Mass media outlets newspapers and television were traditionally where individuals gathered their news information; however, with the growth of new media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, individuals are now co-producers of the content that is seen by the public. Previous research indicated that media-generated images of the police influence public perception and that new media outlets are becoming increasingly influential, particularly in regards to social and political conflicts. This means that research on the role of new media outlets in socially constructing reality is essential, though not much of this research has yet been completed. This current analysis fills this gap in the literature by examining the question of how images of police are constructed by different social groups, using ethnographic content analysis on the social media platforms Instagram and Twitter in relation to police images with the #BlackLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter hashtags.
","abstract_html":"<p>Mass media outlets newspapers and television were traditionally where individuals gathered their news information; however, with the growth of new media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, individuals are now co-producers of the content that is seen by the public. Previous research indicated that media-generated images of the police influence public perception and that new media outlets are becoming increasingly influential, particularly in regards to social and political conflicts. This means that research on the role of new media outlets in socially constructing reality is essential, though not much of this research has yet been completed. This current analysis fills this gap in the literature by examining the question of how images of police are constructed by different social groups, using ethnographic content analysis on the social media platforms Instagram and Twitter in relation to police images with the #BlackLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter hashtags.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Thornhill, Mary Frances"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Criminal Justice","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Joshua Hill","Charles Scheer","Laura Gulledge"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:50Z","subjects":["police","social media","Black Lives Matter","social construction","visual criminology","Criminology and Criminal Justice"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/314","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Joshua Hill","Charles Scheer","Laura Gulledge"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Thornhill, Mary Frances"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-06-29T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Criminal Justice"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["police","social media","Black Lives Matter","social construction","visual criminology","Criminology and Criminal Justice"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/314"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Mass media outlets newspapers and television were traditionally where individuals gathered their news information; however, with the growth of new media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, individuals are now co-producers of the content that is seen by the public. Previous research indicated that media-generated images of the police influence public perception and that new media outlets are becoming increasingly influential, particularly in regards to social and political conflicts. This means that research on the role of new media outlets in socially constructing reality is essential, though not much of this research has yet been completed. This current analysis fills this gap in the literature by examining the question of how images of police are constructed by different social groups, using ethnographic content analysis on the social media platforms Instagram and Twitter in relation to police images with the #BlackLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter hashtags.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Black and Blue: Competing Social Constructions of Police On Instagram and Twitter"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Joshua Hill","Charles Scheer","Laura Gulledge"],"dc:creator":["Thornhill, Mary Frances"],"dc:date.available":["2017-06-29T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Mass media outlets newspapers and television were traditionally where individuals gathered their news information; however, with the growth of new media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, individuals are now co-producers of the content that is seen by the public. Previous research indicated that media-generated images of the police influence public perception and that new media outlets are becoming increasingly influential, particularly in regards to social and political conflicts. This means that research on the role of new media outlets in socially constructing reality is essential, though not much of this research has yet been completed. This current analysis fills this gap in the literature by examining the question of how images of police are constructed by different social groups, using ethnographic content analysis on the social media platforms Instagram and Twitter in relation to police images with the #BlackLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter hashtags.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/314"],"dc:subject":["police","social media","Black Lives Matter","social construction","visual criminology","Criminology and Criminal Justice"],"dc:title":["Black and Blue: Competing Social Constructions of Police On Instagram and Twitter"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Criminal Justice"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:50Z"}