Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Digital Storytelling: Empowering Feminist And Womanist Faith Formation With Young Women, Mary E. Hess

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Why Don't I Look Like Her? The Impact Of Social Media On Female Body Image, Kendyl M. Klein

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of this paper is to understand and criticize the role of social media in the development and/or encouragement of eating disorders, disordered eating, and body dissatisfaction in college-aged women. College women are exceptionally vulnerable to the impact that social media can have on their body image as they develop an outlook on their bodies and accept the developmental changes that occurred during puberty. This paper provides evidence that there is a relationship between the recent surge in disordered eating and high consumption of social media. I examine the ways in which traditional advertising has portrayed women throughout history, …

The Personal, Political, And The Virtual? Redefining Female Success And Empowerment In A Post-Feminist Landscape, Linda Elizabeth Chardon

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

As Seen On Twitter: African-American Rhetorical Traditions Gone Viral, Tiffani Long

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This communication research study identifies the presence of the African-American rhetorical traditions of call-response, signification, tonal semantics, and narrative sequencing used in communication on the online social media network, Twitter. The objective of this study is to provide insight into the culture and community of Twitter. Additionally, the research demonstrates how traditional oral rhetorical traditions survive in the digital world. Over a 15-day period, tweets were collected by the author using a computer screenshot feature. Using a coding rubric, three coders, including the author, coded the collected tweets for the four rhetorical traditions. Resulting from this procedure, the coders concluded …

Free Telecollaboration 2.0 Tools And Activities For Enhancing Intercultural Communicative Competence, Khoi Nguyen Thi Bui

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the effectiveness and relevance of some free telecollaboration 2.0 tools and the IT-HELPS activities to the participants’ enhancement of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in reference to Byram’s (1997) ICC definition and its five principles. In-depth qualitative data were collected from six semistructured interviews with students and teachers of the eight-week online intercultural exchange between a Second Language Acquisition class at Eastern Michigan University in the United States and an English as a Second Language class at Tan Tao University in Vietnam. Despite the failed communication in some collaborative tasks due to some deficiencies in motivating, facilitating, and …

To Post Or Not To Post: An Examination Of Gender Differences In Undergraduates' Self-Disclosure On Facebook, Alyson Thompson

Masters Theses

Due to the popularity and role Facebook plays in society, the present study seeks to better understand why undergraduates disclose on Facebook and what they are willing to share. The research questions for the study include: RQ 1: Are undergraduate women, ages 18-23, or undergraduate men, ages 18-23, more likely to disclose personal information on Facebook?, RQ 2: Are undergraduate women, ages 18-23, or undergraduate men, ages 18-23, more likely to disclose contact information (e-mail address, phone number, address, instant message screen name) on Facebook?, and RQ 3: Are the reasons for engaging in self-disclosure different between undergraduate women, ages …

Reading Between The Lines: Gender Perception Of Lean Media, Jennalee Conner

Masters Theses

Over the years, communication methods have evolved from face-to-face conversations to computer-mediated communication including: e-mail, instant message, and text message interactions. Since the methods have changed, a large aspect of communication, nonverbal cues, have become nearly impossible. These methods of communication that lack nonverbal cues are therefore referred to as lean media because they lack the richness of facial expression, vocal expression, and immediacy. In order to modify more recent forms of communication to include nonverbal cues, individuals have created their own nonverbal cues. While each individual is unique, though, genders normally tend to think or behave in similar fashion. …

Sweetness And Strength: Codes Of Femininity And Body Image In Branded Social-Networking Messages And Consumer Responses, Anne M. Holcomb

Masters Theses

This study critically analyzes visual and text updates posted by two clothing brands to the social-networking site Facebook.com, including consumers' interaction with these marketing messages. A semiological textual analysis was conducted using Facebook updates by the Victoria's Secret PINK and Nike Women apparel brands, and the responses of fans who subscribed to these updates. Advertising aimed at women in print media has previously been analyzed in this way, revealing patterns of sexualization and objectification that can be harmful to women and men alike. My analysis builds on this tradition. Social-networking sites such as Facebook allow individual users unprecedented access to …

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who's The Thinnest Of Them All?, Ann Marie O'Brien

Annual Undergraduate Conference on Health and Society

Societal standards of feminine beauty are presented in all forms of popular culture, thus bombarding women with images that portray what our society considers to be the “ideal body type.” These images, as seen on the cover of magazines, in popular films and in all forms of web and print advertising, are consistently depicted and easily described with one word: skinny. The regular use of unnatural, unhealthy and unrealistic models sends the implicit message that in order for a woman to be beautiful, she must attain this ultra-thin physique. Such adulation of these images encourages women to sacrifice their health …

Advertising The Thin Ideal-The Effect On Women, Christine Murphy

Irish Business Journal

Debate on the thin ideal has been prevalent for many decades, however given the substantial increase in eating disorders and the omnipresent influence of the media the time is now ripe for decisive action in the area of women in advertising. Most research in this area has focused on the psychological impact of the thin ideal. The new research presented in this paper is important as it explores the marketing implications of the portrayal of women in the fashion and cosmetic industry. The success of this industry depends entirely on how receptive consumers are to the images portrayed. This paper …

Stoking The Research Fire: Three Views, Charles C. Self, Margeretha Geertsema-Sligh

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Most academics are fired up for research right after graduate school, but after a few years on the job, the flame might wane. Perhaps you are over-burdened with service or administration and can't imagine finding time for a research project. Budget cuts may have you feeling overworked or uninspired. Perhaps you've achieved your goal of becoming tenured and you wonder what comes next. The purpose of this collection of essays, presented originally at a 2011 midwinter conference, is to share ways to stoke a passion for research. The perspectives included here represent three stages of academic life: tenure-track assistant professor, …

An Examination Of Social Media Technology And Its Impact On The Pursuit And Allocation Of Personal Leisure Time, Kelsey A. O'Lea

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

The emergence of Internet has created a seemingly endless portal for leisure activity and participation; since the establishment of social media technology, leisure time spent online has been on the rise. The purpose of this study was to examine how social media technology has impacted the way people allocate and pursue their personal leisure time. This researcher of this study distributed an online questionnaire to current undergraduate students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo through convenience sampling methods. The questionnaire was comprised of three sections: SNS usage, smart phone usage, and the impact of that usage on specific areas of …

Fashioning The Self: Performance, Identity And Difference, Jessica L. Neumann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project will examine cultural and rhetorical communication studies to determine how these modes of analysis can be compared with interdisciplinary literature to better understand the role fashion plays within everyday performances and the shaping of identity. Criticisms by second-wave feminist scholars have focused on the fashion industry's overarching male influence; in more recent scholarship, feminist academics have often considered an affinity for fashion to be un-feminist and oppressive. I argue that fashion can instead be viewed as a tool for female agency and expressing individuality, rather than just a mode for reinforcing gendered norms. Using feminist rhetorical analysis …

News Images, Race, And Attribution In The Wake Of Hurricane Katrina, Eran Ben-Porath, Lee Shaker

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study looks at the effect of news images and race on the attribution of responsibility for the consequences of Hurricane Katrina. Participants, Black and White, read the same news story about the hurricane and its aftermath, manipulated to include images of White victims, Black victims, or no images at all. Participants were then asked who they felt was responsible for the humanitarian disaster after the storm. White respondents expressed less sense of government responsibility when the story included victims' images. For Black respondents this effect did not occur. Images did not affect attribution of responsibility to New Orleans' residents …

From Books To The Web: A Comparative Analysis Of Holocaust Denial In The Internet Age, Elise Nickerson

Honors Scholar Theses

An analysis of print Holocaust denial literature as it compares to internet Holocaust denial, with a focus on how the transition from print literature to the internet has affected Holocaust denial.

Is Disney Surfing The Third Wave? A Study Of The Pervasiveness Of The Third Wave Of Feminism In Disney's Female Protagonists, Emily S. Ellington

Senior Honors Theses

It is important to understand factors that have influenced Generation Y’s view of womanhood. One way to do this is to analyze third wave feminist messages portrayed by Disney, the media powerhouse. In order to determine if Disney reflects feminist values, the third wave themes portrayed in The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Pocahontas (1995), and Mulan (1999) are examined. It is concluded that Disney portrays the feminist values of independence and multiculturalism; however, the films are set within patriarchal societies and portray women to be domestic. Ultimately, Disney portrays four messages about womanhood: Women are equal …

Liberal Arts 2.0, Bridget B. Baird

Convocation Addresses

The title, Liberal Arts 2.0., "stems from the term Web 2.0, which refers to the recent evolution of the Web as interactive, participatory, collaborative and collective. Web 2.0 includes blogs, wikis, user-generated media, social networking: like much of what it describes, the definition is amorphous and inexact." Baird believes that Web 2.0 and all that it implies will necessitate a revision of the way we do liberal arts and thus the title “Liberal Arts 2.0.”

Her premise: that a liberal arts college is a place where teaching and research are improved by digital tools, where students are taught to negotiate …

Social Changes In South Africa: The Possibilities Of Public Journalism And Development Journalism, Margaretha Geertsema

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

No abstract provided.

The Regionalization Of Global News: A Case Study Of Cnn Interactive, Margaretha Geertsema

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

No abstract provided.

The Regionalization Of Global News: A Case Study Of Cnn Interactive, Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

The Cable News Network is often used as the prime example of a global news service. With bureaus and correspondents all around the world, CNN crosses traditional national boundaries. However, in essence, CNN remains an American company through its ownership and its Atlanta location. It also follows a news style that is typically Wester. Yet, CNN has had much success with both its international broadcasting services and its online service, offered by CNN interactive.

The aim of thhis paper is to take a closer look at CNN's presence on the Internet. This project is theoretically informed by discourses of globalization, …

Blogging The Other: Representations Of The Australian Islamic Diaspora, Judith Elund

Theses : Honours

Recent events have seen an increased focus on Islam and Muslims throughout the world. In Western nations, this focus has often turned into fear and the demonisation of an 'other' that is regularly misunderstood and misrepresented, further exacerbating tensions between the West and Islam. International terrorist activities, such as the London bombings of July 7, 2005 have seen an increase in fear of Muslims and of potential terrorism on our shores, ensuring Muslim issues have become a major focus in Australian news. Taking 7/7 as an example, this paper supplements recent studies in exploring how Australian news media position Muslims …

Encyclopedia Of Gender And Technology, Priscilla Finley

Library Faculty Research

This encyclopedia compiles 213 four- to five-page entries making observations about the role of gender in human interaction with information technology and the IT profession. Intended as a preliminary research agenda encompassing essays on gender and IT education and the workplace, the volume contains many essays that simply survey struggles faced by women in many parts of the world who interact with the Internet or telecommunications technology.

Design And Play: Weblog Genres Of Adolescent Girls In Israel, Carmel L. Vaisman

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Unique circumstances existing in the Israeli blogsphere have attracted many adolescent girls. In recent years, a growing number of weblogs belonging to adolescent girls are challenging blogging norms, creating a tension between written narratives and performance narratives that combine design and play practices. Existing weblog research has explored the connections between gender, linguistic features, and genre but has not examined visual blog genres, nor questioned the role of features inherent in weblog software in the formation of gendered blog genres and blogging norms. Based on a work-in-progress of a larger scope, I shall argue that design supportive features distinctive to …

Towards Understanding Gender Similarities And Differences In Their Uses And Gratifications Of Online Social Interactions, Dalia Sherif El Nazer

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Portrayals Of Information And Communication Technology On World Wide Web Sites For Girls, Chad Raphael, Christine Bachen, Kathleen-M. Lynn, Jessica Baldwin-Philippi, Kristen A. Mckee

Communication

This study reports a content analysis of 35 World Wide Web sites that included in their mission the goal of engaging girls with information and communication technology (ICT). It finds that sites emphasize cultural and economic uses of ICT, doing little to foster civic applications that could empower girls as citizens of the information age. The study also finds that sites foster a narrow range of ICT proficiencies, focusing mostly on areas such as communication, in which girls have already achieved parity with boys. An examination of the role models portrayed in ICT occupations indicates that the sites show females …

Cultura Cyber: Commodifying Latina/O Nationalism And Rhetoric On The Internet, Richard Pineda

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Bridging The Gender Gap In Computing: An Integrative Approach To Content Design For Girls, Kathleen-M. Lynn, Chad Raphael, Karin Olefsky, Christine M. Bachen

Communication

Although some observed differences in males' and females' attitudes toward and uses of computers appear to be narrowing, the gender gap remains widest in relation to programming and software design, which are still male preserves. In response, software and Web site designers have applied feminist theories to develop three distinct approaches to creating content for girls that might increase their interest in computers. These approaches involve appealing to girls' traditional “feminine” interests, nontraditional “masculine” interests, and gender-neutral interests. This study proposes that to bridge today's gender gap, prior approaches need to integrate appeals to girls' traditional and nontraditional interests, and …

Nuestro Espacio Cyber: The Internet As Expressive Space For Latina/Os In The United States, Richard Pineda

Selected Works Temporary Series

The Latina/o community is in the midst of a major demographic shift upwards- Along with this population growth, there has been an explosion of Latina,/os across the spectrum of popular culture. However, lack of access to mass-media outlets and social constructions in mainstream society pose obstacles to Latina/o freedom of expression. Meanwhile, the Internet is evolving into a powerful platform for communication and freedom of speech- By developing a stronger Latina/o presence online, it may be possible to channel the power of the Internet as a vehicle for empowerment, expression and freedom of speech.

Main Issues Rural Women Experience With Information & Communication Technology, Teresa Maiolo

All other publications

This brief report will outline the main issues rural women encountered with information and communications technology. This information was derived from interviewing twenty-one rural women from the South West, Eastern Goldfields, Murchison, Gascoyne, and Kimberley regions of Western Australia.

Southern Discomforts: The Racial Struggle Over Popular Tv (Chapter Fourteen Of The Revolution Wasn't Televised), Steven Classen

Faculty Publications - Department of Communication and Cinematic Arts

Excerpt: "The assassination of NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers during the early hours of June 12, 1963 delivered a severe blow to the "Jackson movement"-a local insurgency dedicated to direct action and racial desegregation in the Mississippi capitol. 1 In the days following the murder and Evers's funeral, "go slow" forces within the NAACP and the Kennedy administration employed successful strategies to curtail the movement's sustained confrontation campaigns. Still, the deeply felt dissatisfaction of black Mississippians regarding segregation and its implications could not be quickly or strategically allayed. And in the months following Evers's death, African American frustration with the …