Social Identity and Knowledge Gap Theories on Social Media

This presentation examines two communication theories and its relevance to modern social media. The first is social identity theory, developed by Henri Tajfel and John Turner, which asserts that group membership creates in-group/self-categorization and enhancement in ways that favor the in-group at the expense of the out-group. The second is knowledge gap theory first purposed […]

How Social Media Made Me A Kardashian

I remember the days of running home from school, logging into my AOL account and hearing “You’ve Got Mail!” Those days are long gone, but without a doubt I still experience the same urge to login into my social media accounts. Typing in my credentials on any social media platform grants me access to a […]

A Slow Blooming Flower

I’ll be the first to admit that growing up I was a late bloomer when it came to getting involved with social media. I was not a MySpace kid and I joined Facebook a lot later than most everyone around me. However, my life transformed when I really began interacting with these platforms. Now I […]

My Social Media Journey | Crossing Over to the Dark Side

I’ll be honest – I wasn’t always a huge fan of social media. It took some time (’til 2011, that is) for me to switch over to the dark side. Just made a twitter #FirstTweet — Bethany Bourgault (@BethBourgault) November 30, 2011 I’d always used Facebook as a place to learn about others, not for […]

A Social Media Journey of Mine

Social media has changed my life in many ways, for sure. I started to use social media when I was in fifth grade, in 2005. Before that, the way we social with people and the way we obtain information is very limited. At that time, I don’t feel like social is important, and most of […]

Forming my Opinion, Finding my Voice

Being more involved on social media has made me more in tune to current events. Before finding my voice on Twitter, I was incredibly lost within the political sphere. I did not understand big issues or even fully understand just how much politics affected my life and the lives of my friends and family. During […]

Social Media and Ch-Ch-Changes

“Turn and face the strange” is a line from David Bowie’s “Changes” and despite the age of the song, it fits perfectly with the changes in myself because of social media. We live in a world that is constantly changing, but no matter the change, people will be upset or scared because we live in […]

Creative Confidence

I can remember my first AIM screenname, squiggles242. My third grade self thought it was the perfect combination of creative and unique. Shortly after the death of AIM, my Myspace persona emerged. Then I created my Facebook profile, followed by a Twitter handle, an Instagram page, a YouTube channel and a Snapchat account. Just like […]

Facebook Saved My Friendships

Despite my frequent usage of social media, my trends differ from the norm. I don’t stalk Drake, I never found fame, and I don’t bring myself to start connections virtually. I grew up in an international environment that where excluded politics and social issues from conversation, and where interest-based niche groups didn’t exist. Social media never […]

How has social media changed me?

Like most people my age, social media has infiltrated into everyday life and has become an irreversible part of who I am. My online profile is as powerful to strangers as my in-person persona. As a result of social media, tons more people are aware of who I am. Perhaps I’ll still pop up in […]

Newhouse

SOCIAL MEDIA

Spring 2017