This study aimed to get a deeper understanding of how people interact within groups on social media that originally stems from a hashtag-activistic campaign. The study was conducted on an empirically selected group using the hashtag #Trashtag on Facebook. #Trashtag is a hashtag used when picking up garbage in order to document pictures of ones work on social media. This study attempts to find out how the interaction within this group works and what makes people engage in the matter.  This study is conducted through content- and text analysis as well as ethnographic observation online. The observation method is also the means in which the data for this study is collected. The following three theories is used as the theoretical framework for this study, participatory culture, making is connecting and uses and gratification alongside with an hermeneutic perspective. The main results for this study was found by observing 45 publications from one Facebook group with the mission to clean up a beach in Ireland.  The observation showed that publications posted in the group varied between subjects concerning the constant litter and contamination on the beach too publications designed to inform about possible or direct causes of the problem. The main result of this study was an observation that a recurring way of motivating the group members to participate in the Facebook group was through emotionally charged content designed to provoke some kind of reaction. The engagement however is driven by positiveness and unconditional encouragement between the participants, negative vibes are not answered upon. Furthermore the study found that the urge to participate and contribute gives people a satisfactory feeling of achievement. Therefore activist groups like the one being researched in this study are important not just for the environment itself but also for the individual. The presented material in this study could be used for further research within this subject.

Background: LANs are popular due to the unique social features where gamers share the samepassion, meet, and compete with like-minded gamers. Further, a LAN forms new and unexploredfeelings and impressions for gamers; therefore, it should be further explored. Therefore,understanding the gamers' motivations will allow for a better understanding of the unexploredbenefits gained. Purpose: By studying the phenomenon of LANs, this research aims to explore the motivationsfor attending a LAN by discovering and understanding the connection between benefits andmotivations. Method: To fulfil the purpose of this thesis, being of exploratory nature, qualitative research wasused. The empirical data was accumulated through fifteen semi-structured interviews. The datahas been analysed and interpreted using an abductive approach incorporating a thematic analysis. Conclusion: This study explored the motivations and benefits of LAN attendance from a U&Gperspective. The findings showed three motivations for attending a LAN competition, diversionand social interaction. Furthermore, the gained benefits are rewards, information, skills, escape,entertainment, relationships, socialisation and finding new teammates. The analysis resulted indeveloping a conceptual model illustrating the motivations and benefits.

Background: Social media has become a crucial aspect of individuals lives and it has provided businesses with a unique opportunity to connect with their customers. Instagram has grown to become one of the most widely used social networking sites in the world and there is a diversity of motivations of why consumers choose to engage with brand-related content on social media. The diversity in motivations should be studied to gain comprehensive understanding of consumer engagement and with the growing diversity of the Swedish population a challenge is presented for marketers looking to connect with consumers from various cultural backgrounds. Purpose: The purpose is to explore how people with diverse cultural backgrounds in Sweden experience their motivations for engagement with brand-related content on social media.  Method: This thesis is of qualitative nature where nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with women in the age of 20-30 who engaged with brand-related content on Instagram. The research adopted phenomenology as its strategy and used thematic analysis to find the themes connected to the participants experiences. Conclusion: The combined set of motivational factors for engaging with brand-related content, at various levels on Instagram, were the same for both cultural groups. However, the motivations which was experienced had both differences and similarities. It was concluded that some differences could be explained by the collectivistic and individualistic background of the participants, however, the differences were mainly based on the personality of the individual since differences were also indicated among participants within the same cultural group.

Med det ökade användandet av visuellt baserade sociala medier har Instagram blivit en viktig plattform för företag att skapa och stärka relationer med sina kunder. Genom att skapa innehåll baserat på kundens behov kan öka kundengagemanget vilket i sin tur har stor påverkan på kundrelationen och företagets försäljning. Denna studie avser att undersöka vilket innehåll som skapar högt respektive lågt engagemang på företaget Estrids Instagram-konto @Heyestrid och vilka behov som innehållet vill tillfredsställa för användaren. Tidigare forskning analyserar vilka faktorer som visar på ökad popularitet vid varumärkes inlägg och värdet i att engagera kunder. Metoden som tillämpas i denna studie är en kvantitativ innehållsanalys och sedan användes de teoretiska utgångspunkterna för att analysera insamlad data. Teorin utgick från bland annat användarmodellen och dubbel processteori. Empirin bestod av två månaders inlägg på Estrids Instagram-konto och sammanlagt 104 inlägg analyserades. Engagemanget mäts genom medelvärdet av antalet gillningar och kommentarer på inläggen och innehållet kategoriserades utifrån kategorierna underhållning, information, tävling, produkter, influencer och övrigt innehåll. Resultatet visade att inlägg som innehåller tävlingar hade högst engagemang via både gillningar och kommentarer. Därefter kom produkter, övrigt innehåll och information. Lägst engagemang hade kategorin influencer. Användarmodellen visar att de genomgående behoven som Estrid vill försöka fylla för kunden är det emotionella, kognitiva och socialt integrerande behovet. / With the increasing use of visually based social media, Instagram has become an important platform for companies to create and strengthen customer relationships. By focusing on producing content that the customer wants, customer engagement will rise which has a major impact on both the customer relationship and the company’s sale. This stydy aims to investigate which content creates high and low engagement on the company Estrid’s Instagram account @Heyestrid and to see which needs the content tries to satisfy for the user. Previous research analyzes the factors that show increased popularity of brand contributions and the value of engaging customers. The method used in this study is a content analysis and the collected data was analysed using collected theory such as uses and gratification theory and dual process theory. Two months worth of posts were analysed with a total of 104 posts from Estrid’s Instagram account. The engagement were measured by likes and comments and content were divided in the categories; entertainment, information, competition, products, influencers and other. The results showed that posts containing competitions had the highest engagement followed by products, information and other content. The entertainment category was the most published but had the second lowest engagement. The category influencers had the lowest engagement. According to the uses and gratifications theory the needs that Estrid wants to fulfill are the emotional, cognitive and socially integrated needs.

This study aimed to find out the primary need of individuals ages 25-39 have, when it comes to using SVT1, TV4, SVT Play and TV4 Play and to assess how easy and useful the tv-channels are for them. The target group was individuals between ages25-39 who lives in Sweden. 139 individuals replied to the online form. Out of the 139 individuals 110 identified as women and 29 as male. The respondents werecategorized in residential demographics and education level. The study collected data from the target group by sending out an online form. The study used Excel to generate clear tables illustrating the results from the form. The study used a quantitative method with a convenience sampling technique. Uses & gratification and Technology acceptance model where the theories used in this study. The result shows that the primary need of the target group was entertainment and that they preferred online streaming services, and in particular SVT Play, rather than liner television. 2 of 5 people does not have linear television and the results shows a trend of using streaming services as the primary sours of television. Amongst the target group, exceptionally few did not have the streaming services SVT Play and TV4 Play.It was primarily male, individuals with high school education and individuals that lives in a sparsely populated rural areas that do not have linear television. Onefinding was that the target group tend to use SVT1 and SVT Play to satisfy the needs of information and new knowledge, in contrast to TV4 and TV4 Play. Themajority of respondents expressed that SVT1 and TV4 was easy to use, yet the results shows that just because something is easy, does not mean that its useful. Is also shows that something can be slightly difficult to use, but it is useful and therefore individual tend to use it any way.

Problemformulering och syfte: Fenomenet cancel culture är något som har växt fram under de senaste åren, och utspelar sig främst på sociala medier. Detta betyder att individer eller grupper av människor tar ett kollektivt beslut att bojkotta den person, företag eller organisation som anses ha gjort något stötande eller oacceptabelt. Cancel culture har blivit enallt mer normal form av social bestraffning. Syftet med studien är att utforska hur Margaux hanterade sin kriskommunikation genom video-skandalen och hur hon bemöter CancelCulture klimatet. Genom att undersöka olika kommunikationsstrategier, respons på kritik, användning av sociala medier och långsiktiga effekter på varumärke och karriär, syftar studien till att ge insikter i hur Cancel Culture påverkar samhället och influencern Margauxliv. Metod och Material: Undersökningen är en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med ett kodschemasom består av fem stycken inlägg från Margaux Dietz Instagram. Där har kommentarerna kodats. Det har även gjorts en transkribering av den dokumentär som släpptes i samband med den kris som uppstod. Huvudresultat: I denna kvalitativa forskning framgår det att kommentarerna på Margauxs Instagram-inlägg visar hur användarnas beteende och reaktioner förändrades under och efter skandalen. Samt hur Margaux använde sig av olika strategier för att hantera sin image.

網際網路普及背後孕育著龐大商機，但電子商務仍然面臨商業競爭與來自消費者的挑戰。研究者認為引進品牌權益的概念，協助電子商務經營者建立強勢網路品牌，是一可行辦法。回顧文獻，發現過去顧客基礎品牌權益研究多半為行銷者導向，較少重視消費者個別差異。為了更進一步區分消費者的差異，研究者欲藉由使用與滿足理論對媒體使用動機的研究成果，來瞭解消費者在不同的使用動機下其重視的網路品牌權益構面。本研究以Aaker(1996)提出的品牌權益為基礎，並使用網路消費者為研究對象，建構顧客基礎的網路品牌權益構面。也一併瞭解消費者個別差異，作為電子商務經營者在發展電子商務時的重要參考依據。 本研究分四階段進行。第一階段為定義何謂網路品牌；第二階段透過焦點團體，發展出顧客基礎的網路品牌權益內涵；第三，透過第一、二階段的成果，進行網路品牌權益問卷編製與大樣本施測，確立顧客基礎的網路品牌權益構面。第四階段使用典型相關分析，以瞭解不同使用動機下的消費者，是否重視不同網路品牌權益概念。網路品牌權益量表透過線上調查，收集358份有效問卷。研究結果指出，網路品牌權益可分作五大構面，分別為網站管理（包含營運方式與互動關係）、品牌忠誠（包含使用偏好與使用習慣組成）、品牌聯想、自我表達及知覺品質，因素負荷量達52.77%；量表共33題，信度.905(p<0.01)，效標關連效度達.512(p<0.01)。本研究亦發現在不同網路使用動機之下，消費者重視的網路品牌權益不同；在資訊蒐集與娛樂動機下，消費者重視網路品牌的網站管理與知覺品質；在人際與娛樂動機下，則重視知覺品質與自我表達。 最後則對電子商務業者提出品牌經營參考，及未來學術發展方向。 關鍵字：品牌、網路品牌權益、顧客基礎、使用與滿足。 / Despite the universal availability of the Internet and the immense business opportunities generated e-commerce, e-commerce itself is confronted by endless business competition and consumer mistrust. How should e-commerce managers react to these competition and challenges? This research proposes that the introduction of the brand equity concept is viable in helping e-commerce managers establish strong online brands, yet existing literature on customer-based brand equity are mostly marketer oriented rather than customer oriented, thus not much weight is given to individual consumer differences. We use mass media theory “uses and gratification” theory to understand if customer have different internet use motivation will cause them prefer different online brand equity. We use online consumer as research participant, and build customer-based online brand equity construct, describe individual differences as our results. E-commerce managers can utilize as important reference when developing their business affairs. This research is conducted in four stages: the first stage is intended for understanding consumers’ definition of online brands; the second stage develops preliminary customer-based online brand equity constructs via focus groups; the third stage develops customer-based brand equity constructs by designing and testing a survey based on the results of the first two stages using large samples; and the fourth stage uses canonical analysis to find out whether customer have different internet use motivation will cause them prefer different online brand equity. We collected 358 validate questionnaires. Findings indicate that online brand equity can be divided into five dimensions: web site management, brand loyalty, brand associations, self expressions, and perceived quality. Totaling 33 items, factor loading 52.77%, with 0.905 in reliability and 0.512 (p<0.01) in criteria-related validity. When conusumer’s internet use motivation is search information and entertainment, the online brand equity construct they will prefer is web site managemet and perceived quality. But when conusumer’s internet use motivation is interpersonal and entertainment, the online brand equity construct they will prefer is perceived quality and self expressions. According results above, we propsed some recommdations for e-commerce managers and scholars. Keywords: Brand, Online brand equity, Customer-based, Uses and gratification

The current paper addresses the associations between video game content (i.e., physically aggressive, relationally aggressive, and prosocial) and physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in two distinct developmental periods. The purpose of the paper is to test whether playing video games with a particular type of content influences behaviors over time, or whether individuals who have higher levels of physical aggression, relational aggression, or prosocial behavior prefer to play games with similar content. Two theories will be simultaneously examined and tested in order to determine the relative merit in using each in research examining the relationships between video game content and positive and negative behaviors. More specifically, this paper will address the General Aggression Model/General Learning Model (GAM/GLM) and the Uses and Gratification Theory. The GAM/GLM, at their core, predict that exposure to video game content will build a cognitive schema which will guide how an individual should behave when confronted with a later social encounter (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). Contrarily, Uses and Gratification would suggest that a person chooses to play video games with a particular type of content, and that video games should not influence behavior. Specifically, according to the theory, individuals should seek out video games in order to fulfill their inward feelings and motivations (e.g., an individual with aggressive tendencies would play games with more violent and aggressive content) (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1973; Whiting & Williams, 2013). A careful analysis showed a significant relationship between each type of video game content and its' corresponding behavior among adolescents, which supports the assumptions of the GAM and GLM. There was no relationship between video game content and behavior among preschoolers. With the exception of relational aggression of physically aggressive content, there was no support for Uses and Gratification Theory, in that preschoolers' and adolescents' levels of physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior were not related to the preference for video games with different types of content. The analysis adds significantly to the current literature by showing a relationship between video game content and behavior over a four year period.

This study researches communication 2020-2021 via the Tinder dating app in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a framework of mediatization, uses and gratification theory and affordance theory. Data collection was performed using qualitative interviews via Zoom video calls with respondents based in Sweden and findings were analyzed using thematic analysis.  Results of the study discusses phenomena when the physical world and a mediatized one interlock: even though the Tinder app afforded people to connect during the COVID-19 pandemic, the worlds are not independent of each other. Uncertainty and stress could seep into the dating app practice and create a hindrance to easy communication, even though the Tinder app was trying to accommodate the changing times. The study explores that the dehumanizing aspect of reducing a person to a single attribute and deleting that person is connected to a heightened affordance of gamification of relationships that is connected to deep mediatization, moments of our everyday practices immersed in new kinds of mediated communication. Steered behaviour from the app occurs in the Tinder interface which this paper explores, connected to data-driven decision making, a critical tool allowing mobile app developers to not only figure out customer behaviour but also to design customised products. Connected here is the mediatized interplay between humans and technology. If the Tinder app was hard to set up or navigate, the different needs and gratifications would not be met and users would simply vanish.  This paper argues the Tinder app design encourages speed and has coded distractions to actually work against the perceived gratification of meeting a partner and ultimately rendering the service redundant. The COVID-19 pandemic, this thesis explores, has spurred different generations to adapt to new practices and technologies but that these affordances do not always correlate to new dating app practices such as video dating. A mediatized way of meeting physically has been brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional step has been added to online dating practices, the walk, which has 2 lowered the threshold of the initial date by being perceived as an easier option. A direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic connected to online dating. This paper also argues intimacy through media sharing, such as humour and jokes via technology in a mediatized world. Lastly, this paper explores the safety aspects of the Tinder app, connected to catfishing and also gender blindness.

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