Yes / This special issue on feminisms and social media is published at a unique point in time, namely when social media platforms are routinely utilised for communication from the mundane to the extraordinary, to offer support and solidarity, and to blame and victimise. Collectively, social media are online technologies that provide the ability for community building and interaction (Boyd & Ellison, 2007), allowing people to interact, share, create and consume online content (Lyons, McCreanor, Goodwin, & Moewaka Barnes, 2017). They include such platforms as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Tinder, and Snapchat among others.

Social media is increasingly used for social protest, but does online participation advance the aims of social movements, or does it undermine efforts for social change? We explore this question in the present thesis by examining how the use of social media for collective action shapes, and is shaped by, the social psychological concerns of technology users. Adopting a diverse approach in terms of research questions and methodology, we examine how collective action is affected by: (1) features of the digital environment, (2) internet-enabled modes of participation, and (3) digitally-facilitated communities. Our findings demonstrate that group-level representations of the self and salient others are integral to the relationship between digital technology and collective action. Ultimately, we argue that digital technology can act as both a psychological bridge and barrier between disparate groups and issues; in this way it can both facilitate and undermine mobilisation efforts and broader aims for social change.

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.

In order to demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired during her tenure in the Arts Administration graduate program, the consultant works four hundred and eighty hours as a Social Media and PR intern at Bond Public Relations and Brand Strategy in New Orleans, Louisiana. The following body of work is a consultant’s report written from the perspective of a professional Arts Administrator, and includes the following items: host company profile; description of internship activities; consultant’s contributions and gains; summation of company and industry best practices; host company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats – both internal and external; and the consultant’s recommendations for improvement.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-05-14T13:19:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Janaína Menezes.pdf: 3325969 bytes, checksum: c9d6a7eacfa7c41df20c524f7e4dcb93 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:19:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Janaína Menezes.pdf: 3325969 bytes, checksum: c9d6a7eacfa7c41df20c524f7e4dcb93 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Nenhuma / Essa pesquisa está vinculada à Linha “Educação, Desenvolvimento e Tecnologias do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos – UNISINOS. O tema está relacionado ao uso de jogos sociais digitais para a aprendizagem de Língua Inglesa. Os autores que embasaram a investigação são: Castells (2000), Gee (2008), Lemos (2002, 2009, 2012), Moita (2007), Piaget (1990), Primo (2007, 2008), Recuero (2004, 2005, 2010), Schlemmer (2002, 2009), Veen; Vrakking (2009), Warschauer (2012). O problema de pesquisa desta dissertação consiste em investigar como um jogo social, presente no contexto de uma mídia social digital pode se constituir enquanto ambiente para aprendizagem da Língua Inglesa. O objetivo dessa pesquisa consistiu em investigar e compreender como ocorre o interesse, bem como a aceitação do uso de um jogo usado como entretenimento para fins de aprendizagem, analisar as possibilidades de sintonia entre o jogo e o conteúdo programático da aula presencial física de Língua Inglesa, analisar como os participantes colaboram entre si durante o jogo e como essa colaboração contribui para a aprendizagem e analisar e compreender como as interações dos participantes com o jogo podem favorecer o desenvolvimento da competência comunicativa na aprendizagem da segunda língua. Para esta pesquisa foram utilizados dois jogos sociais digitais The Sims Social e Wetopia, presentes no Facebook, com dois grupos de alunos de Língua Inglesa. A pesquisa teve enfoque qualitativo, de natureza exploratória e utilizou a metodologia de estudo de caso. Os dados foram coletados por meio das interações entre os participantes durante o jogo registradas em chats e no mural dos grupos criado no Facebook e também em entrevistas semi-estruturadas após o experimento. Como resultados da pesquisa, salienta-se que os jogos sociais digitais presentes no contexto de uma mídia social digital possibilitam um ambiente para o ensino e aprendizagem de Língua Inglesa, favorecendo o desenvolvimento de competência comunicativa, permitindo a sintonia entre a sala de aula presencial física e o contexto do jogo, engajando os participantes em atividades colaborativas e gerando interesse pela sua aprendizagem com e através dos jogos. Portanto, esta dissertação traz para a reflexão o potencial sócio-cognitivo presente no ambiente dos jogos sociais digitais e como tais tecnologias podem permitir novas e diferentes formas de construção de conhecimento na Língua Inglesa. / This research is linked to the Research Line "Education, Technology and Development” present in the Program of Graduate Education at Vale do Rio dos Sinos University- UNISINOS. The theme is related to the use of digital social games for learning English. The authors based the research are: Castells (2000) , GHG (2008), Lemos (2002, 2009, 2012), MOITA (2007), Piaget (1990), PRIMO (2007, 2008), RECUERO (2004, 2005, 2010), Schlemmer (2002, 2009), VEEN; Vrakking (2009), Warschauer (2012). The research problem of this dissertation is to investigate how a social game, present in the context of digital social media can be constituted as an environment for learning the English language. The objective of this research was to investigate and understand how the interest occurs, as well as the acceptance of the use of a game used as entertainment for learning, analyze the possibilities of harmony between the game and the syllabus of the English curriculum, analyze how participants collaborate with each other during the game and how this collaboration contributes to learning and to analyze and understand how the interactions of the participants with the game may favor the development of communicative competence in second language learning. For this research we used two digital social games The Sims Social and Wetopia present in Facebook, with two groups of students of English. The research approach was qualitative, exploratory in nature and used the case study methodology. Data were collected through the interactions between the participants during the game chats and recorded content present in the wall of the groups created on Facebook as well as on semi-structured interviews after the experiment. As the survey results, it is noted that the digital social games present in the context of a digital social media enable an environment for teaching and learning English Language, favoring its the development, allowing the alingment between classroom and the games, engaging participants in collaborative activities and generating interest intheir learning with and through games. Therefore, this dissertation brings to reflection the socio-cognitive potential in the environment of digital and social games and how such technologies can enable new and different ways of constructing knowledge in English.

Submitted by Noeme Timbo (noeme.timbo@metodista.br) on 2016-09-08T17:43:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Candice da Silva Quincoses.pdf: 2844651 bytes, checksum: a2875a55b7d08a29a03b56892e1b3409 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-08T17:43:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Candice da Silva Quincoses.pdf: 2844651 bytes, checksum: a2875a55b7d08a29a03b56892e1b3409 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This work aims to assess the posture of organizations on social digital medias, considering the fact that these new virtual environments have dramatically changed the way in wich they promote the relationship with its stakeholders.The main objective of the research is to identify and understand how organizations position themselves in front of unfavorable comments in digital social media that may impacts its image and reputation, as well as showing the importance to constantly monitor the consumer and dialogue with him on the digital channels to avoid risks to the brand. The metodology used is called study of multiple cases, through which analyzed the unfavorable comments to the Brands: Vivo, Tim and Oi, on the Facebook Page during the month of september 2015. It was built a research protocol and held the monitoring of these brands analyzing them posts and unfavorable comments collected in that period. It was found, after such procedures that mobile operators often have difficulties in relationships with the public in digital social media, which puts them at risk for their image and reputation. / O trabalho tem como proposta avaliar a postura das organizações nas mídias sociais digitais, considerando o fato de que esses novos ambientes virtuais têm modificado drasticamente a maneira pela qual elas promovem o relacionamento com seus públicos estratégicos. O objetivo principal da pesquisa é identificar e compreender como as organizações se posicionam diante de comentários desfavoráveis nas mídias sociais digitais que possam impactar sua imagem e reputação, bem como mostrar a importância de monitorar constantemente o consumidor e dialogar com ele nos canais digitais para evitar riscos à marca. A metodologia aplicada denomina-se Estudo de Casos Múltiplos, por meio da qual analisaram-se os comentários desfavoráveis às marcas: Vivo, Tim e Oi, na página do Facebook, durante o mês de setembro de 2015. Construiu-se um protocolo de pesquisa, e realizou-se o acompanhamento dessas marcas analisando-lhes os posts e os comentários desfavoráveis coletados no período. Constatou-se, após tais procedimentos que as operadoras apresentam frequentemente dificuldades para se relacionar com os públicos nas mídias sociais digitais, o que as coloca em risco quanto à sua imagem e reputação.

Kenya's 2010 Constitution marked a significant shift towards decentralised governance and public participation as key drivers of sustainable development (Finch and Omolo, 2015). One of the primary strategies county governments employ to achieve this goal is participatory budgeting (PB), which empowers communities and devolves power to support inclusive and equitable development. Through the Communication for Development lens, this thesis investigates the discourse surrounding participatory budgeting in Makueni County, Kenya. The study examines the communication approaches the county government applies to promote public participation, explores the role of participatory communication in facilitating public engagement in PB, and assesses the inclusivity of participatory approaches. Additionally, the research delves into the opportunities and challenges of integrating digital tools into participatory communication for PB. This aspect of the study is particularly relevant in today's digital age, where digital communication tools have become an essential aspect of communication. The thesis also considers power dynamics, social context, and the appropriate use of digital tools to foster a participatory and inclusive approach for PB.The data collection methods to dissect the research topic included semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Makueni County officials and a focus group discussion with civil society and community members. The findings of this research reveal Makueni County has public participation approach that enjoys strong government backing and efforts to institutionalise PB within the county devolution governance. The county communication approach blends participatory and top-down strategies, dominated by a monologic, one-way flow of information. However, a participatory aspect is also present, facilitated by traditional community platforms and community mobilisation through media and digital tools. While digital platforms are employed, restricted internet coverage and a digital divide hinder their effectiveness. The findings also identify limited youth and civil society participation in the communication approaches further hinder inclusive participation in the PB processes. Despite these challenges, the study suggests that Makueni County's approach is promising for participatory communication. However, to achieve a truly participatory communication approach, the county government needs to refine its communication approach to enhance inclusivity and leverage digital tools to foster effective public participation. This could cultivate transparent, accountable, and participatory communication strategies, that could yield sustainable and equitable outcomes in the participatory budgeting initiative.

This dissertation thesis deals with the application of the concept of information distance to the social network data analysis. We consider this data as recorded acts of social action. As such, they express certain attitudes, values and intentions. We introduce a formula for calculating the Normalized Social Distance and, based on the series of case studies, we prove the usefulness and validity of this approach. The application of formal mathematical and computer science techniques to massive data records of human action in social network environments is enabled by the change brought by new media and the associated technological advancement. This change is accompanied by a gradual transition of research methods in the humanities, referred to as the onset of digital humanities. This approach is characterized by the application of quantitative methods in the field of humanities and the discovery of new data areas useful for analyses. In case of social media data, the differentiation between quantitative and qualitative methods is no longer valid. A good example is also this thesis, in which information theory specifically combines the methods of a traditional social network analysis and the Goffman's frame analysis of human action. Keywords Information distance, Normalized Social Distance, Kolmogorov...

This thesis, The Self-myth: Profile Picture of Youth, show how adolescents use technologies for visual on-line self-presentation. Firstly, we describe the context of social media, the social network site Facebook and the concept of digital youth. In the next part we study construction of the profile picture and the important role of digital tools in the on-line lives of teenagers. The last part is the theory of semiotics and readers can see how youth create own self-myth.