Social Media Commons^™

Identity Crafting: Reading The Agency And Art Implicit In Selfies, Margaret Nichols

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

The aim of this article is to unravel the craftsmanship of online identities implicit in taking and sharing selfies and to measure the immediate or resulting violence by imposed definition upon the subject-photographer. This paper especially focuses on the identity building of young women on the social networking platform Instagram. Crucial to the research are Susan Sontag's work on photography philosophy relating to violence inflicted upon subjects, Gregory Ulmer's work on electracy, and Liana De Girolami Cheney's research into artistic conventions of self-portraiture dating back from the Renaissance to the present. The highly constructed nature of selfies, an emerging art …

Facebook Frets: The Role Of Social Media Use In Predicting Social And Facebook-Specific Anxiety, Lee Farquhar, Theresa Davidson

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Theory suggests that Facebook users may experience anxiety due to accessibility of their self-presentations to their entire networks. This project examines the impact of Facebook use on general social anxiety and Facebook-specific anxiety. Predictors we consider include the intensity of Facebook use, role conflict experienced during Facebook use, self-monitoring activities of the user, and religiosity of the user. Findings indicate that Facebook may, indeed, be increasing anxiety. Role conflict and religiosity can also increase Facebook-specific anxiety. Self-monitoring decreases Facebook-specific anxiety but increases general social anxiety. These findings suggest that, under certain circumstances, Facebook use may lead to heightened anxiety.

Tolerance On Facebook: Exploring Network Diversity And Social Distance, Lee Farquhar, Theresa Davidson

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

This study examines Facebook usage, network composition, and desired social distance from groups often perceived as the “other”. Specifically, we examine attitudes toward Atheists, Muslims, and Gays. Findings indicate that social network composition (ie - network diversity, number of unique groups, number of Facebook friends) plays a significant role in participants’ desired social distance from said groups. Generally, these findings suggest that increasing diversity in a Facebook network may lead to a decrease in prejudice.

An Analysis Of User-Generated Comments On The Development Of Social Mobile Learning, Shenghua Zha, Wu He

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

In this study, the authors used a mixed-method approach to analyze user-generated comments on social mobile learning from three leading news sites that report the latest development in higher education. Koole’s mobile learning model was used to code comments made by the public on the three news sites. Results showed that social mobile learning has gained an increasing public engagement in the past four years. Responders’ discussion in the comments primarily focused on four themes of social mobile learning: technology adoption, effective design, faculty training, and student training. In the end, the authors discussed the implications for developers and educators …

Proud To Be Autistic: Metaphorical Construction And Salience Of Cultural And Personal Identity In #Stopcombatingme, Jessica Benham

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Like many other autistic individuals, I struggle to find language to appropriately describe my experiences. Furthermore, within the Autistic community, debates over appropriate language use are frequent, including discussions on person-first language versus identity-first language, functioning language, and medical terminology. Through this research, I examine how rhetorical constructions of Autism gain power, focused on the role of language choice with regard to personal identity and self-advocacy and conduct a discourse analysis of the #StopCombatingMe movement on Twitter. Spearheaded by ASAN, a grassroots organization which seeks to challenge public dialogue on Autism, #StopCombatingMe sought to argue against the reauthorization of the …

Speaking Their Language: Integrating Social Media Into Childbirth Education Practice, Deborah Weatherspoon, Christopher Weatherspoon, C. Ristau

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

With the advancement of modern technology, the internet has become a standard platform for many forms of communication and education. The majority of pregnant females fall into the cohort known as Millenials and have experienced technology since early in life. Millenials consider technology as part of their everyday life and use it for personal interaction or a source of information. The established comfort with the use of technology combined with busy lifestyles, multiple commitments, transportation costs or logistics, childcare, or a desire for privacy, support the use of perinatal online learning. This article examines options that childbirth educators may consider …

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Peers Social Structure In Healthcare Social Networking Websites, Mohammad Al-Ramahi, Insu Park

Research & Publications

Although the demand for online patients to look for online health information is in high, few of them seems to demonstrate effective use of the health Social Network Sites (SNSs). Exploring the design features that can motivate individuals to actively participate in the health SNSs is crucial to develop platforms that can support sustainable online social structure. This study seeks to investigate the influence of the peers structure capacity as an important feature of health SNSs on two individuals’ behaviors, effective SNSs use and willingness to share Personal Health Information (PHI). Accordingly, our goals in this research are in twofold: …

Facebook Addiction And Impulsive Decision-Making, Daniel Delaney

Masters Theses

This study examined the relationship between Facebook "addiction" and impulsive decision-making. Impulsive decision-making as measured by the delay discounting task is associated with a number of addictions and other problem behaviors. We gave 152 students a paper-based packet including the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale to measure problematic Facebook use and a delay discounting task to assess impulsivity. 16 Facebook "addicted" participants were matched to 16 control participants on demographic data to compare differences in impulsivity. Likewise, we explored whether a correlational relationship between Facebook addiction scores and impulsivity existed. We found that Facebook "addicts" discounted delayed rewards more quickly than …

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 …

College Students’ Use Of Social Media To Communicate About Alcohol And Drinking Behaviors, Jenna E. Reno

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Social networking sites (SNSs) are an increasingly popular channel for communication among college students. Often students disclose more freely via social networking sites than they would in other situations. These disclosures commonly include information about engaging in risky health behaviors (e.g., binge drinking). Study 1 examined students’ impression management goals and self-presentation tactics specifically related to self-disclosures of drinking behavior on SNSs. Findings suggest that students use differing self-presentation tactics across various SNSs in order to achieve their impression management goals and to avoid consequences associated with disclosing about risky health behaviors to certain audiences. Study 2 sought to develop …

Social Media And Symbolic Action: Exploring Participation In The Facebook Red Equal Sign Profile Picture Campaign, Joel Penney

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

This study investigates symbolic action on popular social media platforms by empirically exploring the subjective experiences and motivations of participants in an exemplary campaign. Previous debates regarding the relationship between symbolic action and more traditional forms of political participation suggest a binary between up‐the‐ladder “civic culture” engagement and down‐the‐ladder “slacktivism.” Interviews with participants in the Facebook red equal sign profile picture campaign for marriage equality provide some evidence to support the former (particularly in terms of building an identity‐focused political movement), and comparatively little to support the latter. However, a third model suggests how sympathetic citizens who would not otherwise …

International Management: Strategic Opportunities And Cultural Challenges, Paul B. Sweeney, Dean B. Mcfarlin

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

As the economies of many countries become more interrelated, international managers are facing huge challenges and unique opportunities associated with their roles. Now in its fifth edition, Sweeney and McFarlin's International Management embodies a balanced and integrated approach to the subject, emphasizing the strategic opportunities available to firms on a global playing field, as well as exploring the challenges of managing an international workforce.

Integrating theory and practice across all chapter topics, this book helps students to learn, grasp, and apply the underlying principles of successful international management:

• Understanding the broad context of international business, including the critical trends impacting …

Ecological Perspectives And Children’S Use Of The Internet: Exploring Micro To Macro Level Analysis, Brian O'Neill

Articles

Age-old debates on children’s encounters with media technologies reveal a long, fractured and contentious tradition within communication and media studies. Despite the fact there have been studies of e ects of media use by children since the earliest days of broadcasting, the subject remains under-theorised, poorly represented in the literature and not widely understood in media policy debates. Old debates have intensi ed in relation to the study of children and the internet. Pitted between alarmist accounts of risks, excessive use and harmful e ects on the one hand and the many accounts about „digital natives” and the transformational power …

Fast, Beautiful, And Fun: Instagram And Motives For Its Use, Katie Bryant

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

More Than, Joslyn Maenner, Katie Knobbe, Joel Girouard, Desiree Botica, Molly Deaver, Alex Vasey, Ramon Diaz De Leon, Lucy Grant, Kyle Thompson, Adam Weisenberger

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

This project was developed in response to the following challenge: create messaging to promote a more welcoming and inclusive climate on campus while branding the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center.

Twitter Use And Its Effects On Student Perception Of Instructor Credibility, Jocelyn M. Degroot, Valerie J. Young, Sarah H. Vanslette

Applied Communication Studies Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This study investigates college student perceptions of instructor credibility based on the content of an instructor’s Twitterfeed and student beliefs about Twitter as a communication tool. Quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized to explore the effects of three manipulated Twitter feeds (e.g., tweeting social topics, professional topics, or a blend) on student perceptions of instructor credibility and examine how students perceive Twitter as a teaching tool. Quantitative results suggest that the profile with professional content was most credible. Credibility ratings were also associated with other Twitter use variables, including positive student attitudes about instructors who use Twitter and Tweet frequency. …

The Power Of Creativity: How Web-Based Parody Encourages Chinese Civil Participation, Amber Boczar

International ResearchScape Journal

This article investigates that relationship between e’gao (parody using web-based media) and Chinese civil participation. E’gao (恶搞 EUH-gow) uses videos, images, and text based campaigns that use humor to remove fear of political commentary and action. By detailing the development of China’s internet use, and the creation of the e’gao movement, I argue that e’gao removes the fear of participating in campaigns and movements, which criticize government policy and actions on both local and state levels, by using humor and anonymity of large online numbers. E’gao can provide a way for the common citizens to mold policy, and hold authority …

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 …

Exploring Social Networking Technologies As Tools For Hiv Prevention For Men Who Have Sex With Men, Jorge Ramallo, Thomas Kidder, Tashuna Albritton, Gary Blick, John Pachankis, Valen Grandeleski, Trace Kershaw

Publications and Research

Social networking technologies are influential among men who have sex with men (MSM) and may be an important strategy for HIV prevention. We conducted focus groups with HIV positive and negative participants. Almost all participants used social networking sites to meet new friends and sexual partners. The main obstacle to effective HIV prevention campaigns in social networking platforms was stigmatization based on homosexuality as well as HIV status. Persistent stigma associated with HIV status and disclosure was cited as a top reason for avoiding HIV-related conversations while meeting new partners using social technologies. Further, social networking sites have different social …

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 …

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.