“How can the Museum of Public Relations engage PR students in the U.S. and other countries using social media (Facebook and other social media platforms)?�
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Table of Contents 3 Executive Summary 4 Client Summary Mission Statement Primary Goals Primary Audience
5 Communications Audits Project Summary Situation Analysis Communications Objective Research Questions Research Methods
7 Outside Research 8 Survey Method Overview Data Collection Data Analysis
16 Content Analysis Method Overview Data Collection Data Analysis
21 In-depth Interviews Method Overview Data Collection Time and Location Data Analysis
23 Insights Summary 25 Appendix
Executive Summary
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With an average attention span of nearly 8 seconds, it is becoming more challenging for companies, businesses and organizations to capture the attention of the average college student demographic. The Museum of Public Relations is one of many organizations trying to capture the loyalty and attention of students between the ages of 18-29. Social media outlets have changed the way college students learn and engage with organizations on a national and global level. Today, The Museum of Public Relations has attracted 655 followers on Twitter and 4,309 on Facebook. Although this is a start, the museum has potential to reach out to college students around the world to connect them with its organization. Connor and the Girls Integrated Public Relations© firm has spent the past several months, researching the best ways to harness the power of social media in regards to public relations students and their engagement with the Museum of Public Relations. Research was performed by analyzing student engagement with the museum. We collected data from in-depth interviews and surveys targeted towards public relations students and their interaction with varying social media platforms. After collecting information on the student’s behavior in regards to social media use, we discovered students interactions with the museum’s accounts.
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The report finds the prospects of the museum’s social media accounts in its current position are not positive. We formulated a few key points that will aid the museum in bettering its social media engagement with PR students: In regards to relevance, Students want to see posts that will benefit them in their everyday lives, especially in regards to their future career in public relations. In regards to interest, Students want to learn about topics regarding PR on social media that they are not exposed to in the classroom. In regards to engagement, Public relations students are more likely to follow and engage with a company if they offer insight from past, present and future practitioners and various sources that are not currently available. Social media is an important tool for the museum because of its potential to inform students about the institution and its benefits. If the museum takes measures to better its Twitter and Facebook accounts and create other accounts in the future, they have the ability to reach a large audience as well as become a reliable source of important and relevant information. The casual and personal nature of social media grants companies like The Museum of Public Relations an enormous platform to interact with their target audience: PR students. This report analysis is contingent on students’ ideology of current social media platform usage. All data can be found in the appendix.
Client Summary Client Mission Statement
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Establish and maintain a museum and reference library open to the general public containing books, journals, letters, posters and other historical artifacts that chronicle the evolution of the field of public relations; Provide an historical review of the public relations field, its pioneers, its processes and its impact on our society, displaying exhibits of the campaigns of early founders of and later contributors, relative images assembled from various origins and online surveys collecting and interpreting important data on trends in attitudes and behaviors; Arrange, create, maintain and promote appropriate historical exhibits and displays; Establish and maintain a historical research collection and reference and research center focused on the evolution of the field of public relations.; Promote and support ongoing historical research, sponsor and organize historical and cultural activities, programs, and events for the public and issue publications in any format addressing the field of public relations.
Primary Goals ●
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For public relations students, local and global, to know the existence of the Public Relations Museum ● For public relations students to understand the function of the Public Relations Museum ● For public relations students to actively engage in the Public Relations Museum’s social media accounts Increase the number of followers on Facebook Increase in the number of Facebook likes, shares and comments Increase in the number of Facebook pageviews Increase in the number of followers on Twitter Increase in the number of likes and retweets on Twitter
Primary Publics Public Relations students majority between the ages of 18-29
Communication Audits Project Summary Situation Analysis Since the museum’s inception, in 1997, the museum has grown to be the home for more than 600 books; 5
dozens of artifacts; correspondence; photographs of historically significant people and events; examples of old media technologies; and a digital archive of video tapes oral histories. The museum is considered the largest collection of materials documenting public relations history, but lacks in awareness and outreach.
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To reach the world’s growing community of public relations students, educators, researchers and practitioners, The Museum of Public Relations has extended its efforts to social media platforms. These accounts have opened new channels of engagement between this educational institution and public relations students. i. Strengths Large Potential Audience Sufficient Amount of Connections Large Collection of Information and Content Only Public Relations Museum to Exist Primary Resource Reliable and Credible ii. Weaknesses Lack of Awareness Shortage of Social Media Managers Small Amount of Social Media Outlets Difficulty in Reaching International Markets
Communications Objective The objective is to create greater engagement with public relations students between practitioners, researchers and educators through The Museum of Public Relations’ social media accounts. Research was conducted to understand the current levels of engagement, create greater engagement and strengthen the level of communication.
Research Questions 1. How can the Museum of Public Relations engage with students in the United States? 2. How can the Museum of Public Relations engage with students from other countries? 3. Can the Museum of Public Relations create a connection among students from other countries? 4. How do students utilize various social media platforms?
Research Methods 1. Quantitative Surveys - Discover the habits of college students regarding research methods and their social media uses and behaviors. Content Analysis - Facebook posts and Twitter tweets were analyzed throughout their entirety to understand what content best fits our audience. Outside Research - The correlation between college students and social media platforms.
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2. Qualitative In-depth interviews - Used to answer how students interpret educational information on social media platforms and how messages should appear on each platform varies.
Outside Research In the past few years, a lot of research has been focused upon social media interactions, attention spans, and how to best market and advertise new strategies. The Whittemore School of Business and Economics at The University of New Hampshire completed a study to determine whether or not there is a correlation between heavy usage of social media and grades as well as if the usage of social media has increased over time. A total of 1,127 students from all colleges at the university were surveyed. The research shows that there is no correlation between the amount of time students spend using social media and their grades. Grades followed similar distributions for all colleges, with the majority of students earning A’s and B’s.
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This proved interesting to our research project because it encourages our client, The Museum of Public Relations to further utilize their social media platforms to send their message to students without any negative consequences on their grades. The study also shows that students use Facebook and YouTube more than any other social media platform. 96% of students interviewed used Facebook regularly while 84% of students utilized YouTube. Heavy users of social media had a 63% correlation of higher grades with 37% of the students having lower grades. While light users of social media came in with 65% of higher grades and 35% with lower grades. Heavy usage of social media is considered more than 61 minutes per day with high grades to be considered 85 and higher (Martin 1-3). Researchers at Youngstown State University also conducted an interesting study that was useful in our background research on college students with social media. They found 57% of social networking users are between the ages of 18-29 and most use social media for about 30 minutes each day during the hours of 9 p.m. to midnight. They also found that 50% of college students go on social media several times each day. This brings interesting insight to show that The Museum of Public Relations should post social media content in the late hours of the evening if their target market is college students and young adults. We suggest that content should be scheduled to post automatically in order to deliver necessary social media posts at these prime hours (Sponcil 1-4). Our team also wanted to find research to help our client, The Museum of Public Relations realize the length of time that an average person concentrates on social media. According to The National Center for Biotechnology Information, the average attention span is approximately 8 seconds, 4 seconds shorter than the average attention span in the year 2000. The definition for attention span according to the study stands as the amount of concentrated time on a task without becoming distracted. The study also reports that the typical mobile user checks their phone more than 150 times per day (Mary Meeker). We suggest that all content becomes mobile friendly since the majority of social media is through a mobile device (Brenner). We also wanted to explore how social media is being utilized outside the United States. According to GlobalWebIndex 9/10 Twitter users and 84% of Facebook users are from outside of the United States. If our client wants to reach a global audience, then they should utilize Twitter heavily.
Survey Method Overview Using an online survey generator, Qualtrics, we created an online survey focusing on college students and their social media habits. The survey consisted of 31 questions in total. We used this survey (see appendix for list of questions) to analyze college students’ favorite social media sites and their level of engagement with companies and organizations. The survey consisted of demographic questions, scale-based questions and ranking questions.
Data Collection 8
We used our sources through the University of Georgia and distributed the survey to students in the Grady College of Journalism focusing on public relations students. We also were able to send the survey over several on-campus’ organizations email lists as well as to surrounding students in the southeastern region. Overall we collected 95 completed surveys and a handful of surveys in which some students choose to answer only a few questions. Alongside our in-depth interviews, the survey helped pull our research conclusions together.
Data Analysis The results showed us many key insights about college students and their willingness to engage with companies and/or organizations on social media. In general the survey revealed what attracts students to engage with companies/organizations on these many sites. Social Media Usage - We had several questions looking into college students general social media usage. According to our survey results, students are engaging on social media during the entire workday, receive most of their news or information via social media, and are checking social media on their mobile devices. This shows us that students are constantly receiving and seeking information. We also discovered that Twitter and Facebook are the primary social media websites students are using. Students mainly stated that Instagram is for personal uses (see in-depth interviews). Students are no longer limited to check a computer or newspaper, but can receive information at their fingertips on mobile devices. This means The Museum of Public Relations has plenty of opportunities during the day to reach out to these college students. Below are several questions regarding basic social media use (For the entire list of questions see appendix for results).
It is important to have social media applications installed on my mobile device.
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Social media is the best way to recieve news.
I engage with social media and read articles throughout the entire day on these sites.
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Social Media Content - These questions gave us very interesting results. Although most students stated that they do not interact with businesses/organizations often on social media and do not follow organizations they are not well acquainted with, these results pose a lot of opportunities. Students did say they actively like and read posts that interest them often. The majority of students are answered that they do follow news sources on social media sites. Although most students are only encouraged to follow organizations/businesses on social media because of perks such as prizes and giveaways, students do like to receive interesting stories. 63% of respondents strongly believed that pr students should stay in touch with news. This means that The Museum of Public Relations has the potential to make students acquainted with its resources by engaging them with interesting news-like posts.
I will not follow/like a brand on a social media platform that I am not well acquainted with.
I read the captions of pictures posted by those I follow.
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I comment on posts that interest me.
I interact with businesses via social media at least 1 time per week.
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PR students should stay up to-date with news.
Educational Content- We also asked several questions regarding the resources PR students are using for educational purposes. With many different types of mediums on the Internet, students are not strictly relying on articles as resources for educational purposes. Videos and interactive posts are attracting students’ attention more often than articles. Students generally read articles for serious research, but are constantly attracted to Facebook and Twitter for recreational knowledge gathering. The Museum of Public Relations does not necessarily need to post only educational content on its social media websites, but use social media as a platform to inform students about the mission and purpose of the museum.
How many times per week do you utilize PR resources (videos, articles, books, etc.) on the Internet?
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When conducting PR research, I read editorials to gather information.
When conducting PR research, I read articles on Facebook to gather information.
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About the Museum of Public Relations- The final questions of the survey gave us a little insight to The Musuem of Public Relations’ social media content. We asked students general questions about the museum and their thoughts. We asked students to look at the museum’s social media content and answer the survey questions. Overall, students were very neutral about the content of the museum’s Facebook and Twitter pages. We concluded that the museum’s social media was not grabbing students’ attention. This gives the museum plenty of room to improve its content.
The Museum of Public Relations' social media accounts are helpful as a student resource for PR news and trends.
The Museum of Public Relations' social media accounts are helpful as a student resource for PR news and trends.
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The Museum of Public Relations' social media accounts are a beneficial medium for PR students around the world to communicate and discuss topics with each other.
Content Analysis Method Overview
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In order to gain a true understanding of the Museum of Public Relations’ social media engagement, we looked at the social media websites directly. Using a Facebook and Twitter coding book (see appendix), we were able to analyze specific social media posts. The two separate coding books consist of several questions which convert social media posts into a numerical chart (see appendix). We were able to look at social media posts and qualitative questions and turn them into quantitative research. We analyzed factors including the amount of text in each post, number of comments, number of shares and/or likes and number of people tagged in each post. We were also able to analyze how each post increased the overall understanding of the museum, how each post attracted people to visit the website and if each post addressed Public Relations students. For Twitter, the number of retweets, content of each tweet and number of favorited Tweets were analyzed as well. After looking at several posts on the two main social media websites, Twitter and Facebook, we found a number of patterns.
Data Collection Both coding books and final numerical findings can be found in the appendix of this report. Every post from the first four months on The Musuem of Public Relations’ Facebook post starting in mid 2012 was analyzed, followed by every fifth post until April 15, 2015. Every sixth post on the museum’s Twitter post was analyzed.
Data Analysis Facebook: Overall, 97 Facebook posts were coded using our Facebook coding book. Of the 97 posts analyzed, it appears that the majority of the posts contained text of some sort either explaining a picture, article link or video. There are no posts that contained only text. There is also no strong correlation between posts that contained text and the number of likes. Below is a simple breakdown of the content of the majority of Facebook posts.
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Content-As shown above, the majority of posts contained a link and text explaining the links. The links in the analyzed posts consist mainly of article links followed by website links and video links. The majority of posts that contained pictures were of multiple images uploaded by The Museum of Public Relations into a Facebook album. Any post that contained videos were mainly taken from an outside sources. Only a few posts contained videos directly from the museum. Below is further breakdown about the average number of comments, likes, tags and shares for the analyzed posts.
Popularity-There is an average of 4.7 likes per post and an average of 1.25 shares per post. It was obvious that the type of post containing mainly pictures, videos and links engaged people to share the museum’s posts. Although the posts contained a lot of links only 23 people, websites or other locations were tagged in the posts. The comments were also very limited to each post, averaging .23 comments per post. After looking at the physical content of each post, we analyzed how each post related to the museum, information about the museum, if the post engaged people to visit its website and how it related to students. Below is a breakdown of these results.
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The numbers listed above are out of 97. Overall the posts on the museum’s Facebook page gave a general sense about the museum. All the posts were related to the history of Public Relations, but the majority of the posts did not directly give information about the services/information the museum offers. However, any post that directly mention the museum averages 8.3 likes per post. Only 13 of 97 posts coded directly gave a link to the museum’s website or encouraged people to visit the website. Also, an important factor to note is the number of posts that directly mention or involved students. 6 posts mentioned and contained pictures about public relations students. Although there are only 6 posts pertaining to students, these posts received the most attention, averaging 18 likes per post. The posts that received the most attention mentioned the museum directly, involved students and contained humour. As a side note, not many people payed attention to the pictures the museum uploaded in groups to an album. Most posts with single pictures were shared and liked more often. Also, posts that did not contain text averaged only 1.87 likes per post. Frequency- A major pattern was the inconsistency of posts on the museum’s Facebook. There would be solid months with 3 posts per day and other months where only a few posts were created. In order to gain recognition it is important to maintain a steady flow of content on all social media outlets.
Twitter: Content analysis is the research method that provided us with the capability to thoroughly examine key messages on Twitter from February 26, 2013 to June 16, 2013. The frequency of tweets and accuracy of the posts reaching the target audience were analyzed. Sampling strategy – The Museum of Public Relations’ Twitter account has a total of 260 tweets as of April 13, 2015. Out of 260 tweets, 30 are retweets and are not considered original publications. We coded every sixth original tweet, which resulted in 38 coded Twitter posts. Content of post – During the February 26, 2013 to June 16, 2013 period, 14 of the coded tweets were text only, 6 were website links, 8 were images, 1 was an event, 8 were article links and 1 was a video. Out of the 14 coded text only tweets, only 4 directly related to The Museum of Public Relations. None of the images coded directly related to The Museum of Public Relations. Below is a simple breakdown of the content of the majority of tweets.
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Popularity – The amount of retweets and favorites on a post indicates how much feedback a tweet receives from followers. The more retweets and favorites, the more popular the post. A tweet that is favorited is typically retweeted. Both forms of interaction seem to go hand in hand. Over the period of time that tweets were analyzed, the most amount of times something was retweeted was 3 and 5 times. Each time, the tweet was “text only”. The largest amount of favorites a tweet received over the analyzed time period was 2 times. Out of the 4 total that reached 2 favorites, 2 were on “text only” tweets and 2 were on images. Therefore, we can deduct that the most popular form of tweeting is text only. The second most popular type of content people like to receive are images. Short clever quick quotes or phrases or thoughts are “favorited” more often over a lot of words. Asking the audience questions seem to be popular, while mentioning and tagging people seem to be unpopular tweeting strategies. Below is further breakdown about the average number of favorites, retweets, hashtags and mentions for the analyzed tweets.
Frequency – From February to June, the Museum consistently posted at least one tweet a day. Occasionally, more than one tweet would be posted on days when the industry of Public Relations had a major event occurring. For example, 50 tweets were posted on 03/07/13 using the hashtag, #PRWeekAwards. Another popular hashtag used over the analyzed time period is #nyusocialbiz. When tweeting about #torchesoffreedom on March 30th, 2013, it appeared that people liked a photo more than a text about it. Retweets – Most tweets that appeared on the Museum of Public Relation’s twitter feed that had a significantly large amount of favorites and re-tweets were retweets from other twitter accounts. Other 20
accounts such as @thedailybeast received 29 retweets and 9 favorites when they tweeted “text only” tweets about Obama’s brain initiative. Strengths – During the coding process, topics that were found to be effective are: PR Crisis situations and how they were handled correctly, tweets about successful PR campaigns such as the Dove #realbeautycampaign and 10 communication secrets seem to be popular topics that engage the audience. Weaknesses – There were no direct replies, meaning direct contact engaged by an outside party, over the course of the tweeting period analyzed. This is an aspect of twitter that the museum needs to focus on gaining interaction between their tweets and their audience. A few of the museum’s tweets had links to pages that are no longer existent. Overall theme –Half of the tweets provided helpful information for public relations students’ education while nearly all of them provided information about the public relations industry. The overall theme found in the Museum of Public Relation’s tweets revolved around information related to the general public relations industry as a whole. After looking at the physical content of each tweet, we analyzed if each post related to the museum, if the posts provided helpful information for public relations students’ education and if posts that mentioned the general public relations industry. Below is a breakdown of these results.
In-Depth Interviews Method Overview We formulated 12 questions that pertained to social media, pr students, and the museum. The first questions were general in regards to how students use social media, and we then funneled the questions about specific topics of pr students and The Museum of Public Relations.
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Data Collection We reached out to PR students to gain insight into their use of social media associated with their education. We conducted 20 interviews from students at the University of Georgia and other universities around the country.
Time and Location All interviews were conducted throughout the month of March 2015, in a combination of in-person and over the phone. The full list of questions can be found in the appendix at the end of this report.
Data Analysis The in-depth interviews with public relations students revealed many valuable insights on how students utilize social media for their education. PR students from all over the country contributed to our data collection, and we found that most students will utilize educational resources integrated in their social media, but the content must be relatable and interesting. In general, students are more likely to follow PR organizations on Twitter, especially if they are organizations they are interested in or have a personal connection to. "I follow everything from the company I work for now to theSkimm and CNN. I follow these organizations to be aware of what’s happening inside/outside the office and to be updated on current events, which is always important in the PR world," a PR student at the University of Alabama said. Students are also more likely to engage in posts pushed out by public relations platforms if they are video rather than text related. Out of all social media platforms, students were overwhelmingly more likely to engage companies on Twitter because information was short and to the point and the platform gives more a safe space for sharing opinions. Facebook and Instagram are the most popular social media sites used for personal purposes. Students were engaged with these platforms, primarily Instagram, because of the strong visual aspect. We found that with all the clutter on social media it is really difficult to get students to stop and look at a post. A post made of strong visual content with bright colors and a relatable subject will be most likely to grab a student’s attention. The majority of the PR students interviewed said that they would not mind educational content showing up on their news feed. As one student said, “I probably would think it was helpful in a lot of cases because I like to see resources for PR since it is something I’m interested in. I think it would depend on how it showed up there. If it was in the form of something I followed, I would be more prone to read it rather than in an ad or suggested post, which I would probably ignore.” The main concern seems to be how the content would get appear there. Our goal would be getting them to 'like' and spark interest in the PR Museum page and then that way when educational content appears on their news feed, they are more apt to following the link, reading the post, utilizing the resource, etc. No one interviewed said that they would not like it, it was just a matter of if they would stop and read it or not. So the issue is not the content appearing, but being utilized. One University of Georgia student said, “"I would like it. I love when I learn something new or read about news from my news feed; it helps keep me in the loop of what is going on. It keeps me up to date on current events and trends. It makes me feel knowledgeable."
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PR students also seemed interested in hearing about current PR situations and a variety of topics such a crisis communication, sports media and public relations, political public relations, etc. Students heavily responded that they are interested in Public Relations are want to hear about the many different aspects in this field. Students interviewed said that what drives them to share or retweet something is the relatability of the post. Most students said that if what they were reading is relatable to their followers or themselves, they will share it. Another common theme was that the information needs to be clever and interesting. A University of Georgia student said, "If it's clever I will share it, but if it's typical like I've heard in class I won't share it." Students said the post needs to spark their attention or interest and then relatability is what will drive them to either share it with their followers and friends or not: "If it is interesting or useful information not only to myself, but something that others would feel the same way about." PR students said that when doing a hypothetical project on George Washington, they would most likely rather read about him than watch a video about him. Most claimed that they would rather read about him was because they found it easier to see the information and write it down. The students that would prefer watching a video said that they enjoy visuals more than words. Despite the answer, the majority of the students interviewed said that if they were to watch a video, it would depend on the length of the content. Twitter seemed to grasp most students' attention because it is short and to the point and that way they are able to read the information fast. As far as professional use, LinkedIn was the next most utilized social media outlet behind Twitter for the PR students interviewed. These insights can be used to help the PR Museum better engage with PR students on social media.The museum can use the feedback to update their website and Facebook pages and tailor their content to what PR students want to see on their news feeds. From our research, we found that the issue was not the fact that students were unconnected but rather unengaged.
Although Instagram and LinkedIn were strong social media contenders, we recommend to focus on Facebook and Twitter sites.
Insights Summary After researching and analyzing The Museum of Public Relations’ current and past social media efforts, we have not only discovered several patterns, but come to many conclusions to engage students in the museum’s social media. We have put together a number of specific suggestions in order to further engage students. Emphasizing the credibility of the museum, revamping the social media content and making history relatable to modern times are the best ways to gain more attention on social media. Below we have given specifics under each insight.
Key Points
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1. Emphasize the credibility of the PR Museum a. Students have a tendency to interact with companies they are well acquainted with. We feel this is a big opportunity for the PR Museum because it is one of its kind with a large connection to Edward Bernay. Emphasizing these distinctive and dominating features will attract students and their interaction. b. Need to emphasize the large collection of documents, resources, videos that the museum has available. c. While the fun facts on Facebook are interesting and informative it is also important that the students understand who the Public Relations Museum is and the influence behind it. d. Using the museum’s documents in social media posts is a good start, but relating each post to modern times and its relevance to PR today is a more effective spin on attracting students attention. 2. Revamp Content a. Post on Twitter and Facebook at least once a day b. Focus on using only Twitter and Facebook as primary social media platforms. Instagram is for students’ personal use and a Vimeo/YouTube website does not reach a large enough audience. c. Videos are great to post, but they need to be contemporary and used for entertainment purposes. Students showed a strong preference towards reading news and research in contrast to watching videos. d. Twitter: i. Keep Twitter posts short and concise. Students are more inclined to read posts that are easy and fast to read ii. Focus should be on grabbing followers with text-only posts iii. Twitter is a place for more serious content and is a platform where students tended to follow more companies iv. Twitter is an important way to reach international students; content should include international topics/information v. Posts should be less tedious and more engaging by using methods such as asking questions to open up conversation vi. Twitter needs to be more cohesive with a consistent voice. e. Facebook: i. Facebook should be used for simple graphics, relatable topics and useful tools (ex. 8 ways to write a press release) ii. All pictures should have captions to explain an image or video. iii. Embed videos and pictures directly into the Facebook post. Only put links to articles or directly to museum’s website iv. Museum needs to use its resources and create posts showcasing real PR practitioners’ work. v. Reach out to students and showcase students’ work vi. Create posts about topics that students need to know about. Example: crisis communication, PR strategies, etc. vii. Mix up posts with humor and wit viii. Students are interested in the different forms of public relations. Example: sports public relations, top public relations firms, political public relations, etc. f. Students are on social media all the time, but predominantly from 9 p.m. to midnight. This three hour time slot would be the most efficient time to post content.
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g. Posts need to directly speak to students. Each post needs to answer: How is this relatable to students? Is this useful to students? Why should students be interested in this? h. Majority of posts need to be original content, but it is good to repost or retweet from other PR websites and/or social media websites. Example: Retweet post from Coca-Cola’s Twitter. 3. a. b. c. d.
Make history relatable to modern times Use current events and relate to PR because students are interested in keeping up with the news. Use historical events and relate it to modern PR Make things relevant to today. Example: This day in history? This day in 19??, this event happened in PR Post case studies about successful former Public Relations campaigns to help students generate ideas on innovative ideas. i. steal like an artist e. Post former PR crises and how they were handled to train students i. During the coding process, topics that were found to be effective are: PR Crisis situations and how they were handled correctly, tweets about successful PR campaigns such as the Dove #realbeautycampaign and 10 communication secrets seem to be popular topics that engage the audience.
Appendix Works Cited for Outside Research Brenner, Michael "Thanks Social Media - Our Average Attention Span Is Now Shorter Than Goldfish | B2B Marketing Insider." B2B Marketing Insider RSS. N.p., 19 May 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. Eve, Patrick. "15 Interesting Facts about International Social Media Use." Econsultancy. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. Martin, Chuck. "A Study to Determine the Correlation Of Social Media Usage and Grades." SOCIAL NETWORKING USAGE AND GRADES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS (n.d.): 1-7. University of New Hampshire. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. Sponcil, Megan. "Use of Social Media by College Students: Relationship to Communication and Selfconcept." Use of Social Media by College Students: Relationship to Communication and Self-concept (n.d.): 1-13. Journal of Technology Research. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
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Survey Questionnaire Dear Mr./Ms.
,
The Museum of Public Relations is an educational institution chartered to contribute valuable information to the world’s growing community of public relations students, researchers, practitioners and educators. The mission of the museum is to provide a library open to the public that chronicles the evolution of public relations while encouraging ongoing research. As a student enrolled in the public relations program of the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, you are the future of public relations. You will have an impact on the field and encourage its growth in importance and prestige worldwide. Therefore, your feedback and opinion are crucial to the success of this research project. You have been selected to complete this survey because of your chosen major. This survey is being conducted by Group 1 of Dr. Yan Jin’s PR Research Class. This survey revolves around the Museum of Public Relations’ social media outreach strategies and should take no longer than 10 minutes. Social media is a vital form of communication, especially regarding college students. Since public relations students are a large target market for the museum’s outreach we would like to ask you some questions about your social media use. We want to gather more information of PR student’s use of social media so we can aid the museum in better engaging this target audience. We are striving to understand what creates engagement between a social media platform and college-aged PR students, and furthermore how the engagement can lead to interest. Your responses are completely confidential and your participation is voluntary. If any questions make you feel uncomfortable, you may refuse to answer them. If you want a report on the results of this study please email anheuser@uga..edu . Thank you in advance for your participation. It is very much appreciated. Your feedback will help enhance an organization that will in turn give back to the industry of your future career.
Sincerely, Group 1 Public Relations Research
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Part I: Based on your own use of social media, please circle a number (1 = Strongly Disagree, 7 = Strongly Agree) that best indicates how you agree or disagree with each of the following items describing your personal social media preferences and usage. 1. It is important to have social media applications installed on my mobile device. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 2. Social media is the best way to receive news. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4
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7
Strongly Agree
3. I will not follow/like a brand on a social media platform if I am not well acquainted with them. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 4. I read the captions of pictures posted by those I follow. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5
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7
Strongly Agree
5. I comment on posts that interest me. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3
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7
Strongly Agree
6. I interact with businesses through social media at least 1 time per week. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Agree
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7. Giveaways, Executive Director responses, customer service promotion tactics motivate me to interact with different companies through social media. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 8. I engage with Social Media and read articles throughout the day (morning, afternoon, evening) . Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 9. When scrolling through social media, I usually stop and read an article that gauges my interest. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 10. Social media utilization has been important to my career or earning my degree. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 11. I use both Twitter and/or Facebook as my primary social media networks in order to learn about new things. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree
12. I check social media websites more than I check my email. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5
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7
Strongly Agree
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13. I judge a company or organization based on their social media websites. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Agree
14. I do not like to follow news sources on Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree Part II B. Based on your experience in the public relations field, Please circle the number (1 = Strongly Disagree, 7 = Strongly Agree) that best indicates how you agree or disagree with each of the following items. 1. PR students should stay up to-date with the news. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4
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2. It is beneficial for PR students to follow news organizations on social media. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Agree
Strongly Agree
3. I would rather read articles online than through traditional print sources regarding special interest topics about my field of study. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 4. PR students should learn about the history of public relations, outside of a class curriculum. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 5. It would be helpful to my overall knowledge of public relations to speak with other PR students, nationally and internationally. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree Part III: Based on your personal experiences, please answer the following questions. Multiple Choice: 1. Based on the choices below, which social media site do you most frequently use? a. I don’t use social media b. Facebook c. Instagram d. Twitter 2. How many times a week do you utilize PR resources (videos, articles, books, etc.) on the Internet? a. None b. 1-2 times c. 3-4 times d.5-6 times e. 7 days a week Rank:
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3. In order, rank the social media websites you use the most often to least often. Facebook___ Instagram___ Twitter___ Blogs___ Snapchat___ Other:__________ Part IV: Based on your own feelings and observations, Please circle a number (1 = Very Unlikely, 7 = Very Likely) that best indicates your likelihood to use each of these research/information gathering tactics. 1. During my research, I watch videos to gather my information. Very Unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6
7
Very Likely
2. During my research, I read editorials to gather my information. Very Unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6
7
Very Likely
3. During my research, I read articles on Facebook to gather my information. Very Unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Very Likely
4. During my public relations research, I search Google to gather my information. Very Unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very Likely 5. During my public relations research, I read through my favorite public relations blogs to gather my information. Very Unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very Likely 6. During my public relations research, I use related books to gather my information. Very Unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very Likely Part V: After looking at this social media page of The Museum of Public Relations, please indicate (on a scale of 1= Strongly Agree and 7= Strongly Disagree) the number that represents how you feel about each of the following statements. 1. The Museum of Public Relations’ social media accounts are helpful as a student resource for PR news and trends. Strongly Agree
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Strongly Disagree
2. The Museum of Public Relations’ social media accounts make me want to visit the actual museum in New York City. Strongly Agree
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Strongly Disagree
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3. The PR Museum’s social media accounts are a good medium for PR students around the world to communicate on and discuss topics. Strongly Agree
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Strongly Disagree
4. The PR Museum’s website and social media accounts are welcoming and engaging for public relations students outside of the United States. Strongly Agree
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Strongly Disagree
Part VI: This is the final part of the survey. Below are simple demographic questions that will allow us to better analyze all of our date. Your answers are confidential. Please circle or write in your answers. 1. Gender: Male Female 2. Name of your current university: __________________ 3. Year in school: 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year 5th + Year 4. Major: _________________ 5. Your Age: _______ 6. What is your ethnicity? -White/Caucasian -Black/African American -Hispanic/Latino -Asian/Pacific Islander -Native American -Mixed/Other This is the end of the survey. Thank you for your time and participation in this public relations research project!
Survey Results
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Facebook Specific Variable Coding Book
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Keyword search on Museum of PR Facebook recent posts: Museum of Public Relations (1), New York Public Relations, Public Relations Facebook, Public Relations History V1. Does this post contain text? 1. yes 2. no V2. Does this post contain an image? 1. yes 2. no V3. Does this post contain a video? 1. yes 2. no V4. Was the post liked? 1. yes 2. no If liked, then: how many times was the post liked: ________ V5. Was the post shared? 1. yes 2. no If shared, then: how many times was the post shared: ________ V6. Was the post commented on? 1. yes 2. no If commented on, then: how many times was the post commented on: ________ V7. Was the post tagged? 1. yes 2. no If tagged, then: how many times was the post tagged: ________ V8. Did the post contain a link? 1. yes 2. no If links are present, how many? If links are present, list there source _________________________________________________
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V9. Did this post mention the Museum of Public Relations? 1. yes 2. no V10. Did this post increase understanding of the Museum of Public Relations? 1. yes 2. no V.11 Did this post attract views to the Museum of Public Relations’ website? 1. yes 2. no V.12 Did the post address public relations students directly? 1. yes 2. no V1
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Twitter Specific Variable Coding Book Key Words: prmuseum, museum of pr, public relations museum # of posts: 260 Twitter Handle: @museumofpr V1: Content of post: 1 Text Only ___ 2 Website link ____3 Image ____ 4 Event ____ 5 Article link____ 6 Video___ V2: If image, what type of image? 1 Infographic ____ 2 Mainly Image ____ 3 Text Image ____ V3: If image, does the image directly relate to the Museum of Public Relations? 1 Yes ____ 2 No ____ V4: If website link, what type of website? 1 Blog ____ 2 Own website ____ 3 Commercial website ____4 Gov’t website ____ 5 Museum website ____ 6 Social Media ____ 7 Other ____ V5: If text, does the text directly relate to the Museum of Public Relations? 1 Yes ____ 2 No ____ V6: If event, does the event directly relate to the Museum of Public Relations? 1 Yes ____ 2 No ____ V7: If video, does the video come directly from the Museum of Public Relations? 1 Yes ____2 No ____ V8: If article, is the article about the Museum of Public Relations? 1 Yes ____ 2 No ____ V9: Was the post retweeted?
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1 Yes ____2 No ____ V10: If retweeted, how many times? ____ V11: Was the post favorited? 1 Yes ____ 2 No____ V12: If favorited, how many times? ____ V13: Does the post contain a direct reply? 1 Yes ____ 2 No ____ V14: Does the post have hashtags? 1 Yes ____ 2 No ____ V15: If yes, how many hashtags are in the post? ____ V16: Does the post mention anyone? 1 Yes ____ 2 No ____ V17: If yes, how many mentions: ____ V18: The tweet provided helpful information for public relations students’ education. 1 Yes ____ 2 No ____ V19: The general public relations industry was mentioned in the tweet. 1 Yes ____2 No ____
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Twitter Coding Book Results
In-Depth Survey Questions 1. How would you feel if educational content appeared on your newsfeed? 2. What drives you to share/retweet/like PR content from companies or organizations or individual bloggers on social media? 3. If you were going to find information on George Washington, would you be more likely to read about him or watch a video on him? 4. Which social media channels are you most likely to follow PR companies/accounts? (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube) 5. Which social media platforms do you use most often? Please rank them and explain the context in which you use them. 6. What organizations do you follow on social media? And why do you follow them? 7. What makes you stop and look at a post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 8. Which social media platforms are you most comfortable with sharing your ideas and engaging in open conversations? Why? 9. What motivates you to interact with other companies or organizations on social media? 10. What kind of information would you like to learn from other PR students on a national and international level? 11. If you knew there was a museum of public relations that could be accessed online, would you utilize it as a resource for your education? Why or why not?
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*Show the interviewee the page (both the website and Facebook page of the Museum of Public Relations) and let the interviewee browse for ?? 12. After seeing the website/Facebook for The Museum of Public Relations, please describe your overall sense of the page and its content. What are your initial thoughts? Is this something that interests you? If yes, please describe.
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