Collage students’ news consumption has been a very popular research topic in media in pastfew years. But students’ involvement in news dissemination remained unnoticed andunexplored, especially in relation to democratic engagement. This study provides an overviewin this respect along with news consumption. The research reports the outcome of a surveyconducted among 124 Swedish college students, aged between 18 and 24, in spring 2012. Thestudy investigates college students’ news consumption and news dissemination of in terms ofmotives. The analysis suggests that motivations behind collage students’ news consumptionare independent of channels/media. Consumption motives appear to be similar betweentraditional and contemporary news media. Furthermore, news consumption and newsdissemination seem to be driven by completely different motives.

The majority of research tends to focus on the effects of violent video games, and as a result the motivations to play games are understudied. This study used the uses and gratifications theory as a framework for investigating game player’s motivation to play video games for the purpose of catharsis. This study also proposed that in-game variables, such as level of difficulty and content of the video game, all be investigated to see the effects they have on the achievement of catharsis or the development of aggression through other mediating variables such as enjoyment, control, and frustration with the game. It was found that difficulty of the game predicted frustration with the game and that those with more game playing experience reported greater feelings of catharsis, enjoyment, and feelings of control. None of the independent variables were found to attribute to feelings of aggression, including game content. Feelings of control within the game were found to be predicted by game type. Although there were relatively few main effects with the independent variables, correlations show trends in the data between variables that would support the achievement of catharsis through greater feelings of control, enjoyment, and decreased frustration.

This study focuses on the motives that recruiters can or may have within companies, organizations and authorities of using Facebook as a complement in the investigation of potential work-candidates. The study also explores the consequences that could occur regarding the boundaries of private and public spheres when recruiters are researching Facebook-pages of potential work-candidates. The results were collected by qualitative interviews with eight different recruiters from a wide range of businesses in Kalmar. By applying a framework of already identified uses and gratifications, we discovered six different motives of why recuriters would use Facebook as a complement while recruiting work-candidates. The motives are; security, guidance and advice, convenience utility, surveillance, curiosity and economic motives. We also discovered that the following consequences of researching Facebook-pages of potential workcandidates are that candidates are restricted in the possibilities of acting private on their Facebook-pages and that candidates have zero control of their published materials since recruiters sets the limits of what can be thought of as private and as public.

A qualitative interview study aimed at investigating the role of training images for people and the needs of Instagram users. The study focuses on the Actic gym in Kalmar, which is a relatively unexplored area. The questions that the study asks are; What does Instagram mean for media users at Actic? What results of workout does skilled Instagram users experience on Actic? Is there any visible difference between the sexes that practice at Actic and their experience of exercise pictures at Instagram? Semi-structured interviews have been made with eight people age 18-24, as this is the age group that is most active on Instagram. The interviews were transcribed and resulted in a discussion that we lean against the Uses and Gratifications theory and the social comparison theory. The result shows a number of needs that users are considered to need to fill and the perception of training-influenced images that are both positive and negative. The needs are such as inspiration and motivation as well as the help that may be needed to go to the gym.

Among the web 2.0 applications, a micro-blog (Weibo in Chinese), resembling the combination of a Twitter-like Internet service has gained substantial popularity in China. Sina Weibo is the market leader with approximately 50% of the market share. Around 80% of the users on Sina Weibo are young people. Hence, it is necessary to analyze young Chinese users of Sina Weibo and examine whether Sina Weibo fulfills the needs of young people and whether Sina Weibo meets their expectations. The study used the theory of uses and gratifications and the theory of expectancy-value as theoretical foundations. This study summarized six gratifications items (including social interaction, social networking, information seeking, information sharing, entertainment and recognition) from previous studies, and used these gratifications items to analyze: (1) the relationships between demographics and gratifications obtained; (2) the relationships between Sina Weibo usage and gratifications obtained: (3) the correlations between gratifications sought and gratifications obtained. This study used quantitative method to obtain data from a questionnaire and all the data were input to SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) for analyzing. The questionnaire was conducted and was distributed in Sojump.com. The results showed that Sina Weibo meets their users’ needs from six gratifications dimensions.

In contemporary society, political satire shows are prominent programs that seem to resonate with the viewing public. This thesis seeks to observe the meanings that generation Y attach to the Canadian political satire show, This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Focusing on the Canadian context, this research examines how members of generation Y view political satire shows, specifically This Hour Has 22 Minutes and if this show caters to their attitudes, concerns and interests more so than traditional news media. The theoretical framework guiding this study is the uses and gratifications theory. This research implements a qualitative phenomenological research approach in the form of focus groups. This study concludes that this generation still maintains, however, that when looking to be informed, they connect more with traditional news media given that these programs provide them with all the facts and stories in a more reliable manner. This study contributes to the field of communication because it demonstrates the rationale and experiences of generation Y in relation to political news.

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The purpose of this thesis is to assess children's exposure to aggression through popular children's picture books. Little research has been performed regarding aggression in such books. By analyzing 301 picture books, this study found that the average picture book contained 1.36 aggressive acts, and that aggressive acts were more likely to be included in picture books meant for older children. Verbal aggression was the most widely used type of aggression in children's picture books. There was no significant relationship between the type of character (human or nonhuman) and whether the character acted aggressively. Male characters were more likely to be shown aggressing towards other male characters; they were also more likely to be shown using physical aggression and violent ideation. Aggressive acts in children's picture books are more likely to be portrayed as unjustified, with no consequences, and no adult involvement to help resolve the situation. Children's picture books could be a useful tool for parents, teachers, and adults to teach children about aggression and appropriate solutions for resolving conflict.