On October 7, Cleveland State University Levin College of Public Affairs and Education communication students joined Professor Rick Perloff, PhD, to present at the 86th Annual Ohio Communication Association Conference. According to Dr. Perloff, research on how young people construct contemporary social media and political experiences is lacking. CSU students Lindsay Strodtbeck, Sheila Kiss, Sarah Green, Dylan Glover, Molly Weir, and Lily Stockbridge addressed this gap in the research with papers that examine young women’s experiences with two salient aspects of contemporary life: the social and the political. Together they joined forces to present “Exploring Young Women’s Construction of Social and Political Communicative Realities.” 

Sheila Kiss, an undergraduate majoring in Journalism and Promotional Communications, said she was drawn to the research because of its “relevancy to the relationship between young women and social media influencers today, as well as how young women look to influencers on a regular basis for a variety of reasons.” The students argue that how influencers react to political events and share their views “can have an impact on [young women’s] perceptions of reality.” Kiss expressed how rewarding and exciting the entire experience was for her. Dylan Glover, a graduate student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, also found the work and group presentation to be “academically enriching, challenging, and fulfilling.”