Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
268 InstitutionsSocial Media Influencers' Impact On Consumer Purchasing Decisions,Kennedi O. Kutz, Kiara Espinal, Erin Flynn, Julia Cheney
Pace University
The study entails how social media usage and parasocial relationships with social media influencers impact the audience’s purchases as a consumer. The survey covers a wide range of questions discussing the different social media platforms, how often they engage on them, and how often they click and engage with advertisements and influencers. It also covered questions that collected the participants' demographics to better understand which groups are more likely to be influenced by advertisements and influencers. We have found that younger audiences are more likely to have their consumer purchases influenced by social media advertisements and influencers than older audiences. …
Star Wars, Parasocial Relationships And Breakups, And The Force…Of Fandom,Alexandria P. Sutherland
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
As we live our lives in an increasingly growing digital world, like-minds tend to gather. These like-minds, when gathered around a media franchise, become known as a fandom. Fandom culture can often shape an individual’s identity, as they become more heavily engrossed in the lore surrounding the media. Permeating this individual identity is the group identity, which allows for the fandom to be labeled as a community. When belonging to a very popular media’s fandom, such asStar Wars, it is rather easy to become completely engrossed in the characters and their stories, long after the credits roll, and …
The Non-Apology Of Tyler, The Creator,John Gibaud
Gettysburg College
This project analyzes the behavior and statements of the musician Tyler, The Creator as compared to contemporary understandings of the steps, requirements, and functions of a public apology. In 2009, Tyler, The Creator began his career as a solo singer songwriter, using shock value tactics to gain the attention of the public with lyrics and online comments which glorified murder, sexual assault, and kidnapping. Outcries against the themes of the comments and lyrics called for an official public apology and acknowledgement from Tyler, The Creator, however, such a statement never came to fruition. Since his problematic debut, Tyler, The Creator …
Social Media Use, Disordered Eating, And Body Image In Adolescent Females: A Systematic Review Of The Literature,Alara Ozpolat
Pepperdine University
Adolescent females are especially at risk of developing eating disorders due to expectations surrounding body image, social pressures, and influence from peers. With the significant role of social media in daily life, the average adolescent currently spends several hours a day engaging with content on social media. The overall aim of this review was to better understand the impact of social media consumption on disordered eating and body image among female adolescents. The primary research questions explored within this systematic review were as follows: Is there a relationship between social media use, body image concerns, and/or eating disorder symptoms in …
Tiktok’S Influence On Generation Z’S Buying Habits And Behavior,Tamara B. Munoz
Florida International University
As the digital era progresses, we continue to see how certain platforms capture the interest of various generations. Back then, Myspace rapidly appealed to millennials, and Facebook did the same with baby boomers. Today, TikTok is following their steps as it gains the interest of Generation Z in technologically advanced ways. In addition to providing entertainment, this short-video platform is now the go-to place to look for reviews of products or services. Due to this, the platform may be transforming how this age group behaves as a consumer. The overall purpose of this project was to further examine the impact …
The Media Effect And The Implications For Racial Minority Groups,Hailey E. HoffmanGettysburg College
The Media Effects Theory explains the impact media exposure can have on both the individual and societal level. Recent studies have shown that the increase in media consumption influences the perceptions an individual develops about their self and of other groups. The attitudes individuals develop become more susceptible to media influence when they are given smart technology starting in early childhood. The lack of diversity and negative stereotypes portrayed within the media magnifies the media effect experienced by minority users. The news, entertainment, fashion, and beauty industries are areas of the media that society has become particularly fixed on. These …
The Role Of Platform Design In Excessive Short Form Video Use And The Resulting Impacts On Cognitive Processes,Katherine Levey
University of South Carolina - Columbia
Short form video (SFV) platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels have rapidly reshaped global media consumption. This thesis investigates how the defining technological elements of SFV platforms contribute to prolonged viewing behavior by inducing flow, a psychological state characterized by deep immersion and diminished self-awareness. Through a review of nineteen scholarly articles, this study examines how features like infinite scroll, auto-play, and algorithmic personalization create a low-effort, high-reward user experience that sustains attention and facilitates continuous engagement. Once immersed, users often fall into a cycle of passive, prolonged scrolling, consuming more content and spending more time than intended. Findings …
The Psychological Impacts Of Algorithmic And Ai-Driven Social Media On Teenagers: A Call To Action,Sunil Arora, Sahil Arora, John Hastings
Dakota State University
This study investigates the meta-issues surrounding social media, which, while theoretically designed to enhance social interactions and improve our social lives by facilitating the sharing of personal experiences and life events, often results in adverse psychological impacts. Our investigation reveals a paradoxical outcome: rather than fostering closer relationships and improving social lives, the algorithms and structures that underlie social media platforms inadvertently contribute to a profound psychological impact on individuals, influencing them in unforeseen ways. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced among teenagers, who are disproportionately affected by curated online personas, peer pressure to present a perfect digital image, and the …
Digital Addiction: A Conceptual Overview,Amarjit Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar Singh
Chapra Cental School (CCS), Chapra, Bihar
Abstract
Digital addiction referred to an impulse control disorder that involves the obsessive use of digital devices, digital technologies, and digital platforms, i.e. internet, video game, online platforms, mobile devices, digital gadgets, and social network platform. It is an emerging domain of Cyberpsychology (Singh, Amarjit Kumar and Pawan Kumar Singh; 2019), which explore a problematic usage of digital media, device, and platforms by being obsessive and excessive. This article analyses, reviewed the current research, and established a conceptual overview on the digital addiction. The research literature on digital addiction has proliferated. However, we tried to categories the digital addiction, according …
Everything Old Is Q Again: An Analysis Of The Resurgent #Pizzagate Myth In Social Media,Bond Benton, Daniela Peterka-Benton
Montclair State University
On November 28, 2023, X CEO Elon Musk posted a meme suggesting that the #pizzagate conspiracy had been suppressed by powerful forces complicit in the exploitation of children. The #pizzagate conspiracy presumed that elites had organized a ring serving pedophiles in the basement of a pizzeria in Washington D.C. The conspiracy was debunked in major news outlets with social media platforms such as Facebook banning such content, as well (BBC News). These efforts ultimately did not prevent #pizzagate from morphing into the QAnon conspiracy that would galvanize multiple extremist political movements (Bleakley). Specifically, however, #pizzagate as a discrete narrative was …
Social Media And Public Opinion In Times Of Conflict: How Arab Social Media Impacted International Perspectives On The Gaza War,Mariam Rizk2026
American University in Cairo
This exploratory study examines how Arab social media content creators impacted the international public perception of the 2023 Gaza war through English-language content. The research is conducted through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants: 4 Arab social media content creators and 15 English-speaking university students (13 American citizens and 2 international students studying in American universities). Through these semi-structured qualitative interviews, the research investigates the agenda-setting capabilities of social media during conflicts and identifies effective cross-cultural communication strategies. The study employed purposive sampling with snowball technique, targeting content creators with established social media presence (37,000-426,000 Instagram followers) and university students who …
An Impact Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of Utilizing Informal Health Communication Interventions To Spread Health Recommendations And Change Public Perception,Lina Mohamed Ezzat Ahmed Abdel Mawgoud2026The American University in Cairo AUC
Brain health is an increasingly urgent but critically under-addressed public health priority in Egypt and the wider MENA region. Despite its centrality to aging, productivity, and overall quality of life, public understanding of brain health remains limited, and stigma continues to shape responses to dementia and cognitive decline. This study evaluates the effectiveness of informal, culturally adapted health communication as a tool to shift perception, increase awareness, and promote behavior change among non-medically trained adults in Egypt.
Grounded in global evidence on cognitive reserve, neuroplasticity, and the life-course approach to brain health, the intervention translated expert-informed brain health recommendations into …
Social Media Participation And Scholarly Success In Law,Julian Nyarko, David E. Pozen2025
Stanford Law School
Using a novel dataset on Twitter activity as well as a novel corpus of law journal publications, this paper examines the impact of social media activity on the scholarly success of U.S. law professors. We find that joining Twitter increases citation counts by an average of 22% per year and improves article placements by up to 10 ranks for law professors, relative to a synthetic control group. These positive returns apply across nearly all classes of scholars and are magnified for those who post frequently about their own work. The identified citation boost would be even larger than 22% if …
News Distribution Strategies For Social Media Engagement: A Case Study Of Liputan6 Sctv,Lale Sekar Idaman Pertiwi, Muhammad Jamiluddin Nur, YY Wima Riyayanatasya2025
UNIVERSITAS MATARAM
The rapid advancement of digital technology has accelerated media convergence, positioning Instagram and YouTube as strategic platforms for visual and audiovisual news distribution in line with modern audience consumption patterns. This study examinesLiputan 6 SCTV’s Instagram and YouTube distribution strategies and their impact on audience engagement, content reach, and news visibility in the digital media landscape. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach, data were collected through interviews, observations, and documents. The findings indicate thatLiputan 6SCTV’s content distribution strategies embody a multidimensional form of media convergence that integrates technological, editorial, and cultural aspects. Nine key strategies were …
Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania,Peter Rabson Mziray2025
Sokoine University of Agriculture
The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which ismmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …
Investigating The Plant Folk Taxonomy In The Bena Language Of Tanzania,Adriano Utenga2025The University of Dodoma
This paper surveys plant identification and categorisation among the Bena. Each society’s cultural uniqueness and peculiarity in categorising the local biodiversity informed the study. The researcher conducted the study in Lupembe Ward, Njombe District Council, where Bena is the predominant language. Five elderly speakers of Bena, knowledgeable about plants, were selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Jungle-walk-and-identify and focus group interviews were the key methods for data collection. Using the Perceptual-Taxonomic Theory as a guide, I analysed the data thematically. The study found that the Bena cannot identify the unique beginner “plant” (the all-inclusive word for the notion plant). …
Decoding Omens From Animal Calls And Sightings: An Ethnozoolinguistic Study Among The Iraqw Of Tanzania,Chrispina Alphonce2025The University of Dodoma, Tanzania
Understanding the interplay between cultural beliefs, language, and environmental signals is crucial for comprehending how communities engage with their natural surroundings. Despite existing research on cultural interpretations of natural phenomena, little is known about how animal calls and sightings specifically predict omens within the Iraqw community in Tanzania. This study examines the Iraqw ethnozoolinguistics of omens, focusing on their role in forecasting social events, both positive and negative, and on how these signals reflect the community’s cultural understanding. A qualitative research design was employed, with data collected through introspection, focus group discussions, and semi-structured interviews, grounded in ecosemiotic, ecolinguistic, and …
Plant Naming Strategies And Plant Utility Among The Datooga Community Of Tanzania,Kuria Michael Mdoe2025University of Dar es salaam
Due to their centrality in the life of the Datooga community, the study focuses on plants in the community. Specifically, the study focuses on two aspects: the linguistics of plant naming and the plant utility across the community using an ethnolinguistic approach. Through the jungle-walk-and-identify method, plants and their names were identified. Through interviews, the plant utility was identified in the community. Data was collected in Chaggana village of Igunga district, Tabora region and Gheetanyamba village of Mbulu District, Manyara region. The first village had the Buraediga Datooga speakers, and the second village had both the Barabaiga and Gisamjanga Datooga …
Social Media Sponsorship: Metrics And Strategies For Finding The Right Content Creator-Sponsor Matches,Shahryar Doosti, Stephanie Lee, Young Tan2025
Chapman University
Social media video sponsorship, where sponsors partner with content creators to promote their brands, has become increasingly popular. Leveraging rich data on sponsored and nonsponsored videos on Facebook, we introduce two metrics,Content Similarity andAudience Closeness, to help sponsors find effective creator-sponsor matches.Content Similarity captures the thematic alignment between a creator’s content and a sponsor’s brand, whereasAudience Closeness measures how closely aligned a creator’s and sponsor’s audiences are within a social media network. We find that both metrics significantly increase video viewership, but their effects vary over time.Audience Closeness generates more immediate, short-term engagement, whereas …
What We Watch On Social Media Makes An Impact,Gracie G. Johnson2025
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Prior research has demonstrated that certain social media content consumed can create unrealistic expectations of themselves; however, some hypothesize that social media provides empowering and supportive spaces. Unfortunately, many studies rely on cross-sectional data, limiting the ability to infer causality. This study looked at one of the most-used social media platforms by teens in the United States, TikTok. For this study, it was predicted that viewing “body check” videos would negatively affect body image. If significant, we could try and restrict those videos from being posted. The findings supported the hypothesis, but not significantly. However, there were quite a few …
Media Framing Of Sexual And Gender-Based Violence And Femicide: An Analysis Of News Stories In Select Kenyan, Ugandan And Tanzanian Media,Nancy Achieng' Booker, Hesbon Hansen Owilla, George Nyabuga, Olivia Sayani, Liz Awino, Rose Kimani2025
Aga Khan University
This study explored how femicide and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are framed in the media across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda between January 2024 and April 2025. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combined quantitative content analysis with qualitative interviews to uncover both coverage patterns and the contextual factors shaping them. The codebook for content analysis was developed from existing literature and grounded in media framing theory, drawing on the works of Goffman, Entman, Iyengar, Tuchman, and Van Zoonen. The analysis focused on frame types (episodic and thematic), framing attributes, main actors, and story treatment, while interviews with journalists, editors, …
Adapting News Production To Social Media Logics As A Revenue Strategy: The Case Of Beritabali.Com,Irsanti Widuri Asih, Aryo Subarkah Eddyono2025Universitas Terbuka
Over the past decade, news consumption has increasingly shifted from websites to social media, leading to a significant decline in advertising revenues for online news outlets. This shift presents a serious challenge for small-scale local media in Indonesia, which typically operate with limited financial and human resources. This study explores howBeritabali.com, a local news outlet, responds to these challenges by addressing three central questions: why it produces content for social media, how it adapts to the social media ecosystem, and what implications arise from this transformation. Drawing on the theory of deep mediatization and employing a qualitative methodology …
Evaluation Of Pre-Hajj Multimedia Training Tools: A Case Study Of Prospective Australian Pilgrims,Kholoud M. Munshi, Mustapha Taibi Dr., Kate Richards Ms., Khushnoor Khan Mr.2025
Effat University, Jeddah
Every year, millions of Muslim pilgrims gather in Makkah (Saudi Arabia) for Hajj. These pilgrims come from different parts of the world, with diverse language and cultural backgrounds. Managing such a large and diverse congregation for a successful completion of Hajj requires effective planning, which depends on two important antecedents—knowing the background information of the pilgrims and developing effective pre-Hajj training tools for dissemination of Hajj information for non-Arabic speaking pilgrims. This study evaluates the perceptions of potential Hajj pilgrims regarding community translation usability (CTX) and medium usability (MX) of two existing pre-Hajj media tools developed by Mnask Academy (Booklet …
Examining The Relationship Between Health Literacy And The Primary Source Of Information For Healthcare Services Among Rural Residents,Xuewei Chen, Tao Hu, Rose W. Njoroge, Ming Li, Gary Kreps2025
Sam Houston State University
Rural residents face significantly lower access to and utilization of healthcare services compared to their urban counterparts. To inform the development of effective interventions aimed at reducing urban-rural health disparities through improved health communication, we conducted a survey study from June to September 2023. This study examined the primary sources of healthcare information used by rural residents and explored the relationship between health literacy and the primary source of healthcare information. The sample included 464 residents from Tillman and Harmon counties in Oklahoma. These two counties are marked by persistent rural health disparities, including low education levels, high poverty rates, …
Medst101 Contemporary Media, Fall 2025 Syllabus,Juan Monroy2025
CUNY Queens College
A survey of contemporary media industries including their technical, economic, social, political and cultural implications. We will also examine the economic underpinnings of media, the role of advertising and public relations, and the policies that govern contemporary media industries.
A Measurement And Empirical Research On The Scientific KnowledgeDemand Of Netizens On Social Media Platform,Rui ZHANG, Wanyi ZUO, Wei HUANG2025
1.School of Economics and Management, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 4300682.Hubei Digital Industrial Economic Development Research Center, Wuhan 430068
[Purpose/significance] Exploring the scientific knowledge demand of netizens on social media platform will prompt the dissemination and utilization of scientific knowledge, and it plays an important role in enhancement of the scientific literacy level of our general publics.
[Method/process] This paper constructed a measurement index system of netizens' scientific knowledge demand consists of demand breadth, demand strength and demand hierarchy, and adopted a comprehensive evaluation method based upon factor analysis and entropy method. 30 popular science WeChat accounts in different fields are measured and evaluated, and the comprehensive ranking of demand was calculated to explore and compare the demand differences …
Exploring The Use Of Infographics To Alter Consumer Opinions And Perceptions Of Sustainability Within The U.S. Beef Industry,Gabriella F. Johnson, David S. Martin, Jason T. Sawyer, Don Mulvaney2025Auburn University
The meat industry faces increasing scrutiny over its environmental impact, animal welfare practices, and role in sustainable food systems, often fueled by misinformation and lack of consumer understanding. The purpose of this research was to explore the effectiveness of using infographics to change negative or misinformed opinions about the beef industry. Effective science communication strategies, such as evidence-based infographics, offer a promising approach to conveying complex agricultural topics in a visually engaging and accessible manner. These communication devices are effective in visually informing audiences and simplifying the messages; however, there is not a large body of literature on infographic use …
When Machines Speak Science: Testing Consumers’ Perceptions Of Ai-Generated Communication Messages,Alexa J. Lamm, Kevan W. Lamm, Allison R. Byrd, Masoud Yazdanpanah, Nicholas K. Gabler, Anna K. Johnson, Catherine Sanders, Fallys Masambuka-Kanchewa, Michael S. Retallick2025University of Georgia
Effective science communication is essential for fostering public understanding and trust in scientific information, particularly as emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are used to generate content quickly. The purpose of this research was to explore how U.S. consumers perceive transparency and source credibility of an agricultural science communication message delivered via Facebook when messages are generated by AI versus a human scientist. Using an experimental design embedded in an online survey, 1,011 respondents, representative of the U.S. public, were randomly assigned to view one of four social media posts covering either a benign (animal nutrition) or controversial (animal welfare) …
Ai, Celebrities, And Their Fans: The Cyber-Pseudo-Event*,Gabbie Iorio2025
New York University
Tech companies often use celebrities to facilitate adoption of new technologies, and they’re doing the same with AI. For example, Meta is employing celebrities to attract users to their AI products, not only to adopt the technology, but to provide the company data for testing and optimizing the products. Fan communities, such as Nicki Minaj’s Barbz, have also taken up AI technology as a new medium for fandom expression. This paper will explore the varying degrees of success of these applications of AI technology, while putting them in conversation with scholarship on images, celebrity, and fandom.
*Top Graduate Paper
Engaging Students And Stakeholders In Times Of Crisis: Hbcus Bridging Social Capital On Facebook While Navigating Physical Distancing,Pamela Peters2025
Western Illinois University
COVID-19 placed a strain on colleges that tend to rely on tuition, especially small HBCUs, which traditionally serve a high percentage of underrepresented students. Being away from campus, many stakeholders were experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety. Social media offers an outlet for schools and stakeholders to stay connected during a crisis. Using social capital, this study examined how small HBCUs bridged social capital on Facebook during the year before and the first two years of the pandemic. A comparative analysis of Facebook posts of 30 HBCUs with a student population of under 2000 was conducted to determine post …
Julia CheneyPace University
Kennedi KutzPace University
Kiara EspinalPace University
Erin FlynnPace University
Alexandria SutherlandUniversity of Tennessee, Knoxville
John GibaudGettysburg College
Daniela Peterka-BentonMontclair State University
Alara OzpolatPepperdine University
Tamara MunozFlorida International University
Hailey HoffmanGettysburg College
