Social Media Commons^™

Passive Visual Analytics Of Social Media Data For Detection Of Unusual Events, Kush Rustagi, Junghoon Chae

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Now that social media sites have gained substantial traction, huge amounts of un-analyzed valuable data are being generated. Posts containing images and text have spatiotemporal data attached as well, having immense value for increasing situational awareness of local events, providing insights for investigations and understanding the extent of incidents, their severity, and consequences, as well as their time-evolving nature. However, the large volume of unstructured social media data hinders exploration and examination. To analyze such social media data, the S.M.A.R.T system provides the analyst with an interactive visual spatiotemporal analysis and spatial decision support environment that assists in evacuation planning …

Profiling Social Media Users With Selective Self-Disclosure Behavior, Wei Gong

Dissertations and Theses Collection

Social media has become a popular platform for millions of users to share activities and thoughts. Many applications are now tapping on social media to disseminate information (e.g., news), to promote products (e.g., advertisements), to manage customer relationship (e.g., customer feedback), and to source for investment (e.g., crowdfunding). Many of these applications require user profile knowledge to select the target social media users or to personalize messages to users. Social media user profiling is a task of constructing user profiles such as demographical labels, interests, and opinions, etc., using social media data. Among the social media user profiling research works, …

Extending The Network: The Influence Of Offline Friendship On Twitter Network, Young Soo Kim, Kyungsub Stephen Choi, Felicia Natali

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Twitter effectively provides a communication platform that allows users to strengthen or augment relationships with their close ones. It is a common scene to see groups of people in continuing group communication from offline to online using tools such as Twitter. Furthermore, it is also possible to meet new friends via online encounter. Under these circumstances, there would be friends who are both offline and online, or only in online. Many of earlier Twitter network studies focused on the network effects’ direction going from online to offline network. This paper explores the opposite direction, going from offline to online network. …

Social Media Information And Analyst Forecasts, Mahfuja Malik, Rajib Hasan, Abu S. Amin

WCBT Faculty Publications

In the past decade, social networking has changed the landscape of information dissemination. The rapid diffusion of social media services such as Facebook and Twitter is unprecedented and offers immense possibilities for corporations to communicate with, and engage core stakeholders in, various business decisions. In this study, we investigate whether social media play any role as a source of information for financial analysts. We specifically focus on information revealed on the official Facebook pages of S&P 500 firms. We define information content on a Facebook page as the total number of posts by the corporations and the comments, likes and …

Why We Follow: Exploring How Culture Shapes Users’ Motivation For Following Sport Organizations On Twitter And Weibo, Bo Li

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore how culture shapes Social media users’ usage as they follow sport organizations on two similar microblogging services - Twitter and Weibo. In particular, the study attempted to measure whether Social media users exhibited different usage pattern, points of attachment, and usage motivations within two different cultural environments known as individualism and collectivism.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ Social media followers were selected and invited to participant in this study. There were 839 the Lakers’ Weibo followers and 334 Twitter followers who completed an online survey facilitated on Qualtrics. The results of Multivariate analysis …

Social Media And Perceptions Of Sexual Consent: Development And Psychometric Assessment Of Two Consent Measures, Kelley Rhoads

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background. Preliminary qualitative research suggests some college students believe sexual consent can be communicated and interpreted in Social settings, such as parties or bars, and in contexts lacking face-to-face interaction like text messages and Social media content. Previous sexual consent researchers have described perceptions of consent that occur in Social settings as “outside the bedroom” consent. The belief that sexual consent can be interpreted from Social media content or that accepting an alcoholic beverage from someone at a bar is indicative of sexual consent is problematic and warrants further study. Current validated consent scales are limited and do not assess …

Common Platforms And Devices Used To Access News About Native Americans, Rebekka J. Schlichting

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

The opening story about Ictinike and the buzzard is a traditional oral story from my Ioway Tribe culture. It represents the way in which Native American people historically shared information and stories. Today, Native stories are shared in multiple ways: oral, written, video, audio, websites, social media, etc. This research explored the ways in which Native Americans receive their stories today, specifically news stories about Native Americans. This research was done in order to see how news outlets could better serve Native populations in the U.S. In addition, I looked at which platforms and devices are most effective for Natives …

It's All About Me: How Self-Brand Connection And Social Media Interactivity Influence Purchase Intent, Shannon Taylor Mccarthy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social media is ubiquitous and allows consumers to display identity by through possessions through posts, images, and interactions. The self is all the individual calls their own and is expressed outwardly through everything visible, including possessions, relationships, and interactions. They tell their story through the display of envy-inducing artifacts, and create a perfect, photoshopped life. Consumers seek a connection to positively viewed brands they feel are self-representative through interaction. This dissertation seeks to better understand consumer rationale for and gratification from online brand engagement and how that, in turn, impacts the brand. Three studies examined the effects of self-brand connection, …

Incorporating A New Class Of Uncertainty In Disaster Relief Logistics Planning, Emre Kirac

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been a growing interest among emergency managers in using Social data in disaster response planning. However, the trustworthiness and reliability of posted information are two of the most significant concerns, because much of the user-generated data is initially not verified. Therefore, a key tradeoff exists for emergency managers when considering whether to incorporate Social data in disaster planning efforts. By considering Social data, a larger number of needs can be identified in a shorter amount of time, potentially enabling a faster response and satisfying a class of demand that might not otherwise be discovered. However, …

Collective Influence Algorithm To Find Influencers Via Optimal Percolation In Massively Large Social Media, Flaviano Morone, Byungjoon Min, Lin Bo, Romain Mari, Hernán A. Makse

Publications and Research

We elaborate on a linear-time implementation of Collective-Influence (CI) algorithm introduced by Morone, Makse, Nature 524, 65 (2015) to find the minimal set of influencers in networks via optimal percolation. The computational complexity of CI is O(N log N) when removing nodes one-by-one, made possible through an appropriate data structure to process CI. We introduce two Belief-Propagation (BP) variants of CI that consider global optimization via message-passing: CI propagation (CIP) and Collective- Immunization-Belief-Propagation algorithm (CIBP) based on optimal immunization. Both identify a slightly smaller fraction of influencers than CI and, remarkably, reproduce the exact analytical optimal percolation threshold obtained in …

Latent Semantic Indexing In The Discovery Of Cyber-Bullying In Online Text, Jacob L. Bigelow

Computer Science Summer Fellows

The rise in the use of social media and particularly the rise of adolescent use has led to a new means of bullying. Cyber-bullying has proven consequential to youth internet users causing a need for a response. In order to effectively stop this problem we need a verified method of detecting cyber-bullying in online text; we aim to find that method. For this project we look at thirteen thousand labeled posts from Formspring and create a bank of words used in the posts. First the posts are cleaned up by taking out punctuation, normalizing emoticons, and removing high and low …

Perceptions Surrounding Cyberbullying And Self-Disclosure Among The Lgbtq Community: A Qualitative Approach, Alec Martin

Media and Communication Studies Summer Fellows

LGBTQ adolescents, like all youth, face challenges: the push for high academic marks, the desire for positive relationships, and the right to be themselves in a safe environment. Unfortunately, LGBTQ youths are far more likely than their heterosexual peers to experience bullying and cyberbullying. According to a 2005 study by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, the second largest cause of bullying was actual or presumed sexual orientation or identity. Gay males were more than twice as likely to be bullied on school property than their heterosexual peers, 43.1% and 18.3%, respectively (Olsen et al, 2014). In addition, 23.1% …

Detection Of Cyberbullying In Sms Messaging, Bryan W. Bradley

Computer Science Summer Fellows

Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that uses technology such as cell phones to harass or malign another person. To detect acts of cyberbullying, we are developing an algorithm that will detect cyberbullying in SMS (text) messages. Over 80,000 text messages have been collected by software installed on cell phones carried by participants in our study. This paper describes the development of the algorithm to detect cyberbullying messages, using the cell phone data collected previously. The algorithm works by first separating the messages into conversations in an automated way. The algorithm then analyzes the conversations and scores the severity and …

Youth Media And Social Change: Using Digital Storytelling As A Tool That Engages Youth To Become Change Agents, Soufiane Khebbaz

Capstone Collection

Today the importance of digital technology has significantly increased worldwide, as cameras, laptops, and easy-to-use applications and software have become available to educators and activists, enabling them to join the digital world. Through a digital storytelling workshop, I examined the use of digital storytelling as a potential means of empowerment for teenagers participating in the Access Micro-scholarship Program. Using qualitative methods, I looked at the students’ interactions with each other as well as with technology in the process of digital storytelling. The main purpose of this project was to investigate the opportunities that digital storytelling practices hold for youth in …

Privacy And The Information Age: A Longitudinal View, Charles E. Downing

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

As information systems and data storage capacity become increasingly sophisticated, an important ethical question for organizations is “What can/will/should be done with the personal information that has been and can be collected?” Individuals’ privacy is certainly important, but so is less costly and more targeted business processes. As this conflict intensifies, consumers, managers and policy makers are left wondering: What privacy principles are important to guide organizations in self-regulation? For example, do consumers view the five rights originally stated in the European Data Protection Directive as important? Comprehensive? Is there a product discount point where consumers would forsake these principles? …

An Empirical Investigation On Ceo Turnover In It Firms And Firm Performance, Peiqin Zhang, David Wierschem, Francis A. Mendez Mediavilla, Keejae P. Hong

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Drawn upon upper echelon theory and organizational theory, this research proposes to examine the impact of CEO turnover in IT firms on firm performance in terms of both sustainable accounting performance and market performance. We find that CEO turnover is a significant determinant of firm performance, especially in IT firms. This paper contributes to the IS literature by investigating the CEO turnover impact in IT firms compared to other industries. This study also has practical implications by providing the guideline for IT firms on the CEO turnover policy. Such firms should place additional emphasis on their succession planning efforts.

Facebook Use Among African American And Hispanic Students: An Exploratory Investigation Of Perceived Academic Impact, Sathasivam Mathiyalakan, Sharon D. White, Jorge O. Brusa

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Facebook is one of the world’s leading social networking sites. It is pervasive in students’ lives and can impact their academic careers in a variety of ways. However, little research exists evaluating the use of Facebook in minority academic settings. An early step in this direction is to gain an understanding of how different student demographic groups use Facebook. An interest in further assessment of Facebook’s role in diverse segments of academia motivates the collection and analysis of Facebook-related data from minority serving institutions such as Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). This study presents …

Magnopark, Smart Parking Detection Based On Cellphone Magnetic Sensor, Maryam Arab

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

We introduce a solution that uses the availability of heavy crowds and their smart devices, to gain more result as to where potential parking is possible. By leveraging the raw magnetometer, gyroscope, and accelerometer data, we are able to detect parking spots through the natural movement exerted by the walking pedestrians on the sidewalks beside the streets. Dating back as far as 2013, a very large portion of pedestrians composing the crowds on the sidewalk, possessed at least one smart device in their hand or pocket14]. It is this statistic that fuels our application, in which we depend on crowds …

Eportfolios: Supporting Reflection And Deep Learning In High-Impact Practices, Kathleen Harrington, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

[First paragraph]

Eportfolios are a powerful pedagogical tool that can support deep learning and reflection across various learning contexts. This digital assignment can facilitate integrative learning and make learning visible to students, instructors, and external stakeholders (Chen and Light 2010). Eportfolios provide a space for students to showcase curricular and cocurricular experiences, to reflect on and integrate this work, and to directly assess their learning (Yancey 2004). Like high‐impact educational practices, eportfolios require significant and purposeful “time on task” outside the classroom, provide opportunities for meaningful student–faculty interaction, allow for frequent feedback on student work, and show students how their …

Medium As King: Social Media & The Political Campaign, Isaac Shea

Masters Theses

There is a growing need for a greater understanding of the intersection between great content, effective targeting and proper media usage in mediated communication and especially in American politics. As more campaigns move their efforts online in an attempt to reach a rapidly growing digital constituency, more content will continue to be less visible. The major quest for this study will be to challenge the long-standing idea that “content is king” which Bill Gates termed at the inception of the internet. A theoretical background of Marshall McLuhan and Kathleen Hall Jamieson will not only allow us to answer this question, …

Crowdsourcing Management Education Assessment, Owen P. Hall Jr, Charla Griffy-Brown

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Assessment is now at the center of the new business education zeitgeist. This focus is the direct result of feedback from the business community regarding the growing gap between their needs and graduates from many business schools. Recently this divide has fallen under even closer scrutiny because of increasing student debt and the growing controversy over return-on- investment. Today business leaders are looking for web-savvy, problem-solving graduates. To this end, AACSB and regional accrediting bodies are calling for the adoption of comprehensive collaborative learning strategies to better align graduates’ skill sets with the real needs of business. Crowdsourcing, which is …

Towards A Taxonomy Of Challenges In An Integrated It Governance Framework Implementation, Mathew Nicho, Suadad Muamaar

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The rapid adoption of IT governance (ITG) frameworks in organizations worldwide, along with the subsequent need to select and integrate overlapping ITG frameworks has presented practitioners with challenges in choice and integration of frameworks. In this respect, the purpose of this study was to explore the ITG frameworks integration (ITGFI) challenges faced by organizations worldwide; develop and test a theory-based integrated ITG challenges (IIC) taxonomy model created from extant literature; and validate and compare these with those empirically extracted from three case studies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The results present the audience with a taxonomy of a prioritized …

Comparative Empirical Analysis On Computer Software Piracy Behaviors Between China And The United States: An Exploratory Study, Xiang Fang, Sooun Lee

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Using the data collected from several universities in China and the United States, which have drastically different piracy rates, economic development stages, income levels, and national cultures, this study aims to identify which demographic factors affect software piracy significantly. Totally, the dataset includes 600 valid responses. Multivariate data analysis, supported by Multivariate Analysis of Variance and Turkey’s test, reveals that among various factors, country difference and gender most significantly influence software piracy. In addition, this study offers recommendations on how to curb software piracy effectively.

The Agenda Setting Effects Of Cnn’S Twitter In The 2016 Super Tuesday Primaries, Joy Huertas

Masters Theses

Governmental fall downs, electoral outcomes, terrorism propaganda, and climate change awareness are just some of the commonly known results of the effects of news media coverage on the public opinion and society as a whole. For years, researchers have utilized the agenda setting theory as a basis for their studies on the effects of the news media coverage on the public opinion in countless of contexts. The purpose of this study was to analyze the agenda setting effects of a major broadcast news organization but from one of their most influential social media channels, Twitter. CNN’s daily Twitter mentions of …

Can Instagram Posts Help Characterize Urban Micro-Events?, Kasthuri Jayarajah, Archan Misra

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Social media content, from platforms such as Twitter and Foursquare, has enabled an exciting new field of social sensing, where participatory content generated by users has been used to identify unexpected emerging or trending events. In contrast to such text-based channels, we focus on image-sharing social applications (specifically Instagram), and investigate how such urban social sensing can leverage upon the additional multi-modal, multimedia content. Given the significantly higher fraction of geotagged content on Instagram, we aim to use such channels to go beyond identification of long-lived events (e.g., a marathon) to achieve finer-grained characterization of multiple micro-events (e.g., a person …

Social Media For Librarians And Users, A Global Perspective, Sai Deng, Ying Zhang, Jing Xu

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Social media has increasingly become an integral part of our personal and professional lives worldwide, and it revolutionizes how we communicate and share information. Libraries and librarians are early adopters and proponents for the use of social media. In countries such as China, social media has gained momentum in the recent years, and particularly in colleges and libraries.

This poster first investigates social media's presences and applications especially in university libraries in the U.S. and in China. The two countries use different social media apps such as WeChat, Facebook, Twitter, Weibo and Blog. It then focuses on a case study …

A History And Analysis Of Cala's Social Media, Sai Deng, Xiao Hu

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Under the rapid development of social media and social networking sites, a number of social media channels have been deeply integrated into people's professional and private lives. The Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), started its social media presence in 2012 with Facebook, and then expanded to YouTube and WeChat. While CALA's Facebook and YouTube channel are more public and social platforms for its news, announcements and documents, its WeChat group is more of an informal space for sharing news and embarking discussions. This poster will look into the various aspects of these social media channels and provide statistical and textual …

The Digital Battleground: The Political Pulpit To Political Profile, Shylee Garrett

Celebration of Learning

Social media has infiltrated our daily lives, and with an upcoming election, the messages disseminated are becoming increasingly important for the public electorate. By examining Twitter accounts of 2016 Republican presidential candidates through a content analysis, I was able to decipher patterns, preferences and post effectiveness. As my Senior Inquiry research continues, I will be able to use my model to decipher the best practices for political use of Twitter for future elections and political candidates.

Singles Looking To Mingle: An Analysis Of Self-Presentation In Online Dating, Leigha Jacobson, Abbey Atkinson, Ladan Mohamed, Jason Dorr

Concordia Journal of Communication Research

Online dating has become a commonplace in today’s society as more people are turning to it more than ever before. Because this type of dating has become so widely accepted, the researchers felt it was necessary to take a deeper look into self-presentation in online dating and how people choose to represent themselves. Participants of this study include single men and women, between the ages of 18-35, from a large Midwestern metro area in the United States. The purpose of this study was to gain information as to how men and women choose to represent themselves on online dating platforms. …

Mobile Audience, Social Media, And Action Research: An Examination Of Non-Profits And Mobile Engagement, Rebekah Bjork, Brian Palaggi, Ryan Mckee

Concordia Journal of Communication Research

Non-profit organizations in the United States are becoming more dependent on the use of social media accounts, to market to their mobile audiences, because they are free to use. With the constant advancements in technology, True Friends marketing department struggles to keep up with the lack of staff and necessary resources. The researchers chose to investigate how True Friends Organization could improve the quality of their mobile engagement through the analysis of their social media and Google analytics accounts. Specifically, the researchers implemented action research to evaluate if the increased use of Instagram expands True Friends mobile audience. The researchers …