This research intended to investigate how the arising SNS component of algorithms acts as a mediator for affecting SNS user habits amongst high school and university students in Sweden. The testing of this specific correlation was realized by first investigating previous research regarding algorithms, various components of user habits, and the complementary component of algorithm awareness separately. By extracting interesting and valuable findings from the previous studies, a questionnaire was constructed, implementing the previous knowledge into the response alternatives to provide components useful for building testing variables. The questionnaire collected 419 respondents, whereas 341 were considered valid after implementing a sampling phase based on the specified demographics. Testing variables were conceptualized to be able to provide the ability of testing in SPSS to show statistical significance by using chi-square testing. This was conducted to test 4 hypotheses, grounded on what was to be answered by the 2 research questions. The testing of the variables was not able to provide any statistical significance and had in general low testing validity. Thus, none of the hypotheses could be accepted, which furtherly did not provide scientifically valid answers to any of the research questions. Several potential factors could be considered to have impaired the testing, including the complexity of the variable construction, and an imbalance between the volume of respondents fitting within the constructed variables to mention a few majorly discussed arguments. However, the data collection provided valuable insights, answer data frequencies, and knowledge that have the potential to facilitate future studies, both regarding the perspective of informatics and also a range of areas of which perspective was not used for this research. Hence, it also enables and suggests future studies to evaluate the collected data, reconstruct variables, or investigating interesting responses of questions left redundant.

In contemporary society, online Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook provide increasingly popular contexts within which late adolescent peer interactions and accompanying identity experiments can occur. Consequently, of increasing interest is exploring the impact of SNS use on psychological functioning in this age group. There is some evidence suggestive of a relationship between greater SNS use and increased depressive symptoms. However, findings are inconsistent, with a large body of literature also indicative of possible beneficial effects of SNS use on adolescent social and emotional adjustment. Therefore, as a means to address this divergence, the present study aims to investigate whether it is the quantity of use, including use of the site to connect with existing or new contacts, or the quality of Facebook interactions that might relate to depressive symptoms. Moreover, the present research attempts to identify for which late adolescents these associations are more likely to be a risk, drawing on constructs implicated in offline self-definition and identity development. One hundred and sixty-nine late adolescents (mean age 18.6 years) participated in this quantitative, cross-sectional study. Participants completed an online survey comprising self-report questionnaires validated by previous research assessing depressive symptoms, the intensity of Facebook use, strategy used to connect with peers on Facebook, self-reported quality of interactions on Facebook, and self-definition and identity variables; self-concept clarity (SCC), separation-individuation, and ego-identity commitment. Consistent with previous research, no relationship was found between the intensity of Facebook use, including number of Facebook friends, time spent on the site each day, perceived integration of the platform into daily life, and connection strategy and depressive symptoms. There was, however, evidence suggestive of a relationship between reports of feeling down following interactions on Facebook and increased depressive symptoms. Self-definition and identity variables were not found to moderate this relationship.

The diploma thesis analyzes the impact of financial crisis, the decline in the economic system of Kazakhstan and in particular the impact on the banking system. The work is divided into three parts, which analyzing the impact of the crisis on the economy in the world and Kazakhstan, on the banking sector, and each chapter is accompanied by recommendations for their solution, and the overall summary. The first chapter defines the concept of financial crisis, disassembled typology and their origins. In addition, it is characterized by economy, banking and financial sectors in Kazakhstan and cause a crisis in the Republic. The second chapter analyzes the impact of financial crisis on the banking system in Kazakhstan, including an analysis of the banking sector itself. Subsequently, is evaluated the impact of the crisis by monitoring of bank assets, the quality of loans, deposits, foreign debt and rating. The third chapter is devoted to the consequences and lessons for the economy and banking sector of Kazakhstan and the various approaches to solving the crisis in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. At the conclusion of the work were reviewed and accepted hypotheses set out in the introduction.

In 21st century, social media has become one necessary part in people’s life, different kinds of social media emerge in endlessly. In younger generation, it is popular to use social media as a communication tool to get closer to each other. During using social media, it is important to have awareness to protect their personal information. Comparing with Western countries, the topic of privacy is not often discussed in China and some privacy issues might be ignored due to people have not enough knowledge in this area. In this study, the focus is to investigate Chinese university students’ perception of privacy risks and WeChat personal information exposure. Based on this, this study also explores the users’ attitudes toward WeChat and how it influences the future usage of it. The adopted research method is qualitative research method, by doing interviews with 15 students from different school, city and major. From the study, eight essential concepts are used to answer two research questions. Though analysis, the situation of the privacy perception can be found, the reasons and attitudes toward WeChat are also figured out. At the end of the thesis, the contribution of this study and suggestions to future research are shown.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / Walter R. Schumm / We live in an era of constant communication, where Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are part of the technology revolution that has significantly altered our lives and means of communication. Adolescents are quick adopters of these sites; they spend a lot of their daily time interacting via these sites. Most parents in the United States strive to understand the purpose and function behind their children’s use of these technologies. This study is aimed to explore the Saudi mothers’ experiences with their adolescents in a different culture and country. The study focused on exploring the experiences, concerns, social and technical challenges, and strategies of Saudi mothers in the United States by using qualitative methodology. A snowball strategy was used through specific Saudi student groups and organizations in the United States. The participants recruited were Saudi mothers (N=13) who had adolescents (their ages are between 10- and 17-years-old). The interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed in light of symbolic interaction theory. The findings revealed some benefits of using SNSs among adolescents such as learning new languages or practicing the adolescent's native language. On the other hand, the findings also showed great concern among mothers and a lot of challenges about their adolescents’ use of SNSs. Also, the findings showed the roles of these mothers to protect, advise, and support their children regarding the use of SNSs. Mothers confirmed that their adolescents using SNSs without control or supervision may cause a lot of problems that affect adolescents, parents, and the relationships between them.

Este estudo, oriundo do PPGEDU/UFRGS, na Linha de Pesquisa Arte, Linguagem e Currículo, aborda a pesquisa realizada com professores, de áreas distintas, de duas universidades públicas e duas privadas em cada país – Brasil e Itália – para responderem a uma entrevista semiestruturada, a fim de identificar como os professores de cursos de nível superior consideram o uso pedagógico das mídias sociais na docência. A motivação surgiu a partir de questionamentos como: neste mundo, no qual as mídias sociais fazem parte do cotidiano da grande maioria das pessoas, onde a Educação se insere? Redes sociais e Educação poderão conviver e apoiarem-se mutuamente? As abordagens metodológicas utilizadas foram a qualitativa e a quantitativa, empregando-se a pesquisa do tipo exploratória. Para inferir os dados produzidos, a análise considerou tanto o conteúdo, quanto o enunciado. Para tanto, foram aplicadas a Análise de Enunciado na perspectiva dialógica, utilizando-se uma concepção bakhtiniana e freireana, e a Análise de Conteúdo, que ofereceu elementos para subsidiar a pesquisa quantitativa, instrumentada pelo software NVivo. Com esta pesquisa, propomos uma reflexão sobre as possibilidades de usos dos recursos oferecidos nas mídias sociais, afirmados e explanados pelos próprios professores, seja com aqueles que delas fazem uso, seja com aqueles que não as utilizam em seu cotidiano docente. Mediante perguntas específicas, buscamos conhecer um pouco mais sobre quem é este professor frente às tecnologias questionadas. O percentual médio de professores que faz um uso efetivo das mídias sociais na Educação, nas universidades italianas, foi de 13%. Já na universidade pública brasileira, este percentual sobe para 42%. Os professores entrevistados da universidade privada brasileira não fazem uso das Social Networking Sites (SNS) na docência. Das entrevistas analisadas, 81% dos professores dizem considerar importante o uso das SNS no Ensino/Aprendizagem, e 68% acreditam que seja possível construir comunidades de aprendizagem nos ambientes oferecidos pelas mídias sociais. Assim, as entrevistas mostraram que este é um movimento sem volta e que é estabelecendo relações dialógicas com os estudantes, é se permitindo experimentar, é buscando alternativas diversas, e é da práxis dos professores pesquisados que vem a apropriação das mídias sociais em seu fazer docente. Diante de tudo isso, pode-se concluir que é fundamental que o uso das redes sociais no meio acadêmico seja estimulado pelas universidades, uma vez que seu uso tem contribuído para uma maior qualidade do processo de ensino/aprendizagem; afinal a presença das redes sociais na Educação está incontestável. / This study, derived from PPGEDU/UFRGS, in the search line of Educational Psychology, Educational Systems/Learning and Education in Health, approaches a research conducted with teachers, from different areas, from two public and two private universities in each country – Brazil and Italy – in order to them to answer to a semi structured interview, so that the considerations of Higher Education teachers about the pedagogical use of social media in teaching could be identified. The motivation came from questions like: in this world where social networks are part of the daily lives of most people, where is education included? Can social network and education coexist and support each other? The methodological approaches used were qualitative and quantitative, with a basis in the research of the exploratory type. To infer the produced data, the analysis considered both the content and the statement. Therefore, Statement Analysis in the dialogical perspective, considering Bakhtin and Freire’s conceptions, and Content Analysis, that offered elements to support the quantitative research, instrumented by NVivo software, were applied. With this research, it’s proposed a reflection on the use of possibilities of the resources available in social media, affirmed and explained by teachers themselves, either with those who make use of them or those who do not use them in their teaching routine. After analyzing the data produced It was detected that 81% said they realize the importance of using some social media in their teaching routine. Through specific questions, there is the attempt to know a little more about who is this teacher facing the approached technologies. The average percentage of teachers which effectively use social media in education, in Italian universities, was 13%. In the Brazilian public university, this percentage rises to 42%. The interviewed teachers from the Brazilian Private University do not use Social Networking Site (SNS) in teaching. From the analyzed interviews, we conclude that 81% of teachers say it is important to consider the use of the SNS in Teaching / Learning, and 68% believe it’s possible to build learning communities in the environment offered by social media. So , the interviews shown that this is an impossible to turn back movement, and that it is establishing dialogical relations with students, and allowing yourself to experience, from seeking several alternatives, and from the praxis of the surveyed teachers comes the appropriation of social media in the teaching practice. As a result, we can conclude that it’s fundamental that the use of social networks in the academic environment be stimulated by universities, since its use has contributed to a higher quality of the process of Teaching/Learning; after all the presence of social networks in contemporary education is incontestable.

Introduction: Digital development has caused major changes in how people communicate and interact with each other in the last decades, not least thanks to social media. Social media has become an important element explaining the development of new behaviors in humans by highlighting the active choice of living their lives online or offline. Aim: The study aims at analyzing the diagnosis of fatigue syndrome by means of qualitative interviews with Fear of Missing Out. Method:   The   study   uses    a   qualitative   research   method   with                 emphasis                 on interviews. Results: The result is structured three identified themes: Instagram and Facebook usage, The image of itself on Instagram and Facebook, as well as positive and negative feelings with Instagram and Facebook. Conclusion: The study concludes that the negative effects of social media use are largely linked to FoMO and the pursuit of self-realization. Fatigue syndrome and mental illness go hand in hand with the demand for constant digital presence and the dream of "succeeding".

Consumers are increasingly engaging with brands on social networking sites (SNS) through activities such as sharing, commenting, liking and recommending products or brands to other consumers. These types of recommendations are referred to as electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) and are proven to have a significant influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Previous research has investigated motives for traditional WOM and motives for eWOM on opinion platforms. This study proposes that eWOM on SNSs is a combination of traditional WOM and eWOM on opinion platforms. By using a sample of 154 Swedish Facebook users, this study explores why consumers engage in positive eWOM communication on SNSs. This is done by testing 6 validated motives that are identified in previous research in the new context. The resulting analysis suggests that consumers’ need for social interaction and desire to express positive emotions are the primary drivers behind engagement in positive eWOM communication on SNSs. The findings confirm that eWOM on SNSs contains elements of both traditional WOM and eWOM on opinion platforms and should thus be considered as a unique context where eWOM takes place.

Social network site (SNS) has been very popular with global Internet users since 2008, the amount of social network users grew very much. Based on some reasons, users enjoyed using social network site. However, whether the current users or new users will continue to use social network site or not is an issue today. To assure social network site¡¦s company could develop and run well in the future, we must realize the factors that can increase and retain the user to use. This study based on expectation confirmation theory (ECT) and through literature review to explore the factors that can influence the user¡¦s satisfaction. Successfully, we integrated perceived utilitarian benefit and perceived hedonic benefit into original ECT model. In this study, an empirical survey methodology with eight hypotheses was applied to verify this model. Covariance-based structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze data and evaluate the model. The results pointed out that past ECT model with only one aspect can be extended from utilitarian and hedonic dimensions. It indicated that confirmation of utilitarian benefit, perceived utilitarian and hedonic benefits have significant influence on user¡¦s satisfaction. Lastly, user¡¦s satisfaction will positively influence the continuance intention. In sum, this study integrated utilitarian and hedonic dimensions into original ECT model, and proposed a more comprehensive framework to explain the continuance usage of social network site. This study also provided a reference model for future continuance intention research and some suggestions for social network site practitioners.

The invention of Internet affects human life style and also creates many innovations and applications of business models. Social Network Service, SNS, is an innovative application and business model in recently years. It changes the development and communication of current social network and gathers high-traffic viewers to create more business opportunities. However, what¡¦s value attracted users to use SNS. This study focuses the usages of SNS from the users of Taiwan area by empirical research. From the customer point of view, satisfaction and word-of-mouth could be relative to and affected by utilitarian value and hedonic value. Therefore, this study builds an applicable integrated model and uses Structural Equation Modeling, SEM, to analyze and approve the relations of constructs. The following is the conclusions of this study. (1) The theory of this study confirms fit indices in SEM, and cause and effect of each construct is very obvious to support it. (2) Utilitarian value can be measured by factors of sociality, convenience, and information availability; hedonic value can be measured by factors of adventure, escapism, and affiliation. (3) Utilitarian value and hedonic value affect customer satisfaction; customer satisfaction affects word-of-mouth. (4) Utilitarian value and hedonic value positively affect word-of-mouth, but providing a good customer satisfaction can enhance word-of-mouth. (5) Influence of hedonic value is higher than that of utilitarian value relative to customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth. It shows that the users prefer hedonic value in SNS. Therefore, this study can be the reference of business administration and academic research.