Social Media Commons^™

Technology-Facilitated Violence And Abuse: Portrayals And Perceptions, Christina S. Walker

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In the past, intimate partner violence (IPV) was primarily perpetrated in person. However, due to new mediated communication technologies and capabilities like social media and artificial intelligence (AI), perpetrators can use this technology for various purposes including subjecting others to violence, harassment, and abuse. Such violence can be a form of IPV and is referred to as technology-facilitated violence and abuse (TFVA). TFVA is becoming increasingly prevalent and is encountered by a staggering percent of women. Furthermore, unlike traditional forms of IPV, even men are subjected to TFVA at increasing and disproportionate rates, particularly male teens.

In the current state …

Associations Between Social Media Usage, Physical Activity And Flourishing In Rural University Students, Anna Dysart, Minu Sara Thomas

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Most adolescents and young adults report significant use of social media.^1-3 However, there is limited research on the effect of social media use, specifically on physical activity and flourishing.

Purpose: This pilot research study examines the correlation between social media usage and the physical activity and flourishing levels of college students at a rural university in Appalachia.

Methods: The authors conducted a survey including the validated Secure Flourishing Index and Stanford Leisure-Time Activity Categorical Item, containing questions on social media use and demographics. Spearman’s rho was used for nonparametric correlations. Pearson’s correlation was used to determine the correlation …

Player 2 Has Entered The Culture War: Discourse, Ideology, And Narrative In Gamergate 2.0, Ashley C. Mccann

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

My thesis addresses the ever-evolving landscape of Gamergate 2.0. Once a reactionary misogynistic harassment movement dedicated to attacking women in video games, the new iteration of Gamergate has evolved into an entirely new community. In its new iteration, Gamergate is even less ostensibly concerned with video games and more with reactionary content, mixing together nerd media, general pop culture, and right-wing politics. To study this community, I approach the Gamergate 2.0 community as an anti-fandom and reactionary affinity space. I argue that GamerGate 2.0 exists as its own powerful reactionary community that creates a worldview consisting of the desired destruction …

Identity And Perception Among Aspec Consumers Of Mass Media, Jericho Franke

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The portrayals of sex and romance, as well as asexuality and aromanticism, in mass media can have a profound impact on the way asexual and aromantic media consumers view relationships and their own identities, and affect the perception and treatment of the aspec community as a whole. This study uses mixed qualitative methods of online discourse analysis and participant interviews to examine the how mass media has shaped the self-perception and life experiences relating to sex and romance among aspec audience members.

Portrayals Of Family Resilience In Webcomics During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Analysis, Claire Catherine Heaney

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Families and couples were challenged with stresses unlike any other as individuals faced adversities from lockdowns, as well as fears derived from the coronavirus. During the pandemic, trends of webcomics became more popular, particularly comics that depicted characters in romantic relationships dealing with “the new normal.” In this project, I suggest that social media webcomics incorporated topics of coping. The purpose of this study was to examine webcomics that documented daily life situations during lockdowns and stress-buffering skills found in couples’ interactions when dealing with concerns. Utilizing Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis, 585 romantic relationship webcomics posted from March …

Soap Eaters & Coon Dogs… According To Kentucky Newspapers!, Reinette F. Jones, Kopana Terry

Library Presentations

Kentucky newspapers are a valuable research option with many articles about the history of the state, as well as national and international news. This presentation was brief overview of the Kentucky Newspaper Digital Program [KDNP] and its development over many years. KDNP provides patrons access to the hundreds of Kentucky newspaper titles. Many of these titles are available full-text online via the University of Kentucky Library catalog. The weekly history vignettes are based on Kentucky newspaper articles and cover a wide range of topics. They are online at the KDNP Facebook site.

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 …

Turning The Tides: An Inoculation Theory And Theory Of Planned Behavior Approach To Developing Mental Health Help-Seeking Interventions For Gen Z, Sarah Ann Geegan

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Extensive research, predating and during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrates the rising prevalence of anxiety and depression among Gen Z college students in the United States—findings which are accompanied by rising rates of suicide, the second leading cause of death among people aged 15-24. Although college campuses often offer mental health resources, the number of college students utilizing them is significantly less than the number of students reporting mental health challenges. A dearth of empirical evidence, focused on Gen Z specifically, exists as a basis for developing interventions to address this issue. This investigation addressed this gap through two component studies. …

A Content Analysis Of Reddit Comments Discussing Fibroadenoma Appraisal And Decision Making, Hayley Marie Kay Stahl

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Though fibroadenomas are clinically benign in most cases, clinical research suggests that these lesions can cause diagnosis-related physical health complications and psychological distress. However, this research is limited and should be investigated further. Thus, this study aimed to explore how patients appraise their fibroadenoma diagnosis uncertainty. Additionally, this study sought to determine if a correlation existed between appraisal and decision making as well as identify the factors that influence the most common treatment decision: removal. Data was retrieved from Reddit discussions for a content analysis. These discussions were then qualitatively analyzed using codebooks associated with this study’s research questions. Findings …

The Consent Of Man: An Examination Of Privacy Awareness, Surveillance, And Privacy Policy (Mis)Use, Will Reilley Silberman

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The problem of privacy is nuanced, pervasive, and requires an elevated approach. Given the lack of consistency with regard to privacy’s conceptualization and operationalization, research is needed that examines variables related to privacy to better understand how privacy operates in the present day. This dissertation aims to better understand nuances of privacy by gauging knowledge of online privacy, technological affordances related to privacy, and knowledge of surveillance. In this study, human subjects from a large southern University were presented with an opportunity to use a privacy-invasive smartphone application. After doing so, they viewed one of three privacy policies. Finally, they …

The Persuasive Power Of Instagram Metrics: Examining How User-Generated Cues Affect Consumer’S Perception Of Influencer Credibility, Madison Lea Wallace

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Since 2019, Instagram has been testing the removal of a visible like count on posts. This change particularly pertains to social media influencers whose popularity is visibly displayed through the number of likes and comments their posts receive. Therefore, the present study experimentally investigated how varying levels of the like (i.e. hidden, approximate, and exact) and comment (hidden and exact) display on Instagram’s Explore page affect user’s credibility evaluations of unknown influencers. Guided by the Heuristic Systematic Model, MAIN Model and Warranting Principle, this study conducted a 3 (like display: hidden likes, approximated number of likes, and exact number of …

Misinformation More Likely To Use Non-Specific Authority References: Twitter Analysis Of Two Covid-19 Myths, Joseph Mcglynn, Maxim Baryshevtsev, Zane A. Dayton

Communication Graduate Research

This research examines the content, timing, and spread of COVID-19 misinformation and subsequent debunking efforts for two COVID-19 myths. COVID-19 misinformation tweets included more non-specific authority references (e.g., “Taiwanese experts”, “a doctor friend”), while debunking tweets included more specific and verifiable authority references (e.g., the CDC, the World Health Organization, Snopes). Findings illustrate a delayed debunking response to COVID-19 misinformation, as it took seven days for debunking tweets to match the quantity of misinformation tweets. The use of non-specific authority references in tweets was associated with decreased tweet engagement, suggesting the importance of citing specific sources when refuting health misinformation.

The Role Of Popular Media In 2016 Us Presidential Election Memes, Kyra Osten Hunting

Journalism and Media Faculty Publications

The 2016 US presidential election was marked by the extensive role that social media played in the construction of the candidates as well as by the growth of a number of forms of digital political rhetoric, including memes. The subgenre of popular culture-based political memes that draw on well-known entertainment media, particularly those with large fandoms like the Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises, reveal inequities in gender representation in entertainment media that are replicated when these media become source material for memes. Memes based on popular culture that are designed to celebrate female candidates are disadvantaged by having a …

Exploring Crisis Communication And Information Dissemination On Social Media: Social Network Analysis Of Hurricane Irma Tweets, Xianlin Jin

Communication Graduate Research

This study utilized social network analysis to identify the top 10 Twitter influentials during the Hurricane Irma crisis period and examined the relationship between social media attributes and the bridge influence of controlling information flow. The number of a user’s followers and tweets significantly predicted one’s control of information. Crisis information tended to be shared in scattered subgroups. Social network boundaries impeded information diffusion, and the communication pattern was largely one-way. The findings partially supported the opinion leader argument while indicating that influentials can directly generate information, which is consistent with the social-mediated crisis communication model. Such findings will contribute …

The Mothman And Other Strange Tales: Shaping Queer Appalachia Through Folkloric Discourse In Online Social Media Communities, Brenton Watts

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

Little work has been conducted on the intersections of queer and Appalachian identities, in part because these two identities are viewed as incompatible (Mann 2016). This study uses a multimodal critical discourse analytic approach to examine the Instagram posts of the Queer Appalachia Project, which represent a substantial body of discourse created by and for queer Appalachians. Of specific interest to this analysis are those posts which employ folkloric figures, such as West Virginia’s Mothman, to do identity work that is queer, Appalachian, and queer-Appalachian. Often, this act is accomplished through juxtaposition with Appalachian imagery and the reclamation of homophobic …

Voices “Herd”: A Social And Sentiment Analysis Of Consumers Perceptions Of Fair Oaks Farms, Jacelyn De'nae Nesmith

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Americans are searching for more information than just cost and quality of their food. Today, consumers are searching for information regarding the production practices and how animals are treated during the process. As consumers do not always have a first-hand source for this information, they are often referring to social media to have their questions answered. Social media has the reputation to negatively influence public perceptions of the agricultural industry. An example of an organization experiencing the consequences of social media influencing public opinion is Fair Oaks Farms. In 2019, an undercover animal rights activist group made accusations of poor …

Live Ambience And Homestead Away From Home: Social Media Use And Dependency By Visiting Chinese Students In The United States, Zixue Tai, Jue Lu, Fengbin Hu

Journalism and Media Faculty Publications

This study investigates social media dependency relations among Chinese college students during their three-month study abroad sojourn in the United States. Data were collected using a multimethod approach of ethnography, field observation, and in-depth interviews. Inspired by the lens of media system dependency (MSD) theory, the analysis focuses on the diverse goals and motivations that drive student behavior in social media engagement, as well as various contextual factors leading students to adapt and transition to the U.S. social networking sites (SNS), and the subsequent outcomes. The findings indicate that task-driven and assignment-centered goals dominate social media use, and that multidimensional …

The Potential Electoral Influence Of Internet Memes, Sierra K. Hatfield

Oswald Research and Creativity Competition

The rising popularity of social media has affected the communication methods of political candidates within the United States. Given the online presence of candidates in recent years, this paper argues that it’s time to consider internet memes – one of the many facets most commonly found on social media – as political rhetoric. This paper seeks to discern which components of an internet meme are most effective in persuading a young voter, using a visually rhetorical approach to understand which characteristics make it most effective. The study also seeks to find which demographics are most likely to be influenced, using …

Budweiser In The 2017 Super Bowl: Dialectic Values Advocacy And The Rhetorical Stakeholder, Benjamin P. Windholz

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Organizational-public relations discourse is changing given the advent of social media, and corporate statements are evaluated under different criteria in the digital age. Grounding Budweiser’s response to controversy over their 2017 Super Bowl advertisement in terms of consumer expectations for corporate social responsibility provides a new perspective for approaching Bostdorff and Vibbert’s (1994) conceptualization of values advocacy. This study recognizes the power of the rhetorical stakeholder, a discursively created public, and demands re-evaluation of the values common to society from a co-creational OPR perspective. Conceptualizing dialectic values advocacy outlines the changing values among contemporary, common stakeholders as well as the …

Exemplification Effects Throughout Disaster Stages In Social Media, Robert George Rice

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Two studies were performed to research potential exemplification effects throughout various stages of natural disasters. Exemplification theory (Zillmann, 1999, 2002) promotes the use of exemplars, media examples, because of their potential ability to motivate risk related information seeking and their possible influence in optimizing protective action (Zillmann, 2006). Study one examined potential exemplification effect differences between various stages of natural disasters. Study two was designed to test for differences in trust, perceptions of severity, and intentions to volunteer depending on the organization type supplying related exemplars in social media. Results indicate that exemplification effects do not differ depending on disaster …

Beyond Big Bird, Binders, And Bayonets: Humor And Visibility Among Connected Viewers Of The 2012 Us Presidential Debates, Kevin Driscoll, Alex Leavitt, Kristen L. Guth, François Bar, Aalok Mehta

Communication Faculty Publications

During the 2012 US presidential debates, more than five million connected viewers turned to social media to respond to the broadcast and talk politics with one another. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examines the prevalence of humor and its relationship to visibility among connected viewers live-tweeting the debates. Based on a content analysis of tweets and accounts, we estimate that approximately one-fifth of the messages sent during the debates consisted of strictly humorous content. Using retweet frequency as a proxy for visibility, we found a positive relationship between the use of humor and the visibility of individual tweets. Not …

Social Media Usages In Small Not-For-Profit Organizations, Sarah Nolan

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Effective social media management takes time, effort, and intentionality. Small not-for-profit organizations would benefit from doing this, but often have difficulty with being able to do so. In order to find out how small not-for-profit organizations use their social media and how social media could best be used to accomplish their mission, the following research questions were asked: What communications policies and procedures are followed by small not-for-profits organizations? Are the current social media practices of these organizations effective? What are the primary needs of these organizations in terms of social media and how can they be addressed?

In order …

The Reflection And Reification Of Racialized Language In Popular Media, Kelly E. Wright

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

This work highlights specific lexical items that have become racialized in specific contextual applications and tests how these words are cognitively processed. This work presents the results of a visual world (Huettig et al 2011) eye-tracking study designed to determine the perception and application of racialized (Coates 2011) adjectives. To objectively select the racialized adjectives used, I developed a corpus comprised of popular media sources, designed specifically to suit my research question. I collected publications from digital media sources such as Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and Fortune by scraping articles featuring specific search terms from their websites. This experiment seeks …

On Making A Difference: How Photography And Narrative Produce The Short-Term Missions Experience, Joshua Kerby Jennings

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Short-term missions participants encounter difference in purportedly captivating ways. Current research, however, indicates the practice does not lead to long-lasting, positive change. Brian M. Howell (2012) argues the short-term missions experience is confined to the limitations of the short-term missions narrative. People who engage in short-term missions build assumptions, seek experiences, understand difference, and convey meaning, as a result of this narrative. The process of telling and retelling travel stories is integral to the short-term missions experience. Drawing upon literature on tourism, narrative, development, and photography, this study intends to evaluate the inefficacy of short-term missions through the stories which …

Affect And Value In Critical Examinations Of The Production And ‘Prosumption’ Of Big Data, Daniel G. Cockayne

Geography Faculty Publications

In this paper I explore the relationship between the production and the value of Big Data. In particular I examine the concept of social media ‘prosumption’—which has predominantly been theorized from a Marxist, political economic perspective—to consider what other forms of value Big Data have, imbricated with their often speculative economic value. I take the example of social media firms in their early stages of operation to suggest that, since these firms do not necessarily generate revenue, data collected through user contributions do not always realize economic value, at least in a Marxist sense, and that, in addition to their …

Introduction: Spatial Big Data And Everyday Life, Agnieszka Leszczynski, Jeremy Crampton

Geography Faculty Publications

Spatial Big Data—be this natively geocoded content, geographical metadata, or data that itself refers to spaces and places—has become a pervasive presence in the spaces and practices of everyday life. Beyond preoccupations with “the geotag” and with mapping geocoded social media content, this special theme explores what it means to encounter and experience spatial Big Data as a quotidian phenomenon that is both spatial, characterized by and enacting of material spatialities, and spatializing, configuring relations between subjects, objects, and spaces in new and unprecedented ways.

Challenges Of Internet And Social Media Use In Adolescents, Mandakini Sadhir, Stephanie J. Stockburger, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

There has been tremendous growth in use of technology in recent decades. The majority of teens now have access to a desktop/laptop computer as well as a gaming console and smartphone. With growing internet and social media use teens now face challenges including cyberbullying, sexting and problematic internet use that result in various health implications. Health care providers are in unique position to educate adolescents and families about current challenges and provide age appropriate guidance to promote healthy internet behaviors.

Do Black Lives Matter In American Mainstream News Media? Two Case Studies Of Police-Involved Shootings Of Black Men Explaining A Racist Media Environment, Alfred J. Cotton Iii

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This dissertation examines two cases of fatal police-involved shootings of Black men in order to expose the power structures perpetuated through racist media narratives assuming the officers’ behavior was justified and the unarmed men the officers killed somehow were complicit in their death. In reporting on police-involved shootings, mainstream media practices that privilege elites and officials as primary sources of information may produce a dominant media narrative that masks the marginalization and mistreatment of minorities at the hands of these officials and their institutions. The two cases under consideration here examine the “floating signifier” of race in media coverage of …

A Formative Evaluation Of A Smartphone Application For Couples: The Affectionate Gesture Planner, Patrick Robert Bortz

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The Affectionate Gesture Planner (AGP) is a smartphone application (i.e., “app”) that aims to increase relationship satisfaction for couples in long-term relationships by prompting couples to complete loving acts for each other on a daily basis. The AGP app is informed by concepts from social exchange theory and the investment model (Rusbult, 1983), which predict that increasing the mutual exchange of beneficial investments to the relationship improves the quality and stability of the relationship. The present study is a formative evaluation on the prototype of the AGP app. Based on participant feedback, the AGP app will be improved prior to …

Relax And Log On Facebook: Examining Students’ Use Of Facebook To Relieve Academic Stress Through Perceived Social Support, Tamika Tompoulidis

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

College students often times experience academic stress, whether it is due to homework, exams, GPA requirement, or even adapting to the college environment. Social support has been known to reduce stress levels and affect psychological well-being. Social support can also be prevalent on social media sites, such as Facebook. Facebook users can communicate with friends near and far and find the needed support during times of stress. While college students are active Facebook users, little research has examined whether Facebook affects academic stress levels. This study examined if college students use Facebook to gain social support for stress above and …