Date of Award

1-1-2015

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Adrienne Russell, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Renee Botta

Third Advisor

Erika Polson

Fourth Advisor

Dean Saitta

Keywords

Community, Digital technology, Meetup, New media, Psychosocial well-being, Social capital

Abstract

In order to understand the complex relationship between new media and social capital, this thesis explores the lived experiences of individuals who are actively seeking some form of connection through MeetUp.com. Through participant observation, critical discourse analysis, and semi-structured interviews, the findings of this research illuminate the myriad ways in which participation with new media platforms intersects with individuals’ psychosocial well-being through the formation of social capital. While social capital has traditionally been thought about in terms of its different forms, and different benefits, this research furthers the literature by demonstrating that the values of social capital are not limited to their particular manifestations, rather their psychosocial benefits are often indistinguishable from one another. As such, an inductive approach is needed in order to better understand the ways that people evaluate and make meaning from their experiences in MeetUp.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Danielle Vaughn

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

69 p.

Discipline

Mass communication, Social research, Social psychology

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