Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

“Parallel Poleis”: Towards A Theoretical Framework Of The Modern Public Sphere, Civic Engagement And The Structural Advantages Of The Internet To Foster And Maintain Parallel Socio-Political Institutions, Taso Logos, Ted Coopman, Jonathan Tomhave

Faculty Publications

The role of the internet in large-scale demonstrations, as witnessed in the Arab Spring, has been debated and reflects continued interest in the intermingling of social movements and digital technology. Yet behind these large photogenic events stand other less obvious social activities that may be equally profound, particularly in the form of alternative institutional frameworks that better meet the social needs of individuals than current models. We categorize these “dissident” frameworks as “parallel poleis” as developed by Czech philosopher and activist Vaclav Benda and offer two case studies to support this contention. At the heart of parallel poleis lies the …

Mining Contrast Subspaces, Lei Duan, Guanting Tang, Jian Pei, James Bailey, Guozhu Dong, Akiko Campbell, Changjie Tang

Kno.e.sis Publications

In this paper, we tackle a novel problem of mining contrast subspaces. Given a set of multidimensional objects in two classes C₊  and C₋ and a query object o, we want to find top-k subspaces S that maximize the ratio of likelihood of o in C₊  against that in C₋. We demonstrate that this problem has important applications, and at the same time, is very challenging. It even does not allow polynomial time approximation. We present CSMiner, a mining method with various pruning techniques. CSMiner is substantially faster than the baseline method. Our …

With Whom To Coordinate, Why And How In Ad-Hoc Social Media Communications During Crisis Response, Hemant Purohit, Shreyansh Bhatt, Andrew Hampton, Valerie L. Shalin, Amit P. Sheth, John M. Flach

Kno.e.sis Publications

During crises affected people, well-wishers, and observers join social media communities to discuss the event. They often share useful information relevant to response coordination, for example, specific resource needs. However, responders face the challenge of massive data overload and lack the time to monitor social media traffic for important information. Analysis shows that only a small number of event related conversations are actionable. Moreover, responders do not know which sources are trustworthy. To address these challenges, response teams may apply manual filtering methods, resulting in limited coverage and quality. We propose a framework and interface for extracting specific resource-related information …

Relational Development, Self-Disclosure, And Invasion Of Privacy: College Students And Teachers As Facebook Friends, Ryan Dearbone

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research examined how college students feel about their professors requesting them to be a Facebook friend. Recognizing the ways in which professors and students communicating through social networking could produce additional educational opportunities for collaboration and instruction, while also causing tension or awkwardness as the process develops. Semistructured interviews were utilized by the researcher to obtain information from the selected participants, and the data were analyzed by comparative methods. Through this study, it was revealed that students are split on the appropriateness of professors as Facebook friends. They prefer little to no self-disclosure from their professors. They do not …

Using Statistical Methods To Determine Geolocation Via Twitter, Christopher M. Wright

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

With the ever expanding usage of social media websites such as Twitter, it is possible to use statistical inquires to form a geographic location of a person using solely the content of their tweets. According to a study done in 2010, Zhiyuan Cheng, was able to detect a location of a Twitter user within 100 miles of their actual location 51% of the time. While this may seem like an already significant find, this study was done while Twitter was still finding its ground to stand on. In 2010, Twitter had 75 million unique users registered, as of March 2013, …

Web Accessibility Of The Higher Education Institute Websites Based On The World Wide Web Consortium And Section 508 Of The Rehabilitation Act, Najma Habib Alam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The problem observed in this study is the low level of compliance of higher education website accessibility with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The literature supports the non-compliance of websites with the federal policy in general. Studies were performed to analyze the accessibility of fifty-four sample web pages using automated testing via auto-validation tools and using manual testing via assistive technology, followed by a comparative analysis of the findings of the auto validation tools. The auto-validation tools utilized on the sample web pages were comprised of three W3C validation tools. The results showed that two-thirds of the …

21st Century Radicalization: The Role Of The Internet User And Nonuser In Terrorist Outcomes, David Wayne Woodring

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines differences between users and nonusers of information communication technologies (ICTs) within the pre-incident planning processes for domestic terrorist movements operating within the United States. In addition, this study is the first quantitative exploration of the prevalence, types, and purposes of ICT use within terrorist movements, specifically environmental, far-right, and Islamic extremist movements. Using "officially designated" federal terrorism investigations from the American Terrorism Study (ATS), we analyzed extracted evidence of ICT usage among individuals (n =331) engaged in the pre-incident planning processes as members of terrorist movements between 1995-2011. While we find significant differences in terrorist ICT use …

An Exploratory Study Of Generational Differences In Health Information Seeking And Smoking Behaviors In Bulgaria, Iva Stoyneva

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

Smoking is a serious global public health threat that causes more than 6 million deaths annually (WHO, 2013). Smoking is also the single, most preventable cause of death (CDC, 2014). According to a recent study, Bulgaria was ranked as one of onlyl 1 countries in the world, in which half of the adult male population smokes, as well as one of 11 countries in which more than one-quarter of the adult female population smokes. Research suggests that the most significant predictors of smoking behavior in Bulgaria were age and geographic location (Balabanova, Bobak & McKee, 1998). Contributing to these finings, …

Virtual Rebel Website: A Strategy To Increase User Engagement Through Bounce Rate Analysis, Michael Vendivel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In a media environment that increasingly demands captivating content on a website, user engagement becomes a critical factor in the strategy of maintaining user interest. Research based on website analytics has shown that decreasing the Bounce Rate increased the time a web user spends on a website, entailing higher user engagement. Bounce Rate is the ratio of single-page visits on a website divided by the total number of visits, and it is used primarily used to quantify user interest. By examining the analytics and design of the student-run news siteVirtual Rebel, produced by the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and …

Resourcing The Postmodern Pastor: An Examination Of Young Pastors’ Attitudes And The Implications For Denominational Publishers, Bonnie J. Perry

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study explored the influence of postmodernity on the changing attitudes of young pastors regarding spirituality and discipleship in their adult congregants. The purpose of this study was to educate and equip Christian publishers to resource young pastors who are ministering in a postmodern culture. The study focused on Church of the Nazarene pastors 35 years old or younger in the calendar year 2012, exploring their attitudes toward Christian faith, spirituality, and discipleship. At certain junctures in the study, the young pastors’ attitudes were compared to those of pastors who were 36 years or older in order to determine what …

Get Schooled: A Visual Social Semiotic Analysis Of Target's Branding Using Instagram, Chelsea Bevins

Masters Theses

With new technology arising, brands must be able to adapt to them. This thesis will break down brand management, using David Aaker's framework, of the Target Corporation to see if they are using modern resource, Instagram effectively. This thesis will also look at how the theory of visual social semiotics, applied to communications, is used to decipher intended meaning. Brand management embodies a company and people are driven by what a brand portrays. People are driven by values, emotions and quality within a brand. People associate products with memories, celebrities, attributes and symbols. Brands are more than just a name. …

What Freedom Means To Me: Library Sponsored Student Video Competition, Eric A. Kowalik, Rose Trupiano

Eric A. Kowalik

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War, Marquette University planned a series of events highlighting the history and importance of freedom.

In order to participate in the campus-wide “Freedom Project” program and to promote the Libraries’ digital media equipment and services, Raynor Memorial Libraries created a student video contest, “What Freedom Means to Me” inviting undergraduate and graduate students to participate by providing recorded video reflections regarding freedom.

This poster session describes the process of planning and executing the contest – creation and revision of competition objectives, guidelines and forms; promotion, procurement of funds and prizes, judging, …

Gender Construction Through Adolescent Sexting, Elizabeth A. Severson

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Sexting is a behavior that is a result of male and female adolescents trying to adopt masculine and feminine characteristics, which are created by our cultural definitions of gender.

Media Impact On Science Knowledge, Joanna Richardson

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This year, the worldwide web celebrates twenty-five years of existence. Its popularity has grown tremendously and we now see a majority of the population utilizing the Internet’s various outlets to achieve greater amounts of knowledge in lesser amounts of time. The broad spectrum of media sources enables a greater access of information to all people, increasingly impacting their level of science knowledge. The current study looked to explore the relationship between level of science knowledge, preferred media source and frequency of exposure. One hundred thirty-five participants were surveyed. Questions from the Pew Research Center’s “Science and Technology Knowledge Quiz” were …

#Egypt: Exploring Social Media As Association And Participatory Reporting, Emily Fisk

College of Arts and Sciences Presentations

The discussion of the role of social media in the Arab Spring is often characterized by two opposing views: one citing social media as a causal link in the myriad protests and revolutions, and the other downplaying social media's influence in these events and instead emphasizing social and political factors. However, for scholars, mass media, citizens, and activists alike, it is more useful now to move beyond this debate, and instead to critically analyze the undeniable role that social media has played in recent protests. Understanding these events requires looking at both social media's affordances and social and political factors. …

Tie Strength, Embeddedness, And Social Influence: A Large-Scale Networked Experiment, Sinan Aral, Dylan Walker

Business Faculty Articles and Research

We leverage the newly emerging business analytical capability to rapidly deploy and iterate large-scale, microlevel, in vivo randomized experiments to understand how social influence in networks impacts consumer demand. Understanding peer influence is critical to estimating product demand and diffusion, creating effective viral marketing, and designing “network interventions” to promote positive social change. But several statistical challenges make it difficult to econometrically identify peer influence in networks. Though some recent studies use experiments to identify influence, they have not investigated the social or structural conditions under which influence is strongest. By randomly manipulating messages sent by adopters of a Facebook …

Open Access Repositories, Copyright Laws, And Digital Commons For Graduate Students, Kimberly Sawtelle

Kimberly J. Sawtelle

Contributing full-text, peer-reviewed research papers to an Open Access institutional repository, such as DigitalCommons@UMaine, increases the impact of scholarly research by expanding the potential audience far beyond the reach of subscription-based journals. The rapid evolution of Open Access has some scholars playing catch up to learn the ins and outs of negotiating publishing contracts to allow for self-archiving. Open Access Repositories, Copyright Laws, and Digital Commons for Graduate Students is a 26-minute video discussing Open Access, its influence on research impact cycles, and the importance of copyright. The webinar covers topics of interest to both graduate students just entering the …

Courts' New Visibility 2.0, Jane Johnston

Jane Johnston

Extract

This chapter uses the concept of a 'New Visibility theory' as a framework for viewing the courts' involvement in the complex contemporary media landscape. Sociologist John Thompson notes that the new visibility 'is a space shaped not only by the constantly changing technologies that enable words and images to be recorded and transmitted ... but also by the institutions and organisations that have an interest in transmitting this content'.¹ The courts are one such institution which have, over the space of two decades, both sought out visibility and had visibility imposed on them by changing communications practices. Accordingly, …

Juries And Social Media: A Report Prepared For The Victorian Department Of Justice, Jane Johnston, Patrick Keyzer, Geoffry Holland, Mark Pearson, Sharon Rodrick, Anne Wallace

Jane Johnston

Introduction: It is a fundamental principle of law that an accused has a right to a fair trial. An incident of this right is that information relating to prior convictions of an accused should not be made available to the jury as it may bias their verdict. In our legal system, this principle has traditionally been underpinned by the common law offence of sub judice contempt of court. It is also reinforced by legislation, in each State and Territory, which makes it an offence for a juror to enquire about a person who is a party to a trial or …

The Courts And The Media: Challenges In The Era Of Digital And Social Media, Patrick Keyzer, Jane Johnston, Mark Pearson

Jane Johnston

The jury system is under threat, as jurors turn to Google and defy instructions to stick to the evidence. The news media struggle with inconsistent suppression orders. Judges wonder how to insulate justice from Twitter and Facebook. The eminent contributors to this book are Chief Justices, journalists, News Ltd’s former CEO, legal scholars and court officials. They see the anxieties from different viewpoints - and the opportunities as well - but none are under illusions about how serious (and complex) the issues are becoming.