Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Learning Sciences Dissertations Department of Learning Sciences 5-16-2019 A New Frontier of the College Alcohol Culture: #SocialMedia Tammy M. Turner Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/ltd_diss Recommended Citation Turner, Tammy M., "A New Frontier of the College Alcohol Culture: #SocialMedia." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2019. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/ltd_diss/8 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Learning Sciences at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Learning Sciences Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation, A NEW FRONTIER OF THE COLLEGE ALCOHOL CULTURE: #SOCIALMEDIA, by TAMMY MARION TURNER, was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Philosophy, in the College of Education and Human Development, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student’s Department Chairperson, as representative of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. The Dean of the College of Education and Human Development concurs. ______________________________ Daphne Greenberg, Ph.D. Committee Chair ______________________________ ______________________________ Hongli Li, Ph.D. Ann Kruger, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member ______________________________ Michael Eriksen, Sc.D. Committee Member ______________________________ Date ______________________________ Brendan Calandra, Ph.D. Chairperson, Department of Learning Sciences ______________________________ Paul A. Alberto, Ph.D. Dean College of Education and Human Development AUTHOR’S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education & Human Development’s Director of Graduate Studies, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without my written permission. ___________________________________________ Tammy Marion Turner NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: Tammy Marion Turner Department of Learning Sciences College of Education & Human Development Georgia State University The director of this dissertation is: Daphne Greenberg Department of Learning Sciences College of Education & Human Development Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303 CURRICULUM VITAE Tammy M. Turner ADDRESS: 4 Tiffany Trace Palmetto, GA 30268 EDUCATION: Ph.D. 2019 Georgia State University College of Education & Human Development Masters Degree 1997 Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Bachelors Degree 1991 Millersville University Psychology PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 2017-present Assistant Director of Student Wellness Georgia State University 2007-2017 Alcohol & Other Drug Prevention, Coordinator Georgia Institute of Technology 2004-2007 Health Educator Georgia State University 1997-2004 Research Project Coordinator, Supervisor Rollins School of Public Health Emory University PUBLICATIONS Soet, J.E., DiIorio, C., Dudley, W.N., & Woodring, T.M. (2003). Gender differences in goal setting for HIV prevention among college students. Southern Online Journal of Nursing Research, 1, 4. Braithwaite, R. L., Conerly, R. C., Robillard, A.G., Stephens, T., & Woodring, T. (2003). Alcohol and other drug use among adolescent detainees. Journal of Substance Use, 8, 1-6. Kingree, J.B., Braithwaite, R., & Woodring, T. (2001). Psychosocial and behavioral problems in relation to recent experience as a runaway among adolescent detainees. Criminal Justice and Behavior: An international journal, 28, 190-205. Kingree, J.B., Braithwaite, R., & Woodring, T. (2000). Unprotected sex as a function of alcohol and marijuana use among adolescent detainees. Journal of Adolescent Health, 27, 179-85. PRESENTATIONS Turner, T. (2018, May). Blogging through a graduate assistantship. Poster session presented at Georgia State University's Annual Conference on Scholarly Teaching, Atlanta, GA. Turner, T.M. (2016, August). The college alcohol culture in Twitter: Developing a methodological approach. National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media, Atlanta, GA. Turner, T.M. (2016, August). What’s in a tweet? Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery National Meeting, Columbus, OH. Turner, T.M., & English, E. (2016, June). The spectrum of responses to alcohol and other drug use-An institute of higher education’s experience. GA Network Meeting, Marietta, GA. Turner, T.M. (invited, 2015, August). Getting the most out of social media. Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Young Adult Highway Safety Leadership Conference, Savannah, GA. Turner, T.M. (2014, March). Transformational learning: The link between health education and online learning. Southern College Health Association Meeting, Atlanta, GA. Turner, T.M. (2013, March). The relationship between institutional and individual factors along with the protective behavioral strategies used by Black college students when drinking alcohol. Southern College Health Association Meeting, Sandestin, FL. Turner, T.M. (2013, January). Bridging alcohol research and evidence-based program implementation: What is your role? NASPA Alcohol, Other Drug Abuse Violence Prevention Conference, Fort Worth, TX. Turner, T.M. (2012, March). Transformational learning online in higher education. Georgia State University Graduate Teaching Assistant Conference, Atlanta, GA. Turner, T.M. (invited, 2012, February). Highway safety day and the infusion of technology. Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Youth and Young Adult Highway Safety Leadership Conference, Pine Mountain, GA. PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS: Since 1997 National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. Since 2014 NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Since 2004 American College Health Association A NEW FRONTIER OF THE COLLEGE ALCOHOL CULTURE: #SOCIALMEDIA by Tammy M. Turner Under the Direction of Daphne Greenberg ABSTRACT The college alcohol culture glorifies high-risk drinking while minimizing potential negative consequences. A social ecological framework can be used to understand the college alcohol culture in institutions of higher education (IHEs) because the framework provides a synergistic tapestry of multiple factors such as: individual, institutional, and environmental. The role of social media is important to explore as social media has created a new frontier for college students to navigate throughout their college experience. The social ecological framework was used as a guide for this study; to explore the college alcohol culture within social media, specifically Twitter. The tweets in IHE hashtags provided a unique opportunity to simultaneously examine individual, institutional, and environmental factors. The publicly available tweets were retrieved during a college football season because of the growing trend of alcohol sales at college football stadiums. The sample included the IHEs represented in the 2014 football tournaments: Historically Black College and University (HBCUs) Classics, the College Football Bowl, along with the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II and III Football Championships. Tweets found in the identified IHE hashtags were used to examine the frequency of alcohol reference terms along with the association to institutional and environmental factors of the college alcohol culture. A quantitative research design was employed, using factor analyses and hierarchical linear modeling. The factors examined in this study included: individual (i.e., alcohol related risk and protective behaviors), institutional (i.e., size of the student population, the NCAA division, and the HBCU affiliation), and environmental (i.e., alcohol sales, availability, and advertising). The majority of the identified IHE hashtags had at least one alcohol reference term in the tweets. Most of the tweets referenced a type of alcohol; beer was the alcohol reference term found most often in the tweets of the identified IHE hashtags. Institutional factors accounted for some of the difference in the frequency of terms. The environmental factor of alcohol sales during football games did not account for a significant amount of variance among the frequency of alcohol terms in the hashtags. Future research and implications for practice are discussed. INDEX WORDS: Alcohol, College alcohol culture, College students, Social media, Twitter,