Yiyi Yang

University of North Carolina Wilmington | UNCW · Communication Studies

The fantasy sport industry has grown rapidly in the past decade, now boasting 56 million participants in North America alone. More recently, the ascent of fantasy sport appears directly attributable to the rise of new websites offering daily/weekly fantasy games. This study surveys 438 fantasy participants—some who play traditional fantasy sports a...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore online discussions about the 2014 World Cup on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo. Because China did not qualify for the World Cup, the study focusses on the role of online discussions surrounding a worldwide international event from an outsider perspective. Doing so will uncover not only th...

Courses: Undergraduate courses in interpersonal communication, nonverbal communication, relational communication, computer-mediated communication (CMC), and intercultural communication, as well as basic communication courses. Objectives: The purpose of this activity is twofold: (1) to demonstrate how nonverbal communication shapes content and relat...

This study examined how both nonprofit and for-profit organizations use Twitter, a social media platform, to establish a dialogic relationship with their publics. Specifically, the study performed a content analysis of 6678 tweets, identifying the dialogic principles in organizations' Twitter pages and examining public engagement with these organiz...

Drawing on framing theory, this study examined U.S. newspaper coverage of Zika virus (ZIKV) at the wake of the epidemic in early 2016. Through a quantitative content analysis, this study examined the major themes, the tone, attributions of causes and solutions, potential health consequences, and source cited. The analysis revealed that the newspape...

Many new HIV infections occur through individuals who are unaware of their HIV status. HIV disparities are more prevalent among underserved populations, and the number of new cases in the U.S. is highest in the Southern region. Using the Social Network Intervention, 63 undergraduate students delivered a face-to-face, communication-centered, peer ed...

The relationship between media use, family dynamics, and school environments on a child’s likelihood to be overweight or obese is an area of research with limited empirical evidence; however, reports have indicated that children are increasingly developing more negative habits related to their health. The purpose of the present study was to employ...

Alcohol consumption poses significant health and safety risks to women. Understanding why women drink and how they experience drinking is the first step in creating efficacious interventions and effective social support programs. Presented here is a qualitative study examining stories women told about drinking on a blog: drinkingdiariesk.com. Eight...

Mental illness is a serious health risk in the United States. People suffering from mental illnesses are often subjective to gender-specific stigma and stereotypes. Based on theories of agenda setting, framing, and stigma communication, this study compares the portrayal of mental illnesses in women’s and men’s lifestyle and health magazines between...

Drawing on the constructionist framing approach, this quantitative content analysis compares online news coverage of schizophrenia in China and the United States in 2015. Incorporating the concept of individualism–collectivism, this study seeks to unveil the effects of culture on the framing of causes, solutions, responsibility attribution, and dis...