Social Media Commons^™

Fbwatch: Extracting, Analyzing And Visualizing Public Facebook Profiles, Lukas Brückner, Simon Caton, Margeret A. Hall

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

An ever-increasing volume of social media data facilitates studies into behavior patterns, consumption habits, and B2B exchanges, so called Big Data. Whilst many tools exist for platforms such as Twitter, there is a noticeable absence of tools for Facebook-based studies that are both scalable and accessible to social scientists. In this paper, we present FBWatch, an open source web application providing the core functionality to fetch public Facebook profiles en masse in their entirety and analyse relationships between profiles both online and offline. We argue that FBWatch is a robust interface for social researchers and business analysts to identify analyze …

The Impact Of Video Chatting On Idealization And Disillusionment For Long Distance Dating Couples, Laura Kusisto

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Previous research indicates a high rate of long distance relationships, especially among young adults. Yet, research in this area is lacking, particularly regarding the role of video chatting. Through the lens of the media richness theory and the hyperpersonal model, this qualitative study explores how video chatting impacts idealization and disillusionment in young adults’ long distance dating relationships. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with both partners of six heterosexual couples. Data was analyzed using the constant comparative approach and following the basic framework of open, axial, and selective coding used in grounded theory research. Results indicate that video chatting …

Social Media And The Organization Man, Dylan E. Wittkower

Philosophy Faculty Publications

On new dynamics in organizational psychology, self- and group-identity, character, and integrity in an age of social media, "Organizations may then have a similar relation to our integrity as does our character. Our character is formed by a history of actions and interactions, but we may not identify with the actions that it brings us to habitually perform. When we recognize our vices—e.g., intemperance—and seek to act in accordance with our values and beliefs, we act against our character and contribute thereby to reforming our habits and character to better align with the version of ourselves with which we identify. …

Moving Foward?: Problematic Ideologies In Twenty-First Century Fairy Tale Films, Alyson Kilmer

All Master's Theses

Fairy tales, as a reflection of our values and belief systems, are crucial in shaping and maintaining cultural ideologies. In the twenty-first century, cinematic fairy tales have the unique position of representing such values in an expansive and expeditious manner. Audiences must therefore be critically conscious of the messages promoted by these tales. An analysis of the five most popular contemporary fairy tale films, Disney’s Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), and Disney’s Frozen (2013) and Maleficent (2014), revealed minimal attempts to propitiate critical audiences in regard to changing cultural values, but …

You Are What You Tweet: Connecting The Geographic Variation In America's Obesity Rate To Twitter Content, Ross J. Gore, Saikou Diallo, Jose Padilla

VMASC Publications

We conduct a detailed investigation of the relationship among the obesity rate of urban areas and expressions of happiness, diet and physical activity on social media. We do so by analyzing a massive, geo-tagged data set comprising over 200 million words generated over the course of 2012 and 2013 on the social network service Twitter. Among many results, we show that areas with lower obesity rates: (1) have happier tweets and frequently discuss (2) food, particularly fruits and vegetables, and (3) physical activities of any intensity. Additionally, we provide evidence that each of these results offer different and unique insight …

Unfriend?: An Analysis Of Friendship Comparing Subjects’ Perceptions Of Face-To-Face Versus Internet-Mediated Relationships, Matthew S. Harp

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to find out how similar or different peoples’ perceptions are of friendships which are primarily face-to-face and those which are primarily internet mediated. It was hypothesized that, based on qualities which are shared by each respective medium, individuals would not find perceptions of face-to-face and Internet-mediated friendships to be significantly different. One hundred fifty-one undergraduate students at The University of Akron were given a survey developed from a literature review to test how important certain general friendship qualities were to their concept of each type of friendship. It was found that, while all of …

Looking Ahead: A Public Relations Plan For Servicemaster Of Hudson, Brianne Angell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project examines the effectiveness of ServiceMaster of Hudson’s communication and proposes a public relations plan to generate business revenue by boosting awareness and engagement in the local community. Research revealed that the community is largely unaware of ServiceMaster of Hudson and that the company has a low reach on social media compared to competitors. Therefore, a public relations plan was created with focus on four areas: social media engagement, development of marketing materials, hiring of new employees, and employee engagement. The project also contains an appendix of materials created for ServiceMaster of Hudson, including advertisements and a schedule of …

Social Media & Audience Participation In Regard To Television, Jean Marie Mcbride

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Jean McBride

Major: Communications: Radio/TV Broadcasting & Mass Media Production

Project Sponsor: Dr. Sylvia White

Number of Project Credits: 3

Social Media & Audience Participation in Regard to Television

The purpose of my honors project was seeing if social media had an influence on television show ratings and popularity by incorporating audience participation. Especially in regards to television shows that have been around for years, I was interested to see if television ratings went up when using Twitter compared to when they did not use Twitter to increase viewers and audience participation. I surveyed forty-nine collegiate women between the ages …

Re-Examining Resistance: Fan-Produced Queer Readings And Teen Wolf, Joshua J. Espinoza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

MTV's popular television series, Teen Wolf (2011), has amassed a large online following of fans that create their own queer narratives through fan-fiction, subverting the show's hegemonic heteronormativity. Through a textual thematic analysis of Teen Wolf, this case study illustrates how online fandoms can subvert hegemony through queer readings of literary characters, resisting the dominant heteronormativity on network television. This article argues that rearticulating the showâ??s narratives into queer readings functions as a form of LGBT resistance, effectively counteracting the heteronormativity and hegemony portrayed on screen. This study examines how Teen Wolf approaches queer content, including homoeroticism and LGBT themes …

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Journal of International Technology and Information Management

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Journal of International Technology and Information Management

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Journal of International Technology and Information Management

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Journal of International Technology and Information Management

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From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

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Journal of International Technology and Information Management

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From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

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Losing Robin Williams: An Analysis Of User-Generated Twitter Content Following The Sudden Death Of A Celebrity, Samantha Mallow

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of my thesis is to examine how people use social media, in this case Twitter, to share content that reflects their attitudes toward the loss of a celebrity and the issue of mental illness. To complete my research, I examined how users of Twitter created content expressing their reactions to the sudden passing of comedian and actor Robin Williams on August 11, 2014. Williams’ death raised mental illness issues that he had faced during his life. After analyzing the data I created a short survey with eight tweets that referred to mental illness. The survey was administered to …

Brand Obama: How Barack Obama Revolutionized Political Campaign Marketing In The 2008 Presidential Election, Abigail Michaelsen

CMC Senior Theses

In 2008, President Barack Obama was named Advertising Age’s marketer of the year, the first time a politician won such an award. While presidential candidates have always employed marketing tactics in order to communicate their platform and persuade voters to support them, candidate Obama’s marketing campaign completely revolutionized the field. Through an innovative marketing strategy, candidate Barack Obama transformed himself from a mere political unknown in 2004 to a worldwide sensation by the time the general election started in 2008. His calls for “hope and change” and “post-partisanship” captured the hearts of Americans frustrated with failed Bush policy and constant …

Tweeting Away Our Blues: An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach To Exploring Black Women's Use Of Social Media To Combat Misogynoir, Kelly Macias

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

In the age of social media, many Black women use online platforms and social networks as a means of connecting with other Black women and to share their experiences of social oppression and misogynoir, anti-Black misogyny. Examining the ways that Black women use technology as a tool to actively wage resistance to racial, gender and class oppression is critical for understanding their role in the human struggle for greater peace, beauty, freedom and justice. This study explored the experiences of 12 Black women in the United States and Britain who use social media for storytelling and testimony about their lives …

Bloggers And Their Impact On Contemporary Social Movements: A Phenomenological Examination Of The Role Of Blogs And Their Creators In The Lgbt Social Movements In Modern United States, Bobby K. Huen

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The Internet is a ubiquitous feature in everyday life, but its application to social movements has yet to be completely understood. This phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of bloggers who focused on the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement in the United States to understand the impact bloggers and their work as online activists have on existing LGBT social movement organization and operation. Data collection is gathered from semi-structured and open-ended interviews with four social movement bloggers using web-conference software over the course of three months. The results of this study indicated that internet has empowered individual activists, …

Relationship Management On Facebook: Male College Students, Kathleen M. Aikin

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Facebook as a social media technology is prominent in a variety of scenarios, including interpersonal relationship management. There have been numerous studies on how social dynamics are informed by social media, especially in regards to young adults. Within this group, female social dynamics have garnered much attention; however, there is a dearth of research, which explicitly examines how males utilize the technology. Thus, this study collected data via an online survey of college students that examined various aspects of online interpersonal relationship dynamics. The theoretical framework of this study was based on Petronio’s (1991) communication privacy management theory, Baxter and …

Whose Beer Is It, Anyway?: An Examination Of The Constraints Of Organizational Legitimacy With The Craft Beer Industry, Audra E. Clodfelter

Masters Theses

Previous research on organizational legitimacy has determined that legitimacy is necessary for organizational survival, but also places a constraint upon the organization's actions. This project examines the roles of authenticity and social identity as constraints of legitimacy in the craft beer through a case study of four craft breweries that merged with Anheuser-Busch InBev. This study examined the social media communication of four craft breweries prior to their merger announcement as well as the reactions from fans after the announcements were made. Analysis revealed that the breweries used social media to emphasize their authenticity prior to the merger announcement and …

The Internet Grows Up?, Neil M. Richards

Scholarship@WashULaw

Danielle Citron’s Hate Crimes in Cyberspace is one of the most important publications to date in the emerging fields of privacy and cyberlaw. In her thoughtful and insightful book, Citron explains the uneven playing field and frequently shocking acts of abuse that women face online, and demonstrates practical steps that we can take to remedy the problem of online hate through law, education, and the development of better, more inclusive norms. Other contributors to this Symposium have examined these contributions in great detail, pointing out important nuances of Citron’s argument, urging her in at least one case to be even …

College Students Self-Presentation And Online Social Networks, Lauren J. Stehlik

Masters Theses

College students are active users of social networking sites, and they share a variety of information via their profiles. Employers and graduate schools are one population viewing potential candidate's social networking profiles. This study aimed to explore graduating college students' perception of appropriate or inappropriate content on their social networking sites as they went through the job searching process. College students are users of several social networking sites; however, this study focused on users of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews and an online analysis site called Reppler.com with seven graduating college seniors to learn about perceptions …

Is The Truth In The Comments? Anti-Feminism And Anti-Immigration In Norwegian Online Newspaper Comment Threads, Iselin Maria Ihrstad

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Norway has implemented many progressive social policies focused on the equality and inclusion of women, as well as immigrant and non-ethnic Norwegian individuals due to a commitment to state feminism. Yet recently it seems to be a number of anti-feminist and some anti-immigration stances expressed through online discussion threads. In order to highlight and explore the presence of a backlash against feminism and immigration in Norway, this study conducts a feminist textual analysis of online comment threads that follows pro-feminist online opinion pieces published in the two largest newspapers in Norway, Dagbladet and Verdens Gang (VG) published between July 2014 …

The Fuzzin' Facts, Rebel Alliance, Mitch Ohnstad, Rebekka Erks, Erin Prohaska, Ryan Mueksch, Rachel Foehlinger, Laura Bergen, Sean Davis

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

The challenge for this campaign is to expose the facts about sexual health and safe sex practices in a light-hearted manner in order to make it a more comfortable topic to talk about so that more people understand the need to get the facts, get tested and get involved to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in Nebraska.

Why Does Everybody Hate Me? Balance, Status, And Homophily: The Triumvirate Of Signed Tie Formation, Janice Yap, Nicholas Harrigan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Despite being one of the foundational theories of signed (positive/negative) tie formation, the evidence for balance theory is far from conclusive. A recent promising alternative is status theory, but a theoretical and explanatory gap still remains, with a dearth of theories and evidence. We put forward and test eight separate theories of signed tie formation on two face-to-face networks of friendship and esteem of 282 students. We use dimension reduction (factor analysis) on the results tables comparing the predictions of these eight theories for 50 ERGM parameters with our estimated models. We find three main paradigms explain the majority of …

Community Discovery From Social Media By Low-Rank Matrix Recovery, Jinfeng Zhuang, Mei Tao, Steven C. H. Hoi, Xian-Sheng Hua, Yongdong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The pervasive usage and reach of social media have attracted a surge of attention in the multimedia research community. Community discovery from social media has therefore become an important yet challenging issue. However, due to the subjective generating process, the explicitly observed communities (e.g., group-user and user-user relationship) are often noisy and incomplete in nature. This paper presents a novel approach to discovering communities from social media, including the group membership and user friend structure, by exploring a low-rank matrix recovery technique. In particular, we take Flickr as one exemplary social media platform. We first model the observed indicator matrix …

Exploring How Social Media Can Be Used To Promote Space Awareness: A Case Study Of The Yuri's Night Web 2.0, Alan Steinberg, Jeffrey Alles, Ryan L. Kobrick

Publications

Despite the importance of social media as an inexpensive and efficient means of communication, it is not clear to what degree space advocacy groups are making a strong organized effort to use the resources available to them. Moreover, there is no previous literature that specifically examines the use of social media tools by space organizations. This study seeks to start a larger dialog regarding how the space advocacy community can make use of these tools to promote their mission. Using a case study approach, this article focuses specifically on the organization of Yuri’s Night to explore how this group is …

Characteristics Of Social Media Stories, Yasmin Ainoamany, Michele C. Weigle, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

An emerging trend in social media is for users to create and publish "stories", or curated lists of web resources with the purpose of creating a particular narrative of interest to the user. While some stories on the web are automatically generated, such as Facebook’s "Year in Review", one of the most popular storytelling services is "Storify", which provides users with curation tools to select, arrange, and annotate stories with content from social media and the web at large. We would like to use tools like Storify to present automatically created summaries of archival collections. To support automatic story creation, …