The thesis deals with the historical development of computer adventure games in the Czech Republic. It focuses on the period that started in 1994 with the production of the first commercial PC game Tajemství Oslího ostrova (The Secret of Donkey Island), and ended in 1998. It also touches an earlier period and factors that influenced the production of the adventure genre in the nineties. Researched titles belong to the genre of 2D point-and-click adventure. The paper brings the analysis of the games according to the theories of game studies, context of their production, information about their producers and analysis of the feedback in the press that focused on computer games. The thesis tries to identify the common features of the first commercial PC games thanks to which the games became very popular in the nineties and also describes the obstacles that the first producers had to overcome in the post socialistic country. At nearly twenty titles the paper tries to reveal the new elements that showed in the historical development of the adventure games and also to describe the differences among monitored titles. The sources of information for the thesis were both the literature, which dealt with computer games, and the interviews with the developers, game designers and distributors who focused on the...

In the presented thesis I study new media and their possible misuse in misinformation. In the first part I describe basics of misinformation theory, categorization and present real example of misinformation by using traditional and new media and warn against risks related to its anonymous using. A characteristic of concrete new media is complemented with specific user behavior patterns. On last part I suggest concrete prospective ways of creating misinformation campaign with minimal cost and risk.

Diploma thesis deals with a role of the new medium -- the Internet. The thesis describes historical development of the Internet wordwide, in the Czech republic and analyzes the situation of Internet users in current czech enviroment. It shows a potential growth of global Internet users until the year 2030. A special attention is applied on the current trends of Internet marketing including e-mail marketing, SEM, banners, blogs and viral marketing. The aim of the diploma thesis is to uncover new trends in on-line marketing -- mobile and video marketing, social networks, location based marketing, virtual worlds, discount portals and others. This theoretical data are used in the case study recommanding appropriate usage of Internet marketing tools for REAL HAPPY HOME, Ltd.

Bibliographical Reference Hunek, F. (2019). The problems of visual content on social networks: An analysis of user filters implemented on Instagram. Prague, 2019. p. 123. Dissertation thesis (Ph.D.) Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism. Lecturer: Doc. Mgr. et MgA. Filip Lab, Ph.D. Abstract In this dissertation, I am mainly focusing on photographic social network Instagram. It is the photograph that plays a crucial role in shaping the awareness of one's own identity and belonging to a community. Through photographs, on the one hand, we perceive the world and store our individual (Van Dijck, 2005) as well as our collective memory (Pink, 2011). On the other hand, photographs serve as a means of self-expression (Tinkler, 2008). Moreover, today's time is greatly fragmented, discontinuous, and episodic, which, on the other hand, leads human individuals to constantly legitimize themselves as unique and authentic individuals (Bauman, 2002). Furthermore, this constant communication via photographs requires a continual adaptation to the media messages, which puts an increased emphasis on visual communication as a field of social sciences, tightly connected to media studies. In short, the main goal of this dissertation is to introduce an analysis...

The present study represents a content analysis of the efforts of real-world brands to facilitate parasocial interaction with their followers. The researcher examined these social media exchanges through the scope of parasocial interaction theory, uncertainty reduction theory, and social response theory. The researcher examined posts in mid to late August 2017 and utilized a code sheet to find confirmed parasocial interaction triggers by brands, and examples of parasocial interaction in the posts of those brands’ followers. The researcher looked to see if the utilization of previous research in controlled environments could provide the framework for studying the non-controlled conditions of a real social media page. He hypothesized that the brands he studied that properly utilized methods and triggers to facilitate parasocial interaction would in fact see higher rates of parasocial interaction. The data, while mostly not statistically significant does provide information that deserves further investigation.

Africa’s way forward requires integration, democracy, good governance, participation and inclusive communication of all issues. Intergovernmental organizations are essential to facilitate the above mentioned goals. New thinking highlights the role of new media especially the Internet in democracy and governance in Africa. Therefore, the question solicited here is whether e-governance facilitates continental governance in Africa and under what circumstances would this be possible? This research introduced the internet (web) as a distinct medium of communications with distinct features and characteristics. A number of scholars argue that the Internet as a distinct medium of communication can better facilitate the democratizing role of the media in society, while others argues that the internet has not changed the nature of politics since ordinary politics in all its complexity and vitality has invaded and captured cyberspace. These arguments are divided respectively between Technological Determinism and the Social Shaping of Technology. This research investigates (AU, EU and Nepad) e-governance websites in order to understand practices, prospects and challenges of continental e-governance systems. It was found that the AU and Nepad use the websites for institutional information rather than interaction with citizens and online service delivery. However, significant steps are taken to enhance interaction in Nepad. It is therefore recommended that, the AU and Nepad need to invest time and commitment in enhancing interactivity and rising awareness for these e-governance systems. As projected, EU performs much better than the above two in terms of interactivity. This is because it has more experience and internet penetration and uses is widespread in Europe than it is here in Africa.

New media technologies are changing the ways that we not only go about our day-to-day lives, but also the ways that we sell and exchange our labor within the capitalist economy. These technologies are shaping how we represent and perceive ourselves and others, as well as the ways in which, as we move about the world, our images are taken and circulated with neither our explicit permission, nor sometimes our knowledge (Dovey, 2000; Toffoletti, 2007). Despite the fact that we can no longer viably opt out of visual or technological culture, there remains a strong rhetoric of personal responsibility when such images are used in ways that are unexpected and sometimes extremely damaging (C. Hall, 2015). The growth in incidences of what Clare McGlynn (2017) calls “image-based sexual violence” cannot be divorced from the economic and cultural shifts that are both challenging and reifying dominant power relations in the early 21st century. This doctoral thesis examines the economic and social discourses underpinning news reporting on sexual privacy violations in relation to new media technologies and shifting forms of female celebrity. Using empirical methods to collect and sort U.S. and Canadian news articles at a macro level as well as discourse analysis of news reporting at the micro level, I focus on two particular sites wherein new media celebrity, sexual violence/violation, and political economies converge: the celebrity sex tape scandal and the stolen celebrity nude photo. I examine sexuality and privacy violation in an exemplary economic context, looking at how the “leaked” sex tape or image functions in the gendered sexual economy to undermine claims to meritocratic capitalist success. I focus on two moments of crisis: firstly, the pop culture crisis of 2007-2008, coinciding with the global economic recession as well as the growth in new media technology and social media usage, wherein several high-profile female celebrities undergo dramatic and very public “breakdowns” in proper femininity, ranging from the fairly banal “scandal” surrounding a then-15-year-old Miley Cyrus posing semi-nude for Vanity Fair to the more severe and illegal acts of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton (both of whom were arrested for driving under the influence across this time period). Secondly, I examine the moment of crisis signaled by the 2014 iCloud hacking incident wherein hundreds of female celebrities’ personal private nude photos were stolen and circulated online. I analyze the sex “scandals” that are both discursively constructed by, and circulating through, the news at these moments. The findings point to several notable trends in the contemporary political climate. Firstly, they illuminate the tensions and contradictions in the media’s attempt to reconcile post-feminist sexual “empowerment” narratives with the broader imperatives of neoliberalism, surveillance, and self-commodification. Secondly, this thesis provides a timely analysis of the gendered pathways to success and the gatekeeping that is conducted both within and by the (news) media, which are themselves invested in narratives of meritocracy. Finally, the cynical, meta-commentary circulating in the news reporting on celebrity content – reporting that is increasingly beholden to corporate interests – contributes to the broader erosion of trust in mainstream media. In today’s media environment in particular, studies of heirs-turned-reality stars such as Paris Hilton (whose trajectory is eerily similar to that of U.S. President Donald Trump), are particularly urgent, as are studies that connect the seemingly disparate yet increasingly converging fields of celebrity, journalism, feminism (and sexual violence), and neoliberalism.

Historically, Surrealism is defined as a literary and artistic movement which developed from Dadaism in the early twentieth century. Many artistic and literary historians assess that the lifespan of Surrealism did not persist beyond the 1960’s – that in fact, after notable surrealist such as René Magritte, Man Ray, Max Ernst and Salvador Dali challenged the limited cultural assumption of rationalism, the pursuit to explore and visualize the subconscious faded from artistic ambition. However, the purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative notion that suggests that digital interactive mediums – such as contemporary games and virtual technologies – have revitalized Surrealism, enabling game developers to build upon the initial philosophies made popular by the avant-garde movement. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

As immigration turns into the scapegoat of political and social tensions all over the world and politicians that seem to be talking about migration flows communicate instead their conception of the world and where it should head, this study investigates the refugee crisis of 2015 as represented in the two global television channels RT and BBCW. Widely studied for the depiction the press gives of the refugees, for the first time the refugee crisis is analyzed as an arena where competing understandings of international relations are constructed, in a media ecology where a myriad of actors have a chance to foreground their truth and where wars are fought, and possibly won, through the weapons of values, culture and the attraction they exercise (Nye Jr. 1990, 2013). Borrowing the concept of strategic narratives from international relations (Miskimmon et al. 2013) and applying it to textual analysis, the study employs framing analysis to operationalize it and explores a sample of 144 news items (74 from RT and 70 from BBCW) broadcast in August and September 2015 to retrace the narratives of the two channels. It finds out that, although conflicting with each other, both RT’s and BBCW’s narratives are strategic and aim at constructing a past, present and future of international relations that can influence what we expect, consider acceptable or conceivable on the international theater. The channels’ narratives are about the destiny of Europe and countries, depicting a reality that still responds to old Cold War dividing lines. An analysis of the actors allowed to speak and represented as acting confirms that in RT and BBCW political elites and the nations they represent have a greater chance, compared to other actors, to define international politics and shape shared understandings of how international relations works and where it is heading.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-08-07T11:49:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniel Bassan Petry_.pdf: 6608062 bytes, checksum: 608c79dca834a7cc7d66fbdfdd413dd0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-07T11:49:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniel Bassan Petry_.pdf: 6608062 bytes, checksum: 608c79dca834a7cc7d66fbdfdd413dd0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-25 / Nenhuma / Inspirada pelas propostas da arqueologia da mídia, esta pesquisa analisou as relações que se estabelecem entre softwares, fotografias pessoais, lembranças e memórias no ambiente digital. Para tanto, em se tratando dos softwares, realizou-se um recorte específico nos autônomos, com capacidade de aprendizado e proposição, cujo empírico elencado foi o serviço Google Fotos. No âmbito das audiovisualidades, o recorte se deu entre as novas mídias, as quais também contemplam imagens de cunho pessoal - como fotografias digitais ou digitalizadas, vídeos e outros registros caseiros além de outros objetos deles decorrentes. As questões da memória foram tensionadas com as noções de registro, armazenamento, lembrança, resgate e atualização. Este último assunto, em razão de sua complexidade, apresentou um recorte bastante amplo, fundamentando-se em Bergson, Dijck, Izquierdo e Parikka. Examinaram-se as propostas do Google Fotos de armazenamento e curadoria de imagens que evidenciaram capacidade de evocar a movimentação da memória em lembranças, questionando a validade da aceitação das proposições realizadas pelas máquinas. / This research is inspired by the proposals of the archeology of the media sought to analyze the relations that are established between softwares, personal photographs and memories in the digital environment. Concerning software, we approach specifically those that are autonomous, with capacity for learning and proposing, we chose Google Photos service as our main empirical object. In the scope of audiovisuals, we focus in personal images that also can be considered new media, such as digital or digitalized photographs, videos and other personal records, as well as objects made from it. Memory issues are treated from the notion of recording, storage, recall, retrieval, and remembrance. This last subject, given its complexity, has a very broad scope ranging from authors like Bergson, Dijck, Izquierdo and Parikka. We have analyzed the proposals made by Google Photos to store and curate images that have an ability to instigate a movement of memory in remembrance, questioning the validity pf the propositions made by those systems.