The Journal of Social Media in Society
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Social Media in the Classroom: Challenges and Strategies in Faculty Development
No full textAbilene Christian University began developing a campus wide mobile learning program in 2008, providing a context of campus saturation by 2010. The reimagining of teaching and learning prompted by this initiative led to the use of mobile learning and to the introduction of social media components into the learning context. This paper will discuss the promise and challenges of social media in the classroom, explore the use of social media in higher education, and discuss the strategies that the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning has used in order to provide faculty development training for the use of social media within both traditional and non-traditional learning environments.
Twitter as Mythmaker In Storytelling: The Emergence of Hero Status by the Boston Police Department in the aftermath of the 2013 Marathon Bombing
Get PDFEarly adopters of Twitter include traditional news media and government entities. Through a close examination of tweets, this critical study focused on how the Boston Police Department employed traditional informational storytelling, usually reserved for the news media, to narrate the mythical archetype of “hero” in its tweets during the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. A significant finding in this study is that Boston police exercised not only its physical might, through pursuits and a highly visible arrest, but also its influence to maintain social order during and after the crisis. Although Boston police may not have actively sought “hero” status in the week-long pursuit of suspects, this study concludes that an analysis of police tweets helped fashion heroic imagery. There are serious implications for journalism because Twitter affords opportunities for non-traditional, primary “storytellers,” such as Boston police, who compete for social media attention with unfiltered content in times of crisis
The Evolution of Social Media from 1969 to 2013: A Change in Competition and a Trend Toward Complementary, Niche Sites
Get PDFHow did social media begin, and where is it going? Will a new social network conquer Facebook? In order to speculate about the future, the evolution of social media from 1969 to 2013 – a topic that scholars have yet to explore – is examined. Through a textual analysis, the historical development and downfall of influential social media platforms is traced and a discussion of how media evolution theories applied along the way are provided. Results indicate early social media platforms competed with each other directly and marketed to the general population, largely supporting the functional equivalence theory of media evolution. Around the turn of the century, however, social networks experienced a theoretical shift. Sites competed less with each other and more for audience time and attention. Simultaneously, platforms started targeting niche populations – a change that may support the future of social media as an industry supporting the complementary and niche theories of media evolution.
Engaging Students Through Social Media: Evidence-Based Practices for Use in Student Affairs by Reynol Junco
No full textI just look it up: Undergraduate student perception of social media use in their academic success
Get PDFCollege students are increasingly using social media. This case study explores how traditionally aged college students perceive social media use contributes to their academic success. We used survey data collected at a college student union to understand the social media students use in their academic pursuits and to inform a focus group discussion. Findings indicate that students do not differentiate between technology and social media, and that they rely heavily on social media to facilitate their academic success. This case study indicates that while using social media extensively may create minor issues for students, proper use can support academic endeavors
Jarvis, J. (2011). Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way we Work and Live. New York: Simon & Schuster. 263 pp. ISBN: 9781451636000.
Get PDFTwitter as a classroom tool: Exploring the use, benefits, and downfalls from the perspectives of instructors and students
No full textRecently, the educational community has become aware of Twitter and begun to use it as a pedagogical tool. Yet, using these tools within a course is not enough to ensure positive outcomes. Thus, more research is needed to understand the perceived benefits and downfalls of its integration in the classroom context. To this end, the present study examined (a) how instructors are using Twitter and (2) compares and contrasts instructors and students perceptions of the benefits and downfalls of using Twitter in the classroom. Practical applications and directions for future research are discussed
An Examination of the Role of the Communicator on Gratifications Attained on Social Network Sites
No full textThe many features available on social network sites complicate interpretation of research results in uses and gratifications studies. This paper proposes a perspective that focuses on the communication role of the user that may promote greater understanding of uses and gratifications results, and applies its use. Results of this analysis suggest that our understanding of uses and gratifications based on survey research questions will benefit from distinguishing between user role as a message source or receiver. More specifically, results of this analysis found the communication role of the user was able to predict certain social network site gratifications. While results were promising, additional research should be conducted to refine these categorizations for predicting media gratifications
Family Communication, Privacy, and Facebook
Get PDFFour focus groups were conducted to explore how college students communicate with family members through Facebook. Communication Privacy Management served as the theoretical basis for the analysis, which suggested students balance privacy concerns with a desire to maintain and strengthen familial relationships. Participants described largely positive experiences communicating with family members on Facebook
Agenda setting and micro-blog use: An analysis of the relationship between Sina Weibo and newspaper agendas in China
Get PDFThe present study investigates the influence of micro-blogs on the major agenda-setting media in China in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic railway accident. Study findings are based on a content analysis of micro-blog messages and traditional mainstream media reports that were published in the nine days subsequent to the July 23, 2011 bullet train crash accident. Results suggest that, in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic train wreck, alternative online media played a decisive role in setting mainstream media agendas and providing a citizen forum on a sensitive issue that their conventional counterparts downplayed, ignored, or missed altogether. In particular, the traditional media’s agenda setting power is no longer universal nor singular within micro-blogging outlets. Instead, traditional media—once a monolithic establishment—are now just one of the role players among many competing influences