Social Media Commons^™

How The Financial Services Industry Is Utilizing Social Media To Expand Their Client Base, Kristen Stewart

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Social media is becoming an increasingly important aspect of all companies’ marketing strategies. It is almost imperative for companies to advertise through social media if they want to have a fair chance of reaching the younger generation. In fact, “the majority (97%) of Gen Z consumers say they now use social media as their top source of shopping inspiration; 65% say they use social media to find entertaining content; and 61% of them are specifically interested in watching more video content” (Kastenholz, 2021). This proves that social media can make a significant and lasting impact on a company’s success. Social …

My Journey To Create A Space For Young Adults To Grow In Community, Chelsea Simmeth

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project focuses on the development of a safe space for young adults to come together, create community and engage in activities. There is a gap in college-age students’ ability to find community outside the university. This project focuses on creating a place where they would be able to meet new people, play sports, and board games, and do arts and crafts. The development of marketing strategies, event planning checklists, and locations for holding events are outlined for the Young Adults (YA)- UNITE (Upbeat, New, and Inviting Transformational Environment) program.

A Content Analysis Of The Female Tiktok Influencer: How Smis Alter Their Image And Self-Presentation Based On Their Communities., Sydney R Dotson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Influencer marketing is a growing industry on social media platforms, like TikTok. Influencers have the power and authority to control the purchases and habits of their audiences, however, the communities of these followers can be just as influential. According to TikTok For Business (2021), “part of the excitement of [TikTok] is derived from people having the power to choose the spaces they want to be part of, and the content they want to interact with.” The purpose of this study is to determine if social media influencers alter their image and self-presentation based on their community. The study examines the …

“And We’Re Happy, So Happy, To Be Modern Women”: Dissociative Feminism On Screen And In Literature, Michaela Elizabeth Flaherty

Honors Scholar Theses

On-screen and literary works have increasingly represented a new, digital-age wave of postfeminism: dissociative feminism, which rejects happy-go-lucky, sex-positive fourth-wave feminism, instead embracing nihilism. Fleabag, the titular character of the hit BBC miniseries Fleabag (2016–9), embodies dissociative feminism, though she ultimately comes to reject this darkly relatable perspective. However, social media largely ignores this latter, essential aspect of her character arc and has taken to romanticizing Fleabag’s feminist ideology, effectively constructing a harmful and dangerous virtual echo chamber of dissociative feminism. Participants in this online discourse should instead turn to the HBO limited series I May Destroy You (2020) for …

Tiktok Cyberbully Responses: Communicating The Narrative, Wendy Sommer Zito

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study analyzed TikTok cyberbullying response videos to understand how content creators use verbal and nonverbal communication within their performance, creating audience engagement and awareness for cyberbullying and social advocacy issues. This study was conducted with 200 TikTok creator accounts analyzing communication, performance, engagement, and analytics narrative content analysis. Codes were separated into themes that represented the creator's emotional responses. These responses were analyzed to learn how the audience presented the content. The combination of narrative content analysis and analytics data was used to determine the effectiveness of the creators' ability to engage with their audience and create cyberbullying and …

A Social Media Strategy Plan For The Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry, Sara Katelyn Holm

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Jane B. Gearhart (JBG) Full Circle Food Pantry is a student-led program that provides food assistance for members of the University of Arkansas community. This thesis project includes a social media strategy plan that aims to increase the overall awareness of the pantry and its multifaceted services to decrease food insecurity levels at the University of Arkansas. This plan intends to create behavioral changes that expand usage of the pantry and social media engagement among UA students. Grounded in data-driven insights, this plan is designed from (i) literature on food pantry marketing techniques; (ii) a review of the pantry's …

Storm The Capitol: Linking Offline Political Speech And Online Twitter Extra-Representational Participation On Qanon And The January 6 Insurrection, Claire Seungeun Lee, Juan Merizalde, John D. Colautti, Jisun An, Haewoon Kwak

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The transfer of power stemming from the 2020 presidential election occurred during an unprecedented period in United States history. Uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing societal tensions, and a fragile economy increased societal polarization, exacerbated by the outgoing president's offline rhetoric. As a result, online groups such as QAnon engaged in extra political participation beyond the traditional platforms. This research explores the link between offline political speech and online extra-representational participation by examining Twitter within the context of the January 6 insurrection. Using a mixed-methods approach of quantitative and qualitative thematic analyses, the study combines offline speech information with Twitter …

The Nil Agreement And Social Media: A Content Analysis, Scott Smith

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The Name, Image and Likeness Agreement has opened hundreds of doors for college athletics to make money based on their "likeness" and not their performance on the field. This new agreement levels the playing field for all athletes in college. Through a content analysis this paper will take a look at how the NIL is being discussed in various media channels such as TikTok and how this agreement is affecting the student athlete experience. Not every athlete is striking mega deals, but with this agreement everyone from Junior college to Division 1 has the opportunity to make money through avenues …

The Role Of Memes In An Online Community Created By College Students: A Content Analysis, Jessica Probst

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper explores how a community is formed in the Facebook group The M in UMW Stands for Memes and what role memes play in shaping a sense of community and sharing information. Based on previous research, there was a common theme found within the results of the studies; memes can be used to communicate information and a shared understanding is needed to have a sustainable online community. I chose to complete this study using a content analysis which allowed for an evaluation of the shared language used in the posts revealing how this mode of communication creates a sustainable …

A Wellbeing@Ksu Journey: Mapw Portfolio, Meghan Cooper

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

A process narrative and samples and complete works from my time in MAPW and as a GRA within the health and well-being departments at KSU. The portfolio showcases my journey as a communicator and professional writer and how it has impacted my current career.

The Effect Of Social Media On Providence College Students, Kathryn Ernst, Margaret Grasberger, Allie Mcguire, Mairead Ryan

School of Business Student Scholarship

Kathryn Ernst ’24, Major: Marketing

Margaret Grasberger ’24, Major: Marketing

Allie McGuire ’24, Major: Marketing

Mairead Ryan ’24, Major: Marketing

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kevin Newman, Marketing

Recent research indicates that social media usage is addictive both physically and psychologically. Due to the prevalence of social media, our group specifically wanted to study how its usage impacted Providence College students’ mental health, physical health, and communication skills (both in-person and online communication skills). We found that social media usage negatively affects students’ mental and physical health, with females being more impacted than males. However, we did not find evidence to support …

A Social Networks Approach To Interaction Patterns Of Bts Compared To Justin Bieber On Twitter, Soohyun Park, Taisik Hwang

Far West Popular Culture Association Annual Conference

A Korean-pop boy band, BTS, has broken the cultural barrier to make changes in the nature of the global pop industry. This study examined the unique approach BTS has taken through social media to building its fan base and interacting with its fans. Twitter datasets were analyzed to explore the nature of BTS’s interaction with its fans on social media, as compared to another pop star, Justin Bieber. Findings and implications are discussed.

Breaking Things: Origins And Consequences Of Racialized Hate Speech On Facebook, Katherine Herrick

International Studies Honors Projects

This thesis seeks to bring attention to the ways in which the effects of hate speech--specifically racialized hate speech--transcends digital platforms. It will begin by connecting the phenomenon of racialized hate speech on Facebook to specific psychological tendencies that the company consciously amplifies for its own financial benefit. The first chapter interrogates the common narrative that violent rhetoric indicates a flaw in the platform’s design, instead arguing that proliferation of such content is encouraged by Facebook’s algorithm. From there, the second chapter examines what happens when a technology giant leverages human psychology for corporate greed. A true worst-case scenario, the …

Girl-Next-Door To Girlboss: Taylor Swift’S Online Evolution From Puerile Pop Star To Poignant Political Influence, Clare G. Daly

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Of all society’s public figures, the social-media-savvy celebrity is arguably the most powerful. Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has amassed one of the largest followings on the internet. In recent years, she has inspired fans to act upon sociopolitical issues via voter registration, letter-writing campaigns, and music. Her digital footprint is not without contention from a slow arrival to politics to white feminist attributes present in her messaging. Through close reading across four social media platforms, I found a shift in Swift’s social media activity. In her transition from a young pop star to a global influence, I concluded that “Swifties” will …

Is There An App For That? Social Support, Depression, And Anxiety Among Users Of A Digital Mental Health App, Bryce V. Brown, Teresa J. Walker, Christine Guardian, Matthew Schurr

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Perceived social support has been associated with mental health. Social distancing guidelines due to COVID-19 heavily shifted social engagement to digital formats. It is important to understand the role of digital mental health interventions in mental health outcomes.

Who Is Gonna See The Shrink? Anxiety And Depression's Relationship To Openness And Willingness To Engage In Weekly Psychotherapy, Bryce V. Brown, Teresa J. Walker, Christine Guardian, Matthew Schurr

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Digital mental health interventions may offer an alternative to in-person psychotherapy. It is important to understand attitudes about traditional in-person psychotherapy among app users to contextualize treatment seeking and better understand treatment options.

Streaming's Effect On American Media Exports, Aviel Geronimo, Jonathan Swanberg

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

The Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry is largest in the United States with a total value of $660 Billion in 2020. The global M&E industry is valued at approximately $2 Trillion. New technologies have allowed for the advent of streaming services for music, television, film, books, video games, and more. Streaming services allow media exports to be easily accessed by consumers domestically and abroad.

Miracles Happen: An Exploration Of Girlhood And Celebrity, Sarah Thompson

Media and Communication Studies Honors Papers

Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, many children’s programs were about fame and featured female protagonists while being written and produced by men. Despite being written by men, these shows clearly interpellate a young female audience. “Miracles Happen” explores this media and considers what girlhood is and what this media is teaching its audience. The first chapter looks at Disney’s studio and its history on how it inserts itself into the private lives of children. This chapter also analyzes this history and makes connections to how these traditions are carried into shows meant for girls on the Disney Channel. It …

Outcomes Of Building Parasocial Relationships Betweens Brands And Consumers On Social Media, Emily Ritchart

LSU Master's Theses

Social media has fundamentally changed the way brands can communicate and interact with their consumers. By using a survey that asks participants to answer questions about a brand they follow on social media, this study explores the influence of different social media strategies on parasocial relationships and other positive outcomes for brands. Findings show that popular social media strategies of personalized messages, user-generated content, and use conversational/human tone can be used to predict higher levels of PSRs. Furthermore, these results show that brands who build PSRs with consumers can predict high levels of positive brand outcomes including higher positive trust, …

Come Close And Listen: Exploring The Intimacy Of Audio Media, Eleanor Kingwell Sharples Hoover

Honors Theses

This thesis aims to demonstrate the power of the audio medium to connect speaker and listener, as a result of the uniquely intimate nature of the medium. By understanding how speakers and listeners connect through audio, the research reveals that the audio medium is a sustainable media outlet, one that is durable despite changes in culture in the media market, that has transformed over time, all while keeping itself within the principal constraints of its original form, that being sound as conveyed to a listener. Three interviews were conducted with individuals situated in different areas of the audio media landscape; …