I dug this out of the cold storage/old CD on which it was stored: my master’s thesis, all 67 pages of it. I wrote it so long ago (2003-5), I used (gasp!) non-electronic sources in researching it. The phrase “social media” does not appear in the entire work, but that’s not surprising. That term didn’t even get its own Wikipedia page until 2006.
Looking back at the seven years that have passed since I finished it, some sections are cringeworthy. I warned you.
Introduction
Internet research exists on a spectrum from content-oriented areas of hypertext
theory, rhetoric, and hyperlink network analysis, to human-oriented fields like computermediated communication and human-computer interaction, and on to technology-oriented topics of online presence, information transmission, and innovations. Weblogs manifest elements of each of these areas, as they represent a way to publish content, a channel for communicating with individuals and groups, and an information distribution mechanism. The question, how do bloggers use hyperlinks?, will be answered by drawing upon citation analysis and Internet research on hyperlinks and web sites. This research will involve a series of focus groups that will ascertain the behaviors and motivations of bloggers in practice.
The advent of blogging as a media technology and a communication method
offers an alternative to broadcast media models and an opportunity to extend traditional theories of mass communication. Weblogs represent a convergence of mass, interpersonal, and mediated communication. The presence of weblogs on the Internet provides their authors with a limitless, easily accessible audience. Weblogs feature for interpersonal communication tools that facilitate social interaction. The intrapersonal aspect allows individuals to express inner thoughts through text, images, sounds, and hyperlinks, and to engage in self-exploration.
