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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 2, 2021
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Two Tarleton State University alumna have joined the editorial team of The Journal of Social Media in Society.
Dr. Jennifer Dias, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, and Dr. Christy Tabors, Library Branch Manager, Collin College Farmersville Campus, join the journal as associate editors.
“Tarleton embraces research and discovery, and so many have helped us grow the journal over the past 10 years,” said Dr. Sarah Maben, editor. “We are excited for Dr. Dias and Dr. Tabors to join the editorial team and help lead us into the next 10 years.”
Both have served as reviewers for the journal. The peer-reviewed JSMS launched in 2012.
Dr. Dias was one of Tarleton’s first three psychology majors when the program started. She earned two master’s degrees, one in psychology from Texas A&M-Commerce and one in guidance and counseling from Tarleton. She received her doctorate from Texas A&M-Commerce in cognitive psychology.
She teaches undergraduate and graduate psychology courses and is the principal investigator for the Applied Cognition Lab and a faculty co-sponsor for the Psychology Club.
Dr. Tabors joined Collin College as a Library Branch Manager in March 2021. She worked in Tarleton’s Dick Smith Library from 2011 to 2021. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Angelo State University and Hardin-Simmons University.
She has taught a variety of graduate-level courses focused on higher education administration, writing for education professionals, and educational technology. She received her bachelor of arts in English in December 2009 from Tarleton and the master of library science from Texas Woman’s University in May 2012; she earned a doctorate of education in higher education leadership from Hardin-Simmons in 2019. In 2021 she earned a master of education in educational technology from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
The founding editors — Dr. Maben, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies, and Dr. Credence Baker, Dean of the College of Graduate Studies — started the journal to give authors a place to publish cutting edge research devoted to social media and mobile technology.
In 2016 Dr. Amber Harris Bozer became the journal’s first associate editor, and Dr. Randy McCamey followed shortly after. In 2018 Yvonne Mulhern became the journal’s first book review editor.
The journal boasts more than 100 reviewers from institutions across the globe. Almost 1,000 manuscripts have been submitted, many from international authors. The latest issue published this spring with articles about fundraising on Facebook, para-social interactions on Instagram, women in social media technology, and politics and unfriending.
Find the journal, an open access publication, at http://thejsms.org.
The Journal of Social Media in Society is among a handful of academic journals based at Tarleton. It is supported financially by the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, College of Business, College of Graduate Studies, and College of Education and Human Development.
A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State University is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of approximately 18,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. For 125 years, Tarleton State has been committed to accessible higher education opportunities for all while helping students grow academically, socially and professionally through programs that emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.