Social Media Commons^™

Is Social Media A Threat Or Can It Be A Trusted Agent?, William Ward, Katherine Cole-Miller, Ann Fruhling, Kathryn M. Cooper

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

There is a prevailing belief within the United States Department of Defense (DOD) that social media is a threat to national security, leading to restrictions in workplace use of social-media applications. However, instead of dismissing social media as a threat, leaders should be asking whether or not the information received via social media can be trusted, thus leveraging the information-sharing capabilities of social media. This article presents a theoretical case for quantifying social media trustworthiness by exploring the factors that influence trust in social media and proposing a trust framework to be used to quantify trustworthiness.

A Formative Evaluation Of A Smartphone Application For Couples: The Affectionate Gesture Planner, Patrick Robert Bortz

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The Affectionate Gesture Planner (AGP) is a smartphone application (i.e., “app”) that aims to increase relationship satisfaction for couples in long-term relationships by prompting couples to complete loving acts for each other on a daily basis. The AGP app is informed by concepts from social exchange theory and the investment model (Rusbult, 1983), which predict that increasing the mutual exchange of beneficial investments to the relationship improves the quality and stability of the relationship. The present study is a formative evaluation on the prototype of the AGP app. Based on participant feedback, the AGP app will be improved prior to …

Topic Analysis Of Tweets On The European Refugee Crisis Using Non-Negative Matrix Factorization, Chong Shen

CMC Senior Theses

The ongoing European Refugee Crisis has been one of the most popular trending topics on Twitter for the past 8 months. This paper applies topic modeling on bulks of tweets to discover the hidden patterns within these social media discussions. In particular, we perform topic analysis through solving Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) as an Inexact Alternating Least Squares problem. We accelerate the computation using techniques including tweet sampling and augmented NMF, compare NMF results with different ranks and visualize the outputs through topic representation and frequency plots. We observe that supportive sentiments maintained a strong presence while negative sentiments such …

The Religion Of Social Media: When Islam Meets The Web, Zaina Salem

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this feature article is to identify the reasons why some social media users disclose their religious beliefs through sites such as Facebook and Twitter. According to the Pew Research Center, 20 percent of Americans share their faith online. After a series of in-depth interviews, I discovered that for some, religious-related posts serve as personal religious reminders. Others share their religious views on social media to feel a sense of community, or to eliminate stereotypes and ignorance surrounding their religion.

#Instagramele: Learning Spanish Through A Social Network, Pilar Munday, Yuly Asencion Delaney, Adelaida Martín Bosque

Languages Faculty Publications

Social networking (SN) tools have the potential to contribute to language learning because they promote linguistic interactions in person-to-person communication, increasing the opportunities to process input in the L2, engaging learners in negotiation of meaning and requiring learners to produce L2 output, as proposed in the interactionist theory by Long (1985, 1996). These virtual personal connections with other learners and language experts around the world could provide a rich environment for sociocultural language exchanges (following the principles of the sociocultural approach proposed by Lantolf, 2002, based on the work of Vygotsky, 1978) that may increase motivation for learning, develop L2 …

Law Enforcement’S Social Media Punitive Anomaly, Christopher Lloyd Freeman

Online Theses and Dissertations

This research is a descriptive study of the misuse of social media in law enforcement from 2011 to present. The research will use a content analysis of social media policies coupled with survey of 10 questions administered anonymously to students at the Department of Criminal Justice Training. This mixed method approach will attempt to explain the growing number of police officers and other law enforcement employees who find themselves in violation of the agency policies. The survey consists of Likert scale style questions concerning the agreement with and understanding of social media policies, as well as the perception of privacy …

Towards An Infodemiological Algorithm For Classification Of Filipino Health Tweets, Ma. Regina Justina E. Estuar, Kennedy E. Espina, Delfin Jay Sabido Ix, Raymond Josef Edward Lara, Vikki Car De Los Reyes

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

Finding innovative ICT solutions to enhance the Philippines’ health sector is part and parcel of the Philippine eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan 2020 program. This study sees the opportunity of using collected Twitter data to create a model that processes tweets to produce a dataset that may be relevant in the field of epidemiology and infodemiology. Through the collection of relevant tweets, future studies may make use of the output of this research for various purposes, such as the improvement of epidemiological systems of the Department of Health in support of the eHealth strategy. In this study, we …

Trends In Commercial-Off-The-Shelf Vs. Proprietary Applications, Vijay K. Agrawal, Vipin K. Agrawal, A. Ross Taylor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study examines factors valued by IS managers in deciding if COTS software is a viable alternative to proprietary software. The results indicate managers who anticipate increased usage of COTS packages in 5 years used the same top three factors in the formation of their decisions to adopt COTS as their colleagues who anticipated either zero change in COTS usage or an increased usage of proprietary software used in deciding not to adopt COTS software. Managers anticipating increased COTS usage had a statistically significant higher value for each of those items compared to managers not anticipating growth in COTS software.

Online Trust Cues: Perceptions And Application, Antonina A. Bauman

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This qualitative study analyzes perceptions of online trust cues as identified by shoppers from three countries: Germany, Russia, and the USA. A novel approach of the repertory grid method is used to study online trust cues in business-to-consumers commercial online transactions. This study resulted in the list of web site elements and features that consumers recognize as trust cues and use to evaluate e-vendor’s trustworthiness. Findings show that out of fourteen categories of online trust cues, identified by online shoppers, three categories of online trust cues are found to be common across three cultures while eleven categories are culture specific. …

Evaluation Of Classification And Ensemble Algorithms For Bank Customer Marketing Response Prediction, Olatunji Apampa

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This article attempts to improve the performance of classification algorithms used in the bank customer marketing response prediction of an unnamed Portuguese bank using the Random Forest ensemble. A thorough exploratory data analysis (EDA) was conducted on the data in order to ascertain the presence of anomalies such as outliers and extreme values. The EDA revealed that the bank data had 45, 211 instances and 17 features, with 11.7% positive responses. This was in addition to the detection of outliers and extreme values. Classification algorithms used for modelling the bank dataset include; Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, Naïve Bayes and the …

The Perceived Business Benefit Of Cloud Computing: An Exploratory Study, Thomas Chen, Ta-Tao Chuang, Kazuo Nakatani

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The objective of the research is to study the benefits of cloud computing perceived by adopters and examine the impact of moderating factors on the relationship between the type of cloud computing and the perceived benefit. The moderating factors include firm size and value-chain activities. A measurement instrument of a 5-point Likert scale was administered on businesses of different sizes in Taiwan. The benefit of cloud computing measured in the study were: cost reduction, improved capability and enhanced scalability. The results show that the perceived benefit of cloud computing varies depending on the type of cloud computing, the value chain …

Understanding The Influencers Of Second-Hand Apparel Shopping Behavior, Robyn Hobbs

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Shopping for second-hand apparel is rapidly growing and has become a notable segment of the retail market. The purpose of this study is to determine what influences consumers when shopping second-hand for apparel products in-store and online. According to the existing literature, a number of key factors play significant roles for second-hand apparel shopping consumer decisions. They include: social, costs, trends and environmental influencers. Past research has not concentrated in-depth on the hedonistic and social influences of second-hand apparel shopping, financial factors, and time spent shopping for second-hand apparel. This study has observed the socio-demographic profile of second-hand shoppers, what …

The Future Of Advertising: What You Should Know, Valerie K. Jones, Rishad Tobaccowala

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

We live in an empowered age with empowered consumers. Technology has become a slingshot enabling each of us consumers to defeat Goliath, the big companies and marketers. Consumers have god-like power, able to see, hear, discover, and uncover almost anything through all of the devices available today. Digitization, globalization and demographic shifts are requiring us to replace old models of thinking about communication and advertising. The chapter introduces new models of thinking about about the future of advertising, guided by a few fundamental principles: delivering utilities and services, as opposed to a message; reaggregating audiences, as opposed to segmenting them; …

Pre-Service Teacher Social Networking Decisions And Training Needs: A Mixed Methods Study, Helen Crompton, Kelly Rippard, Jody Sommerfeldt

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The use of social networks in America has risen nearly tenfold in a decade, rising from 7% in 2005 to 65% in 2015. This rise in the use of social networks has presented new ethical, legal, and professional challenges for educators. Teachers are held to higher standards of moral behavior than the general population. This mixed-methods study examined the types of social networks used by pre-service teachers and if they are making good decisions when using social networks. The findings show that the pre-service teachers were unsure what to post. Based on this finding, the researchers provide training suggestions to …

Embedding Online Based Learning Strategies Into The Engineering Technology Curriculum, Vukica M. Jovanovic, Otilia Popescu, Orlando M. Ayala, Mileta Tomovic, Alok K. Verma

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Various blended learning strategies have been implemented at engineering technology programs to facilitate different learning styles and different time constraints given to faculty. Some of these efforts are related to the effective use of online tools such as online course management systems, ePortfolios, narrated presentations, web-based polling systems, tutorials and educational materials posted before the class and asynchronous learning methods. As technology changes, some of the online learning methods are getting more advanced which is enabling more innovative approaches and data compression. Various distance learning programs started with having access to videos of recorded lectures (on VHS tapes, or CDs) …

The Relationship Between College Students' Use Of Facebook And Their Feelings Of Alienation From Their Institution, Oleksandr Komarenko

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Today's college students are digital natives who have grown up using technology, such as social network systems (SNSs). SNS use, and specific behavior patterns, have been linked to a variety of psychological and social outcomes. The sense of disconnection from a student's institution, known as alienation, is one significant factor that can be detrimental to students' social and academic experience and performance in college (Gordon, 1998; Loo & Rolison, 1986; Suen, 1983). This study explores the association between Facebook relationship maintenance behaviors (FRMB; Ellison, Vitak, Gray, & Lampe, 2014) and alienation from their university, and whether FRMBs and alienation are …

How Health Care Professionals Use Social Media To Create Virtual Communities: An Integrative Review, K Rolls, Margaret M. Hansen Edd, Msn, Rn, D Jackson, D Elliott

Nursing and Health Professions Faculty Research and Publications

Background: Prevailing health care structures and cultures restrict intraprofessional communication, inhibiting knowledge dissemination and impacting the translation of research into practice. Virtual communities may facilitate professional networking and knowledge sharing in and between health care disciplines.

Objectives: This study aimed to review the literature on the use of social media by health care professionals in developing virtual communities that facilitate professional networking, knowledge sharing, and evidence-informed practice.

Methods: An integrative literature review was conducted to identify research published between 1990 and 2015. Search strategies sourced electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL), snowball references, and tables of contents of 3 journals. Papers that …

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Table of Contents for Volume 25 Number 4

Conceptual Models On The Effectiveness Of E-Marketing Strategies In Engaging Consumers, Cheristena Bolos, Efosa C. Idemudia, Phoebe Mai, Mahesh Rasinghani, Shelley Smith

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Effective marketing has always been an important factor in business success. Without the ability to identify customers and convince them to purchase the product or service being offered, businesses would not survive. Recent advancements in technology have given rise to new opportunities to engage customers through the use of electronic marketing (e-marketing). E- marketing draws from traditional marketing principles, while also expanding the types of strategies available to companies. Websites, social media, and online marketplaces are just some examples of how businesses are leveraging e-marketing approaches to connect with potential customers. In formulating sound e-marketing strategies, it is important for …

Healthcare System-Use Behavior: A Systematic Review Of Its Determinants, Jiming Wu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

To understand patient and physician behavior, researchers have investigated the determinants of using healthcare information systems. Although this stream of research has produced important findings, it has yet to appreciably advance our understanding of system-use behavior in healthcare. To fill this gap, the current paper employs a systematic review to synthesize past research, reveal the key determinants of healthcare system usage, and illuminate a deeper understanding of the topic. This study thus helps healthcare researchers expand their baseline knowledge of these core determinants and conduct more fruitful future research on system-use behavior in healthcare.