Date of Award

1-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College/School

College of Science and Mathematics

Department/Program

Computer Science

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Moaath Alrajab

Committee Member

Christopher Leberknight

Committee Member

John Jenq

Abstract

We are molded by our environment and our surroundings. In a society immersed in social media, our environment is the content we consume. Social media has various positive benefits such as networking, e-commerce, connecting past acquaintances, and a source for entertainment. However, there are also various unfavorable characteristics that are found in most social media networks, which are tackled in this project. These characteristics include the relationship between content creator and content consumer, and the content that is displayed to the user. Whether miniscule or aggressive, the content a user consumes will have an impact on them. Therefore, content consumers are at the mercy of the content creators. As it is clear to see, content on social media is not always appropriate, desired, or valuable. The objective of this study is to find a solution to the negative facets of social media by creating a sub-branch/form of social media, “Inspirational Media,” to which “Motiv8” will fall under. This thesis has two major steps: to study the effects of social media on content consumers and to develop a social media application, "Motiv8," that can avoid negative aspects of traditional social media. By studying the characteristics of current social media applications, it was discovered that the majority of content a user views lacks their interest and rarely contains thought provoking material. Motiv8 increases the likelihood that users will be interested in the content they consume by displaying content on topics, selected by the user, rather than content created by "followed" users. Furthermore, Motiv8 filters negative content by limiting content to topics that promote positivity, personal growth, and education. Since, the application is user-based, a vast majority of users are needed in order to analyze the results of the application properly.

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