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Lnu’k Ktaqmkukewaq (Indigenous Newfoundlanders) face extraordinary challenges, resulting from an extensive period of assimilationist federal, provincial and colonial policy. This qualitative, phenomenological study seeks to examine how Lnu’k Ktaqmkukewaq participating in a social network group experience solidarity. Email interviews were conducted with four study participants. Data from the researcher’s experience as a participant in the social networking group was also included. Results demonstrate that social networking can provide ways for Lnu’k Ktaqmkukewaq to build solidarity by being a source of information sharing and support. Social networking is limited, however, in its ability to build spiritual solidarity. The existence of a collective Lnu identity was evident in the data, and appears to be a yet untapped basis for building solidarity. Recommendations are made as to how social networking can be optimally used for solidarity development and social work practice with Lnu’k Ktaqmkukewaq, and other Indigenous groups.

I dagsläget har sociala medier fått en större roll i rekryteringsprocessen. Genom en induktiv ansats fokuserade denna forskning på att urskilja vilken roll sociala medier spelar då arbetsgivare bakgrundsgranskar arbetssökande. Undersökningen inriktade sig mot vad arbetsgivare tittade på samt i vilken utsträckning de lät sig påverkas av informationen i sina beslutsfattanden. Totalt intervjuades åtta personer inom personalyrket. I resultatet lyftes bland annat ett etiskt perspektiv med olika dilemman så som generationsskillnader och människosyn samt egen kritisk förmåga. Det visade sig att skillnaderna var stora i både tillvägagångssätt och värderingen av information tillgänglig online. De flesta informanterna uttryckte att de ville stämma överens informationen med vad som framkom via ansökan och intervjuer.Många uttryckte även att de samlade frågor inför en intervju, med hjälp av sociala medier.Informanterna uppvisade en stor medvetenhet gällande både den källkritiska och självkritiska förmågan. Med vissa undantag då exempelvis nyfikenheten tog över och underminerade den kompetensbaserade rekryteringen. Informanterna uttryckte att rekryteringsprocessen är underständig utveckling. Sociala medier kunde enligt informanterna ses som ett komplement till denna komplexa process men värderades inte lika högt som mötet med den arbetssökande.Den kritik som riktas mot sociala medier som verktyg kunde i slutänden istället riktas mot användaren av verktyget, det vill säga rekryteraren.

Recent developments in Internet technology have opened up new doors for political campaigning and related news information with video and social networking applications. These have created new spaces that the voting public can politically participate in. This study explores the extent to which such participation takes place, in order to contribute to the wider question of whether changes in the media can rejuvenate a growing apathetic electorate that has become increasingly isolated from the more traditional methods of political participation (Putnam 2000). There are now many unanswered questions regarding how this new technology will play a role in influencing voter preferences and behaviour compared to other forms of traditional mass media. The exponential growth of Internet technology and its use means that the majority of literature written on the subject becomes time-bound leaving large gaps of research and analysis that needs to be done. This thesis examined the opportunities made available for political campaigning by the Internet and how widening political knowledge can ultimately influence Internet consumers at the voting booth. The research undertaken was a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis using participatory groups in a controlled environment. Participants consumed different forms of mass media and any significant changes in preferences and behaviour was noted. The overall hypothesis of this thesis is that the Internet does have an effect on potential voters by providing a wider and more in-depth look at politics that broadens political knowledge, leading to greater political participation.

This thesis explores the effects of new media, specifically the Internet and the popular social networking site Facebook, on alumni engagement among Millennials in the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences. Millennials are defined as those born in or after 1982. Alumni engagement is defined as part of the larger social science term of social capital and is defined here as consisting of volunteerism and financial giving. To explore this topic, a survey was constructed and sent electronically to all Millennial alumni from the UK College of Health Sciences. Data reveal Millennial alumni from the College of Health Sciences are not particularly engaged through volunteerism or financial giving. Survey responses, however, indicated that most young alumni are recommending the college to prospective students and plan to give financially in the future. Practical implications from this study may prove beneficial for advancement practitioners and administrators in the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences.

Research in moral psychology has focused on understanding what factors assist in the development of moral action and decision making. Examples of these research factors include educational experiences (Rest et al, 1986), intelligence (Rest, 1979), and social networking (Derryberry & Thoma, 2000). Personality factors facilitating moral judgment have also receive attention in recent years with Damon and Hart (1988) exploring self-understanding as a possible factor in moral judgment and Baumeister and Exline (1999) proposing that exercising self-control is often characteristic of those who often employ prosocial behavior. Pizarro (2000) suggested that those who fail to utilize empathy may think about moral issues just as those who do employ empathy but find them easier to ignore. This study attempted to explore this research from a different angle by examining the relationships between antisocial personality traits as opposed to prosocial personality traits. To measure these traits, data were collected from two samples comprised of 120 college students and 24 prisoners from a state-inmate facility. The Defining Issues Test (DIT) was used to measure moral judgment and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) was used to measure the desired personality factors. The results indicated that antisocial personality characteristics do not inhibit moral judgment development. However, the results showed that individuals with antisocial personality characteristics were more likely to endorse self-serving decisions in situations that call for moral decision-making.

Previous research has provided insights into factors influencing attitudes toward advertising in general, and those factors influencing attitudes toward advertising in a particular medium. However, attitudes towards Facebook advertising, especially those of Generation Y, have received relatively little research attention, especially in the South African context. The Generation Y cohort (individuals born between 1986 and 2005) are heavy users of Facebook, and access the site on a daily basis. In South Africa, approximately 20 million of the country’s population of 52 982 000 fall into the Generation Y cohort; this makes them a salient market segment. Those engaged in tertiary education are of particular interest to marketers as a tertiary qualification is often an indication of higher future earning potential, and higher social status within a community. The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of the possible determinants and inhibitors of Generation Y students‟ attitudes towards advertising, in the Facebook environment, within the South African context. The proposed model suggests that information value, entertainment value, credibility, self-brand congruity and trust in site are predictors of attitude towards advertising in the Facebook environment, while invasiveness of advertisements and time cost are inhibitors of attitude towards advertising in the Facebook environment. The study hypothesised that information value, entertainment value, credibility, self-brand congruity, trust in site, invasiveness of advertisements and time cost impact on Generation Y students‟ perceived value of advertisements on Facebook that in turn directly influence attitudes towards advertising on Facebook. The study followed a descriptive research design using a single cross-sectional sample and a self-administered survey questionnaire. A non-probability convenience sample of 450 students enrolled at three public higher education institutions (HEIs) of South Africa located in the Gauteng Province was drawn for the study. Lecturers at the three HEIs were contacted and asked if they would allow the questionnaire to be distributed to their students during class. Of the questionnaires completed, there were 306 usable self-administered questionnaires. Data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, Pearson’s Product-Moment correlation analysis and structural equation modelling. Before testing and confirming the hypothesised construct paths, a measurement model was developed based on the exploratory factor analysis and correlation analysis. The results of the correlation analysis showed that invasiveness of advertisements and time cost did not have a significant relationship with the two endogenous constructs of value and attitude towards advertisements on Facebook. As such, the measurement model excluded these two constructs. The measurement model identified seven latent variables identifying attitudes towards advertisements in the Facebook environment as a seven-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed, and the results confirmed the existence of convergent and discriminant validity. The measuring scale of this study also demonstrated composite reliability. The initial structural model (Structural Model A) hypothesised that information value, entertainment value, credibility, self-brand congruity and site trust directly influence perceived value, which, in turn, influences overall attitude towards advertising in the Facebook environment. Despite the fit indices indicating the overall fit of the hypothesised structural model as acceptable, the path between self-brand congruity and value, as well as the path between site trust and value, were negative and not significant. As such, a revised model based on the original measurement framework was tested. The revised structural model (Structural Model B) was tested to determine whether self-brand congruency and site trust have a direct positive influence on Generation Y students‟ overall attitude to advertising in the Facebook environment, rather than an indirect influence via their influence on perceived value. In Structural Model B, information value, entertainment value and credibility have a significant positive influence on Generation Y students‟ perceived value of advertisements on Facebook, and perceived value has a significant positive influence on attitudes towards advertisements on Facebook. Similar to the findings of previous studies, Structural Model B revealed that self-brand congruity and site trust have a significant positive and direct influence on Generation Y student‟ overall attitude towards advertising in the Facebook environment. Furthermore, the revised model (Structural Model B) appears to fit the data better than that of Structural Model B. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in the area of attitude towards advertising by empirically testing a model of factors influencing Generation Y‟s attitudes towards advertising in the Facebook environment, and ascertaining which factors act as antecedents to successful advertising on Facebook. It suggested that attitude towards advertising in the Facebook environment is a seven-factor structure composed of overall attitude, information value, entertainment value, credibility, self-brand congruity, trust in site and perceived value. The study also offers recommendations and guidance for marketers who seek to incorporate Facebook in their marketing communication mix. / PhD (Marketing Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Studies have shown that computers have a positive impact on productivity, but the reality remains that the productivity figures have not yet changed. This aforementioned irregularity is referred to as the “productivity paradox”. The question of how productivity is measured is complicated when, for example, a company connects all their computers onto a network or installs an information system to keep record of customer information or even supplier information, for there are no input and output ratios that can be measured. In these cases, productivity is not so evident, and some might argue that it does not exist. Companies always look for the competitive advantage and it is therefore important to show whether investing in information technology does in effect give them a greater return on investment. The question of why it is important for information technology to increase productivity is answered by looking at what all companies seek, which is sustainable growth. This can be measured by the accounting return on investment, economic value added (EVA), and growth in sales or assets. The goal of this study is to determine the impact the information technology productivity paradox has on the heavy metal engineering industries, whether it be good or bad. Information technology has expanded to such an extent that more people are starting to rely on information technology in order to do their work and communicate with one another. This is what makes this study so important, especially from an organisation's perspective, as the organisation is spending more money on expanding its information systems. One of the aspects to be covered in this study is the evolution pertaining to the history of information technology and how it has improved over the years. It also looks at the laws of information technology like Moore's Law which explains that the transistors on a chip would roughly double every two years, and Gilder's Law that explains in total communication a system triples every twelve months. Within this study the knowledge expansion and how human knowledge had to expand in order to keep up with the ever escalating information technology is covered. When looking at the future and the rate at which knowledge increases people tend to assume that the current rate of progress will continue in future periods. This, however, when looking at the rate at which technology progresses, is evident that the progress is not constant. The research topic for this study is the information technology productivity paradox. This term suggests that there is no correlation between a company’s investment in information systems and its business performance measured in terms of productivity. This phenomenon was shown to exist within this study. Open source systems are covered, which is a method of developing software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. Open source systems have the following advantages like easing of licensing restrictions; cross–platform simplicity; possibility to run modules on any operating system; low cost due to no licensing fees; modification of system is possible; and disadvantages like lack of necessary expertise to do modifications; less user–friendly, support is not always available; security might be a problem. In this way open source systems will affect productivity in information technology due to the less user–friendly interface. Some of these open source systems might take longer to do the task than it would on the commercial software. Implementation of the open source system might take longer than that of a commercial system as there might be a lack of support for the system. Another topic covered within this study is the development of human capital, which is a necessity for employees in an organisation in order to enhance both knowledge and skills within an organisation. This is, however, a double bladed sword as even though the combined knowledge and skills of an organisation are expanded, it takes time which inevitably leads to productivity loss. Finally this study investigates social networking, which is defined as the application of websites that support the maintenance of personal relationships, the discovery of potential relationships and should aim in the conversion of potential ties into weak and strong ties. List of key terms: Information technology, productivity paradox, social networking, competitive advantage, knowledge expansion, development of human capital. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Studies have shown that computers have a positive impact on productivity, but the reality remains that the productivity figures have not yet changed. This aforementioned irregularity is referred to as the “productivity paradox”. The question of how productivity is measured is complicated when, for example, a company connects all their computers onto a network or installs an information system to keep record of customer information or even supplier information, for there are no input and output ratios that can be measured. In these cases, productivity is not so evident, and some might argue that it does not exist. Companies always look for the competitive advantage and it is therefore important to show whether investing in information technology does in effect give them a greater return on investment. The question of why it is important for information technology to increase productivity is answered by looking at what all companies seek, which is sustainable growth. This can be measured by the accounting return on investment, economic value added (EVA), and growth in sales or assets. The goal of this study is to determine the impact the information technology productivity paradox has on the heavy metal engineering industries, whether it be good or bad. Information technology has expanded to such an extent that more people are starting to rely on information technology in order to do their work and communicate with one another. This is what makes this study so important, especially from an organisation's perspective, as the organisation is spending more money on expanding its information systems. One of the aspects to be covered in this study is the evolution pertaining to the history of information technology and how it has improved over the years. It also looks at the laws of information technology like Moore's Law which explains that the transistors on a chip would roughly double every two years, and Gilder's Law that explains in total communication a system triples every twelve months. Within this study the knowledge expansion and how human knowledge had to expand in order to keep up with the ever escalating information technology is covered. When looking at the future and the rate at which knowledge increases people tend to assume that the current rate of progress will continue in future periods. This, however, when looking at the rate at which technology progresses, is evident that the progress is not constant. The research topic for this study is the information technology productivity paradox. This term suggests that there is no correlation between a company’s investment in information systems and its business performance measured in terms of productivity. This phenomenon was shown to exist within this study. Open source systems are covered, which is a method of developing software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. Open source systems have the following advantages like easing of licensing restrictions; cross–platform simplicity; possibility to run modules on any operating system; low cost due to no licensing fees; modification of system is possible; and disadvantages like lack of necessary expertise to do modifications; less user–friendly, support is not always available; security might be a problem. In this way open source systems will affect productivity in information technology due to the less user–friendly interface. Some of these open source systems might take longer to do the task than it would on the commercial software. Implementation of the open source system might take longer than that of a commercial system as there might be a lack of support for the system. Another topic covered within this study is the development of human capital, which is a necessity for employees in an organisation in order to enhance both knowledge and skills within an organisation. This is, however, a double bladed sword as even though the combined knowledge and skills of an organisation are expanded, it takes time which inevitably leads to productivity loss. Finally this study investigates social networking, which is defined as the application of websites that support the maintenance of personal relationships, the discovery of potential relationships and should aim in the conversion of potential ties into weak and strong ties. List of key terms: Information technology, productivity paradox, social networking, competitive advantage, knowledge expansion, development of human capital. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Social networking sites are the contemporary agora: where individuals share their lives, understand the world, exchange cultural artefacts and tend to relationships. Yet, these sites are paradoxically lauded for their ability to connect lives and disparaged for the effect they have on the quality of language and relationships. Covered extensively across disciplines, including inquiries into identity and gender politics, social networking sites remain under investigated in linguistics. Here, the interplay of identity, gender, and language in a group of adolescent girls on Facebook is explored in the sociolinguistic tradition. This research demonstrates how a discourse analytic framework can determine some aspect of identity from an individual’s online interactions, including gender as constrained by historical and cultural discourses. A collaborative methodology navigates the difficulties of collecting data online, the complexities of gender and identity, as well as provides a commentary on the need for reform in ethical protocol for online research. / Graduate