Social Media Commons^™

Key Issues Of Predictive Analytics Implementation: A Sociotechnical Perspective, Leida Chen, Ravi Nath, Nevina Rocco

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Developing an effective business analytics function within a company has become a crucial component to an organization’s competitive advantage today. Predictive analytics enables an organization to make proactive, data-driven decisions. While companies are increasing their investments in data and analytics technologies, little research effort has been devoted to understanding how to best convert analytics assets into positive business performance. This issue can be best studied from the socio-technical perspective to gain a holistic understanding of the key factors relevant to implementing predictive analytics. Based upon information from structured interviews with information technology and analytics executives of 11 organizations across the …

Media And Internet Censorship In India: A Study Of Its History And Political-Economy, Ramesh Subramanian

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The Indian Constitution, which came into force on January 26, 1950, guarantees various fundamental rights, such as the freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, rights to form association, as well as rights to privacy. Yet, since the adoption of the Constitution, the Indian citizen has been subject to varying degrees of media censorship and surveillance. This paper seeks to delve into the historical evolution of media and Internet censorship and surveillance in India. It shows how media censorship of varying types have existed since the British colonists introduced restrictive laws in order to expand and control the native …

Activities Tailoring Within Agile Scrum Roles: A Case Of Nigerian Healthcare Information Systems Development, Yazidu Salihu, Julian Bass, Gloria Iyawa

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Developing quality agile healthcare information systems requires understanding regulatory compliance and evolving healthcare needs through activities tailored within agile scrum roles. Agile scrum, a widely adopted philosophy, offers significant advantages in managing software development processes. This research explores how activities within the agile scrum roles are tailored to agile healthcare information systems development within the Nigerian context. This study adopted a qualitative case study methodology and interviewed 12 agile practitioners developing healthcare information systems within Nigeria using semi-structured open-ended interview guide questions. The practitioners were selected based on a snowballing process, a sunset of purposive sampling techniques from our network …

The Cancellation Station Podcast: The Controversies Of Canceling, Quinn Rauchenecker

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The term “Cancel Culture” has had a firm grasp on mainstream culture and disagreements about whether it is doing more harm than good. While the initial intention of the widespread term was created for good, it is now in a space of critique. For my thesis, I use the creative means of podcasting to explore cancel culture and its controversies.

Dishes Of Yesteryear: Memories, Stories, And Representations Of The Past Within Food Media, Diana Willis Bottomley

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

In 1963, Julia Child revolutionized cooking television. Child’s The French Chef, which ran for ten years on the Boston public television station, WGBH, changed how American’s viewed, produced, and consumed food. And in the sixty years since Child’s debut, food media has grown in scope and popularity, increasingly altering how we communicate identity in and through food and foodways. In this dissertation, I examine the relation between food, media, and memory, with particular attention to: how the past moderates the connection between food and identity; how food media produce a sense of place integral to identity; and how food …

How Individuals’ Opinions Influence Society’S Resistance To Epidemics: An Agent-Based Model Approach, Geonsik Yu, Michael J. Garee, Mario Ventresca, Yuehwern Yih

Faculty Publications

Background: Protecting public health from infectious diseases often relies on the cooperation of citizens, especially when self-care interventions are the only viable tools for disease mitigation. Accordingly, social aspects related to public opinion have been studied in the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. However, a comprehensive understanding of the effects of opinion-related factors on disease spread still requires further exploration. Methods: We propose an agent-based simulation framework incorporating opinion dynamics within an epidemic model based on the assumption that mass media channels play a leading role in opinion dynamics. The model simulates how opinions about preventive interventions change over …

How Political Elite Leverage Twitter To Polarize America, Woodson Morris Hobbs V

Theses and Dissertations

While social media has changed how humans use the internet, Twitter has drastically reformed how individuals worldwide receive their news. As news outlets fail to keep up with the rapid dissemination of information online, Twitter has become a sounding board for the political elite who leverage the platform's immediacy and virality. This study, using Quantitative Ethnography's Epistemic Network Analysis, seeks to determine if the political elite, specifically members of Congress, are leveraging Twitter to spread polarizing information to strengthen their base. In this study, extensive coding of select members of the 118th Congress was completed and compared to Voteview.com's DW-Nominate …

What Can We Learn From A Co-Creation Journey For A Quick Scan Digital Transformation Maturity Assessment Tool For Development Ngos?, Anand Sheombar

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper describes the approach and lessons learned from a co-creation process with Dutch development NGOs to create a practical and easy-to-use assessment tool for practitioners to assess the organisation's maturity level of digital transformation. For this study, we applied a design science research methodology, specifically a six-step co-creation approach suitable for developing maturity models. The digital maturity assessment tool (quick scan) created is a domain- specific digital transformation maturity tool for development NGOs rather than a generally applicable tool. This artefact was evaluated using an eight-point Requirements framework for the development of digital maturity assessment tools. By developing a …

All The Better To Hear You With: Using Social Media For Employee Listening, C. S. Ju, E. A. Liguori, N. M. Savage

Psychology Faculty Publications

The article explores the use of social media for employee listening in organizations, highlighting the importance of employee voice and its positive impact on the workplace. It suggests that social media platforms can provide a space for employees to express themselves, share ideas, and connect with others. However, caution is advised when integrating social media into formal workplace decisions and the hiring process due to concerns about fairness, privacy, and discrimination. The article also addresses the challenges faced by minority employees in voicing dissent and the potential for social media to amplify their voices. It recommends consulting the book "Social …

Identifying Accessibility Improvement Opportunities For Global Environmental Communication Websites, Alicia Mason, Josh Compton, Sakshi Bhati

Faculty Submissions

Digital environmental information presented with low web accessibility reduces parti-cipation in environmental advocacy and information seeking behaviors for many people with disabilities, creating a consequential digital divide. We use WEB AIM computer automated analysis of web accessibility to assess the general accessibility of online environmental communication messages. Results show 95.3% of the popular websites in our sample had indicators of potentially critical accessibility errors. Our findings highlight the importance of addressing digital environmental information accessibility shortcomings so that educational, informational and persuasive environ-mental messages can increase environmental literacy of vulnerable populations and help to bridge the digital divide.

Beyond Binary: Revealing Variations In Islamophobic Content With Hierarchical Multi-Class Classification, Esraa Aldreabi, Khawlah M. Harahsheh, Mukul Dev Chhangani, Chung-Hao Chen, Jeremy Blackburn

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In the digital age, the rise of Islamophobia-marked by an irrational fear or discrimination against Islam and Muslims-has emerged as a pressing issue, especially on social media platforms. In this paper we employs a multi-class classification system, moving beyond traditional binary models. We categorize Islamophobic content into three main classes and various subclasses, covering a range from subtle biases to explicit incitement. Comparative analysis of data from Reddit and Twitter illuminates the distinct prevalence and types of Islamophobic content specific to each platform. This paper deepens our understanding of digital Islamophobia and provides insights for crafting targeted online counter strategies. …

Toward Inclusivity: Rethinking Islamophobic Content Classification In The Digital Age, Esraa Aldreabi, Mukul Dev Chhangani, Khawlah M. Harahsheh, Justin M. Lee, Chung-Hao Chen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, we implement a comprehensive three-class system to categorize social media discussions about Islam and Muslims, enhancing the typical binary approach. These classes are: I) General Discourse About Islam and Muslims, II) Criticism of Islamic Teachings and Figures, and III) Comments Against Muslims. These categories are designed to balance the nuances of free speech while protecting diverse groups like Muslims, ex-Muslims, LGBTQ+ communities, and atheists. By utilizing machine learning and employing transformer-based models, we analyze the distribution and characteristics of these classes in social media content. Our findings reveal distinct patterns of user engagement with topics related to …

Leveraging Instagram To Enhance Self-Esteem: A Self-Affirmative Intervention Study And Multilevel Mediation Analysis, Shuna Shiann Khoo, Hwajin Yang, Wei Xing Toh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although studies have consistently indicated that heavier use of social networking sites (SNS) perpetuates poorer self-esteem outcomes, no study has examined potential intervention methods that can yield positive effects from SNS use. We hypothesized that viewing one's Instagram profile would have self-affirmative effects on self-perception because the profile typically showcases curated instrumental positive aspects of self. Furthermore, these self-affirmative effects would indirectly improve state self-esteem via enhanced clarity of self-concept. To test our hypothesis, we designed an experimental intervention study where one group viewed their Instagram profile regularly, while another group viewed a neutral abstract art profile. Using multilevel latent …

Assembling Hyperpop: Genre Formation On Wikipedia, Eliot Bates, Sophie Delphis, Romulo Moraes, Julia Santoli

Publications and Research

In this article, we analyze how a music genre is reciprocally defined online, through the crowdsourced ‘facts’ of Wikipedia. What are the traditional implicit and explicit exclusionary practices in this sort of genre formation? And how can internet-specific sociabilities create new exclusionary practices in the process of defining music? By analyzing the edit history of Wikipedia’s ‘hyperpop’ page, we locate ongoing debates, controversies, and contestations that point to shaping forces around online genre formation. These potentially have a huge impact on how hyperpop is understood both inside and outside of the music community. In locating the most active editors of …

Social Media And Performative Parenting, Sun Sun Lim, Yang Wang

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

With the intensifying use of social media in many realms of everyday life, even parenting is manifesting a public dimension. Whereas one might regard parenting as a private activity undertaken within the home, the use of social media to highlight the joys and trials of child-rearing has put parenting under the digital spotlight. Parents are keen to showcase their children’s growth and development to family and friends. Significant achievements invite praise and social endorsement, as well as commendations for excellent parenting. The sharing of parenting struggles over social media can also elicit expressions of commiseration, sympathy and support. The ensuing …

Online Racism And Mental Health Symptomatology Among Black Adolescents: A Longitudinal Examination, Stephen M. Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

Online racism (i.e., racism perpetrated and embedded within media and platforms on the Internet) is increasingly becoming a public health concern. Recent empirical evidence demonstrates that over a three year period, Black adolescents reported experiencing at least one online racial discriminatory incident, including exposure to racist images or videos within digital spaces (Tynes et al., 2020). One way in which Black adolescents are exposed to online racism is through the consumption of digital news media on the coverage of racially traumatic events (e.g., murders of Black men and women by police officers, racial hate crimes committed against Black people) and …

You Shall Know A Forum By The Words They Keep: Analyzing Language Use In Accessibility Forums For Blind Users, Nithiya Venkatraman, Anand Aiyer, Yash Prakash, Vikas Ashok

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Discussion forums are one of the favored platforms for knowledge sharing. Given their popularity, copious research exists on understanding linguistic and behavioral characteristics of forum conversations. However, prior investigations have mainly focused on general forums designed primarily for sighted users, and as such the applicability of their findings to the dedicated accessibility discussion forums frequented by blind individuals remains unanswered. To bridge this knowledge gap, and facilitate the development of better-informed assistive technologies for blind people, we investigated language use and identified the key semantic and cognitive characteristics of online accessibility forums. To aid our investigation, we collected a dataset …

Evaluating Social Media Reach Via Mainstream Media Discourse, Himarsha R. Jayanetti

Computer Science Faculty Publications

This study examines the intersection between social media and mainstream television (TV) news with an aim to understand how social media content amplifies its impact through TV broadcasts. While many studies emphasize social media as a primary platform for information dissemination, they often underestimate its total influence by focusing solely on interactions within the platform. This research examines instances where social media posts gain prominence on TV broadcasts, reaching new audiences and prompting public discourse. By using TV news closed captions, on-screen text recognition, and social media logo detection, we analyze how social media is referenced in TV news. Our …

Social Media News Consumption By College Students Using The Elaboration Likelihood Model, Colin Horning

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Social media usage has become a cornerstone of the everyday lives of Americans. From the years 2012 through 2021, the percentage of U.S. adults who say they use the social media platforms of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, X/Twitter and Snapchat have grown exponentially, according to data from the Pew Research Center (Auxier & Anderson, 2021). Primarily among young people (those age 18-29) social media growth share has been the most prevalent, with this age range being mostly made up of Millennials and Generation Z (or Gen Z). The same Pew Research study found stark differences in the social media …

Sexual Violence In The Discourse Of Digital Citizens: Strengthening The Concept Of Digital Citizenship As Online Civic Engagement, Budi Mulyono

Informasi

Cases of sexual violence frequently exposed on social media have sparked intense discussions among digital citizens. This phenomenon has given rise to new patterns of participation in the digital public sphere, indicating progress in efficiently and effectively expressing public aspirations through online civic engagement. Thus, online citizen engagement further strengthens the concept of digital citizenship as an active participation form in the digital world. In this study, the topic modeling method is utilized as a machine learning approach with statistical methods to identify topics within large, unstructured document collections. The applied topic modeling method is Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), using …

Incidental News Exposure And Opinion Leader's Role In Spreading Climate Change Information And Environment-Friendly Behavior On Social Media, Rachela Belinda Fatharani

Informasi

Social media is the primary medium for disseminating information, including global topics such as climate change. The topic of climate change is related to the community's application of environmentally friendly habits. Social media and social media users have their characteristics in disseminating information about climate change compared to other media. Social media allows a user to be accidentally exposed to the information referred to as incidental news exposure. In addition, in disseminating information, opinion leaders have a role in disseminating information to social media users. This study aims to determine the role of opinion leaders and incidental news exposure in …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Puppy Love And [Information] Play: An Intersection Of Theatre, Queer Kink, And Consent, Emily Kitchens

Faculty Articles

This note from the field centers on a nexus of queer kink subcultures and consent-based intimacy work in theatre. I report, investigate and wrangle with the process of incorporating queer kink aesthetics into the production of Love and Information by Caryl Churchill I directed at KSU February 2023. What I have learned and hope to demonstrate throughout the paper, is that queer kink subcultures are often paradigmatic examples of communities built on consent, and we as performing arts practitioners can more visibly expand the margins of our cultural competency dialogues to not only include them but look to them as …

Building Social Media Literacy In The Russian Language Classroom, Kelly Knickmeier Cummings

Russian Language Journal

This article presents ways to teach media literacy (ML) skills in Russian language classrooms with particular focus on developing proficiencies to navigate social media (SM) where information disorder is a critical concern. Because of its numerous configurations and applications, SM is understood broadly as “the creation and exchange of user-generated content.” After outlining critical concerns surrounding SM use, the discussion focuses on three conditions that affect the development of ML skills when trying to engage meaningfully online: cognitive vulnerabilities, unreliable narrators, and populist rhetoric. Developing an awareness of how these three conditions on SM impact decision-making and behavior online equips …

Hoops Recruitment: Can Nyc Regain Glory Days With “Theprogramnyc”?, Christian I. Nazario

Capstones

TheProgramNYC is looking to revitalize the Basketball scene in New York City. Founders Jared Effron and Griffin Taylor grew up together as friends and saw the failures of the New York Knicks in the nineties. Effron and Taylor made it there goal to train the youth in order to recreate thew New York Basketball scene.The article details some history of New York City Basketball.

Nyc Students And Mental Health, Ashlee B. Brown

Capstones

Mental health and trauma is affecting students in NYC schools; yet according to New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s report, schools are not equipped to provide them with the support they need. For my practicum, I created three videos that all have one thing in common - NYC public school students and their mental health. Two videos feature DOE officials, and one features community members and a therapist. The videos were shared with community members and DOE officials upon completion.

Link to project (medium post): https://medium.com/@ashlee.brown76/nyc-students-and-mental-health-f50c4f1d0b81

Radicalisation And Extremism On Social Media: What Steps Can Be Taken?, Emeka Williams Etumnu, Oluchi I. Williams-Etumnu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Unarguably, the social media has brought the world together in an online space and as a result of this, extremist groups utilise the social media to radicalise people especially the youths who are vulnerable and fancy their ideology towards their cause. The paper was underpinned on public sphere theory and the desk research method was employed in the course of the study. It was revealed that social media plays a tremendous role towards radicalisation and extremism. The need for digital literacy, where rules can be made to assist individuals of all ages in developing critical thinking skills and building resilience …

Hating The Haters: Media, Polarisation And Class Conflict’ Media, Emotion, Society And Security Lightning Talks In Response To Dublin Riots, Edward Brennan

Conference Papers

This 5-minute ‘lightning talk’ considered public and media responses to the Dublin riots of 2023, highlighting how hatred towards far-right agitators and rioters permeated not only social media discourse but also broadsheet journalism and government statements. Using Fintan O’Toole’s commentary as a key example, Brennan critiques the moral framing that legitimises hatred against “the haters,” suggesting it mirrors a pre-democratic cultural logic wherein ideas are seen as autonomous, malevolent forces shaping society. This ‘secular superstition’ constitutes an anti-sociology that erases economic and class contexts, replacing them with aesthetic politics rooted in identity, branding and lifestyle logics. The paper warns that …

Digital Flourishing In The U.S.: Validation Of The Digital Flourishing Scale (Dfs) And Demographic Exploration, Sophie Janicke-Bowles

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

An increasing number of research studies have focused on exploring both the negative and positive effects of computer-mediated communication on individuals’ mental health and well-being. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive scale that measures an individual’s online well-being. The 25-item Digital Flourishing Scale (DFS) was introduced to measure the 25-item Digital Flourishing Scale (DFS) to measure individuals’ positive perceptions of experiences and behaviors in mediated social interactions. The current pre-registered study aimed to establish the convergent, discriminant, and concurrent criterion validity of the DFS and its five subscales (connectedness, authentic self-presentation, civil participation, positive social comparison, self-control). Additionally, …

Fandom And Activism: Experimenting With Memetic Communication Appeals About Human Rights Issues During The 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Alicia Mason, Elizabeth Spencer, Tricia Combs, Tanner Glenn, Brooklyn Peterson, Isaac Lewis, Emerson Tice

Faculty Submissions

In the sports context, activism is a popular focus of inquiry. In fact, scholars have posited that sports present an ideal platform for human rights and political activism and protest (Agyemang, Singer, & DeLorme, 2010; Coombs & Cassilo, 2017; Kaufman & Wolff, 2010). This study aims to analyze the persuasiveness of memetic communication in the global sports context by investigating the influence of exposure to social advocacy memes on issue importance and general attitudes toward global human rights. This experiment relied on MTurk participants in an online experiment using Qualtrics software hosted by the Communication Research Lab at a Midwest …