by Suzanne Steel and Martha Filipic
College Communications, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State UniversityACE Grant Project 2013
“I hate social media. I find it unbearably narcissistic.”
“Using social media is a great way to quickly aggregate reactions around breaking news, find new sources for stories and share content we think will resonate.”
“Facebook is a cesspool. I find other ways to read press releases, etc., rather than go through Facebook.”
“It’s relatively new to me, but sink or swim, I’m jumping in.”
“Would like a Twitter link on every press release so I can send that release out to my Twitter followers.”
(not all respondents answered every question) 1. Do you use Twitter for professional purposes? a. If yes, do you use Twitter to post about stories you’ve written? 2. Are you on Facebook for professional purposes? Yes: 32 No: 18 a. If yes, do you post about stories you’ve written? b. Do you get story ideas from Facebook? | 3. Do you read any blogs for professional purposes? a. If yes, do you get story ideas from blogs? 4. Are you on Pinterest for professional purposes? Yes: 6 No: 26 a. If yes, do you post items on Pinterest to link followers to stories you’ve written? Yes, almost all the time: 1 Sometimes: 2 No, hardly ever: 9 b. Do you get story ideas from looking at others’ Pinterest pages? Yes, quite a few: 0 Sometimes: 2 No, hardly ever: 9 c. Do you find sources from Pinterest? Yes, quite a few: 0 Sometimes: 2 No, hardly ever: 9 |
This
contrasts with findings by Dan Zarrella (“The Science of Marketing,”
2013) that indicates Tweets posted in late afternoon during the work
week have higher re-Tweet and higher click-through rates, and that
Facebook posts in the early evening tend to have more “Likes” and
“Shares.”)
Hashtags reporters follow
#farm Pinterest pages reporters follow
AgChat Foundation | Blogs reporters follow
Bovidiva.com |
Facebook pages reporters like or follow
United Farmers and Ranchers Alliance | Other social media toolsWe also asked an open-ended question about other social media tools
reporters use or anticipate using in the future for professional
purposes. Surprisingly, the most common response (n=8) was Instagram,
followed by YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+ (n=6 each) and Tumblr (n=1).
Public information officers may want to check with the media they work
with most often to see what new tools they are using and determine how
they may be able to provide information in new ways for such efforts. Participating news organizations
The following news organizations took part in face-to-face interviews, the survey, or both. |
The authors wish to thank ACE for providing funding for this project through the ACE Development Fund.
Thanks to Anne Adrian, eXtension, for advice in organizing our survey
instrument. Thanks to Tracy Turner and Kurt Knebusch from The Ohio
State University for assistance in conducting the face-to-face
interviews and/or the surveys.
Thanks to the following ACE colleagues who assisted with the surveys:
Marci Hilt, Washington D.C. retiree
Brian Meyer, Iowa State
Pam Kan-Rice, University of California
Nancy Tarnai, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Linda Benedict, LSU AgCenter
Susan Collins-Smith, Mississippi State
Keri Collins Lewis, Mississippi State
Bonnie Coblentz, Mississippi State