Filtering by
- All Subjects: Social Media
- All Subjects: Mental Health
- Creators: Eaton, John
- Creators: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Comm
- Resource Type: Text
"No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth." These were the words of former Facebook Vice President Chamath Palihapitiya who publicly expressed his regret in a 2017 interview over his role in co-creating Facebook. Palihapitiya shared that social media is ripping apart the social fabric of society and he also sounded the alarm regarding social media’s unavoidable global impact. He is only one of social media’s countless critics. The more disturbing issue resides in the empirical evidence supporting such notions. At least 95% of adolescents own a smartphone and spend an average time of two to four hours a day on social media. Moreover, 91% of 16-24-year-olds use social media, yet youth rate Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter as the worst social media platforms. However, the social, clinical, and neurodevelopment ramifications of using social media regularly are only beginning to emerge in research. Early research findings show that social media platforms trigger anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and other negative mental health effects. These negative mental health symptoms are commonly reported by individuals from of 18-25-years old, a unique period of human development known as emerging adulthood. Although emerging adulthood is characterized by identity exploration, unbounded optimism, and freedom from most responsibilities, it also serves as a high-risk period for the onset of most psychological disorders. Despite social media’s adverse impacts, it retains its utility as it facilitates identity exploration and virtual socialization for emerging adults. Investigating the “user-centered” design and neuroscience underlying social media platforms can help reveal, and potentially mitigate, the onset of negative mental health consequences among emerging adults. Effectively deconstructing the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (i.e., hereafter referred to as “The Big Three”) will require an extensive analysis into common features across platforms. A few examples of these design features include: like and reaction counters, perpetual news feeds, and omnipresent banners and notifications surrounding the user’s viewport. Such social media features are inherently designed to stimulate specific neurotransmitters and hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol. Identifying such predacious social media features that unknowingly manipulate and highjack emerging adults’ brain chemistry will serve as a first step in mitigating the negative mental health effects of today’s social media platforms. A second concrete step will involve altering or eliminating said features by creating a social media platform that supports and even enhances mental well-being.
Americans today face an age of information overload. With the evolution of Media 3.0, the internet, and the rise of Media 3.5—i.e., social media—relatively new communication technologies present pressing challenges for the First Amendment in American society. Twentieth century law defined freedom of expression, but in an information-limited world. By contrast, the twenty-first century is seeing the emergence of a world that is overloaded with information, largely shaped by an “unintentional press”—social media. Americans today rely on just a small concentration of private technology powerhouses exercising both economic and social influence over American society. This raises questions about censorship, access, and misinformation. While the First Amendment protects speech from government censorship only, First Amendment ideology is largely ingrained across American culture, including on social media. Technological advances arguably have made entry into the marketplace of ideas—a fundamental First Amendment doctrine—more accessible, but also more problematic for the average American, increasing his/her potential exposure to misinformation. <br/><br/>This thesis uses political and judicial frameworks to evaluate modern misinformation trends, social media platforms and current misinformation efforts, against the background of two misinformation accelerants in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. presidential election. Throughout history, times of hardship and intense fear have contributed to the shaping of First Amendment jurisprudence. Thus, this thesis looks at how fear can intensify the spread of misinformation and influence free speech values. Extensive research was conducted to provide the historical context behind relevant modern literature. This thesis then concludes with three solutions to misinformation that are supported by critical American free speech theory.
The way in which we communicate has forever changed. In person interactions are slowly being replaced by digital experiences that we share with other users. Even after the Covid-19 crisis, some companies will continue to have employees work remotely. This will further push our worlds in being shaped by the actions that occur online. As this continues, it will become increasingly important that we pay attention to the online communities that we create. Communities that reside on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and more will continue to grow in prevalence in our day to day lives. We have seen how communities can organize and have real world impacts through their interactions with each other. R/Wallstreetbets is an online community on Reddit that caused the price of multiple stocks to skyrocket by all agreeing to buy as a collective group. This gained national attention and it was focused on how an online community was able to manipulate the market, but what was even more intriguing is how it represents the future of communication. It is easy to forget that the interactions we have online are with real people on the other side of their username and profile photo. We are consistently conversing with strangers as we leave comments on posts and reply to certain users. It is incredible that we are able to network with just about any user that is on a social platform. Despite this incredible ability to connect, we live in a world that is also divided and polarized. This is a result of using platforms that create filter bubbles and work to gain your attention to sell advertisements. These sites are largely unfocused and play host to both viral videos and social justice awareness. This thesis is focused on proving the concept of a new platform’s ability to resolve these issues. In this paper I will describe to you the problems that have arisen due to large social media companies, my proposal for a platform dedicated to resolving these problems, and the validity and testing of this proposed platform.
When it comes to my story, I wanted to make sure I told one that was interesting, relevant and worthwhile. I felt lost for quite some time in regards to what direction I wanted to take with my thesis. After meeting with Dan Moriarty and Kevin Brilliant of the Chicago Bulls during an outreach trip with the Sports Business Association, I knew I wanted to gain more insight into how teams are telling their digital stories and connecting with their fans. I wanted to learn more about how teams across the country are playing the game of social media and what strategies they put into place to be impactful and successful. I wanted to learn the value teams found in social media and how social media impacts the organizations as a whole, specifically in revenue generation. Most importantly, I wanted to learn how teams are engaging with fans and how social media has changed the world of sports. This research includes insights from various individuals in the industry as well as survey data from W. P. Carey students. The accumulation of this thesis has resulted in a closer look into social media in the sports industry and how teams are measuring success in the digital space.
Based on research conducted on social media usage and fan identification, an online survey was created and distributed. Respondents who identified as NBA fans answered questions regarding social media usage, live sports TV viewership, and more questions regarding presumptive factors leading to NBA game TV viewership. Analysis of the responses found that loyalty to team was a bigger factor than loyalty to player in getting NBA fans to watch games on TV. Results also indicated that loyalty to team increased based on an increase in live sports TV viewership per week, loyalty to player increased based on an increase in national TV NBA game viewership, and die-hard fans are more likely to watch NBA games for their favorite team and players than casual fans. Based on these results, it is recommended that the NBA markets their games towards casual fans, with player-focused marketing for their national TV games.
These difficult flowcharts and confusing websites have a huge impact on a student’s ability to adequately receive the information they need and, in the end, can have a negative impact on their ultimate decision when deciding if Barrett is right for them. A better user experience can be a more effective way of displaying information to students. A better design that allows to user more interaction would allow for the user to better understand the information they are presented. Instead of a monotone flowchart displaying the requirements necessary to graduate with honors status, A web application where a user can input their information and get an output of the necessary requirements tailored to the unique circumstance would be more informative, useful, and easier to use. The web app would take information such as a student’s year, whether it be an incoming freshman or transfer student, and their current and previous course credit to determine the specific number of honors credits, The Human Event courses, and Thesis project required for this user to complete the requirements for Barrett Honors College. This application would give the user a better understanding of what is required of them and in turn lead to a better user experience.