Digital Citizenship Tools for Cause-Based Campaigns: A Broadened Spectrum of Social Media Engagement and Participation-Scale Methodology develops and applies two new tools for understanding, measuring, and recursively adjusting small- to medium-size social media-based philanthropic campaigns to better foster participation and engagement—in other words, democratic digital citizenship. First, a theoretical model is offered broadening current binary conceptions of success and failure or impact of campaigns, situating specific participant actions in social media on a spectrum. Then, from that model, a new methodology is provided to measure participation and engagement generated by campaign posts. Recommendations are also offered for recursively adjusting campaign posts to better foster democratic digital citizenship.
These tools were developed from data generated by #TheFaceOffChallenge, a research project representative of a typical small- to medium-size cause-based campaign.#TheFaceOffChallenge also serves as a sample for analysis illustrating how to use these tools. While explicating these tools, this dissertation explores a broad range of topics related to better understanding democratic digital citizenship: online philanthropy, awareness, and digital activism; viral and memetic transmission; tensions between consumption and creation of ideas, content, and knowledge; public(s), counterpublics, and counter-efforts; access for engagement and participation; algorithmic environments; and visual communication and semiotics.
Outline of Studies:
Major: Texts and Technology
Educational Career:
B.S., University of Central Florida, 2000
M.A., Rollins College, 2002
Committee in Charge:
Dr. Stephanie Vie
Dr. J. Blake Scott
Dr. Madelyn Flammia
Dr. Kirk St.Amant
Congratulations, Jennifer!