Date of Award

12-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Michael Hazel

Second Advisor

Dr. Paul M. Wadleigh

Abstract

This thesis explores whether participants in online social networking sites differ from non-participants in their approach to problem solving or in their attitudes about their interactions with their own social networks. Walter Ong (1982) determined that people’s thinking changed with different media usage, particularly from oral to script, script to print, and print to electronic. This research examines problem solving and attitudes about interactions with social networks as two criteria for exploring how people think. In a review of the literature, the thesis explores the theory of media ecology, which expands on the work of McLuhan (1967) and Ong (1982), regarding how people are affected by the media they use as well as whether it is possible to form community online. Through a survey questionnaire, the research explores whether participants in online communities differ in their thinking regarding problem solving and their attitudes about their interactions with their cohort. The principle questions of this research are whether those who participate in online communities differ in their approach and interaction with their social network from people who do not participate in online socialization and whether those who participate in online communities differ in their approach to problem solving and negotiating their daily lives from people who do not participate in online socialization.

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