The Development of Intercultural Competence Through Social Interactions in Warframe.

M.A. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2018

Am I My Brother’s Keeper? : Local and Global Responsibility in the Digital Age

What is our responsibility towards others, both locally and globally, particularly as it relates to human rights? In a world connected by ever-advancing communications technology and social media, the question of responsibility takes on a greater significance when individuals have the capacity to be better informed than at any previous time in history. The digital age connects people from around the globe, fostering greater awareness about global issues and creating personal connections, which builds understanding and empathy. Traditionally, domestic responsibility has centered on civic engagement, such as being active politically and in the community. International responsibility has largely remained the purview of states through international law and policies such as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Doctrine. However, the digital age has added new dimensions to the concept of individual responsibility, both by connecting people globally and creating a greater capacity for engagement. New technology allows for a greater dissemination of information and provides new avenues for engagement both nationally and internationally. Digital natives, those born into a world in which access to the internet is a normal part of life, present an ideal population to better understand how digital connections contribute to feelings of responsibility and how that responsibility is manifested. Through a survey of 826 digital natives in the United States, this dissertation seeks to understand how they use social media, consume news and relevant information, and conceptualize and act upon their responsibilities. The digital age provides a new capacity for the advancement of human rights through a cosmopolitan responsibility in which we all become the keepers of one another

The Technological Factors of Reddit: Communication and Identity on Relational Networks

The relational network reddit is one of the most popular and visited websites on a global and national (United States) level. Communication on reddit lends itself to intergroup communication in that reddit users engage with audiences from ingroup, outgroup, and mixed audience compositions. Reddit’s voting system allows for negative and positive feedback to enhance or impede on one’s message. I examine how these technological factors influence a number of communicative and identity processes: (a) identity salience, (b), identity gaps, (c) group and interpersonal evaluation, and (d) accommodative language. Drawn out of intergroup contact literature and theories about group processes and technology, I hypothesize and question how each technological factor maps onto each of the aforementioned outcomes. By analyzing each technological factor, I am able to understand how audience composition, valence of content, and nature of feedback have varying impacts on communication. I created an online experimental interface that simulated reddit’s user interface and technological affordances. A total of 316 participants entered into the online discussion board and contributed a comment to an ongoing discussion about their thoughts and beliefs on 4th of July. Two time segments were used in the study, revealing a 3 (audience composition: ingroup, outgroup, mixed) X 2 (valence of content: hostile, neutral) X 2 (feedback: negative, positive) between-groups design. Results revealed that audience composition influenced the enacted-communal identity gap in that users had a lower enacted-identity gap with ingroup and mixed audiences compared to outgroup audiences. Similarly, the enacted-communal identity gap, interpersonal evaluation, and group evaluation measures were dependent on the valence of the conversation. However, identity salience and the personal-enacted identity gap did not fluctuate based on any of the technological factors. Accommodative language was higher in ingroup conditions and when the valence was neutral. Time 2 results revealed that negative feedback influenced a perception of change in the enacted-communal identity gap and in the group evaluation measures. These results add to existing knowledge on the influence of reddit’s primary technological factors on group and identity processes and is informing of how social recommendations can change a user’s perception of their message. Advisor: Jordan Soli

Learning About Oneself: An Essential Process to Confront Social Media Propaganda Against the Resettlement of Syrian Refugees

Research Problem: Public reaction to the 2015-2016 resettlement of Syrian refugees to Canada ranged from strong support to active resentment. This study explored some of those reactions: those of host society youth. It examined the process of this youth learning about themselves in the context of the social media propaganda about the resettlement of Syrian refugees, and investigated how the public opinion about the refugee resettlement affected their perception of their roles in the integration and inclusion of these newcomers. Research questions: 1.How do youth construe online interactions about the Syrian refugee crisis?\ud 2.How do youth construe their role in the integration and the inclusion of refugees in a context where the image of refugees is deeply influenced by social media? 3.What knowledge and skills do youth develop when they engage in analyzing their thoughts and behaviours in regards to sensitive and controversial issues such as the refugee crisis and resettlement? 4.How could this knowledge and these skills facilitate their engagement in civic online reasoning and participatory politics? Methodology: The researcher conducted more than 160 hours of qualitative in-depth interviews with 42 host society youth between 18 and 24 years old from North America, Europe and the Middle East. For the purpose of this thesis, only data collected from the Canadian participants was analyzed and shared. The participants were recruited through a snowball sampling. They were active on social media, supportive of the Syrian refugee resettlement in Canada, but deliberately acting as passive bystanders whenever they encountered online posts and interactions about the Syrian refugee crisis. Adapting four techniques from George Kelly’s Personal Construct Psychology (Kelly’s self-characterization technique, Procter’s Perceiver Element Grid, Kelly’s Repertory Grid Test and Hinkle’s laddering technique), data collection included three to four interviews with each participant. The interviews provided the participants with opportunities to delve into their own construct systems and to reflect on the genesis of their constructs. Results and Conclusions: By reflecting on their own behaviours online, participants realized that they could control how social media influenced them, and shape the online image of the Syrian refugees in host countries. While their empathy towards refugees increased, participants identified factors that could lead to Islamophobia, racism and fear, and developed strategies to counterbalance them online. The process of learning about themselves was key to transform the participants from passive bystanders into active agents of change, ready to confront digital propaganda. Civic educators, social workers, curriculum developers, policy makers and parents concerned with the takeover of social media by hate speech proponents can apply these findings and help youth withstand manipulation and fight racism, hate speech, radicalization, and cyberbullying through the Get Ready to Act Against Social Media Propaganda model generated by this study. The model includes five iterative stages: Question, analyze, design, prepare and evaluate