Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Newsrooms And Social Media, Hanna E. Steinker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research is to identify how local newspapers and newsrooms are converging to social media. An Ohio newspaper, The Post volunteered to have its Facebook Pages analytics studied over the course of two months, August through September. A constructed week was formed and four of the company’s Facebook Pages were analyzed. The study intends to examine the current social media position of The Post, assess the potential or areas of growth, and create a best practices manual to propel the selected newspaper’s social media accounts forward. Unlike traditional newspaper consumers, social media users tend to gather their …

Life Beyond The Like: Uses & Gratifications Of Sharing Business Facebook Page Content, Sara M. Nash

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

One of the main reasons businesses create a Facebook Page is to solidify relationships with existing customers who are Facebook users and to leverage those relationships to gain new customers. Many studies have asked Facebook users to articulate the gratifications they receive when “liking” a business Facebook Page. These studies help explain what gratifications users gain by connecting to businesses via Facebook. To expand on these findings, the current pilot study applied the uses and gratifications theory to identify Facebook users’ motivations to “share” business Facebook content within their own personal network. Understanding users’ reasons for “sharing” will help businesses …

Social Media Perceptions And Usage By Generation Y And Relevant Marketing Implications, Irene J. Dickey, William F. Lewis

Irene J. Dickey

One of the most common ways in which Internet users connect and network with each other is through "social media." Social media is the content that is provided and maintained by the user on a website. It is clear that social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn are becoming increasingly pervasive in the lives of students, professionals and consumers. A literature review, as well as the results from our survey, reveals that not only have social networks evolved rapidly during the last few years, but so too have consumers’ behaviors. Subsequently, marketing strategies and tactics, and the potential for practitioners …

A Study On Facebook Advertisement Strategies: Facebook Wall Posts Promote Higher Response Than Private Messages, Bria Park

Communication Studies

In this study, I focused on whether Facebook wall posts or private messages create a higher response rate from the receivers. First, I explain the background of internet communication and how certain strategies have created higher response in the past. Then, I present my method for discovering whether wall posts or private messages are more efficient in gaining response. Lastly, I reveal my results and discuss both what I could’ve done better to create more precise results and how this experiment is beneficial for modern day advertisement companies.

Diffusion Of Social Media Among County 4-H Programs In Tennessee, Rebekah Bowen

Masters Theses

Over the past decade, Cooperative Extension and 4-H professionals have been faced with the decision of whether they should adopt new communication technologies such as social media to interact with their rapidly growing audience. Current research on social media and Extension shows that there are some identified risks and barriers (Fuess & Humphreys, 2011; Seger, 2011); however, many Extension professionals believe that social media usage could be very beneficial for Extension and\or 4-H usage (Coates, 2004; Rhoades, Thomas & Davis, 2009; Kinsey, 2010). In order to increase the body of empirical research on this subject, a quantitative study was conducted …

The Role Of Social Media In Community Colleges, Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, Manuel Sacramento González Canché,, Regina Deil-Amen, Charles H.F. Davis Iii

Charles H.F. Davis III

Over the past decade, there has been a growing public fascination with the phenomenon of connectedness. One of the most important ways in which society is now connected is through social media –such as social networking sites. While both students and higher education institutions seem to be utilizing social media more and more, there still are enormous challenges in trying to understand the new dynamics generated by social media in higher education, particularly for the context of community colleges.

This research report has several purposes. The first is to document and to describe the various ways in which social media …

Social Media In Higher Education: A Literature Review And Research Directions., Charles H.F. Davis Iii, Regina Deil-Amen, Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, Manuel Sacramento Gonzalez Canche

Charles H.F. Davis III

Social media [technology] has become a growing phenomenon with many and varied definitions in public and academic use. For our purposes, the term social media technology (SMT) refers to web-based and mobile applications that allow individuals and organizations to create, engage, and share new user-generated or existing content, in digital environments through multi-way communication. Despite the widespread use of SMT, little is known about the benefits of its use in postsecondary contexts and for specific purposes (e.g., marketing, recruitment, learning, and/or student engagement). It is critical to begin to examine if and how higher education institutions are incorporating the use …

Public Relations In The California Wine Industry: Improving Social Media Use Focusing On Facebook And Twitter, Stephanie Moore

Journalism

The public relations field advances constantly. The Internet and invention of online social networking has caused public relations practitioners to drastically change their ways. Now practitioners must learn to incorporate these new public relations strategies with traditional strategies to be successful in their field. The prevailing sites in online social networking are Facebook and Twitter. When practitioners integrate social networking to their arsenal of tools in the correct way, especially in the winery industry, the result may be exceptional.

Social Media Policies For Professional Communicators, Daxton R. Stewart

Daxton "Chip" Stewart

As social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have become increasingly prevalent ways for people to share and connect, professional communicators have increasingly incorporated these tools into their daily practice. However, journalism, advertising and public relations practitioners have little formal guidance to help them navigate the benefits and risks of using these tools professionally. The codes of ethics of their professional fields have not been updated, and to date, social media policies have not been examined from an academic perspective. This study reviews 26 social media policies of journalism and strategic communication companies to find common themes and …

Social Media Perceptions And Usage By Generation Y And Relevant Marketing Implications, Irene J. Dickey, William F. Lewis

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

One of the most common ways in which Internet users connect and network with each other is through "social media." Social media is the content that is provided and maintained by the user on a website. It is clear that social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn are becoming increasingly pervasive in the lives of students, professionals and consumers. A literature review, as well as the results from our survey, reveals that not only have social networks evolved rapidly during the last few years, but so too have consumers’ behaviors. Subsequently, marketing strategies and tactics, and the potential for practitioners …