I. INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
a. This will be a brief intro paragraph which highlights the argument of the literature review before reviewing what we already know.
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES (SNSs)
a. This paragraph will contain a clear definition of what a SNS is, as this is necessary for the rest of the paper. I will use the definition adopted by boyd & Ellison (2008)
b. This paragraph will briefly highlight the need to leave the definition of SNSs broad as there are some key factors which distinguish SNSs from one another.
c. This paragraph will highlight the site used for analysis in this study: Facebook.
d. This paragraph will discuss SNSs as a self-presentation tool.
e. This paragraph will highlight the importance of the social network on a SNS, including how users add others to their network and what types of relationships are present on these sites.
f. This paragraph will talk about how the visible network on SNSs often serves as an identity marker for other individuals. I will also highlight why this is important for corporations.
g. This paragraph will highlight the negative effects of the visible network on SNSs.
h. This paragraph will continue from the previous, highlighting that much research on SNSs is on personal use and the negative effects of the site. We, in fact, know little about how non-individual users (like corporations) use these sites.
III. CORPORATE SNSs USAGE
a. This paragraph will highlight that, while we may not known much about corporate use of SNSs, we do know a lot about the effects of the Internet as public relations (PR) tool.
b. This paragraph will talk about how, in the past, PR practitioners have been hesitant to adopt Internet technologies and use them effectively. I will also make the connection to the present day use of SNSs by corporations.
c. This paragraph will discuss why we need to study the effects of Internet technologies on PR practices, as well as the benefits of these technologies.
d. This paragraph will talk specifically about information-seeking behaviors and how each of them are present in SNSs.
e. This paragraph will outline Berger (1979)’s three information-seeking strategies: interactive, active, and passive. It will also provide examples to illustrate how these strategies, which were developed for face-to-face interaction, can also be used to study information seeking on SNSs.
f. This paragraph will introduce Ramirez et al. (2002)’s fourth information-seeking strategy specifically designed for computer-mediated communication (CMC): extraction.
g. The next few paragraphs will highlight the benefits of using SNSs as part of a corporate model. These reasons will include:
i. The ability to access a diverse network of people with no effort
ii. The use of SNSs as a cost-efficient means of communicating with an already present public
iii. The way SNSs have changed communication patterns. Now, many users are accessible daily via these types of sites.
iv. The need to work SNSs into a corporate business model and to utilize the “consumer-generating information” (Beer, 2008) as a marketing strategy
v. The effectiveness of a visible social network in influencing friendship with a corporation
h. The next paragraph will highlight that, despite what we know of the possible benefits to corporations, several studies have found that companies are not utilizing the Internet or SNSs to their fullest potential. One of the most notable areas? Building and maintaining relationships with clients and customers rather than simply throwing information at them.
II. RELATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON SNSs
a. The first paragraph will be an introductory type paragraph, highlighting the lack of research in relational communication on SNSs.
b. This paragraph will highlight the shift in current PR research toward a more relational approach.
c. This paragraph will highlight why the Internet is a vital tool in this relational shift.
d. This paragraph will look at the Internet’s interactive features and how they contribute to building a relationship with customers.
e. The next few paragraphs will then look at how SNSs more specifically can affect relational development for corporations.
f. The next three paragraphs will highlight the strategies used by one of the only studies to look at relational development strategies of organizations on SNSs (Waters et al., 2009).
g. The final paragraph will discuss how this is one of the only studies to even look at organizational communication on SNSs. Further, it will discuss how Waters et al. (2009) looked at non-profits and there is almost no research on how these sites are used in for-profit companies. This argument will then lead into the research questions:
RQ1: How are corporations using their Facebook profiles?
RQ2: How are corporations presenting relational development strategies on their Facebook profiles?
