The prevalence of social media in the past few years has changed the way people consume entertainment media and generated many
new types of hybrid media entertainment experiences. This dissertation focuses on one of its multiple manifestations: social TV. Although
several qualitative studies have suggested that live posting enhances viewers' media entertainment reception, few studies actually tested
the proposition based on a rigorous research design. In addition, previous experimental research on live posting often assumed that live
posting is a rather popular media behavior among young TV viewers. However, the actual popularity of and the motivation behind the
behavior remain largely unknown. Against this background, the overarching goals of the dissertation project were 1) to explore the
motivation and popularity of live posting among college student; 2) to test the effect of live posting on entertainment TV viewing
experience through an innovative experimental method; 3) to identify the key variables that are underlying the mechanism of entertainment
effects of live posting; and, 4) to examine a proposed live posting and entertainment model. To that end, five studies were conducted.
Result of Study 1 and 2 confirmed that live posting is a popular media behavior (85.7%) among a college sample and helped to establish a
19-item measure of motivations for live posting, encompassing five constructs labeled interaction, community, catharsis, engagement, and
extending enjoyment. Built upon these results, two experimental studies were conducted. Study 3 demonstrated that live posting matters, as
it affects viewers' media entertainment reception. Implications for the results are discussed in detail. Study 4 focused on the effect of
"treatment strength" utilizing a randomized control trial with live-tweeting frequency vary at three levels. Results indicated that
live-tweeting frequency had a significant impact on viewers' program enjoyment; however, such effects were not linear. Study 4 also served
as a preliminary study investigating the associations between the content of live tweets and program enjoyment. As a final step to the
dissertation, Study 5 was conducted with a primary focus on the content of live tweets and other sub-components of live-tweeting
behaviors. Findings suggested that both live-tweeting content and other features of live-tweeting are associated with program enjoyment.
To conclude, the last chapter reconsidered some of the theoretical issues embedded in the live-tweeting phenomenon and offered a set of
well-tuned propositions regarding the entertainment effects of live posting. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of
Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / October 1, 2015. / Co-presence, Enjoyment, Experiment, Involvement, Live posting, Social media / Includes bibliographical references. / Arthur A. Raney, Professor Directing Dissertation; Susan Losh, University Representative; Ulla
Sypher, Committee Member; Patrick Merle, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_360383 |
| Contributors | Ji, Qihao (authoraut), Raney, Arthur A. (professor directing dissertation), Losh, Susan Carol (university representative), Sypher, Ulla (committee member), Merle, Patrick F. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Communication and Information (degree granting college), School of Communication (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (165 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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