First Name:
Shannon
Last Name:
Wright
Major Department:
Department of Psychology
Thesis Director:
Leslie Sargent Jones
Date of Thesis:
May 2015
Social media has quickly become a dominant part of many people’s lives. In recent years, Tumblr, a popular blogging site, has gained millions of followers from diverse backgrounds, including followers, who self-identify as having mental health issues. This study examines the patterns between more negative and more positive Tumblr blogs and the likelihood that these Tumblr blogs will reblog either more negative or more positive images. The results of this study indicate that the more negative a Tumblr blog is, the more likely that the blog will reblog more negative images, and the inverse is also true. The background of this research follows the theoretical framework of Emile Durkheim and his theory of Anomie. The self-identified Tumblr mental-health community may be seeking similar inclusion in an online community such as past sub-culture groups like the “hippies” of the sixties and the “punks” of the seventies by reblogging more negative images to maintain inclusivity in the self-identified Tumblr mental-health community.