social media and communications for the 21 st century —jacquelyn askins university of...
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SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY—Jacquelyn AskinsUniversity of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension
What do we mean by “social media”? Web-based and mobile technology used
to turn communication into interactive dialogue
Social media are: Low-cost Easily accessible Wide-reaching Immediate
Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, blogs
Social media functions
Engage Form relationships Share content Social media may be a new term, but the
theories and fundamentals behind it are not
Blogs
Platform for long form text, documents, photos, video
Searchable archives for documents, press releases, reports
Often include links to other blogs, websites and resources
Sometimes a supplement to a static website
Also sometimes used to create static websites
Wisconsin blog examples
News from Cooperative Extension Making a Difference
Micro-blogging service Messages are limited to 140 characters
Twitter users “follow” each other to receive updates
Users often post links to other websites and resources
Twitter examples
UW-Extension ANRE Cooperative Extension
Social network with more than 500 million active users
Members can join networks and communities
Businesses can communicate with users through Pages
Wisconsin Facebook examples UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension UW-Extension Family Living Programs Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development UW-Extension Community, Natural
Resource & Economic Development
User demographics – Facebook 500 million users 37% of users are 35+ years old More than 250 million users access
Facebook through mobile devices 40% of users follow a brand
User demographics – Twitter 106 million users 53% of users are 35+ years old 40 million users access Twitter through
mobile devices 25% of users follow a brand
Opportunities in social media Communicate with broad audiences Highlight and enhance work Amplify message Control over information
Engaging audiences
Social media can reach large numbers in a short time
New, broad groups Engages old audience in new ways Administrative benefits
Highlighting our work and amplifying our message Opportunity to share media mentions Emphasizing university research
connections Promote awareness of colleagues’ work
around the state
Control over information
Reliable platform for posting news Information shared on organization’s
timeline Immediacy
Perceived challenges – Social media survey Loss of control over brand Social media learning curve Internet connectivity issues Increased staff time commitment Decreased personal connections
Challenges in Wisconsin
Finding new content Participation from other staff Numbers of followers Interactions on pages
Last points
Our social media sites are constant works in progress
Social media is just PART of a larger communications strategy
“Like” us on Facebook! Questions?