Description
To get started: Pick an organization that you like or are curious about and examine its use of Facebook and Twitter or Instagram, examining their posts that span the most recent one-month period of time (e.g. August 31 back to August 1) It helps if you pick an organization that you already have some familiarity with (you volunteer there, you buy all their latest brands, you have done a research project on the organization for another class, etc.). In your examination, note the following of the organization’s use of each social media account. For Twitter/Instagram:
• How many followers of the page?
• How frequently do they post?
• What is the image they are trying to construct on the page?
How do they use photos, videos, and stylistic use of language to convey that image?
• Who is their audience(s)?
Who do they seem to be targeting with their messages?
• How are they engaging with followers to the page in terms of Li & Bernoff’s Ladder of Engagement (chapter 3)?
What categories of types of messages are present over the one-month period?
• Where do they seem to be in terms of the marketing funnel (Li & Bernoff, chapter 6)? For Facebook:
• Are you looking at an official organization page or a group or community page?
• How frequently do they post?
• What is the image they are trying to construct on the page?
How do they use photos, videos, and stylistic use of language to convey that image?
• Who is their audience(s)?
Who do they seem to be targeting with their messages?
• How are they engaging with followers to the page in terms of Li & Bernoff’s Ladder of Engagement?
What categories of types of messages are present over the one-month period?
• Where do they seem to be in terms of the marketing funnel (Li & Bernoff, chapter 6)? Comparison:
• Do they seem to construct a different image or the same image on Twitter/Instagram as compared to Facebook?
• Do they seem to be targeting the same audience(s) or different audiences?
• Do they engage their followers differently on the two applications?
• Overall, what other differences or similarities do you see? The writing: Write a ~1500 word expository essay where you describe what you observed of the organization on Facebook and on Twitter/Instagram, and then compare and contrast the organization’s use of Twitter/Instagram and Facebook. Imagine that you are the intern for the organization helping with social media. They have asked you to write an analysis of their social media use so that you can become familiar with their strategies. Write for that audience of readers. Don’t write for Prof. Rancy. The essay should have the following: • An introduction that tells the reader a bit of background about the organization you studied, for how long and on what application, what you analyzed, and what you found. This will be 1 or 2 paragraphs. o The sentence that tells the reader(s) what you found about how the organization is using Twitter/Instagram and Facebook is the thesis statement.
It should be no more than a sentence, and it should appear in the introduction. o Make sure to have a compelling introduction sentence, but avoid bland truisms (e.g.: most organizations today use social media …..) • The body of the expository essay should first describe what you observed on Twitter/Instagram, then what you observed on Facebook, and then compare and contrast the two applications.
o It is essential that you include examples, provide descriptions, and support your claims with evidence from your observations.
o Be sure paragraphs are organized with a topic sentence that is the main idea of the paragraph, and then the body of the paragraph provides examples and details to provide the support for that main idea.
o Feel free to include screen shots and images in the body of the essay.
o When you reference the assigned readings from class (and you should have at least 2 references), use American Psychological Association citation style.
• A conclusion that rephrases the thesis statement and that tells the reader what you found. Avoid making new arguments in the conclusion. • The writing throughout: o be sure it is free of spelling and grammar errors. o is organized well o shows your own voice. Use first person pronouns to describe your role in the analysis. Be creative, clever, and concrete with your writing. Humor is helpful.