Background: In today’s world mobile marketing and social media marketing are playing a significant role. The reason for this is a global digitalization that effects a lot of interactions between clients and organizations. In that situation small and medium-seized enterprises (SMEs) are challenged to exist and generate revenue. Huge corporations also observe the change in the business landscape, however it is much easier for them to adapt as they have way more resources and expertise concerning marketing in ‘digital era’. As the market becomes more competitive SMEs have to act wisely, but they do not always have necessary knowledge. Purpose: Consequently, the purpose of this thesis is to determine whether using SMM and mobile marketing brings value to the SMEs and have proven andmeasurable positive outcomes on sales of the company. Method: As the research explores the topic of SMM and mobile marketing in relationwith SMEs the decision was made that main source of data will be executives and marketing practitioners of the companies who use social media in their business activity. The research method will be exploratory, with induction as the primary research approach. Hence, semi-structured interviews were chosen as empirical data source. Finally, 12 interviews were held with companies from various business sectors from Russia and Sweden. Qualitative research gives an opportunity to investigate such a developing area find out certain business insights and vision from the companies that would be difficult to find out otherwise. Results & Contribution: First of all, the thesis has a theoretical contribution. The theoretical framework can give a deeper understanding of the subject for marketing practitioners and executives. As the theory moves forward on such a popular topic some of the instruments may have been left aside, whereas the conceptual framework can grab the attention and reveal the tools of SMM and mobile marketing that were not used by the companies. Furthermore, research has a comprehensive empirical analysis of the subject. The 12 semi-structured interviews covered all the areas that were previously examined in theoretical part. SMEs can use the practical part as a foundation to build their own marketing strategy. Such a strategy may be a complex platform for achieving results. Whereas, the participants share insights and vision on the subject.

UA Open Access Publishing Fund / Background: Internet and mobile health (mHealth) apps hold promise for expanding the reach of evidence-based health interventions. Research in this area is rapidly expanding. However, these studies may experience problems with recruitment and retention. Web-based and mHealth studies are in need of a wide-reaching and low-cost method of recruitment that will also effectively retain participants for the duration of the study. Online recruitment may be a low-cost and wide-reaching tool in comparison to traditional recruitment methods, although empirical evidence is limited. Objective: This study aims to review the literature on online recruitment for, and retention in, mHealth studies. Methods: We conducted a review of the literature of studies examining online recruitment methods as a viable means of obtaining mHealth research participants. The data sources used were PubMed, CINAHL, EbscoHost, PyscINFO, and MEDLINE. Studies reporting at least one method of online recruitment were included. A narrative approach enabled the authors to discuss the variability in recruitment results, as well as in recruitment duration and study design. Results: From 550 initial publications, 12 studies were included in this review. The studies reported multiple uses and outcomes for online recruitment methods. Web-based recruitment was the only type of recruitment used in 67% (8/12) of the studies. Online recruitment was used for studies with a variety of health domains: smoking cessation (58%; 7/12) and mental health (17%; 2/12) being the most common. Recruitment duration lasted under a year in 67% (8/12) of the studies, with an average of 5 months spent on recruiting. In those studies that spent over a year (33%; 4/12), an average of 17 months was spent on recruiting. A little less than half (42%; 5/12) of the studies found Facebook ads or newsfeed posts to be an effective method of recruitment, a quarter (25%; 3/12) of the studies found Google ads to be the most effective way to reach participants, and one study showed better outcomes with traditional (eg in-person) methods of recruitment. Only one study recorded retention rates in their results, and half (50%; 6/12) of the studies recorded survey completion rates. Conclusions: Although online methods of recruitment may be promising in experimental research, more empirical evidence is needed to make specific recommendations. Several barriers to using online recruitment were identified, including participant retention. These unique challenges of virtual interventions can affect the generalizability and validity of findings from Web-based and mHealth studies. There is a need for additional research to evaluate the effectiveness of online recruitment methods and participant retention in experimental mHealth studies.

Social media – over the last decade with the development of technology, this new worldwide phenomenon occurred on the horizon and changed the traditional marketing ways forever. Many companies therefore seek these new platforms in order to come closer to potential customers. One of the most important social media platforms for this is Instagram, where companies can approach their target groups by visual storytelling. Start-up companies have often limited marketing budgets, which makes Instagram a perfect marketing channel because it is cost effective. This thesis is a case study of how pictures on Instagram can be used to spread the brand and how different activities affect traffic to the website/webshop. This case study is based on a marketing model that has been created and tested on an interior company’s, Tegelbruketdesign, Instagram account. The marketing model is analysed and compared to collected data from semi-structured interviews with two popular private Instagram accounts and a semi-structured interview with a Digital PR & Social Media strategist. The findings suggest that some picture types and styles are better then others regarding the spreading of the brand. The findings also suggest that Instagram activities have a positive affect on the traffic to the company’s website/webshop.

This practicum develops the concept of Mapping Digital Landscape Narratives. It is an exploration of the use of social media as a passive form of community engagement in landscape architecture. Digital landscape narratives are stories about places that are created collectively by various agents, including people, groups, organizations and communities through the Internet and the use of social media. A case study of the Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg, Manitoba is used to explore the potential of social media as a tool in planning and design. This practicum explores the importance of social media to participatory culture. An understanding of landscape narratives is developed, and contemporary forms of representation are explored. The document explores three forms of data including original social media data, such as photographs and videos, metadata such as hashtags and locations, and social network data, which is created when people interact on social media. Research into mapping, social network analysis and online privacy outline best practices for researchers and designers of public space. A study of the Festival du Voyageur’s programming, along with an interview with the festival’s planning staff, establishes a conventional data set that outlines the festival on a city scale, a neighborhood scale, and the scale of the festival grounds. Social media data from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are mapped and analyzed to create a complimentary data set. Ultimately an overall complex narrative is developed describing the festival from various points of view at various locations. / October 2016

During the early part of the 21st century, a number of campus demonstrations and other protest acts on college and university campuses became highly visible nationally and internationally, largely thanks to social and traditional/popular media. This visibility was partially due to the ubiquitous and easily accessible nature of emergent digital technologies–cameras, cell phones and social networking sites, among other tools. Though campus protests and social movements began to proliferate nationally, and in the context of increased economic inequity, few studies sought to explore how campus actors (students and employees in particular) used social and popular media to shape and control public perception, specifically during highly visible campus conflicts. Further, much of the literature on campus activism has historically overlooked protests and social justice movements occurring on comprehensive state university and community college, or 2-year, campuses. Additionally, the literature does not offer a comprehensive examination of strategies surrounding pre-negotiated protest acts between campus activists, administrators and law enforcement officers. Also, the literature has not adequately examined responses to tactical strategies employed by law enforcement agencies during campus protest, and at a time of heightened militarization of officers. Both issues are related to the image-making capabilities of activists and administrators. To explore such issues, I set out to investigate how student and employee activists and also administrators construct meaning around the public good mission of higher education. I then explored how both groups public good conceptualizations to shape both action and public perception. In doing so, I employed a combined theoretical framework, modifying academic capitalism and co-cultural theories and adapting them into a single framework. My framework enabled the examination of power dynamics around interactions, discourse and space, ultimately leading to an understanding that the public good mission is a battleground. Within this frame, campus activists and administrators are struggling to both define and manifest the democratic imperative, or historic public good mandate, in different ways. The framework also allow for the study of why specific information is publicized or narrated, while other information is omitted or ignored. Using qualitative methods, I specifically studied how individuals seek to control involvement in democratic processes on campus based on definitions associated with the public good. I also studied ways individuals advance democratic ideals. Further, I explored what tools (including social media and traditional and/or popular media, also referenced collectively as "the press") individuals employ to shape public perception about equity issues and conflicts on campus. In this regard, social and popular media serve as conduits for informing public audiences. For my investigation, I purposefully selected one land-grant institution, a comprehensive state university, and one 2-year community college–all in California. I intentionally selected California, as the state has historically and continues to be seen an important forerunner for nationwide higher education policy and practice. I also chose campuses whose conflicts were receiving statewide and national media attention to allow for the investigation of public perception surrounding campus conflict. Doing so also allowed for the exploration of how those on campus employed social media strategies and also utilized popular media to attempt to shape and control the public image of their institutions. My findings suggest that while campus activists and administrators maintain a similar belief that public institutions should be broadly accessible, they differently conceptualize how the public good mission of higher education should manifest. The difference in framing of the public good complicates interactions between both groups, and at times leads to violent clashes during protest. My findings also suggest that while activists and campus officials both maintain a social media presence and interact with media representatives, administrators are not as successful in capturing public support. This appears especially true during and after clashes have occurred during campus protest acts that also involve campus law enforcement officers. Additionally, my findings indicate that the under-utilization of social media, lax media relations strategies and blame shifting, specifically during protest acts, may ultimately hurt administrators and law enforcement officers with regard to image-shaping efforts. Of note, the resulting coverage of violent clashes in the popular media tended to favor activists over administrators and law enforcement officers no matter the type and amount of pre-planning and pre-negotiations between activists and campus officials. Ultimately, my findings challenge perceptions that institutional image-making powers reside squarely with administrators and media relations offices. Given the widespread use of digital technologies and social media, and also strategies activists have employed to engage with members of traditional media outlets, my findings also illustrate how student and employee activists are changing how power is introduced and distributed within their campus communities.

This study explored attributes of a Facebook brand page (FBP). Seven variables were derived from the framework and applied to FBPs. The goals of this research were to discover which attributes contribute to a successful FBP, determine which attributes increase purchase intentions, and help marketers determine where to focus their efforts. A total of 421 surveys were gathered from men and women ages 18 and older. The methods of this research included factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results yielded two loading factors for the trustworthiness variable and supported hypotheses of trustworthiness increasing purchase intentions. It was also discovered that participation positively influences purchase intentions. It is advised that information content be monitored to avoid information overload.

My mission is to bring attention to the unusual, undefined, and fluid connections we have to objects through various avenues of experience. Things, objects, and devices have shaped our culture, environment, and personal philosophies. We live, grow, learn, and mourn with objects. We worship, sympathize, and relate to objects. But what I am most interested in is a human tendency to retreat to objects, allowing them to mediate experiences of friendship and intimacy between people. During my graduate studies, I have been evaluating my personal and professional connections with others in order to understand how technology such as smart phones and computers have become so intertwined in these relationships.

Through an accidental discovery of an interest in the film making process, I decided to explore the opportunities that would come through self-education in the field. Along the way, I found that the process of working behind the camera can, in fact, help the actor’s career in front of the camera and provide a chance to train in a nontraditional way. After directing two projects (one simple and one more complicated), I decided to propose a class in which students would be required to self- produce their own video projects online. The class was vastly popular, and the students’ responses to the class work lined up with my learning objectives perfectly. The actor must take control of his/her career by constantly working on the craft, and that can easily be done through going out and shooting one’s own work. Even if it doesn’t result in being ‘discovered,’ the pursuit allows the actor’s creativity and perspective to be ever widening.

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone and camera on social media. iPhoneography, the photography taken or edited with the iPhone, has set the trend of nostalgic photography on social media during the 2010s; thus, the iPhone, a high-tech camera, produces low-tech-looking images. This dissertation attempts to find out why iPhone photographers (iPhoneographers) take, edit, and share images that mimic photographs taken with analog photographic equipment. I argue that nostalgia allows iPhoneographers to use the iPhone as a creative tool and to belong to a community. Based on the arguments of Vilém Flusser—who suggested that photographers are more interested in the camera and the process of taking pictures than in the photographs produced—this work focuses first on the iPhone camera and the camera apps. (This work also considers the writings of Roland Barthes, Susan Sontag, and W. J. T. Mitchell, as they pertain to photography and iPhoneography.) It traces the beginning of the nostalgic photograph style to 2008, when the Apple App Store offered apps that behaved like toy cameras and rendered images similar to those produced by toy and Polaroid cameras. The Hipstamatic app set the trend in 2009, and Instagram made it mainstream. Nostalgia is more a source of inspiration and creativity than a source of melancholy and longing for the past. The iPhoneography community on Facebook tends to form small groups that share and curate specific topics, such as clouds, portraits, flowers, and images produced with Hipstamatic. A small survey of the iPhoneography community shows that the community considers iPhoneography an art.

This quantitative study intends to identify how collective meaning-making elaborates on social media in terms of a rather new swedish concept, klimatsmart. User generated content, gathered under the hashtag #klimatsmart, is analyzed through quantitative content analysis and the study focuses on which climate friendly representations is created and further maintained on the social media platform Instagram. The approach combines an understanding of climate communication as well as how affective communities is formed in social media. The results show that commercial actors and individuals contribute with most content and that visual content of food and items of everyday use are the most common. A consumptionand recycling aspect often is mentioned along with this visual content. This indicates that the ideological negotiation in terms of the hashtag #klimatsmart is focused mainly to small lifestyle changes such as behavior linked to environmentally friendly consumption.