Yes / Cyber-aggression is an offensive behaviour attacking people based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and other traits. It has become a major issue plaguing the online social media. In this research, we have developed a deep learning-based model to identify different levels of aggression (direct, indirect and no aggression) in a social media post in a bilingual scenario. The model is an autoencoder built using the LSTM network and trained with non-aggressive comments only. Any aggressive comment (direct or indirect) will be regarded as an anomaly to the system and will be marked as Overtly (direct) or Covertly (indirect) aggressive comment depending on the reconstruction loss by the autoencoder. The validation results on the dataset from two popular social media sites: Facebook and Twitter with bilingual (English and Hindi) data outperformed the current state-of-the-art models with improvements of more than 11% on the test sets of the English dataset and more than 6% on the test sets of the Hindi dataset.

Social media sites have been perceived as a "common digital town square" in which opinions are exchanged at an unprecedented scale and speed. People not only share their own opinions on controversial issues but also consume news and assimilate opinions shared by friends in their social circles. The process by which individuals update their opinions in a social network is called opinion dynamics. This dissertation focuses on the negative consequences that arise from opinion dynamics, namely unfairness, polarization, and radicalization. We leverage techniques from social network modeling, graph theory, and supervised machine learning to formalize the notions of fairness in opinion dynamics over social networks, diagnose which and when algorithms exacerbate unfairness in networks, and design mitigation algorithms to counter radicalization. In the first project, we formalize two aspects of fairness in opinion dynamics, namely procedural fairness and distributive fairness. Through theoretical analysis and simulations on real-world social networks, we show how the combined effect of homophilous and reinforcing dynamics plays a special role in both types of fairness. In the second project, we study radicalization pathways that lead users from moderate to more extreme content and propose algorithms to mitigate radicalization. In particular, we study and propose the concept of gateway entities, i.e., non-problematic entities that are nevertheless associated with a higher likelihood of future engagement with radicalized content. We show, via a real-world application on Facebook groups, that a simple definition of gateway entities can be leveraged to reduce exposure to radicalized content without adversely impacting user engagement metrics. Through offline experiments, we show that survival analysis-based methods are effective at identifying individuals at risk. In the third project, we study the interplay between algorithms over social networks and fairness in opinion dynamics. We propose a framework that allows us to study the joint effects of algorithms over social networks and the opinion dynamic process. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that people-recommender algorithms do not exacerbate procedure unfairness but have a significant impact on distributive fairness, and polarization reduction algorithms have no significant impact on fairness. We close by discussing the limitations of our work and directions for future research.

現代信息技術，以其多元、快速的優勢使人們對中國的民主抱以樂觀的態度。公民參與是一個健康的民主制度的核心要素，如何促進公民的政治參與一直是政治參與研究領域的焦點問題。在互聯網時代，尤其是社交媒體的出現，其廉價、方便、互動性的技術優勢大大增加了政治參與的可行性。大學學生是“互聯網一代“和中國知識分子的代表。因此，了解他們的社會媒體使用行為如何影響其政治知識、政治感知和政治行為、對於認識未來中國的政治變革是重要的。本研究提出“社交媒體使用“及“在線新聞使用“兩個概念，並以此視作政治參與和民主實踐研究範疇下的新討論焦點。 / 本研究主要探討以下問題：（1）大學生通過何種渠道在線獲取新聞;（2）大學生使用不同的媒體平台獲取新聞的情況如何；（3）在線新聞使用同傳統新聞媒體使用之間的關係如何;（4）計算機能力，互聯網自我效能感，在線和離線新聞使用，社交媒體使用，政治知識，政治效能，政治信任和政治參與等核心變量之間的關係； 以及（5）計算機能力，互聯網自我效能感，在線和離線新聞使用，社交媒體使用之於政治知識、政治感知和政治參與的相對重要性。 / 本研究採用定量的研究方法。研究的主體是對中國大陸在校大學本科及研究生進行問卷調查；調查前，焦點小組輔助研究結構建立與問卷設計。問卷調查採用多階層整群抽樣的方法，在北京抽取了兩所“elite工程“大學，在長春及杭州各抽取一所非“elite工程“大學的學生參與，樣本數量為624人。研究結果顯示，當中97.4% 的受訪者均使用互聯網獲取新聞。因子分析結果顯示，中國內地大學生主要經由三種信息渠道在線獲取新聞，分別是海外新聞渠道、社交媒體渠道，以及官方新聞渠道。不同信息渠道的使用者其政治常識、政治效能和政治信任亦有所區別。同時，本研究還發現傳統新聞同網絡新聞的使用之間存在互補的關係。 / 研究結果顯示，人口學變量超越社交媒體和在線新聞使用兩個變量對中國內地大學生的政治認知及政治知識的形成發揮最重要的作用。研究還發現社交媒體和在線新聞在促進線上和線下政治參與方面具有很大潛力。結論部分將詳述本研究的貢獻與實踐意義。 / Citizen participation is a core element of a healthy democracy, and what facilitates citizens’ political activities has long been a central interest in political participation research. In the age of the Internet, especially with the appearance of social media, political participation is greatly facilitated by technology that makes information inexpensive, accessible, and interactive. Modern information technology, with its pluralism and fast speed, has made people optimistic about democracy. University students represent the Net generation and intellectuals in China; therefore, understanding how their social media use affects political knowledge, perception, and participation is valuable, to bring political change to China in the future. / Expanding the line of previous research, this study aims to address the question of the democratic implications of social media use and online news seeking from the vantage point of how individuals seek news online and how such use may be related to several key indications of individuals’ engagement in political life as citizens. Specifically, this study examines (a) the sources through which university students seek news online; (b) to what degree university students in China use different media platforms to seek news; (c) how online news seeking is related to its offline counterpart; (d) the relationships among computer competence, Internet efficacy, online and offline news seeking, social media use, political knowledge, political efficacy, political trust, and political participation; and (e) the relative influence of technological attributes, social media use, and online and offline news seeking on political attributes and political participation. / In this study, we used quantitative questionnaire surveys among university students. The questionnaire surveys were based on a stratified cluster sampling of two elite universities in Beijing and two ordinary universities in Changchun and Hangzhou. The final sample consisted of 624 university students, of whom 97.2% had used online news. Factor analysis identified three major sources of online news seeking among university students: official sources, overseas sources, and social media sources. Adopting these sources seems to affect students’ political knowledge, perception, and participation differently. Also, the supplement effect was found between online and offline news seeking. / Results also showed that demographics, rather than social media use and online news seeking, have the most power to predict political perception and knowledge among Chinese university students, and online news seeking and social media use have great potential in facilitating political engagement online and offline. How the social media use and online news seeking change the mode of state-society interactions and expands forms of political engagement are also discussed. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Zheng, Pei. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.iii / 致謝 --- p.iv / List of Tables and Figures --- p.4 / Chapter Chapter 1 --- : Introduction --- p.1 / Research Methods --- p.9 / Main Contents of Each Chapter --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- : Literature Review --- p.12 / Internet as a Public Sphere --- p.13 / Technology between State and Society --- p.15 / History of Technology Empowerment Since Modern China --- p.15 / Political Control over the Internet --- p.16 / Internet Empowerment of Society --- p.20 / Political Participation --- p.23 / Offline Political Participation --- p.24 / Online Political Participation --- p.25 / Social Media Use, and Offline and Online News Seeking --- p.27 / Social Media Use and Political Participation --- p.27 / Online News Seeking --- p.29 / Offline News Seeking vs. Online News Seeking --- p.32 / Computer Competence and Internet Efficacy --- p.33 / Computer Competence --- p.33 / Internet Efficacy --- p.35 / Political Knowledge --- p.37 / Political Efficacy --- p.38 / Political Trust --- p.42 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- : Research Methods --- p.57 / Questionnaire Survey --- p.57 / Sampling procedure and survey participants --- p.57 / Final sample profiles --- p.62 / Pilot tests --- p.64 / Measures --- p.64 / Internet efficacy. --- p.64 / Computer competence. --- p.65 / Social media use. --- p.65 / Online news seeking. --- p.66 / Offline news seeking. --- p.67 / Political efficacy. --- p.68 / Political knowledge. --- p.69 / Political trust. --- p.70 / Political participation. --- p.70 / Demographics. --- p.71 / Analytical Procedure --- p.72 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- : News Seeking Behaviors --- p.73 / Online News Seeking --- p.73 / News Consumption Online vs. Offline --- p.76 / Relationship Between Online and Offline News Seeking --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- : Assessing Factors Influencing Political Participation --- p.79 / Linking Social Media Use and Online News Seeking to Political Attributes. --- p.79 / Linking Computer Competence, and Internet Efficacy to Social Media Use 1.1 and Online News Seeking --- p.84 / Computer competence --- p.84 / Internet efficacy --- p.85 / Linking Online News Seeking, Political Knowledge, Political Efficacy, 1.1 Political Trust and Political Participation --- p.87 / Political knowledge --- p.87 / Political efficacy --- p.88 / Political trust --- p.89 / Research questions --- p.90 / Predicting Political Knowledge, Efficacy and Trust --- p.91 / Predicting Political Participation --- p.97 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- : Discussion and Conclusion --- p.102 / Contributions of This Study --- p.102 / Complementary effect of offline and online news --- p.102 / Three sources of online news seeking --- p.104 / Potential of social media use and online news seeking to promote 1.1.1 online political participation --- p.107 / Political attributes: Demographic determined. --- p.108 / Offline political participation: After the Internet, before democracy --- p.110 / Limitation and Suggestions for Future Research --- p.114 / Reference --- p.117 / Glossary --- p.135

By making use of the virtual community, older netizens can accumulate and maintain their social capital in various ways: namely, improving their self-identities through online collective problem-solving; developing collective identification with the community through sharing collective memories with their peers online; exchanging intellectual capital for social resources offline during their social engagement; providing emotional support to their net friends; and increasing the density of their networks of social relationships through interacting with their net friends both online and offline. / Data collection is mainly based on ethnographic work, including online and offline participant observation between September 2008 and July 2009. The data collection was later supplemented with semi-structured in-depth interview (on 37 OldKids members) and textual analysis. When analyzing how the virtual community interacts with older netizens' social capital, the study introduces a theoretical framework that, illustrates the acquisition of social capital on its cognitive, behavioral, structural and relational dimensions. / Existing literature reveals that netizens augment their social capital upon joining social networking sites. But most studies focus on analyzing youth behaviors, neglecting older adults, who are often labeled as laggards in taking up new technologies. Because social capita is a resource which can be mobilized to provide network-mediated benefits beyond the immediate family; it is especially important for disadvantaged groups (i.e. older generation) who lack social support. In Chinese society, older adults' social capital shrinks dramatically after their retirement; therefore it is of practical significance for this study to explore how virtual communities provide older people with opportunities to regain and enhance social capital. / This study also reveals that the online roles and social status of the older netizens, together with the external social context of OldKids website, influence how the virtual community influence social capital. In other words, social capital does not distribute evenly among virtual community members. The netizen who takes on more active and responsible roles can accrue more social capital than other members. / This study reveals that OldKids virtual community and its offline communities (OldKids club and OldKids salons) act as platforms and at the same time are driving forces for the older netizens to develop their social capital: it provides them access to cyberspace through encouraging knowledge sharing online and designing offline computer training for the elderly; it encourages its members to shape collective memory through organizing ritual-like online and offline activities; it facilitates members' social engagements by obtaining resources from local government and traditional media; finally, it promotes the flow and exchange of members' social capital resources between online and offline communities. / Under the background of worldwide aged tendency of population, this thesis explores how virtual communities provide social resources to disadvantaged groups. Using the OldKids website (headquartered in Shanghai, China) as a case study, the research investigates how this virtual community assists its members to mobilize social capital, a valuable productive resource inheres in social relations. / 吳歡. / Adviser: Anthony Y. H. Fung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-01, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-301). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English, partial text includes English translation. / Wu Huan.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The amount of information that users of social networks consume on a daily basis is steadily increasing. The resulting information overload is usually associated with a loss of control over the management of information sources, leaving users feeling overwhelmed. To address this problem, social networks have introduced tools with which users can organise the people in their networks. However, these tools do not integrate any automated processing. Twitter has lists that can be used to organise people in the network into topic-based groups. This feature is a powerful organisation tool that has two main obstacles to widespread user adoption: the initial setup time and continual curation. In this thesis, we investigate the problem of constructing topic-based Twitter lists. We identify two subproblems, an unsupervised and supervised task, that need to be considered when tackling this problem. These subproblems correspond to a clustering and classification approach that we evaluate on Twitter data sets. The clustering approach is evaluated using multiple representation techniques, similarity measures and clustering algorithms. We show that it is possible to incorporate a Twitter user’s social graph data into the clustering approach to find topic-based clusters. The classification approach is implemented, from a statistical relational learning perspective, with kLog. We show that kLog can use a user’s tweet content and social graph data to perform accurate topic-based classification. We conclude that it is feasible to construct useful topic-based Twitter lists with either approach. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die stroom van inligting wat sosiale-netwerk gebruikers op ’n daaglikse basis verwerk, is aan die groei. Vir baie gebruikers, skep hierdie oordosis inligting ’n gevoel dat hulle beheer oor hul inligtingsbronne verloor. As ’n oplossing, het sosiale-netwerke meganismes geïmplementeer waarmee gebruikers die inligting in hul netwerk kan bestuur. Hierdie meganismes is nie selfwerkend nie, maar kort toevoer van die gebruiker. Twitter het lyste geïmplementeer waarmee gebruikers ander mense in hul sosiale-netwerk kan groepeer. Lyste is ’n kragtige organiserings meganisme, maar tog vind grootskaal gebruik daarvan nie plaas nie. Gebruikers voel dat die opstelling te veel tyd in beslag neem en die onderhoud daarvan te veel moeite is. Hierdie tesis ondersoek die probleem om onderwerp-gerigte Twitter lyste te skep. Ons identisifeer twee subprobleme wat aangepak word deur ’n nie-toesig en ’n toesighoudende metode. Hierdie twee metodes hou verband met trosvorming en klassifikasie onderskeidelik. Ons evalueer beide die trosvorming en klassifikasie op twee Twitter datastelle. Die trosvorming metode word geëvalueer deur te kyk na verskillende voorstellingstegnieke, eendersheid maatstawwe en trosvorming algoritmes. Ons wys dat dit moontlik is om ’n gebruiker se Twitter netwerkdata in te sluit om onderwerp-gerigte groeperinge te vind. Die klassifikasie benadering word geïmplementeer met kLog, vanuit ’n statistiese relasionele leertoerie perspektief. Ons wys dat akkurate onderwerp-gerigte klassifikasie resultate verkry kan word met behulp van gebruikers se tweet-inhoud en sosiale-netwerk data. In beide gevalle wys ons dat dit moontlik is om onderwerp-gerigte Twitter lyste, met goeie resultate, te bou.

M. Tech. Public Relations Management / The Internet and the emergence of social networking sites have brought about remarkable changes in the communication process, changing mass communication from a one-way to a two-way communication approach. Many countries around the world ranging from organisations to universities have embraced and adapted to the new phenomenon. Social networking sites present many opportunities such as connecting with consumers, soliciting feedback, bringing people together, as well as encouraging social networking and dialogue. Facebook is cited as one of the most popular social networking sites with increasing use by organisations and universities.

When in physical proximity, data can be directly exchanged between the mobile devices people carry - for example over Bluetooth. If people cooperate to store, carry and forward messages on one another's behalf, then an opportunistic network may be formed, independent of any fixed infrastructure. To enable performant routing within opportunistic networks, use of social network information has been proposed for social network routing protocols. But the decentralised and cooperative nature of the networks can however expose users of such protocols to privacy and security threats, which may in turn discourage participation in the network. In this thesis, we examine how to mitigate privacy and security threats in opportunistic networks while maintaining network performance. We first demonstrate that privacy-aware routing protocols are required in order to maintain network performance while respecting users' privacy preferences. We then demonstrate novel social network routing protocols that mitigate specific threats to privacy and security while maintaining network performance.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This exploratory study attempts to establish the readiness of the Namibian government in using social media as a strategy for public participation. The subject of public participation as a strategy to improve the process of policymaking has been researched extensively. Similarly, the use of social media to promote public participation which in turn influences service delivery is gaining popularity in many scholarly works. However, there is still a paucity of research investigating the use of social media as a public participation strategy to improve policymaking. Given the speed at which people worldwide have embraced the use of social media, the current study provides an opportunity to establish how the Namibian government can utilise social media as a strategy to facilitate public participation. This two-way engagement is necessary to improve the government’s efforts in the development of policies and programmes and ultimately improved service delivery. Theoretically, the analysis in this study centred on theories of public participation and emergent theories of the use of social media for good governance. The current study utilised a multi-case study approach and a combination of research techniques in collecting data. These included document analysis – in both paper and digital formats – and unstructured interviews with key respondents from the main government institutions and their strategic role in the implementation of e-government in Namibia. The study employed a systematic approach in answering all five research questions to meet the research objectives. It concludes that, although the Namibian context and legislative framework support public participation broadly, there are still a number of challenges which impact on the readiness to use social media as a strategy for public participation in the Public Service of Namibia. Following this, a set of recommendations for both policy and further research is presented. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie ondersoekende studie poog om die gereedheid van die Namibiese regering om sosiale media as werktuig vir publieke deelname te vestig. Die onderwerp van publieke deelname as ’n werktuig om die beleidmakingsproses te verbeter, is reeds omvattend nagevors. Die gebruik van sosiale media om publieke deelname te bevorder wat om die beurt dienslewering beïnvloed, neem in verskeie akademiese bronne toe in populariteit. Navorsing wat die gebruik van sosiale media as werktuig vir publieke deelname om beleidsmaking te verbeter is skaars. Gegewe die spoed waarteen mense wêreldwyd die gebruik van sosiale media aanneem, bied hierdie studie die geleentheid om vas te stel hoe die Namibiese regering sosiale media as werktuig om publieke deelname te fasiliteer, kan gebruik. Hierdie tweerigtingbetrokkenheid is noodsaaklik om die regering se pogings in die ontwikkeling van beleide en programme en uiteindelik dienslewering te verbeter. Teoreties is die analise in hierdie studie gesentreer om teorieë oor publieke deelname en opkomende teoreë oor die gebruik van sosiale media vir goeie regeringsgedrag. Die huidige studie het ’n veelvoudige gevallestudie en ’n kombinasie van navorsingstegnieke ingespan om data in te samel. Dit het dokumentanalise – beide papier- en digitale formate – en ongestruktureerde onderhoude met sleutelrespondente van die hoofregeringsinstansies en hul strategiese rol in die implementering van e-regering in Namibië ingesluit. Die studie het van ’n sistematiese benadering gebruik gemaak om al vyf navorsingsvrae te beantwoord om sodoende aan die navorsingsdoelstellings te voldoen. Die studie bevind dat alhoewel die Namibiese konteks en wetgewende raamwerk publieke deelname breedweg ondersteun daar steeds ’n aantal uitdagings is wat ’n impak het op die gereedheid van sosiale media as ’n werktuig vir publieke deelname in die Openbare Diens van Namibië. Vervolgens word ’n stel voorstelle vir beide beleid en verdere navorsing aangebied.

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / Popularity of social media sites is growing at a fast rate and many businesses and higher education institutions are attempting to successfully engage with their stakeholders using this new interactive medium that facilitates ‘many-to-many’ communication. There are several forms of social media and users have many options available to them, ranging from the more generic social networking sites, like Facebook, to more niche sites, like BlackPlanet that targets black African Americans. The focus of this research is on the social media usage patterns and trends in the stakeholder groups of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB). Eight stakeholder groups were identified and they consist of the following groups and USB departments: i) USB prospective students; ii) USB current students, busy with their research reports; iii) USB current students, not busy with their research reports; iv) USB alumni; v) USB course administrators; vi) USB academic faculty members; vii) USB research supervisors; viii) USB Marketing and Communication Division. The analysis showed that the social media site Facebook is popular among all stakeholder groups of the USB, followed by LinkedIn and YouTube. Furthermore, Facebook and LinkedIn were cited as the preferred social media sites for the USB to use in communicating with its stakeholder groups. Additionally, respondents indicated strong privacy concerns with the use of social media. Numerous other similarities and differences by gender, age group and stakeholder groups were discussed in the findings. Combined with information from literature, these findings were translated into a multistep plan to improve the communication among the USB’s stakeholder groups. The fast-changing social media landscape requires businesses and higher education institutions, like the USB, to stay abreast of the latest user trends to ensure continued interaction with their stakeholders. Therefore, regular investigations by the USB into the use of social media by its stakeholder groups are required in the foreseeable future.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / Social media has become one of the marketing tools corporate organisations cannot ignore anymore. Organisations are forced to adjust, and in certain cases replace, traditional marketing methods. The reason why this study was undertaken was to determine the type of content successful corporate brands use on social media platforms to attract new customers and retain their existing brand communities. The South African top ten most valuable brands of 2013, identified by Brand Finance, was the focus of the study and their social media activity was monitored over a pre-determined period on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. The analysis results indicated that the majority of brands use promotional content to strengthen their brand, followed by competitions and informative and educational content. Interesting findings included that each brand, within a specific industry, followed a specific online strategy. Among other brands, four banks were analysed namely Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank and FNB. It was clear that Standard Bank and FNB focused on promoting their products and services. The focus of Absa’s strategy was helping customers to save money effectively. Nedbank placed major emphasis on the community and corporate social responsibility.