Emily Cummings' Honors College Thesis: Park personality - A discourse analysis of national parks through social media images
Conference Year
2022
Abstract
This study examines how US national parks use images to craft and present aspects of “park personality” for social media followers. We ask: How is park personality portrayed through the images in Facebook posts? Discourse analysis approaches (content, rhetorical, and semiotic analyses) were used, and three large natural resource-based parks were compared. Preliminary results indicate that photographic images provide both literal and symbolic meanings about park features (landscape, wildlife, people), though personality profiles vary by park. Results of this research can inform agency-public communications as well as public support for parks and protected areas.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Patricia Stokowski
Secondary Mentor Name
Robert Bartlett
Faculty/Staff Collaborators
Walter Kuentzel
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
Patrick Leahy Honors College
Second Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
Environmental Studies
Second Program/Major
Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
Primary Research Category
Food & Environment Studies
Secondary Research Category
Social Sciences
Emily Cummings' Honors College Thesis: Park personality - A discourse analysis of national parks through social media images
This study examines how US national parks use images to craft and present aspects of “park personality” for social media followers. We ask: How is park personality portrayed through the images in Facebook posts? Discourse analysis approaches (content, rhetorical, and semiotic analyses) were used, and three large natural resource-based parks were compared. Preliminary results indicate that photographic images provide both literal and symbolic meanings about park features (landscape, wildlife, people), though personality profiles vary by park. Results of this research can inform agency-public communications as well as public support for parks and protected areas.