Contributions
This study contributes to the knowledge of how corporations utilize social media. Specifically, it addresses the lack of research on corporate use of SNSs like Facebook. Previous research on Facebook has concentrated heavily on personal usage (boyd, 2006; boyd & Ellison, 2008; Donath & boyd, 2004; Ellison et al., 2007; Lewis et al., 2008; Liu, 2008; Tong et al., 2008). This exploratory study has developed a basic overview of how Fortune 500 companies are using Facebook.
Further, this study seeks to address the use of social media in a relational context of organizational PR. Part of the appeal of SNSs are their interactive nature, which allows users to interact in a mediated context, contributing to an overall collective intelligence (Hanson et al., 2008). SNSs have the potential to help further a relational concept of PR, where methods are based on how they contribute to the overall quality of the organization-public relationship. Waters et al. (2009) highlighted the lack of previous research on how organizations utilize SNSs to foster relationships with its publics. This study has helped to overcome this gap in research by studying how fan involvement is correlated with corporate involvement in corporate Facebook pages.
Finally, this study provides practical application for corporations using Facebook or other similar SNSs. By studying both corporate involvement and fan involvement separately as well as in relation to one another, this study gives a diverse view of corporate SNS usage. Corporations cannot simply consider the information they post on their own pages. They must also be concerned with the interaction between corporation and fan and the continual building of relationships online.
Limitations/Areas for Future Research
While there are several contributions made by this study, there are also limitations which must be addressed. Most notable is that the study is a snapshot of corporate Facebook usage. Facebook profiles can change on a daily basis, yet this study looked at only one instance of corporate Facebook usage. Future studies should look at conducting longitudinal studies of corporate Facebook usage to see how it changes over time and within a multitude of contexts.
Another limitation of this study is the use of thematic analysis. While this type of method was essential in developing a basic picture of corporate SNS usage for this exploratory study, this type method does not take into account the intention of the parties involved. Future research on corporate SNSs should look into additional methods, including interviews with corporate media specialists and fans of organizations on Facebook. Esrock & Leichty (2000) have suggested that the use of multiple methods is necessary in understanding organizational use of Internet technologies. “Content analyses of corporate Web sites also need to be accompanied by studies of the information needs and expectations of corporate Web sites’ visitors” (p. 342). This use of multiple methods will contribute to an overall knowledge of corporate Facebook usage and its use as a relational PR tool.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Functional Outline
I. Introduction
a. Introduce the problem/issue to be studied
b. Give basic background
c. Tell the reader WHY this is important and meaningful
[TRANSITION: As the world of social media grows, it is important to study SNSs in the context of organizations as this will have implications on future organizational PR practices.]
II. Literature Review
a. Move from the known to the unknown in research
b. Outline the problem through the use of past research
c. Keep the reason for the study prominent throughout
d. SUBHEAD: Characteristics of SNSs
- Highlight what we know about SNSs
- Compile a definition of what SNSs are
- Give useful statistics in order to frame SNSs for the reader
e. SUBHEAD: Corporate Use of SNSs
- Highlight the need to study SNSs in a corporate context
- Give an overview of how Internet technologies have been a helpful PR technique
f. SUBHEAD: Relational Development on SNSs
- Review literature that dicusses the need to study PR through relational practices
- Highlight various studies which show that both Internet and SNS technologies are not being used to their fullest relational potential
- Build up to RQs
[TRANSITION: As we know little about corporate SNS usage and how organizations can use these sites as a relationship building mechanism, the following RQs are proposed (insert RQs)]
III. Method
a. Describe the data collection, process for evaluation and the data sample
b. Specifically, the following will be addressed:
- Reason for using thematic analysis
- Reason for choosing the particular sample (48 corporate Facebook sites from the Fortune 500 list)
- Reason for using Facebook as the SNS for analysis
- Description of how sites were accessed and what they were coded for
- Definitions of corporate and fan involvement
[TRANSITION: Researchers then looked for themes across particular service sector and whether corporate involvement correlated with fan invovlement on Facebook sites.]
IV. Results
a. Describe themes that emerged from the data and provide examples and definitions of these themes
b. SUBHEAD: Corporate Involvement
- This section will outline the definition and examples of corporate involvement on SNSs, looking at
1) Presence (basic info, outside info, corporate pride, technology and corporate social responsibility)
2) Levels of involvement (lack of involvement, conflicting involvement, detailed involvement)
3) Relationship (encouragement, solicitation, response to fans)
c. SUBHEAD: Fan Involvement
- This section will outline the definition and examples of fan involvement on SNSs, looking speccifically at (I haven't solidified what my themes are for this section yet)
1) Theme 1 (definition, possible sections, examples)
2) Theme 2 (definition, possible sections, examples)
3) Theme 3 (definition, possible sections, examples)
[TRANSITION: (not sure what this will be yet)]
V. Discussion
a. Interpret themes discussed in results
b. Answer the RQs
c. Clearly articulate how these interpretations extend previous research and theory
d. Connect the paper together ... answer the question "so what does it mean?"
[TRANSITION: This study has looked at how organizations not only use SNSs, but how they also work to build relationships between fans and the organization online]
VI. Conclusion
a. Wrap up the study - be concise about what we've learned
b. Highlight the contributions and limitations of the study:
- What can we learn from this study in the context of theory?
- How can we apply it?
- What areas of future research have stemmed from this study?
a. Introduce the problem/issue to be studied
b. Give basic background
c. Tell the reader WHY this is important and meaningful
[TRANSITION: As the world of social media grows, it is important to study SNSs in the context of organizations as this will have implications on future organizational PR practices.]
II. Literature Review
a. Move from the known to the unknown in research
b. Outline the problem through the use of past research
c. Keep the reason for the study prominent throughout
d. SUBHEAD: Characteristics of SNSs
- Highlight what we know about SNSs
- Compile a definition of what SNSs are
- Give useful statistics in order to frame SNSs for the reader
e. SUBHEAD: Corporate Use of SNSs
- Highlight the need to study SNSs in a corporate context
- Give an overview of how Internet technologies have been a helpful PR technique
f. SUBHEAD: Relational Development on SNSs
- Review literature that dicusses the need to study PR through relational practices
- Highlight various studies which show that both Internet and SNS technologies are not being used to their fullest relational potential
- Build up to RQs
[TRANSITION: As we know little about corporate SNS usage and how organizations can use these sites as a relationship building mechanism, the following RQs are proposed (insert RQs)]
III. Method
a. Describe the data collection, process for evaluation and the data sample
b. Specifically, the following will be addressed:
- Reason for using thematic analysis
- Reason for choosing the particular sample (48 corporate Facebook sites from the Fortune 500 list)
- Reason for using Facebook as the SNS for analysis
- Description of how sites were accessed and what they were coded for
- Definitions of corporate and fan involvement
[TRANSITION: Researchers then looked for themes across particular service sector and whether corporate involvement correlated with fan invovlement on Facebook sites.]
IV. Results
a. Describe themes that emerged from the data and provide examples and definitions of these themes
b. SUBHEAD: Corporate Involvement
- This section will outline the definition and examples of corporate involvement on SNSs, looking at
1) Presence (basic info, outside info, corporate pride, technology and corporate social responsibility)
2) Levels of involvement (lack of involvement, conflicting involvement, detailed involvement)
3) Relationship (encouragement, solicitation, response to fans)
c. SUBHEAD: Fan Involvement
- This section will outline the definition and examples of fan involvement on SNSs, looking speccifically at (I haven't solidified what my themes are for this section yet)
1) Theme 1 (definition, possible sections, examples)
2) Theme 2 (definition, possible sections, examples)
3) Theme 3 (definition, possible sections, examples)
[TRANSITION: (not sure what this will be yet)]
V. Discussion
a. Interpret themes discussed in results
b. Answer the RQs
c. Clearly articulate how these interpretations extend previous research and theory
d. Connect the paper together ... answer the question "so what does it mean?"
[TRANSITION: This study has looked at how organizations not only use SNSs, but how they also work to build relationships between fans and the organization online]
VI. Conclusion
a. Wrap up the study - be concise about what we've learned
b. Highlight the contributions and limitations of the study:
- What can we learn from this study in the context of theory?
- How can we apply it?
- What areas of future research have stemmed from this study?
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