Digital Commons Network^™

That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It, Darren Linvill, Patrick Warren

Publications

Internet trolls don’t troll. Not the professionals at least. Professional trolls don’t go on social media to antagonize liberals or belittle conservatives. They are not narrow minded, drunk or angry. They don’t lack basic English language skills. They certainly aren’t “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds,” as the president once put it. Your stereotypical trolls do exist on social media, but the amateurs aren’t a threat to Western democracy

Professional trolls, on the other hand, are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground. To combat the threat they pose, we must first understand …

The Effectiveness Of Multimedia Digital Graphics In The Context Of A Simulated Content Environment, Christopher Knox

All Theses

The overall purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the effectiveness and potential benefits or shortcomings of digital motion graphics when utilized in the context of a real-world marketing effort. It is vital to evaluate whether or not the understanding we currently have of motion graphics as a tool for effective communication still remains consistent when principles of visual noise, attention capacity limits, pairing with physical materials, and coordination across mediums are taken into consideration. Participants in this study were asked to interact with prepared content within the framing of a simulated social media feed viewed on a computer or …

Using A Blog And Social Media To Market Extension, Gregory A. Davis, Mariah K. Stollar

The Journal of Extension

Extension professionals at all levels can use popular social media platforms to increase awareness of Extension. This article explores how our team of Extension professionals has used a blog in combination with Facebook on a weekly basis to better market Extension and our work. Every Extension professional can easily become part of a deliberate effort to more actively connect with stakeholders by using these tools.

Linking 4-H To Linksters, Matthew Newman

The Journal of Extension

Advances in communication technology and associated social changes have provided opportunities as well as challenges for 4-H. Historically, the 4-H club model was predicated on a community's coming together to provide youth members opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of their respective projects. The paradox is that as communities have become more connected through cell phones and social media, face-to-face, person-to-person interaction has decreased. To stay relevant for the next hundred years, 4-H must adapt to this circumstance. This article explores the importance of leveraging technology to bring young people together, foster a sense of community for them, and instill …

Evaluating Promotional Efforts For Driving Traffic To An Extension Outreach Website, Tim Campbell, Bret Shaw, Amulya Rao, Jenna Klink

The Journal of Extension

As online communication becomes more important to Extension professionals, understanding how promotional strategies affect the number of people accessing online content also becomes more important. We tracked website visits resulting from four different promotional efforts to understand relative effectiveness of these efforts. Each effort was unique in cost, efficacy, and efficiency. We found that using multiple promotional approaches to drive traffic to educational content can increase engagement over time and allow for reaching larger audiences.

Ten Tools For Creating Attention-Getting Social Media Messages, Barbara O'Neill

The Journal of Extension

It is not enough to simply post text in social media messages. Tweets with images garner three times more engagement, such as through likes, retweets, follows, clicks, and comments. Social media messages without accompanying visuals are a missed opportunity. This article describes 10 simple tools and accompanying techniques for creating attractive graphics and videos for use with social media: Canva, Paint, Piktochart, grayed out images, hand-drawn sketches, stock images, personal photos, PicCollage, GIFs, and Boomerang. Visuals should be copyright free and fit the content of a post. Time can be saved through repurposing existing images and videos for use in …

Assessing The Social Media Use And Needs Of Small Rural Retailers: Implications For Extension Program Support, Jihyeong Son, Linda S. Niehm, Daniel W. Russell, Juyoung Lee

The Journal of Extension

To assess small rural retailers' use of social media and the role of social media in their business sustainability, we conducted focus group interviews with small business owners/managers from rural communities in a midwestern state. Participants revealed strong interest in social media, especially for use in sales and marketing. However, their engagement in social media was limited due to lack of knowledge and resources (i.e., time, human resources, financial resources, effectiveness measurement) related to developing and updating content. On the basis of these findings, we examine implications for Extension professionals and outreach educators regarding social media needs and programming for …

Fixing The Sic: Preventing And Managing Self-Inficted Crises, Andrew S. Pyle

Publications

Social media platforms provide channels for both individuals and organizations to engage with global audiences. A successful social media message can reach millions and shape the way the public views a particular person, group, or cause. As organizations become more engaged with the public through social media platforms, a new area of organizational risk has also developed. It is possible for an organization to create a self-inflicted crisis through the unintentional transmission of a poorly worded or ill-conceived social media message. This type of self-induced crisis event creates organizational conflict that must be managed quickly. This chapter explores three cases …