In an ever-evolving social media landscape, online communication has become more prone to the revelation of our affective states. In this study, I investigate how iterations of emotional capital, an extension of Pierre Bourdieu’s four forms of capital, shape social interaction in mediated relationships on YouTube, a platform that fosters a participatory culture. Previously, the field of media studies has devoted itself to the cognitive-behavioural effects of media consumption, allowing research on consumers’ emotionality as an influence on virtual sociality to be left behind. I attempt to elucidate the emotional footprint left by the discourse of the user comment by applying Marci D. Cottingham’s theorisation on emotional capital, paired with Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s Discourse Theory and by extension Discourse Theoretical Analysis expanded by Nico Carpentier et al on a sample of three sets of thirty most popular user comments, each attributed to a video by UK-based content creators Jade Bowler, Lucy Moon, and Venetia La Manna, to argue that the sociality found within their discourse is formed by the parasocial relationship the user exhibits towards the creator. Depending on the affective distance the user expressed towards the creator or to the other subscribers, different forms of emotional capital emerged - care and vulnerability derived from the address to self; inspiration, communication, encouragement stemming from the address to the community; and empathy and respect originating in the address to the creator. Thus, this study provides a novel outlook on mediated relationships in an online setting, where users actively, and more importantly, emotionally engage with themselves, their community, and the creator, to form affective social networks.

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<p dir="ltr">This study conducts a comprehensive multimodal analysis of online food reaction videos (OFRV), uploaded by Buzzfeed, featuring Americans consuming and engaging with East Asian foods. Employing social semiotic theory, Orientalism, and colonialist discourses as theoretical lenses, this research aims to discern how these videos contribute to narratives that perpetuate the orientalized view that East Asian culture is fundamentally different from American culture and examine how these narratives are constructed multimodally via the YouTube platform. The methodological approach involves moment analysis, multimodal transcription, and in-depth analysis of selected moments to unravel narrative patterns and the various multimodal methods employed. Findings reveal pervasive decontextualization, stigmatizing, and an us vs. them paradigm surrounding the food, which reinforces orientalized portrayals. The study identifies distinct narrative patterns such as savagery, strangeness, sickness, and fear surrounding representations of Asian food, highlighting the multifaceted ways these narratives are constructed. The term "gastronomic orientalism" emerges from the analysis, encapsulating the complex process by which these videos utilize food representation to create an oriental narrative. This paper not only illuminates the multimodal construction of gastronomic orientalism but also contributes to future research by introducing a qualitative analysis method. The findings from this research suggest that media producers should prioritize cultural sensitivity and inclusivity to counter othering narratives against Asians in online media. Additionally, it suggests that future studies delve into more diversified video content and incorporate quantitative methods to yield more generalizable findings on cultural representation narratives.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Behavior-change theories reliably explain behavior, but they often lack messaging recommendations to modify behavior. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) could benefit from clear, replicable messaging strategies to target its constructs of attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) about a behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Habit Theory is commonly used for behavior-change interventions because it offers both behavior-change explanations and messaging (Orbell & Verplanken, 2020). Its habit strength measure has been used repeatedly to add explanatory power to the TPB model, and this study tests whether its messaging strategies can effectively pair with the TPB to affect PBC and instigate behavior change (Bamberg et al., 2003; Bayer & Campbell, 2012).</p><p dir="ltr">To test these strategies in the context of problematic smartphone use among college students, focus groups were conducted to select a target habit and to refine the messaging strategy and channel for a habit-focused intervention. These findings were used to create and conduct an intervention with a sorority at Purdue University, and a pre-test, post-test, delayed post-test survey design was used to analyze the effectiveness of the intervention. The intervention had positive effects on participants’ attitudes and intentions toward implementing the habit and to reduce smartphone use, improved their habit strength, and increased the number of times they put their smartphones out of sight while studying or doing homework. Additionally, the sticker cues given away during the intervention increased the effects of the intervention for those who affixed them to at least one of their devices. However, the intervention did not affect PBC or time spent on a smartphone. These findings emphasize the importance of continued research into how messaging strategies affect behavior and the constructs within the TPB.</p>

Utifrån vår egen arbetserfarenhet och praktik har vi upplevt att det råder en digital frånvaro på en del fritidshem trots intresse hos eleverna. Vi vet att en stor del av fritidshemmets uppdrag är att skapa en meningsfull fritid som skall utgå från elevernas intresse samtidigt som den ska bjuda in till nya upptäckter. Detta gjorde att vi ville undersöka området vidare och se vad eleverna upplever som meningsfull fritid, samt den digitala närvaron på fritidshemmet. Syftet med denna studie blev att undersöka ett fritidshem och utifrån barnens perspektiv vad de upplevde som en meningsfull fritid. Studien har gjorts utifrån två frågeställningar: Hur upplever elever meningsfull fritid på fritidshemmet? och Vilken roll har digitala medel i elevernas upplevelse av meningsfull fritid, både i hemmet och på fritids? Empirin samlades in genom tre gruppintervjuer med totalt 12 barn, detta för att närma oss barns perspektiv och deras subjektiva upplevelse av meningsfull fritid och digitala medier i fritidshemmet. Resultaten i studien visar att barnen har stort intresse för digitala medier och att det finns en önskan att införa fler aktiviteter av detta inslag. Vidare visar resultaten att upplevelsen av en meningsfull fritid är kopplad till den sociala interaktionen med vänner, både i och utanför fritidshemmet. / Based on our own work experience and practice, we have noticed a digital absence in some after-school programs despite the interest from the students. We know that a significant part of the after-school program's mission is to create meaningful leisure time that should be based on students' interests while also inviting new discoveries. This made us want to further investigate the area and see what students perceive as meaningful leisure time, as well as the digital presence in the after-school program. The purpose of this study was to examine an after-school program and, from the children's perspective, what they experienced as meaningful leisure time. The study was conducted based on two research questions: How do students perceive meaningful leisure time in the after-school program? and What role do digital means play in students' experience of meaningful leisure time, both at home and in the after-school program? The data was collected through three group interviews with a total of 12 children, to approach the children's perspective and their subjective experience of meaningful leisure time and digital media in the after-school program. The results of the study show that the children have a great interest in digital media and that there is a desire to introduce more activities of this kind. Furthermore, the results show that the experience of meaningful leisure time is linked to social interaction with friends, both within and outside the after-school program.

This research addresses the challenge of integrating ecodesign tools into the digital media industry to reduce the environmental footprint of digital products. Despite increasing awareness of sustainability, many digital media experts struggle to adopt these tools practically. This study investigates experts’ perception of the usefulness and ease of use of ecodesign tools and explores influences on their user experience. The research included two phases: a survey and a user study. The survey involved N=93 digital media experts in Europe and evaluated the perceived ease of use and usefulness of ecodesign tools utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model. It revealed the IBM Checklist for Sustainability and the Sustainable Web Design Guidelines as the most useful and easy to use ecodesign tools. These tools were then examined in a one-week user study, involving N=12 digital media experts. This phase included a diary study and user experience questionnaire. Results indicate that practical guidance, clear understanding, efficiency, trustworthiness, motivation, and innovation influence user experience. While sustainability awareness is rising, integrating ecodesign tools into daily workflows remains challenging for some experts. Comprehensive training and guided integration are needed to address these challenges. Ecodesign tools should fit diverse user needs, enhancing relevance and usability across various roles. Incorporating customizable features, clear guidance, interactive learning resources, and alignment with industry standards better support digital media experts and enhance their user experience. This research highlights the importance of ongoing development and refinement of ecodesign tools within the digital media industry.

Communication is an essential element of any retail business as it is a means of informing the customer about the retailer and the products and services that they offer. The internet and the rapid advancements in technology have provided retailers with various methods of communicating with the customer such as real-time marketing. Real-time marketing, which allows retailers to interact with customers through various means in real time, has already been widely used in businesses around the world. Although many South African businesses are starting to adapt real-time marketing as a marketing tool in their businesses, the perception of consumers regarding real-time marketing has not been investigated in South Africa. The primary purpose of this study was therefore to determine consumers perceptions of real-time marketing used as a marketing tool by retailers in Gauteng, South Africa. A broad and in-depth literature review was conducted on the advent of real-time marketing as a marketing tool and the various tools used by retailers to execute real-time marketing campaigns of retailers. An empirical study was conducted, in which data was collected from consumers of retail stores in the Gauteng province of South Africa by means of a web-based (computer-assisted), self-administered questionnaire. A quantitative approach was followed in order to satisfy the research objectives of the study. The results of this research study indicated that consumers perceived real-time marketing campaigns as clutter. Customers only considered the real-time marketing campaigns that consisted of immediate discounts and that were personalised for the individual customer as valuable to them. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

This dissertation explores how social class matters in young men’s everyday relationship to digital media. The aim is to contribute to the existing knowledge about how young people incorporate digital media in their everyday lives by focusing on the structural premises of this process. It also presents an empirically grounded critique of popular ideas about young people as a “digital generation”, about the internet as a socially transformative force, and about class as an increasingly redundant category. The empirical material consists of qualitative interviews with 34 young men (16-19 years) from different class backgrounds, upper secondary schools and study programmes. Drawing on the conceptual tools of Pierre Bourdieu, three classes are constructed: the “cultural capital rich”, the “upwardly mobile”, and the “cultural capital poor”. The analysis shows that class, through the workings of habitus, structures the young men’s relationship to school and future aspirations. This also engenders class-distinctive ways of conceiving leisure and digital media use. Through their class habitus and taste, the young men tend to orient themselves and navigate in different ways in what they perceive as a space of digital goods and practices, endowed with different symbolic value in school and society. The “cultural capital rich” are drawn to-wards practices capable of yielding symbolic profit in the field of education and beyond, whereas the other classes gravitate towards the “illegitimate” digital culture but deal with this different ways. These findings indicate that there are social and cultural continuities at play within recent technological changes. They also expose the structural differences hidden by sweeping statements about young people as a “digital generation”. Finally, they show that class, contrary to popular beliefs about “the death of class”, still represents a pertinent analytical category.

The world is dominated by digital media that have become central to many children’s lives. Children born in the last 30 years have become known as ‘digital natives’, as digital technology has always been part of their experiential field. The use of such media in play therapy could offer innovative ways of enhancing dialogue with those children in whose field they are included, as they have been to date unexplored in play therapy interventions, possibly resulting in missed therapeutic opportunities. This mixed methods research took the form of an email questionnaire sent out to play therapists in South Africa to ascertain whether digital technology is being used in therapy and, if so, which digital media are being used and how. Additionally, a focus group interview was conducted using the same questionnaire to ensure data triangulation. The data gathered were analysed qualitatively, and an understanding was gained regarding the current use of digital media in play therapy. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

This thesis explores French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s ’hauntology’ through the lens of digital monsters and feminist theory. Hauntology – a pun on ‘ontology’ and ‘haunting’ – offers an ethics based on responsibility towards that which cannot be said to fully exist, yet has an effect on our everyday lives nonetheless. Like the figure of the ghost, such undecidable existences are neither absent nor present, here nor gone, of the past or the future. In other words: they haunt. By engaging with hauntology through contemporary stories of digital monsters – such as The Curious Case of Smile.jpg, Welcome to Night Vale and Mushroom Land TV - the thesis discusses how such troubling hauntings might be imagined, and what it means to think an ethics based on responsibility towards the undecidable. In this way, the thesis brings together hauntology and digital media, arguing that thinking with and through the figure of the ghost as well as the digital monster may lead to different and critical ways of imagining both the world and ethics. In short, drawing upon feminist theory and creative writing, the thesis maps out a relational ethics of hauntings and internet story-telling. / Denna avhandling utforskar den franske filosofen Jacques Derridas ’hauntologi’ genom digitala monster och feministisk teori. Hauntologi - en ordlek på ontology och haunting - erbjuder en etik som bygger på ansvar gentemot det som inte kan sägas helt existera, men ändå har en effekt på vårt dagliga liv. Liksom figuren ’spöket’ är sådana obestämbara existenser varken frånvarande eller närvarande, här eller borta, i det förflutna eller framtiden. Med andra ord: de hemsöker. Genom analyser av samtida berättelser om digitala monster - som The Curious Case of Smile.jpg, Welcome to Night Vale och Mushroom Land TV - diskuterar avhandlingen hur sådan oroande hemsökelser kan bli föreställda, och vad det innebär att tänka en etik baserad på ansvar gentemot det obestämbara. På detta sätt sammanför avhandlingen hauntologi och digitala medier ihop för att argumentera att akten att tänka med och genom spöket som figur och det digitala monstret kan leda till annorlunda och kritiska sätt att föreställa sig både världen och etik på. Avhandlingen bygger på feministisk teori och kreativt skrivande för att utforska en relationell etik baserad på hemsökelser och internet-berättelser.