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A design method for end-user engagement and interaction with social media technologies

  • Authors: Oyedele, Yemisi
  • Date: 2022-04
  • Subjects: Social media , End-user computing
  • Language: English
  • Type: Doctor's theses , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58451 , vital:59284
  • Description: Social media technologies are ubiquitous and have become essential information and communication technology applications for society. These technologies provide end-users with the experience of interacting with different social media platforms and socialising with other end-users on these platforms. They also contribute towards the personal development of end-users and the development of the social media community, which has become an important part of their everyday lives. As social media technology evolves, measuring end-user engagement becomes challenging. In the existing literature, the measured engagement, such as the end-user’s activities, typically represents an aspect of the experience that the end-users have with the technology. This view is a single dimension of the end-user’s engagement and, at the same time, a limited representation of the actual interaction the end-users have with the technology. In addition to the behavioural aspect, other dimensions that occur during the interaction are the emotional and cognitive aspects. Together, these three aspects of end-user engagement occur simultaneously during the interaction period. Therefore, there is a need to define and design a broader view of the end-user’s engagement with social media technology. The main research objective of this thesis is to develop an artefact that informs the design of social media technology based on the knowledge or understanding of the end-user’s perspectives of the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural aspects when engaging with social media technology. Also, this study has three sub-research objectives. The first sub-research objective is to define end-user’s engagement and interaction using a concept called User experience engagement and interaction. This concept is proposed to holistically represent the three-dimensional engagement that end-users have with social media technology. The second sub-research objective is to identify an approach to derive some design guidelines and heuristics for social media technology engagement and interaction. The third sub-research objective is to determine how to constitute the end-users experience and design elements into a method. Moreover, this study follows a design science research paradigm. This approach, which combines a literature review, a case study, and an illustrative scenario, was used in the research process to achieve the three sub-research objectives. Specifically, the literature viii review and the case study focus on defining the end-users’ emotional, cognitive and behavioural engagement with social media technology. Findings were used to interpret end user engagement and develop the design method that would aid designers and developers to enhance end user engagement and interaction with social media technologies. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2022
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  • Date Issued: 2022-04

A framework to improve social media as a communication tool in technical vocational education and training colleges in South Africa: a case of twitter.

  • Authors: Nyamanhare, Sangudzayi Innocent
  • Date: 2021-02
  • Subjects: Social media , Education, Higher , Universities and colleges
  • Language: English
  • Type: Master's theses , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/20495 , vital:46008
  • Description: South Africa uses social media as a communication tool. The use of Twitter as a communication tool in Technical Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVET) in South Africa is a crucial factor for efficient and effective communication between TVET College administration and stakeholders such as prospective students, students, prospective employers, prospective employees and the Twitter community which follow various Twitter accounts. Literature has found that TVET Colleges use Twitter in a monologic manner which promotes one-way information flow. Twitter is also used in a limited fashion and within silos within TVET Colleges that have incorporated this social media platform into their communication strategy. The main purpose of this research study was to develop a framework to improve social media as a communication tool in TVET Colleges in South Africa. The Social Media-Integration- Theory-Model was used as the theoretical framework to evaluate the use of Twitter in TVET Colleges in South Africa, thus enabling the development of critical success factors to improve the use of social media as a communication tool. The Interpretivist paradigm and qualitative research approach was chosen for this study. Netnography was used to collect the online data from Twitter that was analysed in the study. Data was collected from 36 TVET Colleges in South Africa that have a Twitter account over a one-year period (April 2019 – March 2020). After the data collection, content and thematic analysis were used to analyse the date. The study developed a framework from the analyses of tweets which incorporated the four constructs from the Social-Media-Integration-Theory-Model. The study also developed five critical success factors, namely, procuring and maintaining of ICT infrastructure; implementing a policy that guide the use of social networks for communication purposes in TVET Colleges; raising awareness on the use of Twitter as a tool for communication; intensive training to manage administration of Twitter accounts and appointing champions to promote Twitter as a communication tool in TVET Colleges. , Thesis (MCom) (Information Systems)-- University of Fort Hare, 2021
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  • Date Issued: 2021-02

Social Media usage in low-income communities: Opportunities and constraints in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape

  • Authors: Botchway, Stanley Aubyn
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Social media
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc. Sci
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/17717 , vital:41150
  • Description: Social media is 21st century phenomenon has captured the attention of millions of people across the globe and has hitherto, permeated through all facet of our contemporary life. It has become the important conduit through which people far and near interact. Sharing of information, communicating, collaborating, engaging are some of the visible highlights of Social Media. Social media usage cut across different demographics. This is due to the unique characteristics of social media which includes openness, participation and sharing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact such usage have on less advantaged communities and how it can be used to further their cause in achieving socioeconomic parity. This study is qualitative in nature and it relied on semi-structured interviews and observations to collect data. Purposive and convenience sampling was used to select respondents. The findings of the study indicate that utilizing social media for the utmost gain is imperative in that the presence of new technologies has revolutionised the way people socialise beyond real time and boundaries. It was also noted that social media is the new norm as such societies far and beyond need to harness the potential not only for the social media generation but for the communities within its reach. Thus, researching into the impact this phenomenon has on the poorest communities is of great importance for both the public and policy makers. This study however recommends regulation of social media in order to contain security risks that it poses. It is therefore important to enhance internet security to protect the privacy threats. It is also important to invest more on issues of information and communication technology on low-income communities
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Guidelines for the responsible use of social media by nursing students

  • Authors: Nyangeni, Thandolwakhe
  • Date: 2015
  • Subjects: Nursing students , Social media
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCur
  • Identifier: vital:10065 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020658
  • Description: Social media use is becoming a popular activity among students at Nursing Education Institutions in South Africa, with Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Blackberry Messaging, Mxit and Google Plus being some of the social networking sites adopted for various reasons by nursing students. However, lack of accountability and unethical use of social media by nursing students in South Africa has been reported. Owing to the lack of accountability and unethical misconduct associated with the use of social media, guidelines for responsible usage are needed. A qualitative, descriptive, explorative and contextual research study was conducted to explore and describe the perceptions of nursing students regarding the responsible use of social media. Nursing students registered for the undergraduate nursing degree at a Nursing Education Institution in the Eastern Cape, South Africa were interviewed using a semi-structured individual interview method in order to elicit rich descriptions of their perceptions regarding the use of social media. The goal of the study was to develop guidelines for the responsible use of social media by nursing students. In phase one, the researcher explores and describes the perceptions of nursing students regarding the use of social media. In phase two, guidelines for the responsible use of social media by nursing students were developed, using the findings of the study. Tesch’s method of thematic synthesis was utilised to analyse the data. To ensure rigour and trustworthiness in the study, the researcher used Guba and Lincoln’s criteria, namely: credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability. To protect the rights and dignity of the participants and to safeguard the integrity of this study, the researcher complied with the following ethical principles: beneficence and non-maleficence, autonomy, justice, privacy, and confidentiality. Twelve in-depth, semi-structured interviews provided saturated data, which was then transcribed and coded to yield the major and sub-themes that were identified in this study. The information shared by the participants provided the basis for the development of guidelines for the responsible use of social media by nursing students, which are intended to provide guidance for legally and ethically acceptable social networking. Three themes that emerged from the data were: Nursing student’s lives are centred around social media, Nursing students experience blurred personal and professional boundaries and lack of accountability, and Students expressed a need for the guidelines for the responsible use of social media. Six principle guidelines focusing on accountable and ethically acceptable use of social media were developed. The study concludes with the recommendations regarding nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research. The limitations of the study were that data was collected from students in the undergraduate nursing degree programme and therefore the experiences of the nursing students in the postgraduate degree and diploma programmes regarding the use of social media are not known. The researcher depended solely on the story as told by the participants and did not get the opportunity to observe their social networking conduct, so the researcher made inferences based on the information that was supplied by students. The paucity of research in this topic made it a challenge for the researcher to find context-specific research articles for South Africa. Recommendations from this study could be used to influence further research aimed at establishing the effectiveness of the guidelines. The findings of this research study could also be used to influence policy making at national and provincial levels of government regarding the use of social media at healthcare facilities.
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  • Date Issued: 2015

The exploration of influence as a leadership competency amongst emerging adult males

  • Authors: Munyai, Pfarelo Pardon
  • Date: 2015
  • Subjects: Leadership , Leadership -- Psychological aspects , Influence (Psychology) , Control (Psychology) , Social media , Executives -- Training of , Executive ability , College students , Young adults , Educational leadership , Executive coaching , Male college students , Leadership -- Study and teaching (Higher) , College student government
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
  • Identifier: vital:852 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017520
  • Description: The association between leadership, influence and power is well developed in the literature. However, there is a notable lack of research on youth leadership development, especially as it pertains to their exercise of influence. This paper was borne out of the need to explore how youth - emerging adults’ males in particular - exercise influence as a leadership competency within their voluntary leadership positions. Using semi-structured face-to-face interviews and the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), the research primarily focused on influence tactics and how they were employed. This included assessing the related power bases and principles of influence that were manifest, as well as the learning and development that occurred when reflecting on the outcome of the influence process. Data was analysed using an open coding procedure. Incidents explored in the study were primarily interpersonal in nature. This was reminiscent of lateral influence that characterised the peer to peer contextual environment of the study. The study found that in their influence pursuits, emerging adults followed a rational approach to influence. The distinguishable power bases and their relative importance in application were context dependent (Krause and Kearney, 2006:59-86). In addition, various proactive influence tactics were employed with a leaning towards those perceived as positive, honest and non-manipulative in application, which was congruent with Head Student role expectations and the culture of the organization. The utilization of social media as a communication platform from which various tactics could be launched was a novel and notable finding. Consequently, the results were presented primarily under two themes, exploring how tactics of influence are used face to face and via the social media platform. In addition, the study emphasised the ethical implications of the exercise of influence in both of these platforms and related to this, the challenge of influencing friends or close associates, without undermining leadership integrity. Overall, the various influence incidents presented and their outcomes, evidently shaped leadership development by reinforcing tactics which worked and stimulating continuous reflection and learning, adaptive strategies and the development of new means to deal with resistance and non-compliance. All of these are critical to shaping future influence behaviour. Primary recommendations include the need for a proactive approach to educating youth on leadership and influence through formal programmes, if they were to be empowered with tools to develop and maximize their leadership potential. Equally, practitioners need to be sensitized to the significance of their role as catalysts in nurturing youth leadership development. In addition, the novel use of social media as a leadership influence platform was recognised as significant and as such, a candidate for further research. Beyond the limited scope of this study, other angles worthy of further research include, factoring in elements such as gender, cross-cultural differences and the aspect of voluntary versus incentivised (or paid) leadership positions. The research is presented in an academic paper format, and is structured in three sections. These sections are written up as relatively independent sections, but are complementary in covering the full scope of the research. Section One, which is essentially a paper in a format of an academic journal article, represent the primary section and covers the results of the study, together with discussions and recommendations. This is followed by a literature review (i.e. Section Two), which delves into all the relevant literature explored. Section Three covers the methodology, research design and research procedure pursued. As part of the addendum, a comprehensive summary of the incidents explored is presented. This gives insight into the nature of the various incidents, the influence tactics preferred, power bases and influence principles manifested, together with the outcomes of the incidents. Furthermore, lessons drawn in reflection are noted, which participants viewed as critical, in that they shaped the way they now intend to exercise influence and thereby reflects their personal leadership development.
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  • Date Issued: 2015

Information security and the dark side of trust

A model for supporting environmental awereness in higher education using social media

  • Authors: Tlebere, Thabo Eugene
  • Date: 2013
  • Subjects: Social media , Environmental education , Universities and colleges
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: vital:10496 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020820
  • Description: University sustainability is a field of research that has been gaining increased interest in recent years. The reduction of environmental impact has become a strategic objective of universities globally. Universities have been prompted to take necessary action to ensure that their environmental impact is at a minimum. The environmental component of sustainability deals with the current conservation of the earth’s natural resources so that future generations can also have access to them. Human beings, due to their increasing needs, are accountable for the exploitation of natural resources. They are regarded as the main contributors to imbalances in the natural systems. Environmental concerns such as global warming, deforestations, disposal of wastes, and ozone reduction are the outcomes of the damage caused by humans on the environment. The aim of environmental education is to acquire remediation of the environment by making individuals aware of the environment and by educating them about how to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Environmental awareness is perceived as knowledge of the factors that affect the environment and having sensitivity towards the environment. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) bear the responsibility of educating individuals about environmental issues since they provide education to future leaders in society who may have an influence on future conditions in the environment. Social media are capable of delivering information to a large spectrum of audiences at a low cost. The Pew Internet American Life Project reported that the number of adults who utilise social media has increased by 57 percent from 2005 to 2011. Several environmental activist organisations utilise social media to carry out environmental awareness campaigns. In this study two environmental awareness campaigns which were powered by social media were conducted to improve environmental awareness of individuals in a higher education environment. A Social media Model for ENvironmental Awareness (SMENA) was developed to facilitate the environmental awareness campaigns. The SMENA includes a website, social media as well as theoretical guidelines for creating environmental awareness campaigns, and for using social media for environmental awareness campaigns. A case study at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) was used to empirically evaluate SMENA. Students at the Department of Computer Sciences of NMMU were exposed to information about environmental issues through social media with the intention of improving their environmental knowledge and awareness. The SMENA website usability was rated positively and students enjoyed the blogs and information distributed by means of social media. The results of the study intervention were positive and showed that social media can be used to improve the environmental knowledge of students. This study provides a valuable contribution to both the field of environmental education and social media usage and acceptance. The guidelines and requirements for using social media to improve environmental awareness provided in this study can be used to assist educators and university management with addressing the problems of reducing environmental impact.
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  • Date Issued: 2013

An investigation into the role of social media in the political protests in Egypt (2011)

  • Authors: Ramphobole, Thabo
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Social media , Social movements
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:8416 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1012119 , Social media , Social movements
  • Description: Social media's role in formenting protest action in Egypt has often been lauded by proponents of these web 2.0 technologies, to the extent that the collective protest actions that swept the Middle East and North Africa from December 2010 to the present have been referred to as "Twitter Revolutions" in recognition of the pivotal played by Twitter in mobilising citizents.
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  • Date Issued: 2012

Athletes on Twitter: an investigation of communication patterns during the Olympic Games 2012 in London

  • Authors: Siegner, Arne
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Athletes in mass media , Social media
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: vital:8433 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020830
  • Description: Recent studies have shown an increasing impact of online social networks such as Twitter on sports media. The following study aims to provide insight about communication patterns of athletes during the Olympic Games 2012 in London. Drawing on literature from traditional fields such as social capital (Field 2003), the 'uses and gratifications' approach (Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch 1974), self- presentation (Goffmann 1971) and recent studies about social media in sports (Kassing and Sanderson 2012), a Twitter-analysis of ten athletes was conducted during the Olympic Games 2012 in London. Following a content analysis of 1042 tweets (including 246 pictures), the research findings of this study reveal that athletes predominantly use Twitter as a platform for self- presentation. Furthermore, the analysis showed the possibility for fans to use Twitter in order to overcome the parasocial orbit (Kassing and Sanderson 2012) of virtual space and engage in actual social interaction with athletes. It is concluded that linkages of athletes with various stakeholders and the official framework of social media guidelines by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), result in self- restricting communication patterns of the athletes during the Olympic Games 2012.
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  • Date Issued: 2012

Impact of social media on the brand image of a higher education institution

  • Authors: Visser, Ilze
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Branding (Marketing) , Social media
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: vital:9292 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011274 , Branding (Marketing) , Social media
  • Description: Social media is an unexplored and new area, for both businesses and academia. Many institutions are not confident on how to improve their business through the use of social media, neither for internal or external purposes. Social media is nevertheless immense among private persons (Wikström & Wigmo 2010:1) and to ignore this would be a critical mistake by marketing communicators, regardless of the economic sector in which they operate. Therefore, this study intended to expand on the current limited knowledge and information available relating to the use of social media by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to improve their brand image. The primary objective of this research was to evaluate and empirically test the impact of selected Brand identity variables (Brand reputation, Brand relevance, Brand personality, Brand performance and Brand relationship) on the Brand image of a HEI, through the use of social media. The focus was on the impact of social media (Facebook) on the brand image of a Higher Education Institution (HEI), namely the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), which was used as the sample for this study.
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  • Date Issued: 2012

The use of social media for marketing and communication purpose in institutions of higher learning

  • Authors: Mangolothi, Brightness
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Branding (Marketing) , Social media , Online social networks , Internet marketing , Education, Higher
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
  • Identifier: vital:8821 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019698
  • Description: Social media have become a widely used tool to communicate with the orgnisations stakeholders. Institutions of higher learning are also venturing into this new way of marketing and communication. This study intended to determine how South African institutions of higher learning are using social media for marketing and communication purposes. Firstly, a literature study was conducted to gain an understanding on how social media are used. Further an empirical study was conducted, which consisted of two phases. The first phase was a case study on NMMU and Stellenbosch University. Structured-interviews, focus groups and observation were used to collect data from the cases. The collected data were then used to construct a questionnaire that was used for a survey. The survey was distributed to all 23 universities, 50 public FET colleges and the 200 private FET college. 92 institutions responded to the survey. The findings prove that there are various opportuntities and challenges in using social media although it should be stressed that the opportunities outweigh the threats. There is no visible difference between colleges social media implementation in relation to institutions of higher learning. Most institutions use more than one social media tool. Facebook is the most widely used social media followed by Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Flickr, MXit, Google+ and Blog are the least used social media. The observations of the NMMU and Stellenbosch University show that these two institutions are striving to engage with their target audiences. Although the institutions are using social media, some of the concerns are that institutions are not measuring their social media use. For those who are measuring, most depend on the free measurement tools which focus only on the quantitative measure. The governance of the social media use is none existent. Most respondents stated that they do not have a policy or guidelines informing social media management. Most of the respondents felt that they want to use more social media tools in future although some of the challenges alluded to were lack of capacity, human resources and budget.
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  • Date Issued: 2012

Robert Pattison as the object of desire: an investigation into the representation of the Twilight saga in online media

  • Authors: Martin, Shelley-Ann
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Online social networks , Social media
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:8418 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1014075
  • Description: This study aimed to provide researchers in the development of media studies with research into understanding the star as the object of desire in a contemporary context, using Robert Pattinson as the star and The Twilight Saga, which made him famous, as an example of the effects that the use of social and online media have on audiences in terms of their perception and identification of a particular star. This study drew from literature and theories such as stardom, star as the object of desire, audience theory, fantasy, desire and escapism as well as theory on globalisation, the mass media and online and social media. Whilst social and online media have been in existence for a number of years, there is little research that has been performed in order to determine whether or not the use of social and online media directly affect users’ understanding and perception of certain stars and films. There has also been little research performed in order to gain an understanding of fantasy and desire, in terms of films and film stars, outside the constraints of the cinema. This study examined this notion, noting that The Twilight Saga has been successful production worldwide, in order to discover whether or not the use of social and online media perpetuates obsession in the fans and audience members. The first part of the study that was conducted, applied certain theories discussed and developed in the literature review, to Robert Pattinson and The Twilight Saga in order to obtain a better understanding of the star and the film series in terms of cinema, stardom, fantasy and escapism and online and social media. A comparative case study of six online articles, from prominent online sources featuring Pattinson, was then conducted in order to investigate Pattinson’s image and status in the online community. Finally, a content analysis of various online and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was performed in order to find out what type of information and imagery was being generated about Pattinson and the Saga as well as to investigate how fans and followers engaged with the different media channels and what kinds of comments they were making about the star and the Saga. It was found that Pattinson, the character he plays in the film series, Edward Cullen, and The Twilight Saga have a large presence on key social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, with a vast amount of followers and fans; Facebook and Twitter being the most popular and interactive media avenues. It was also found that Pattinson, Edward and The Twilight Saga, through the avid use of the social media tools, elicited and incited signs of obsession, fantasy and desire within an extensive amount of fans and followers, outside the constraints of the cinema
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Towards the two-way symmetrical communication model: the use of social media to create dialogue around brands

  • Authors: Matthee, Christelle
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Social media , Public relations
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:8385 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1370 , Social media , Public relations
  • Description: Social media has radically altered today's media landscape, and presents public relations practitioners with new possibilities and opportunities to promote their companies. Social media enables public relations to observe in order to find out what people need; what content they are looking for; and how your company can help them. However, will engaging in online conversations give an organisation‘s consumers a voice? Past PR models illustrate how methods of communication was established and used in the past. However, the Grunig and Hunt two-way symmetrical model creates the possibility of two-way communication (dialogue) between consumer and organisation in which the power relations are equal. By applying Web 2.0 (social media) to these models, one can explore new ways of two-way communication. Finally by applying these elements to each other, a case study can be created to prove if social media can be used to create a dialogue between consumer and organization.
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  • Date Issued: 2011
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