Fanfiction consists of works written by amateurs using pre-existing characters and plots, often shared online for free. Although fanfiction began long before the advent of the internet, the worldwide web has created a platform wherein fanfiction is allowed and encouraged to spread almost unconditionally, reaching new populations and rising slowly but surely into the public eye. As the internet has made fanfiction more accessible and public, it has also increased the number of children and young adults involved in the process. And in the unsupervised wilderness of the internet, sexual content is a common feature of fanfiction, with a varying degree of accuracy in said sexual content. As the influence of fanfiction spreads, academic research into fanfiction has also spread. The purpose of this project is to better understand how fanfiction can impact what adolescents and young adults know about sex and how that information shapes their sexual attitudes. A secondary goal is to question fanfiction authors and readers about whether they are interested in the presentation of accurate sexual information in fanfiction. In order to answer these questions, this project included a review of several works of fanfiction, as well as a survey of 25 fanfiction readers and writers, and interviews with seven of the survey participants. In general, the answer to whether fanfiction has impacted users has been a resounding yes. Prosumers (those who may produce and/or consumer fanfiction) reached through the survey and the interviews largely identified fanfiction as an important resource in their sexual education, with a mostly positive influence. Prosumers cited fanfiction as a source that broadened their knowledge of the intricacies and variations of sex, as well as something that made them more understanding of their own desires and the desires of others. On the other hand, fanfiction prosumers did not necessarily cite fanfiction as being technically accurate. Instead, they valued fanfiction for the variety of viewpoints fanfiction brought them, and the chances it gave them to portray their own lives and issues through their favorite pieces of pop culture. Because the information gathered through this project identifies fanfiction as a source of information about sex for prosumers, and the Archive of Our Own platform specifically, as a reasonable and useful place to embed health-based sex ed interventions. However, fanfiction prosumers mostly seem to know the limits of their creations already, and already have some types of intervention in place, such as the tradition of informational author notes. If future interventions were to be enacted, it would have to be carefully planned with the prosumers, and would likely be most efficacious if it were to utilize those existing prosumer interventions.

This thesis examines the construct of Psychological Sense of Community (PSOC). Within the discipline of community psychology, there is debate as to the dimensions underlying the construct PSOC. One of the few theoretically proposed structures is that put forward by McMillan and Chavis (1986), who hypothesized four dimensions: Belonging; Fulfilment of Needs; Influence; and Shared Connections underlying PSOC. Further, there is some deliberation in the literature as to the existence of PSOC in relational, as well as geographical, communities. Discussion has also emerged regarding the role of social identification within PSOC. It has been suggested that differences in PSOC may be understood in terms of the degree to which members identify with their community (Fisher & Sonn, 1999). However, few studies have explored the place of identification in PSOC. In addition, while PSOC has been applied to both relational and geographical communities, little research has looked in depth at PSOC within relational communities. Thus, the principle aims of the current program of research were to elucidate the underlying dimensions of PSOC and their consistency across geographical and relational communities. Further, the research also aimed to explore the role of identification in PSOC. The first stage of this research endeavoured to clarify the underlying dimensions of PSOC by utilising a questionnaire which included multiple measures of PSOC and social identification, administered to both relational and geographical community members. The first paper of the current research explored PSOC in a relational community, science fiction fandom (N = 359) and the third paper in a sample of residents of rural, regional and urban geographical communities (N = 669). In both the relational and geographical communities, support emerged for McMillan and Chavis' (1986) four dimensions of PSOC. In regards to identification, the Sense of Community iv affective and ingroups ties aspects of social identification were subsumed within the PSOC dimensions; however, the Conscious Identification aspect emerged as separate to the existing PSOC dimensions. The study presented in paper three also examined the role of demographic factors in predicting PSOC in geographical communities. The demographic factors significantly associated with PSOC were: type of region, with rural participants displaying higher PSOC than their urban counterparts; participation in local organizations; having children; and a vision of one's neighbourhood as broader than just a street or block. To date, little research has compared a single group's PSOC with a relational community to their PSOC with their geographical communities. The second paper presented in this manuscript explored PSOC with participants' relational and geographical communities in the sample of members of science fiction fandom (N = 359). All the PSOC dimensions and Conscious Identification emerged as significant predictors of overall sense of community in both community types. Participants reported higher levels of global PSOC with fandom than with their geographical communities, a pattern that also emerged across the four dimensions and Conscious Identification. It was proposed that the degree of choice of community membership may be one reason for this finding. However, stronger conclusions could not be drawn from this study as situational salience may have influenced the results as data was collected in the relational community context. The second phase of the current research aimed to validate the multidimensional nature and related measures of both social identification and PSOC. The fourth paper presented in this thesis examined the construct validity of the three-factor model of social identification as measured by the Three Dimensional Strength of Identification Scale proposed by Cameron (1999, 2004). The 12 item version of the scale was used to collect data from an undergraduate sample (N = 219) to assess their social identification across three distinct group memberships (sex, student and interest group). This data was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis to examine the fit of the three-factor model of social identity in comparison to fit indices for one and two-factor models. The results indicate that the three-factor model was the most parsimonious and best fit to the data across all groups. In addition, the fact that different patterns of means and correlations emerged across groups on the three dimensions provided further evidence for a multidimensional model of social identification and, moreover, the greater depth of exploration it allows. The fifth paper examines The Sense of Community Index (SCI), one of the most commonly used measures of PSOC. There is much discussion in the literature as to the validity of the scale as a measure not only of overall PSOC, but of the dimensions (Membership, Influence, Needs fulfillment and Emotional Connection) theorized by McMillan and Chavis (1986) to underlie the construct. This paper examines the factor structure of the Sense of Community Index in a study (N = 219)that examined neighborhood, student and interest group communities. The results showed that the Sense of Community Index, in terms of its original factor structure, did not adequately fit the data. The scale was revised, utilizing confirmatory factor analysis indicators, to produce a new four-factor structure based on the original items. This revised model was tested and found to display adequate fit indices to the data in all three community types. The results of the study provide empirical support for retaining measures that encapsulate the four dimensions of PSOC.The sixth paper further explores the interplay between PSOC and the dimensions of social identification. In particular, the study (N = 219) examines the relative strength of the separate aspects of social identification (based on Cameron's 2004, Three Factor Model of Social Identification) as predictors of overall PSOC, accounting for situational salience. Results indicate that Ingroup Ties is consistently the strongest predictor of PSOC and that the strength of Ingroup Affect and Centrality alter according to the group or community context. The seventh and final paper from the current research program emerged from the results of paper two indicating that choice may influence individuals' social identification and PSOC with their respective communities. The study presented in this paper examined participants' (N = 219) level of social identification and PSOC across multiple group memberships that differ in the degree of choice associated with membership (low choice: neighborhood community; medium choice: student community; and high choice: self chosen interest group). Results indicated that, controlling for contextual salience, choice was positively associated with levels of social identification and PSOC. Overall, the current program of research provides some important findings which add significantly to the theoretical understanding of PSOC in today's society. The research provides clarification of both the dimensions underlying PSOC, their application to both geographical and relational communities and the measurement of overall PSOC and these dimensions. Further, it provides empirical evidence of the importance of the Centrality aspect of identification in PSOC in both geographical and relational settings. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings of the overall program of research are discussed.

Traditional help services have problems reaching out to people with substance abuseproblems. Some individuals choose to seek help for recovery from anonymous others online.This study examines the social support within an online support group for individualssuffering from drug abuse, specifically, the drug rehabilitation forum on the Internetcommunity Flashback forum. By looking at the social support in the forum through aqualitative content analysis nine forum threads have been examined. To seek help from otherswithout the pressure of going straight edge as well as an easily accessible tool for differentstages of the process of recovery, the Internet community and forum is an alternative helpchannel and/or complement to traditional services and support. The study also shows that, aswell as social learning theory can explain how individuals begin drug abuse, the theory canalso shed light on how individuals learn to stop their drug abuse.

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The main purpose of this thesis is to examine current most important social networks usable in Czech Republic and evaluate usefulness for logistic companies. The aims of thesis are basics of internet marketing, separation of social networks and evaluation their commercial potential. Author attaches his research in form of questionnaire aimed on current usage social networks in logistic companies and compiles recommendations how use social network for commercial purpose.

<p>Primenom teorija digitalnih komunikacija i sociologije veba i empirijskih dokaza, u doktoratu pažnja će biti posvećena pitanju mogućnosti primene internet tehnologija u oblasti visokog obrazovanja. Kroz kategorije nove društvenosti i umreženog zajedništva, procesi saradnje i interakcije su istraženi, i testirane su komunikacione mogućnosti internet zajednica u Srbiji. Biće analizirani i predstavljeni novi fenomeni koje se pojavljuju u praksama komunikacije i učešća u naprednim inteligentnim sistemima, kao što je visokoškolska zajednica.</p> / <p>By deploying theories of digital communications and sociology of web, as well as the empirical evidence - in the thesis attention will be paid to the issue of the possibilities of application of Internet technologies in the area of higher education. Through categories of new sociability and networked community, the processes of collaboration and interaction are explored, and communication possibilities in the internet communities in Serbia are tested. New phenomena that emerge in the communication and collaboration practices in an advanced intelligent system, such is a higher education community, will be analysed.</p>

Ce travail de recherche se situe dans le cadre de la théorie de l'activité et dans celui de l'apprentissage social. Il porte sur les pratiques des internautes qui investissent du temps et du travail dans la mise en oeuvre et l'amélioration de la plate-forme d'enseignement en ligne « Moodle ». Même si leur objectif principal n'est pas l'apprentissage en tant que tel, leur activité nécessite de créer, de diffuser et d'acquérir certains types de savoirs et ainsi de se développer professionnellement. Alors que des informations circulent au sein des communautés virtuelles sur Internet, l'enquête ethnographique proposée considère l'activité « Moodle » comme une activité sociale située génératrice d'apprentissages. Elle repose d'une part sur un questionnaire sur les pratiques des intéressés (les Moodleurs) et d'autre part, s'appuie sur l'analyse des traces écrites qu'ils produisent sur le Web social. Les résultats permettent de mieux cerner qui sont ces « Moodleurs » et quelles sont leurs activités. Ils montrent aussi que si des apprentissages sont en jeu, ils concernent avant tout des savoir-faire. Il apparaît également qu'un développement professionnel est repérable dans cette dynamique collective interactionnelle qui ne s'effectue pas dans un cadre institutionnel classique. / The research is based on the framework of Activity Theory and the Social Learning Theory. This thesis addresses the practices of the Internet users who invest work and time in the improvement and the design of "Moodle", the platform for online education.Even if their main objective is not developing their knowledge, their activity requires creating, diffusing and acquiring certain types of knowledge and consequently developing their professional skills. Since information circulates within the virtual communities on the Internet, the selected ethnographic method considers "Moodle" activity as a situated and social activity generating learning process. It is based on both a questionnaire on the practices of the involved people (the Moodlers) and an analysis of the written traces that they produce on the social Web. The outcomes, on the one hand, show how the "Moodlers" manage their activities to learn mainly in a know-how perspective. On the other hand, it appears that the professional development depends on a collective and an interactional dynamics which is not determined by the institutional framework.

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá nejúspěšnějších populárně naučných kanálů kanály češtině angličtině Jejím cílem je popsat vybraná videa z obsahových, slovních, neverbálních i technologických prvků a určit ty , které jsou charakteristické pro online video. Bude nás zajímat i to, které prvky poutají pozornost uživatelů, vyvolávají emoce a pomáhají udržet jejich zájem. Teoretický rámec nám poskytnou dvě existující studie na téma populárně naučných videí na YouTube (Welbourne a Grant; obou případech se jedná o analýzu audiovizuálních obsahů prostřednictvím kvantitativních metod. Cílem této práce bude audiovizuální obsahů uživatelské komentáře a využít kombinace kvalitativních a kvantitativních metod - obojí by mohlo poskytnout nové poznatky o tomto relativně novém fenoménu. Z metodologie vychází výzkum videí z kvalitativní obsahové analýzy využívající principů obrazové a sémiotické analýzy. Komentáře byly analyzovány spíše kvantitativními metodami. V závěrečných kapitolách jsou výsledky výzkumu a dochází k jejich zasazení do širšího shrnutí inovací, kterými se internetové video a jeho konzumace liší od neinternetových médií Součástí je i krátká úvaha o budoucnosti popularizované vědy na

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