The aim of this thesis is to describe the language of electronic communication ('netspeak') as one of the present trends of the development of English. The thesis is based on the hypothesis 'netspeak' represents an independent multimodal linguistic variety sharing some features with informal face-to-face conversation. For this purpose, the language of selected samples of the texts of English-speaking students of British universities obtained from the social network Facebook was studied. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of these data and their comparison with spoken form of standard English, namely with the spoken demographically sampled part of the British National Corpus, confirmed the hypothesis. ! Key words: netspeak, CMC, Facebook, emoticons, face-to-face communication, informal conversation

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies / Soo-Hye Han / Advancements in technology, particularly the introduction of online social networking sites, have expanded the modes available when handling the death of a loved one. This study examines how individuals use the Facebook profile pages of deceased persons to cope with loss and maintain relationships with them. An extensive content analysis of Facebook profiles of ten deceased individuals was conducted to investigate what the living discuss in their messages to the deceased in the semi-public setting of a Facebook profile page and if this content changes over the course of time. This analysis revealed that messages to the deceased reflect three themes: 1) processing the death, 2) remembering the deceased, and 3) maintaining the relationship. In addition to these dominant themes, the data also indicated that the content of messages shifted over time. Messages that contained the processing of death remained consistent over time, while posts that reflected remembrance of the deceased decreased, and messages that demonstrated relationship maintenance increased with time. This study utilizes the theoretical frameworks of continuing bonds and social information processing to draw implications of these findings. By examining the content written and how messages change over time, this study provides insight into how people cope with loss and maintain relationships with their deceased loved ones in the digital age.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Nancy Muturi / This study was designed to explore how Alzheimer’s caregivers use Facebook support groups. Specifically it describes what kinds of activities caregivers engage in when in Facebook support groups, explores the motivation behind participation, and details perceived advantages and disadvantages of the groups. Whether Facebook support groups are considered a primary and accurate source of disease information was also explored. The study was qualitative in nature and consisted of 20 caregiver interviews, conducted via phone and Skype. Guided by uses and gratifications theory (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1974), the study employed six research questions to fully explore the experiences of caregivers in Facebook support groups. Generally speaking, the study identified the primary theme of community, and three subthemes including context, advice and emotional release/support. There were also significant findings on the primacy and accuracy of information. The ability to more fully understand these themes in the context of the caregiver experience will provide health care professionals with a foundation on which they can build effective ways to tap existing Facebook support groups and bolster support as the Alzheimer’s epidemic grows exponentially between now and 2050.

The study aims to contribute to the deeper understanding of young Facebook users’ news consumption routines within the platform and to find out how they experience the growing presence of news publishers there. The research is based on 10 semi­structured interviews with international students ­ Swedish Institute scholarship holders from seven different countries. The qualitative data is analysed with the help of the theoretical approach, based on the combination of two modern concepts, that consider user perspective on news consumption: the concept of “perceived worthwhileness” by Kim Christian Schroeder and “spatial turn” by Chris Peters. The research has shown that young users often use Facebook as their primary source of news and, therefore, adopt new routines on this social platform in terms of news consumption. Among them are scanning through personal news feeds, monitoring friends interests, using “likes” for information dissemination and self­expression, chain reading news and “playing” with algorithms. At the same time, the communicational component of Facebook is not ignored and the platform as a whole is experienced rather as a space than a specific medium. In general, young users experience news consumption on Facebook in a positive way and appreciate the opportunity to see their peers’ perspectives on particular issues, show their identity to significant others, be exposed to a diverse range of news without wasting time on searching and choosing, and keep track of their activities and interests. At the same time, the author identified a negative attitude towards the chaotic structure of news feeds and the complexity of the settings.

Sociala medier är en ny medieplattform som har börjat konkurrera med traditionella medier. Inom svensk politik har TV, radio och tidningar varit de största plattformarna för politiska aktörer att profilera sig. För en politisk aktör har sociala medier däremot skapat nya möjligheter att på ett billigare, snabbare och mer tidseffektivt sätt nå ut till väljarna. Facebook och Twitter två sociala medier som det mest frekvent talas om där Facebook är det största sociala mediet. Där kan aktörerna både lägga ut bilder, skapa grupper och skapa ”gilla” sidor. Forskning kring sociala medier visar på att det bidrar till en starkare och större mobilisering både fysiskt och över internet. Forskningen visar även på hur sociala medier idag leder till att relationen mellan medier och partier/politiker blir mer dynamisk. Studien redovisar och analyserar de politiska sekreterarnas åsikter utifrån tre teorier: offentlighet, tvåstegshypotesen och gestaltning. Dessa är valda för att visa på sociala mediers användningsområden och faktiska användning. Samt semistrukturerade intervjuer med de politiska sekreterarna ligger till grund för empirin. Resultatet visar på att sociala medier har en central roll i Huddingepartiernas arbete där förmågan att själva forma och publicera nyheter har stor betydelse. Möjligheten att kunna påverka nyheter och effektivt kunna nå ut till väljare är två viktiga funktioner som sociala medier har. Resultatet visar också på att partiernas förmåga att själva agera opinionsledare har ökat och i enlighet med forskningen kunna mobilisera väljare i större utsträckning. Studien hoppas kunna bidra till att påvisa hur sociala medier används och kan användas i svensk politik, hur dess roll blir mer avgörande i takt med den teknologiska utvecklingen.

Thesis aims to analyze internet marketing and its possible use in social networks, focusing on Facebook. The theoretical part clarifies concepts of internet and marketing, internet marketing specifications, its possibilities and forms. It also introduces Web 2.0 and social networking issues. The practical part demonstrates the possible use of internet marketing on Facebook in a specific company including an evaluation.

The thesis deals with development of social networks, their characteristics and characteristics of users from global and regional point of view. The main part of the thesis is concerning social media marketing. It describes and analyzes current situation in social media marketing between firms and the most important aspects of brand strategies within social media. Finally, the thesis shows the aspects on examples of the most successful brands in social media marketing.

The purpose of this master's theses is to analyze possibilities utilization of social network in business. The theses is focused on comparison of the most important contemporary social networks in the world and also on looking for thein commercial utilization. Before this, there is the analysis of the situation of internet and clearing of the term internet marketing. In theses, there is emphasis on separation of two main ways of advertising in social networks. First way is making the communities about the companies, products or brands and the second one is advertising by promotional systems of the networks. In the theses, there are a lot of results of many studies, that were performed by key agencies. Also there are many practical examples of business usage of social networks. The theses contains the possibilities of connecting the social networks and other marketing tools like advergaming, affiliate marketing and viral marketing. In the end of the theses, there are case studies, that analyse usage of social medias in four Czech companies from different business departments.

Orientador: Maria Cristina Gobbi / Banca: Ângela Maria Grossi / Banca: Karina Janz Woitowicz / Banca: José Carlos Fernandes / Banca: Mauro de Souza Ventura / Resumo: Esse trabalho se propõe a discutir o papel de gatekeeper desempenhado pelo público presente em grupos fechados do Facebook. A pesquisa parte do pressuposto já anotado por teóricos como Pamela Shoemaker, Tim Vos e Jane Singer, entre outros, de que existe na Internet uma ação de gatekeeping em diferentes níveis - dos jornalistas e do público - e de que são os usuários das redes sociais que detêm o poder de potencializar as informações, amplificando o alcance em espaços nos quais jornal e jornalista não têm acesso direto. Para comprovar a tese foi feita análise de conteúdo de matérias compartilhadas pelos usuários de quatro grupos do Facebook em período construído de duas semanas durante o segundo turno da campanha presidencial de 2018. Por conta da notoriedade que as manifestações pela candidatura de Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) tiveram na rede, foram escolhidos dois grupos favoráveis e dois contrários ao candidato como recorte. O objetivo foi o de estudar como se dá o controle do conteúdo compartilhado nesses espaços, observando o comportamento dos usuários com relação ao material noticioso produzido por veículos tradicionais e alternativos. Da mesma forma, observar se o jornalismo tem condições de romper o gatekeeping promovido pela bolha dos filtros algorítmicos presente no Facebook por meio da ação de usuários. Entre os resultados encontrados, destaca-se a confirmação do gatekeeping praticado por diferentes atores - humanos e não humanos - presentes nas redes sociais, além da perce... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This thesis proposes to discuss the role of gatekeeper performed by the public present in restricted groups on Facebook. This research starts from the assumption pointed by theoreticians as Pamela Shoemaker, Tim Vos and Jane Singer, among others, that there is on the Internet a gatekeeping action at different levels - from journalists and the public - and that it is users of social networks which have the power to leverage information, amplifying reach in spaces in which newspapers and journalists do not have direct access. To prove the thesis, an analysis of content of the news shared by users of four Facebook groups was made in a period of two weeks during the second round of the presidential campaign of 2018. Due to the notoriety that the demonstrations by the candidacy of Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) received on the internet, two favorable groups, and two against the candidate were chosen as a clipping. The objective was to study how the control of the shared content in these spaces is given, observing the behavior of the users in relation to news material produced by traditional and alternative vehicles. In the same way, to observe if journalism can break the gatekeeping promoted by the algorithmic filters bubble present in Facebook through the action of users. Among the results found, the confirmation of gatekeeping practiced by different actors - human and non-human - present in the social networks, besides the perception that the public and journalists have different visions ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

The evolution of technology has brought several benefits in the world of education and many new teaching and learning methods are being implemented. In view of social media for learning is quite modern and interesting. Facebook as a social media is a networking site with functionalities that facilitate users to share information through internet connections with the aid of electronic devices such as computer, phones, and tablets. The number of active users on Facebook is growing fast in various fields including education field. Today students in higher education use Facebook to communicate and share ideas, cooperating and finding solutions. But different aspects need to be examined like how Facebook support student peers. This study was conducted at Linnaeus University and research participants were students from different departments,both bachelor and master levels.   The main purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions of using Facebook to support peer interaction and educational learning, identify benefits and limitations associated to Facebook usage and provide suggestions that may improve peer interaction and educational learning on Facebook. Concerning to the purpose of the research questions “How students perceive using Facebook to support peer interaction and Educational Learning? and What are student perspective on the benefits and limitations of using Facebook in educational learning?” Were investigated. A qualitative interpretative research study was conducted and data was collected through interviews.   The main results include students who agreed that Facebook functionalities such as messenger, sharing, posts, like, pages and groups enable them to interact easily since students use Facebook more when compared to other social media. But factors like peers who are not active, unnecessary chatting, connection issue, inaccessibility, privacy and security that may arise on Facebook environment play an unfavorable role in perceiving learning.