Communication Studies -- Graduate Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10587/947
This collection features graduate student theses produced in the Department of Communication Studies.

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 5 of 48
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Social Obligation Paradox: #BlockOut and Celebrity Silence on TikTok
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-12-08) Blundon, Hannah
    This thesis examines the #BlockOut movement on TikTok, a short-lived but highly visible digital activism campaign in which users blocked celebrities perceived as silent or indifferent toward the genocide in Gaza. The study investigates why audiences expect celebrities and influencers to engage in sociopolitical discourse, how celebrity silence became framed as complicity, and what this reveals about power, performance, and accountability in digital culture. Using a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods design, the research analyzed 973 comments from 11 high-engagement TikTok videos alongside follower and engagement data for the most frequently mentioned celebrities. Findings show that TikTok users positioned celebrities as moral agents obligated to speak out, transforming silence into a politically meaningful act. Seven discursive themes revealed how users negotiated responsibility and belonging within the movement. Although #BlockOut generated significant attention and momentary shifts in online behaviour, its measurable impact on celebrity status was limited, and its momentum rapidly declined. The study concludes that #BlockOut exposes a paradox at the heart of contemporary digital activism: public expectations for celebrity advocacy are intensified by parasocial relationships and platform logics, yet these same dynamics undermine sustained collective action.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Communicating Imminent Safety Threats: Understanding the Use of Emergency Alerting by Canadian Law Enforcement
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025) Maier, Mandy
    Mandatory emergency alerts distributed via Canada’s National Public Alerting System (NPAS) notify of imminent safety situations and are used by police to support public safety. This mixed-methods study investigated how Canadian police navigate challenges, utilize tools and meet public expectations when communicating via emergency alert and what forms public awareness, trust and expectations regarding police communication methods during imminent safety situations. Eight interviews with Canadian police service representatives were conducted, and public survey data were collected (n = 486). Interview results indicated that police preparedness and experience affect alerting approach, alert strategy and risk impacts police decision making, alerting is influenced by external factors and alerting approach differs across police services. Survey results linked public trust in the police to communicate when an urgent threat impacts their safety and whether local police do a good job educating the public about alerts. Targeted, police-driven alerting education campaigns are recommended to expand public understanding and build trust and preparedness.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Exploring the Communication Process Model
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025-08) Omojuwa, Boluwatife Andrew
    In this thesis I conduct a systematic content analysis to assess the communication process model portrayal and presentation in undergraduate business textbooks over time. To accomplish this, I analyze 32 undergraduate textbooks published between 2000 and 2025 that feature the communication process model. The goal of the research is to: (1) identify communication theories inserted in undergraduate student business textbooks; (2) observe the evolution of the communication process model in text; and (3) determine the manner and extent of which the communication process model is modified or simplified in business undergraduate student textbooks. The findings reveal a widespread reliance on the Shannon-Weaver model, often presented as a simple sender-receiver communication flow, with limited or no representation of noise (either visually or textually). Where noise is addressed, it is often substituted with vague terms like ‘interference.’ These findings show the oversimplification of the communication model for learners and the need for an up-to-date consistent model in pedagogical materials in business communication.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    From Online Anti-Gender Groups to Offline Protests: Analyzing Mobilization in the “1 Million March 4 Children” Movement in Canada
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025-07) Guo, Yue
    This study examines how supporters of the anti-gender movement “1 Million March for Children” use social media to articulate arguments, engage with opponents, build trust, and mobilize offline protests. Through thematic analysis of 503 tweets tagged with #handsoffourkids from September 20, 2023, to October 21, 2023, the study identifies four main themes: clarifying arguments and trust-building, mobilizing supporters and calls to action, counterstrategy, and trust-destroying and trust-building narratives. The findings indicate that supporters enhance group cohesion and public trust by emphasizing patriotism, diversity, and unity, and framing parental rights in moral and emotional terms. They articulate positions on LGBTQ+ issues, sex education, and broader political matters, fostering in-group solidarity. Notably, a significant portion of the data employs counterstrategies aimed at delegitimizing opponents through accusations of child sexualization, grooming, violence, hatred, pathologization, political extremism, censorship, and dishonesty. Though limited to tweets from the supporters of the movement, this research provides timely, valuable insights into Canada’s contemporary anti-gender mobilization. The real-time social media data analysis offers an essential primary-source perspective, laying groundwork for future studies and highlighting critical issues for scholars and policymakers.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    A Scholarly Examination of Zoom Fatigue: A Systematic Review
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2024) Onoigboria, Destiny
    This systematic review focused on the nature, prevalence, contributing factors and mitigating strategies of Zoom fatigue. The study reviewed 42 research articles identified from the peerreviewed literature published between 2020-2024. In the current study, Nadler’s third skins theory and Latour’s Actor-Network Theory were used as the theoretical lens. The results indicate that Zoom fatigue is a construct with cognitive, physical, and social-psychological plight. Some of the main areas are; staring, self-observation, lack of motion and abnormal social signals. The findings reveal variations of the disorder affect more women than men and persons with previous anxiety or stress related disorders. Measures for reduction are development of structured breaks, provision for ‘no camera’ option, toggling between synchronous and asynchronous communication. The work shows that Zoom fatigue is a multifaceted phenomenon that relates to human psyche and cognitive activity; technologies and interfaces; as well as organisational and managerial institutions. All of these have important implications for remote work policies and design of video conferencing platforms. The research affirms and prescribes a multi-level response to the problem of Zoom fatigue that entails technology solutions, policy changes, and personal adaptations. More future longitudinal researches are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of these interferences in the long term, as well as in different circumstances and with people.