Social Media Commons^™

What Makes A Successful Social Media Influencer?, Catherine Jokela

Honors Projects in Communication

Social media have changed the way people communicate and live their lives. And as might be imagined, with new platforms come new opportunities. One of those opportunities is becoming a social media influencer. Social media influencers can earn fame and fortune, but how is that success measured? In depth interviews with Katy Bellotte and Mikayla Nogueira, two successful social media influencers, will be analyzed to answer the question, “What makes a social media influencer successful?”

Found Media: Interactivity And Community In Online Horror Media 2021, Jax Mello

Master's Theses

Being isolated is a common fear. The fear can take many forms, from the fear of being the last one alive in a horrific situation to being completely deserted by everyone you love. This is a fear that has been showcased many different times in movies, novels, and every other piece of media imaginable. Although not always tied to the horror genre, the fear of being isolated is tightly intertwined with many horror stories. Therefore, it is interesting when a horror production goes out of their way to encourage interactivity within its audience. This goes beyond an artist’s desire for …

For [Redacted], Lalini Shanela Ranaraja

Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award

This poem was written following the attempts of a close friend and myself to create awareness for the ongoing genocide in Tigray, Ethiopia in particular, and in reaction to activism in the age of social media in general. The digital age and related phenomena, such as hashtag activism and cancel culture, has enabled certain social justice movements to gain rapid traction while other equally worthy movements struggle to find a foothold. Simultaneously, standards of accountability and ethics continue to decline among global news media, with non-Western countries such as Ethiopia and my own home country of Sri Lanka bearing the …

Communication Ethics Of “Sharenting” : A Content Analysis Of Instagram Mom Meso-Influencers, Maddy Mctigue

Student Research

Among the many concerns of social media, “sharenting,” or parents oversharing about their children online, is becoming increasingly prevalent. Millions of children are growing up on the internet with little-to-no control of their digital narrative, instead becoming fashionable or even lucrative props on their parent’s social media platforms. The purpose of the study was to explore how much and what type of sharenting parents post on social media. This study explores five key elements of sharenting through a content analysis. Researchers coded 10 Instagram mom meso-influencer accounts within a 30-day timeframe and determined how many posts were embarrassing, intrusive, revealing, …

Reimagining Non-Profit Communications: The Importance Of A Digital Media Plan For Rhody Outpost, Madeline Burtt

Senior Honors Projects

Ever since social media went viral in the early 2000s with the platform MySpace, the theory of what media is, and how to spread one’s ideas, has never been the same. The emergence of digital media, specifically, social media, has reimagined what it is to market products, organizations, and ideas. With the ever-growing population of social media users, it is important now more than ever to develop a strong, consistent social media presence, no matter how big or small an organization might be, and the findings of my Honors Project prove just that.

In this Honors Project, I will be …

The Evolution Of Women's Opportunities In The Workplace: A Look At The Past To Interpret The Present, Emily Milich

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Partisan Trust In Social Media: Who Trusts The News On Social Media And Who Does Not?, Kenneth Morris

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Social Media has changed the way Americans and people around the world receive their news. This advancement in media has political scientists questioning who trusts the information they read on social media sites. The PEW Research Center provides excellent data from a public opinion survey they conducted in 2019. My analysis of the data found that found that the older generations (50 years and older) are more warry of the news they receive on social media. More specifically, the older Republicans have less trust than the other demographics. With President Trump’s Twitter account being permanently banned from the site in …

You And I: Parasocial Relationships, Social Media, And Fan Labor In The One Direction Fandom, Kathryn Meese

Honors College Theses

This study aims to analyze the ways in which fans of the band One Direction developed parasocial relationships, or one-sided, non-reciprocal relationships with media personae, through social media marketing, and to explore the economic implications of these relationships in terms of fans’ free promotional labor. At the heart of social media marketing is relationship marketing, or attracting and maintaining customer relationships, a strategy we explore here within the context of the music industry. Previous studies have explored the dynamics of online fan communities, or fandoms, and the free labor they carry out on the part of an artist, such as …

Roles Of Social Media In The Black Lives Matter Movement During Covid-19, Reilly E. Olson

Honors Projects

By definition social movements reflect unique times in history. To fully grasp the implications of a movement the social and political climate that induce them must be understood. An intersectional model should be used when framing and studying the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, a modern descendant of both the NAACP and Civil Rights movement. From its inception, BLM has utilized social media as an important tool by coining #BlackLivesMatter, a hashtag that frequently comes to life offline as BLM organizers use it as a call for action and mobilization. The accessibility of social media made its role in the …

Your Journey Through Dental Social Media: Master The Metrics, Timothy Vassilakos Ms

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

SMART Audience marketing is a data-driven marketing approach focusing on reaching the right people with the right message at the right time. This can be done by segmenting and targeting audiences based on their interests, demographics, and behavior. A study by Forrester Research found that companies that use smart audience marketing can achieve a 72% increase in engagement and a 50% increase in satisfaction. These companies can also see a 10% increase in conversion rates and a 20% increase in ROI. The image shows a SMART outline for creating a Smart Audience marketing strategy. The method includes the following steps: …

J Mich Dent Assoc April 2021

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

In the April 2021 issue of the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association, we offer a comprehensive range of original feature content showcasing the latest developments in dental practice and knowledge, including:

1. AI in Dental Care Delivery: Explore the groundbreaking role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning in dental care, revolutionizing efficiency, safety, care outcomes, and treatment planning consistency.
2. AI in Dental Claims Processing: Discover how AI is employed by third-party payers to streamline dental claims processing, resulting in cost containment and the proactive identification of potential fraud, waste, and abuse.
3. Evidence-Based Dentistry: As part of …

Escape From An Echo Chamber, Kuan-Chieh Lo, Shih-Chieh Dai, Aiping Xiong, Jing Jiang, Lun-Wei Ku

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

An echo chamber effect refers to the phenomena that online users revealed selective exposure and ideological segregation on political issues. Prior studies indicate the connection between the spread of misinformation and online echo chambers. In this paper, to help users escape from an echo chamber, we propose a novel news-analysis platform that provides a panoramic view of stances towards a particular event from different news media sources. Moreover, to help users better recognize the stances of news sources which published these news articles, we adopt a news stance classification model to categorize their stances into “agree”, “disagree”, “discuss”, or “unrelated” …

Defining And Addressing The Intersection Of Sports, Media, And Social Activism, Kaylee Layne Crafton

Honors Theses

Athletes have used their sports platforms and the elevated statuses of fame to share their political views and seek change for centuries. However, our society is now at a time in which athlete activism seems to be at its peak due to constant societal shifts and the quick, widespread dissemination of news through various forms of media. This study sought to answer one primary question: When can athletes share their views about racial equality and social justice? For Americans, the “when” in which athletes can speak up is often a divisive issue. This study analyzed how major sports leagues and …

The Facebook Frontier: Harnessing The Power Of Facebook Live, Christine A. Anderson

South Carolina Libraries

Facebook Live offers librarians the opportunity for ongoing engagement with their community, even during a pandemic. During the COVID-19 quarantine, community organizations of all types used the site to continue to connect with their community. Kimbel Library used the social media platform to hold virtual versions of annual face-to-face events and create reference education for students and faculty. While there is no replacing the dynamics of face-to-face interaction with patrons, Facebook Live offers opportunity for continued safe social contact. It also is a “safe” place for less outgoing patrons to attend or even participate in library events they would not …

Virtual Community For Fat People In Outdoor Recreation, Amber C. Stephens

University Honors Theses

This paper examines online virtual communities for fat people within outdoor recreation, and how they provide connection, complex agency, and representation for fat bodies in spaces where their bodies are seen as taboo. Furthermore, it will explore the way fat bodies have been historically viewed, the lack of representation of fat bodies in the outdoors and related communities, and the gate-keeping that occurs to those who do not conform to traditional stereotypes of an outdoorsy person. Close examination of two different Instagram accounts that highlight the fat body in the outdoors will reveal three main representational elements that are an …

Pornography: Social, Emotional And Mental Implications Among Adolescents, William Kelly Canady

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation will explain the historical development of pornography. It will highlight four segments: 1- Porn’s impact on brain development of reward pathways, ultimately increasing the appetite for more porn. 2- Porn can be a false substitute for real intimacy, resulting in decreased sexual satisfaction with a real person and increased verbal and physical aggression. 3- Porn promotes sex trafficking, promotes multiple sex partners and reduced STD prevention. 4- A review of interventions available to assist clients in navigating a lifestyle away from pornography.

Social Media Engagement For Global Influencers, Kara Bentley, Charlene Chu, Cristina Nistor, Ekin Pehlivan, Taylan Yalcin

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Consumers use social media to create content, generate online word-of-mouth, and communicate with brands and other consumers. Consumers engage with influencers who deliver content that is timely, entertaining, and interesting to them. Many influencers have a truly global following across the world. However, there is little research on international aspects of social media influencers. Our paper leverages Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to study consumer engagement using a novel dataset of global sustainability influencers. Our results indicate that the cultural distance between the influencer and the followers is an important driver of engagement in a nuanced way. While the level of superficial, …

Online Behaviors Of Teenagers On The Autism Spectrum, Amelia Anderson, Abigail Phillips

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The Internet can be a source of connection and support for teenagers on the autism spectrum. This study explores how teenagers on the autism spectrum who identify as library users spend time online by addressing the following research questions: How do teens on the autism spectrum participate in the online environment? And, how do teens on the autism spectrum make sense of social media? Quantitative and qualitative data was analyzed from nine participants, recruited through online discussion forums. Implications suggest a potential role for educators and librarians to offer opportunities and support in creating and building online connections.

"Doing It For The 'Gram?" The Representational Politics Of Popular Humanitarianism, Orlando Woods, Siew Ying Shee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores how digital photography – the practice of taking pictures and sharing them via social media – can give rise to representational politics. These politics are pronounced when disadvantaged people and places are the objects of digital representation, as they become (dis)empowered by being implicated in the affective economy of difference. Empirically, we examine the representational practices that Singaporean voluntourists, and companies that organise overseas humanitarian projects, engage in. We highlight how their motivations for engaging with these projects can be obfuscated by the opportunity to generate influence on Instagram, which can then shape the practice of popular …

Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective, Andree Hartanto, Frosch Yi Xuan Quek, Yue Qi Germaine Tng, Jose C. Yong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

According to the World Health Organization (1), 264 million individuals worldwide suffer from depression—a condition characterized by feelings of low self-worth, impaired concentration, and disturbed sleep, among various other maladaptive symptoms (2). Adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age are also vulnerable (3), with a 52% increase in the prevalence of depression among adolescents from 2005 to 2017 (4). Depression is tied to many serious problems including failure to complete education, higher unplanned parenthood rates, poorer interpersonal relations, and heightened risk of substance abuse and suicidality (5–7).