Matching Items (21)
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- All Subjects: Social Media
- Creators: School of Community Resources and Development
- Status: Published
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
Few studies have examined the correlations between individual characteristics and other popular forms of social media other than Facebook. This study explored the ways emerging adults use Instagram and Snapchat and examined the relationships between social media and individual characteristics. A sample of 393 participants were recruited from a large university in the Southwestern United States. The participants completed an online questionnaire that included a newly developed social media measure along with established measures that examined the individual characteristics of social comparison orientation, self-esteem, loneliness, contingent self-worth, narcissism, and life satisfaction. In the present study, more participants reported having an active Instagram account than an active Facebook or Snapchat account. Additionally, a higher number of participants also reported preferring Instagram and Snapchat compared to Facebook. Significant correlations were found between various individual characteristics and three aspects of social media use: overall time spent on social media, whether the individual felt that their time spent on social media was meaningful, and how the individual felt emotionally after comparing themselves to others' photos and posts. Potential explanations and implications of the results are discussed.
ContributorsArndorfer, Sydney (Author) / Field, Ryan (Thesis director) / Sechler, Casey (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This project is a strategic online media proposal for aBloom Salon. In order to provide the salon with a successful social media proposal, there must be an analysis of the current situation informed by secondary and primary research. aBloom in Latin means transformation; this salon specializes in holistic beauty. At this salon all the products are organic, natural and raw. They use a non-toxic ammonia-free color line and have a Raw Beauty Bar where clients can create all-natural custom products. This proposal aims to increase aBloom Salon's brand awareness in the most effective way possible. The project started by analyzing the salon's website, Facebook page and Instagram content and following-up with recommendations for improvement. In addition to that analysis, research was conducted on current clients to gage their social media habits and purpose for using social media. Salon owner, Alejandra Martinez, currently averages 20 to 30 clients a week and said she would like to increase to 25 to 35 clients a week. Martinez was promoting her salon through her website, word-of-mouth, Facebook, Yelp, Instagram and cross-promoting efforts with likeminded businesses.
ContributorsHashemian, Sepeedeh (Author) / Wu, Xu (Thesis director) / Roschke, Kristy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
BACKGROUND: Biotechnology can improve vitamin deficiencies, farming practices and yields, yet it is surrounded by controversy. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to better understand opinions Americans have about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), across multiple perspectives including scientists, farmers, and perceptions shared via social media. METHODS: A Google Scholar search for the term "genetically modified" (GM) produced 1,420,000 results in 0.05 seconds from the year 1988 to present, a portion of this literature was used for this study. In addition a quasi-experimental study on social media (i.e. a blog and Twitter) was performed to inspire reactions of social media users who followed the accounts @Biofortified and @BiotechFood. The study lasted for approximately three months. The analytics website, Topsy was also used to track the number of conversations that included terms like "GMO". Furthermore a plant biologist, sustainability scientist, and local farmers were interviewed to gain insights on their perceptions of GM products. RESULTS: Results generally suggest that there was no stance shared by social media users, local farmers, and researchers. It was clear however that conversation about GMOs happens daily on social media. These conversations however lack the evidence that can be learned through literature and conversations with local farmers. DISCUSSION: A plausible possible reason for the confusion and mixed opinions is that regardless of the resources (like scientific literature and agriculture workers available on GMOs), individuals appear to use moral reasoning \u2014 as defined by Jonathan Haidt \u2014 to defend their stance on GMOs, not necessarily any empirical evidence.
ContributorsHubbard, Shayla Briann (Author) / Hekler, Eric (Thesis director) / Wharton, Christopher (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This is an exploratory study that describes the activities of the Chive community as a popular religion. Using utilize Shan Suttons' framework from The Deadhead Community (2000) and Howard Beckers Jazz Places, I use categories of Community, Cultus, Creed, and Code as ways to explore describe the Chive community's activities and how they are similar to the popular religion, the Deadheads. Chive people maintain a sense of community that operates online with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter where they began to connect with one another, offline in the form of Meet-ups, and charity drives, and in the fabric between these events of the shared consciousness that takes place among Chivers and Chivettes. Through participant observations, interviews with Chive chapter administrators, and survey responses, I set out to answer, or get closer to, what it is that leads someone to Chive On.
ContributorsHarrick, Travis Christopher (Author) / Renshaw, Scott (Thesis director) / Keahey, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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
This research explores how to best communicate positive body images to women. This project was intended to improve a blog I created my freshmen year in college called You're Not A Potato where I used original illustrations to tell a narrative about body image issues. The thesis begins with an historical overview of body image issues and finds that women have been dealing with high levels of body dissatisfaction since the Victorian era. The thesis then recaps the role of traditional media as well as contemporary social media and the role they play in imposing rigid beauty ideals on women's bodies. After an analysis of social media culture, it becomes evident women still communicate about their bodies in a negative manner, not only towards themselves, but towards others. To address this issue, I define the Body Positive movement and explore how public figures are using social media to implement Body Positivity. To conclude this project, I utilize my new-found knowledge in body positive communication by impacting my university campus community. I started a "You're Not a Potato" Campaign for Body Pride week with the help of the ASU Wellness Team and designed and facilitated several engaging programs that reflected the values of the Body Positive movement to our students. Through this research, I discovered how our appearance-based culture has stolen self-confidence from young women today, but by the end of this project, I explain how we can attempt to rebuild our culture by effectively communicating self-love and body acceptance in our online and physical communities.
ContributorsMouton, Brianna Anais (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Taylor, Jameien (Committee member) / Manninen, Bertha (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This honors thesis study aimed to gain a better understanding of millennials and how to effectively use interactive marketing to advertise to this generation. The thesis was broken up into three segments. The first segment includes a literature review on: identifying and comparing within the millennial generation, millennials impacts on marketing, and an introduction to interactive marketing. The second segment covered the methodology study including the application of the research findings to analyze the effectiveness of interactive marketing and the shift brands have made to reach millennials. Lastly, the final section covered an overall conclusion and recommendations. This paper first identified who the millennial generation is and discussed the differences between the older and younger millennials among the generation as a whole. Then the paper moved into defining what interactive marketing is and how it is being used and targeted towards the millennial generation. The next section identified the key differences within the millennial generation and the main areas in which this generation impacted brands and the company's interactive marketing efforts. The research suggests what the most influential take-a-ways from the millennial generation are and how brands shifted in order to better target the new types of consumers. Additionally, the information obtained from understanding the millennials' perspective on interactive marketing provide companies a better idea of how to market to them. Lastly, the recommendation checklist for companies to follow on how to create a successful interactive marketing advertising campaign helped to position brands in the most efficient way possible when entering this new form of marketing and specifically targeting millennials.
ContributorsRamsey, Victoria Rebecca (Author) / Eaton, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Montoya, Detra (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Organ, cornea and tissue donation is a widespread public health need that has high rates of public approval, but lower rates of action. In Arizona, an individual can register as an organ donor at 15 years and six months old, and this ever-growing demographic is a hard-to-influence, yet important part of the pool of registered donors. There are many factors that serve to influence or dissuade adolescents from registering, and it is the duty of organ procurement organizations (OPOs) and others involved in the donation process to appeal to this audience. This undergraduate research project explores the overall idea of what makes someone register as an organ, cornea and tissue donor by looking into several factors of the decision-making process, such as social media usage and engagement, hesitation or support surrounding spiritual beliefs, and how personal opinions and beliefs shape views and action toward organ donation. Based on the data collected, the researcher found relationships between the registration status of adolescents and their social media use, spiritual beliefs and personal relationships and opinions.
ContributorsReddy, Miranda Adelyn (Author) / Wu, Xu (Thesis director) / Bovio, Sonia (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This study derives from a developmental psychology viewpoint. The main research question is, "What are the effects of social media on children?" Aspects such as bullying, personality changes, and academic performances are considered. This topic is important because it has yet to be explored extensively. Given the ever changing nature of social media, it is a challenge to keep up with research on how this technology is changing the direction of society. Studying children involved with social media allows a direct glimpse into what one aspect of the future of child social development holds. The main problem explored in this thesis is whether or not social media is currently affecting children negatively. Correlations will be examined to determine who is most likely to utilize social media, as well as who is most likely to be affected positively or negatively by networking sites. Motivations behind social media usage and time spent online will also be studied. This research is important in understanding today's youth, and once understood, parents and teachers can learn to guide children in using social media for beneficial reasons rather than potentially detrimental ones. I have conducted my research by means of a survey, one in which the entire fifth-grade class at Copper Creek Elementary School partook. Results showed that nearly all surveyed students used social media. Differences in social media usage between classmates based on gender and presence of older siblings were found. It was concluded that social media is affecting fifth-grade females more negatively than fifth-grade males. Also, it was found that children with older siblings may be at risk for using mature social media sites too soon. The long term effects of these findings were not explored, and further research on this subject is encouraged.
ContributorsWilkey, Brooke Nicole (Author) / Lewis, Stephen (Thesis director) / Gaffney, Cynthia (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12