-human relationships. This study finds that although both franchises have been broadly praised for cultural representation of Indigenous people groups, Disney’s failure to effectively acknowledge the intrinsic relationship between humankind and the …

The Mouse At The Border: Magic, Money, And Manufactured Identity, Ricardo Manuel Hinojosa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis investigates the methods by which The Walt Disney Company constructs and negotiates representations of Latine, gender, and queer identities within contemporary animation, with a particular emphasis on Coco (2017), Encanto (2021), and Wish (2023). Through a critical and intersectional lens, this research posits that Disney strikes a balance between cultural specificity and global market appeal, often leading to representations that are visually elaborate yet narratively limited. Both Coco and Encanto showcase a significant engagement with cultural traditions and themes such as memory and generational trauma; however, they ultimately fall short of thoroughly addressing systemic issues like colonialism and …

Developing A Questionnaire For The Interoceptive Awareness Of Stuttering, Leslie Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stuttering is commonly measured through its overt characteristics (blocks, prolongations, and repetitions). This equates to stuttering “severity,” or the frequency of these behaviors. This method, however, does not reflect the lived experience of adults who stutter. This “measurement problem” has been the subject of numerous studies. In this graduate thesis, the measurement problem is addressed by using qualitative data previously gathered by Malcolm (2024) from adults who stutter about the internal experience of stuttering to create survey. Quotes from adults who stutter were gathered, categorized, edited for clarity, and formatted into a survey, The Multidimensional Interoceptive Awareness of Stuttering Scale …

Marvelous And Disturbing: Surreal Imagery, Elaboration And The Limits Of Persuasion In Women's Health Journalism, Shelby Elizabeth Gill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1930s, surrealism has lent its abstract hand to journalism, offering a visual language for topics that resist literal depiction. Given its historical and often fraught association with the female form, surrealist imagery has found a natural home in editorial coverage of women's health, most recently in reporting on endometriosis, a condition whose invisible, stigmatized and difficult-to-articulate experience makes conventional photojournalism an inadequate representational tool. The present study experimentally compared surreal imagery, realistic imagery and a text-only control condition to assess their effects on knowledge acquisition, comprehension, attitudinal responses, perceived risk and behavioral intentions related to endometriosis in a …

Reporting On The Glass Runway: The Agenda-Setting And Framing Used In Fashion Media’S Coverage Of Gender Imbalances In The Luxury Fashion Industry, Natalie Murphy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to analyze the agenda-setting and framing techniques used in coverage of the lack of women in creative director positions in the luxury fashion industry, considering the different levels of contracts and proximity each publication has to hiring gatekeepers. Using a multi-method study of content analysis and interviews with fashion media professionals, this study explores questions of how often these articles are published and whether independent and advertorial publications use different framing strategies when reporting on fashion industry accountability. Twenty-five editorial articles from seven different publications were included in the content analysis portion of the …

Behind The Screens And The Scoop: A Qualitative Analysis Of First-Person Mental Health Content On Social Media And Implications For News Coverage, Isabella Lise Marie Larue

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More young people are reporting increased viewership of health content across social media platforms, with only 55% of adults reporting this in a 2025 KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) poll. While trust in this form of information is low, consumption is increasing, alongside traditional news articles’ agenda-setting that discusses the same information in a different format. The goal of this research is to explore the effects of consuming first-person mental health content on social media for people with mental illness, more than just documenting its existence, and if audiences report a sense of belonging through this social media content. The results …

The New York Times: A Strategic Audit, Kaylee Campbell, Cassidy June, Keira Cummins, Tanner Maas, Alyssa Fjelstad

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The New York Times is a legacy newspaper that has navigated a great many changes since its founding in 1851. The company rose to success with its traditional print journalism, but has now transformed into a largely digital, subscription-based business model that provides subscribers with access to news, games, recipes, podcasts, product recommendations, and more. This provides an excellent foundation for a strategic audit to understand how one of the giants of a dying industry has not only managed to stay alive, but to thrive.

A PESTEL and Porter’s Five Forces analysis reveals that The New York Times operates in …

Part Of The Family, Brian Garbrecht

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Part of the Family examines television as both a domestic object and a cultural force. TV was not simply something my family watched, but something we lived with. Through CRT televisions, VHS recordings, family photographs, altered TV Guides, fictional broadcasts, and immersive living-room installations, the project explores how television shaped memory, kinship, attention, and belonging in the American home. Drawing from my family’s archive of Chicago-area broadcasts recorded between the 1990s and early 2000s, the work treats VHS as a hybrid form of home movie, preserving the flow of commercials, news, station IDs, sitcoms, movies, and accidental overlaps that structured …

Mental Health Representation And Audience Interpretation In Contemporary Streaming Media, Caitlyn Freeman

Communications and Digital Media Theses

This study looks at streaming television as a place where ideas about mental health are shaped and communicated. These shows communicate mental health through storytelling, rather than simply reflected. Instead of viewing series as realistic depictions of psychological struggle, this analysis focuses on different elements to understand how audiences understand mental illness. This study focuses on patterns in how mental health is presented to audiences, including whether it is shown as an emotional conflict, ongoing experience, or a moment of crisis within the story. Using a qualitative analysis, the research analyzes selected episodes from each series through a codebook with …

Towards Dementia-Inclusive Digital Text-Based Health Information: A Multi-Method Investigation Of Cognitive And Affective Accessibility, Margi Engineer

All Dissertations

This dissertation examines the accessibility, readability, emotional tone, and trustworthiness of digital, text‑based dementia information and investigates how older adults with and without dementia cognitively and affectively engage with such content. It further explores the potential of generative AI to improve dementia information delivery through the development of a domain‑specific retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) large language model (LLM) chatbot designed to deliver accessible, stigma‑free information. The dissertation comprises four studies using complementary quantitative and qualitative methods. Study I conducts a large‑scale content analysis of 300 medical articles, 35 websites, and 50 blogs, applying readability metrics, LIWC‑based linguistic and sentiment analysis, and …

The Biased Divide: Perceptions And Challenges Of Esports Within Universities, Alexzandra O'Neal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how institutional framing and student motivations influence the development and perception of collegiate Esports programs within higher education. The research explores how Esports is positioned as either a legitimate academic and competitive pursuit or a low-priority extracurricular activity, and how these perceptions impact program growth and student experience. This non-traditional thesis is presented as a documentary film utilizing a qualitative, semi-structured interview methodology. Data were collected through interviews with students, faculty, and program leaders, focusing on a comparative analysis between University of Oklahoma and University of Arkansas. Findings indicate that institutional support and framing play a significant …

Resilience, Stress, And Emotion Regulation In College Students: A Moderated Mediation Model Of Tiktok Engagement, Samuel Bibat, Jon Thang, Hui Zhang, Hannah Carrie, Jessica Golden

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

This study examined associations between stress, resilience, emotion regulation (ER), and TikTok use. Data were collected from 101 undergraduate students (M_age = 20.04, SD_age = 4.02) at a Midwestern private university. Participants completed self-report measures of TikTok use and intensity (i.e., emotional attachment), resilience, perceived stress, and intrapersonal and interpersonal ER. Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS macro models. Stress mediated the relationship between resilience and TikTok use but not intensity. Interpersonal ER moderated the resilience–stress link, with higher interpersonal ER amplifying the negative association between resilience and stress, which in turn was linked …

A Stress-Induced Digital Escapism Framework For Understanding The Link Between Stress And Problematic Social Media Use, Hwajin Yang, Frosch Yi Xuan Quek, Xiu Hui Salin Yap, Yue Qi Germaine Tng, Gilaine Rui Ng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Given that stress is a significant risk factor for problematic social media use, understanding the underlying psychological mechanisms is essential. We introduce the Stress-Induced Digital Escapism (SIDE) framework, which posits that negative internal emotional responses to external stressors may increase reliance on maladaptive emotion regulation strategies that fail to alleviate distress. These processes may, in turn, strengthen escapism motives that lead to seeking emotional relief through compulsive social media use. Using structural equation modeling (N = 238), we examined three integrated psychological pathways—negative stress reactions, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and escapism motives—as sequential mediators linking external demands to problematic social …

Feasibility Study Of Transitioning From Thick Plates (0.250”) Mounted On 30-Point Pvc Carriers To Thinner Plate Technologies Mounted On Recyclable Foam And Pet (0.155”) For Post-Print Corrugated, Nathaniel J. Poole

All Theses

In the United States, the most common press configuration for brown-box printing is a 0.280” undercut press. These press configurations have long relied on thick 0.250” plates mounted on 0.030” PVC sheets to print onto corrugated substrates. Each year, around twenty million pounds of waste are produced by the printing industry, through paper waste, plate waste, among other materials. One large factor of that waste is flexographic plate waste, which either ends its life in a landfill or is repurposed into other products. This study establishes a comparison between traditionally used 0.250” plates on 30pt PVC versus 0.155” plates mounted …

Identity, Party, And Politics: A Discourse Analysis Of Democratic Elites In Pod Save America, Geneva Lei P. Luteria

All Theses

The rise of popular podcasts has shaped public discourse and influenced millions worldwide on how they ought to think, imagine, and act about controversial subjects. Podcasts create an avenue for stories about power and technology to co-create a narrative that viewers buy into. This thesis analyzes one of these essential podcasts, Pod Save America, in how Democratic elite guests approach identity politics, a phenomenon best described as advocacy based on one position’s in society. I begin the thesis by considering the differences in scholarly interpretation of how identity politics functions conceptually and practically. Then, I integrate ideas about how …

Romanticizing 'Monsters': Sexualized Digital Fandom Of The Menendez Brothers, Kimberly M. Brooks

All Theses

This study was conducted to explore the expressions of sexualized fandom and parasocial relationships within the context of true crime. The Menendez Brothers were chosen as the case to focus on due to the Netflix dramatization ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ release and online popularity. Reddit was the platform chosen for data collection because of the longstanding presence of true crime followers participating in dialogue on the platform. The r/MenendezBrothers thread was chosen to collect data from because of its large following and large number of weekly contributions. Sprinklr, the social media analytics platform, was employed to gather …

The Cost Of Her Journalism: Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Against Women Journalists In The Former Soviet Union Countries, Kamila Eshalieva

All Theses

Although offline gender-based violence has been studied for decades, technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) remains a prevalent yet underrecognized phenomenon. Journalism is a field in which this form of violence is especially persistent, and women journalists face disproportionate targeting. From cyberbullying and harassment to doxxing and disinformation, TFGBV comes in a myriad of forms, each leaving lasting scars on reporters who already face elevated professional risks. The post-Soviet region is particularly concerning, given its history of repressive regimes and hostile environments for journalism. While technology has expanded the ways for new forms of violence to emerge, these incidents are often not …

Portrayals Of Miscarriage In Film And Television: A Qualitative Analysis, Geovana Leonetti Saraiva

All Theses

Entertainment media may serve as a primary source through which individuals learn about miscarriage; however, little research has examined how miscarriage is portrayed in film and television. This study addresses this gap by conducting a textual analysis of five films and five television shows using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Guided by the model of stigma communication (MSC), communication privacy management theory (CPM), and social support frameworks, the analysis explores how miscarriage is represented in entertainment media.

Findings indicate that the analyzed content frequently includes stigma-related cues—such as marks, labels, responsibility, and peril—that may contribute to the formation and reinforcement …

Beyond The Interface: Human Perceptions Of Generative-Ai Chatbots As Conversational Partners, Browning W.E. Blair

All Theses

Generative AI (gen-AI) chatbots are becoming embedded in everyday communicative life, yet it remains unclear whether users perceive these systems as socially reciprocative conversational partners. Therefore, this study examines how young adults understand and interact with gen-AI chatbots, focusing on perceptions of conversational partnership, anthropomorphism, politeness, discomfort, and technical understanding. Guided by the CASA framework, Media Equation Theory, and the uncanny valley hypothesis, this study employed four semi-structured, online focus groups with 15 undergraduate students and recent college graduates in the United States. Findings indicate that participants did not broadly perceive gen-AI chatbots as conversational partners in the interpersonal sense. …

Moodify: A Mood-Based Music Recommendation System, Meghana Kagitha

Theses and Dissertations

Music has long been recognised as a powerful tool for emotional regulation, yet existing music streaming platforms often fail to align song recommendations with a user's current emotional state. Moodify is a mood-based music recommendation system designed to bridge this gap by delivering personalised playlists that reflect how a user feels in real time.

This project presents the design, development, and evaluation of Moodify, a mobile application that leverages the Circumplex Model of Emotion to capture user mood through an intuitive two-dimensional valence-arousal interface. Rather than relying on text input or manual search, users plot their emotional state directly onto …

Good Life Automobility: Cultural/Rhetorical Resistance And Persistence Of Us Car Hegemony, Trinity O. Thompson

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project takes the car as a historical signifier of a rhetorical racialization process that enables a hypermobile white, masculine, neoliberal identity that pervades conceptions of mobility in the West. I locate these overlapping social formations under a cultural logic of good life automobility (GLA) that positions cars, a quintessential form of private property, as a motivator for a contemporary “good life” citizenship identity that cultivates neoliberal subjectivities of free movement and market consumption in contempt of socialized and racialized public transit futures. The introduction chapter elaborates on the boundaries of GLA while also contextualizing the two analysis chapters through …

Dignity And The Free Press, Erin C. Carroll

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As American institutions wither and die, those who believe in their importance must reflect and rebuild. One institution worthy of sustained attention is the free press. Divorced from government by design, the press can benefit from efforts to reinvigorate and reinvent it in ways that institutions more directly under the federal government’s thumb cannot. To best undertake these efforts, we need a richer understanding of why a free press is vital. Articulating the values that underlie the need for this institution is necessary not only to build the most robust free press, but also to best exercise our freedoms as …

Creating A "Good Person": Netiquette And Instagram, Melissa S. Danai-Nolder

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This project aimed to ask the question, “How does digital etiquette, or netiquette, lead to socialization of self-presentation on Instagram?” I interviewed 15 students classified as "Generation Z" who attend a northeastern university and have an Instagram account. This was done using a convenience sample of participants who were asked to participate in the interview. Done by the convenience of the individuals who were at the location at the time. The results indicate a disconnect between wanting to be seen as a “good person” and the means used to paint this image. Netiquette plays a role in crafting self-presentation, as …

Media Portrayal Of High-Profile Female Victims Of Sexual Harassment, Chinenye Nwaneri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This rhetorical study investigated how the Nigerian media portray high-profile female victims of sexual harassment. The research was undertaken in response to concerns that media narratives often reinforce gender stereotypes and influence public perceptions of victims. Focusing on the sexual harassment allegations made by senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate president Godswill Akpabio, the study analyzed newspaper coverage from Daily Trust and Vanguard between February and December 2025. Using Critical Discourse Analysis within the framework of Feminist Media Theory, the research examined how language and framing shaped the representation of the female accuser. The findings reveal that media coverage constructed the …

The Use And Implications Of Visual Production Choices: Evidence From Presidential Debates And Political Interview, Emma Lorraine Rasmussen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Live television production has long been a powerful tool for broadcasting media to curate what an audience sees and understands about aired material. Production techniques used by broadcasting companies have the power to influence how audiences perceive and interpret political candidates. In Study One, the two 2024 presidential debates were analyzed for a variety of different trends including: who was on screen, the different camera shots used, and camera movement. Video formats of the 2024 CNN and ABC debates were coded using Observer XT, a content analysis software and were examined for the frequency and duration of each behavior. Patterns …

Understanding How Ai Chatbots Act As Gatekeepers When Recommending Destinations, Ayden Alexandra Carmack

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As artificial intelligence chatbots become a primary tool for travel discovery, questions arise about whose destinations get recommended and how. This study examines how ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), and Google Gemini function as algorithmic gatekeepers in travel recommendations, drawing on gatekeeping theory, framing theory, and growing scholarship on AI bias in tourism. Using a content analysis of 135 AI-generated responses to 15 standardized travel prompts (45 per platform, each run three times) this study coded destination selection patterns, dominant narrative frames, and informational omissions across platforms. Results show that 88.9% of recommended destinations were classified as high-income nations, with Japan, …

Does The Medium Make A Difference? A Quantitative Study Of Traditional Versus Social Media, Erin Elaine Bailey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People are changing why they use social media, what used to be a way to unwind and stay in touch with old friends is now being used for something much different. This study looks into how young adults (ages 18–25) perceive and retain information from social media compared to traditional media. As social media increasingly functions as both an entertainment and news source, the distinction between it and traditional journalism continues to diminish. Using a quota sample of 300 participants, data were collected through a Qualtrics survey measuring media engagement, usage, perceived credibility, and knowledge retention. Participants were exposed to …

Religiously Online: A Digital Media Communication Audit Of A Midwestern Church According To The Frameworks Of Uses And Gratifications Theory And Affordances Framework, Jada N. Ortiz

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the digital media practices of a faith-based organization through how leadership communicates with internal congregation members. By applying the theoretical framework of uses and gratifications theory and affordances framework, a communication audit was conducted of a Midwestern Protestant church to uncover any gaps between congregational members' uses for digital media and how the church leadership was gratifying those needs through their digital media practices. Accordingly, this study investigated (1) what digital media content needs congregants expect their church to fulfill, (2) what the church is currently doing to gratify congregants' digital media content needs and (3) church …