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Description
Broadcast journalists often report on people dealing with illness or physical hardship, their difficulties and triumphs. But what happens when journalists personally experience those kinds of health-related issues? This study explores how 24 local and national on-air journalists share how they manage life with illness and hardship using personal narratives shared on their professional social media pages, detailing how the journalists navigate sharing a deeply personal experience while maintaining a professional journalistic persona. Thematic analysis found the journalists’ performed three acts when sharing personal health information in a public forum: they reported on their illness, they were transparent, and they justified their actions. Within the three themes a range of expression – from personal to professional – and influences over content were found, leading to the final overarching theme, implications and consequences on content creation. This dissertation finds a complicated struggle to maintain a professional self while acknowledging the urge to connect with others through a deeply personal experience.
ContributorsPellizzaro, Kirstin Nicole (Author) / Thornton, Leslie-Jean (Thesis advisor) / Silcock, Bill (Committee member) / Kwon, K. Hazel (Committee member) / Cheong, Pauline (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Long before “fake news” dominated the conversation within and about the media, media literacy advocates have championed the need for media literacy education that provides the tools for people to understand, analyze, and evaluate media messages. That the majority of U.S. adults now consume news on social media underscores the importance for students of all ages to be critical users of media. Furthermore, the affordances of social media to like, comment, and share news items within one’s network increases an individual’s responsibility to ascertain the veracity of news before using a social media megaphone to spread false information. Social media’s shareability can dictate how information spreads, increasing news consumers’ role as a gatekeeper of information and making media literacy education more important than ever.
This research examines the media literacy practices that news consumers use to inform their gatekeeping decisions. Using a constant comparative coding method, the author conducted a qualitative analysis of hundreds of discussion board posts from adult participants in a digital media literacy Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to identify major themes and examine growth in participants’ sense of responsibility related to sharing news information, their feeling of empowerment to make informed decisions about the media messages they receive, and how the media literacy tools and techniques garnered from the MOOC have affected their daily media interactions. Findings emphasize the personal and contextual nature of media literacy, and that those factors must be addressed to ensure the success of a media literacy education program.
This research examines the media literacy practices that news consumers use to inform their gatekeeping decisions. Using a constant comparative coding method, the author conducted a qualitative analysis of hundreds of discussion board posts from adult participants in a digital media literacy Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to identify major themes and examine growth in participants’ sense of responsibility related to sharing news information, their feeling of empowerment to make informed decisions about the media messages they receive, and how the media literacy tools and techniques garnered from the MOOC have affected their daily media interactions. Findings emphasize the personal and contextual nature of media literacy, and that those factors must be addressed to ensure the success of a media literacy education program.
ContributorsRoschke, Kristy (Author) / Thornton, Leslie-Jean (Thesis advisor) / Chadha, Monica (Committee member) / Halavais, Alexander (Committee member) / Silcock, Bill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Although previous research has explored the relationship between social media use and well-being, many studies are contradictory of each other and conclude varying findings relating to social media use and outspokenness. This study explores the relationship between active and passive social media use, perceived social media expertise, and outspokenness using the potentially mediating variable of perceived social acceptance. 162 participants, recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and ASU’s SONA systems, completed a survey relating to their own use of social media, perceived social acceptance, and outspokenness. Contradictory to my first hypotheses, no significant correlations were found between social media use and social media expertise. However, correlation analyses revealed that active social media use is related to an increased amount of perceived social media expertise (r = 0.23, p < .004). Perceived social media expertise was significantly positively correlated with outspokenness (r = 0.19, p < 0.015); however, it was not correlated with perceived social acceptance. When examining these relationships separately by gender, a strong association was found for males between active social media use and outspokenness, whereas passive social media use and outspokenness were negatively correlated for females. The results of this study add to previous research in the field of social media and outspokenness and lend new ideas for future research on these topics, such as exploring the gender differences that are associated with these variables. Further research in the area is needed for a more complete understanding of how one’s social media use affects his/her outspokenness and how gender modifies these effects.
ContributorsRubino, Kelli Erika (Co-author) / Rubino, Kelli (Co-author) / Mickelson, Kristin (Thesis director) / Halavais, Alexander (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The United States is in a period of political turmoil and polarization. New technologies have matured over the last ten years, which have transformed an individual’s relationship with society and government. The emergence of these technologies has revolutionized access to both information and misinformation. Skills such as bias recognition and critical thinking are more imperative than in any other time to separate truth from false or misleading information. Meanwhile, education has not evolved with these changes. The average individual is more likely to come to uninformed conclusions and less likely to listen to differing perspectives. Moreover, technology is further complicating and compounding other issues in the political process. All of this is manifesting in division among the American people who elect more polarized politicians who increasingly fail to find avenues for compromise.
In an effort to address these trends, we founded a student organization, The Political Literates, to fight political apathy by delivering political news in an easy to understand and unbiased manner. Inspired by our experience with this organization, we combine our insights with research to paint a new perspective on the state of the American political system.
This thesis analyzes various issues identified through our observations and research, with a heavy emphasis on using examples from the 2016 election. Our focus is how new technologies like data analytics, the Internet, smartphones, and social media are changing politics by driving political and social transformation. We identify and analyze five core issues that have been amplified by new technology, hindering the effectiveness of elections and further increasing political polarization:
● Gerrymandering which skews partisan debate by forcing politicians to pander to ideologically skewed districts.
● Consolidation of media companies which affects the diversity of how news is shared.
● Repeal of the Fairness Doctrine which allowed media to become more partisan.
● The Citizens United Ruling which skews power away from average voters in elections.
● A Failing Education System which does not prepare Americans to be civically engaged and to avoid being swayed by biased or untrue media.
Based on our experiment with the Political Literates and our research, we call for improving how critical thinking and civics is taught in the American education system. Critical thought and civics must be developed pervasively. With this, more people would be able to form more sophisticated views by listening to others to learn rather than win, listening less to irrelevant information, and forming a culture with more engagement in politics. Through this re-enlightenment, many of America’s other problems may evaporate or become more actionable.
In an effort to address these trends, we founded a student organization, The Political Literates, to fight political apathy by delivering political news in an easy to understand and unbiased manner. Inspired by our experience with this organization, we combine our insights with research to paint a new perspective on the state of the American political system.
This thesis analyzes various issues identified through our observations and research, with a heavy emphasis on using examples from the 2016 election. Our focus is how new technologies like data analytics, the Internet, smartphones, and social media are changing politics by driving political and social transformation. We identify and analyze five core issues that have been amplified by new technology, hindering the effectiveness of elections and further increasing political polarization:
● Gerrymandering which skews partisan debate by forcing politicians to pander to ideologically skewed districts.
● Consolidation of media companies which affects the diversity of how news is shared.
● Repeal of the Fairness Doctrine which allowed media to become more partisan.
● The Citizens United Ruling which skews power away from average voters in elections.
● A Failing Education System which does not prepare Americans to be civically engaged and to avoid being swayed by biased or untrue media.
Based on our experiment with the Political Literates and our research, we call for improving how critical thinking and civics is taught in the American education system. Critical thought and civics must be developed pervasively. With this, more people would be able to form more sophisticated views by listening to others to learn rather than win, listening less to irrelevant information, and forming a culture with more engagement in politics. Through this re-enlightenment, many of America’s other problems may evaporate or become more actionable.
ContributorsStenseth, Kyle (Co-author) / Tumas, Trevor (Co-author) / Mokwa, Michael (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Devils on Taylor is a creative project that explores the role social media plays in
establishing traditions in the current digital landscape. Contemporary marketing
practices adhere to formulaic social media campaigns that we wanted to experiment
within establishing the tailgate event, Devils on Taylor, as a tradition on the Arizona
State University Downtown Phoenix campus. Drawing inspiration from established
traditions on the main, Tempe campus at Arizona State University, we focused on how
social media could grow our event to a comparable caliber of long-standing events such
as Devils on Mill & Devils on College. There were three major components in creating
this project: 1) creating an event with significance and meaning to the surrounding
community; 2) making the given community aware and excited about participating in the
event on a recurring basis; and 3) cultivating new leadership to continue executing this
tradition and successfully passing it down each semester/year. Effective marketing
campaigns cater to the tendencies of the targeted demographic and are imperative to
modify based on the audience. Understanding the target demographic of 18-24-year
olds fundamentally altered our marketing strategy for Devils on Taylor and resulted in
our heavy concentration on social media. This project compares the effectiveness of
marketing strategies such as Facebook, Instagram, flyers and word of mouth and
develops conclusions based on the turnout to Devils on Taylor events, membership
in Inferno Insiders, which is the organization that hosts these events, and the potential
for these two entities to sustain themselves in the following years. Interestingly, the
symbiotic relationship between Inferno Insiders and Devils on Taylor presented unique
challenges. We note the consequences of creating an organization to create a tradition
and project our confidence in the longevity of Devils on Taylor.
establishing traditions in the current digital landscape. Contemporary marketing
practices adhere to formulaic social media campaigns that we wanted to experiment
within establishing the tailgate event, Devils on Taylor, as a tradition on the Arizona
State University Downtown Phoenix campus. Drawing inspiration from established
traditions on the main, Tempe campus at Arizona State University, we focused on how
social media could grow our event to a comparable caliber of long-standing events such
as Devils on Mill & Devils on College. There were three major components in creating
this project: 1) creating an event with significance and meaning to the surrounding
community; 2) making the given community aware and excited about participating in the
event on a recurring basis; and 3) cultivating new leadership to continue executing this
tradition and successfully passing it down each semester/year. Effective marketing
campaigns cater to the tendencies of the targeted demographic and are imperative to
modify based on the audience. Understanding the target demographic of 18-24-year
olds fundamentally altered our marketing strategy for Devils on Taylor and resulted in
our heavy concentration on social media. This project compares the effectiveness of
marketing strategies such as Facebook, Instagram, flyers and word of mouth and
develops conclusions based on the turnout to Devils on Taylor events, membership
in Inferno Insiders, which is the organization that hosts these events, and the potential
for these two entities to sustain themselves in the following years. Interestingly, the
symbiotic relationship between Inferno Insiders and Devils on Taylor presented unique
challenges. We note the consequences of creating an organization to create a tradition
and project our confidence in the longevity of Devils on Taylor.
ContributorsTarr, Adin (Co-author) / Elder, Jordan (Co-author) / Todd, Lori (Thesis director) / O'Brien, Jennifer (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Devils on Taylor is a creative project that explores the role social media plays in
establishing traditions in the current digital landscape. Contemporary marketing
practices adhere to formulaic social media campaigns that we wanted to experiment
within establishing the tailgate event, Devils on Taylor, as a tradition on the Arizona
State University Downtown Phoenix campus. Drawing inspiration from established
traditions on the main, Tempe campus at Arizona State University, we focused on how
social media could grow our event to a comparable caliber of long-standing events such
as Devils on Mill & Devils on College. There were three major components in creating
this project: 1) creating an event with significance and meaning to the surrounding
community; 2) making the given community aware and excited about participating in the
event on a recurring basis; and 3) cultivating new leadership to continue executing this
tradition and successfully passing it down each semester/year. Effective marketing
campaigns cater to the tendencies of the targeted demographic and are imperative to
modify based on the audience. Understanding the target demographic of 18-24-year
olds fundamentally altered our marketing strategy for Devils on Taylor and resulted in
our heavy concentration on social media. This project compares the effectiveness of
marketing strategies such as Facebook, Instagram, flyers and word of mouth and
develops conclusions based on the turnout to Devils on Taylor events, membership
in Inferno Insiders, which is the organization that hosts these events, and the potential
for these two entities to sustain themselves in the following years. Interestingly, the
symbiotic relationship between Inferno Insiders and Devils on Taylor presented unique
challenges. We note the consequences of creating an organization to create a tradition
and project our confidence in the longevity of Devils on Taylor.
establishing traditions in the current digital landscape. Contemporary marketing
practices adhere to formulaic social media campaigns that we wanted to experiment
within establishing the tailgate event, Devils on Taylor, as a tradition on the Arizona
State University Downtown Phoenix campus. Drawing inspiration from established
traditions on the main, Tempe campus at Arizona State University, we focused on how
social media could grow our event to a comparable caliber of long-standing events such
as Devils on Mill & Devils on College. There were three major components in creating
this project: 1) creating an event with significance and meaning to the surrounding
community; 2) making the given community aware and excited about participating in the
event on a recurring basis; and 3) cultivating new leadership to continue executing this
tradition and successfully passing it down each semester/year. Effective marketing
campaigns cater to the tendencies of the targeted demographic and are imperative to
modify based on the audience. Understanding the target demographic of 18-24-year
olds fundamentally altered our marketing strategy for Devils on Taylor and resulted in
our heavy concentration on social media. This project compares the effectiveness of
marketing strategies such as Facebook, Instagram, flyers and word of mouth and
develops conclusions based on the turnout to Devils on Taylor events, membership
in Inferno Insiders, which is the organization that hosts these events, and the potential
for these two entities to sustain themselves in the following years. Interestingly, the
symbiotic relationship between Inferno Insiders and Devils on Taylor presented unique
challenges. We note the consequences of creating an organization to create a tradition
and project our confidence in the longevity of Devils on Taylor.
ContributorsElder, Jordan (Co-author) / Tarr, Adin (Co-author) / Todd, Lori (Thesis director) / O'Brien, Jennifer (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Scholars have identified that journalists have a strong occupational identity, leading to ideological conceptions of the rules of the field. However, while journalists are often the first to embrace technological change, they often do so in different ways than most people. With the arrival of digital technologies, journalists are often faced with practices that run contrary to long-established ideology, and they often carry traditional practices over to new media. Using the theoretical lens of Giddens’s structuration theory, this research identifies traditional journalism structures that encourage or discourage journalists to interact with their followers on the social network Twitter. Using constant comparative analysis to interpret 23 interviews with contemporary journalists, this study identified multiple dualities between the use of Twitter and traditional newsgathering. It also recognized a cognitive dissonance among journalists who use Twitter. Though they can see advantages to using the platform to engage with followers, particularly other journalists and members of their audience, journalists do not seek out Twitter interaction and often avoid or resist it. Finally, this dissertation suggests three walls that block journalists from engaging in the Internet’s facilitation of personal connectivity, engagement, and a true community forum with followers. Although a wall of objectivity has somewhat been broached by Twitter use, walls of storytelling and routine and traditional news values continue to hold strong.
ContributorsJohnson, Richard G., 1981- (Author) / Thornton, Leslie-Jean (Thesis advisor) / Silcock, Bill (Committee member) / Gilpin, Dawn (Committee member) / Daer, Alice (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This project explores the history of technology and social media, and their impact on the music industry. Social media and music culture are part of a remix culture, which encompasses new ways of recreating old content. Social media is not a new phenomenon, but has existed for centuries in various forms, dating back to ancient cultures. Music is constantly changing due to the remix culture- each new music style is created by changing what exists to fit the individual musician's style. Technological advances pushed the music industry to change, from the start to audio recording, to the digital sharing that is present in 2015, creating the musical culture as we presently know it. Due to the way that social media and music are interacting, a new platform is necessary to serve the artists in the music industry. Marketing on social media is incredibly powerful, but is ill-suited for small artists. As a result, SoundScope was developed to serve the needs of small musicians on social media. Soundscope develops a website that lets musicians use social media to it's greatest capacity and take advantage of the remix culture and the concept of virality that has developed with online communication. It uses a voting/ranking system to populate and organize it's home page, allowing listeners to find the most popular music first, and artists can get feedback based on the voting system and commenting capability. These create the community necessary for effective marketing and sharing of garage artist's music in the digital sphere.
ContributorsCash, Aimee Nicole (Author) / Silcock, Bill (Thesis director) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
With a prison population that has grown to 1.4 million, an imprisonment rate of 419 per 100,000 U.S. residents, and a recidivism rate of 52.2% for males and 36.4% for females, the United States is facing a crisis. Currently, no sufficient measures have been taken by the United States to reduce recidivism. Attempts have been made, but they ultimately failed. Recently, however, there has been an increase in experimentation with the concept of teaching inmates basic computer skills to reduce recidivism. As labor becomes increasingly digitized, it becomes more difficult for inmates who spent a certain period away from technology to adapt and find employment. At the bare minimum, anybody entering the workforce must know how to use a computer and other technological appliances, even in the lowest-paid positions. By incorporating basic computer skills and coding educational programs within prisons, this issue can be addressed, since inmates would be better equipped to take on a more technologically advanced labor market.<br/>Additionally, thoroughly preparing inmates for employment is a necessity because it has been proven to reduce recidivism. Prisons typically have some work programs; however, these programs are typically outdated and prepare inmates for fields that may represent a difficult employment market moving forward. On the other hand, preparing inmates for tech-related fields of work is proving to be successful in the early stages of experimentation. A reason for this success is the growing demand. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 11 percent between 2019 and 2029. This is noteworthy considering the national average for growth of all other jobs is only 4 percent. It also warrants the exploration of educating coders because software developers, in particular, have an expected growth rate of 22 percent between 2019 and 2029. <br/>Despite the security risks of giving inmates access to computers, the implementation of basic computer skills and coding in prisons should be explored further. Programs that give inmates access to a computing education already exist. The only issue with these programs is their scarcity. However, this is to no fault of their own, considering the complex nature and costs of running such a program. Accordingly, this leaves the opportunity for public universities to get involved. Public universities serve as perfect hosts because they are fully capable of leveraging the resources already available to them. Arizona State University, in particular, is a more than ideal candidate to spearhead such a program and serve as a model for other public universities to follow. Arizona State University (ASU) is already educating inmates in local Arizona prisons on subjects such as math and English through their PEP (Prison Education Programming) program.<br/>This thesis will focus on Arizona specifically and why this would benefit the state. It will also explain why Arizona State University is the perfect candidate to spearhead this kind of program. Additionally, it will also discuss why recidivism is detrimental and the reasons why formerly incarcerated individuals re-offend. Furthermore, it will also explore the current measures being taken in Arizona and their limitations. Finally, it will provide evidence for why programs like these tend to succeed and serve as a proposal to Arizona State University to create its own program using the provided framework in this thesis.
ContributorsAwawdeh, Bajis Tariq (Author) / Halavais, Alexander (Thesis director) / Funk, Kendall (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Social media has been extensively researched, and its effects on well-being are well established. What is less studied, however, is how social media affects romantic relationships specifically. The few studies that have researched this have found mixed results. Some researchers have found social media to have a positive influence on relationship outcomes, while other have found social media to have a negative influence. In an attempt to reconcile these discrepancies, the current thesis study explored possible mediators between social media use and relationship health outcomes which, to my knowledge, has not been investigated in previous literature. Three moderators were explored: type of social media use (active use versus passive use), relationship-contingent self-esteem, and social comparison orientation. The baseline portion of the study had 547 individuals, recruited from Arizona State University’s SONA system as well as Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, who were in a romantic relationship for at least three months; the follow-up portion of the study had 181 participants. Results suggest that women who passively use social media exhibit a negative association between hours per day of social media use and baseline relationship satisfaction. Men who passively use social media exhibited a negative association between hours per day of social media use and follow-up relationship satisfaction, as well as a negative association with baseline commitment. While relationship-contingent self-esteem did not moderate the association between hours per day of social media use and relationship health, it was positively related to both men and women’s baseline relationship satisfaction and baseline commitment. Social comparison orientation (SCO) produced minimal results; women low on SCO exhibited a negative association between social media use and baseline relationship satisfaction, and higher SCO for men was associated with lower baseline commitment. Finally, exploratory post-hoc mediation models revealed that relationship comparisons mediated the association between hours per day of social media use and baseline relationship, as well as baseline commitment, for both men and women. Previous research supports the findings regarding passive social media use, while the findings regarding relationship-contingent self-esteem and relationship comparisons add new findings to the romantic relationship literature.
ContributorsQuiroz, Selena (Author) / Mickelson, Kristin (Thesis advisor) / Burleson, Mary (Committee member) / Halavais, Alexander (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019