Background. In England and the UK there has been a move to provide the consumer with more choice in over the counter medicine. In recognition of the number of drugs now available without prescription, new models and frameworks are being utilised with the aim to educate the public about self-treatment. How health information is sought has also undergone transformation with the advent of the internet, the adoption and utilisation of this resource has had a significant impact on how the healthcare consumer seeks information. Aims and Methods. The aim of this study was to investigate the provision of and access to consumer health information in England, specifically with reference to over the counter medicines to promote understanding of the consumers attitudes and opinions to this type of medicine and their health information seeking behaviours. The findings of the study were used to provide recommendations to the stakeholders involved; healthcare organisations, healthcare professionals and the healthcare consumer. The research consisted of a survey (n=324) and was analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Results. The majority of respondents utilised over the counter medicine responsibly and with few adverse events. The General Practitioner is the main source of information and online sources the next most utilised resource. Effectiveness and following advice/recommendations were amongst the themes identified that made a treatment episode with over the counter medicines successful. Unsuccessful treatment episodes included those with escalation of symptoms. Factors governing successful health information seeking were problem solving through self diagnosis and expanding knowledge on an existing health issue. Conclusions. Over the counter medicines are a widely used commodity but respondents continue to have a heavy reliance on the general practitioner for prescription medicines, especially for minor ailments. Evidence exists that individuals utilise information seeking behaviour for self treatment and the use of over the counter medicines. However, adoption of self care models need to be increased through educating health care consumers to maximise the potential benefits of these frameworks for the stakeholders.

Internet social networking sites have been the source of much speculation and controversy in the few years that they have been in existence. These sites (the most popular being MySpace and Facebook) allow their users to create online profiles, with which they can post pictures of themselves and interact with other users via text-based messaging. These sites are especially popular among teens and young adults, many of whom find their lives controlled by these sites. Utilizing the Uses and Gratificatioons approach in combination with the theory of the niche, the aim of this study is to understand the gratifications that are derived from the use of social networking sites, and how those gratifications compare with those obtained from the use of other communications methods (face-to-face communication and e-mail). Additionally, the study explores whether or not there has been a displacement effect for these older media with the introduction of social networking. A sample of 340 undergraduate and graduate students from a large western university were surveyed in-class regarding their use of three communications media (internet social networking, e-mail, and face-to-face communication). Students responded to 25 gratifications statements for each medium, rating how often they had used it for that particular purpose. They also responded to a question regarding whether their use of e-mail and face-to-face conversation has changed since they started using social networking sites. Answers from the gratification statements were subjected to principal component factor analysis using varimax rotation. After throwing out 10 statements due to their incompatibility across the three media, three gratification factors emerged: Gratification Opportunities, Social Utility, and Entertainment. Then using niche formulas, the media was compared across these three factors. Overall, face-to-face communication had the broadest niche, signalling that is best capable of fulfilling media gratifications. It also had the broadest niche in the Social Utility and Entertainment Factor, while e-mail had the broadest niche in the Gratifications Opportunities dimension. The results suggest that social networking may be popular because it acts as a convenient place to hang out — combining its relatively broad niches in Gratifications Opportunities and Entertainment gratifications, but shows little support for a displacement effect caused by its adoption.

NUNES, Jefferson Veras; ALMEIDA JÚNIOR, Oswaldo Francisco de. Vivência em rede: uma etnografia das práticas sociais de informação dos usuários de redes sociais na internet. 2014. 307 f. Tese (Doutorado) - Universidade Estadual Paulista, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Informação, 2014. / Submitted by Lidya Silva (nagylla.lidya@gmail.com) on 2016-07-21T19:31:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_tese_jfnunes.pdf: 2068575 bytes, checksum: 0f18d6d26a7597639dda84007ee209b5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-08-10T16:44:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_tese_jfnunes.pdf: 2068575 bytes, checksum: 0f18d6d26a7597639dda84007ee209b5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T16:44:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_tese_jfnunes.pdf: 2068575 bytes, checksum: 0f18d6d26a7597639dda84007ee209b5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Treat about how the phenomenon of social networking sites affects the contemporary informational scenario, transforming everyday practices and experiences of individuals with regard to the production, consumption and sharing of information in digital space. Problematizes how the expression society of information has been referenced to characterize a form of social organization based on the information technology paradigm. Then discusses the current structure of the media system, focusing since the formation of a mass society, to the ubiquity of digital information in urban areas, with the aim of demonstrating that socio-cultural scene is marked by an increasingly converging means, as well as languages. Accordingly, discusses the internet as a kind of media marked by computer-mediated communication, in which different forms of media are articulated, giving rise to system based on network interconnection. Through the notion of network underscores the fact that the social context of networking sites consists of complex associations between humans and technologies, aiming to empirical research attend more to the hybrid nature of these relationships, and less for their infrastructural aspect. For empirical verification, purposes qualitative research, using ethnographic method, with the intention of supporting the argument that social media has the ability to affect the everyday experiences of individuals, changing informational scenario. As empirical field elects Facebook, choosing because it is characterized as the social network site most used in Brazil and in several other countries. Conducts interviews with twelve users of Facebook, still using the participant observation, examinee the interactions among netizens as well as the ways in which they relate to the information and the site through the available tools. Accordingly, concludes that each one of the informational practices observed point aspects of how information is and is at the same time, the actual constituent. The perception that users have of the real involves both physical dimensions, such as digital, implying direct consequences in the construction of their experiences. Through Facebook, individuals have the opportunity to define for themselves and for Other they perceive as information, wish to have access, and especially what they think need to be highlighted or ignored in their daily experiences on the internet. Thus, it was possible to see the Internet not only as media technology, but mainly as an element of culture, where living online and offline complement. The user participates actively of informational process that develops in their wefts, using their tools to grasp senses and give meaning to information circulated on the site. / Trata sobre como o fenômeno das redes sociais na internet afeta o cenário informacional contemporâneo, transformando as práticas e experiências cotidianas dos indivíduos no tocante à produção, consumo e compartilhamento da informação no espaço digital. Problematiza como a expressão sociedade da informação tem sido referenciada para caracterizar um formato de organização social baseado no paradigma tecnológico da informação. Em seguida, aborda a composição contemporânea do sistema de mídia, discutindo desde a formação de uma sociedade de massa, até a ubiquidade da informação digital no espaço urbano, com o objetivo de demonstrar que a cena sociocultural é marcada cada vez mais por uma convergência de meios, assim como de linguagens. Nesse sentido, discute a internet como um tipo de mídia marcada pelo despontar da comunicação mediada por computador, no qual diferentes meios de informação e comunicação se articulam, dando origem a um sistema baseado na interligação em rede. Através da noção de rede ressalta o fato de que o contexto das redes sociais na internet é formado por complexas associações entre humanos e tecnologias, almejando com a pesquisa empírica atentar mais para o caráter híbrido dessas relações, e menos para o seu aspecto infraestrutural. Como estratégia metodológica, realiza uma pesquisa de cunho qualitativo, recorrendo ao método etnográfico, com a intenção de confirmar a tese de que as redes sociais na internet têm a capacidade de afetar as experiências cotidianas dos indivíduos, reconfigurando o cenário informacional contemporâneo. Como campo empírico adota o Facebook, escolhendo-o por se caracterizar como o site de redes sociais mais utilizado no Brasil, bem como em vários outros países. Assim, além de entrevistas realizadas com doze usuários do Facebook, recorre, ainda, à observação participante, atentando às interações entre os internautas, bem como às maneiras como estes se relacionam com as informações e com o site por meio das ferramentas disponibilizadas. Conclui que cada umas das práticas informacionais observadas apontam aspectos de como a informação constitui e é, ao mesmo tempo, constituinte do real. A percepção que os usuários têm do real envolve tanto dimensões físicas, como digitais, implicando em consequências diretas na construção de suas experiências. Através do Facebook, os indivíduos têm a oportunidade de definirem para si e para o Outro o que consideram como informação, o que desejam ter acesso e, sobretudo, o que julgam necessário ser destacado ou ignorado em suas vivências cotidianas na internet. Assim, foi possível perceber a internet não só como tecnologia midiática, mas, principalmente, enquanto elemento da cultura, onde vida on-line e off-line se complementam. Os usuários do Facebook participam ativamente do processo informacional que se desenvolve em suas teias, fazendo uso de suas ferramentas para apreender sentidos e conferir significados à informação que circula no site.

The subject of this Master's thesis is social media and its utilization in tourism marketing. The aim of the thesis is to determine which social media are most useful for tourism marketing and identify effective ways of social media marketing in tourism. The opening chapter deals with the development and current state of the Internet, digital marketing and individual types of social media. The second chapter examines the influence of social media on travelers and trends in social media marketing. The next chapter contains analysis and evaluation a survey among users of social networking sites. The last chapter is dedicated to analysis and comparison of marketing activities of two competitive tour operators on social media. The main findings of the thesis are summarized in its conclusion.

This master thesis is in theoretical part focusing on the term of self-regulation according to Albert Bandura's theory (1991) and its domains of self-monitoring, self-judgement and self-reaction. Next we define its stand against terms such as addiction and habit, in case of low ability of one's regulation. Thanks to analysis of mainly foreign resources we oriented the work to explanation of relationship between self-regulation and loneliness and life satisfaction. These resources are chosen for their historical consistency and contemporary application, especially in domains of media and online environment. In empirical segment of thesis we are proposing our own questionnaire measuring our ability to self-regulate Facebook usage (SRQ-FB), inspired by original theory of Brown et al. (1999) and Czech translation of their questionnaire, translated and tested by Jakešová et al. (2015). Next we tested hypotheses based on assumption of relationship existence between score of our questionnaire (SRQ-FB) and score of loneliness (measured by UCLA Loneliness Scale; Russell et al., 1980) and life satisfaction score (SWLS - Satisfaction With Life Scale; Diener et al., 1984). Research sample consisted of two nation-based groups: Slovak (N = 168) and Czech (N = 21), which differed significantly in achieved score...

<p>Poremećaj upotrebe Interneta je psihofizički poremećaj koji podrazumeva pojavu tolerancije, simptome povlačenja, afektivne smetnje i poremećene socijalne relacije. Neurobiolo&scaron;ki i farmakolo&scaron;ki podaci ukazuju na sličnosti u patopsihologiji zavisnosti od opijata i patolo&scaron;kog kockanja, a time i na sličnosti sa poremećajem upotrebe Interneta. U osnovi navedenih problema su poremećaji centra za nagradu, koji upravlja svim oblicima pona&scaron;anja u kojima motivacija ima centralnu ulogu. CILJ ISTRAŽIVANJA: Cilj ovog istraživanja je da se uporede sociodemografske karakteristike osoba koje imaju poremećaj upotrebe Interneta, osoba koje su zavisne od opijata i kontrolne grupe. Kao i da se uporede psiholo&scaron;ke karakteristike prema modelu Big Five i psihopatolo&scaron;ke karakteristike, te utvrdi stepen njihove izraženosti kod osoba koje pripadaju pomenutim grupama. MATERIJAL I METODOLOGIJA: Istraživanje je koncipirano kao klinička studija preseka bazirana na metodolo&scaron;kom pristupu koji podrazumeva i primenu komparativne metodologije, a uz upotrebu skala procene i psiholo&scaron;ko-psihijatrijskih baterija za procenu ličnosti. Procena je sprovođena putem sledećih upitnika: Internacionalni psihijatrijski intervju Pompidou, Skala poremećaja upotrebe Interneta, Upitnik za procenu depresivne ličnosti, Upitnik za procenu spremnosti za empatiju, Upitnik za procenu psihopatske devijacije, Upitnik za procenu samohendikepirajućeg pona&scaron;anja, Inventar Velikih Pet. Ukupan uzorak obuhvata 300 ispitanika: 100 ispitanika sa opijatskom zavisno&scaron;ću, 100 ispitanika koji pokazuju simptome poremećaja upotrebe Interneta i 100 ispitanika kontrolne grupe. REZULTATI: Karakteristike ličnosti u vidu u empatije, ekstrovertnosti, prijatnosti, savesnosti, otvorenosti i saradljivosti, u manjoj meri su izražene kod osoba koje imaju poremećaj upotrebe Interneta i osoba zavisnih od opijata, u odnosu na kontrolnu grupu. Psihopatolo&scaron;ke karakteristike ličnosti u vidu sklonosti ka depresivnom reagovanju u stresnim situacijama, samohendikepiranja i neuroticizma, u većoj meri su izražene kod osoba koje imaju poremećaj upotrebe Interneta i osoba zavisnih od opijata u odnosu na kontrolnu grupu ispitanika, a psihopatske crte i agresivnost vi&scaron;e su izražene u osoba zavisnih od opijata u odnosu na druge dve grupe ispitanika. ZAKLJUČAK: Dobijeni rezultati daju doprinos za klasifikaciju poremećaja upotrebe Interneta i sugeri&scaron;u svrstavanje u dijagnostičku kategoriju bihevioralnih zavisnosti. Kvalitativna analiza psiholo&scaron;ke i psihopatolo&scaron;ke fenomenologije opijatske zavisnosti i poremećaja upotrebe Interneta sugeri&scaron;e njihovu zajedničku dispoziciju za adiktivne poremećaje.<br />&nbsp;</p> / <p>Internet use disorder is a psychophysical disorder that includes increasing tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, affective disorders and disruption of social interactions. Neurological and pharmacological data regarding its effects on the reward pathway of the human brain points at similarities with opiate addiction and pathological gambling. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was a comparison of sociodemographic characteristics of individuals suffering from Internet use disorder, individuals addicted to opiates, and a control group. The aim of this study was also to compare psychological traits of participants according to the Big Five personality traits model and psychopathological traits. METHODOLOGY: A clinical cross-sectional study was conducted using assessment scales and batteries of psychological-psychiatric tests for personality assessment. The assessment was performed using the following materials: The Pompidou international psychiatric interview, The Internet disorder scale, Questionnaire for the assessment of depressive personality, Questionnaire for the assessment of empathy competency, Questionnaire for the assessment of psychopathic deviation, Questionnaire for the assessment of empathy competency, Questionnaire for the assessment of psychopathic deviation, Questionnaire for the assessment of self-handicapping behavior, The Big Five inventory. The sample covers 300 respondents: 100 respondents with opiate addiction, 100 respondents which expressed symptoms of the Internet use disorder, and 100 respondents in the control group. RESULTS: Personality traits in the form of empathy, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness and cooperativeness are expressed to a lesser degree in individuals with the Internet use disorder and individuals with opiate addictions compared to the control group. Psychopathological personality traits in the form of tendency towards depressive responses in stressful situations, self-handicapping behavior and neuroticisms are more expressed in individuals with the Internet use disorder and individuals with opiate addiction compared to the control group. Psychopathic traits and aggressive tendencies are more expressed in the group of individuals with opiate addiction compared to the other two groups of respondents. CONCLUSION: Results of the study support classification of the Internet use disorder in the diagnostic category ofbehavioral addictions. The qualitative analysis of psychological and psychopathological phenomenology of opiate addiction and the Internet use disorder suggest a common disposition for addictive disorders.</p>