Search results
(1 - 3 of 3)
- Title
- INFORMATION VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR ONLINE IDENTITY PRESENTATION: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL APPROACH
- Creator
- Mahmud, Athir
- Date
- 2016, 2016-07
- Description
-
Information visualization offers a unique method to assist users in understanding large quantities of data, such as that which is found in...
Show moreInformation visualization offers a unique method to assist users in understanding large quantities of data, such as that which is found in social media. The recent surge in the use of social media platforms, the abundance of data generated, and the implications about what this data means has made it increasingly necessary to provide feedback to these users about what they and others are presenting online. Thus, it is critical for these individuals to access this information and gain some level of visual understanding regarding their own identities or that of a particular group. This dissertation is organized in the format of a three-paper dissertation. Chapter 1 is the introduction for the subsequent three chapters and provides background on information visualization and identity presentation in social media, while exploring theoretical approaches to visual perception and design. Chapter 2 demonstrates a variety of past and current multidimensional information visualization techniques that are relevant to social media data, as related to online identity presentation. The overview includes data portraits, motion-based visualization, music visualization, and textual structures. Chapter 3 introduces CarrinaCongress, an information visualization dashboard that affords users with the ability to compare two members of Congress in order to better understanding the elected officials’ tweets and external information. Chapter 4 presents HadithViz, a motion-based information visualization dashboard that borrows from video game interfaces and focuses on event-based tweets, as defined by hashtags related to sexism in the video gaming industry. Finally, Chapter 5 is the conclusion to this dissertation and will summarize the three individual studies, discuss limitations and implications, and provide recommendations that future work consist of simple, accessible visualizations that are based on existing visual languages and can be interpreted by a wide-ranging audience.
Ph.D. in Technical Communication, July 2016
Show less
- Title
- EXPERIMENTAL EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON BODY DISSATISFACTION AND EATING PATHOLOGY: UPWARD VERSUS DOWNWARD COMPARISONS
- Creator
- Badillo, Krystal Elizabeth
- Date
- 2019
- Description
-
Research has been limited in assessing the different impacts of social media platforms on body dissatisfaction, apart from Facebook. In...
Show moreResearch has been limited in assessing the different impacts of social media platforms on body dissatisfaction, apart from Facebook. In addition, most studies have measured social media use by only assessing time. This study aimed to test experimental effects of social comparison on body dissatisfaction (BD) and desire to engage in eating behaviors. In addition, a mediation model was tested of the association between social media use and BD via social comparison. Participants viewed one of two live public Instagram profiles and were asked questions that facilitated individuals comparing their appearance to the Instagram profile. A total of 74 women completed questionnaires regarding social media use, body image, and eating disorder psychopathology. It was found that regardless of condition, desire to eat decreased after profile views, but there was no change in BD. The mediation model suggests that there was a significant indirect effect of increased BD and importance of Instagram through social comparison. Results suggest that, contrary to earlier work, overall social media use may not negatively impact BD as previously thought. Rather, it appears that trait level factors such as social comparison negatively influence BD while using social media.
Show less
- Title
- Online Satire in Iran: Social Critique, Counter-Publicity and Public Opinion
- Creator
- Mirghaderi, Leilasadat
- Date
- 2023
- Description
-
This dissertation examines and investigates the recontextualization of theories of satire, public sphere, and communicative action in the...
Show moreThis dissertation examines and investigates the recontextualization of theories of satire, public sphere, and communicative action in the context of Iranian Instagram satirists. The importance of this investigation is two-fold. First, since the advent of social media sites, several theoretical concepts have gone through paradigm shifts. In this regard, theories of satire, public sphere, and communicative action are no exceptions. Second, these theoretical concepts were primarily developed and analyzed in Western democratic nations and need to be revisited in the context of Iran. To this end, by looking through the lenses of these theories and taking into account the context of Iran, this dissertation identifies the major topics that Iranian Instagram satirists address and criticize. Therefore, the first goal of this dissertation is to provide insights with regards to how Iranian Instagram satirists are using humor to criticize different aspects of social, cultural, and political matters that are more salient in the context of Iran and to investigate how they are trying to transfer their knowledge and raise awareness about topics that are less publicly discussed.Furthermore, by analyzing the topics that are the main focus of Iranian Instagram satirists, accompanied by observations from my netnography study, and considering the current atmosphere and historical background of Iran, this dissertation argues the extent to which Iranian satirical content on Instagram facilitates the democratic exchange of ideas as a requirement for transformation from a public space to public sphere(s). This dissertation also examines the communicative action strategies that Iranian Instagram satirists employ to reach an understanding with the state as well as their followers. Finally, the dimensions and attributes of satire as well as the features of Instagram that facilitate the formation of public discourse and public opinion formation in Iran are identified. Methodologically, this dissertation utilized a combination of qualitative research methods including but not limited to netnography, thematic and content analysis, transcription of publicly available trade publication interviews, and critical discourse analysis. While themes and topics were extracted from the collected media from the Instagram pages of the Iranian Instagram satirists, the transcription of the publicly available trade publication interviews as well as critical discourse analysis were used to describe why some topics were more salient and to provide answers to the developed research questions. From the analysis of the posts and stories, ten themes that fall into two broad categories of inward and outward criticism were extracted. In the context of this research, the inward criticism category refers to the topics that unravel the social and cultural dimensions of relationships and interactions, while the outward criticism category refers to the topics that criticize the state and its established institutions. Taking a closer look at the results, we can see that in the context of Iran, it can be concluded that the online world accompanied by satire facilitates the democratic exchange of ideas as a requirement for transformation from a public space to public sphere(s). However, as Iranian Instagram influencers are expressing their opposing thoughts against the established hegemony and are also challenging what matters belong to the private or public domains, it can be said that they are forming subaltern counterpublics in the online world.
Show less