As new media grow, so do the users who navigate the virtual world. People and organizations are forced to adapt in order to stay relevant in a technologically driven marketplace. The sports world has been changed drastically because of new media. Athletes no longer communicate with the general public solely through traditional media outlets such as newspapers. Social networking sites such as Twitterallow athletes to directly communicate with mass audiences. This direct communication raises several questions with regard to dynamics of communication and uses of Internet portals. A content analysis examined professional athletes' "Twitter" posts to help answer these questions. While some of the hypotheses were not supported, results were telling. Topics among the sample of posts included direct communication with Twittermembers or links to videos and pictures, as well as "tweets" about each player's job. Findings suggested that professional athletes are mainly neutral overall when posting messages regarding their sport, team, peers, or fans. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are addressed.

An online survey exploring the patterns of adult text-message use was completed by 150 traditional college age young adults ages 18-24 and 171 adults ages 25-68. Because youth traditionally are among the first group to adopt new communication technologies, much research has been conducted among the adolescent and young adult population regarding the prevalence and importance of text-messaging; however, a research deficit exists regarding adult textmessage use. Data gathered from this survey were categorized and analyzed for emergent content regarding the use of text-messaging, what roll texting plays in adult's communication patterns, the sociological impact of text-messaging on survey respondents, and to examine the prevalence of this technology in adults' lives.

Technology is a promising means for increasing rural individuals’ access to behavioral healthcare. However, the range of technology use in rural areas is currently unknown. The aims of this study were to examine the use of technology in rural areas, the relationship between technology use and willingness to access pediatric mental health services via videoconferencing, and this relationship within the context of other critical variables linked to service uptake. Data were collected at 2 pediatric primary care clinics. While no significant relationship was found between technology use and willingness to use videoconferencing, a significant relationship emerged between previous service seeking and willingness to use videoconferencing. These findings indicate the need for more research examining other variables’ relationships to willingness to seek help via technology, such as general help-seeking attitudes, unfamiliarity with videoconferencing services, or other variables included in previously established models of technology adoption.

This thesis investigates the rhetorical features of blogs that lend them dialogic strength as an online genre through the lens of Mikhail Bakhtin's theories of speech genres, utterances, and dialogism. As a relatively new online genre, blogs stem from previous genres (in print and online as well as verbal), but their emergence as a popular form of expression in our current culture demands attention to how blogs also offer us different rhetorical opportunities to meet our changing social exigencies as online subjects in the 21st century. This thesis was inspired by questions about how blogs redefine the rhetorical situation to alter our textual roles as readers, writers, and respondents in the new generic circumstances we encounter--and reproduce--online. Applying the framework of Henry Jenkins' Convergence Culture and Pierre Levy's Collective Intelligence, this thesis analyzes how blogs enable us as online subjects to add our utterances to our textual collective intelligence, which benefits from our personal experience and the epistemic conversations of blogs as online texts. In addition, it is also an inquiry into how the rhetorical circumstances of blogs as textual sites of collective intelligence can create a reciprocal learning environment in the writing classroom. I ultimately examine blogs through the lenses of alternative pedagogy--informed by David Wallace and Helen Rothschild Ewald's Mutuality in the Rhetoric and Composition Classroom and Xin Liu Gale's Teachers, Discourses, and Authority in the Postmodern Composition Classroom--to suggest the potential consequences of a writing education that includes how we are currently writing--and being written by--our culture's online generic practice of blogs.

In recent times, African brands have been featured heavily in global landscape fashion events, with brands from Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya leading the way. Although such recognition could be traced to their expertise, the unique approach of African brands involves putting out unique designs that easily stand out in the global fashion market. However, their uniqueness goes beyond the designs they put out, as it is also strongly expressed in their media messaging and, consequentially, their marketing strategy. This study provides a content analysis of the most important characteristics of eight brands from different regions of the African continent. It examines 20 photos each from their Instagram account, analyzing a total of 160 photos. Results point out the distinct market penetration approach of the different brands from each region and how it reflects in their media brand voice as a whole.

With the introduction of technology, our existence became different. Today we use technology for every aspect of our lives. We can study, work, communicate, and entertain ourselves. We find it very convenient to communicate via e-mail, text messaging, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Myspace, and Snapchat to connect with people in work, school, social and familial networks. Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed that Facebook's new mission is to "bring the world closer together" (Zuckerberg, 2017). The means of accomplishing that is through technological communication. According to research on close relationships and the use of technology as a way of communication, "mobile phone-based channels had stronger associations with friendship closeness" (Liu & Yang, 2016). However, it is also possible that something essential is lost in these electronic interactions. It is possible that both the value and meaning of the interaction changes when using technology rather than human communication. The primary purpose of this research was a) to examine whether technology use makes people feel more connected to others or lonelier, b) to discover how relationships are affected by online communication, particularly as it relates to satisfaction or closeness, and c) to see if people's personalities play a role in their technology use. It is essential to continue to expand and explore this research. Technology continues to develop and change at an increasingly fast rate. The impact of how we use and interact with this dynamic product can only be fully understood through continued examination and research.

This study explores the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on creative workflows and the broader implications for the modern creative and marketing landscapes. The study analyzes the effects of generative AI on brand-consumer relationships, emphasizing emergent creative, ethical and societal challenges. It highlights the transformative power of AI in content creation and content distribution while also addressing its limitations. The research examines the blurred lines between human and machine creativity, the ethical dilemmas surrounding intellectual property, and the impact of algorithmic branding on society and culture. This research involved interviews with 12 subject matter experts with experience using generative AI tools in creative industries. These interviews sought to discover how generative AI enhances creative workflows and impacts the dynamics of brand-consumer relationships. Participants describe their experiences integrating generative AI into their workflows and provided their perspectives on how these tools will impact brands and consumers in the future.

The Affectionate Gesture Planner (AGP) is a smartphone application (i.e., “app”) that aims to increase relationship satisfaction for couples in long-term relationships by prompting couples to complete loving acts for each other on a daily basis. The AGP app is informed by concepts from social exchange theory and the investment model (Rusbult, 1983), which predict that increasing the mutual exchange of beneficial investments to the relationship improves the quality and stability of the relationship. The present study is a formative evaluation on the prototype of the AGP app. Based on participant feedback, the AGP app will be improved prior to future trials. Future models of the AGP app will be used to compare the efficacy of using standardized suggestions versus personalized prompts.

In order to probe how social movement messages foster participant mobilization, this study utilized an experimental design to investigate collective action frames, core messaging tasks that define problems, assign blame, convey a plan of action, and inspire participation. The study compared the effects of climate change messages that contain motivational frames with those that do not, incorporating the influence of resonance, and exposure to competing and counter frames. Results revealed that motivational frames contributed to mobilization, especially intention to act, under conditions of resonance and with exposure to counter frames. Salience primed participants to respond to motivational frames, however for some, motivational frames decreased intention to act. As social movements and climate change continue to profoundly shape our world in myriad ways, we will be better prepared to address those changes with information provided here.

Many Social Networking Sites have come and gone over the past decade, but Facebook continues to grow in popularity. Facebook is designed to connect people to one another through virtual networks of “friends” where members participate in the presentation of self virtually- through profile creation, maintenance, and exchanges of content. Social Networking Sites create a location for identity formation and projection that is similar, yet distinct, from face-to-face interactions. Facebook offers a unique avenue for people to control their presentation of self, while maintaining reflexive features. This study this study explores the notion of a particular “Facebook role” while specifically addressing front stage projections in relation to backstage information and the resulting differences in identity. In effect, people are “themselves” on Facebook, just a consistently “good” version of themselves.