This master thesis analyses the effect that online influencers have on the shopping behavior of Generation Y. Conclusions will be formed through examining qualitative research, gathered from a sample of Generation Y candidates living in the Czech Republic, in regard to how the candidates perceive influencers and their recommendations. Theories relating to the reliability of influencers, due to paid cooperation, will be studied to determine whether online users prefer classic forms of promotion. Generation Y was selected as there is evidence to suggest they are the last generation to grow up without online influencers present. The emphasis was mainly on their attitudes, opinions and real experiences. This master thesis will be divided into three areas; literature review, methodology and findings. The purpose of the literature review will be to evaluate existing theories and allow conclusions to be produced from the chosen research topic, electronic resources and professional articles were determined as reliable sources. The methodology explains the process of how the data was collected and analysed, primary research of qualitative data was collated via ten semi-structured interviews from carefully selected candidates. The findings section of this thesis will explain in detail the conclusions drawn...

No description available.

Challenges in the South African education system arise from inter alia inadequate training, social and environmental problems, parental inefficiency, insufficient professionalism among teachers, as well as negative attitudes of learners. An urgent need exists to establish “a moral underground, an army of volunteers” (Jansen, 2012) who would be willing to provide another chance to “abandoned children” in poorer schools to develop their full potential for a brighter future. To assist learners to achieve a better future, this study focused on teacher-students and to enhance their learning experiences and consequently their teaching performance. By motivating the teacher-students to develop their potential in order to achieve better, they could, in turn, break the barriers of mediocrity in the learners they taught. The aim of this study was to uncover how a social network service (SNS) like Facebook could be used as an academic tool to support and enhance the affective learning experience of open distance teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape. The main research question which guided this study was: How can the affective learning of open distance learning teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape be supported through academic Facebook? The research intervention which elicited data, comprised coaching and scaffolding of the learning content relating to research methodology, as well as guiding the participants to engage with an SNS as a learning technology in an academic environment. The researcher created a support group on Facebook where participants could, at any time, interact with peers and the facilitator. Non-probability purposive sampling selected the participants according to the following criteria: isiXhosa home language speaking teacher-students from the rural areas around Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, enrolled with NWU for a BEd Honours degree, and who owned cellular phones which could connect to the Internet. While 74 teacher-students were invited to participate in the research, only 34 attended some of the coaching and scaffolding sessions, and 22 joined the FaceFunda group page. This qualitative bounded case study was conducted from a postmodern pragmatic view. Data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group interview, text from the FaceFunda group page and the researcher’s reflective diary. The data were analysed with Atlas. ti™. Three patterns emerged which described participants’ affective experiences: (i) emotions while learning with technology, (ii) experiences with technology, and (iii) need for support. In each case, the patterns related to emotions of competence (codes that captured positive and enabling experiences), and emotions of incompetence (codes that captured negative and incapacitating experiences). A secondary analysis of the findings uncovered the guidelines for the academic use of Facebook for rural distance teacher-students. Four themes emerged as guidelines: i) coaching and scaffolding support, (ii) technological support, (iii) peer support, and (iv) communication with the higher education institution. The guidelines highlighted that the affective learning of open distance learning of rural teacher-students in the Eastern Cape can be supported through the academic use of Facebook. ODL teacher-students require support coaching and scaffolding in order to adopt the use of SNSs for academic purposes. Adult learners should be supported to overcome technophobia to enable engagement with learning content. With adequate supportive measures, SNSs can contribute towards positive learning experiences of rural students. / MEd (Learner support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Challenges in the South African education system arise from inter alia inadequate training, social and environmental problems, parental inefficiency, insufficient professionalism among teachers, as well as negative attitudes of learners. An urgent need exists to establish “a moral underground, an army of volunteers” (Jansen, 2012) who would be willing to provide another chance to “abandoned children” in poorer schools to develop their full potential for a brighter future. To assist learners to achieve a better future, this study focused on teacher-students and to enhance their learning experiences and consequently their teaching performance. By motivating the teacher-students to develop their potential in order to achieve better, they could, in turn, break the barriers of mediocrity in the learners they taught. The aim of this study was to uncover how a social network service (SNS) like Facebook could be used as an academic tool to support and enhance the affective learning experience of open distance teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape. The main research question which guided this study was: How can the affective learning of open distance learning teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape be supported through academic Facebook? The research intervention which elicited data, comprised coaching and scaffolding of the learning content relating to research methodology, as well as guiding the participants to engage with an SNS as a learning technology in an academic environment. The researcher created a support group on Facebook where participants could, at any time, interact with peers and the facilitator. Non-probability purposive sampling selected the participants according to the following criteria: isiXhosa home language speaking teacher-students from the rural areas around Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, enrolled with NWU for a BEd Honours degree, and who owned cellular phones which could connect to the Internet. While 74 teacher-students were invited to participate in the research, only 34 attended some of the coaching and scaffolding sessions, and 22 joined the FaceFunda group page. This qualitative bounded case study was conducted from a postmodern pragmatic view. Data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group interview, text from the FaceFunda group page and the researcher’s reflective diary. The data were analysed with Atlas. ti™. Three patterns emerged which described participants’ affective experiences: (i) emotions while learning with technology, (ii) experiences with technology, and (iii) need for support. In each case, the patterns related to emotions of competence (codes that captured positive and enabling experiences), and emotions of incompetence (codes that captured negative and incapacitating experiences). A secondary analysis of the findings uncovered the guidelines for the academic use of Facebook for rural distance teacher-students. Four themes emerged as guidelines: i) coaching and scaffolding support, (ii) technological support, (iii) peer support, and (iv) communication with the higher education institution. The guidelines highlighted that the affective learning of open distance learning of rural teacher-students in the Eastern Cape can be supported through the academic use of Facebook. ODL teacher-students require support coaching and scaffolding in order to adopt the use of SNSs for academic purposes. Adult learners should be supported to overcome technophobia to enable engagement with learning content. With adequate supportive measures, SNSs can contribute towards positive learning experiences of rural students. / MEd (Learner support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The thesis deals with the etiquette within social media and social network sites as a part of network media. First section focuses on the phenomenon of etiquette in historical context and deals with associated terms such as courtesy and politeness. Second part deals with documents concerning so called netiquette - network etiquette. Finally the third part focuses on the etiquette within social network sites (SNS). The paper analyses three SNS - Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and their official rules concerning appropriate user behaviour. Furthermore there are also unofficial rules created by users, enthusiasts, bloggers and journalists defined in the paper. Last part focuses on some phenomena that are significantly related to the topic of social media etiquette. The finding of the thesis shows that there are certain SNS etiquette rules and suggestions that are repetitive. It was also discovered that there is lack of uniform official etiquette rules within the SNS whereas the membership of users plays an important role in shaping those rules, advice and suggestions.

Social network sites (SNSs) have become very popular, with more than 1.39 billion people using Facebook alone. The ability to share large amounts of personal information with these services, such as location traces, photos, and messages, has raised a number of privacy concerns. The popularity of these services has enabled new research directions, allowing researchers to collect large amounts of data from SNSs to gain insight into how people share information, and to identify and resolve issues with such services. There are challenges to conducting such research responsibly, ensuring studies are ethical and protect the privacy of participants, while ensuring research outputs are sustainable and can be reproduced in the future. These challenges motivate the application of a theoretical framework that can be used to understand, identify, and mitigate the privacy impacts of emerging SNSs, and the conduct of ethical SNS studies. In this thesis, we apply Nissenbaum's model of contextual integrity to the study of SNSs. We develop an architecture for conducting privacy-preserving and reproducible SNS studies that upholds the contextual integrity of participants. We apply the architecture to the study of informed consent to show that contextual integrity can be leveraged to improve the acquisition of consent in such studies. We then use contextual integrity to diagnose potential privacy violations in an emerging form of SNS.

This thesis discusses the role of Instagram influencers in the lives of Czech teenage girls aged 15-18. The aim of the thesis is to understand how girls perceive these online creators, what kind of relationship they have with them and what role they play in their lives. Emphasis is placed on real experience girls have with Instagram and with the creation of influencers. The theoretical part of the thesis summarizes relevant theories, literature and research on selected issues. The practical part of the thesis focuses on the evaluation of the research, which was carried out with the help of a qualitative research method. In total, seven semi-structured in- depth interviews were carried out with teenage girls actively using Instagram. The main finding is that Instagram influencers are a natural part of these girls' lives. Relationships between followers and online creators can be described as parasocial. In order to succeed on Instagram, an influencer must be authentic, while the degree of proximity in the influencer-follower relationship is also important. The research pointed to a possible online platform migration of both influencers and followers, where Instagram is the target platform for users to operate. Instagram influencers play a social role in girls' relationships with their peers. The...

[pt] Este trabalho buscou identificar os principais fatores que influenciam no comportamento dos membros da Geração Y no Facebook, com ênfase no aspecto da exposição. O estudo teve por base as teorias de Coortes Geracionais e de Sites de Redes Sociais, bem como os conceitos de exposição e privacidade. Inicialmente, uma pesquisa bibliográfica e entrevistas semi-estruturadas levantaram 49 variáveis pertinentes. Na sequência, dados de campo foram coletados através de um questionário. A amostra utilizada foi formada por 473 indivíduos. A análise empregou técnicas estatísticas de Análise Fatorial Multivariada, seguidas de estudos de Regressões Lineares. Ao final, emergiram 10 fatores: Aderência, Dependência, Egocentrismo, Carência, Receios, Arrependimento, Privacidade, Popularidade, Risco e Banalização; dos quais os quatro primeiros mostraram-se capazes de explicar 22,4 por cento da variação no grau de exposição do comportamento dos respondentes. Enfim, o estudo mostra como o comportamento de exposição voluntária da Geração Y no Facebook é determinado com base em aspectos, como: grau de ligação, afinidade e envolvimento sentimental dos usuários com o site; atitudes auto-centradas, que revelam preferências por falar de si; exposição de sentimentos em busca de suporte emocional; e reconhecimento de malefícios no uso associado à incapacidade de abandono. Assim, a Geração Y demonstra um uso intensivo, voluntário, afetivo e recompensador do site. E seus usuários mais expositivos apresentam comportamentos de uso rotineiro, com acesso por diferentes meios e de diferentes lugares em busca dos benefícios do compartilhamento, demonstrando uma opção por se expor que por um lado é consciente e por outro pode tornar-se inevitável. / [en] This study aimed to identify the main factors that influence the behavior of members of Generation Y on Facebook, with emphasis on the aspect of exhibition. The study was based on the theories of Generational Cohort and Social Networking Sites, as well as on the concepts of exhibition and privacy. Initially, a literature review and semi-structured interviews raised 49 relevant variables. Further, field data were collected through a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 473 individuals. The analysis used statistical techniques of Multivariate Factors Analyses followed by Linear Regressions. At the end, factors emerged: Adherence, Dependency, Egocentrism, Emotional Neediness, Fears, Repentance, Privacy, Popularity, Risk and Banalization; the first four of which proved capable of explaining 22,4 percent of the variation in the exposure degree of the respondents’ behavior. Finally, the study shows how the behavior of voluntary exposure of Generation Y on Facebook is determined based on aspects such as: degree of binding, affinity and emotional involvement of the users with the site; self-centered attitudes that reveal preferences by talking about itself; exhibition feelings seeking emotional support, and recognition of harm in using associated with the incapacity to abandonment. Thus, Generation Y shows a intensive, voluntary, affective and notion of rewarding use of the site. And the users which more expose themselves exhibit behaviors of routine use, with access by different channels and different places in search of the benefits of sharing, showing an option for exposing himself. This option is on one hand conscious and on the other hand may become inevitable.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-06-13T13:22:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Alberto Teixeira Corrêa_.pdf: 2747574 bytes, checksum: 605b5f6ad1f74060cbd461ac95749732 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-13T13:22:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Alberto Teixeira Corrêa_.pdf: 2747574 bytes, checksum: 605b5f6ad1f74060cbd461ac95749732 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-24 / Nenhuma / A presente pesquisa busca analisar as mudanças pelas quais passam os critérios de noticiabilidade no ambiente do jornalismo online a partir de uma maior participação do público via sites de redes sociais. Para tanto, se utiliza do comparativo de parâmetros entre os jornalistas e o público. Enquanto toma como medida dos valores do jornalista as manchetes de capa dos sites do Correio do Povo e da Folha de S. Paulo, se baseia nas notícias mais compartilhadas pelo público a partir dos perfis oficiais dos dois veículos de comunicação nos sites de redes sociais Facebook e Twitter. Como metodologia, são utilizadas entrevistas com responsáveis pelos sites, observação e a criação de mecanismos de coleta de dados que possibilitam a comparação por meio de quatro variáveis: presença de editorias, posição na página, presença de valores-notícia e presença de valores-notícia detalhados. Verifica-se que na maior parte dos casos aqui analisados há consonância entre o jornalista e o público em relação aos critérios de importância, mas atenta-se para a importância das diferenças, também essenciais no processo, sugerindo-se que a questão não seja resumida a um ou outro. / The present research seeks to analyze the changes that involve the newsworthiness criteria in the environment of online journalism from a now bigger participation of the public via social networking sites. To do so, it is used a comparative of parameters between journalists and the public. While taking as a measure of the journalist's values the headlines of the cover of the sites of the Correio do Povo and Folha de S. Paulo, is based on the most shared news by the public from the official profiles of the two communication vehicles on social network sites Facebook and Twitter. As a methodology, it is used interviews with site managers, observation and the creation of data collection mechanisms that allows the comparison through four variables: presence of editorials, position on the page, presence of news-values and presence of detailed news-values. It is verified that in the majority of the cases analyzed here there is consonance between the journalist and the public in relation to the criteria of importance, but it is attentive to the importance of the differences, also essential in the process, suggesting that the issue should not be summarized to one or the another.

Social network sites (SNSs) have become a common part of everyday life for billions of people worldwide. Not everyone uses the same sites, nor are sites functionally equivalent in the eyes of users. Both established platforms and new upstarts may provide novel features or access to new audiences, yet users tend to remain on a few dominant platforms, especially Facebook, the world's reigning social network site. The goal of the present study is to understand why people are committed to specific social network sites, given that no site encompasses either all of a person's social connections or all possible gratifications available from online participation. Further, individuals do not always wish to have a single real-name identity for all online interactions, thus implying the necessary use of multiple accounts or sites. To understand SNS commitment, this study employs a mixed-methods research design by combining findings from a survey of 800 respondents with 50 semi-structured interviews. The research focuses on young adults in the UK and their use of four popular SNSs: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Findings indicate that network size has only a marginal effect on commitment, whereas the effect of identity performance is more pronounced, albeit in different ways on different sites. Social and informational gratifications have the strongest effect across all four SNSs, suggesting that commitment is primarily driven by repeated habit-forming experiences. To further help explain SNS commitment, this thesis employs a typology of social media users based on attitudes towards digital technology. It is evident that attitudes explain more variation in commitment than either demographic factors or personality. Qualitative analysis reinforces this finding by showing how users employ specific gratification-based repertoires to determine which sites to use and when. These findings help advance research on affordances, self-presentation and SNS use, while also making practical recommendations for social media platforms.