! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Nonprofit Organizations and Social Media: How UNICEF utilizes Twitter Communication Research Methods Lindsey Marconi and Megan Roy
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! Abstract Social media has dramatically transformed traditional communication techniques. The future of for nonprofit organizations lies within Internet mediated dialogue and the communicative benefits available from online social media platforms. UNICEF is a prominent global nonprofit organization that promotes children’s rights and supports emergency relief efforts. This paper investigates how UNICEF utilizes Twitter to engage in two-way communication with stakeholders. Specifically, this content analysis explored 150 tweets, deciphering the organizations following behavior, hyperlinks, hashtags, retweets, and @Reply messages. Results indicated that UNICEF maintains a presence on Twitter, however the organization demonstrated more one-way communication when it came to executing strategies for fostering relationships. The study concluded that UNCIEF employed the tools of Twitter to disseminate information and publicize campaigns, however is not maximizing stakeholder involvement.
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! ! Introduction Social media has revolutionized the way that companies and organizations communicate with publics. Semantic web components are paving the way for the future of the communication industry with developments that are blurring geographical boundaries and making interactivity an integral element for successful business. Information communication technologies (ICTs) have dramatically changed the way that nonprofit and grassroots organizations are able to promote member and community participation in international development efforts (Bess, Perkins, Cooper, & Jones, 2011; UNICEF, 2013). ICTs include a variety of technological elements, one being the Internet, which includes social networking sites, email, and blogs. Through these platforms, enhanced participation, inclusion, and development are making content accessible and sharable. Social media platforms provide innumerable ways to interact with users and to collaborate information exchange by making the space in-between an organization and a stakeholder virtually nonexistent. Nonprofit organizations have the opportunity to harness the possibilities provided by social media, specifically Twitter, and apply strategic communication methods to promote internet-mediated dialogue and solidarity for organizational goals and causes. Online media platforms allow nonprofit organization to expand their reach, promote causes, and mobilize volunteers like never before. De los Salmones, Dominguez, and Herrero (2013) contend that nonprofit organizations should implement the same tactics and strategies as for-profit corporations by enjoying the benefits of social media to market goods and services. !3
The nonprofit sector is becoming increasingly more competitive, and it was suggested that social media platforms are the answer to the future of fundraising, branding, and ensuring a virtual presence (Naylor, Lamberton, & West, 2012). The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a renowned global organization that promotes children’s rights and provides emergency relief. The messaging of the organization influences the social conversations and global brands intrinsic needs require conversation to cultivate social engagement and increase donations (UNICEF Canada, Meltwater). As an organization with numerous goals and campaigns, the communication and development must exceed simply providing information. UNICEF strives to link perspectives of marginalized groups in an effort to implement them into policy discussion. Their target audiences for advocacy are presidents, prime ministers, public servants, community and business leaders, and celebrities whom are viewed to have a positive effect on public opinion (UNICE, 2013). This paper aims to integrate dialogic communication principles and identify the connection between using Twitter to foster dialogue between organizations and publics with what are considered best social media practices. Literature Review Theoretical Foundations Kent and Taylor (1998) predicted the potential of the Internet for corporations and organizations alike. Established as a philosophy of relational communications, dialogue theory dictates that there be reciprocal value placed on both sides of a conversation, building mutual respect and openness (Aitamurto, 2011; Bruning, Dials, & Shirka, 2008; Kent & Taylor, 1998, 2002). Currently, it is necessary for businesses and organizations to adopt a two-way model of !4
communication and marketing as opposed to the old asymmetrical one. Proposed by Grunig and Hunt, the models for public relations, two-way symmetrical communication is used to communicate or negotiate with publics, resolve conflict, and encourage mutual understanding and respect between an organization and its publics (Aitamurto, 2011). The foundation of symmetrical communication is within dialogic communication theory. Martin Buber has been considered the archetypal pioneer of dialogue theory. His research posited that reciprocal, mutual, and open communication would undoubtedly form a mutual understanding and communication processes vary in the way that they are managed and conveyed to publics (Baumgarten, 2011). Buber proposed that individuals should view others as equals, rather than as objects, therefore encouraging reciprocity, mutuality, and openness (Anderson, Cissna, & Arnett, 1994; Baumgarten, 2011; Kent & Taylot, 2002). Internet- mediated communication stimulates two-way communication, providing users an unprecedented opportunity to network, interact, or provide support for an organization or other followers. Kaplan (2002) posited that emotions and feelings are manifested into the impulses that create participation for a cause, subsequently integrated into our social network. Relationships are fundamentally the base of social networks and therefore contribute to the development of human insight and growth (Waters et al, 2009). The theoretical shift from practitioners placing higher value on managing communication has traversed to mediating relationships (Kent & Taylor, 2002). Social media has become a top interpersonal communication resource for corporations and organizations as a way to foster relationships and create dialogue with publics (Ivana & Arroyo, 2013). Online resources provided by social media
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platforms allow for the exchange of information to be executed in creative and engaging ways to effectively promote causes by cultivating dialogue with users (Sinha et al, 2012). Madhavi and Akbar (2011b) strategically analyzed the effect of groundswell as a beneficial tool for companies to rate their performance in online communities. Groundswell describes the enhanced presence of public opinions as it is relayed and facilitated by information communication technologies within online communities (Madhavi & Akbar, 2011b). This phenomenon is not possible without people and it is a specific effect that is applied to social media environments. Researchers suggest that groundswell strategy can actually affect the profitability of a company organization and increase their persuasiveness and marketing objectives (Madhavi & Akbar, 2011a; Reed, 2005). The groundswell effect promotes the importance of social networks created through social media and suggests that the networks are the primary channel for communication, opinions, and actions (Madhavi & Akbar, 2011a). The main points of the quantitative study encompass the groundswell effect to include listening (to research), talking (participating in two-way communication), energizing (networking), supporting (within online communities), and embracing development (challenging consumers to generate ideas) (Madhavi & Akbar, 2011b). Communicative advantages of social media Social media provides infinite opportunities to communicate and exchange information. As new forms of technology as constantly emerging, organizations can innovatively adapt to new ways of interacting, collaborating, and cultivating relationships with stakeholders (Briones, Kuch, Liu, & Jin, 2011; Curtis et al, 2010; Sinha, Subramanian, Bhattacharya, & Chaudhuri, 2012). Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) suggested that social media has quickly become a priority for !6
corporations and organizations to integrate into business practice and outreach. Organizations have the capabilities to assess and analyze user generated content and stakeholder feedback thus providing the opportunity to maintain standards and keep up with global trends (Sinha et al, 2012). While some Internet users misunderstand the advantages of social media, it encourages expression, participation, and collaboration, making it a space to gain attention and resource information. Cyberspace fosters public spheres for user-created information and can be beneficial to organizations to utilize multimedia sharing for the endorsement of a product, promotion, or cause (Narayan, 2013; Sinha et al, 2012; Tufekci, 2013; Valcanis, 2011). Professionally, creating a community space cannot only create support, but can be a way to exhibit organizational purpose and gain attention to a social movement. Narayan (2013) presented the idea of what social media is and how it has shifted from being an abstract idea to being distinguished as an actual place. He continues that “cyberspace� has become a physical space in the minds of users and therefore what happens there within; including joining causes, is very real (Narayan, 2013). The blurred line between cyberspace and physical space has been perpetuated with the advent of smartphones and overall accessibility to technology for most of the free world. Online communities do not have to consider geographical borders to disseminate information or reach an audience (Valcanis, 2011). Narayan (2013) expands on this notion by explaining that not only are users consumers of information, but producers; referring to them as prosumers (simultaneous information producers and consumers) and producers (producers and users of content) (Bruns, 2009; Tapscott, 1997; Toffler, 1980). Communication researchers utilize these two concepts to !7
evaluate and apply the uses of social media as a space that promotes successful communication strategies and dialogue. Benefits from relationships created by dialogue between an organization and publics create a competitive edge if successfully applied to organizational goals. Two-way dialogue facilitated by the Internet, specifically social media, allows for information to be generated and thus encourages return visits (Taylor and Kent, 1998). Internet provides organizations with the opportunity to strategically communicate and to use people’s participatory practices to manage successful campaigns. Several studies has investigated the strategic communication involved with participatory culture and the consequences of engagement as it relates to organizational goals and social media strategy (Paek, Hove, Jung, & Cole, 2013). Given this study’s principal concern with how a major nonprofit organization is utilizing Twitter, the research aims to determine if the benefits of social media are being harnessed in a way that is advantageous. RQ 1: Is UNICEF utilizing the communicative benefits of social media? Nonprofit organizations and social media Social media is an efficient way to construct a community space. Creating such a space creates an avenue for nonprofit organizations to conceptualize a cause or campaign, present information and resources to a broad audience, the potential to recruit new members, and promote solidarity thus mobilizing campaigns to a global audience (Tufekci, 2013). Valenzuela (2013) contends that there is a positive correlation between social media use and political and social movement participation (p. 920). The research analyzes the relationships between information, opinion expression, and activism and applying it to the uses and effects that social media has as being an integral element to a successful campaign (Valenzuela, 2013). !8
In a Benchmark study (2014), results showed that social media audiences were continuing to grow for nonprofit organizations, up 46% on Twitter and 37% on Facebook. Interactivity and collaboration are the foundations for involvement and key for maintaining longterm relationships. Nonprofit organizations have to endorse their online presence and enhance two-way communications with their audience (Ivana & Arroyo, 2013). As an interpersonal communication tool, social media offers organizations unique ways to involve publics with collaboration for organizational goals, allow them to share personal stories thus personalizing the space between brand and stakeholder. Consequently, this empowers people to advocate and share a cause or event, which would expand the supportive audience (Hennig-Thurau et al, 2010; Ivana & Arroyo, 2013). Communications and public relations practitioners that work for nonprofit organizations are appropriating social media strategies and technology to promote participation and dialogue amongst supporters (Curtis et al, 2010). Organizations are able to create profiles and also interact or connect with other organizations, potentially creating a collaborative effort for a given cause. Social media profiles create an ideal environment to gain momentum for a movement and in essence strengthen the mobility of support (Water et al, 2009). Employing the number of uses for social media is effective and necessary to not only create dialogues with audiences, but creating relationships. Kanter (2009) explains that social media allows followers of a non-profit organization to “self-organize around causes� therefore creating a collaborative space between them and other followers. Twitter is believed to be a social network for support of community building and to inform, educate, share testimony, advocate, and fundraise (Thackeray et al, 2013). There is little research on how the function of Twitter directly impacts a nonprofit !9
organization, however findings suggest that there are opportunities that are not utilized to actively involve users (Lovejoy et al, 2012; Thackeray et al, 2013). This study aims to analyze the usage of social media by a major nonprofit in an effort to contribute to expand on existing literature. RQ 2: Does UNICEF apply the proper elements to encourage interactivity and empowerment of their followers? Characteristics of Twitter Twitter is a social media site that enables users to communicate in 140 characters or less, making creativity a must. What began as a micro-blogging site, now unites 645,750,000 registered users (Twitter Statistics). Lovejoy, Waters, and Saxton (2012) conducted research on how nonprofit organizations utilize Twitter to engage with stakeholders and what communication methods they must employ to abide by the character limit. Stakeholders are conceptualized as individuals with the same general interests as an organization. They may include donors, volunteers, the media, board members, or the general public (Lovejoy & Saxton, 2012). The original purpose of Twitter has been altered from micro-blogging to being a space of disseminating news and influencing users (Cha, Haddadi, Benevenuto, & Gummadi, 2010). Specifically, they investigate how organizations use hyperlinks, hashtags, retweets, and other types of multimedia files to engage stakeholders on Twitter (Lovejoy, Waters, & Saxton, 2012). Due to the abbreviated nature of messages on Twitter, organizations must compose a meaningful message, and specifically for nonprofit organizations, messages must also convey a bigger purpose.
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An organization must employ primary communication tools of Twitter to maximize stakeholder engagement. Organizations can also utilize the 140 characters (called a Tweet) worth of space to publish a public message that is directed to all users and followers. If employed strategically, such as presenting questions to the social media audience, this can also be a way to begin dialogue with stakeholders; any user can reply to public messages. When organizations communicate with the “@” symbol, it signifies that a username was included on Twitter which will directly include that user in the message. For example, “@UNICEF”, would notify the organization that they were mentioned in a post and therefore would give them the ability to respond and start a dialogue with the user (Lovejoy et al, 2012). Retweets are also a common communication tool of Twitter. According to the official Twitter glossary, a retweet: “is a Tweet by another user, forwarded to you by someone you follow. Often used to spread news or share valuable findings, the act of forwarding another user’s Tweet to all of your followers”. These are a specific kind of message, which are to mention other users, and consequently promote dialogue (Thackeray et al, 2013). Mamic and Almaraz (2013) suggest that when organizations send retweets, it shows interest in other organizations and the ability to listen and engage with others. The content of a Tweet is comprised of a multitude of tools that are available as ways to share information and stimulate interactivity. Hashtags (#) are a way to categorize Tweets and join specific conversations (Twitter glossary, n.d.). Hashtags function as a way to make specific topics searchable and memorable. Many campaigns adopt personalized hashtags to not only make it easy to find, but also to facilitate a conversation about the organization, event, or cause, making it a unique way to promote dialogue (Lovejoy et al, 2012; Twitter glossary, n.d.; Waters et al, 2009). Another feature of a tweet are hyperlinks. The embedded links often lead to third!11
party websites that are made available in connection to a popular site, one that is relevant to a cause or topic, or one that encourages involvement. Sharing links can engage followers in a story or campaign and thus encourage them to extend organizations’ reach and further advocate a specific cause. Strategically, an organization could utilize the hyperlink feature to educate followers and lead them to relevant information and attention-grabbing headlines. This study aims to discover if UNICEF is utilizing the aforementioned tools available on Twitter to promote dialogue and build relationships with stakeholders. RQ3: How is UNICEF using Twitter to promote dialogue with stakeholders? Methodology To address the proposed research questions, UNICEF was chosen for this study because of its international presence as well as its known presence on Twitter. Joining Twitter in April 2009, UNICEF currently has 2.68 million followers and following over 25,000 accounts. According to a recent @Twiplomacy study, UNICEF is one of the most followed international organizations on Twitter (Benady, 2013). This study wishes to analyze if UNICEF is successfully using the tools of Twitter in engaging their stakeholders. Sample In order to analyze UNICEF’s usage of Twitter, this study implemented a content analysis of the organization’s Tweets. According to Berelson (1952), a content analysis is "a research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of manifest content of communications" (p.74). For this study, 150 Tweets published on UNICEF’s Twitter account were analyzed, ranging from March 27, 2014 to April 13, 2014. Two researchers coded this
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sample together to increase reliability and agreement as well as to avoid uncertainty about the Tweet itself. Measurement Coders analyzed the tweets using the following categories: type of Tweet, contents of Tweet, origin of Tweet, hashtags within the Tweet, number of Retweets the Tweet received, and number of favorites the Tweet received (see Table 1). The type of Tweet was divided into subcategories of normal, Retweet, or @Reply. Normal was defined as any message with 140 characters or fewer posted to the social network of Twitter. A retweet is a re-posting of another’s Tweet as a means to share that Tweet with followers. An @Reply is a Tweet that begins with another user’s name and serves as a reply to the contents of that user’s Tweet. The contents of the Tweet were examined in the context of containing a photo, hyperlink, video, hashtag, or mention. The Tweet was marked as having a photo, video, or hyperlink if these were embedded into the Tweet itself. A hashtag is defined as a strategy to categorize and archive Tweets with relevant keywords or phrases, thereby making that Tweet join a conversation with others using the same or similar hashtags. The origin of the Tweet refers who published the Tweet originally. These were examined in the context of whether UNICEF, another nonprofit or organization, or other individual published the Tweet. For this study, another nonprofit or organization is defined as a separate organization or entity from the flagship UNICEF Twitter account, including UNICEF field offices that operate with their own social media accounts. For example, the UNICEF field office in Sudan (@unicefssudan) has its own digital presence on Twitter. The account @unicefssudan would be labeled as another nonprofit or organization. Furthermore, the number of retweets and !13
favorites were recorded. A favorite is marking the tweet as having a level of preferential status above other Tweets. Table 1: Operationalized Definitions
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Operationalized Definitions of Twitter
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Normal
Any message with 140 characters or fewer published on Twitter
Retweet
Re-posting of another’s Tweet
@Reply
Replying directly to another’s Tweet using the @ symbol and the user’s username (ex: @UNICEF)
Photo
Tweet contains an embedded picture
Hyperlink
Tweet contains an embedded hyperlink to external website
Video
Tweet contains an embedded video
Hashtag
A way to categorize a Tweet and join a specific conversation (#UNICEF)
Mention
A Tweet with another user’s Twitter username, preceded by the @ symbol (What’s up, @UNICEF?)
Favorite
Showing favor to the Tweet in regards to its contents
Type of Tweet
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Contents of Tweet
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Results Descriptive Statistics
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Of the 150 Tweets analyzed, all received Retweets and favorites. On average, a Tweet published by UNICEF received 253 Retweets and 120 favorites. The minimum number of Retweets was 12 while the minimum of favorites was 9. All of the Tweets analyzed had at least one of the subcategories of contents of Tweet. A portion of the Tweets (n=74, 49.3%) had a photograph embedded. A total of 98 hyperlinks (65.3%) were used within the sample. Mentions (n=101, 67.3%) and hashtags (n=136, 90.6%) were also used frequently. Videos, however, were rarely used within the Tweet (n=4, 2.7%). The origin of the Tweet primarily came from the UNICEF account (n=135, 90%), while 13 (8.7%) were published by another nonprofit or organization. Only two Tweets (1.3%) came from other accounts, such as an individual or private account. These fifteen Tweets from other nonprofits or other individuals were Retweets by UNICEF. In other words, 135 Tweets were normal, or originally published by UNICEF, and 15 were Retweets originally published by other organizations or individuals. There were no @Reply Tweets in this sample. These descriptive statistics tentatively suggest that UNICEF primarily publishes their own Tweets, with little engagement or interaction to other organizations or individuals but frequent use of hashtags and photographs. Cross-tabulation The data was then analyzed using Chi-square tests to examine the correlation between type of Tweet and contents of Tweet to explore how UNICEF is actively engaging its stakeholders and followers by receiving the amount of impressions it does. (Tables 2-6). For the information in the tables below, the normal type of Tweet can be assumed to be originally published from UNICEF, while the Retweet is a one that Retweeted by UNICEF.
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Table 2: Type of Tweet and Photo Did Tweet include a photo? yes Normal
Count % within Type of Tweet
Type of Tweet Retweet
68
135
49.6%
50.4%
100.0%
7
8
15
46.7%
53.3%
100.0%
74
76
150
49.3%
50.7%
100.0%
Count
Total
% within Type of Tweet
no 67
Count % within Type of Tweet
Total
A total of 67 normal Tweets contained a photograph, while 68 normal Tweets did not. This means that UNICEF themselves embedded a photograph into their Tweets 67 times. When UNICEF Retweeted content from other organizations or individuals these Tweets contained a photograph a few times (n=7), others did not (n=8). Table 3: Type of Tweet and Hyperlink Did Tweet include a hyperlink? yes Normal
Count % within Type of Tweet
Type of Tweet Retweet
Count % within Type of Tweet
Total
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Count % within Type of Tweet
Total
no 92
43
135
68.1%
31.9%
100.0%
6
9
15
40.0%
60.0%
100.0%
98
52
150
65.3%
34.7%
100.0%
For hyperlinks, UNICEF attached a hyperlink to their Tweet quite a few times (n=92)
with only 43 Tweets having no hyperlink at all. For Retweets, hyperlinks were embedded a total of 6 times with 9 Retweets having no hyperlink attached.
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Table 4: Type of Tweet and Video Did Tweet include a video? yes Normal
Count % within Type of Tweet
Type of Tweet Retweet
Count % within Type of Tweet Count
Total
% within Type of Tweet
!
Total
no 3
132
135
2.2%
97.8%
100.0%
1
14
15
6.7%
93.3%
100.0%
4
146
150
2.7%
97.3%
100.0%
Videos were rarely seen in both UNICEF’s originated Tweets and the Retweeted material.
UNICEF attached a video, usually YouTube content, 3 times. Out of the 15 Retweets, only 1 had a video embedded into the published Tweet. Table 5: Type of Tweet and Hashtag Did Tweet include a hashtag? yes Normal
Count % within Type of Tweet
Type of Tweet Retweet
Total
!
11
135
91.9%
8.1%
100.0%
12
3
15
80.0%
20.0%
100.0%
136
14
150
90.7%
9.3%
100.0%
Count % within Type of Tweet
no 124
Count % within Type of Tweet
Total
Hashtags were very prevalently used in both normal UNICEF Tweets and the Retweets. A
high number of UNICEF tweets contained at least one hashtag (n=124) with many having multiple hashtags within the Tweet. Only 11 Tweets did not contain a hashtag. For the Retweets, a large portion also had a hashtag (n=12) with only 3 having no hashtag at all. Table 6: Type of Tweet and Mention Did Tweet include a mention?
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Total
yes Normal
Count % within Type of Tweet
Type of Tweet Retweet
Count % within Type of Tweet Count
Total
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% within Type of Tweet
no 96
39
135
71.1%
28.9%
100.0%
5
10
15
33.3%
66.7%
100.0%
101
49
150
67.3%
32.7%
100.0%
Like hashtags, mentions were also used frequently in UNICEF’s Tweets. A total of 96
Tweets had at least one mention, while only 39 did not. In the Retweets, mentions were slightly less prevalent. Only 5 contained a mention within the Tweet, and 10 did not have a mention at all. Discussion This study analyzed how effectively UNICEF was utilizing the communicative benefits of social media and engaging with stakeholders on Twitter. Considering two-way symmetrical communication and the groundswell effect, under the parameters of dialogue theory, the data collected suggests that UNICEF is not actively involving, engaging, or communicating with its publics to the fullest extent of the social media platform. The expansive communication tools offered by social media provide organizations ways to analyze and respond to feedback, thus creating areas of increased outreach, collaboration, and global messaging. Results indicated that UNICEF’s posts were informative, but lacking elements of interactivity as it pertains to stakeholders. While all 150 posts that were analyzed were favorited and reetweeted, there was a noticeable spike in dialogue when international campaigns were taking place, for example investing in girls, ending polio, and childhood malnutrition registered the most amount of attention as it was measured in retweets. These findings were consistent with the use of Twitter !18
as an avenue to disseminate information and statistically a successful representation of utilizing the communicative benefits of the platform. Dialogue on Twitter, communicated through the @Reply, is virtually nonexistent on the UNICEF account. Lovejoy et al (2012) explain that the @Reply is a principal communication tool on Twitter. As this directs a message straight to a user, or in this study a stakeholder, this would exhibit the execution of two-way communication. Nonprofit organizations should be utilizing social media platforms such as Twitter as a strategy to build online communities with stakeholders interested in specific campaigns, issues, or people (Solis & Breakenridge, 2009). In this context, UNICEF is not employing Twitter’s capabilities to the fullest extent, as it appears the organization only uses the platform to disperse topics of discussion and information. The level of direct engagement with stakeholders is lacking, however UNICEF does appropriately encourage interactivity to primary issues and topics that the organization advocates. This created relationships and discussion between themselves and other organizations. The findings in this article continued to extend the scope of research on the relationship between organizations by investigating the level of interactivity that UNICEF practiced. In an effort to clarify what constitutes as “other organizations”, @unicefsudan, @unicefmena, or @uniceflebanon were considered other organizations as they operate as affiliates and have their own managers. The other organizations that were included in dialogue with UNICEF were other human rights organizations that share similar interests of UNICEF. According to Thackeray et al (2013), Twitter is a forum with the potential to educate, inform, and advocate as well as a platform for community building. The research showed that by UNICEF continuously mentioning or tagging other organizations, did promote two-way communication. The usage of !19
hashtags, hyperlinks to articles or blogs, and photographs, are forums of information and advocating and are an avenue to direct users to third parties with mutual interests. Despite not strategically creating dialogue, UNICEF did incorporate their messages into nonprofit conversations. The Twitter tool most readily used by the organization was the hashtag. By using a hashtag, the Tweet is then labeled and joins other Tweets that used the same or similar hashtag, thus creating a network of information flow and relevant discussion. Some hashtags UNICEF used included #childrenofsyrica, #CARcrisis, #syria, #endpoverty, #southsudan, #polio, and #investingirls. By doing this, UNICEF had placed their Tweets into conversation, connecting with other users on the social media network. Evidence suggested that the substantial use of hashtags is a great communication strategy for nonprofit organizations to make themselves unique, sharable, and searchable. Celebrities are a unique entity to UNICEF’s advocacy and program development. They are not just endorsers, but ambassadors. The purpose of having celebrity ambassadors is to utilize their respective talents and apply them as a powerful tool to mobilize support and to draw attention to the needs of children (UNICEF, 2013). Goodwill ambassadors and advocates, usually celebrities or popular individuals, are integral for UNICEF. They bring interest and popularity to the organization, which in turn creates awareness and familiarity to the organization. While UNICEF did Tweet several times referring to their goodwill ambassadors, specifically Orlando Bloom on his recent trip to Jordan, the Tweet never had a hashtag or mention about the celebrity. Online communities seeking special interest pieces such as this, or the actor’s fans would have been directed the Tweet had it been composed strategically. Spokespeople can be an asset to an organization and have the potential to attract attention and online traffic to an organization. !20
Implications and Limitations The study on UNICEF’s use of Twitter found that the organization appears to be incorporating more one-way communication, when research supports that nonprofit organizations should implement two-way symmetrical communication. UNICEF should facilitate discussion on Twitter as a forum to advocate and educate about topics and issues of particular importance to stakeholders. Ivana and Arroyo (2013) suggested that nonprofit organizations need to enhance two-way communication in order to maintain long-term relationships with its stakeholders. While UNICEF is a popular and prominent Twitter account, in terms of followers, there could be implications with the support or mobilization of causes that they are trying to campaign. By consistently using hyperlinks to news articles, photographs that put a face to a campaign, and hashtags to join a Twitter conversation, UNICEF is committed to using Twitter as an outlet for information dissemination. Furthermore, an assumption that can be drawn from the high number of followers is due to the mission of UNICEF- to bring a better and healthy life for children around the world. This is a mission that intrinsically inhabits human beings. In terms of Twitter, UNICEF has gained so many followers because of their mission. People tend to want to help other people, especially children. Despite indicating areas of weakness and strength in UNICEF’s Twitter activity, this study did have limitations. The conclusions that were drawn in this study were done so with a limited number of data. To gain a better analysis of this study’s purposes and questions, a larger amount of Tweets could be used for future research. Furthermore, this study only examined one nonprofit organization’s use on one social media platform. It would be a possibility for a future !21
study to compare two major nonprofits presence on Twitter, evaluate UNICEF on multiple social media platforms, or even explore the relationships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations’ Twitter or other social media use. Â
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Thackeray, R., Burton, S. H., Giraud-Carrier, C., Rollins, S., & Draper, C. R. (2013). Using Twitter for breast cancer prevention: an analysis of breast cancer awareness month. BMC Cancer, 13(1), 1-18. Tufekci, Z. (2013). “Not This One�: Social Movements, the Attention Economy, and Microcelebrity Networked Activism. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(7), 848-870. Valcanis, T. (2011). An iphone in every hand: Media ecology, communication structures, and the global village: A Review Of General Semantics, 68(1), 33-45. Waters, R. D., Burnett, E., Lamm, A., & Lucas, J. (2009). Engaging stakeholders through social networking: How nonprofit organizations are using Facebook. Public Relations Review, 35(2), 102-106. http://proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/ login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=37347030&site=eds-live&scope=site
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