A grounded theory analysis was carried out with participants aged 18-25 from around New Zealand, particularly within the Christchurch vicinity, to develop an understanding of the behavioural responses by individuals when they are anonymously communicating online. It was found that detachment from an individual’s identity occurred, creating an impersonal and distant interaction free from the normal social constraints of the offline, real life environment. The study found that technological dehumanisation was evident, which proposes that individuals relinquish linkages to their persona as a means to subconsciously justify behaviours, which are contrary to the norms of society. Repercussions of this dehumanised interaction include reduced external power to manipulate and influence, and emphasises the importance of an individual’s internal power, such as self-efficacy, to control one’s persona such as likeability and expertise as a means to feel personal empowerment. This study helps further the understanding between anonymous behaviours and behavioural power dynamics by identifying a new dimension to the behavioural discrepancies seen online. It also creates a foundation for future works to develop further understanding of both the positive and negative repercussions of anonymous online behaviours, both in a social context and in the workplace.

My thesis is titled Trolling and other unusual online behaviours. It focuses on deviant behaviours of internet users in Czech and foreign context. Trolling and hate became inseparable part of online environment, it is sort of a side product of the development of technology. The aim of this thesis is to reveal strategies hidden behind behaviour of users of the internet who intentionally disrupt the continuity of online environment (trolling etc.), also depicting the profile of this kind of internet user, characterizing him and describing his way of doings and his impact on other users. In the theoretical part I characterize fundamental terms which are related to the topic. These include terms like flame wars, hoax etc. In this part I also attempted to describe the troubled history of online deviant behaviour which dates back to the eighties. Historic analysis of huge amount of online articles was a big help in this task because the scientific literature related to the topic is not available. In the practical part I used quantitative and qualitative analysis. Using questionnaire survey in which 225 respondents took part I explored public attitude to deviant behaviour (trolling). By qualitative interviews with five trolls I investigated the motives of deviant users of internet, how they are influenced...

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The submitted thesis focuses on the photograph and its role in the process of disseminating disinformation in the online environment. The thesis deals with the opinion that, despite the fundamental changes in the understanding of photography and its credibility, which together with the transition from its analogue form to digital one, photography retains the status of an authentic medium. For this reason photography is becoming a very powerful tool for spreading misinformation. The thesis deals with the theoretical basis of objectivity of photography, its documentary value and expectation of authenticity. The role of the context, which is crucial for understanding the photographic message, will be emphasized. The thesis also defines the basic concepts related to the phenomenon of disinformation. The strategies used to spread disinformation via photography is also presented. In the practical part of the thesis particular disinformative photographic messages is analyzed. Ways to verify the authenticity of particular photographic images are presented. Keywords: photography, authenticity, disinformation, hoax, fake news, online environment, manipulation

This study examines the online atmospheric cues of colour and music and their impact upon feeling and purchase intention of consumers in the online environment. The research design was experimental and used data from a questionnaire. A pilot test of the instrument was conducted. The final questionnaire contained 39 items and a demographic section. A total of 200 questionnaires were collected. Participants were exposed to a specific set of online atmospheric elements. Results indicated a difference in regard to purchase intention when exposed to different colour. Results also found a correlation between feeling and internet purchase intention. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed along with future research suggestions.

Återkommande kunder, det är något de flesta företag på dagens marknader strävar efter. Idagens rådande situation präglas många marknader av hård konkurrens och relativt nyförsäljningskanal växer med stormsteg nämligen E-handel. Utan dyra butikshyror, derelativt små uppstartningskostnaderna och möjligheten att nå potentiella kunder världenöver är några av de faktorer som gör att fler företag finns och verkar inom E-handel. Det isin tur leder till ökad konkurrens om kunder och återkommande kunder blir vitalt för ettlönsamt företagande. Vi har studerat och försökt förstå varför en kund som handlat engång väljer att återkomma med ytterligare ett köp. För att genomföra det har vi med hjälpav Ellos AB:s kunder utfört en kvalitativ studie som utgått ifrån 28 stycken intervjuer.Vår ambition har varit att utifrån intervjusvaren skapa oss en så god förståelse sommöjligt kring de faktorer som bidrar till att en kund väljer att återkomma till en E-butik.De primära slutsatser vi har kommit fram till, är att det finns två stycken huvudfaktorersom bidrar till att en kund väljer att återkomma. Den första är att köpprocessen inklusiveleverans har fungerat för kunden samt att det företaget lovar om produkten/produkterna iform av bilder och information lever upp till kundernas förväntningar. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

In order to minimize the effects of COVID-19 on teaching and learning, educational institutions around the world moved quickly to transfer education from traditional classrooms to an online learning environment. The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of COVID-19 on students and instructors of several world languages at Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah), highlighting the viability or possible limitations of online learning in university teaching and learning during COVID-19. Thus, this study investigated the effects this transition had on students' learning as well as instructors' teaching practices. Using the thematic analysis described by Braun and Clarke (2013) to analyze which factors influenced the instructors' and students' adaptations to a new online teaching and learning environment during this period of transition from the traditional classroom to online learning, ensured a comprehensive study of the qualitative data. Using survey data, I was able to make conclusions derived directly from the data collected. Results of this study indicated that most learners and instructors felt that the following factors are necessary for online learning to be successful and beneficial: A well designed, rigorous curriculum; technological and emotional support before and during the transition; constant feedback from instructors; opportunities for student-to-student collaboration; and opportunities for instructors and students to build relationships. These results support previous research, which has also shown that the online environment requires more than simply transferring content from a traditional to an online setting. Instructors must be organized and know how to implement the course curriculum and use the right methods for the new environment to avoid factors that trigger stress and anxiety, thus blocking their learning. Therefore, appropriate training from the institutions as well should be ensured before transitioning to an online environment.

Attention is today a scarce resource, which is from physiological substance of the human brain to a certain extent limited. Abundance of information that affect the user who grasp the information, cause a mismatch between the information that is infinite and ever growing, and user attention, which is used during the processing of this information. From the perspective of Attention economy, there are principles that explain how attention works. This work aims to verify these principles of attention in the electronic environment by measuring eye movements of sample of tested participants during execution of proposed tasks on particular website. Using a technology called eye-tracking there are collected supportive data on user's allocated attention in context of executed tasks on the website. These data are analysed and compared with the principles of attention. The analysis of the tested sample of website users confirmed that attention principles really corresponds with the measured allocated attention and also revealed a clear relationship between the various measured amounts of attention and subsequent user behaviour, which was nearly identical at most of the observed users. These findings led to the recommendation to respect the principles of attention in the design of any e-environment platform, which should avoid to the main researched problem, the abundance of information and the lack of attention of users in online environment.