Social commerce has evolved through the advancement of web 2.0 technologies, the significant rise of smartphone usage, and the increased popularity of social media platform usage such as social networking sites. Social networking sites have unique social sharing capabilities, which enable consumers to research products and services and make informed shopping decisions based on the trust developed in their online community. Brands acknowledge the importance of building and gaining consumer trust, because trust is a significant determinant for successful online transactions. Trust is equally essential to social commerce success, and is established as a positive influence on purchase intention. Considering the impact of trust on the consumer decision-making journey online, how this trust develops and what moderates this trust are of equal significance to brands and academics. Despite the plentiful research conducted in social commerce, the moderating role of culture on trust in social commerce is questioned, and the uncertainties of its impact within an emerging country is evident through insufficient academic research. The research design used in this study was cross-sectional in nature. Quantitative data were collected from a sample of social commerce users though an online survey administered on a branded Facebook page. Adopting an integrative social commerce framework by Kim and Park (2013) and the national cultural framework of Hofstede, the findings demonstrated a positive relationship between trust and purchase intention, and no moderation of culture on trust. Reinforcing previous academic research on the significance of trust in social commerce – further recommendation is given on the exploration of culture on trust and purchase intention.

The following rhetorical criticism is an investigation of two public service announcements released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Utilizing a composite method derived from Osborn (1994), Brummett (1991) and Burke (1945), this study investigates what it means when to say how others ought to act and why they ought to act that way. This investigation demonstrates how the manipulations of identities, ideologies, and action are the elements used to motivate people to act in affirmation of an identity. Moreover, it demonstrates why the motivated social actions serve as foundations for constructing our social reality. Ultimately, it discovers and clarifies a grammar of edification, how that grammar allows for efficient quotidian management, and, thus, why it serves as a tool for managing everyday meaning in our social world.

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A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture (Prof), 2016 / ‘Africa United in Cultural Diversity’ is what is written in bold on a musical event poster outside Home Affairs, during the 2015 xenophobic riots in Johannesburg. In smaller writing it says ‘Opening the doors of learning and culture from Cape to Cairo ’.This thesis is an exploration of how music can act as a universal medium of engagement in an urban space, where interactions between an African diasporic and the local communities can occur. The thesis discusses the relationship between inclusiveness and civic life through Sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s hypothesis of The Third Place (A place between home and work that is critical to the cohesion of diverse society). I also look at ethnomusicologist Ruth Stone`s work on the development of cultural music traits in Central and Southern Africa. Additional I speak to famed composers and performer of traditional Southern African music Dizu Plaatjies. What emerges from this research is a unifying musical pattern (Keita`s Asymmetric Timeline) that mirrors the qualities of The Third Place in its engagement with the inhabitants of the city and sense of the familiar amongst the general public. My building design process then demonstrates that through the use of these two, a spatial and networked experience of African culture can be created in the city. Informing a place where a dialogue of understanding between an African diasporic and the local communities can begin to occur. This place provides an exciting opportunity for designing the way that production and engagement of vernacular music is used as unifying source in shaping The Third Place as a musical performance venue. / MT2016

For the purpose of probing into why there is an enormous cognitive bias amongst Mainland China citizens and Hong Kong citizens. This study used quantitative content analysis as the research tool to figure out how mainstream media outlets in Mainland China and Hong Kong frame Hong Kong protest events since the British sovereignty transfer in 1997. This paper selected three significant Hong Kong protest events as empirical cases, 1 July protest (2003), Occupy Central movement (2014), Anti-Extradition Bill movement (2019) to find out the transformation between two media outlets, Xinhua News and South China Morning Post. Framing theory, as the conceptual framework is applied to analyze all selected textual contents in this study. The result of this analysis presents two different versions of media report towards the same issues by two media outlets. And also, the research results also detect a subtle transformation of media coverage in three protest events. Eventually, the paper provides some thinking about media coverage and Hong Kong protest. Keywords: Hong Kong, media coverage, social protest, media, internal security

Sociala medier har kommit att bli en del av det utvidgade offentliga rummet som en konsekvens av IT-utvecklingen. Det är därmed också en plats för opinionsbildning och politisk påverkan, vilket kan utnyttjas av såväl politiska som kommersiella intressen för dold informationspåverkan. Astroturfing är en av många former av dold informationspåverkan och syftet med denna studie är få en större förståelse för astroturfing genom att besvara följande problemformulering. Vad kännetecknar digital politisk astroturfing, och varför används astroturfing för informationspåverkan i sociala medier? För att besvara problemformuleringen har jag genomfört kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra experter samt genomfört en litteraturstudie. Resultatet visar att de två främsta kännetecknen för astroturfing är att det försöker se ut som en gräsrotsrörelse och att de som ligger bakom har dolt sin verkliga identitet och sitt verkliga syfte. Detta kan göras på många olika sätt och metoderna kan kombineras för att passa in i det sammanhang där en försöker använda astroturfing för att påverka. Resultatet från såväl tidigare forskning som intervjuer visar därmed att det är väldigt svårt att med säkerhet identifiera astroturfing. Resultatet visar också att det främsta skälet till att astroturfing används i sociala medier är att det är enkelt och billigt. Litteraturen hävdar att ikläda sig formatet social rörelse ger en viss legitimitet och kan bidra till mobilisering, vilket bekräftas av intervjuerna. Men intervjuerna visar också att det sannolikt inte har någon större betydelse i förhållande till h et är att få till astroturfing i sociala medier. / Social media has become part of the extended public space as a consequence of development in ICT. It is thus a space to form public opinion and for political influence, which means it can also be exploited by political and commercial interests for concealed information influence. Astroturfing is one of many available information influence activities and the purpose of this study is to attain a greater understanding of astroturfing by answering the following research question: What characterizes digital political astroturfing, and why is astroturfing used for information influence in social media? To answer the research question I have conducted qualitative interviews with four experts and done a literature study. The results show that the two main characteristics of astroturfing are; that it tries to look like a grassroots movement and; that those who orchestrate it have concealed their real identity and purpose. This can be done in many different ways and the methods can be combined to fit the context in which one is trying to use astroturfing as an information influence activity. The results from both previous research and interviews thus show that it is very difficult to identify astroturfing with certainty. The results also show that the main reason why astroturfing is used in social media is that it is easy and inexpensive. The literature claims that mimicking a social movement gives a certain legitimacy and can contribute to mobilization, which is confirmed by the interviews. But the interviews also point out that it is unlikely to have any major impact compared to how inexpensive it is to orchestrate astroturfing in social media.

Asymmetric interactions and relationships between celebrities and followers, referred to as Parasocial Interactions (PSI) and Parasocial Relationships (PSR), respectively, have been extensively studied within the context of TV, radio and print media. However, within the Social Media (SM) ecosystem - where follower engagement and experience flow seamlessly across multiple SM tools/platforms - the nature of PSI and PSR is changing and research within this context is still nascent. Using Identity Theory and Motivational Theory, this dissertation analyses the impact active/passive engagement and compulsive use of the SM ecosystem can have in the formation of PSI and PSR. Specifically, the goal of this research is to understand how different types of engagement (passive and active) can influence parasocial relationships (friendship and love) through the mediation of cognitive and behavioural parasocial interactions. A model is proposed and validated with 294 respondents. The findings show that passive engagement in the SM ecosystem does not impact PSI/PSR while active engagement significantly impacts PSI and the consequent PSR formation. Compulsive use of the SM ecosystem strongly attenuates the relationships between PSI and PSR. Contributions and implications for both theory and practice are discussed. / Thesis / Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

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The successful elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases is contingent on high-vaccine coverage rates in targeted populations. The proliferation of vaccine misinformation on social media has led to vaccine hesitancy in the past two decades. A highly contextual phenomenon, areas with an increased prevalence of vaccine hesitancy and vaccine exemption have been shown to correlate with decreased immunization coverage and intermittent vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks worldwide. Although the Canadian government has recommended the use of social media to increase public confidence in vaccines, little documentation exists regarding the perceptions of advisors and decision-makers in policy and communications for immunization towards vaccine hesitancy on social media, and the use of social media to increase public confidence in vaccines in the context of Ontario, Canada’s largest province. This thesis employed 3 unique mixed-methods studies to explore the role of social media in addressing the problem of vaccine hesitancy facilitated through misinformation about childhood vaccines in Ontario. The first study is a social network analysis that incorporates sentiment analysis to demonstrate that pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine communities operate in siloes with little interaction with one another. Those interactions that do occur are most commonly facilitated by sentiment and geographic location, rather than profession or affiliation of the social media user. The second study is a mixed methods content analysis illustrating significant differences in user attributes (emotion, medium shared in tweets, direction of information-sharing, and use of Twitter functions) among pro-, neutral, and anti-vaccine Twitter users, suggesting different motivations underlying Twitter use. Qualitative inquiry of links and reasons for negative vaccine sentiment illustrate the proliferation of pseudo-experts occupying social media, as well as concerns about vaccine safety and mistrust towards the government. The third study complements the first two studies, and uses documents and in-depth interviews with 23 advisers and decisionmakers in policy and communications to illustrate that although vaccine hesitancy is of concern, the use of social media to increase public confidence in vaccines is met with resistance due to a myriad of barriers at all levels of immunization policy and program delivery in the Province of Ontario. Implications for policy and practice of this study include the recognition that a multi-pronged approach is needed to increase the public’s confidence in vaccines. Elements of this multi-pronged approach could include: i) commitments to investing in understanding social media’s use in informing immunization at all levels of governance and decision-making; ii) the active surveillance of public sentiment and the public’s concerns about vaccines on social media using network analysis and content analysis; and iii) the fostering of interdisciplinary collaboration to design interventions that facilitate connectivity between siloes. The implications for future research include the need for continued commitment to the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions on social media in the Ontario context. This study points to the need to pay attention to the behavioral attributes and affordances of social media in order to develop policies, communicative strategies, and programmatic designs that comprehensively address public concerns towards vaccines and, in turn, promote increased confidence in them. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Immunization efforts are integral to maintaining herd immunity. Over the past two decades, it has been observed that vaccine hesitancy brought forth by vaccine misinformation has led to reduced confidence in vaccines, contributing to declining vaccination rates that have subsequently led to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Vaccine misinformation on social media has played a crucial role in exacerbating vaccine hesitancy. Limited research has explored the use of social media in the Canadian context in relation to how vaccine information is communicated, what is being discussed and with whom. The extent to which decision-makers working in the immunization policy arena in Canada consider the role of social media as a tool for addressing vaccine hesitancy in order to increase vaccine uptake is also unclear. Using a mixed methods approach, this study, carried out in Ontario, Canada, illustrates that communities supporting and opposing vaccines operate in silos that do not necessarily communicate with each other through social media. Although decision-makers acknowledge the role of social media in the salience of vaccine hesitancy, they consider social media to be a less feasible method to increase vaccine confidence. By exploring the networks and conversations about vaccination on social media, and by understanding decision-makers’ perceptions towards vaccine hesitancy and social media, this study identified gaps between the recommendations for addressing vaccine hesitancy, provincial decision-makers’ preference for addressing immunization, and concerns of the vaccine hesitant on social media. These findings can inform the design of public health messaging to increase the public’s confidence in vaccines in Ontario.