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Shepherding the Lost: How Catholic YouTube Influencers use Eudaimonic Messages to Reach Out to Catholic Young Adults

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dc.contributor.authorSchneider, Kathryn Francesen
dc.contributor.committeechairWaggenspack, Beth M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberMielczarek, Nataliaen
dc.contributor.committeememberTedesco, John C.en
dc.contributor.departmentCommunicationen
dc.date.accessioned2020-06-13T08:00:37Zen
dc.date.available2020-06-13T08:00:37Zen
dc.date.issued2020-06-12en
dc.description.abstractMillennials are leaving the Catholic Church in great numbers, despite being raised in the faith. When asked for the reason of disaffiliation, young adults do not blame sexual abuse scandals in the Church nor do they cite specific Catholic beliefs and teachings. Instead, they say that they have begun to ask why stay Catholic and what meaning does the Catholic faith provide in their lives. This search for meaning has caused them to leave their faith and seek it elsewhere. However, prominent figures in Catholic media, Emily Wilson and Fr. Mike Schmitz, use YouTube as a platform to reach out to young adults in the Catholic faith. This thesis aims to understand how the two Catholic YouTube influencers use eudaimonic messages in their videos to provide the meaning that young adults have been missing from their faith. Eudaimonics has been linked to a sense of enjoyment beyond pleasure, focusing on a sense of well-being instead; this provides a deeper sense of meaning for those who view media containing eudaimonics. Using a directed content analysis, videos will be analyzed for the seven dimensions of eudaimonics – meaning in life/sense of purpose, self-acceptance, autonomy, competence, relatedness, personal growth, and living according to central personal values – and two transcendent elicitors – hopefulness and religiousness. Comments left by viewers under the videos will also be analyzed to see if viewers pick up on these meaningful messages. This analysis will evaluate how those messages by the YouTube influencers may impact young adult viewers and their Catholic faith.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralMillennials are leaving the Catholic Church in great numbers, despite being raised in the faith. When asked for the reason of disaffiliation, young adults do not blame sexual abuse scandals in the Church nor do they cite specific Catholic beliefs and teachings. Instead, they say that they have begun to ask why stay Catholic and what meaning does the Catholic faith provide in their lives. This search for meaning has caused them to leave their faith and seek it elsewhere. However, prominent figures in Catholic media, Emily Wilson and Fr. Mike Schmitz, use YouTube as a platform to reach out to young adults in the Catholic faith. This thesis aims to understand how the two Catholic YouTube influencers use eudaimonic messages in their videos to provide the meaning that young adults have been missing from their faith. Research has shown that eudaimonics provides a deeper sense of meaning for those who view media containing eudaimonic messages. This thesis will analyze the YouTube videos by the Catholic influencers for eudaimonic messages as well as analyze the comments left by viewers. This will help to evaluate how the influencers' messages may impact young adult viewers and their Catholic faith.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Artsen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:26131en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/98840en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectCatholic Mediaen
dc.subjectYouTubeen
dc.subjectInfluencersen
dc.subjectEudaimonicsen
dc.subjectQualitative Methodologyen
dc.titleShepherding the Lost: How Catholic YouTube Influencers use Eudaimonic Messages to Reach Out to Catholic Young Adultsen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineCommunicationen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen

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