Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2007.

The purpose of this master's theses is to analyze possibilities utilization of social network in business. The theses is focused on comparison of the most important contemporary social networks in the world and also on looking for thein commercial utilization. Before this, there is the analysis of the situation of internet and clearing of the term internet marketing. In theses, there is emphasis on separation of two main ways of advertising in social networks. First way is making the communities about the companies, products or brands and the second one is advertising by promotional systems of the networks. In the theses, there are a lot of results of many studies, that were performed by key agencies. Also there are many practical examples of business usage of social networks. The theses contains the possibilities of connecting the social networks and other marketing tools like advergaming, affiliate marketing and viral marketing. In the end of the theses, there are case studies, that analyse usage of social medias in four Czech companies from different business departments.

The aim of this work is to summarize the current possibilities and used approaches in the field of online marketing, and the possibility of their aplication on selected www pages. The goal is to present an approach for raising the marketing effectives and strength of a web page and increasing so its viewer rate. The work discusses the methods used in the process of online marketing analysis and the planning of online marketing strategies. The work also focuses on the field of social media marketing.

The internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has become vital as it enables them to enhance their business prospects and achieve organizational objectives. This is of utmost significance for the future growth of nations, regions, and the global economy, given the progressively significant role played by SMEs in contributing to economic development. However, SMEs face numerous challenges when it comes to internationalization, primarily due to their limited capabilities. As a result, only a minimal percentage of SMEs are able to expand their business into the international market. Despite the numerous barriers faced by SMEs, this research specifically focuses on three main barriers: lack of market knowledge, limited business networks, and challenges related to new product development. These factors are crucial when expanding a business into the international market. Therefore, this study aims to explore how SMEs can expand their business to the international market by overcoming these barriers through the effective utilization of social media. This empirical study adopts an exploratory approach and employs qualitative methodology with an inductive research approach. To gather data, this research conducted interviews with technology-based companies in Luleå. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted using an interview guide, and the collected data were analysed using the thematic method. The findings of the study highlight that social media can indeed be a successful influencer in the internationalization process of SMEs, particularly by utilizing business networking opportunities. Additionally, SMEs utilize social media as a secondary source for obtaining market information and engaging in new product development activities. However, the research also identifies hesitancy among technology-based SMEs when it comes to trusting the information obtained from social media platforms. Based on the findings of this study, several recommendations have been developed, primarily focusing on technology-based SMEs. These recommendations were derived from interviews conducted with companies located in Luleå and are intended to benefit SMEs operating in the tech industry as a whole.

This thesis deals with the topic of social media, more specifically social network websites and their potential use for marketing purposes at the Czech market. The aim of this thesis is to prove that social network sites are an ideal place to build a relationship with customers, however, they are less suitable for selling products. The main contribution of this work is in assessing the social network site with the greatest potential for building relationships (Facebook) and further in deciding whether its potential for selling products and services directly from the site might have any significance for companies. The theoretical section includes comprehensive definitions and insights necessary for better understanding of the principles of social media environment. The analytical section compares selected social network sites and by using quantitative research methods analyzes the appropriateness of one of them -- Facebook - as sales or communication channel. In the last section I will be trying to suggest an improvement in social network communication.

This thesis investigates the role of network structure, brokerage, and framing in high-risk collective action. I use the protest movement that emerged in Russia following falsified national elections in 2011 and 2012 as an empirical case study. I draw on a unique dataset of nearly 30,000 online documents and the linking structure of over 3,500 Russian Web sites. I employ a range of computational social science methods, including Exponential Random Graph Modeling, an advanced statistical model for social networks, social network analysis, machine learning, and latent semantic analysis. I address three research questions in this thesis. The first asks if a protest network challenging a hybrid regime will have a polycentric or hierarchical structure, and if that structure changes over time. Polycentric networks are conducive to high-risk collective action and are robust to the targeted removal of key nodes, while hierarchical networks can more easily mobilize protesters and spread information. I find that the Russian protest network has a polycentric structure only at the beginning of the protests, and moves towards a less effective hierarchical structure as the movement loses popular support. The second research question seeks to understand if brokered text is actually novel, and if that text is more novel in polycentric networks than in hierarchical ones. Brokers are the individuals or nodes in a network that connect disparate groups through weak ties and close structural holes. Brokers are advantageous because they have access to and spread novel information. I find that the text among nodes in brokered relationships is indeed novel, but that information novelty decreases when networks have a hierarchical structure. The last research question asks if a protest movement in a high-risk political setting can be more successful than the government at spreading its preferred frames, and within such a movement, whether moderate or extremist framing is more prevalent. I find that the opposition is far more effective than the government in spreading its frames, even when the government organizes massive counter protests. Within the movement, moderates are more likely to have their framing adopted online than extremists, unless violence occurs at protests. The findings suggest that movements should build flatter, more diffuse networks by ensuring that brokers tie together diverse protest constituencies. The findings also provide evidence against those who claim that authoritarian governments are more effective in shaping online discourse than oppositional movements, and also suggest that movements should advance moderate framing in order to attract a wider base of support among the general population.

In den vergangenen drei Jahren wurde mit dem Launch der Plattform hochschultv.de die Etablierungsphase eines übergreifenden deutschsprachigen Hochschulfernsehens abgeschlossen; mittlerweile konnte ein funktionierendes Netzwerk von vierzehn Sendern gesponnen werden. Die Leipziger Tagung „Hochschulfernsehen im digitalen Zeitalter – Zwischen Distributionsautonomie und Einzelkampf“ im Juni 2013 sollte in die Kooperationsphase überleiten und den Zusammenschluss über die Plattform hinaus stärken, beispielsweise durch thematische Bündelung von Beitragsreihen bis hin zu einer bundesweiten Sendung. Der vorliegende Band kondensiert die Inhalte und Ergebnisse der Fachtagung und stellt am Ende die Sender vor, die dort vertreten waren. Ein weiteres Ziel dieser Publikation besteht darin, allen Akteuren des Hochschulfernsehens, die nicht an der Tagung teilnehmen konnten, in das gemeinsame Projekt eines Dachverbands, der Markenbildung und Qualitätsverbesserung des deutschen Hochschulfernsehens einzubeziehen sowie die Diskussionsbeiträge auf den Podien zu dokumentieren.:Vorwort 2 Prof. Rüdiger Steinmetz, Charmaine Voigt Hochschulfernsehen - heute und morgen 6 Prof. Florian Mundhenke Medienregulierungen 16 Dr. Helmuth Neupert GEMA - Dialog 20 Marlene Heß Transkript Podiumsdiskussion 24 Hochschulfernsehen in Deutschland 56 Kristina Hasenheit Hochschulfernsehen – Chancen im Verbund 74 Charmaine Voigt Sender 79 Danksagung 84 Autoren 85