Kellen Gardner

Kellen Gardner

A happy young man in a dark sweater sips from a small white espresso cup, holding a folded newspaper and looking down, seated at a grey table in a dark leather booth. Another coffee cup sits on the table, and blurry city buildings are visible through the large window behind him.

Kellen Gardner is set to graduate in 2020 from Ryerson University in the field of Professional Communications. Kellen has a passion for photography, travel and social media marketing. Kellen has built a personal brand on Instagram and aims to continue to learn about social media marketing. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kellen now resides in Toronto and is eager to have a career in the the digital media industry. Kellen enjoys creating travel and lifestyle content on Instagram. He enjoys photographing landscape, coffee and urban scenes while incorporating various brands within his posts. He has collaborated with brands in the past such as Aperol, Hugo Boss and Westjet to promote their products across his channels.

Aside from his love for creativity and content creation, Kellen has a passion for politics and would love to enter the political field in order to combine his love for digital media with political studies. Kellen has a goal of completing a masters program in Politics and Communication in 2021. Kellen’s hobbies include beach days, traveling, drinking coffee and being with friends and family.

Research

This research study looks at the ability social media has in facilitating online mobilization and political change. Using a mixed method analysis, this research project includes a case study analysis of the Arab Spring and Cambridge Analytica data scandal, a survey among Ryerson students surrounding social media use and politics and a short interview with an opinion leader. This research project seeks to find the opportunities and limitations social media offers in politics and activism.

A composite image acting as a thesis poster. The top half shows a vast crowd at what appears to be the Women's March, with many holding protest signs and the US Capitol visible in the distance. Overlaid text reads 'Is social media a successful tool in creating political change?' followed by 'An Analysis of the possibilities and limitations of social media through the Arab Spring Movement and Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal'. The bottom section features two pie charts: one showing 66% of respondents make decisions based on social media, and the other showing 84% would attend a protest if a friend posted about it. The bottom text credits 'CMN 490 Thesis Project conducted by Kellen Gardner'.
Lightning Talk
Project Webpage

Project Tags

Social media, Politics, Government, Activism
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