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Item SOCIAL MEDIA AND SPIRAL OF SILENCE Political Discourse of University Students on Twitter(UMT,Lahore, 2017) Fauzia MussaratThis study aims to test the two postulates of the spiral of silence theory regarding (1) assessment of the climate of opinion and (2) fear of isolation with regards to willingness to speak out about controversial political issues. Since the Spiral of Silence theory was initially proposed at the time when traditional media was in dominance, this research explores how the theory might operate in the emerging information technology era. The study also contributes to underscoring factors that encourage and discourage users’ ability of assessing the climate and their willingness to engage in political discussions on Twitter. The results show that Twitter plays a significant role in encouraging students to engage in political discussions and overcoming their fears that prevent them from speaking out in face-to-face communications. Furthermore, while experiencing different kinds of fears to an extent, it did not affect students’ outspokenness online. However, assessment of opinion climate, personal behaviour and interest, anonymity, issue knowledge, and communication apprehensions also play an important role in the students’ willingness to share their political views. Results of the research (N=364) extends the understanding how the spiral of silence theory functions in the new age of web technology, especially on Twitter. Evidence also shows that although Twitter provides users freedom yet its climate of opinions exerts significant influence on the students’ willingness of participating in political discussions in virtual world in face-to-face communication. Keywords: Twitter, Spiral of Silence, Assessment of Climate of Opinion, Willingness to Speak out, Political Discourse, Fear of IsolationItem EFFECTS OF POLITICAL ADVERTISING ON POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION OF PAKISTAN YOUTH(UMT,Lahore, 2017) IFFAT MASOODThe study aimed to testing relationship between political advertising and political socialization among the educated youth of Pakistan. The period under focus was the post era of general elections 2013 of Pakistan when political advertisement used significantly. For the theoretical articulation the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of Persuasion and ADDA Model have been used. A sample survey of 200 yoimgsters, selected from three different umversities located in Lahore, Punjab Pakistan. Political socialization was measured on three indicators: political awareness, political interest and political participation. These indicators measured on the different variables: demographic characteristics, exposure to political advertising and television watching habits. Males with higher educational level were more politically socialized than their female counterparts. Participants' political interest, political trust, and political participation were significantly different by their socio-economic status. There was positive relationship between political socialization and age of the participant.Item Media Channel Credibility Relation with Customer-Based Brand Equity(UMT,Lahore, 2017) Hasham MussawarThis study was designed to test CBM and measure and explicate the effects of CBBE and test Aaker model and Keller conceptualization and explore the relationship between CBBE, ideological congruency on media channel credibility. This research empirically tests the media message credibility on four dimensions of Aaker (1991) and explores the relationship between both respectively. Empirical evidence was collected about four Pakistani media news channels (ARY, GEO, Express and Dunya News). Data was collected from 400 respondents from different university students with mass & media subjects.Item Health Information Seeking Behavior and Internet Usage in Pakistan(UMT,Lahore, 2017)The study focused on investigating the predictive relationship between online health information seeking behavior and cyberchondria severity along with unearthing the relation of factors such as perceived health risk on the former. Also, the gender differences in cyberchondria severity as well as primary caretaking and health status relation with online health information seeking behavior was explored .Item Punjab Food Authority’s Social Media Messages; Public Response(UMT,Lahore, 2017) Izma Riaz QureshiSocial media today is the most developing and effective medium utilized by the youngsters, youth and adolescences. The utilization of online networking isn't just the product of excitement rather it was constructed as a means of gaining recognition and thus leaves an effect on the brains of the users. The online networking has been partitioned into many branches, for example, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Gaming Sites and so on. The point of the examination of this research is to recognize the response change that occurs due to Facebook messages and the effects and impacts they have on the users.For this purpose, the case study of a campaign run by Punjab Food Authority on Facebook is examined.