SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION

In Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics,

Jeremy Harris Lipschultz presents a wide-scale, interdisciplinary analysis and
guide to social media. Examining platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Pinterest, YouTube and Vine, the book explores and analyzes journalism,
broadcasting, public relations, advertising and marketing. Lipschultz focuses on
key concepts, best practices, data analyses, law and ethics—all promoting the
critical thinking professionals and students need to use new networking tools
effectively and to navigate social and mobile media spaces. Featuring
contemporary case studies, essays from some of the industry’s leading social
media innovators, and a comprehensive glossary, this practical, multipurpose
textbook gives readers the resources they’ll need to both evaluate and utilize
current and future forms of social media.

Jeremy Harris Lipschultz is Isaacson Professor in the School of

Communication, University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is a blogger for The
Huffington Post and ChicagoNow and has authored or co-authored six previous
books and dozens of articles. Lipschultz is an international media source and
frequently speaks on industry and social trends.

For more information about the book, supplementary updates and teaching
materials, follow Social Media Communication through Facebook, Twitter and
SlideShare.

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/SocialMediaCommunication

Twitter:
@JeremyHL #smc2015

SlideShare:
www.slideshare.net/jeremylipschultz
This page intentionally left blank
SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION
CONCEPTS, PRACTICES, DATA, LAW AND ETHICS

Jeremy Harris Lipschultz

First published 2015

by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of Jeremy Harris Lipschultz to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
 any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris, 1958–
Social media communication : concepts, practices, data, law and ethics /
Jeremy H. Lipschultz.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social media. 2. Social networks. 3. Online social networks.
4. Social media—Law and legislation. 5. Social media—Moral and ethical
aspects. I. Title.
HM741.L563 2015
302.23'1—dc23 2014007455
ISBN: 978-1-138-77644-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-77645-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-77316-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Garamond Three LT
by Apex CoVantage, LLC

CONTENTS

List of Tables and Boxes xi

Preface xiii

1 Introduction to Social Media Concepts 1

Social Media Concepts and Theories 7

Social Media in Journalism 10
Social Media in PR 14
Trust 15
Influence 16
Engagement 16
Social Media in Advertising and Marketing 17
New Media 19
 Ahead 21
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 22

2 CMC, Diffusion and Social Theories 27

Identity 27
Internet History 29
Social Network Site Definitions 29
Interaction 34
Community 39
Diffusion of New Ideas 39
Uses and Gratifications 40
Online Culture and Power 42
CMC and Social Media 42
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 43

3 Social Media in Journalism 47

Journalism Theories 51
Citizen Journalism 53
Crowdsourcing 53
Micro-blogging 56
v

vi CONTENTS

Journalism Case Studies 57

Successes 58
Bloggers 59
Social Media Celebrity 61
Failures 62
Lessons 63
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 65
 4 Social Media in Public Relations 69

PR Management 70
PR History and Tactics 72
PR Theories 73
Credibility 75
Social Capital, Conflict and Collaboration 76
Social Media Tactics 77
PR Newsrooms and Message Targeting 78
PR Blogging and Case Studies 80
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 82
Non-profits 83
Successes 84
Failures 84
Lessons 85
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 85

5 Social Media in Advertising and Marketing 89

Advertising and Marketing Theories 91

Consumers 93
Branding 94
Promotions, Market Research and Segmentation 94
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) 95
Social Media Strategic Planning 95
Awareness and Engagement 96
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 97
Return on Investment (ROI) 98
Cost of Ignoring (COI) 99
Advertising and Marketing Case Studies 99
Real-time Social Marketing 100
 Successes 100
Failures 102
Lessons 103
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 104
CONTENTS vii

6 Social Media Metrics and Analytics 107

Social Media Measures 108
See, Say, Feel, Do 108
Google Analytics 109
Facebook Insights 111
Twitter Analytics 112
Network Analyses 117
Other Social Network Measurement 123
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 124

7 New and Mobile Media Technologies,

Innovation and Investment 127
Entrepreneurs 130
Angel Investors and Start-ups 130
Big Ideas and Business 131
“Crush It” and the Thank You Economy 131
Crowdfunding 132
Emergence of New and Mobile Media 132
Implications of Revolutionary Mobile and Social Media 134
Twitter Impact 136
Mobile Geotagging 137
Google Glass 138
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 138
8 Big Data and Privacy 141

Privacy Development 141

Top Social Media Site Privacy Policies 144
Twitter 144
Facebook 145
Google+ 146
Instagram 147
LinkedIn 148
Tumblr 148
Vine 149
Snapchat 149
 Big Data and Privacy 150
FTC Regulation 151
Privacy and Legal Implications 152
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 154
viii CONTENTS

9 Law and Regulation 157

Free Expression and the First Amendment 158
Internet Libel 159
Facebook, Twitter and the Law 159
International Social Media 163
Prior Restraint and Terrorism 165
U.S. Internet Indecency 170
Regulated Media Technologies 171
FTC Regulation: Advertising, PR and Social Media 174
Copyright Infringement, File Sharing and Fair Use 177
Social Perspectives on Law 178
Social Media Privacy Issues 180
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 181
10 Social Media Ethics 185

Theories and Philosophies 188

Idealism and Relativism 189
Moral Development 190
Trust and Transparency 190
Human Dignity Frameworks 193
Practical Social Media Ethics 193
Equality and Fairness 194
Natural Law and Harm 195
Reconsidering Community 195
Limitations of Ethics 196
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 196
11 Best Practices in Social Media 199

Mobile Media 199

Newspapers, Magazines and Journalism 200
Radio and Mobile Apps 201
Television, Branding and Live from the Scene 203
Top Media Sites on Social Media 205
Blogging 206
Blogs for Public Relations and Social Media Marketing 206
Helpful Tools 209
Getting Ahead of the Social Media Pack 209
 Perils 211
IT, Collaboration, Virtual Teams and Other Trends 212
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 212
CONTENTS ix

12 Future of Social Media and Information Literacy 215

Media Literacy 217
Life-Long Learning and Media Literacy 219
Global Media Corporations 220
Framing of Media Messages 221
Potential Effects from Media Literacy 222
Application of Knowledge 222
Engagement, Networked Communicators, Trust and Influence 226
Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics 228

Glossary 231
Index 237
 This page intentionally left blank

TABLES AND BOXES

Tables
4.1 Top Five Benefits of CEO Blogging and Social Media Use 84
6.1 Top Social Media Influencers as Measured by We Follow 115
7.1 Estimates of Active Users on Top Social Network Sites 131
9.1 Top Number of Followers on Twitter 157
11.1 Most Overall Facebook Likes 205
11.2 Top Free Social Media Monitoring Tools 210 11.3 Top Marketing Sources for
Re-tweets 210

Boxes
1.1 Air Berlin’s Failed Customer Online Engagement 2
1.2 Thought Leader James Spann 7
1.3 Thought Leader Melanie James 20
2.1 Social Media Functions and Sites 30
2.2 A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace 35
2.3 The Diffusion Model 40
2.4 Thought Leader Lili Bosse 41
3.1 Thought Leader Amy Guth 48
3.2 The Andy Carvin Method 53
3.3 Thought Leader Jason Collington 58
3.4 HuffPost Blogger Terms and Guidelines 59
4.1 Thought Leader Phil Gomes 77
4.2 The Chicago Cubs and a Wrigley Field Pearl Jam Concert 80
5.1 4 P’s—Product, Price, Place and Promotion Marketing Mix 92
5.2 Thought Leader Robert Moore 101
6.1 TweetLevel Methodology 113
6.2 Thought Leader Timothy Akimoff 116
6.3 Overall Social Network Visualization of #BRK2013 120
7.1 Viewpoints Curated Product and Service Review System 127
7.2 Thought Leader Zena Weist 129
7.3 Kickstarter 132
xi
xii
TABLES AND BOXES

7.4 Brickflow 133

7.5 Thought Leader Brian Zuercher 136
8.1 Lack of Privacy and Social Networks 144
8.2 Germany and Privacy 151
8.3 Thought Leader Tracy Solomon 153
9.1 Emerging Twitter Law 162
9.2 Social Media Terrorism 167
9.3 CPS Guidelines on Prosecuting Cases Involving Social Media 168
9.4 Thought Leader Misty Montano 171 10.1 Thought Leader
Craig Newmark 191
10.2 NPR Social Media Guidelines 193
11.1 Thought Leader Charlie Meyerson 202
11.2 Thought Leader Robert P. Miles 206
12.1 Thought Leader Sammi He 216
12.2 MySpace Online Communities 218
12.3 University of Kansas Social Media Policy 223
12.4 Thought Leader Carol Fowler 225
PREFACE

Facebook, with more than one billion users worldwide, is the largest social
network site. However, Princeton University researchers claim it may wither on
the vine in the next few years because of the fickle nature of social media use and
new applications. The mobile “app” Whisper, for example, has lured some users
interested in posting “anonymous” memes that suggest more truthful
communication, confessions or secrets. Because of the technical nature of the
Internet, no message is truly anonymous, yet the idea of anonymous expression
has a following. Regardless of which specific platforms grow or wane, social
media communication has ushered in a fundamental shift from one-way mass
media to interactivity of engagement within media audiences.
This book explores the emerging field of social media communication, as
practitioners use new tools to communicate with the public through mass media
or directly via social networking. The field of public relations (PR) informs many
of the best practices and new rules of social media. At the same time, social media
concepts, tools and practices are useful for those studying and working in
journalism, advertising and marketing. Social media, collectively, flourish under a
broad umbrella for understanding diffusion of social and technological change. In
2012, Barack Obama’s @BarackObama Twitter account tweeted a “four more
years” photograph of the president and Michelle Obama embracing.

Figure 0.1 This 2012 election night photo was the most popular social media image ever
on Twitter and Facebook.

xiii
xiv
PREFACE

The image was re-tweeted more than 500,000 times and liked by more than 3.5
million people on Facebook on election night, becoming the most popular social
media communication ever. It is a complex media world in which online personal
branding also may be seen in some contexts (i.e., “selfies”) as narcissism.
Regardless, social media communication is now big business. Global issues have
sprouted, as new media tools are used for political and economic purposes.
Journalists, broadcasters, PR practitioners, advertisers, marketers and others in
business and non-profit sectors explore effectiveness of developing social
network sites, social media and longer-term business plans.
At universities, social media are being studied in the development of
communication theory, research methodology and best practices. Academic
programs continue to revise curricula. In some cases, new online journalism and
digital media courses have been developed and offered. Others have grounded
social media use within traditional foundations of media storytelling. While it is
possible to incorporate social media skills into journalism, public relations and
other writing courses, an interdisciplinary approach to social media is needed.
Many concentrations in new media were developed prior to the proliferation of
social media, and these tend to be grounded in production techniques. Social
media practices, however, extend interpersonal communication skills into
mediated, online social spaces. This book is designed to promote critical thinking
and media literacy skills needed to effectively use new tools and navigate social
media spaces.
It is clear that the media marketplace—from local newspapers to international
television channels—is in a state of flux. This book seeks to make a contribution
to those academics and professionals exploring curriculum revision, industry
convergence and impact on the broad field, which now includes communication
studies and media communication.
Social Media Communication is grounded in a wide set of theories and
research methods. The author believes readers benefit from the application of
traditional media and communication studies concepts, Internet studies,
computer-mediated communication (CMC), social networks and other research.
Some scholars bristle at the idea that we can move beyond the traditional
academic silos of fields, such as journalism, broadcasting and electronic media,
public relations, advertising and marketing. However, social media tools such as
Twitter promote interaction rather than disciplinary boundaries. Social networks
and so-called social media “tribes” form around opinion leaders, influencers and
their common interests.
While many newer books describe online media and recent texts focus on
social media for journalists, public relations practitioners or marketers, the author
seeks to engage all fields in an important dialogue. We will address specific “best
practices” but also move toward a larger framework for understanding social
media. In this regard, new research exploring virtual teams and collaboration in
information technology (IT) offers promising paths. This book will assume that
readers have basic experience with tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ and FourSquare. Additionally, the text
and companion online sites will track newer apps, such as Tumblr, Vine,
Yammer, Vimeo, Spreecast, Snapchat, Jelly and Whisper. These sites are often
used to spread content on blogs, news sites and other online spaces. Through
research findings and case studies, the book will guide the reader toward a greater
understanding of what is at stake for social media professionals. As Edelman
PREFACE xv

Digital Vice President Phil Gomes has observed in talks to students around
the country, “the ‘source code’ of PR is . . . leaking . . . bit by bit, feature
by feature.” This is similar to the BeTheMedia.com view presented by
David Mathison that everyone online essentially has the power to be an
online media brand. The re-definition of journalism and public relations
toward a social media context requires deeper thinking about the nature of
“tweets,” “wall posts,” “pins” and other social media behavior.
The book sees an ever-growing array of social media tools as defining
an emerging era of communication, as we move from largely one-way
mass communication for large audiences to social networked media
communication. While journalists, public relations practitioners, marketers
and others will continue to sometimes communicate with large, mass
audiences, the perspective of this book is that influence and trust are key
concepts and will depend, in part, on the strength and character of an
individual’s or organization’s social networks and branding.
Trust is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for communication
to be influential through source and message credibility. Pew data have
painted a troubling picture: three-fourths of the audience in 2005 said
news organizations were more concerned with attracting the largest
audience, while less than one-fourth said they cared about informing the
public. One of the challenges in the 21st century is to find a balance
between individual interests and the greater public interest or good. Trust
binds us into social units, and there is a need for trusted information, as
well as the individuals and institutions behind narrative storytelling.
Trusted stories connect us within social media communication and across
social networks. Influencers establish social rules and are leaders when it
comes to social media participation.
Social concepts, such as trust, are important in understanding the
development of best practices and the use of data within boundaries of law
and normative ethics. The audience for new forms of social media needs a
media and information literacy framework that critically examines new
tools and social norms—whether or not the user engages in social media
because of her or his career or for general interest. Taken together with
concerns about audience fragmentation and the future of democratic
consensus, trust is a key to the future. As an example, consider the 2013
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
(AEJMC) international conference in Washington, D.C. Observation of
xvi
Twitter users over five days during the convention produced a complex
visualization.
Through theory-based concepts, we should be able to measure these
data and understand communication patterns. We want to know why
people participate in social networks, how they become influential, and
what role trust may play in online user engagement. Ultimately, we should
see the emergence of reliable predictive analytics.
Of course, these issues are of interest for those in journalism, public
relations, advertising and marketing. Every business seeks Return on
Investment (ROI) from time and money spent on social media
communication. At the same time, fields such as information technology,
political science, sociology, criminal justice, education and gerontology
also recognize the importance of social media. As social media use
continues to rise across the world, this book will be of increasing interest
to the general public. The book will clearly define concepts in a way that
will be useful to libraries and their readers.
This book, Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law
and Ethics, uses the idea of the social network as a heuristic and pedagogical
device for understanding
PREFACE

social media. It takes the reader beyond a cursory understanding of social media
tools toward development of a framework for assessing social media goals,
objectives and possible new rules. By applying communication theory, research
and understanding, the reader will be prepared to assess each new tool that enters
the social media marketplace.
This Social Media Communication book could not have happened without the
content ideas, insights, editing suggestions and love of my spouse Sandy
Shepherd Lipschultz. For more than 30 years, she has been my most important
discussion partner on the teaching and research of media. We have been blessed
to have two wonderful children, Jeff, age 25, and Elizabeth, 17, who grew up as
“digital natives” experimenting with evolving social network sites. We learned a
lot from parenting during this time. Daughter-in-law Holly, a blogger and
librarian in Chicago, also helped cultivate our understanding about how younger
people communicate online.
Aging increases my appreciation for the contributions of those who came
before us: my parents, Hank and Maxine; Sandy’s parents, Don and Faye; and our
grandparents. All of them shared a love for learning and exploring, and in a later
time no doubt would have been intrigued by social media communication.
My colleagues at the University of Nebraska at Omaha are knowledgeable,
insightful and wonderful. College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media
(CFAM) Dean Gail F. Baker, School of Communication Director Hugh Reilly,
Associate Vice Chancellor and Graduate Dean Deborah Smith-Howell and the
UNO administration have supported my social media communication work, and
for this I am extremely thankful. Likewise, AEJMC has been a constant source of
enrichment through the Law & Policy and Public Relations divisions, as well as
our high quality journals.
My students in Computer-Mediated Communication, Social Media Metrics,
Media Regulation and Freedom, and Communication and Technology courses
first alerted me to their early adoption of social media communication, and the
students continue to challenge our field to offer stronger conceptualization, data
and research findings.
At Routledge, Senior Editor Erica Wetter quickly grasped the vision for this
project and moved to advance it to publication. Editorial assistant Simon Jacobs
provided careful review, editing and processing. My UNO colleague Avery
Mazor provided technical help on images.
Finally, from my “tweeps” on Twitter to friends and fans on Facebook, I
appreciate our daily social media online activity. Some of my strongest Facebook,
Twitter and Google+ connections are found within these pages as thought leaders
or sources for important quotation. I hope this book contributes an important
piece of our continuing conversation.
Jeremy Harris Lipschultz
February 2014

1 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA

CONCEPTS

“We live in a time where brands are people and people are brands.”
—Brian Solis (@briansolis, 2013)

On a cool mid-April day in 2013, tragedy struck at the finish line of the Boston
Marathon. Two bombs were detonated, injuring dozens of runners and spectators.
As journalists scrambled to learn what happened and event organizers worked
with emergency responders, Twitter instantaneously lit up with a burst of
information, images and video. Some of the initial reports by eyewitnesses and
media were accurate, but there was also a stream of false information spreading
across users’ social networks. At GolinHarris, their real-time public relations
newsroom called The Bridge immediately alerted marketing client Cisco, which
pulled content to avoid appearing disconnected from unfolding events (PR News,
2013). It was a correct decision, as the chaotic scene generated massive amounts
of information, including numerous factual errors.
Meanwhile, the Twitter social network site (SNS) hashtag (#)
#BostonMarathon had been used for live tweeting photographs and positive news
about the annual event, but now it was the online space to track responses to the
attack. Unfortunately, even mainstream news media, such as CNN and ESPN,
xviii
reported inaccurate information in the early hours and days of coverage, as in this
tweet: “@SportsCenter: An arrest has been made in the Boston Marathon
bombings, CNN reports” (April 17, 2013).
The incorrect tweet was retweeted 13,930 times and made a favorite 2,476
times. As the investigation continued, social media also shared graphic YouTube
video of the explosions and aftermath. Six months later, the bombing event
continued to attract social media attention—from the Boston Red Sox World
Series parade stop at the marathon finish line to the photograph posted online of
an inappropriate Halloween costume. A 22-year-old from Michigan dressed as a
Boston Marathon victim, and she sparked a large negative reaction from her
Instagram photo that was also shared on Twitter.
The online publication Buzzfeed reported on the story of Alicia Ann Lynch,
who received thousands of negative tweets and even death threats. One called
Lynch “an absolutely disgusting human being.” Clearly, Lynch’s dress was
insensitive, but Twitter users went so far as to identify her by sharing a photo of
her Michigan driver’s license. After deleting social media accounts, Lynch briefly
returned on Twitter before having her account suspended. Lynch claimed this
later online apology reported by media came from someone else:
“@SomeSKANKinMI: Plz stop with the death threats towards my parents. They
did nothing wrong. I was the one in the wrong and I am paying for being
insensitive” (Nov. 1, 2013). Lynch apologized with a simple “I’m sorry” on
Twitter,

1
2 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

but the attacks continued. Eventually, some on Twitter accepted the apology and
called the continuing online “rage” an example of cyber-bullying and online mob
behavior (Zarrell, 2013).
A practitioner of journalism, public relations (PR), advertising or marketing
needs to understand how to effectively operate within social media. There is no
single way because social media communication can be political and cultural. For
example, Shezanne Cassim, 29, spent nearly one year in a Dubai prison for
posting a parody YouTube video before the Minnesotan was released in late 2013
(Gumuchian & Sidner, 2013). What might have been considered harmless in the
U.S.—poking fun at suburban teens liking hiphop music culture—was found to
be criminal in the United Arab Emirates. However, by developing strategies
through planning and creating tactics, it is possible to avoid social media pitfalls
and serve many goals within media and other organizations.
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 3

BOX 1.1 AIR BERLIN’S FAILED CUSTOMER ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

In a less dramatic example of online engagement, Air Berlin found out the hard way
that engaging customers on Twitter might produce unintended results. When the
airline lost a business traveler’s luggage, the exchange between a social media
content manager and customer turned into a very public branding #fail.
@_5foot1: Arrived in Dusseldorf without my bag. @airberlin are useless. No
apology, no idea. What happened to German efficiency?
@airberlin—@_5foot1: We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused. Did you
contact the Lost & Found at Düsseldorf airport?
@_5foot1—@airberlin: of course. Bag left in LDN. No assurance it will be on the
next flight. I’m here for business meetings with no clothes.
@airberlin—@_5foot1: We understand how annoying this is and apologise!
Unfortunately we can’t help you right now, the Lost & Found will contact you
The next day:
@_5foot1—@airberlin: Do you have a number i can call and speak to a human
being. The tracking number is giving me no info
@airberlin—@_5foot1: Unfortunately there is no number I can give you, the Lost
& Found will get in touch as soon as they found your bag.
While Air Berlin was correct to engage the customer, the conversation probably
should have been taken off Twitter and onto a telephone with an eye toward
solving the problem through traditional customer service. Perhaps the airline could
have offered to buy the customer a set of clothes for his business meeting. The
poor experience also could have been converted into positive social media
message engagement.
Source: Waldman, K. (2013, September 4). I’m Here for Business Meetings with No Clothes.
Slate. www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/09/air_ber
lin_lost_luggage_the_german_airline_melts_down_on_social_media.single.html

When Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast in late October of 2012, it marked
what the technology site Mashable later called a “Social Storm.” The storm,
tracked on Twitter as #Sandy, was perhaps the first large-scale natural disaster in
which officials coordinated to “disseminate emergency information to residents
and provide emergency services in response to residents’ posts” (Berkman, 2013,
para. 6). On the one hand, citizens were urged to stay indoors and remain safe. On
the other hand, the city monitored social media for reports from those venturing
outside. One official said, “At no point, did we actively ask the public to collect
media.”
“You see an enormous number of people who are using social media and
consuming social media, both producing and discovering information, to a
much higher extent than you would at any other point,” Rachel Haot
4 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

(@rachelhaot), chief digital officer for New York City, told Mashable.
(Berkman, 2013, para. 7)
The desire of individuals to engage and participate has its roots in
technological developments five decades ago. The origins of this social media
revolution can be found in the development of Internet structures, beginning with
a 1960s military project called ARPANET. Early personal computer users’
interest in local bulletin board systems (BBS) in the 1980s was a harbinger of
interest in networked communication. The explosive growth of email, which
remains the leading online function, and the World Wide Web in the 1990s
sparked scholarly interest in the study of computer-mediated communication
(CMC). The early site LiveJournal demonstrated that individuals like to share
personal information with friends. The popular social sites Friendster, LinkedIn
and MySpace launched in 2002–2003. LinkedIn’s growth continues today by
focusing on professional networks. MySpace remains very active within the
music and other select industries. There was a lot of early 21st-century interest in
“participatory media, online community newspapers, and citizen journalism”
(Mathison, 2009, p. 311). During a subway bombing in London in 2005, the BBC
used camera phone video for the first time, along with information from
thousands of emails and photographs.
YouTube’s first video, “Me at the zoo” had four million views at a time when
video streaming was slow and cumbersome. The brief San Diego Zoo video
demonstrated that there was audience interest in non-professional video content.

Figure 1.1 The first YouTube video was not very dramatic.
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 5

Figure 1.2 “@jkrums: There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up
the people. Crazy.”
Source: https://twitter.com/jkrums, posted at: Los Angeles Times (2009, January 15). Citizen Photo
of Hudson River Plane Crash Shows Web’s Reporting Power.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/01/ citizen-photo-o.html#sthash.X2PUIScJ.dpuf

At about the same time, the Craigslist site had grown from an email list
developed in the mid-1990s to nearly two billion page views. Wikipedia also was
growing in online popularity. Facebook in 2006 evolved from a university student
platform to a public site. Twitter was about to burst onto the scene, ushering in
communication brevity with its 140-character limitation for each tweet. One of
the early defining moments of the social media era in the U.S. happened just half
a decade ago. A US Airways jet made a crash landing in New York’s Hudson
River, and entrepreneur Janis Krums (@jkrums) posted a dramatic photograph on
Twitter before news media could arrive at the scene.
The news value of the photograph came to symbolize the powerful
combination of millions of citizens and their mobile phones. Other top moments
in the development of social media include:

• TMZ reported the death of entertainer Michael Jackson in 2009 (http://latimes

blogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/12/top-10-social-media-events.html).
• The Library of Congress decided in 2010 to archive all tweets since the
Twitter 2006 launch (www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/29/social-media-
moments2010_n_802024.html).
• Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation raised $1 million through $5 donations
on Twitter and mobile following the 2010 earthquake (www.huffingtonpost.
com/2010/12/29/social-media-moments-2010_n_802024.html).
• Rebecca Black uploaded a music video to YouTube in 2011, and it went viral
with more than 160 million views in its first few days (http://mashable.
com/2011/12/15/social-media-moments-2011/).
6 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

• The meme became popular in 2011. After University of California campus

police pepper-sprayed student protesters who posted a video, the event was
mocked through a series of viral images (http://gawker.com/5861431/uc-
davis- pepper-spray-cop-is-now-a-meme/).

Figure 1.3 This University of California Pepper Spray Meme spread as a viral social
media image.

• LinkedIn skyrocketed to 90 million registered users by 2011.

• Actor Charlie Sheen joined Twitter in 2011 and had accumulated more than
one million followers in just over one day.
• Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr broadened the social media landscape in
2012 by offering significant competition for user attention (http://mashable.
com/2012/12/23/social-media-2012/).
• Vine became the hot app of 2013. By limiting users to six-second looping
mobile video, it created Twitter-like communication boundaries (www.you
tube.com/watch?v=0wRUDazRh9I).
• Instagram had more than 150 million users by the end of 2013, as Facebook
grew to more than 1.5 billion across the globe.

Social media are distinguished from other online uses by a high level of
interactivity, the importance of user identity formation and an openness to share
content across developing communities. Definitions vary, but the fundamental
character of SNS engagement is the linkage of individuals through online
technology as a way to communicate using a variety of media forms. Social
media also are characterized by the creation of new sites. Many of the newest are
focused on mobile communication, catering to smartphone and tablet users. This
dynamic and evolving nature of technology has helped social media spread in
popularity to most of the world.
The global Internet is huge. In China, which blocks sites such as Facebook and
Twitter but hosts government-sponsored social media services, there are about
591 million users— nearly as many as all other countries combined (Desilver,
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 7

2013). More than 464 million (78.5%) are mobile users, which mirrors
international trends (para. 4). While Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter and
LinkedIn are the top global sites for social media, Instagram and Pinterest are
growing faster, and sites such as Orkut, Badoo, Sina Weibo, Bebo and vkonyakte
also have large numbers of international users (Lunden, 2014).
This book focuses on the emergence of social media communication as a
primary source of information for people across the world. Drawing from the
Edelman PR media cloverleaf, social media are among four overlapping
environments, which also include traditional media, owned media and hybrid
media. Traditional print and broadcast media once were leaders of most public
discussion and some public opinion. With the development of the Internet and
Web in the 1990s, companies began to develop websites. These owned media,
along with application software (apps), turned all of those with online identities
into media companies. In this century, hybrid media emerged from blogging. The
Huffington Post was one of the earliest hybrid media to take advantage of the shift
by commercializing it and activating a network of citizen bloggers. Finally, social
media, through early popular sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube,
empowered individuals to interact as media, promote content and engage new
people across social networks.
The rapid diffusion of social media over a few short years changed job roles
for news reporters, public relations (PR) people, marketers and others in a wide
variety of positions. At the same time, social media are transforming the fields of
advertising and marketing. This book examines social media from a
communication perspective that focuses on important concepts and practices. For
example, some of what we now study as social networking within social media
can be examined through Katz and Lazarsfeld’s filter hypothesis of personal
influence (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955, as cited in Schmitt-Beck, 2003). People
form social groups, sometimes seek out influencers and gauge social trends: “. . .
personal communication mediates the influence of mass communication . . .
reinforcing or blocking the impact of media information, depending on the
evaluative implications of that information and on the political composition of
voters’ discussant networks” (p. 233). Influence extends well beyond politics and
elections. As Katz (1957) observed about the nature of studying leaders and
influencers: “It began to seem desirable to take account of chains of influence
longer than those involved in the dyad; and hence to view the adviser-advisee
dyad as one component of a more elaborately structured social group” (Katz,
1957, p. 5).
Decades later, Katz (1994) observed that, although we may be able to observe
influence, “to activate this knowledge is not as easy . . . (and) tends to be more
expensive and more complicated than simply reaching everybody” (p. x). Social
media, however, ushered in an era of visualizing human communication, tracking
it within large amounts of data—big data—and sometimes placing activation
within reach. It is clear that the amount and quality of social media research
8 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

continues to grow, aligning with the growth in “use of social media for sharing
various forms of user-generated content” (Khang, Ki & Ye, 2012, p. 279).
The nature of influence, as well as the contemporary examination of social
networks and social media, raises legal and ethical issues. For example, a
restaurant review on Yelp, whether or not it is accurate, might cause economic
harm to a small business. Despite the challenges of breadth, social media are
becoming a force—perhaps the most important communication source—in the
21st century. Despite awareness of potential influence, individual users, including
those working for media and corporations, continue to make huge mistakes on
social media platforms, such as Twitter. Particularly when it comes to breaking
news events and real-time social engagement, splitsecond decisions made by
professionals frequently miss the mark. In order to better understand the
challenges of social networking and social media communication, it is important
to develop concepts built upon social research.
Social Media Concepts and Theories
Participants in social media are networked individuals engaging in interpersonal,
yet mediated, communication. Through CMC, users create online identities,
interact and engage with others, participate in online communities, and may
activate groups to respond. Communication behavior may involve politics, power
and culture—even when it originates as consumer behavior.
The communication within social media sites, such as Twitter, may trigger
crowdsourcing, in which audiences piece together bits of information into a
larger narrative for storytelling. The crowdsourcing question-and-answer
program called Jelly, created by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, is a 2014 mobile
media response to user desire to leverage information and rich media images
available within personal social network sites.
Effective distribution of stories, images and video requires understanding of
specific online platforms and context. In marketing, for example, messages must
connect with audiences: “With the instant access to social media made possible
by mobile devices, there’s no such thing as undivided attention anymore”
(Vaynerchuk, 2013, p. 4). In this sense, social media content involves human
storytelling with a foundation within informational and persuasive
communication. SNSs offer different tools to facilitate storytelling: Facebook
“walls,” Twitter feeds, LinkedIn endorsements. Each new SNS diffuses into the
marketplace, but only some are widely adopted by a mass audience. Social media
involve the coming together of participants in large SNSs and sharing of
information and media content.
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 9

BOX 1.2 THOUGHT LEADER JAMES SPANN

The most important role that social media play in my
business is audience engagement during life-threatening
weather events. Five years ago, I could not buy a valid
storm report from many rural parts of my state; now with
one simple tweet, or request via Facebook, Google Plus, or
Instagram, I not only have good reports, but pictures as
well. Most of these people have not gone through spotter
training, but by sending a photo to us, they allow
professional meteorologists to evaluate the storm, making
the warning process more effective.
In addition, we are able to push critical severe weather
information to many who would not consider using
television, especially younger Figure 1.4 @Spann. people
(18–24 year olds). Social media served as Courtesy James Spann. a lifeline
during our generational tornado out-
break on April 27, 2011. I think it is interesting that on many days I reach more
people via social media than on television. Times are changing.
(continued )

Time management is a big issue for us. We are working social media very hard
around the clock, seven days a week, with the same number of people we had five
years ago. People expect us to be there via social media to answer their questions
and provide weather information on demand. Our job has morphed into a 24/7
kind of thing, which can lead to fatigue and strains on family relationships. You
have to maintain a rigid priority table when it comes to managing time.
Another challenge is sorting through bogus weather reports; there are always
some people who want to damage the warning process with false information. We
have to make decisions “on the fly” concerning the validity of the reports we
receive during winter storms and severe weather. Also, for some reason, some
people begin circulating old pictures, claiming they are current and related to an
ongoing weather event. This is problematic, but we do our best to sort out the bad
images and not use them on the air.
For our audience, one of the biggest issues is reliance on Facebook for severe
weather information. Facebook is simply a horrible platform for severe weather
warning dissemination because only a small percentage of followers/fans actually
see the posted warnings on their timeline. Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and
Instagram are crucial in our communication plan, but with so many on Facebook
we have to do a better job of educating them. We prefer people get severe
weather warnings via smartphone apps like MyWarn or iMap WeatherRadio, and
not rely on social media as their primary source.
We are hoping that video becomes easier to use via social media. For us, it is
crucial that we provide live streams of tornadoes. Social science studies have
proven that people will take action if they actually see live video of a tornado on
10 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

TV; if we only provide a radar indication, they will seek confirmation and delay
taking action. We have moved our storm spotters over to the Google Hangout
platform, and we are very optimistic about its growth and future. We also hope
that lower income families have easier access to the Internet and social media
clients in coming years; we often struggle to reach that demographic during life
threatening weather.
James Spann, CBM, is Chief Meteorologist at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham,
Alabama, where he has worked since 1996. He also hosts Weather Brains, reports
on two-dozen radio stations, is heard on the Rick and Bubba Network, and is a
partner in Big Brains Media and The Weather Factory. He was educated at
Mississippi State University. www/alabamawx.com

We know from the uses and gratifications communication perspective that

media users select content and use it with expectations in mind. Satisfaction and
expectation drive future media consumption. At the same time, users will tend to
avoid content that does not provide psychological rewards. Over time, then,
media user behavior falls into habits built upon stimuli, responses and a set of
expectations that may reflect positive, neutral or negative views. These
dimensions are particularly important in social media because it is possible to
identify user feelings through sentiment analysis, which codes media content
along a positive–negative continuum.
In a broad sense, social media have the potential to redefine the culture. Voices
can be heard through social media that have tended to be ignored by traditional
media gatekeepers. During most of the 20th century, newspaper and wire service
editors, radio news directors and television assignment editors (among others)
selected a relatively small number of stories as news, and most events fell through
the gatekeeping process. Social media offer new opportunities for sharing events
and news, but SNSs may also spread content that is capable of manipulating
public opinion and behavior. In this way, traditional media and social media may
interact across ideological boundaries, impacting debate and participation (Soo-
bum & Youn-gon, 2013).
Advertisers and marketers were some of the first to discover social media as a
way to inexpensively reach large numbers of people with their messages. Social
media content, like its predecessors, may be fair or not. At first, merely having a
Facebook page or Twitter feed was enough to generate some interest. Fairly soon,
however, these spaces opened brands to public criticism and required content
managers to engage in customer relations. More recently, product and service
campaigns have grown to feature strategic plans that include social media tactics.
Planning creates real-time opportunities to engage in social media during large
events, such as the Super Bowl or Academy Awards live television broadcasts. At
the same time, brand managers may jump in at any moment when there is an
unexpected event. For example, when Today show weatherman Al Roker
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 11

overslept for the first time in nearly four decades of work, Twitter conversation
followed.
GolinHarris operates one of the firm’s global real-time engagement spaces
called The Bridge, which has collaborated with long-time client McDonald’s. The
Chicago office Bridge Center is the largest of 14 global real-time centers, and is
the global headquarters. Since September of 2012, a former Chicago TV
journalist has directed the team, which includes experienced real-time
engagement analysts. They provide clients with a variety of real-time services—
insights, relationship building, hyper-relevant media relations, customer
engagement and content creation.

Figure 1.5 A major brand successfully engaged the Today Show by using Twitter to
reach out to them.
As part of the show making fun of Roker, the tweet was featured during on-air
anchor conversation. The earned media cost only the time to engage, in contrast
to the more expensive cost of advertising within the show, plus it was more
valuable coming from show talent. Roker also yawned in a Vine video that poked
fun at missing his early broadcast. While the event was brief, it demonstrated how
social media conversation may shift and move quickly from one topic to another.
The emergence of a complex social media landscape may seem overwhelming
to students and the general public. A social media communication perspective can
help. Individuals need to actively develop and use media literacy skills. These can
be used to understand how brands make plays within social media. At the same
time, open dissemination of information requires all of us to learn how to discern
truths from falsehoods.

Social Media in Journalism

Decades ago, journalism was defined by its gatekeeping process, through which
editors carefully selected news for distribution. The Associated Press (AP) and
United Press International (UPI) maintained a news wire system with local
newsroom partners. The wire provided a means to identify, edit and share news to
12 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

newsrooms. Journalists then shared their selections with audience members. By

the early 1980s, journalists were beginning to experiment with portable
computers to write and send news reports from a location, such as a courtroom.
This Tandy Radio Shack 100 laptop was one of the first mobile devices.
By June of 2009, major news organizations had evolved to begin using Twitter
feeds and YouTube videos to report on an Iranian uprising that led to street
protests covered by citizen journalists using portable video recording devices.
Journalists today are expected to use social media sites, monitoring content and
participating in discussions. For example, the Associated Press (AP), a primary
news distribution company, has issued specific social media guidelines for its
employees and

Figure 1.6 This TRS-100, an early laptop for journalists, was on display in 2009 at the
Newseum in Washington, DC.
journalism practitioners working in “sensitive situations” (AP, 2013). These are
based upon news values and journalistic principles:
The Social Media Guidelines are designed to advance the AP’s brand and
staffers’ personal brands on social networks. They encourage staffers to be
active participants in social networks while upholding our fundamental
value that staffers should not express personal opinions on controversial
issues of the day (AP, 2013).
The AP encourages all journalists to have social media accounts, but this is not
universal across journalism. While AP reporters may not post confidential
information, they are urged to use a profile photograph and required to identify
themselves as AP reporters. They cannot disclose political affiliations or “express
political views.” The AP (2013) also restricts online opinions, as “AP employees
must refrain from declaring their views on contentious public issues in any public
forum . . .” Even in the areas of sports and entertainment, the AP (2013)
guidelines declare:
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 13

• “. . . trash-talking about anyone (including a team, company or celebrity)

reflects badly on staffers and the AP”
• “. . . you have a special obligation to be even-handed in your tweets”
• “Posts and tweets aimed at gathering opinions for a story must make clear
that we are looking for voices on all sides of an issue”
• “A retweet with no comment of your own can easily be seen as a sign of
approval of what you’re relaying”

In general, AP (2013) applies its traditional rules of journalism with regard to

accuracy and corrections to social media spaces. While journalists are encouraged
to promote their stories, they also are warned to be careful online.
Journalism, as a profession, is being challenged by the open access and
publication nature of the Internet. The WikiLeaks site, for example, challenged
the traditional journalistic methods of sourcing and official verification: “Its use
of new technologies and the way it puts information into the public domain forces
us to reconsider what journalism is and its moral purpose in contemporary global
politics” (Beckett, with Ball, 2012, pp. 2–3). Everyone seems to agree that social
media has changed journalism. “Regardless of how people get news from the
web, this medium has become a dominant channel of communication and has
passed newspapers as a primary source of public affairs news and information”
(McCombs, Holbert, Kiousis & Wanta, 2011, p. 16).
For these reasons, journalism education has broadened in recent years to
emphasize visual storytelling (Green, Lodato, Schwalbe & Silcock, 2012):
“News, for many people, now unfolds as a stream of information from various
sources—both professional and nonprofessional” (p. 5). Storytelling will continue
to evolve because of technological change. For example, augmented reality
(AR) mobile tools offer the possibility that storytelling “may be transformed into
a more interactive, first-person participatory form utilizing the location-based,
geographically anchored nature of AR” (Pavlik & Bridges, 2013, p. 41).
Mobile media tool availability appears to predict news consumption among
younger users (Chan-Olmsted, Rim & Zerba, 2013). Perceived relative content
advantages, utility and ease of use all were predictors of news consumption,
suggesting that the younger news user may be driven, in part, by availability of
mobile apps. Mobile news users may be some of the first to document news
events.
Breaking news reports frequently begin with eyewitness accounts, which may
be followed up on as journalists seek facts. Journalism tends to be defined by its
key elements: the search for truth, “loyalty” to citizens, verification of
information, practitioner independence, and “monitor of power” (Craft & Davis,
2013, p. 41). These are difficult challenges for news organizations seeking
business success, which also requires attracting and retaining large audiences
through engaging and entertaining content.
14 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

Journalists often are urged to develop a personal brand by publishing a blog,

which tends to be short and frequent posts of information and analysis. Best
practices for blogging, according to Briggs (2010, p. 55), include:

• Regularly publish high-quality posts.

• Write effective headlines.
• Participate in the community.

Blogging, however, blurs the lines between news and opinion. While reputable
journalists maintain popular blogs, so too do paid bloggers working for corporate
clients. At the heart of the emerging conflict between traditional news values
practices and online media are the rules of engagement:
The medium is a way to generate discussion around a particular topic or
issue. Great blogs build online communities and encourage user interaction
by asking questions and encouraging feedback from readers. Bloggers can
share their opinion, but the best blogs also invite readers to share their
opinions or comments as well. This open dialog is one of the hallmarks of
digital journalism along with interactivity and collaboration. (Luckie,
2011, p. 51)
Internet news is “more horizontal” because its orientation places journalists
within large and diverse social networks (Tewksbury & Rittenberg, 2012, p. 5).
While traditional journalism informed citizens in order to aid in democratic
decision-making through voting, citizen journalism has transformed the
audience for news, as scholar Jay Rosen observes, through important online
discussion. The interaction and conversation monitoring itself may be a driver
for social change, even as voter apathy has grown. So-called “participatory
journalism” features “open gates” that helps explain “fundamental change
currently underway” that “transcends national boundaries” (Singer et al., 2011, p.
5).
In such a journalism environment, traditional norms of objectivity through
balanced opinions and the search for facts has been questioned and studied. Maras
(2013) observes that objective journalism is a complex professional ideal in
which journalists seek to report “reality,” obtain “facts” and avoid “personal
opinion” by “[s]eparating facts from opinion,” exercising emotional detachment
and promoting “fairness and balance” (pp. 7–8). Obviously, these news values
directly smash into the openness of the Internet.
While journalism was once defined by elite news organizations competing
within a fairly narrow range of media, Internet users no longer are restricted by
choices offered within the context of media economics and regulation. “With
developments in media technology it is becoming even less clear in which sense it
is meaningful to speak of media pluralism, if the media landscape is characterized
more by abundance and limitless choice than by scarcity or lack of options”
(Karppinen, in Hesmondhalgh & Toynbee, 2008, p. 40). Journalism, then, is likely
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 15

to be redefined by emerging SNSs and their business practices. Albarran (2013),

for example, observes that social media are defined by a “lack of significant
barriers to entry,” since almost anyone is free to create social media accounts and
user profiles (p. 6). As such, media economists think of social media as a
“disruptive communications industry” (p. 14).
Researchers are beginning to study what differentiates the social media
landscape. Content dissemination, for example, has been related to news
reception, friend behavior and partisanship (Weeks & Holbert, 2013): “. . . both
reception and friending are highly predictive of dissemination of news within
social media” (p. 226). At its core, social media frequently involve distribution of
unfiltered news and even rumors. Former National Public Radio’s (NPR) senior
strategist Andy Carvin (@acarvin) describes in his book Distant Witness how he
has cultivated sources on the ground in Egypt, Syria and other Middle East
countries to attempt to verify information circulating on Twitter. Because of the
nature of revolutions since the “Arab Spring” uprisings beginning in 2009,
anonymous sources frequently share videos to YouTube of what appear to be
atrocities. Supporters share links on Twitter, but it may be difficult to determine
authenticity through crowdsourcing. Still, the technique offers promise for
journalists seeking news from dangerous locations. Storyful, a Dublin-based
company, works with Yahoo News, Reuters, ABC News and others to verify
social media content by monitoring for social media “spikes” in traffic and
conducting “360 (degree) forensic verification of video” as an extension of
newsrooms:
And so it explores whether the images are real-time or old. Have they been
manipulated? Where did the video come from? What’s the history of the
account? Was the weather at the time consistent with what the image
shows? Is the mosque in the right place? What are the experts saying?
It also gets in touch with the people who shot the video. In Syria, it
relies on indirect contacts. But elsewhere, Storyful staffers will talk
directly with the people who supplied the material. (Rieder, 2013)
The nature of communication on Twitter is that online communication also
generates social networks, which can be observed in real time but also visualized
using data analysis tools. For example, a 2011 hockey game played between The
Ohio State University at the University of Nebraska at Omaha generated a lot of
Twitter discussion by home team fans and media. Most users formed a passive
audience, but the center of the social network revealed news media, athletic
department PR and community boosters—not dissimilar from offline and
traditional media interaction.
In a sporting event, it is rare for Twitter users to be faced with trying to
confirm facts. However, crowdsourcing usually emerges in the early moments of
breaking news stories. Before journalists can do their traditional work of verifying
facts, Twitter and other social media sites can be a forum for conflicting
16 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

eyewitness accounts, as well as attempts by some to spread false and even

malicious information.
Social media Twitter users have been called micro-bloggers because tweets are
limited to 140 characters of space, including links to images, video or other
websites.
Media storytelling, however, can be expanded through the use of blogs and tools,
such as Storify, which organizes multiple tweets into a running narrative.
While some have treated the Internet and social media as a sort of Wild West
without rules and norms, this approach is not recommended. Similar to their
mainstream and traditional media predecessors, social media journalists are
constrained by rapidly developing law and regulation (Stewart, 2013). This also
applies to those social media users who do not identify themselves as journalists,
and those considering themselves PR professionals.

Social Media in PR
Public relations (PR) organizations use social media sites to represent brands and
engage with consumers. Coombs and Holladay (2007) suggest that academics and
practitioners share frustration that PR “activities are often equated with spin,
stonewalling, distortion, manipulation, or lying” (p. 1). In response, modern
definitions emphasize “public interest,” a “management function,” “mutually
beneficial relationships,” and “relationships with stakeholders” (pp. 22–23). PR
discourse may focus on identity and branding. A user:
. . . packages himself in the language of his relationship to the dominant
medium. . . . He can only be better if he frees himself from others’
language. The attitude toward choice as digital and self-determined,
however, leaves him vulnerable to what is real and what is the complete
definition of the self . . . (p. 12)
Global PR efforts face challenges, including being able to communicate and
work across cultures. Reid and Spencer-Oatey (2012) identified a “global people
competency framework” of knowledge and ideas, communication, relationships
and personal qualities:

• Communication management—work partners may have “significantly

different norms for communicating in key project contexts, such as in
meetings and in emails” (p. 19).
• Shared knowledge and mutual trust—time must be spent “building a common
understanding of the meaning of the terminology used in discussions and
ensuring that they shared sufficient background/contextual knowledge” (p.
21).
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 17

Trust is a relational dimension that may be connected with social interaction

and shared values that motivate site usage (Lin & Lu, 2011). Public relations, as a
field, has been concerned with the ability of PR practitioners to influence
decisions within their organizations. Smith and Place (2013), building upon
Grunig’s 1992 work, found that integrated structure may have an impact on PR
power:
Through an interconnected structure of blurring functional boundaries that
relies upon the skills of each communicator, public relations stands to gain
power through the expertise of the individual practitioner and the use of
social media, which yields tangible evidence for the organization to assess
the value of the public relations function. (p. 179, emphasis added)
Smith and Place (2013) relate this to forms of power—expert, legitimate,
structural and discursive.
In this book, we use three overarching concepts—trust, influence and
engagement— to understand the power of social media. Source and message
credibility may evoke audience trust, which is a driver of influence through
strategic engagement. Interactive communication may or may not promote
identity and community within social media settings.
PR involves many functions, including:

• Copywriting
• Media relations
• Event planning
• Crisis communication
• Corporate communication
• Reputation management
• Strategic planning

Each of these may incorporate social media tactics for clients, events, messages
and branding.

Trust
Trust has been an important concept in media for decades. By the 1960s, for
example, journalism researchers began to study what was called source and
message credibility. For example, Slater and Rouner (1996) found that message
quality may have an effect on the assessment of source credibility. More recently,
Eastin’s (2006) experiments manipulated source expertise and knowledge about
health information online content.
Perceptions may be impacted by variation in source and message credibility.
While trust has long been assumed to be important for journalists in their
relationship with readers, listeners and viewers, it is only recently becoming
central to public relations practitioners. Global PR giant Edleman PR (2012)
18 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

produces an annual Trust Barometer, which highlights the need for corporate and
governmental leaders to “practice radical transparency,” establish clear goals for
operating, and take note of employee credibility. By doing so, each employee may
“spread messages to their networks, which helps build and support trust company-
wide” (para. 1).
It is clear that media users value trustworthy information. We want to be able
to trust our leaders and the information they share. In a democracy, the
availability of accurate information is valued as one way for voters to make
decisions. In a world driven by social media content, disclosure of new facts can
rapidly change public opinion and policy. By 2009 and 2010, social media
contributed to growing Arab Spring protests, public awareness and revolution. In
Egypt and Libya, longtime leaders were overthrown. In Syria, social media
contributed to a spreading civil war. In Iran, public demonstrations were captured
on portable video cameras and uploaded to YouTube. In countries ruled by
dictators, social media made it more difficult to control propaganda and rule by
force.
While U.S. reporting by news organizations such as The New York Times and
NBC News historically has been seen as very trusted, social media are bringing a
new global perspective for consumers. For example, when U.S. Special Forces
killed Osama Bin Laden, Al Jazeera had early and accurate reporting. Some
watched an Internet live stream of the broadcast and shared it to social networks
more than an hour before President Barack Obama made an official statement.
Trust also is important for consumer brands. Traditionally, trust was seen as
“the critical component in credibility,” but new media have redefined these key
concepts:
Trust, we come to find, tends to evolve from audience perceptions of the
source’s expertise on the topic at hand . . . and is a critical aspect of the
advertising persuasion process. Yet, the power of attractive sources cannot
be overlooked as an important part of persuasion . . . The Internet itself is
not necessarily a reliable source of professionally developed information . .
. not only the sender but also, to a great degree, the medium are considered
as communication sources . . . in the mobile arena, one must look to
aspects of credibility other than those impacted by the presentation and
actual user interface alone. (Stafford, in Stafford and Faber, 2005, pp. 286–
287)
One of the credibility challenges is the nature of online sources (Sundar & Nass,
2011). Cues and context are particularly important in evaluating source and
message credibility within a broadening social media sphere.

Influence
Social media sites often are the battleground for influence to determine who we
consider to be a thought leader or idea starter, as described in the Edelman
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 19

former TweetLevel paradigm, which was designed to measure trust and influence.
The PR firm was “assessing new metods” in 2014. The program is one approach
among many that attempt to measure trust through influence and other variables.
In May of 2013, President Barack Obama scored an overall 82.8 out of 100 and
was categorized as an “amplifier” because of his large number of followers.
Obama’s account (@BarackObama) had more than 39 million followers on
Twitter. This made his account very popular and potentially influential, but this is
not based upon much engagement. Instead, the fact that messages sent from the
account will likely reach millions of Twitter users, and additionally that some will
re-tweet content, helps explain the influence estimate. Obama’s TweetLevel
scores were: Influence, 82.8; Popularity, 100; Engagement, 59.9; and Trust 66.7.
As a diagnostic tool, such measures provide guidance about areas for needed
improvement.

Engagement
Engagement is defined as “the collective experiences that readers or viewers have
with a media brand” (Mersey, Malthouse & Calder, 2012, p. 698, quoting
Mersey, Malthouse & Calder, 2010). Engagement can be understood through
consumer beliefs about brands and brand experiences. Engagement has been
connected through research to satisfaction and media use, as expectation and
evaluation may influence “gratificationseeking behavior” and ultimately includes
reading (p. 699).
In social media, reading is an important behavior, but it is not the only
behavior. Users process photographs, charts and other visual communication,
such as video. These stimuli are consumed and sometimes result in reactions. For
example, Facebook “likes” and “shares,” Twitter “favorites” and “re-tweets,” and
Pinterest board “pins” follow consumption. At the same time, a user decision to
post new content or share content from others may result in additional responses
from others.

Social Media in Advertising and Marketing

Early in the development of social media, marketing has become an important
function. This has impacted the fields of advertising and marketing. Online
advertising spending has grown across all areas—paid search advertising, display
advertising, classified advertising, rich media, referrals of sales leads, sponsorship
and email (Tuten, 2008). eMarketer (2013) estimated that retail digital media
spending would top $9 billion in 2013, and that 10.5% annual growth was
expected through 2017. Indeed, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)
certified a 15.6% growth rate since 2012. Quarterly revenue grew from nothing in
1996 to $2 billion in 2000, to $6 billion in 2007 and to more than $10 billion in
2013.
20 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

A 2012 study by Adobe found that a majority of consumers found online

advertising annoying (68%) and distracting (51%), and that marketers
underestimated these responses. Social media were not seen as places to view
advertising compared to magazines and television. More than two-thirds of
consumers were using social media, and 57% had liked a brand in social media.
Consumers also were asked what they would do if they saw a friend like a
product in social media. About 29% responded they would check out the product,
but only 2% would buy it. Although the data paint a very rough picture of actual
behavior, responses regarding what consumers say they want are valuable.
Product reviews, for example, are credible for most—but not all—online users.
Likewise, individuals vary in response to different media approaches (Adobe,
2012):

• Advertisements should tell a unique story, not just try to sell (73%)
• A video is worth 1,000 words (67%)
• User product reviews are the best source of truth (67%)
• In-Store experiences trump online experiences (67%)
• Television commercials are more effective than online . . . (67%)

The data support a social media perspective. Tuten (2008) viewed social media
as “an umbrella phrase” for understanding SNS, social news, virtual environments
and opinion sites:
Social media refers to online communities that are participatory,
conversational, and fluid. These communities enable members to produce,
publish, control, critique, rank, and interact with online content. The term
can encompass any online community that promotes the individual while
also emphasizing an individual’s relationship to the community, the rights
of the members to collaborate and be heard within a protective space,
which welcomes the opinions and contributions of participants. (p. 20)
In this sense, social media have begun to move the discussion of online
advertising and marketing beyond the historically favored practice of sponsored
search and keyword advertising that has made Google so successful ( Jansen,
2011). The online structure allowed advertisers to measure click-through rates
(CTR) for early banner advertising, but sponsored search allowed advertisers to
pay “only when a potential customer clicked on a sponsored result,” which
allowed for measurement accountability ( Jansen, 2011, p. 12). Social media,
within this context, empowers potential customers to “share an ad, comment on
an ad, and give feedback on an ad” (p. 225). Social media advertising, then, may
use a cost per click (CPC) pricing structure instead of the traditional audience
size estimates.
This helps explain why word of mouth (WOM) has become an important
marketing phrase for brands wanting to spread word through a growing group of
followers and fans. So-called “brand ambassadors” may be activated by company
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 21

and product messages. Through conversation monitoring, brand community

managers can assess awareness, spark popularity and even convert followers and
fans to loyal customers. They can become part of an earned media strategy that
leverages customer passion for a product or service. Social media WOM and
“customer evangelism,” as some marketing gurus have labeled it, amounts to free
advertising by authentic customers who engage with others as trusted
spokespeople. Somewhat related are those buyers and purchasers who rate
products on sites, such as Amazon.com. These ratings and subsequent
conversation may reflect brand loyalty or even competitor attacks.
Community managers are paid to monitor conversation and activity and to
engage as needed. For example, if online conversation turns unfairly negative on
Twitter, then a company representative may need to engage and participate by
providing additional information or offering assistance. Failure to engage when
competitors do could be a competitive disadvantage. Some customers may
determine product choice based, at least in part, on the quantity and quality of
company online engagement. Here, advertising, marketing and PR may converge
based upon strategic goals. The cost of online engagement may be considered by
a Return On Investment (ROI) analysis, although some professionals suggest
that this does not make sense for social media. Analogous to ROI for a
receptionist, social media may be a cost for doing business in a professional
manner. An alternative is the so-called Cost Of Ignoring (COI) social media
(MacLean, 2013). With more than half of consumers on Facebook and more than
one-third on Twitter, the argument is that businesses must be present in order to
be listening and engaging in five areas: 1) customer service, 2) reputation
management, 3) crowdsourcing to build loyalty; 4) collaboration, and 5)
recruitment of job candidates (MacLean, 2013).
The WOM process involves everything from generating conversation through
business blogs to hiring paid bloggers (a controversial ethical issue), offering
customer relations, triggering viral media content, handling a crisis, managing
individual and organizational reputations, and monitoring conversation buzz. One
of the earliest social media measurement techniques was to track buzz for
individual brands and compare it to others. Measurement quickly became more
sophisticated.
All online activities are open to measuring benchmark data, which establish
beginning points for measuring future growth and effects of strategic campaign
tactics. Quantitative goals may be set for future growth. Further, qualitative
analyses of key conversations may yield clues to marketing and sales successes
and failures. Best practices for social media involve development of strategies and
tactics for setting specific new media goals.

New Media
Drawing upon the seminal work of Lievrouw and Livingstone (2006), Cheong,
Martin and Macfayden (2012) “position new media as information and
22 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

communication technologies and their social contexts” (p. 2). The study of
changing technological devices—hardware and software—is dynamic and
driven by continuous change over time. For example, recent development and
proliferation of smartphones has driven interest in mobile devices and media.
Ling and Campbell (2011) conclude that mobile technologies “rearranged the
social scene” by enhancing “some interactions” yet straining others (p. 329).
Consider the apps downloaded and located on a smartphone screen. These
represent priorities for the users. However, we live in a multi-screen world in
which user attention is split between many screens—sometimes with more than
one active in a given moment. Beyond desktop and laptop computers, tablets (the
fastest growing device) and smartphones, television screens and place-based
screens in public places may each offer engaging content. Social media appear to
follow findings of early Internet studies that conclude that user motivations
matter. Media may group people into “interpretive communities,” which “are
neither homogenous nor monolithic” (Mankekar, in Hesmondhalgh & Toynbee,
2008, p. 149). Instead, demographic differences among social media users may
produce content that mirrors or departs from existing offline power structures.
One key difference within social media is the rapid spreading of information,
even when it is false. When the normally credible @AP Twitter account was
hacked with incorrect information in 2013, crowdsourcing was important in users
correcting

Figure 1.7 This book author’s iPhone 5S “first screen,” as viewed in early 2014.
through a variety of other news sources. Eventually, AP had to suspend its
account and re-start it. Within one month, AP again had more than two million
followers—they re-followed the trusted news source after the brief incident.
The emergence of social media within PR coincides with convergence of
traditional practices with advertising and marketing.
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 23

BOX 1.3 THOUGHT LEADER MELANIE JAMES

Using social media to more
effectively network and build
professional relationships on an
international scale has been a “game
changer.” The ability to join global
social media conversations in real
time, especially when based in a
vastly different time zone from North
America and Europe, has delivered
insights and opportunities unheard of
previously.
The ability to shape per- Figure 1.8 @melanie_james.
sonal branding has also con-
Photograph by George Hyde. tributed to the way my career
has unfolded in recent years. Social media make it easy to share my own work and
that of respected colleagues. This leads to more exposure and more opportunities.
Closer to home, social media has also fundamentally changed the way
communication takes place with my colleagues, clients and students. Negotiating
the personal and the professional, which previously had been very distinct, has
been at the center of these changes.
Defining what appropriate return on investment in social media looks like for
organizations remains challenging, as this can vary widely depending on the nature
of the entity’s mission. Integrating social media into traditional public relations
activities, many of which have not diminished as a result of social media’s rise, is
placing strain on PR departments. Power plays and turf wars are becoming evident
within organizations as people fight for control of digital communication. This also
has negative impacts for women—research has shown that men are more likely to
want to have control over what are seen as technical areas, and if technology is
involved, such roles are likely to pay higher.
The way success is viewed in public relations will change. Whereas once
organizations looked at measures such as attitudinal or behavioral change as the
primary desired outcome for PR, this instead will only be the beginning. Success
won’t have been achieved until target publics have both changed their attitude or
behavior and propagated the idea that

others do the same through social media networks. People will increasingly “wise
up” to the way their social sharing benefits business and will want to be rewarded
for this “work.” The use of network analysis in PR will further rise as organizations
seek to map how and through whom such propagation takes place. PR
practitioners will need to “up-skill” to be able to not just provide this information
but to use it to inform decision-making on future campaign investments.
24 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

There are opportunities in research applying social network and actor network
theories to examine the role and influence of the social media technologies
themselves. There will be a need to better understand how they constrain and
enable PR practice, but also how they constrain and enable desired responses from
target audiences. With organizations under more public scrutiny than ever before
via social media, PR practitioners will be empowered to argue for more ethical
approaches to practice as the issue of establishing and maintaining a social license
to operate becomes increasingly prominent.
Melanie James, Ph.D., is Senior Lecturer in Communication and Public Relations
and researcher in the Centre for Social Research in Energy and Resources,
University of Newcastle, Sydney area, Australia. Her research on new media, PR
and blogging as an educational assessment tool has been widely cited. James
joined the university in 2006 after working in senior management roles in PR—
strategic, government and marketing communication. She was an early adopter of
social media in PR practice and education and is a strategic communication
consultant. James sits on the National Education Advisory Committee of the Public
Relations Institute of Australia.

Engaging consumers—within the context of PR, advertising or marketing—

appears to be “more about conversations, connections, and shared control and less
about passive consumption of packaged content” (Tuten, 2008, p. 3). It is a
fundamental shift that will continue to have an effect on PR and other
professionals for years to come.

Ahead
In the next chapter, computer-mediated communication will be used to explore
the importance of identity, interaction and community within social media
spaces. As new ideas and technologies spread, online communication may
influence cultural change in powerful ways. A large number of social media tools
are now in use within journalism and public relations. These occupations now
borrow branding techniques from advertising and marketing, as convergence
continues to take hold across many media industries.
Entrepreneurs creating new businesses, investing in start-ups, and constantly
creating new media industries are driving some of the change. The innovation
culture often ignores old media organizations and practices in favor of
fundamental change.
The new media landscape is not without challenges. As we will learn in this book,
“big data” collection and analysis raise concerns about personal privacy. There
are legal and ethical issues surrounding social media technologies, and there are
calls for global regulation. Perhaps the best we can hope for right now is the
development of best practices by journalists, PR practitioners and others. We can
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 25

learn from case studies that expose social media successes and failures. More can
be learned through use of social media metrics and analytics. For example,
search engine optimization (SEO) rules affect the words we should use in
effectively spreading online content. At the same time, popular measurement
tools—Google Analytics, Hootsuite, SproutSocial, Topsy and others—offer new
intelligence about communication behavior. As we will see in this book, SEO
may be positively or negatively impacted by social media conversation, from
online engagement to product and service sales. The quality of those sites linking
to a story, conversation or site may raise or lower the prominence of content at
any given moment. This can be important for story placement on search engines,
such as Google, but it also has implications within social media conversation over
time. Likewise, Facebook insights data help community brand managers select
and promote social media storytelling. Knowing which stories are liked, shared
and commented upon offers important explanations about why content is moving
through social networks.
Some are turning to media literacy as a way to explore best practices of
journalists and PR people. In order to effectively engage within a social network,
strategies and tactics must constantly return to concerns about online trust and
influence.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. The Boston Marathon explosions provided challenges for journalists, PR

practitioners, advertisers and marketers: How does each respond to a
breaking news story? What are the challenges? What legal and ethical
concerns exist? How should social media users judge source and message
credibility of information during a crisis?
2. What are the similarities and differences in roles and functions for
journalists, PR practitioners, advertisers and marketers? How do social media
blur the lines between these fields? What are the challenges for practitioners
moving from journalism to PR? What about moving from PR to journalism?
What is an example you recall of social media engagement that did not seem
to be authentic?
3. How do you determine whether or not to trust a social media voice? How do
social media change the nature of influencing others compared to traditional
word-ofmouth sharing? How do you influence others within social media
spaces? How will your influence evolve as a social media professional?

References
Adobe (2012, October). Click Here: The State of Online Advertising.
www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/
pressroom/pdfs/Adobe_State_of_Online_Advertising_Study.pdf
Albarran, A. B. (Ed.) (2013). The Social Media Industries. New York, NY: Routledge.
26 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

AP (2013, May). Social Media Guidelines for AP Employees. www.ap.org/Images/Social-

MediaGuidelines_tcm28–9832.pdf
Beckett, C., with Ball, J. (2012). Wikileaks, News in the Networked Era. Cambridge, UK:
Polity Press.
Berkman, F. (2013, October 29). Sandy Was Our Social Storm. But at What Cost?
Mashable. http://mashable.com/2013/10/29/sandy-social-media-storm-safety/ Briggs, M.
(2010). Journalism Next. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Chan-Olmsted, S., Rim, H., & Zerba, A. (2013). Mobile News Adoption Among Young
Adults: Examining the Roles of Perceptions, News Consumption, and Media Usage.
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 90(1), 126–147.
Cheong, P. H., Martin, J. N., & Macfadyen, L. P. (Eds.) (2012). New Media and
Intercultural Communication, Identity, Community and Politics. New York, NY: Peter
Lang.
Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2007). It’s Not Just PR, Public Relations in Society.
Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Craft, S., & Davis, C. N. (2013). Principles of American Journalism, An Introduction.
New York, NY: Routledge.
Desilver, D. (2013, December 2). China Has More Internet Users Than Any Other
Country. Pew Research Center. www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/12/02/china-has-
more-internet- users-than-any-other-country/
Eastin, M. S. (2006). Credibility Assessments of Online Health Information: The Effects
of Source Expertise and Knowledge of Content. Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication 6(4). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-
6101.2001.tb00126.x/full
Edelman PR (2012). 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer.
www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual- property/2012-edelman-trust-barometer/
Edelman PR (2014). TweetLevel. http://tweetlevel.edelman.com/
eMarketer (2013, June 11). When Will Desktop Ad Spending Peak?
www.emarketer.com/Articles/ Print.aspx?R=1009959
Green, S. C., Lodato, M. J., Schwalbe, C. B., & Silcock, B. W. (2012). News Now, Visual
Storytelling in the Digital Age. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Gumuchian, M.-L., & Sidner, S. (2013, December 23). American Gets 1-Year Prison
Sentence for Parody Video. CNN. www.cnn.com/2013/12/23/world/meast/uae-
american-sentence/index. html
Hesmondhalgh, D., and Toynbee, J. (Eds.) (2008). The Media and Social Theory. London,
UK: Routledge.
Jansen, J. (2011). Understanding Sponsored Search, Core Elements of Keyword
Advertising. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Katz, E. (1994). Forward. In G. Weimann (Ed.), The Influentials, People Who Influence
People, pp. ix–xi. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Katz, E. (1957). The Two-Step Flow of Communication: An Up-To-Date Report on an
Hypothesis. Departmental Papers (ASC). Annenberg School for Communication.
http://repository. upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=asc_papers
Khang, H., Ki, E.-J., & Ye, L. (2012). Social Media Research in Advertising,
Communication, Marketing, and Public Relations. Journalism & Mass Communication
Quarterly 89(2), 279–298.
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS 27

Lievrouw, L. A., & Livingstone, S. (Eds.) (2006). Handbook of New Media (Updated
Student Edition). London: Sage.
Lin, K.-Y., & Lu, H.-P. (2011). Intention to Continue Using Facebook Fan Pages from the
Perspective of Social Capital Theory. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social
Networking 14(10), 565–570.
Ling, R., and Campbell, S. W. (Eds.) (2011). Mobile Communication, Bringing Us
Together and Tearing Us Apart. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Luckie, M. S. (2011). The Digital Journalist’s Handbook. Lexington, KY: Mark S.
Luckie.
Lunden, I. (2014, January 21). Instagram is the Fastest-Growing Social Site Globally,
Mobile Devices Rule over PCs for Access. Tech Crunch.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/21/insta gram-is-the-fastest-growing-social-site-
globally-mobile-devices-rule-over-pcs-for-socialaccess/
MacLean, H. (2013, May 28). The Cost of Ignoring Social Media. Sales Force Marketing
Cloud. www.salesforcemarketingcloud.com/blog/2013/05/cost-of-ignoring-social-
media/?d=70130 000000tH3O
Maras, S. (2013). Objectivity in Journalism. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Mathison, D. (2009). Be The Media. New York, NY: natural E creative.
McCombs, M., Holbert, R. L., Kiousis, S., & Wanta, W. (2011). The News and Public
Opinion, Media Effects on Civic Life. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Mersey, R. D., Malthouse, E. C., & Calder, B. J. (2012). Focusing on the Reader:
Engagement Trumps Satisfaction. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
89(4), 695–709.
Pavlik, J. V., & Bridges, F. (2013, Spring). The Emergence of Augmented Reality (AR)
as a Storytelling Medium in Journalism. Journalism & Communication Monographs
15(1), 1–59.
PR News (2013, October 21). PR Teams Build Internal Newsrooms as Communications
Strategies Shift. www.prnewsonline.com/topics/media-relations/2013/10/21/pr-teams-
build- internal-newsrooms-as-communications-strategies-shift
Reid, S., & Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012). Beyond Stereotypes: Utilising a Generic
Competency Approach to Develop Intercultural Effectiveness. In V. Carayol & A.
Frame (Eds.), Communication and PR from a Cross-Cultural Standpoint, Practical
and Methodological Issues, pp. 15–26. Bruxelles: P.I.E. Peter Lang.
Rieder, R. (2013, Sep. 5). Storyful verifies social media video from Syria. USA Today.
www. usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/rieder/2013/09/05/storyful-verifying-
video-on-social- media-from-syria/2771029/
Schmitt-Beck, R. (2003). Mass Communication, Personal Communication and Vote
Choice: The Filter Hypothesis of Media Influence in Comparative Perspective. British
Journal of Political Science 33(2), 233–260.
Singer, J. B., Hermida, A., Domingo, D., Heinhonen, A., Paulussen, S., Quandt, T., Reich,
Z., & Vojnovic, M. (2011). Participatory Journalism, Guarding Open Gates at Online
Newspapers. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Slater, M. D., & Rouner, D. (1996). Value-affirmative and Value-Protective processing of
Alcohol Education Messages That Include Statistical Evidence or Anecdotes.
Communication Research, 23(2), 210–235.
28 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

Smith, B. G, & Place, K. R. (2013). Integrating Power? Evaluating Public Relations

Influence in an Integrated Communication Structure. Public Relations Research 25(2),
168–187.
Soo-bum, L., & Youn-gon, K. (2013). A Frame Analysis on Korean Daily Newspapers’
Coverage of Twitter: Focusing on the Perspective of Political Communication and
Formation of Public Opinion. Korean Journalism Review 7(2), 51–77.
Stafford, T. (2005). Mobile Promotional Communication and Machine Persuasion: A New
Paradigm for Source Effects? In M. R. Stafford & R. J. Faber (Eds.), Advertising,
Promotion, and New Media, pp. 278–297. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Stewart, D. R. (Ed.) (2013). Social Media and the Law, A Guidebook for Communication
Students and Professionals. New York, NY: Routledge.
Sundar, S. S., & Nass, C. (2001). Conceptualizing Sources in Online News. Journal of
Communication 51(1), 52–72.
Tewksbury, D., & Rittenberg, J. (2012). News on the Internet, Information and
Citizenship in the 21st Century. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Tuten, T. L. (2008). Advertising 2.0, Social Media Marketing in a Web 2.0 World.
Westport, CT: Praeger.
Vaynerchuk, G. (2013). Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Waldman, K. (2013, September 4). I’m Here for Business Meetings with No Clothes.
Slate.
www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/09/air_berlin_lost_luggage_the_germ
an_ airline_melts_down_on_social_media.single.html
Weeks, B. E., & Holbert, R. L. (2013, Summer). Predicting Dissemination of News
Content in Social Media: A Focus on Reception, Friending, and Partisanship.
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 90(2), 212–232.
Zarrell, R. (2013, November 2). What Happens When You Dress as a Boston Marathon
Victim and Post it on Twitter. Buzzfeed. www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/what-
happens-when-you- dress-as-a-boston-marathon-victim
This page intentionally left blank

2 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL

THEORIES

“One of the most devastating relational developments in the world of social media
is the ‘status’ bar on Facebook.”
—Tammy Nelson (@drtammynelson, 2012)

Former Notre Dame linebacker and current NFL player Manti Te‘o told a story
about a dead girlfriend, allowed it to spread across traditional and social media
during the 2013 college football bowl season ahead of the NFL draft, and then had
to deal with the fallout (Sonderman, 2013). The online publication Deadspin titled
their report, “Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking and
Inspirational Story of the College Football Season, Is a Hoax.” People “were taken
in” by what sounded like a great story. Te’o then released a statement, which read,
in part:
This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of
time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We
maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating
frequently online and on the phone . . . To realize that I was the victim of
what was apparently someone’s sick joke and constant lies was, and is,
painful and humiliating . . .
. . . To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship
and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick . . . In
retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything
good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when
they engage with people online than I was. (Burke & Dickey, 2013)
Te’o had apparently accepted the identity of a girlfriend named “Lennay Kekua.” In
the story, they met after a game and talked by telephone every night until she was in
a car crash and later died of leukemia. National sports media latched onto the lie,
and they repeatedly distributed it without checking. The university called it a
“troubling matter” that appeared to be “a sad and very cruel deception to entertain
its perpetrators.” Online communication is sometimes compromised by a lack of
authentic identity (Burke & Dickey, 2013).
30 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

Identity
Interpersonal communication researchers developed CMC as a way to describe the
digital nature of mediated online communication as it developed in the 1980s and
1990s

27

Figure 2.1 This book’s author held virtual classes in Second Life in 2008.

(Barnes, 2001; Negroponte, 1995; Turkle, 1995). In general, CMC addressed

identity formation, presentation, distribution and other issues. Each of us has an
online presence expressed by what we choose to share about others and ourselves.
This happens through continuous and ongoing interaction with others. Self-
presentation may be accurate in depiction or reflect virtual transportation to another
“place” or ideal.
CMC examines how identities and interaction sometimes produce online
communities. CMC may offer voice to groups seeking social change, cultural shifts
and even political power. In this sense, CMC is connected to the historical
development of the Internet as a revolutionary infrastructure that quickly spawned
numerous useful communication tools. CMC began as message bulletin board
systems (BBS) and email, and quickly grew through development of the World
Wide Web (WWW) in the 1990s.
Barnes (2003) was among those categorizing CMC as interpersonal
communication: “Internet interactivity occurs as interpersonal interactivity,
informational interactivity, and human-computer interaction (HCI)” (p. 1). This
approach includes everything from email to Web pages, and interactivity “supports
message interest and involvement,” as it “plays a central role in online social
dynamics and group communication” (pp. 20–21). What we consider as social is a
function of individual psychological development. “It’s the natural consequence of
having brains that were built to make sense of other brains and to understand
everyone’s place in the pecking order” (Lieberman, 2013, p. 302). CMC may also
assist individuals in presenting identity in a way
32 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

that seeks to be truthful (Bargh, 2002; Bargh & McKenna, 2004; Bargh,
McKenna, & Fitzsimons, 2002). The social process of human-Internet interaction
is found within social media communication.

Internet History
A 1960s military project called the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
(ARPANET) by the United States Department of Defense had a goal of
connecting the east and west coasts of the United States with instantaneous
computer communication. The earliest mainframe computers were at the
Pentagon and on university campuses across the nation, but the computer
networks did not connect. ARPANET demonstrated that data could be divided
into labeled packets, sent and then re-assembled, and this packet switching
model was also adopted as an efficient way to move messages on the Internet.
Early public systems, such as CompuServe, Prodigy, America Online and The
WELL began to connect non-military users across the country during the 1980s
and 1990s to telephone line dial-up chat rooms, information services and online
games. At the same time, early adopters began to develop simple web pages.
Some of the first online communities, such as Classmates.com, LiveJournal,
Friendster, MySpace and LinkedIn, developed the concept of user profiles that
contained personal information going beyond sharing an email address.
The concept of the SNS reflected the idea of extending interpersonal and face-
to-face (f2f ) networks into online spaces through creation of a personal profile
and development of connection lists on a platform that offered the capability to
view the activities of others and interact (Albarran, 2013; boyd & Ellison, 2008).
Within this broad framework, numerous functions emerged—from tagging and
sharing content to shopping and product reviews.
The basic idea was that people would have an interest in finding friends,
communicating with them and sharing information. By the time Facebook,
Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and other social networking sites had become
popular, social networking was a mainstream form of online communication.

Social Network Site Definitions

CMC happens within the broad context of SNS. These are defined as:
. . . web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or
semipublic profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other
users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their
list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature
and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site. (boyd &
Ellison, 2008, p. 211)
This SNS definition avoids the word “networking,” which may imply meeting
strangers through online interaction. Instead, “frequently” the emphasis is on
activating preexisting offline “latent” social “ties” (p. 211). For example,
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 33

Google’s Gmail is a SNS that connects usually identifiable users with others
across the Internet. Similarly, LinkedIn reconnects business contacts by offering
current work status and other information. Of
34 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

BOX 2.1 SOCIAL MEDIA FUNCTIONS AND SITES

Form Functions Examples
Blogging: Storytelling and WordPress, Personal Blogs
Commentary Blogger
Blogging: Storytelling and HuffingtonPost,
Professional Commentary Slate, Salon, Daily Kos
Blogging: Content Sharing Twitter, Tumblr,
Micro-blogs Pinterest, Weibo
Blogging: Content Storify, Telly, Story Aggregator Aggregator
Traditional News Content Sharing The New York Times,
CBS, AP,
ESPN
Social News Curating Reddit, Digg, Flipboard,
and Tagging
Fark, Delicious
Technology News Tech Trends Mashable, TechCrunch,
Gizmodo
Social Cultural Culture Sharing Buzzfeed, Cracked,
Upworthy
Social Celebrity Sharing TMZ, KnowYourMeme,
Entertainment LOLCATS
Wikis Collaborative Wikipedia, Wikia

Encyclopedia
Shopping and Consumer Amazon, Yelp,
Reviews Purchase Viewpoints
Social SNS Social Networking Facebook, Google+,
Snapchat
Business SNS Social Networking LinkedIn, MySpace,
Yammer
SNS Search Friend Crowdsourcing Jelly, Reddit
Photographs Photograph Sharing Flickr, Instagram
Audio: Voice Audio Sharing Soundcloud, Cinch,
Voxer
Audio: Music Music Listening Spotify, iTunes,
Spreaker
Video Video Sharing YouTube, Vimeo, Vine,
Tout
Video Streaming Live Video Ustream, Livestream,
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 35

Streamcast

Geolocation Location Based Foursquare, Waze,

Services (LBS) Find My Friends
Ga Social Words With Friends,
me Gaming Candy Crush Saga
s
Virtual Avatar Interaction Second Life, World
Reality (VR) of Warcraft, Minecraft
Dashboards Management and Hootsuite, Google
Measurement Analytics, Topsy, Klout

course, new connections also are made, but they tend to reflect nearby mutual
associations with other contacts.
What we call social networking happens within a cybercultural context (Bell,
2001; Benedikt, 1991). It is understood to frequently involve existing
interpersonal friendships that move into somewhat fluid online spaces (Gasser,
2008; Berger, 2005). These global communities have varying levels of media
richness (Williams, Caplan, & Xiong, 2007), and potential ambiguity in terms of
self-disclosure and other psychological variables (Ramirez, 2007; Bernie &
Horvath, 2006). It is not that the Internet is anonymous, but rather that identity
can be altered. Some social media communication sites, such as Twitter, make it
easier for a user to maintain an anonymous profile. Discussion boards, messaging
and video conferencing sites offer highly interactive opportunities for user
communication. At the same time, a user may broadcast produced messages
through blogs, video blogs (vlogs), podcasts and other means.
Some of these are incredibly popular. The “vlogbrothers,” created by brothers
John (@realjohngreen) and Hank (@HankGreen) Green, began as a way to talk to
each other and grew to over one million YouTube subscribers. It is about
“nothing in particular, but the brothers share humorous exchanges to their
followers, known as ‘Nerdfighters.’ ” Their regular video posts attract hundreds
of thousands of views.
Online users also enter virtual spaces through graphical or gaming
environments hosted on SNS platforms. Of particular importance, an online user
may have a virtual connection with others that mimics the feeling of travel to
another location, such as with the Second Life site. Within virtual environments,
teams may be able to collaborate online and need only limited face-to-face
interaction. Common SNS characteristics include (boyd & Ellison, 2008, pp. 211–
221):

• Profile user pages, which may include demographic and psychographic

descriptions
• Relationships displayed as friends, followers, fans, contacts or other labels
• Public connection displays, which are a form of “impression management”
• Types of “self-presentation” that serve as “identity markers”
36 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

• Varying degrees of privacy through site and user settings

The early adoption of online communication tools was a foundation for

development of social networks and broader use of social media. The study of
how individuals interact in social settings has been the focus of research for more
than 50 years. Tubbs and Moss (1983), for example, traced investigations in the
nature of “popular” or “overchosen” and “unpopular” or isolated people (pp. 108–
109). In describing social interaction between popular and unpopular people, they
diagrammed through the “sociogram” how positive traits, such as enthusiasm and
maturity, may be related to judgments about “sincerity” of another’s conversation
(p. 110). Information theory and models emphasize flow of messages through
channels. The perception of communication depends upon situations, context and
social conditions (Cole, 2003; Severin & Tankard, 2001; Bourdieu & Coleman,
1991). Heider’s balance theory and Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory from
the 1950s have been related to social judgment (Milburn, 1991). Burnett and
Marshall (2003) linked communication models to Internet discussion:
At the very core of the meaning of the Web is linkage and connection: it is
fundamentally about modes of communication and presenting possibilities
about how those modes might intersect. Thus the Web is simultaneously a
massmediated and one-to-one form of communication. It is a site of
incredible cultural consumption and cultural production and makes it
harder to establish the boundary between these two activities. (p. 59)
CMC, then, depends upon online identity. Burnett and Marshall (2003) contend
that “shifting boundaries” are moved by such factors as anonymity, language,
narcissism and gender (pp. 78–80). Although users sometimes assume they are
anonymous, as with memes posted on the mobile Whisper app, packet switching
and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses guarantee that the original source of a
message can be tracked and traced by government entities and others.
Within these contexts, social media communication may be observed and
represented through visual graphs. Twitter users, for example, may be analyzed to
identify “visual patterns found within linked entities” (Hansen, Shneiderman, &
Smith, 2011, p. 32). Researchers have proposed and developed methods for
analysis of structure and grouping of categories and clusters within a social
network. One model is called GroupIn-A-Box (GIB):
One particularly important aspect of social network analysis is the
detection of communities, i.e., sub-groups of individuals or entities that
exhibit tight interconnectivity among the other wider population. For
example, Twitter users who regularly re-tweet each other’s messages may
form cohesive groups within the Twitter social network. In a network
visualization they would appear as clusters or sub-graphs, often colored
distinctly or represented by a different vertex shape in order to convey
their group identity. (Rodrigues, Milic-Frayling, Smith, Shneiderman, &
Hansen, 2011, para. 2)
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 37

Some researchers call the network graph that is produced by analysis software a
“sociogram,” which has “vertices (also called nodes or agents) and edges (also
called ties or connections)” (Hansen, Shneiderman, & Smith, 2011, p. 33). In
social network analyses, lines in social space connect Twitter users. The maps
represent the center of a group of people and the core of a network.
Network analyses are grounded in nearly 300 years of study in graph theory. In
modern terms, “It is often useful to consider social networks from an individual
member’s point of view” (Hansen, Shneiderman, & Smith, 2011, p. 36). News
and information diffuse either from one point to another, or from one point to
many other points, and these may be visually displayed through computer-
generated mapping. As early as the 1930s, researchers were developing hand-
drawn “pictures of patterns of people and their partners” (p. 38). This theoretical
perspective has influenced the modern study of relationships. For example,
Heaney and McClurg (2009) applied social works to the study of American
politics. They found social networks useful in understanding information flow, as
well as collaboration within political organizations.
Garton, Haythornthwaite and Wellman (1997) describe social network analysts
as examining relations:
They treat the description of relational patterns as interesting in its own right—
e.g., is there a core and periphery?—and examine how involvement in such
social networks helps to explain the behavior and attitudes of network
members . . . They use a variety of techniques to discover a network’s
densely-knit clusters and to look for similar role relations. (para. 3)
Communication theory also has been concerned with how networks relate to
personal influence. Cooley (1909/1966) identified four factors: expressiveness,
permanence, swiftness and diffusion of communication; he viewed the extension
of messages as “enlargement” and “animation” (pp. 149–159).
Social contacts are extended in space and quickened in time, and in the
same degree the mental unity they imply becomes wider and more alert.
The individual is broadened by coming into relation with a larger and more
various life, and he is kept stirred up, sometimes to express, by the
multitude of changing suggestions which this life brings to him. (p. 150)
Baran and Davis (2006) suggested that influence of opinion leaders may be
understood through similar interests and social stratification of leaders and their
followers. At the same time, however, the shift from interpersonal to mediated
communication is likely to reduce feedback as people orient within a social
network (Westley & MacLean, 1957). Influence may disperse from the center of a
social network. This influence often accelerates when a leader is “stimulating”
what have been called “virtual communities” (Koh, Kim, Butler, & Bock, 2007,
p. 70). In order to be sustainable, the researchers contend that four principles must
exist: clear purpose/vision, clear member role definition, moderator leadership,
38 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

and online/offline events (p. 70–71). Events, in fact, play a key role in
strengthening member identification within a social network.
In one pilot study by our Omaha research team, an event demonstrated that a
local conference may have a reach that extends well beyond about 400 registered
participants. This may produce a relatively large and complex social network, in
this case with an international reach on Twitter of about 96,000 users. At the
center of the social network for the technology conference were its organizers, as
reflected through the @Omaha101010 account, the @unomaha campus account,
and the @cariador social media director’s account. Five conference panelists were
among the top ten participants within the social network. Online, some
participants may take on the role of opinion leader, but others outside of the event
may also play important roles through tweeting and re-tweeting to their followers.
The leaders at the center of the Twitter social network were seen as key in
spreading the conference message beyond those at the site by bridging to other
users. Participants at the center of a social network link both to opinion leaders
external to the conference as well as directly to the more casual followers.
In our second test of social networking, a college hockey game produced a
singular network of over one thousand Twitter participants. The event sponsor, a
university athletic department, had its @OMavs Twitter account near the center
of the social network. In this social network, the center was more dispersed than
the technology conference. Instead, this social network took on the characteristics
of a large mass media audience in which members were communicating with each
other instead of those media at the center. Within a large social network, there
tend to be user clusters. Although the athletic department was near the center of
the network, they were displaced from the core by some local media and hockey
boosters. A media cluster involving three local newspapers and a local television
station were among those Twitter accounts at the social network center. The
hockey game, with its thousands in attendance, also had Twitter followers beyond
the arena obtaining information from media sources and interacting with fans.
In contrast, the 2011 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication (AEJMC) international conference of journalism educators in St.
Louis is an example of a tightly clustered social network. The existence of social
relationships produced a social network map that resembled a smaller version of
the technology conference example. At the center were a majority of the 81
participants. A small group of educators emerged as most central to the larger
social network. The sponsoring organization was at the center of the social
network, along with other very active Twitter users and researchers focused on
online studies.
Social network analyses continue to evolve as scholars refine methods (Butts,
2008). In particular, the methods used to define social network centrality and
boundaries are open to discussion. As additional events are analyzed, it should be
possible to begin to predict participation behavior (Howard, 2008; Wright, 2011).
Early communication studies demonstrated an understanding about group
behavior, sharing, socialization, entertainment, and following (Schramm, 1972).
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 39

Social networks have introduced new communication questions about leadership,

behavior, and online social influence (Huffaker, 2010; Greenhow & Robelia,
2009). Researchers need to extend existing communication theories to the social
networking landscape. By performing future systematic content analyses of
language used in online interaction, it may be possible to discover emerging
patterns of interaction and engagement. Such research should strengthen
understanding about the nature of popularity, social isolation, opinion diffusion
and social network leadership.

Interaction
At the heart of the social media communication shift is the desire to use the online
network to connect with others and broaden social networks. Since the beginning
of the change in the 1990s, there has been tension between the desire of
governments to regulate online interaction and those that see the Internet as
fundamentally different. John Perry Barlow (@JPBarlow), who once wrote music
lyrics for the Grateful Dead and joined The WELL (an early online community in
the 1980s), helped define the independent attitude of users through his writings.
Following passage of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, Barlow
responded with A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, distributed via
email.
40 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

BOX 2.2 A DECLARATION OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF CYBERSPACE

Date: Fri, 9 Feb 1996 17:16:35 +0100
To: [email protected]
From: John Perry Barlow <[email protected]>
Subject: A Cyberspace Independence Declaration
Yesterday, that great invertebrate in the White House
signed into the law the Telecom “Reform” Act of 1996,
while Tipper Gore took digital photographs of the
proceedings to be included in a book called “24 Hours in
Cyberspace.”
I had also been asked to participate in the creation of
this book by writing something appropriate to the
moment. Given the atrocity that this legislation would
seek to inflict on the Net, I decided it was as good a
time as any to dump some tea in the virtual harbor.
After all, the Telecom “Reform” Act, passed in the
Senate with only 5 dissenting votes, makes it unlawful,
and punishable by a $250,000 to say “shit” online. Or,
for that matter, to say any of the other 7 dirty words
prohibited in broadcast media. Or to discuss abortion
openly. Or to talk about any bodily function in any but
the most clinical terms.
It attempts to place more restrictive constraints on the
conversation in Cyberspace than presently exist in the
Senate cafeteria, where I have dined and heard colorful
indecencies spoken by United States senators on every
occasion I did.
This bill was enacted upon us by people who haven’t the
slightest idea who we are or where our conversation is
being conducted. It is, as my good friend and Wired
Editor Louis Rossetto put it, as though “the illiterate
could tell you what to read.” Well, fuck them.
Or, more to the point, let us now take our leave of
them. They have declared war on Cyberspace. Let us show
them how cunning, baffling, and powerful we can be in
our own defense.
I have written something (with characteristic
grandiosity) that I hope will become one of many means
to this end. If you find it useful, I hope you will pass
it on as widely as possible. You can leave my name off
it if you like, because I don’t care about the credit. I
really don’t.

(continued )
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 41

But I do hope this cry will echo across Cyberspace,

changing and growing and self-replicating, until it
becomes a great shout equal to the idiocy they have just
inflicted upon us.
I give you . . .
A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace
Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of
flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of
Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to
leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have
no sovereignty where we gather.
We have no elected government, nor are we likely to have
one, so I address you with no greater authority than
that with which liberty itself always speaks. I declare
the global social space we are building to be naturally
independent of the tyrannies you seek to impose on us.
You have no moral right to rule us nor do you possess
any methods of enforcement we have true reason to fear.
Governments derive their just powers from the consent of
the governed. You have neither solicited nor received
ours. We did not invite you. You do not know us, nor do
you know our world. Cyberspace does not lie within your
borders. Do not think that you can build it, as though
it were a public construction project. You cannot. It is
an act of nature and it grows itself through our
collective actions.
You have not engaged in our great and gathering
conversation, nor did you create the wealth of our
marketplaces. You do not know our culture, our ethics,
or the unwritten codes that already provide our society
more order than could be obtained by any of your
impositions.
You claim there are problems among us that you need to
solve. You use this claim as an excuse to invade our
precincts. Many of these problems don’t exist. Where
there are real conflicts, where there are wrongs, we
will identify them and address them by our means. We are
forming our own Social Contract. This governance will
arise according to the conditions of our world, not
yours. Our world is different.
Cyberspace consists of transactions, relationships, and
thought itself, arrayed like a standing wave in the web
of our communications.
Ours is a world that is both everywhere and nowhere, but
it is not where bodies live. We are creating a world that
42 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by

race, economic power, military force, or station of
birth.
We are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may
express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular,
without fear of being coerced into silence or
conformity.
Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity,
movement, and context do not apply to us. They are based
on matter, There is no matter here.
Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot
obtain order by physical coercion. We believe that from
ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonweal,
our governance will emerge. Our identities may be
distributed across many of your jurisdictions. The only
law that all our constituent cultures would generally
recognize is the Golden Rule. We hope we will be able to
build our particular solutions on that basis. But we
cannot accept the solutions you are attempting to
impose.
In the United States, you have today created a law, the
Telecommunications Reform Act, which repudiates your own
Constitution and insults the dreams of Jefferson,
Washington, Mill, Madison, DeToqueville, and Brandeis.
These dreams must now be born anew in us.
You are terrified of your own children, since they are
natives in a world where you will always be immigrants.
Because you fear them, you entrust your bureaucracies
with the parental responsibilities you are too cowardly
to confront yourselves. In our world, all the sentiments
and expressions of humanity, from the debasing to the
angelic, are parts of a seamless whole, the global
conversation of bits. We cannot separate the air that
chokes from the air upon which wings beat.
In China, Germany, France, Russia, Singapore, Italy and
the United States, you are trying to ward off the virus
of liberty by erecting guard posts at the frontiers of
Cyberspace. These may keep out the contagion for a small
time, but they will not work in a world that will soon
be blanketed in bit-bearing media.
Your increasingly obsolete information industries would
perpetuate themselves by proposing laws, in America and
elsewhere, that claim to own speech itself throughout
the world. These laws would declare ideas to be another
industrial product, no more noble than pig iron. In our
world, whatever the human mind may create can be
reproduced
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 43

(continued )
and distributed infinitely at no cost. The global
conveyance of thought no longer requires your factories
to accomplish.
These increasingly hostile and colonial measures place
us in the same position as those previous lovers of
freedom and self-determination who had to reject the
authorities of distant, uninformed powers. We must
declare our virtual selves immune to your sovereignty,
even as we continue to consent to your rule over our
bodies. We will spread ourselves across the Planet so
that no one can arrest our thoughts.
We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace.
May it be more humane and fair than the world your
governments have made before. Davos, Switzerland
February 8, 1996
*************************************************
John Perry Barlow, Cognitive Dissident Co-Founder,
Electronic Frontier Foundation Home(stead) Page:
www.eff.org/~barlow
Message Service: 800/634–3542
Barlow in Meatspace Today (until Feb 12): Cannes, France
Hotel Martinez: (33) 92 98 73 00, Fax: (33) 93 39 67 82
Coming soon to: Amsterdam 2/13–14, Winston-Salem 2/15,
San Francisco 2/16–20, San Jose 2/21, San Francisco
2/21–23,
Pinedale, Wyoming
In Memoriam, Dr. Cynthia Horner and Jerry Garcia
*************************************************
It is error alone which needs the support of government.
Truth can stand by itself.
—Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia

Source: Barlow, J. P. (1996). A Cyberspace Independence Declaration. http://w2.eff.

org/Censorship/Internet_censorship_bills/barlow_0296.declaration

Barlow suggested that governments should have “no sovereignty” over

“cyberspace” and its users: “On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave
us alone.” This idealistic view of online life attempted to separate it from the
physical world and its limitations. Still, Barlow’s Electronic Frontier
44 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

Foundation (EFF) since the 1990s has remained active in fighting government
regulation and intrusion, such as the National Security Agency (NSA) collection
of online and telephone data.
Another CMC pioneer, Howard Rheingold (@HRheingold), observed that
virtual communities involve creation of social groups and relationships over time:
“You can’t kiss anybody and nobody can punch you in the nose, but a lot can
happen within those boundaries” (Rheingold, 1993, p. 3). Rheingold, also an early
member of The WELL, imported 1960s hippie culture into online, Web and social
media communication.
CMC involves social experimentation: “Social isolation becomes a difficult
proposition for any contemporary community” ( Jones, 1998, p. 17). It is often
assumed that computers “break down boundaries” or “break down hierarchies” in
cyberspace: “And yet computers can just as easily create boundaries and
hierarchies” (p. 27). When it comes to social media communication, individuals
present themselves online, and use constructed identity for impression
management in relationships. “Social networking sites, such as Facebook, are
particularly interesting to communication researchers because they are dedicated
specifically to forming and managing impressions, as well as engaging in
relational maintenance and relationship-seeking behaviors” (Rosenberg & Egbert,
2011, p. 2).

Community
Online community emerges from the development of individual social identities
and realistic relationships between people (Bugeja, 2005; Lindlof & Taylor, 2002;
Raacke & Bonds-Raacke, 2008). Chen and Persson (2002) found that older
Internet users tended to score higher on measures of personal growth and life
purpose. “In a sense, older Internet users were more like young adults than non-
users” (p. 741). That is, people spending time online share common
characteristics that separate them from those less likely to participate. Social
media communication platforms create symbolic environments in which
metaphors, such as the Facebook “wall” or the Pinterest “board,” construct shared
meaning and understanding. Mediated interpersonal communication develops
when online communication begins to function as it would in a face-to-face
environment. Individual relationships are unique, interdependent and rich with
sharing and disclosure. Social media tend to emphasize sharing more than
disclosure. When people say that there is a need for more engagement within
social media, they may not understand that stronger relationships are built upon
transparency.

Diffusion of New Ideas

The adoption and spread of new ideas, new technologies and new practices follow
somewhat predictable patterns. Although the United States experienced dramatic
growth of Internet and social media communication technologies over two
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 45

decades, diffusion is uneven, and much of the world is slower to change (Bargh &
McKenna, 2004). At the same time, however, in India, China and other rapidly
developing countries, adoption of computers, mobile media and social media
communication has advanced quickly in recent years. Rogers’ (1995) model has
been used to study change within a variety of contexts. It labels types of adopters
within categories and allows us to track diffusion using a S-shaped curve over
time. Social media communication began with adoption of personal, home
computers that were relatively simple to use, offered increasing computing power
and were priced less expensively over time: “home computers became more user
friendly, and their rate of adoption rose gradually” (Rogers, 1995, p. 243).
Internet and social media users tend to be early adopters of an innovative
communication technology. The adoption process involves five major stages:
awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and then adoption (Lowery & DeFleur, 1995,
p. 128). Rogers’ model proposed five groups that roughly fit a normal curve
distribution.

BOX 2.3 THE DIFFUSION MODEL

• Innovators: the earliest people experimenting with the change (2.5%).
• Early adopters: those swayed by the innovators to jump on board of what is
obviously a new trend (13.5%).
• Early majority: the first wave of mass appeal (34%).
• Late majority: the last wave of mass appeal (34%).
• Laggards: the remaining people who are either slow to come to the change, or
resist it entirely (16%)

Source: Lowery, S. A., & DeFleur, M. L. (1995). Milestones in Mass Communication Research,
Media Effects, third edition. White Plains, NY: Longman, p. 130.

Uses and Gratifications

Social media offer a nearly unlimited range of potential uses, and these may or
may not meet user expectations for new need gratification (Sundar & Limperos,
2013). Large amounts of time online have been shown to increase overall
satisfaction: “For those individuals who spend less time on the Internet, the
supportive relationships may be perceived as too insignificant to exhibit costs or
rewards” (Wright, 2000, p. 115). While social media offer the hope of breaking
down traditional social barriers, communication theory suggests that this was not
the case with use of traditional mass media: “Open and easy communication as a
basis for social solidarity between peoples becomes more difficult because of
social differentiation, impersonality and distrust due to psychological alienation,
the breakdown of meaningful social ties, and increasing anomie among the
members” (Lowery & DeFleur, 1995, p. 12). In a sense, social media are the
current test for our ability to create meaningful online communities, relationships
and social movements.
46 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

Online communication also follows traditional media use patterns in terms of

motivations. People use CMC for information about the world around them,
relaxation, entertainment, excitement, and as an escape from the stresses of daily
life (Perse & Dunn, 1995). Early research offered clues as to why social media
has emerged, as national surveys found that computer use was connected with
friends and family activities, a vehicle to avoid loneliness and development of
new habits. A 2011 Edelman U.S. national survey also confirmed that a majority
view social media as entertainment, with a whopping 70% doing so among 18- to
29-year-olds.
One concern is the willingness of people to speak out about issues while
online. Yun and Park (2011) considered the potential for there to be fear of
isolation, as suggested by the spiral of silence (Noelle-Neumann, 1984) media
theory:
Since online forums technically guarantee anonymity, there is no reason
for participants to experience the fear of isolation. However, it appears that
it is inevitable for human beings to have a certain degree of fear of
isolation whether online or offline. It is possible that people may bring
their norms and habits of offline social interaction to their online
communications. A difference in the level of the trait fear of isolation was
also observed between message posters and lurkers. People with low fear
of isolation were more likely to post a message than people with high fear
of isolation. (p. 216)
CMC has explored the influence of media technology in creating interaction,
online communities and a sense of identity for various groups (Barnes, 2001).
Personal and family web usage allows people to share information over great
distances (Barnes, 2003). Ferguson and Perse (2000) suggested that the Web was
becoming a functional alternative to TV for many.
Media technology uses (Pavlik, 1996) and gratifications (Lin, 1993), address
the cultural importance (Stevenson, 1995) of cyberculture, online communities
and individual identities (du Gay, Evans, & Redman, 2000; Bell, 2001). Social
media communication represents an evolution of individual, social and cultural
desires to connect with new people.
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 47

BOX 2.4 THOUGHT LEADER LILI BOSSE

Social media played a significant role when I ran for
office, as it was a fabulous no-cost method of reaching
my constituents with my message. I currently use it as a
way to let residents know what is happening in our city
on a daily basis. It allows for me to be accessible, which
is very important to me as an elected official.
The biggest issue ahead is the balance of private and
public life as an elected official. With social media now,
everything is public. The challenge will be how to be an
effective leader by being very transparent and open,
however balancing the importance of one’s personal and
private life will be the challenge.
Figure 2.2
The largest opportunity will be reaching more and
@LiliBosse1.
more people by providing an easy way to be an
Photograph by Vince
accessible and open communicator. Social Bucci, courtesy Lili Bosse.

(continued )
media is the most effective tool to reach a whole new younger voting demographic
and allows for transparency and the ability to create back-and-forth dialogue
between the constituents and public officials.
Lili Bosse is leading Beverly Hills as mayor during the city’s Centennial year. She
previously served as vice mayor and city council member since 2011. She also
served on the Beverly Hills Planning Commission, Fine Art Commission, and Traffic
and Parking Commission. Bosse, a Rotary Club member, has been active on
community education and religious boards. [email protected]

Online Culture and Power

Social media communication happens within a cultural context of values, ritual
and even “chaos” (Carey, 1992, p. 34). Carey theorized that words reshape “our
common culture” (p. 35), and the emerging social media culture is full of new
words and developing social relationships. While some use social media in an
effort to maintain existing power, others use it to try to grab new power. Social
media extend the shifting emphasis toward the importance of communication
“through which experience is described, shared, modified, and preserved”
(Williams, 1966, p. 18). Media technology uses narrative storytelling techniques
to make sense of practices within communities. Within this context, Stevenson
(1995) suspected that new communication tools functioned in the service of
socially reproducing status quo rather than real change. In the context of social
media communication, there is an ongoing fear that virtual spaces confuse reality,
representing myth and ritual as truth.
48 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

CMC and Social Media

Computer-mediated communication began with interest decades ago in discussion
boards and email communication. The earliest concerns related to CMC as a tool
to recreate communities of interest online, as well as its limitations. CMC did not
offer communication that was as rich as face-to-face communication, and the lack
of understanding resulted in negative experiences, such as “flame war” online
fights. CMC, though, also allowed people to overcome physical and
psychological limitations (Amichai-Hamburger, Wainapel, & Fox, 2002). Some
negative communication consequences, however, have been related to a
preference for online social interaction, psychosocial depression, loneliness and
problematic Internet use (Caplan, 2003). Research has supported the idea that
“. . . preference for online socialization is a key contributor to the development of
problematic Internet use,” and there appeared to be “a significant relationship
between psychosocial health and preference for online socialization” (p. 638). In
other words, CMC is a tool that may lead people with problems to take these into
online environments, rather than, as is often assumed, the negative effects being
caused by online usage.
In the case of so-called massively multiplayer online (MMOs) games, research
has studied the boundaries between game play and life in the formation and
maintenance of relationships and romance (Huynh, Lim, & Skoric, 2013): “The
typology of players differentiated by their construction of the play/life boundary
indicates that they are active participants in creating and appraising the play
experience and determining how it should be transformed” (p. 261).
CMC also helps us understand the spread of Internet memes, which are
“commonly applied to describe the propagation of content items such as jokes,
rumors, videos, or websites from one person to others” and “may spread in its
original form, but it often also spawns user-created derivatives” (Shifman, 2013,
p. 362). Readers may be familiar with the use of memes on social media sites,
such as Facebook. Shifman (2013), drawing from Richard Dawkins’ 1976
invention of the term as linked to “melodies” and “catch-phrases,” sees memes as
“abstract beliefs” (p. 363). In a process similar to genetic evolution, memes are
thought to compete for attention through imitation and iteration (pp. 364–365):

1. Memes are “understood as cultural information that passes along from

person to person, yet gradually scales into a shared social phenomenon.”
2. They “reproduce by various means of imitation.”
3. They are interesting because of “their diffusion through competition and
selection.”

Although online users have freedom, research indicates the existence of cultural
boundaries. “This pattern suggests that the ostensibly chaotic world (wide web)
may in fact follow more organized cultural trajectories than meets the eye” (p.
372).
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 49

A paradox may be found within social media that they may have both a
tendency to trigger silence on controversial issues, but users also may feel
liberated to express opinions (Gearhart & Zhang, 2014). Spiral of silence theory,
which suggests people assess climate of opinion before responding, appears to be
active within online public opinion. Gearhart and Zhang (2014) recently
discovered that on social media sites—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube
—experiments reveal monitoring behavior:
Practitioners should note that seemingly nonactive users are actively
engaged in this medium by observing the SNS opinion climate. SNS users
in the current study demonstrate this by indicating that although they may
not publicly comment themselves, they would read the comments in both
conditions and some indicate they would tell others offline about the
situation. Further, no groups are more likely to ignore the story and
comments completely. Practitioners should consider this form of
engagement when developing new methods of interaction and/or methods
of user tracking in this medium. (p. 16)
CMC helps us to better understand online communication and the foundations of
social media. It also is a framework for understanding social media application in
fields, such as journalism, public relations, advertising and marketing.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How has CMC influenced the way we form relationships? How may it blur
the lines between reality and fantasy?
2. How would a visualization of your social networks depict communication
patterns and relationships? How could this be used to influence future online
behavior?
3. Describe your favorite Internet meme: Why do you like it? How does it
transfer cultural understandings from one person to another?
References
Albarran, A. B. (2013). Introduction. In Alan B. Albarran (Ed.) The Social Media
Industries, pp. 1–15. New York, NY: Routledge.
Amichai-Hamburger, A., Wainapel, G., & Fox, S. (2002). On the Internet No One Knows
I’m an Introvert: Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Internet Interaction. CyberPsychology
& Behavior 5(2), 125–128.
Baran, S. J., & Davis, D. (2006). Mass Communication Theory, fourth edition. Belmont,
CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Bargh, J. (2002). Beyond Simple Truths: The Human-Internet Interaction. Journal of
Social Issues, 58(1), 1–8.
Bargh, J., & McKenna, K. (2004). The Internet and Social Life. Annual Review of
Psychology 55(1), 573–590.
Bargh, J., McKenna, K., & Fitzsimons, G. (2002). Can You See the Real Me? Activation
and Expression of the “True Self” on the Internet. Journal of Social Issues 58(1), 33–
48.
50 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

Barlow, J. P. (1996). A Cyberspace Independence Declaration.

http://w2.eff.org/Censorship/ Internet_censorship_bills/barlow_0296.declaration
Barnes, S. B. (2001). Online Connections: Internet Interpersonal Relationship. Cresskill,
NJ: Hampton Press.
Barnes, S. B. (2003). Computer-Mediated Communication, Human-to-Human
Communication Across the Internet. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Bell, D. (2001). An Introduction to Cybercultures. London, UK: Routledge.
Benedikt, M. (1991). Cyberspace: Some Proposals. In M. Benedikt (Ed.), Cyberspace:
First Steps, pp. 119–124. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Press.
Berger, C. (2005). Interpersonal Communication: Theoretical Perspectives, Future
Prospects. Journal of Communication 55(3), 415–447.
Bernie, S., & Horvath, P. (2006, June). Psychological Predictors of Internet Social
Communication. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 7(4).
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/10.1111/j.1083–6101.2002.tb00154.x/full
Bourdieu, P., & Coleman, J. S. (1991). Social Theory for a Changing Society. Boulder,
CO: Westview Press.
boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History and
Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1), 210–230.
Bugeja, M. (2005). Interpersonal Divide. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Burke, T., &. Dickey, J. (2013, January 16). Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend, The Most
Heartbreaking and Inspirational Story of the College Football Season, Is a Hoax.
Deadspin. http:// deadspin.com/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-an-
5976517
Burnett, R., & Marshall, P. D. (2003). Web Theory: An Introduction. London, UK:
Routledge.
Butts, C. T. (2008). Social Network Analysis: A Methodological Introduction. Asian
Journal of Social Psychology 11, 13–41.
Caplan, S. (2003). Preference for Online Social Interaction: A Theory of Problematic
Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being. Communication Research 30(6), 625–648.
Carey, J. W. (1992). Communication as Culture, Essays on Media and Society. New York,
NY: Routledge.
Chen, Y., & Persson, A. (2002). Internet Use Among Young and Older Adults: Relation
to Psychological Well-Being. Educational Gerontology 28(9), 731–744.
Cole, J. I. (2003). The UCLA Internet report, Surveying the Digital Future, Year Three.
Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Communication Policy. www.ccpa.ucla.edu
Cooley, C. H. (1909/1966). The Significance of Communication. In B. Berelson & M.
Janowitz (Eds.), Reader in Public Opinion and Communication, second edition, pp.
147–155. New York: Free Press.
du Gay, P., Evans, J., & Redman, P. (Eds.) (2000). Identity: A Reader. London, UK: Sage.
Ferguson, D. A., & Perse, E. M. (2000). The World Wide Web as a Functional Alternative
to Television. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 44(2), 155–174.
Garton, L., Haythornthwaite, C., & Wellman, B. (1997, June). Studying Online Social
Networks. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(1).
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/10.1111/j.1083–6101.1997.tb00062.x/full
Gasser, H. (2008). Being Multiracial in a Wired Society: Using the Internet to Define
Identity and Community on Campus. New Direction for Student Services 23, 63–71.
 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES 51

Gearhart, S., & Zhang, W. (2014). Gay Bullying and Online Opinion Expression: Testing
Spiral of Silence in the Social Media Environment. Social Science Computer Review
32(1), 18–36.
Greenhow, C., & Robelia, B. (2009, July). Old Communication, New Literacies: Social
Network Sites as Social Learning Resources. Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication, 14(4), 1130–1161.
Hansen, D. L., Shneiderman, B., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Analyzing Social Media
Networks with NodeXL. Burlington, MA: Elsevier.
Heaney, M. T., & McClurg, S. D. (2009, September). Social Networks and American
Politics. American Politics Research, 37(5), 727–741.
Howard, B. (2008, November). Analyzing Online Social Networks. Communications of
the ACM, 51(11), 14–16.
Huffaker, D. (2010, October). Dimensions of Leadership and Social Influence in Online
Communities. Human Communication Research, 36(4), 593–617.
Huynh, K. P., Lim, S. W., & Skoric, M. M. (2013). Stepping Out of the Magic Circle:
Regulation of Play/Life Boundary in MMO-Mediated Romantic Relationship. Journal
of ComputerMediated Communication 18(3), 251–264.
Jones, S. G. (1998). Cybersociety 2.0, Revisiting Computer-Mediated Communication and
Community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Koh, J., Kim, Y.-G., Butler, B., & Bock, G.-W. (2007, February). Encouraging
Participation in Virtual Communities. Communications of the ACM, 50(2), 69–73.
Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social, Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect. New York, NY:
Crown Publishers.
Lin, C. A. (1993). Adolescent Viewing and Gratifications in a New Media Environment.
Mass Comm Review 20(1–2), 39–50.
Lindlof, T., & Taylor, B. (2002). Qualitative Communication Research Methods.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lowery, S. A., & DeFleur, M. L. (1995). Milestones in Mass Communication Research,
Media Effects, third edition. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Milburn, M. A. (1991). Persuasion and Politics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Negroponte, N. (1995). Being Digital. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Noelle-Neumann, E. (1984). The Spiral of Silence, Public Opinion – Our Social Skin.
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Pavlik, J. V. (1996). New Media Technology, Cultural and Commercial Perspectives.
Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Perse, E. M., & Dunn, D. G. (1995). The Utility of Home Computers: Impact of
Multimedia and Connectivity. Paper presented to the Association for Education in
Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, DC, August.
Raacke, J., & Bonds-Raacke, J. (2008). Myspace and Facebook: Applying the Uses and
Gratifications Theory to Exploring Friend-Networking Sites. CyberPsychology &
Behavior, 11(2), 169–174.
Ramirez, A. (2007). The Effect of Anticipated Future Interaction and Initial Impression
Valence on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction.
Communication Studies, 58(1), 53–70.
Rheingold, H. (1993). The Virtual Community. Ontario: Addison-Wesley.
Rodrigues, E. M., Milic-Frayling, N., Smith, M., Shneiderman, B., & Hansen, D. (2011).
GroupIn-A-Box Layout for Multi-Faceted Analysis of Communities.
http://hcil.cs.umd.edu/trs/2011– 24/2011–24.pdf
52 CMC, DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL THEORIES

Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of Innovations, fourth edition. New York, NY: Free Press.
Rosenberg, J., & Egbert, N. (2011). Online Impression Management: Personality Traits
and Concerns for Secondary Goals as Predictors of Self-Presentation Tactics on
Facebook. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 17(1), 1–18.
Schramm, W. (1972). Nature of Communication Between Humans. In W. Schramm & D.
F. Roberts (Eds.), The Process and Effects of Mass Communication, revised edition,
pp. 8–32. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Severin, W. J., & Tankard, Jr., J. W. (2001). Communication Theories, fifth edition. New
York, NY: Longman.
Shifman, L. (2013). Memes in a Digital World: Reconciling with a Conceptual
Troublemaker. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 18(3), 362–377.
Sonderman, J. (2013, January 17). Notre Dame Football Player Te’o Girlfriend Hoax
“Became Truth through the Media.” Poynter.
www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/200919/notre- dame-football-player-teo-
girlfriend-hoax-became-truth-through-the-media/
Stevenson, N. (1995). Understanding Media Cultures, Social Theory and Mass
Communication. London, UK: Sage.
Sundar, S. S., & Limperos, A. M. (2013). Uses and Grats 2.0: New Gratifications for New
Media. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 57(4), 504–525.
Tubbs, S. T., & Moss, S. (1983). Human Communication, fourth edition. New York, NY:
Random House.
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Simon
and Schuster.
Westley, B. H., & MacLean, Jr., M. S. (1957). A Conceptual Model for Communications
Research. Journalism Quarterly, 34(1), 31–28.
Williams, D., Caplan, S., & Xiong, L. (2007). Can You Hear Me Now? The Impact of
Voice in an Online Gaming Community. Human Communication Research, 33(4),
427–499.
Williams, R. (1966). Communications. London: Chatto & Windus.
Wright, A. (2011, May). Web Science Meets Network Science. Communications of the
ACM, 54(5), 23.
Wright, K. (2000). Computer-Mediated Social Support, Older Adults, and Coping.
Journal of Communication 50(3), 100–118.
Yun, G. W., & Park, S.-Y. (2011). Selective Posting: Willingness to Post a Message
Online.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 16(2), 201–227.
3 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

“Journalism is meant to give people a true sense of their world, so they can
participate and have a voice in how their world is structured.”
—Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff, 2013)

As president and editor in chief of The Huffington Post and its media group,
Arianna Huffington has been at the forefront of redefining journalism through an
online business model. When asked to define journalism by Columbia Journalism
Review (CJR), Huffington was not alone in moving beyond the traditional who,
what, when, where, why and how listing of questions. Alexander Jutkowitz
(@GroupSJR), Group SJR managing partner, said that the digital age affords
people and organizations a way to share:
Journalism happens when someone tells a compelling true story. Period.
The practice need not be limited to an elite group of professionals called
“journalists,” but those who attempt it must tell great stories and share
knowledge. A tongue-in-cheek essay, an infographic that makes a
complicated topic instantly accessible, or an in-depth piece of reporting
that teaches, inspires, or reveals— all of these things make people smarter
and better able to navigate the world. That, in turn, makes societies better.
(CJR, 2013, para. 2)
David Cohn (@Digidave), editor of mobile news startup Circa, added that social
media may be considered a buzz word because traditional media also were social:
“To be a journalist is to collect, filter, and distribute information that serves as
social glue for a community” (para. 16).
Journalism is changing because of the use of social media and rapid mobile
media adoption. The social media shift is impacting all aspects of the industry—
from the newsroom to advertising and management. For content managers at
newspapers, for example, content management systems (CMS) increasingly
make it easier to share news content across traditional and social media platforms.
Facebook has been a popular tool for news sharing, but Twitter continues to
grow. News managers, armed with the latest industry data, urge reporters to not
only share links to their stories, but also to engage with audience members using
interesting and useful content.
Journalism is a distinct type of content. Craft and Davis (2013, p. 11) identified
five democratic needs:
54 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

1. Journalism informs, analyzes, interprets and explains.

2. Journalism investigates.

47

3. Journalism creates public conversation.

4. Journalism helps generate social empathy.
5. Journalism encourages accountability.

Within a social media context, journalism is often, though not exclusively, the
first to break news on sites, such as Twitter. Shared links lead readers to more in-
depth stories that may provide analysis, interpretation and explanation. A less
common but important function of journalism is independent investigation of the
political system. We sometimes speak of journalists playing a watchdog role over
public officials. Increasingly, the sharing of news through social media is a spark
for public conversation in online spaces. The idea of “vertical” accountability
through journalism is perhaps the most difficult, as “horizontal” checks and
balances within government provide the most formal accountability (Craft &
Davis, 2013, pp. 19–20). Still, it is fair to say that by sparking online public
conversation that often includes public officials, journalists and the public have
the potential to press for a measure of accountability in government.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 55

BOX 3.1 THOUGHT LEADER AMY GUTH

What has changed? Reader behavior, really. Nobody waits
around loyally to get a story from the local paper; people
want immediate information, regardless of the medium. In
newsrooms, we’ve seen this manifest even quite simply,
such as in the importance of breaking news desks
monitoring social media to help surface stories as they are
happening. Nobody picks up the phone and calls the
breaking news editor anymore; people just whip out a
phone, take a photo and post it. Done.
Within the industry, the most significant change has
been that it’s not enough to simply file your story and go
home anymore. We must be proac- Figure 3.1 @amyguth.
tive and build networks. Some bemoan that and
are reluctant to embrace the change. Personally, I think the shift has been exciting.
It’s always better to be able to steer your own ship, so to speak.
I remember very clearly when I saw the writing on the wall. We’d just seen
major digital disruption hit the music industry and there were some who dug in
their heels and stuck to doing things the traditional way and there were those who
realized change was coming with or without them and chose to be open and adapt.
The adapters were thrown into a time of incredible creativity and creation, which
was cool to watch. Because the music industry’s disruption was about two years
ahead of publishing, we had the luxury of learning from them and being ready to
surf the wave when the time came.

It is my hope that media literacy takes a bigger share of the spotlight in the
years to come. While our access to information is greater than ever before, the
importance of being able to discern between a story reported by a trained
journalist (regardless of medium of delivery) and conjecture or speculation will
hopefully become more and more of an area of discussion.
What I predict is a move to follow individuals as sources of content, rather than
the publications of their employment, so for journalists, building a personal
“brand” will be essential and an exciting way to take an internal locus of control
approach to one’s career. I’m also still very excited about location-based tools. I
think we’ve really just scratched the surface there.
Amy Guth, RedEye/Metromix general manager, developed social media best
practices in the Chicago Tribune newsroom. She tracked Occupy Chicago
protesters on Twitter during the NATO Summit and went on to a management
position with Tribune Media that included managing search engine optimization
and social media. She is president of the Association for Women Journalists
Chicago, author of Three Fallen Women, and contributor of WGN radio and
television. She also has been on air at WBEZ radio. She founded Pilcrow, a small
literary festival. She studied anthropology, literary anthropology and sociology at
the University of Texas at Arlington.
56 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

McCombs, Holbert, Kiousis, and Wanta (2011) described a “changing

environment” for news and public opinion because of the online shift and
emphasis of entertainment within media:

The age of media convergence has brought together media genres that used
to be seen as quite disparate. Diana Mutz has argued that it is futile to
speak of a distinction between news and entertainment within the present
media landscape because it is increasingly difficult to tell where the news
begins and the entertainment ends and vice versa . . . This will become all
the more the case in the coming years. (p. 25)

Journalists have learned to become generalists by writing for the Web, blogging,
developing digital photography skills, audio/video techniques, programming and
social networking (Luckie, 2011): “Many social networkers use the sites to share
and comment on news stories and by doing so have transformed the way
journalism is distributed on the web” (p. 169). Twitter, for example, can also
involve either a “back-and-forth exchange” or private direct message (DM)
between two followers (p. 172). Journalists must make decisions about how much
audience engagement serves the goals of their personal and company brands.
Journalists are very active on Twitter, especially during breaking news events.
They are being encouraged to not only share story links, but also rich media—
photographs, videos and source links—using mobile apps, such as Instagram,
Tumblr, Vine, Tout and Jelly. Media groups, though, face unique circumstances
in each market. In smaller towns, for example, Twitter may not be as popular as
in larger cities. As news managers become more sophisticated about social media,
they want to be able to demonstrate ROI of time and resources.
What began as a digital media revolution two decades ago has morphed into a
social media landscape. Journalists have been required to adopt new tools, such as
smartphones, in order to participate in a developing form that places value on
interactivity and is “transparent” and “collaborative” (Briggs, 2010, p. 7).
Although social media are seen as a path to news content once dominated by
Google searches, SEO remains an important concern. CMS systems now prompt
the user to use SEO-friendly words for headlines and tags. In a highly competitive
news environment, any advantage to attract potential audience members is seen as
important. The issue for many newsrooms is how to identify important local
social media conversation. By practicing effective conversation monitoring, it is
possible for newsrooms to attempt to “capture” engagement topics and participate
as opinion leaders. Every local community has influencers, and newsrooms must
engage them and offer valuable content within their social networks.
At newspapers, one important tactic has been to add video to their websites.
Local newspapers, many now with a paywall that limits some reader access to
subscriber use only, often compete with free television news sites. As video
compression and Internet speeds have made it easier to view and share video, it
has become a way to increase the amount of time users spend on specific news
pages.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 57

NDN is a national U.S. video network that includes newspaper and television
sites. The company offers traditional online video syndication and so-called
“content verticals” in key topic areas—sports, arts and entertainment, men,
women, lifestyles, home décor, business and technology, and news and politics.
By selling national and local advertising pre-roll video of 15 or 30 seconds, NDN
and the news organizations are able to increase online revenues. For newspapers,
this is crucial because offline subscriptions, advertising and revenue have been in
steady decline for many years. Editors retain control over which stories are
selected for their site, but each item carries with it a potential pre-roll advertising
spot. NDN also builds in social media sharing, so that users push out video
content to their social networks. The potential broad reach of pre-roll advertising
attached to the videos has attracted large national advertisers, from American
Express to NBC and Walmart. Every news video creates inventory to be sold to
advertisers, and pricing has been developed using a traditional media cost per
thousand (CPM) basis. For example, an advertiser might be charged $25 per
1,000 viewers of a video. The video system generates both page views and
revenue for each media company within the NDN network.
At the same time, media companies seek to measure all activity on their sites.
They have attempted to move beyond page views and unique viewers to use
advanced Google Analytics that track traffic coming from social media sites, as
well as engagement reflected by amount of time on sites. Social media influencers
are increasingly seen as important because their sharing and discussing of news
media content may trigger additional interest. In this sense, news media are now
interested more than ever in what audience members and their friends are talking
about.
Even as social media grow, a substantial chunk of the news audience remains
traditional media users. Newspapers, for example, are not going away any time
soon. Scarborough Research and the Newspaper Association of America reported
that 69% of American adults, about 164 million people, are regular readers of a
print, online or mobile newspaper edition. The addition of a newspaper paywall
designed to force paid subscription for content may be beginning to have a
negative effect, as access is removed in some cases. The Scarborough study found
that 54% of readers in the coveted 18- to 24-year-old demographic group either
read a printed newspaper or access sites via a desktop computer, and only 17% of
all mobile users are considered mobileonly readers. Print-only readers are on
average 11 years older (median age of 54) than online-only (median age 43), and
they are 21 years older than the mobile-only crowd (median age 33) (Newspaper
Association of America, 2013).

Journalism Theories
The introduction of social networking sites and social media continued to
fundamentally change journalism. Tewksbury and Rittenberg (2012) conclude:
“The shift from a top-down media system to one that features more horizontal
interaction of people and news represents a change in the relationship that citizens
and others in a nation have with information” (p. 5), and:
58 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

. . . private citizens creating content online . . . are redefining the nature of

news. They are adding to the flow of information online—be it opinion,
links to related concepts, images, or other content—and they are
contributing to the social and political lives of nations . . . The trend of
information control shifting away from a few powerful entities toward
smaller outlets and even citizens is a type of information democratization.
(p. 11)
The historic paradigm that news agenda-setting influences what people think
about (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) may be weakened by the increasing importance
of social media effects on media and public discussion ( Jacobson, 2013). A Pew
Research Center and Knight Foundation study found that nearly half of Facebook
users, or about onethird of the population, consume news on the largest social
media platform (Mitchell, Kiley, Gottfried, & Guskin, 2013). The major
conclusion was that “news is a common but incidental experience” (para. 1).
While users went on the social network for other purposes, they often found
news.
Most U.S. adults do not go to Facebook seeking news out, the nationally
representative online survey of 5,173 adults finds. Instead, the vast
majority of Facebook news consumers, 78%, get news when they are on
Facebook for other reasons. And just 4% say it is the most important way
they get news. As one respondent summed it up, “I believe Facebook is a
good way to find out news without actually looking for it.” (para. 3)
News shared on Facebook appeared particularly important among those who do
not otherwise follow news. The often-cited excuse of not having time to keep up
with news continues to be the case in the social media era. One-third (34%) of
Facebook news consumers were young adults 18–29—a group traditionally too
busy to follow news.
For news professionals, Facebook has become an important way to reach
younger readers because this group looks to social media for information:
. . . these 18- to 29-year-olds get news on Facebook across topics at roughly
the same levels as older age groups, turn there as often for breaking news
and deem the site as important a source of news. (para. 6)
In other ways, news consumers on Facebook tend to mirror the larger population,
although they tend to be more active as Facebook site users. More than three-
fourths (77%) visit Facebook to check on friends, with two-thirds (65%) visiting
multiple times per day. According to the Pew study, the most popular topics on
Facebook are: Entertainment (73%), People & events in my community (65%),
Sports (57%), National politics & government (55%), Crime (51%), Health &
medicine (46%), Local government & politics (44%), Local weather & traffic
(42%), International news (39%), Science & technology (37%), Business (31%),
and Breaking news (28%). Respondents said they most often clicked on links
because they were interesting, entertaining or unexpected.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 59

The Pew research identified a group of active news sharers that distribute links
they think others should know about. Some of the people who share also are
seeking to spark conversation or make a statement. At least some do it just to be
able to find the item later.
A majority of Facebook news consumers were found to engage in the content
by liking it or clicking on a link, while less than half shared news. Still, news was
far less important to users than the social reasons to visit and engage on
Facebook. The Pew Research Center reported that 64% of U.S. adults used
Facebook, which made it the largest social media site in 2013. In a survey with
the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of 5,173 respondents, nearly half
sometimes went looking for news on Facebook, and 78% saw news while there
looking for something else.
Facebook remains mostly a social networking platform to connect with friends
and family. Often, photographs and videos drive interest—whether it is to share
or view what others have offered. Three areas—personal updates, news and
games—are mentioned, but as much less important than the core reasons for
Facebook engagement. A majority (57%) responded that Facebook is not a very
important way to get news. Social news appears to be built upon the larger social
experience and context (Pew 2012).
Social media reflect convergence of media content, as social networking sites
attract professional journalists from around the globe. The growing appetite for
mobile news content also may encourage engagement between journalists and
their international readers (Westlund, 2008): “These people are always connected
and appreciate access to news independent of time and space” (p. 460).
Journalists may be pressured to post rapid news updates, and this could damage
long-term credibility with audience members ( Johnson & Kaye, 2010). However,
perceived credibility of information increases when writer information and a
hyperlink are part of the post ( Johnson & Wiedenbeck, 2009).
News organizations see social media, in part, as new tools for promotion and
even profit. Kerrigan and Graham (2010) treat social media spaces as settings for
buyer and seller interaction. If news people are selling their stories, then social
marketing comes into play. The relationships also may foster the selling of story
ideas to journalists participating in social media interaction.
Citizen Journalism
Journalism shifted from being largely one-way mass communication to
participatory work that includes some user-generated content (UGC). Paulussen
and Ugille (2008) examined UGC influence on mainstream media and identified a
shift in interest toward collaboration with audience members. Professional
characteristics within a particular newsroom are seen as important variables
(Domingo, 2008; Wardle & Williams, 2010). The organizational context,
including editorial staff and information technology (IT) staff cultures, may
reflect either tension or conditions more favorable to IT collaboration. In the end,
deadline pressures and the need for reliable and trusted sources may limit use of
UGC: “Therefore, it can be expected that professional journalists will make rather
limited use of user generated content, because they somewhat routinely and
60 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

passively rely on a number of official suppliers of information” (Paulussen &

Ugille, 2008, p. 34). When their content is ignored, as might be expected, citizen
journalists express frustration about editorial decisions to use professional
content:

As journalists have to work under high pressure, they tend to rely heavily
on well-known routines and hold on to their core task, which they still
define in terms of gatekeeping. There is indeed a strong belief that the
primary role of journalism lies in the selection stage of the news making
process. Their gatekeeping skills are among the major traits through which
professionals distinguish themselves from amateur journalists.” (p. 38)

The assessment, based upon observations in Europe, reflects a degree of realism

about the historic sociology within newsrooms. For more than a decade, there has
been interest in and enthusiasm for the idea of citizen journalism with stronger
social ties to communities and access to publishing via blogs and other online
methods (Matheson, 2004). News can be seen as a product that is in need of re-
articulation based upon the creation of online blogs.

Crowdsourcing
During a breaking news event, users may provide information not yet available to
professional journalists. In an era in which most people carry smartphones with
high- quality cameras with them almost everywhere, photographs appear almost
instantaneously on Twitter from the sites of most breaking news events.

BOX 3.2 THE ANDY CARVIN METHOD

Andy Carvin was a journalism innovator at National Public Radio (NPR) during the
Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East beginning in 2009 until he was offered a
contract buy-out at the end of 2013. He joined First Look Media in 2014 to launch a
newsroom funded by the eBay founder and built around social media.

(continued )
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 61

At NPR, Carvin used the live tweet method during several Middle East political
revolutions, including Libya, Egypt and Syria. Carvin told The Guardian in 2011 that
his work is “a form of situational awareness.” During the Libyan uprising, Carvin
tweeted 1,200 times over a two-day period. He told The Guardian that by using
known sources or observing online behavior, he filters those messages that may be
credible. His followers helped verify information. Carvin called this “open source
journalism,” even though his “Real-time Informational DJ & occasional journalist”
approach included private communication. His work was grounded in activism and
technology, rather than extensive, formal journalism training.
In Carvin’s book Distant Witness, he described how social media helped loosen
control over news. “I’m a storyteller who works at a news organization who
commits acts of journalism,” Carvin told NPR’s program On the Media. He
differentiated what was happening on Twitter from traditional news practices.
“Instead, if I just share more openly what I know and what I don’t know,
someone out there will probably come out and have an answer,” Carvin said. This
may include sharing information that turns out to be untrue or more graphic than
would normally be accepted by mainstream media. “I made a decision early on
that I wasn’t going to censor myself simply because it was graphic, and I had a lot
of people complain about that,” Carvin said. “My Twitter followers and I, just by
talking to each other,” figure things out.
There can be a problem with source credibility. “Well, it certainly helps if you
know someone on the ground to start with,” Carvin told NPR’s Brooke Gladstone.
He was not concerned about balance of viewpoints,

Figure 3.2 National Public Radio (NPR) has a new headquarters in Washington,
DC, as seen in this 2013 photograph.
62 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

instead presenting information from those online with him. “I’m trying to capture
their stories,” he said. The live tweeting method is to ask sources for assertions and
confirmation. This can be in opposition to cultural norms, as it was in Yemen. “I had
to back off a little,” he said.
Media critic Michael Wolff challenged Carvin’s “overreach” during live tweeting
of the Newtown shootings. The crowdsourcing on Twitter generated false reports
about a purple van, a second shooter and a fake letter. “While the guise is to re-
tweet in order to verify,” Wolff wrote, “the effect is to propagate.” Carvin directly
responded to Wolff’s column by rejecting the label of “social media promoter” on
Twitter:

I’m not sure what you mean by social media promoter. I use social media a lot
because my day job is to experiment with new tools to see if they can improve
the quality and diversity of our reporting. If anything, I’m a promoter of NPR and
the importance of public media in our society. Social media is just an aspect of
it.

Carvin insisted one of his jobs was to monitor mainstream media reports and
ask questions. He asked “people to figure” out whether or not reports are true or
false. Carvin’s methods, though, were in stark contrast to those of traditional NPR
journalists. While crowdsourcing may unearth facts during a breaking news story,
Carvin’s methods are particularly shaky when applied to reporting within other
cultural contexts.
Sarar Mohamed Khamis, University of Maryland professor and Arab media
expert, says a YouTube video may be viewed as blasphemy in the Middle East,
which produces violent reactions in the Muslim world. “There is a very, very high
level of respect to all religious symbols and all the messages of God,” she said.
“This is a very, very sensitive topic for any Muslim—we are always really required
to . . . show the utmost respect possible to all religious figures, symbols, prophets
and messengers . . . and not to treat them in any way that could be not only
defamatory or negative, but even treats them as just ordinary human beings is
considered offensive let alone portraying them in negative cartoons, or some kind
of video, or some kind of media representation that is hurtful.”
“This is really intolerable to Muslims worldwide,” she added, because of cultural
and religious contexts and lack of understanding. “Everyone has the right to
freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right,” University of Minnesota
Professor Jane Kirtley said. “It’s not uniquely American—we like to think that we’ve
been moving toward perfecting it, but this is not an example of America trying to
impose its values.”
“We’re talking about apples and oranges, coming from different perspectives,”
Khamis said. “Different cultural, religious [and] social backgrounds, political
contexts, then what constitutes freedom of expression?”

(continued )
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 63

In this view, the “borderless Internet” across languages, cultures and religions is
seen as a problem because of anonymity, hate speech, attacks and lack of
representation of religious leaders. “If it is not really somehow ‘regulated’ . . .
somehow put in the right perspective, it can go out of hand,” Khamis said.
Carvin, however, echoed the decidedly Western view on free speech. “Social
media has the word ‘social’ in front of it for a reason because you have human
beings interacting with each other . . . everything from talking about the news to
sharing their latest cat videos, and I think all of it is valid and all of it is important.”
The contrast between Carvin’s use of social network “bonds” with followers and
the traditional media audience perspective presents a challenge going forward.
Carvin “realized early on the worst thing I could do on Twitter is act like a
broadcaster journalist,” and instead he “acts like a person.” This is his personal
brand. The organizational brand of NPR and other traditional journalists instead
continues to exercise caution in reporting—especially during developing stories
abroad.
On the one hand, promoting transparent journalistic methods is a healthy
outcome from Carvin’s experiments on Twitter. On the other hand, trusting
anonymous sources to publicly judge information in real time does not always
seem responsible within the context of a dangerous and unstable world.
Sources:
Lipschultz, J. H. (2013, August 20). Live Tweets, Journalism, Middle East Culture and NPR
Branding. Media. The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/
jeremy-harris-lipschultz/live-tweets-journalism-mi_b_3779940.html
Ingram, M. (2014, February 4). Andy Carvin, A Pioneer in Using Twitter for RealTime
Journalism, Joins Omidyar’s First Look Media. Gigaom. http://gigaom.
com/2014/02/04/andy-carvin-a-pioneer-in-using-twitter-for-real-time-journalismjoins-
omidyars-first-look-media/

Micro-blogging
Most newsrooms are happy to have journalists using micro-blog sites, such as
Twitter, to push out links to stories and engage with audience members. Some
sensational stories, however, may be seen as “click-bait” (designed to simply
drive user traffic to a site), as was the case when publicity for a book featured a
claim that President Obama once told staff that he was “really good at killing
people” (Cantor, 2013, para. 1).
The micro-blogging influence of Twitter goes beyond early adopters to news
media that use it for content sharing (Schmierbach & Oeldorf-Hirsch, 2012). The
research suggests that journalists continue to use Twitter more for sharing than
engagement and interaction with followers. An ongoing issue is that information
on Twitter is generally viewed as less credible and trustworthy than the
mainstream sites. This may help explain why journalists remain cautious in using
social media for engagement:
64 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

In contrast to many studies of online credibility, this study shows that even
somewhat regular users of Twitter do not see it as providing more credible
information, and the population as a whole is unusually skeptical of
Twitter relative to other means of distribution. . . . The exact mechanisms
are unclear. . . . On the surface, however, it is noteworthy simply because
unlike traditional blogs, Twitter here is not serving as a selective source. . .
.Yet participants still viewed the content on Twitter differently . . . Perhaps
the positive responses to other selecting sources are also due to cues, and
not to reasoned evaluations about the benefits of custom-selected material.
At an applied level, this study suggests the need for caution in the use of
Twitter as a way to distribute news. (Schmierbach & Oeldorf-Hirsch,
2012, p. 333)
Even when the news distributor was a large organization, such as The New York
Times, the research suggests less trust attached to tweets. The “trust of news
information” is theoretically distinct from “trust of those who deliver the news”
and “trust of media corporations” (Williams, 2012, p. 117). These can be seen as
“informational,” “interpersonal” and “institutional” trust (p. 119). News is
“increasingly produced and disseminated by individuals and agencies that act
outside of traditional media establishments,” and “it is particularly important for
media practitioners to remain attentive to changes in news audiences’ attention
patterns and assessments of media trustworthiness” (p. 127). However, it is not
clear what happens to trust when journalists release editorial control through
social media.
User-generated content, also called participatory journalism, is one way to
reflect “the idea of collaborative and collective—not simply parallel—action”
(Singer et al., 2011, p. 2). In this view, social networking sites are seen as one of
many online forms (including blogs, comments and polls) that allow for great
participation (p. 17). The active audience selects, filters and even creates content
through what has been called citizen journalism. To the extent that audience
members take on this quasi- journalist role, they challenge the traditional
professional journalism news gatekeepers who sifted and edited for them. The
public may serve as “eyewitnesses,” “experts” through their comments,
“commentators,” “pulse-takers,” “guardians of quality,” “ancillary r eporters,” or
independent journalists (pp. 38–44). The level of audience activity varies widely,
and it is most often the case that audience members remain passive consumers.
CMC theorizes a desire to create and participate in online communities, though
these tend to exist within specialized interest areas.

Journalism Case Studies

To some extent, the WikiLeaks site represents the most dramatic example of
participatory journalism, by becoming “networked into mainstream media across
the globe as it shifted from isolated whistle-blower to collaborative investigator
and publisher” (Beckett, with Ball, 2012, p. 9). By publishing raw material that
publicly accuses wrongdoing, the site has worked both with news organizations
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 65

and independently. Here, too, we see signs of fundamental redefinition of

journalism and political power:
Political media once had a defined structure that created a limited product.
They had quite a specific function in liberal democracies as the conduit of
information between power and the people. The Internet and digital
communications have the capacity to change that relationship . . . The
scale of the leak, and the ability to spread it globally, are enabled by the
new technology and the Net . . . WikiLeaks is a network exploit that uses
the Internet in a radical way to gather material, protect itself and to tap into
other networks, including mainstream media. (p. 13)
That said, WikiLeaks has not been entirely protected in recent years from
responses by formal governmental powers. Australian Julian Assange, founder
and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, was facing a European Arrest Warrant, but he
was granted diplomatic asylum at Ecuador’s embassy in London. Chelsea
(previously Bradley) Manning, a U.S. Army private who provided information to
WikiLeaks, was convicted of violating the Espionage Act and faces up to 35
years in prison. Assange could be charged as a coconspirator in the theft of
documents.

Successes
Social media “democracy of distribution” has changed the news-making process
(Ingram, 2011, para. 1). During the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, for
example, groups included a number of key actors:

• Activists
• Mainstream media outlets
• Journalists
66 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

BOX 3.3 THOUGHT LEADER JASON COLLINGTON

Social media lets us back into the party. The party
where the cool kids are. The party that doesn’t let just
anyone in. Social media done right lets us get back
into the parties where friends come together and
share what’s important to them. Social media also has
allowed us to reconnect to those who used to have or
never ever had access to our content. It has allowed
us to do what journalists were put here to do: build
community and inform that community. Without
social media, the Internet is 1,000 oceans.
We need to be popular as well as authentic to our
media company’s mission at the same Figure 3.3
@jasoncollington. time. Just like any party, you don’t want to Photograph by the
courtesy Jason Collington.
Tulsa World, be the guy who tries to date every gal. We need
to continue to find our place in the conversations and lives of our current
audiences and make changes to be included in the conversations and lives of our
potential audiences. We also have to acknowledge that the creators of social media
have many of the same goals as we do. We all want to create the personalized
newspaper. We have to innovate and learn what we can leverage, so that we do it
first.

We need to become even more relevant to more people. I think people are
going to filter their content even more over the next five years. We have to hurry
and prove we belong in their social media. If we don’t make the cut, they are going
to build their community without us.
Jason Collington is web editor at the Tulsa World, where he has written and
edited since 1999. Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the 46th largest U.S. city, and the
newspaper there was acquired by billionaire Warren Buffett’s BH Media Group.
The chain of newspapers is emphasizing engagement with readers. His journalism
degree is from Oklahoma State University, and he has been a Lecturer there for
four years. The AP and SPJ in Oklahoma have repeatedly recognized
Tulsaworld.com as one of the state’s top news websites.

Bloggers
Blogging became popular online early in the new century. Independent bloggers
were able to use new tools to reach large audiences. Commercial sites, such as
The Huffington Post, were launched and became successful challengers to
traditional media. Most local and national media now have active bloggers
offering opinion and interpretation.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 67

BOX 3.4 HUFFPOST BLOGGER TERMS AND GUIDELINES

Bloggers for The Huffington Post (the author of this book is one) are governed by
an extensive set of rules and guidelines. “By submitting blog posts for publication
on the HuffingtonPost.com website or on any other site owned or operated by The
Huffington Post.com or AOL Inc. (collectively, “Huffington Post”).” Bloggers are told
to not submit posts if they do not agree.
A blogger is treated as “an independent contractor” rather than as a paid
employee. The Huffington Post specifies that bloggers do not receive any pay or
benefits. Bloggers are offered “a large, diverse audience” in which other works,
such as this book, may be promoted. Bloggers are encouraged to use Twitter and
Facebook and share content across social networks.
As an independent contractor, a blogger is not “under the direction or control”
of the site. “You can write about anything you want,” but there are no publication
guarantees. The work may or may not be accepted, and HuffPost bloggers may not
identify themselves at events as a representative. Content submissions must be
original or “properly licensed content.” Beyond copyright, it must not be
“objectionable, inaccurate or inflammatory,” “obscene, defamatory, threatening,
pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive,” and “not an
advertisement or solicitation of business or contributions.”

(continued )
68 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

The Huffington Post may remove content that violates the rules. An important
aspect that will be discussed later in the book is disclosure, and HuffPost urges
bloggers to be transparent: “HuffPost bloggers should disclose any financial
conflicts of interest.” Where there may be an issue, “that information should be
disclosed at the bottom of the applicable blog post.”
Bloggers also must make corrections with 24 hours of a notice. Corrections or
clarifications are noted at the bottom of a post. In the case of a defamation
complaint, the correction “must be posted in as prominent a location as the
defamatory content.”
While bloggers retain content copyright, The Huffington Post retains “a non-
exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual license to exercise all
rights under copyright law.” The Huffington Post also provides style guidelines used
to edit blogger submissions.
All site users, including bloggers and readers commenting, also are subject to
Terms and Conditions. The Huffington Post may discontinue, suspend or terminate
usage. By being on the site, users grant rights:
By posting or submitting content on or to our site (regardless of the form or
medium with respect to such content, whether text, videos, photographs, audio
or otherwise), you are giving us, and our affiliates, agents and third party
contractors the right to display or publish such content on our site and its
affiliated publications (either in the form submitted or in the form of a
derivative or adapted work), to store such content, and to distribute such
content and use such content for promotional and marketing purposes . . .
. . . we may, or may permit users to, based solely on functionality provided
and enabled by our website, compile, re-edit, adapt or modify your video
submission, or create derivative works therefrom, either on a stand-alone basis
or in combination with other video submissions, and (unless you and we agree
otherwise) you shall have no rights with respect thereto and we or our licensees
shall be free to display and publish the same (as so compiled, re-edited,
adapted, modified or derived) for any period.
The site discloses that they may be required by law to provide law enforcement
or government with user information, their liability to users is limited, and disputes
are governed by New York law.
Sources:
Terms and Conditions. (2014). The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/ terms.html

Blogger Guidelines. (2010). The Huffington Post.

Most blog posts tend to be 500 to 1,000 words, as online readers are more
likely to consume short rather than long reads. At the same time, online sites tend
to have fewer editors than traditional publications. Longer posts may not be
edited as quickly. Sites vary in terms of style rules, such as capitalization, use of
SEO words and phrases, and quotation style. The Huffington Post, for example,
uses block quotes, but these tend to be short. Sites also vary in use of italics and
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 69

quotation marks for references to book titles. Blogging sites tend to encourage use
of hyperlinks as references to content that is discussed, as shorthand for those
interested in reading more about the topic.
Use of images and video links varies across blog sites. Most editors want
stories that are visually appealing and keep readers at the site for as long as
possible. Some CMS systems, though, are easier to use than others for sizing
images and embedding video links. From an SEO standpoint, the Google
algorithm rules keep changing, but bloggers use tags and keywords entered on
the CMS system to make it easier to find the post through online search. Social
media communication has impacted this, as authors are encouraged to push their
content out on the social Web. This is encouraged through email lists, Facebook
and Twitter posts, contacting other bloggers, responding to all comments at the
blog and social sites, leveraging friends and online fans, and generally engaging
within social networks.

Social Media Celebrity

There has been a blurring of the lines, as some of those active on Twitter cut
across these traditional categories. For example, Jillian York (@jilliancyork),
director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, is also a blogger who was active during the Arab Spring.
Visualization of social networking revealed that she was an important hub for
information. She now has more than 100,000 tweets and nearly 34,000 Twitter
followers.
Social media also were an influential place for conversation about gun laws
following the 2012 school shooting in Newtown. Pew (2012) found that 64% of
Twitter assertions were calls for stricter gun control (p. 1):
From the news of the shooting on Friday afternoon through noon on
Monday, the discussion on blogs and Twitter paralleled each other closely.
The discussion about our country’s gun laws ranked first on each platform,
accounting for 28% of the overall conversation about the tragedy. And, the
focus remained remarkably steady over the course of the three days,
already registering at a quarter of the conversation on each platform by
midnight on Friday. (p. 2)
The gun reform discussion was slightly higher than expression of sympathy and
prayers (25%) on Twitter. So-called “straight news” represented only 13% of the
Twitter talk during the period.
The “Kony 2012” viral video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc) is
an example of media content becoming its own media event: “The next 27
minutes are an experiment, but in order for it to work you have to pay attention.”
The YouTube video about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony rapidly attracted the
attention of young adults, which is a group that does not tend to pay as much
attention to traditional news as older groups. The 30-minute video, though, had
nearly 80 million views in just 10 days (Choney, 2012). A year later, it had more
70 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

than 98 million views worldwide. Unlike a typical entertainment video that goes
viral, such as the “Gangnam Style” music video (with more than 2 billion views),
Kony 2012 was a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Invisible Children
advocacy video (Harsin, 2013).
To begin with, no theory has so far convincingly explained the video’s virality
yet failure to mobilize people to “cover the night.” Roughly, theories emphasize
production quality and narrative to explain its popularity; then, credibility
problems, filmmaker ( Jason) Russell’s breakdown, and lazy “clicktivism” (p.
265) to explain its failure to prompt action. So-called clicktivism is a way to
explain how simple it is to click in support of an online cause without doing
anything else. One explanation for the video’s simultaneous success and failure is
the role celebrities played in using social media to spread the video. “Oprah’s
tweet alone spiked its visibility by 15 percent” (p. 266). It would seem that
opinion leadership and interest in entertainment came together to help push the
media content. Oprah is trustworthy, and the promotion of a video essentially
manufactures a news event. In an international context, breaking news events
present both mainstream journalism and social media challenges. Trust in content
often comes down to judging media source credibility, which can be a product of
media bias, gatekeeping bias, coverage bias and statement bias (Tian & Chao,
2012). Social media content may have a life of its own online, but there is no
guarantee that engagement and conversation translates to offline action. The
Kony 2012 project raised awareness in 2012, but the warlord remained on the run
from an international criminal indictment, as interest faded.

Failures
The most significant challenge facing journalism in the social media age is paying
for the enterprise. Major newspapers responded to declining subscriptions,
revenue loss due to online competition and new technologies with waves of
layoffs. Traditional journalists have been replaced with younger, online-
experienced employees. Some are journalists, but others are computer
programmers and social media specialists. The timing of the 2008–09 global
economic recession further impacted direction of all mainstream media toward a
“leaner” business model. At this writing, even college media were facing
financial difficulties. As those in government and business use the Internet to
directly communicate with the public, there is “a continued erosion of news
reporting resources” for quality journalism: “This adds up to a news industry that
is more undermanned and unprepared to uncover stories, dig deep into emerging
ones or to question information put in its hands” (Pew, 2013, p. 3):
In circumventing the media altogether, one company, Contently, connects
thousands of journalists, many of them ex-print reporters, with commercial
brands to help them produce their own content . . . Fortune took that step,
launching a program for advertisers called Fortune TOC—Trusted
Original Content—in which Fortune writers, for a fee, create original
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 71

Fortune-branded editorial content for marketers to contribute exclusively

on their own platforms.” (p. 4)
The Pew Research Center (2013, pp. 5–6) has identified six important trends,
including “advertorials” that are advertisements packaged as news editorial
content:

1. Public awareness of effects from newsroom cutbacks

2. News industry failure to capture the bulk of new digital and mobile
advertising
3. Increasing amount of native advertising—advertorial content, sponsored
tweets, etc.—running the risk of reader confusion
4. Paid digital experiments, including use of paywalls for user-paid content
5. Potential for digital impact to challenge local television news revenues
6. Social media and word-of-mouth origination of news instead of through
news media sources

In a 2013 Pew survey, 72% of adults talked with friends and family as the most
common way to receive news through word of mouth (WOM). But there is a
growing number (15%) using social networking sites (SNS) to get news from
friends and family, and this is even larger among 18- to 25-year-olds (24%).
About one-fourth of 18- to 29-year-olds, a key demographic group, reports
relying upon social media for news. All of this adds up to both a challenge to and
opportunity for professional journalists and news organizations.

Lessons
Once the dream of every journalism student was to someday write for The New
York Times, but social media have helped change the landscape. Former Times
technology columnist David Pogue, who wrote a book full of Twitter tweets, left
the newspaper after 13 years in 2013 to join Yahoo. On his Tumblr blog, he told
readers:
It’s not easy leaving the Times, especially when you admire it as much as I
do. No matter what happens to prose on paper, the Times itself, as a
gatherer and curator of news, will always be necessary and important. The
culture may be changing, and the readership may be shifting, but this paper
steadfastly focuses on responsible journalism, ironclad ethics and superb
writing. I’ll always be a loyal ally. (Pogue, 2013, para. 3)
Pogue noted that his work at the Times had been an amazing period of more than
a decade that featured development of the Web, social media, e-books, smart-
phones and tablet technologies. While technological innovation drives change,
social uses of new technology products surprised even the inventors and
innovators.
72 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

U.S. journalists trained in the last century were infused with the ideal of
objectivity. It was sometimes suggested that journalism should strive for balance
and fairness by telling two or more sides to a story and letting audience members
be the judge. The norm of objectivity, which has spread globally to many cultural
contexts, remains a topic of contentious debate (Maras, 2013). The search for
truth or reality, at least one devoid of personal opinion, is nearly impossible
within a social media world that is flooded with bloggers and tweets. Maras
(2013) observed that a group of gate-watching bloggers monitors mainstream
media: “The concept serves as a ‘pretence’ for quality journalism at a time when
social media is opening up new possibilities for collaborative news creation” (p.
190, citing Rettberg, 2008, p. 310). In fact, as mentioned early in this chapter,
social media have challenged the very definition of journalism:
This is not to suggest this is a zone without issues, and media organizations
are faced with new decisions around working with citizen journalists and
online communities . . . a different but no less serious set of reputational
issues arise from staff reporters using social media such as Twitter, which
demands a style of writing and opinion very different from that
encountered in most news articles.
(Maras, 2013, pp. 191–192)
This suggests that by engaging in collaborative communities, journalists must
release some editorial control and enter into a state of negotiation with the public
over facts and opinions. In this sense, news organizations that “face their critics”
through social media engagement may encourage fairness through an ongoing
listening process (Nunnelley, 2006, p. 53). This transformation of journalism is a
work in process.
The art of storytelling, across a variety of media platforms, is transforming
journalism and media education. Hart (2011) has focused upon “narrative
possibilities” within passionate storytelling:
Story makes sense out of a confusing universe by showing us how one
action leads to another. It teaches us how to live by discovering how our
fellow human beings overcome the challenges in their lives. And it helps
us discover the universals that bind us to everything around us. (p. 5)
Story, to Hart, is universal because a good story has no print and broadcast
division. In this sense, there are essential principles—a sequence of actions, a
sympathetic character, a complication, and a resolution. Hart (2011) challenges
the reader to consider decisions about stance, distance and the ladder of
abstraction, which he sees as “one of the most useful concepts for any writer” (p.
55). Thornburg (2011) views online news as a different animal that must conform
to the changing rules of social media:
As an online journalist, you’ll still work with the traditional elements and
values of news. But you’ll also take advantage of the three attributes of
online communication that make reporting, producing and distributing
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 73

your stories via the Internet fundamentally different from working in any
other medium. (p. 8)
Thornburg (2011) divides the terrain into multimedia (“a variety of choices about
how to combine storytelling techniques”), interactive and on-demand. Journalists
within a social media environment are audience-centered, conscious of keywords
and SEO, unafraid of marketing and ready for continuous engagement:
The interactivity of the Web has brought an end to one-way flow.
Reporters are now answering questions from the audience. Politicians,
businesspeople and celebrities are now speaking directly to the audience,
without a reporter as an intermediary. And the audience is now demanding
explanations, both from reporters and directly from sources. It is getting
harder to tell who is the reporter, who is the source and who is the
audience. (pp. 306–307)
The conversation of journalism today leads Thornburg (2011) to argue for
“Remixing the News” (p. 333). He describes a type of journalism filled with data
distribution, nonlinear narratives, chunks, links and filters.
Some journalists remain skeptical of the long-term value for social media.
They point, for example, to a study showing that the average Twitter account has
only one follower (Reuters, 2013). On the other side of the argument, however,
The New York Times continues to build the size of their social media team to cater
to millions of followers (Roston, 2014). Twitter followers who track breaking
news in the moment expect speed, but newspapers’ social media desks have also
learned that some enterprise stories are worthy of repeating multiple times during
the week. As experience grows, a set of journalism best practices is emerging.
■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How do you define journalism? How do you think traditional definitions of

the work of journalists are being altered through participation in social
media? What can working journalists do to maintain professionalism?
2. What must journalists do to be relevant to young people? What role should
entertaining video play in attracting new audiences to journalism? Are there
other tactics journalists can use have a positive effect on business
economics?
3. Does the norm of objectivity remain important within your definition of
journalism? Are there other strategies journalists need to adopt to be
considered as a trusted source for fair information within their communities?

References
Beckett, C., with Ball, J. (2012). WikiLeaks, News in the Networked Era. Cambridge, UK:
Polity Press.
Briggs, M. (2010). Journalism Next. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Cantor, M. (2013, November 3). Book: Obama Claimed to Be ‘Really Good at Killing
People.’ Newser. www.newser.com/story/176961/book-obama-claimed-to-be-really-
good-at-killingpeople.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
74 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM

Choney, S. (2012, March 15). Kony Video Proves Social Media’s Role as Youth News
Source: Pew. TECHNOLOG. NBC News. www.nbcnews.com/technology/kony-video-
proves-social- medias-role-youth-news-source-pew-455365
CJR (2013, September 3). Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. CJR Asks the
Question: What Is Journalism for? Columbia Journalism Review.
www.cjr.org/cover_story/who_what_ when.php
Craft, S., & Davis, C. N. (2013). Principles of American Journalism: An Introduction.
New York, NY: Routledge.
Domingo, D. (2008). Interactivity in the Daily Routines of Online Newsrooms: Dealing
with an Uncomfortable Myth. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13, 680–
704.
Harsin, J. (2013). WTF Was Kony 2012? Considerations for Communication and
Critical/Cultural Studies (CCCS). Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 10(2–
3), 265–272.
Hart, J. (2011). Story Craft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction.
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Ingram, M. (2011, December 21). News as a Process: How Journalism Works in the Age
of Twitter. GIGAOM. http://gigaom.com/2011/12/21/news-as-a-process-how-
journalism-works- in-the-age-of-twitter/
Ingram, M. (2014, February 4). Andy Carvin, A Pioneer in Using Twitter for Real-Time
Journalism, Joins Omidyar’s First Look Media. Gigaom.
http://gigaom.com/2014/02/04/andycarvin-a-pioneer-in-using-twitter-for-real-time-
journalism-joins-omidyars-first-look-media
Jacobson, S. (2013). Does Audience Participation on Facebook Influence the News
Agenda? A Case Study of The Rachel Maddow Show. Journal of Broadcasting &
Electronic Media 57(3), 338–355.
Johnson, K. A., & Wiedenbeck, S. (2009). Enhancing Perceived Credibility of Citizen
Journalism Web Sites. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 86(2), 332–348.
Johnson, T. J., & Kaye, B. K. (2010). Choosing Is Believing? How Web Gratifications
and Reliance Affect Internet Credibility Among Politically Interested Users. Atlantic
Journal of Communication 18(1), 1–21.
Kerrigan, F., & Graham, G. (2010). Interaction of Regional News-media Production and
Consumption through the Social Space. Journal of Marketing Management 26(3/4),
302–320.
Lipschultz, J. H. (2013, August 20). Live Tweets, Journalism, Middle East Culture and
NPR Branding. Media. The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-harris-
lipschultz/ live-tweets-journalism-mi_b_3779940.html
Luckie, M. S. (2011). The Digital Journalist’s Handbook. Lexington, KY: Mark S.
Luckie.
Maras, S. (2013). Objectivity in Journalism. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the Epistemology of the News: Some Trends in
Online Journalism. New Media & Society 6(4), 443–468.
McCombs, M., Holbert, R. L., Kiousis, S., & Wanta, W. (2011). The News and Public
Opinion, Media Effects on Civic Life. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
McCombs, M., & Shaw, D. (1972). The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media. Public
Opinion Quarterly 36(2), 176–187.
Mitchell, A., Kiley, J., Gottfried, J., & Guskin, E. (2013, October 24). The Role of News
on Facebook, Common Yet Incidental. Pew Research Center.
www.journalism.org/2013/10/24/ the-role-of-news-on-facebook/
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN JOURNALISM 75

Newspaper Association of America (2013). Across Platforms, 7 in 10 Adults Access

Content from Newspaper Media Each Week.
www.naa.org/Topics-and-Tools/SenseMakerReports/ Multiplatform-Newspaper-
Media-Access.aspx
Nunnelley, C. (2006). Building Trust in the News, 101+ Good Ideas for Editors from
Editors. New York, NY: Associated Press Managing Editors.
Paulussen, S., & Ugille, P. (2008). User Generated Content in the Newsroom:
Professional and Organisational Constraints on Participatory Journalism. Westminster
Papers in Communication and Culture, 5(2), 24–41.
Pew (2012). In Social Media and Opinion Pages, Newtown Sparks Calls for Gun Reform.
Washington, DC: Pew Research Center’s Project for Journalism Excellence.
Pew (2013). The State of the News Media, An Annual Report on American Journalism.
Washington, DC: Pew Research Center’s Project for Journalism Excellence.
http://StateOfTheMedia.org
Pew Research Center’s Journalism Staff (2012). YouTube & News. Pew Research
Journalism Project. www.journalism.org/analysis_report/youtube_news
Pogue, D. (2013, October 21). Goodbye—and Hello. Tumblr.
http://pogueman.tumblr.com/ post/64682813641/goodbye-and-hello
Rettberg, J. W. (2008). Blogging. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Reuters (2013). Study Shows Average Twitter Account Has Only 1 Follower. Circa.
http://cir. ca/news/average-followers-on-twitter
Roston, M. (2014, January 6). If a Tweet Worked Once, Send It Again—and Other
Lessons from The New York Times’ Social Media Desk. Nieman Journalism Lab.
www.niemanlab. org/2014/01/if-a-tweet-worked-once-send-it-again-and-other-lessons-
from-the-new-yorktimes-social-media-desk/
Schmierbach, M., & Oeldorf-Hirsch, A. (2012). A Little Bird Told Me, So I Didn’t
Believe It: Twitter, Credibility, and Issue Perceptions. Communication Quarterly,
60(3), 317–337.
Singer, J. B., et al. (2011). Participatory Journalism, Guarding Open Gates at Online
Newspapers. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Terms and Conditions. (2014). The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/terms.html
Tewksbury, D., & Rittenberg, J. (2012). News on the Internet: Information and
Citizenship in the 21st Century. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Thornburg, R. M. (2011). Producing Online News: Digital Skills, Stronger Stories.
Washington, DC: CQ Press, p. 405.
Tian, D., & Chao, C.-C. (2012). Testing News Trustworthiness in an Online Public
Sphere: A Case Study of The Economist’s News Report Covering the Riots in
Xinjiang, China. Chinese Journal of Communication 5(4), 455–474.
Wardle, C., & Williams, A. (2010). Beyond User-Generated Content: A Production Study
Examining the Ways in WHICH UGC Is Used at the BBCMedia. Culture & Society
32(5), 781–799.
http://mediaeducation.org.mt/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/User_gnerated_con
tent_journalism_BBC1.pdf
Westlund, O. (2008). From Mobile Phone to Mobile Device: News Consumption on the
Go. Canadian Journal of Communication 33(3), 443–463.
Williams, A. E. (2012). Trust or Bust? Questioning the Relationship between Media Trust
and News Attention. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 56(1), 116–131.
This page intentionally left blank

4 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

“We try to amass followers and likes as if it’s a ‘thing.’ We try to get views because
that’s how we justify and substantiate our work. But why? What’s it all for? What
does it mean? What does it matter?”
—Brian Solis (@briansolis, 2013)

When Brian Solis, principal analyst at the Altimeter Group, took the stage at the
PRSA 2013 International Conference in Philadelphia, he challenged public relations
professionals to re-focus PR on relationships and influence:
We go through this journey and that journey is a mess. Why? Because the
people who own mobile don’t talk to people who own the website. The
people who own the website don’t talk to the people who are running
Facebook . . . It’s the same problem over and over again. So you see multiple
brands, multiple voices instead of one company. That is PR’s opportunity—
redefine the whole journey, the entire experience (PRSA, 2013, para. 10).
Solis’ social media PR formula centers on ART—actions, reactions and transactions
— that can impact outcomes, behaviors and actions (paras. 11–12).
The flood of daily emails announcing public relations (PR) webinars, white
papers and other resources suggests that the field is experiencing a fundamental
transformation. This book is about how social media are shifting the work in many
fields, including PR. The emphasis is moving from press releases and traditional
media relations to “shareable online content” with a relatively new interest in the
direct reach of a message.
Traditional print and broadcast media, from The New York Times and CBS News
to your local radio stations and newspaper, once were the leaders of most public
discussion.
Within PR, there has been a developing interest in influencing the C-suite, which
refers to top senior-level executives at a corporation. The terminology is used to
identify chief executive officers (CEO), chief operating officers (COO), chief
information officers (CIO) and, most recently, chief digital officers (CDO). From a
business perspective, PR seeks to influence the influencers who make key decisions
and have the power to spend money hiring outside the company for social media
services. Often, large corporations have a vice president of corporate
communications with responsibilities to develop inhouse PR offices, as well as
outside services. Depending upon corporate structure, the C-suite may or may not
be interested in social media decision-making. PR firms wanting to land new clients
or grow existing businesses must keep an eye on the C-suite, which has the power
to hire and fire agencies representing them as clients.

69

PR Management
PR stakeholders are no longer impressed with simply including social media within
a campaign. Increasingly, clients want a return on investment (ROI) for dollars
spent on advertising, public relations and marketing efforts. In the eCommerce
environment, use of Google Analytics and other social media data dashboards allow
businesses to link social media efforts to results that go beyond Facebook likes and
shares. A company may be trying to increase website traffic, generate sales leads,
increase conversions to online purchases, reduce company expenses and improve
customer awareness and relations.
So-called key performance indicators (KPIs) focus on continuous monitoring
of social media and sales activity data. In other words, businesses want social media
to be connected to their larger goals and strategies for maintaining and growing
business. This is what some thought leaders have termed “social business.” It places
social media within the more traditional context of word of mouth activity related to
brands. Social media conversation can assist with ongoing branding activities,
which are crucial to developing, maintaining and generating customer brand loyalty.
In social media, influence is important. While data suggest that actual friends are
most influential, PR seeks to tap into the influence of social networks. By creating
content within social networks and mobile social platforms, such as Instagram or
Vine, it may be possible to increase measured influence. Klout, for example, has
hundreds of millions of users. Each is measured using the Klout algorithm. By
identifying influencers, even in a rough sense, a brand may seek to engage with
people or brands that can move toward a larger set of strategic goals. Whether or
not you place much trust in the specific scores, Klout (despite its non-transparent
methodology) is useful for tracking broad engagement across a large number of
social media platforms. Most importantly, it allows a user to identify influencers
connecting with previous social media content and perceived brand influence. By
doing this, the strategy might be to reach out to specific influencers with targeted
content that would drive an increase in future influence. Tracking data over time
allows the user to observe whether the influence tactics have any measureable
effect.
While mainstream or traditional media continue to be opinion leaders, they now
share the spotlight with three other overlapping media environments, as depicted in
the Edelman PR cloverleaf.
Edelman President Richard Edelman, shown here speaking to media professors
at a 2012 Academic Summit in Palo Alto, California, urged that PR embrace the
shift to integrating tradition and social media into campaigns. The development of
the Internet and Web in the 1990s led companies, organizations and individuals to
create websites. These owned media, along with apps, turned all of those with
78 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

online identities essentially into media companies. In this century, hybrid media
(also called “new media” or “tra-digital”), emerged from blogging. The Huffington
Post was one of the earliest hybrid media to take advantage of the shift by
commercializing it. Edelman Digital in Chicago, owned by Edelman PR in New
York (the largest global firm) developed a cloverleaf that classified these types of
media. Technology sites, such as Mashable, political sites like Politico, and other
specialized niche markets flourished in this new space. Finally, social media,
through early popular sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, empowered
individuals to interact as media producers. The rapidly growing mobile media
market driven by smartphones and tablets created a need for new apps and new
platforms, such as Vine and Tout for video, Instagram for photographs and video,
and FourSquare and Yelp for geo-location services.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 79

Figure 4.1 Edelman President Richard Edelman frequently uses the Cloverleaf to place
social media within the context of other media forms.

The blending of PR functions with “paid amplification” through social media

has led to a degree of chaos in the field. Edelman PR (@EdelmanPR) gathered top
leaders in Hamburg, Germany, in 2013 to develop company strategy for
responding to rapid industry change (Sudhaman, 2013). Edelman’s $750 million
in annual revenues and 12.5% growth rate were not enough to keep President
Richard Edelman (@RichardEdelman) from worrying about challengers, such as
GolinHarris (@GolinHarris), which earlier had restructured account teams (para.
8). Edelman’s “Hamburg Principles,” which urged a public relations focus that
utilizes digital media and research and partners with advertising agencies when
working with large clients. In an era of convergence of PR with advertising and
marketing functions, Edelman defines PR work as being a “reference point for
how smart marketers are playing the game (para. 46). The brand-building function
leads Richard Edelman to say that “PR is actually an attitude”—one that enters
the business conversation amid dramatic social media shifts (para. 47).
Edelman’s David Armano (@armano) has classified five content archetypes
that offer examples of how PR advice now flows to large clients. Armano (2013)
describes curated, co-created, original, consumer-generated and sponsored content
amid the new mobile publishing environment:

1. Curated content is managed by brands determining “highest value to c

onsumers” (para. 1).
80 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

2. Co-created content “is co-produced either peer to peer or brand to

participant” (para. 2).
3. Original content is exclusive brand messages (para. 3).
4. Consumer-generated content happens “without the brand’s involvement”
(para. 4).
5. Sponsored content is “paid” promotion (para. 5).

From this framework, Armano (2013) sees a digital world that is mobile, social
and responsive to changes in online search. He sees social media as defined by
mobile “newsfeeds” (para. 6). From Facebook’s feed to other mobile platforms,
such as Instagram, “dominated by content and sharing” that “is only a button tap
or click away” (para. 7). Perhaps the most volatile area for PR is sponsored
content. A brand may purchase promoted posts on Facebook, which function
similar to paid search by appearing atop a feed. At the same time, though,
sponsored content refers to paid content that mimics online editorial content
through native advertising that is seen along side a publication’s traditional
media.
From small stores to global brands, social media triggered a shift in resources
toward communicating directly with potential and existing customers through the
use of online content. At the same time, valued content was created to raise
awareness, inform consumers, strengthen brand loyalty, build trust and manage
reputation. This has resulted in a focus on branded content, content marketing,
strategy and planning. What started as text-based information quickly shifted to
rich media campaigns complete with photographs, info-graphics, memes, viral
videos, new media channels and a push toward precise measurement of results
through web analytics. The purpose of online content marketing often is to drive
traffic to a commercial website, which may be a link for rapid sharing of content.
Platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest, allow users to gain earned
media without the high cost of national advertising. At the beginning and end of
online PR is evaluation in the general sense, as opposed to the specific formula, of
return on investment (ROI). In other words, was the effort worth our valuable
resources and time?

PR History and Tactics

PR was not always the way we see it now. Message management began with
church and political propaganda centuries ago, and it was fueled by 20th-century
technological and social change. From P. T. Barnum’s circus to early practitioner
Edward Bernays, PR began to shift from wild and false claims to “professionals
as comparable to attorneys, counseling clients” (Smith, Kaufman, & Martinez,
2012, p. 20). In the 1940s, PR featured traditional tactics, such as traveling
publicity tours. A company selling home hair permanents in a radio and print
advertising campaign that featured store visits across the country, for example,
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 81

used the Toni Twins. The 75-city media tour was the idea of Dan Edelman, who
went on to found what is today the largest global PR firm:
Politicians and celebrities had long toured America, going from one
speaking engagement to the next. What if, Dan thought, a company
organized a tour geared not toward events, but aimed at local media? A
media tour would ignite conversation everywhere it touched down. They
could easily cobble together a reason to be in town, but the real purpose
would be to generate coverage in the local newspapers, magazines, and on
local radio. (Wisner, 2012, p. 13)
Amid lobbying by beauticians against home hair treatments, the Toni Twins were
arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma for “practicing salon procedures without a license”
(p. 10). Crisis communication was born. Edelman turned the arrest into a photo
opportunity and national press coverage by the AP and other news organizations.
The events spawned Edelman’s first 60-page PR plan, a large corporate budget,
and eventually the launching of his own firm based upon a simple philosophy:
“Do good. Tell other people about it” (p. 18).
The timing was perfect. Harry Truman in 1948 had conducted a nationwide
“whistle stop” train tour designed to obtain live local radio coverage (Carroll,
1987). It would be called the last radio campaign. Between 1949 and 1952, when
Edelman launched his small PR firm, post-war America had quickly adopted the
new technology of television with millions watching I Love Lucy and other
popular shows. News and politics also drew large audiences. Early television did
not have clear separation between programming and advertising, and celebrity
scandals generated a need for reputation management.
PR today is managed within social media as planned and interactive
communication. Practitioners focus on reputation management and crisis
communication. It may function as internal communication within organizations,
but it also serves external communication needs for publicity, government and
community relations, and even fundraising.
Published academic public relations studies fall into three general categories—
“introspective” articles about PR as a profession, “practice/application” of PR,
and development of theory (Fussell Sisco, Pressgrove, & Collins, 2013, p. 286).
Among these studies, important areas of theory (p. 290) include:

• PR/excellence theory
• Organization-public relationship
• Framing
• Dialogic communication
• Situational theory
• Role theory
• Diffusion of innovation

Within this context, it appears that both the industry and academic researchers
identify the growing importance of non-profit public relations. This sector
82 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

typically works with small budgets, and social media are seen as a way to
generate awareness and interest through direct communication and engagement
with the public.

PR Theories
The field of public relations tends to have a focus on communication strategies
and tactics, organizational practices and management. For example, common PR
tactics include use of news releases, press conferences, events and publications.
All of these may be connected to a social media campaign, which pushes content
to media and the public. As with the broader communication industry, there is
debate about the value of theory versus practice. Key theories may enhance
critical thinking abilities of students, interns and professionals (Latchaw, Allen, &
Ogden, 2009). Among the most commonly mentioned theoretical perspectives are
agenda-setting, cultivation, ethics, issues management, organizational
communication and persuasion (Miller & Kernisky, 1999). These theories may be
applied to communication message strategies (Toth, 2006). Social media are
closely related to mediated communication, which is built upon interpersonal
communication theories. Tactics alone, without strategies, are not enough to
manage complex issues (Elliott & Koper, 2002).
Grunig (1989) contended that PR “practice is dominated by the presupposition
that the purpose of public relations is to manipulate the behavior of publics for the
assumed, if not actual, benefit of the manipulated publics as well as the
organization” (p. 29). He identified four models (Grunig, 1989, p. 29):

• Press agentry/publicity—“propagandistic” PR seeking “media attention in

almost any way possible”
• Public information—“journalists-in-residence” disseminating “generally
accurate information,” but “do not volunteer negative information”
• Two-way asymmetrical—the Bernays approach uses research and
sophisticated manipulation methods “to identify the messages most likely to
produce support of publics without having to change the behavior of the
organization”
• Two-way symmetrical—has “effects that a neutral observer would describe as
benefitting both organization and publics” through “bargaining, negotiating,
and strategies of conflict resolution to bring about symbiotic changes”

Grunig found through research that “the models function as situational

strategies that organizations use for different publics and public relations
problems,” and “presuppositions of the models function as part of an
organization’s ideology” (p. 31). Grunig also articulated the importance of
organizational “orientation,” which described such characteristics as closed-
mindedness, elitism and traditionalism (pp. 32–33). There is no reason to believe
that social media participation would change fundamental organizational
viewpoints, but these should impact the manner of communication and degree of
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 83

engagement with the public. If old PR rules apply in social media spaces,
organizations may be overestimating the value of message distribution in raising
awareness, as opposed to employing Grunig’s symmetrical approach. On the other
hand, public social media communication may also create opportunities to
discuss, engage and even negotiate social change. It also could be that social
media communication reflects traditional persuasion constraints of behavior
reinforcement, cognitive beliefs and evaluation intention of future behavior, and
involvement (Hamilton, 1989).
An early study of Twitter references to “public relations” and “PR” by Xifra &
Grau found eight specific categories (2010, p. 171–172):
Labour introspective 15.2% (N = 99): All direct references to the vacancies and
applications for positions in public relations.
Academic introspective 2.3% (N = 15): Both references clearly issued by students
and lecturers, as well as information in the university public relations universe.
Practice 10.9% (N = 71): All information sent out by public relations
practitioners, either as members of a company or the press agent of an
organization . . .
It also comprises tweets that refer to work by firms.
Press release references 4.3% (N = 28): Announcements of the issue of press
releases and links to read and/or download the press release.
General information on the public relations sector 14.4% (N = 94): General
information on the public relations sector. It comprises the group of tweets that
deal with the industry, on the state of the art or references to public relations as a
concept, economic sector or important part of organisations’ communication
strategies.
The sender of the tweet and their dialogue with the community 18.7% (N = 122):
It groups opinions and thoughts on the sector, heavily marked by the sender’s
viewpoint. Also @replies (answers) to other users involving the existence of a
dialogue with them on public relations.
Research 5.6% (N = 37): It includes all requests and invitations to answer or to
involve all users that read or capture a question or questionnaire issued to the
community. Announcements, reviews, agenda, followfriday, and retweets 28.6%
(N = 187): This group includes all tweets that facilitate acceleration, transmission
and expansion of communication between the members of the community.

The study confirmed that Twitter was seen as an alternative channel for
presenting a positive company image. Twitter often was used as a tool for
professional information, including listings for jobs.
Curtis et al. (2010) found gender and other differences in perception of Twitter.
While Twitter use was ubiquitous, practitioners with “defined public relations
departments are more likely to adopt social media technologies and use them to
achieve . . . organizational goals” (p. 92). Social media use was related to
perceived credibility, strategic message targeting, client relationships and an
ability to reach the public.
84 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Credibility
The potential for attitude and behavior change through social media
communication requires an understanding of credibility. It has been related to
believability, leadership, warmth, salience, trustworthiness, expertise,
attractiveness, skills, accuracy and sincerity (Hwang, 2013). In a study of Twitter
use by Korean politicians, attitudes about Twitter use influenced perceived
credibility of the politicians using Twitter. Politicians were perceived as
“attractive and classy” by “challenging themselves” to use the new tool (p. 254):

Social media makes it possible for organizations to fully engage in dialogic

communication with stakeholders . . . the word dialogue indicates open-
minded, specific message content and a sincere listening attitude . . . When
politicians actively share their candid opinions through the open public
sphere of Twitter, this can cultivate an open-minded image that leads
members of the public to perceive politician users as sincere and reliable.
(p. 254)

At the same time, however, there are numerous examples of U.S. politicians
speaking their minds on Twitter, only later having to retract or apologize for
saying something that was perceived by media and the public as beyond
normative boundaries.
Social Capital, Conflict and Collaboration
Social capital is a popular idea within the social sciences and has been related to
social interaction, trust, shared value and social media use (Lin & Lu, 2011). It
refers to the ability of individuals and organizations to benefit from
communication behavior. In the context of social media, “Gaining social capital
really means becoming a strong, consistent member of the online community”
(Solomon, 2013, p. 35). A Save Ohio Libraries 2009 campaign on Twitter was
unable to leverage social capital because it was primarily one-way, outbound
communication. Librarians have since learned the importance of regularly
engaging with their communities by providing helpful information and links.
Solomon (2013) urges libraries to make social capital deposits within their social
media sites:
Every time your library promotes something or asks for a favor, it is
making a withdrawal. If your withdrawals exceed your deposits, your
library effectively becomes a community leech—and in some cases, a
pariah. Spend social capital wisely. (p. 37)
Conceptually, Robert Putnum popularized social capital in the mid-1990s, as
he argued for declining American social relationships. “This is a shorthand way of
saying learning, motivation, best practice, problem solving and access to
resources, among other factors, can often be better facilitated through networks—
the social contacts made with professional colleagues—than individually”
(Taylor, 2013, p. 34). Individual and organizational social capital may have value
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 85

in economic terms, and it also may offer benefits for professional development
and working culture. Across a wide variety of fields, social capital is seen as a
way to understand intangibles that are important within prospering communities.
Taylor (2013, p. 35) lists important benefits:

• Trust—“information, knowledge and skills” sharing, as well as “support.”

• Shared norms and values—“understanding” of others’ “perspectives,” and
“shared language and common goals” with “a particular context.”
• Shared resources and knowledge—“wider access to resources and
knowledge” for “taking forward good practice.”
• Reciprocity—“it is likely that others in the network will reciprocate and give
to that relationship.”
• Resilience within relationships—“Strong networks are resilient in the face of
chal-
lenges,” and are accepting of “constructive conversations around difficult
areas.”
• Co-ordination and co-operation for the achievement of common goals—as
“best professional practice extends beyond traditional organisational
boundaries.”

In other words, using social networking and media to cultivate social capital
should generate opportunities to collaborate beyond organizational boundaries.
Twitter, for example, can be seen as valuable individual career support through
sustained relationship building while serving in “complex roles” (Taylor, 2013, p.
37). Beyond the obvious value to individual workers, collaboration may grow into
“strategic business alliances” that cut costs by sharing the need to keep pace with
rapid industry change (Harper & Norelli, 2007, p. 15). In PR, there are potentially
a large number of opportunities within most communities to utilize virtual
collaboration through social media.
Social Media Tactics
Historically, PR people had a heavy reliance on the simple press release or news
release. The idea was that, if the writing and ideas were attention getting to news
gatekeepers, a story about an event, product or service would follow. Enter the
digital era and the Internet.
Every release of information today should be designed for online consumption
by news media and the general public. PR people are in search of “traction” amid
the noisy and cluttered world of social media. One way to break through the
clutter is to use SEO keywords and structure them in order to move the
information toward the top of a Google search. At the same time, social media
demand more.
Edelman’s Phil Gomes examined buzz in the early days of Twitter and
researched how online chatter could be monitored through social media
measurement techniques, which are much more sophisticated now. There is a
need to share rich media content— photographs, audio, video, info-graphics and
86 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

links—across social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Developing tactics can create buzz, if the content is engaging and truly employs
media storytelling techniques.
The PR professional in search of earned media and social sharing, even viral
distribution, must be strategic by offering timely information. Increasingly, PR
content is integrated within the news cycle, which is very fast. As news breaks,
Twitter content may light up the social network with activity. Real-time PR
professionals, often working from “war rooms” ready to respond, link the
strategic goals of their clients with relatable organic content. Still, there are so
many people now trying to take advantage of the moment in social media spaces
that it has become increasingly difficult to be clever enough to break through the
noise with valuable content.

BOX 4.1 THOUGHT LEADER PHIL GOMES

Suddenly, PR people became part of the story,
which was always a kind of “fourth wall” that was
never to be breached. This is both good *and* bad.
It’s good in that PR is a largely distrusted profession
and I’m a big proponent of earning that trust by
“open sourcing” PR’s “operating system” to some
degree. Social media is one way to do that.
However, it’s bad because there are an awful lot
of PR people who want to insert themselves into
the conversation to such a degree that it 1) actually
adds to the distrust, and 2) produces further
confusion as Figure 4.2 @philgomes.
to what PR is.
A recent survey of CMOs showed that “data explosion” and “social media” were
the top two—perhaps linked—concerns that they have. People
(continued )

talk a lot about “Big Data” but I think this is a distraction, as if insights
spontaneously appear when you’re sitting on enough exabytes. It actually doesn’t
take a whole lot to accumulate a ton of data. At a certain level of play, it’s quite
possible that Company A’s data warehouse might not be markedly different in size
or content from Company B’s. What companies need to talk about is “Big Math.” In
other words, how do you approach, manipulate, and present that data to achieve
competitive business value?
I am looking forward to—and am actively working toward—a day when such a
distinction will be as meaningless as asking “What is the largest opportunity your
field has because of the fax machine?” All media is social and, despite what many
legislators might say, all social is media. “Digital” departments will be a firm’s core
group of innovators and trendspotters while basic social media and digital skills will
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 87

be just as much a part of communications strategy client service as, say, media
relations. The distinctions will evaporate over time.
Phil Gomes is senior vice president (SVP) at Edelman Chicago, where he has
worked since 2005. He holds a B.A. from St. Mary’s College of California and an
MBA from Purdue University. He began as account service and media/analyst
relations for SRI International, Hitachi Semiconductor, J. D. Edwards and others.
Gomes is a strategist applying his Silicon Valley background to current PR industry
best practices.

Social media tend to blur the lines between PR, advertising and marketing.
Vaynerchuk (2013), for example, instructs brands to do storytelling with the
context of a particular social media platform. He calls this type of social media
marketing “native,” in that it understands a platform and is fluent within it (p. 16).
This rule also applies to PR. The difference is that while PR may emphasize brand
awareness, influence or positive sentiment, marketing ultimately seeks conversion
from interaction to sales: “. . . successful social media marketing requires
throwing many jabs before converting the sale with a right hook” (pp. 17–18).
Vaynerchuk narrows social media to the nine most important platforms: Twitter,
Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and Snapchat.
While marketers jab, PR professionals seek new ways to engage in timely and
relevant exchanges.

PR Newsrooms and Message Targeting

Edelman PR developed its Creative Newsroom idea to address the need for real-
time social media monitoring, response and strategy. The firm hired former
journalists to staff the newsroom:
Edelman built the Creative Newsroom, to provide clients with an agile and
integrated platform for storytelling, for both planned and real-time
marketing. We partner with clients to produce relevant content and real-
time creative assets that support traditional, hybrid, social and owned
strategies and align with longer-term brand and corporate narratives.
(Edelman, 2014)
Edelman PR focuses on client media storytelling for engaging audiences.
Edelman’s plan focuses on client partnerships with five U.S. newsrooms and one
in the U.K. Edelman newsroom “trend spotters” identify trends and events,
collaborate with account leaders and design creative concepts. Ideas are shared
with clients, and then decisions are made about posting or not.
Real-time social media are transforming marketing and public relations.
GolinHarris created The Bridge two years earlier than Edelman. GolinHarris hired
professional journalists, but also created “a holistic engagement network” to offer
businesses “a front-row seat to the most important conversations, broadcast and
news headlines tied to your industry” (GolinHarris, 2014). The firm has had
88 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

journalists in Chicago and Dallas running The Bridge since 2012. GolinHarris
constructed 13 global “command centers” for this new form of industry
collaboration, and The Bridge:
. . . pairs mainstream and digital experts with creative specialists like
copywriters, digital designers and video producers to uncover storytelling
opportunities in real time, deliver critical business insights, engage
influencers and customers and create the content that shapes news and
conversations. (Ibid., para. 4)
The Bridge won a PR Week award for innovative design of “holistic
engagement.” The basic idea is to provide 24/7 conversation monitoring for
clients and offer rapid response within social media. When Al Roker overslept his
Today Show shift for the first time ever, for example, the McDonald’s account
tweeted at him:
@McDonalds: Stick with us @AlRoker, we’ll help you wake up for the
next 39 years #McCafe. (August 6, 2013)

Figure 4.3 The Bridge in Chicago utilizes real-time social media monitoring, strategy
and response.
The tweet was read on the air, which is earned media from social media
engagement with traditional media. Traditional media—television, radio,
newspapers and magazines—are blending with real-time PR and marketing
content. News organizations are now in the business of conversation monitoring
and engaging. In this sense, the news model shares with PR the goal of creating
viral videos, flashy graphics, photographs, memes and other popular social media
content. Everyone is competing for measurable engagement that may translate
into new revenue.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 89

The integration of digital requires that PR newsrooms “keep brands’ names

alive on the trending charts as well as the daily zeitgeist” (PR News, 2013b, para.
3). Ogilvy, which came to social media from an advertising agency perspective,
strategizes about real-time events but urges their clients to create their own
newsrooms through what Edelman PR would call earned media. Golin Harris’s
head of The Bridge at its New York office told PR News that public relations
newsrooms should encourage participation by: 1) being at the center of a PR
office, 2) monitoring traditional and social media and 3) developing a mindset of
constantly generating ideas for clients.

PR Blogging and Case Studies

Public relations blogging has been used to give personal and company brands
voice within new social media spaces. More generally, bloggers may be social
media influencers. While companies pay some bloggers, the vast majority is
unpaid and fairly independent. In some cases, bloggers seek to build their
personal brand and promote products, such as books.
BOX 4.2 THE CHICAGO CUBS AND A WRIGLEY FIELD PEARL
JAM CONCERT
The Chicago Cubs used social media to help promote a summer Pearl Jam concert
at Wrigley Field. The summer concerts have become a new way to generate
revenue while the baseball team is on the road. Cubs Manager of Communications
Kevin Saghy (@CredibleKev) utilized existing relationships. Pearl Jam musician
Edder Vedder (@PearlJam) is a huge Cubs fan, and Cubs President of Baseball
Operations Theo Epstein (@Cubs) is a Pearl Jam fan. Saghy told a Cision (@Cision)
marketing webinar (Denten & Saghy, 2013), “We executed a social media leak
strategy.” It began one morning with cryptic Facebook and Twitter posts using
#StayTuned to heighten interest. “Over the course of the day, people following
both accounts started to pick up on this, and the buzz just built throughout the
day.”
Because of the mysterious posts, traditional media eventually called the Cubs
and Pearl Jam publicists. Late in the day, a media alert was distributed, posted on
the Cubs’ marquee, and posted online. The announcement of the forthcoming
concert attracted traditional local media coverage and morning television the next
day. The Cubs also attracted attention in music industry publications, such as
Rolling Stone. Saghy told PRSA that the Cubs “rely on traditional PR tactics to
attract attention to our social
90 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Figure 4.4 The Chicago Cubs used social and mass media to promote a Pearl Jam
concert at Wrigley Field.

media outlets” by securing “quite a bit of coverage” for the Pearl Jam concert and a
Social Media Night at Wrigley Field (Jacques, 2013, para. 18):
We’re active on nearly every major social media platform—Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, Google Plus, Tumblr—and we keep an eye on other
emerging outlets to see where we should focus our efforts. We cover every
game, home or away, and constantly monitor for breaking news (para. 16).
The Cubs use content, contests, polls and fan engagement during games at
Wrigley Field. Saghy’s work is split between traditional PR outreach and social
media. “I usually check my email and our Twitter feed to see if there are pressing
issues to address” (para. 6). The PR function aligns with baseball operations on
release of personnel information, roster moves and updates during games. The
Cubs connect “memorable” offline experiences to social media; “fans remember
these interactions for life, and the positive stories spread organically” (para. 10).
Social media have become PR tools that offer many unique ways to be creative
and generate customer brand interest. There are many examples frequently
mentioned by PR professionals, including:
• The Old Spice Guy, a brand representative, created more than 150
personalized videos for fans.
• Microsoft and Bing announced a partnership during a Twitter chat.
• Hershey’s launched its Simple Pleasures candy with a Sweet Independence
Facebook page that encouraged follower posts and generated more than 200
million media impressions.
PR people can reward loyal customers by making simultaneous Facebook page
and media release announcements. Using social media to cover press conferences
and national launch tours can help coordinate the integration of traditional and
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 91

social media. By inventing new hashtags or hijacking an existing trending topic, a

brand can connect with new potential customers.
During NBC’s live “Sound of Music” broadcast with singer Carrie
Underwood, pizza brand DiGiorno capitalized on the highest TV ratings since the
E.R. finale to live tweet using the official tag:
@DiGiorno: #TheSoundOfMusicLive Can’t believe pizza isn’t one of her
favorite things smh. (December 5, 2013)
“Now of course DiGiorno got a ton of pizza references in there by seamlessly
incorporating their brand with the conversation, but they were not pushing
products” (Quintana, 2013, para. 6). The increase in this type of live tweet,
however, runs a risk of turning off fans who see this as too opportunistic.
The connection of PR events and social media may produce numerous positive
outcomes. PR influence now extends to blogger and VIP influencers by creating
experiences that lend themselves to social media content creation. Traditional
news media increasingly are active on social media, and social media engagement
may cut across traditional and new media. Many brands have incorporated prize
packages and scavenger hunts into their social media plans.
Companies also need to consider the role that employees play within social
media. Their employees may be connected to very active social networks, and
they are brand ambassadors. Employees also may be able to help a social media
brand manager by taking photographs and having their posts featured on a blog or
social media site. Employees increasingly are seen as stakeholders with a voice
inside and outside the company. The integrated approach to PR and digital
marketing may be positive for brand visibility, customer loyalty and even sales.
Social media may generate new business through use of new platforms and
engagement with fans and followers—ideally within a responsible business
framework.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

With so much attention being paid to seemingly self-serving company and brand
efforts within social media, there has been renewed interest in looking beyond
sales and profits. Perhaps driven by an era of government deregulation that began
in the late 1970s in the United States, CSR asks companies to consider the effects
of their businesses on social and environmental conditions. Corporate citizens
operating within a CSR model would consider long-term social interests, not just
quarterly profits. Clearly, social media engagement can be related to CSR by
emphasizing social responsibility for individuals, groups and companies. CSR
also can be seen as a way to develop legal, ethical and global best practices within
a large corporation. Freeman (1984/2010) influenced thinking about the need for
multinational corporations to move beyond the narrow interests of stockholders to
the broader interests of stakeholders. Freeman’s book was published at a time
when U.S. manufacturing, particularly the automobile industry, was being
overtaken by imports from Japan. As such, CSR was framed within a strategic
92 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

management perspective that considered suppliers, owners, employees and

customers as stakeholders within an environment of “internal and external
change” (p. 12). Most notably, companies were receiving media scrutiny based
upon the emergence of consumer protection and employee rights and
responsibilities. If a company moved away from top-down management practices,
then it should involve employees at all levels in decision-making and listen to
customer wants and needs. In other words, CSR emphasized self-regulation
within companies as a more effective way to achieve social good over previous
efforts of “big government” regulation. The CSR message resonated in the 1980s
U.S. political environment, which saw President Ronald Reagan pushing for
aggressive deregulation of “bureaucracy” in all sectors (p. 15).
Let us consider the customer of a firm, and suppose that for whatever
reason, the customer is unhappy with the product. He or she can exit,
simply take the business elsewhere and buy from another producer, given
that there is a reasonable number of competing firms. Exit is the paradigm
of the “economic” strategy. When enough customers exit, the firm gets the
message that the product is no longer viable, that it is not producing at the
“efficient frontier.” (pp. 18–19)
An alternative approach is the use of customer “voice.” Freeman (1984/2010) saw
customer feedback to management as “more immediate” (p. 19). Brand loyalty in
the marketplace, then, is a combination of consumer decisions and voice.
Traditional, mainstream media might identify a particular consumer complaint or
problem, but social media allow consumers to voice immediate dissatisfaction
and engage with others having similar issues. Yelp, for example, is driven by
consumer reviews. If a number of people report a similar problem at a restaurant,
the social media content may affect business. Social media amplify and accelerate
consumer voice, not only forcing company response, but also nudging interest in
CSR.
The CSR approach suggests that responsible behavior may also be good for
business, but it is not clear that social good always has a positive economic
impact ( McWilliams & Siegel, 2001). As early as 1970, it had been argued (via
“agency theory”) that “managers who use” shareholder and “corporate resources
to further some social good are doing so only to advance a personal agenda such
as promoting their self image” (McWilliams, Siegel, & Wright, 2006, p. 4).
Corporate Social Performance (CSP) instead emphasized the need to test CSR
against traditional financial outcomes (Carroll, 1979). One view of CSR
emphasizes stakeholders, ethical behavior, “trust and cooperation,” (McWilliams,
Siegel, & Wright, 2006b, p. 3). This approach has been shown to “demonstrate
that the returns to socially responsible behavior are captured through the
reputation of the firm” (McWilliams, Siegel, & Wright, 2006a, p. 6). Particularly
on the international stage, communicating CSR may result in positive effects,
such as increased brand loyalty for those customers in search of socially
responsible products and company behavior. Communicating brand
differentiation through CSR may be part of a broader engagement strategy.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 93

Non-profits
Non-profits have perhaps the most to gain from the social media communication
PR shift. They typically are faced with low or non-existent media budgets and
hope to benefit through earned media. While it is still possible to place stories in
the local newspaper or on radio and television stations to gain community
awareness, there are greater possibilities within social media. Non-profits may
cultivate social friends and fans, drive traffic to fundraising campaign sites, and
generate interest in community events.
Successes
Chief executive officers (CEO) may play an important role in developing social
media PR success stories. PR News reported that CEO sociability may have a
positive impact on company reputation, and CEO blogging magnifies effect.
When a CEO becomes a thought leader, she or he has the potential to influence
conversation and followers. As blog posts spread across social media spaces, the
CEO and company brands should grow. Among benefits listed in an Intel chart
are those shown in Table 4.1.
CEO social media use has the potential to increase perceptions of credibility,
when strategic and careful. By establishing a presence within social media, a CEO
should be more ready to handle media and public backlashes during times of
crises. There are, however, no guarantees. Participating within social media also
opens brands to potential criticism and attack.

Failures
The most common problem for individuals and companies is the distribution of a
social media message without thinking it through and filtering it in terms of PR
strategic planning and goals. The online site Mental Floss reported 16 cases in
which people had been fired from their jobs because of a tweet (Conradt, 2013).
Among the examples, an employee tweeting for Chrysler thought he was on his
own private account:

@ChryslerAutos: I find it ironic that Detroit is known as #motorcity and

yet no one here knows how to fucking drive. (March 9, 2011)

While this firing was immediate, sometimes an old tweet comes back to haunt an
employee. This 2011 tweet was discovered and reported by the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel after Taylor Palmisano was hired as deputy finance director for
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s campaign.

@itstaytime: This bus is the worst fucking nightmare Nobody speaks

English & these ppl don’t know how 2 control their kids #only3morehours
#illegalaliens. ( January 2, 2011)

Table 4.1 Top Five Benefits of CEO Blogging and Social Media Use
94 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Benefits Social Media Use CEO

Blogging
1. Shows innovation 76% 85%
2. Build media relations 75 84
3. Human face/personality 75 80
4. Business results 70 76
5. Workplace perception 69 76
Source: PR News (2013a, June 7). Benefits of CEO Participation in Social Media. PR News.
www.prnews online.com/topics/research/2013/06/10/social-media-and-mobile-video-equal-more-
web-sharing- death-of-newspapers-greatly-exaggerated-for-a-change/attachment/chart2-2/
Most employers clearly will not tolerate racist rants. Another problem is
disclosure of confidential information. Glee extra Nicole Crowther “tweeted a
spoiler of a pivotal scene” (para. 4) of the popular primetime television show. She
was banned from future work through her casting agency (Conradt, 2013).

Lessons
PR practitioners can use social media communication content in the promotion of
client products and services. Ogilvy’s director of media influence calls this “the
age of content” (Risi, 2013):
Media relations has undergone a sea change in recent times with the
proliferation of platforms, fusion of formats, and blurring of lines between
traditional and social media. What has persisted is the potency of media
exposure—it can make or break your PR campaign and thereby, your
client’s brand. It can establish newbies, transform dogged perceptions, and
restore tarnished brands. Companies are increasingly turning to PR
agencies for brand building and reputation management, and agencies must
navigate their clients through an increasingly muddled media landscape.
(para. 1)
Risi (2013, paras. 4–6) talks about traditional, social and earned media focused
on business results.

1. Measure what matters . . . Impressions and ad equivalency are moot points

if your media efforts aren’t impacting the company’s bottom line.
2. Re-think media placements . . . social sharing, online pieces are often
driving conversation better than print coverage.
3. Adopt a channel-agnostic approach . . . by connecting content across
earned, owned, and paid media, brands can tell a cohesive story that
resonates with discerning consumers today.

The emphasis is away from traditional press releases and media relations tactics
and toward engaging content that is timely and contextual. By producing the right
content at the right time, and on the right social media platform, it is possible to
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 95

meet ROI business objectives that can be measured. PR is converging and

blending with advertising and marketing. Social media engagement calls for
customer focus and clear content strategy (Edelman, 2013). In the next chapter,
the attention turns to social media for advertising and marketing purposes.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How is PR changing because of social media use? What are the positives and
negatives of the shift?
2. How is it possible to integrate the different media forms described by the
Edelman cloverleaf? What are the most important limitations to integrated
PR?
3. What do you see as the most important corporate social responsibility issues
related to social media? How might these change in the future?
References
Armano, D. (2013, October 28). The Five Content Archetypes. Edelman.
http://darmano.type pad.com/logic_emotion/2013/10/content.html
Carroll, A. (1979). A Three Dimensional Model of Corporate Performance. Academy of
Management Review 4, 497–505.
Carroll, R. L. (1987, Spring). Harry S. Truman’s 1948 Election: The Inadvertent
Broadcast Campaign. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 31(2), 119–132.
Conradt, S. (2013, December). 16 People Who Tweeted Themselves into Unemployment.
Mental Floss. http://mentalfloss.com/article/54068/16-people-who-tweeted-themselves-
unemployment
Curtis, L., Edwards, C., Fraser, K. L., Gudelsky, S., Holmquist, J., Thornton, K., &
Sweetser, K. D. (2010). Adoption of Social Media for Public Relations by Nonprofit
Organizations. Public Relations Review 36, 90–92.
Denten, L. L., & Saghy, K. (2013, October 24). Bridging Social to Traditional PR. Cision.
http:// us.cision.com/events/on-demand-webinars/Bridging-the-Gap-to-Traditional-
PR.asp
Edelman, D. (2013, October 30). Say Hi to the Social Media Elephant in the Room.
LinkedIn. www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131030130324–1816165-say-hi-to-
the-social-mediaelephant-in-the-room
Edelman PR (2014). Creative Newsroom. www.edelman.com/expertise/creative-
newsroom/
Elliott, G., & Koper, E. (2002). Public Relations Education from an Editor’s Perspective.
Journal of Communication Management 7, 21–23.
Freeman, R. E. (1984/2010). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Fussell Sisco, H., Pressgrove, G., & Collins, E. L. (2013). Paralleling the Practice: An
Analysis of the Scholarly Literature in Nonprofit Public Relations. Journal of Public
Relations Research 25(4), 282–306.
GolinHarris (2014). The Bridge: Holistic Engagement Centers. http://golinharris.com/#!/
approach/the-bridge/
Grunig, J. E. (1989). Symmetrical Presuppositions as a Framework for Public Relations
Theory. In C. H. Botan & V. Hazleton, Jr. (Eds.), Public Relations Theory, pp. 17–44.
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
96 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Hamilton, P. K. (1989). Application of a Generalized Persuasion Model to Public

Relations Research. In C. H. Botan & V. Hazleton, Jr. (Eds.), Public Relations Theory,
pp. 323–334. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Harper, T., & Norelli, B. P. (2007). The Business of Collaboration and Electronic
Collection Development. Collection Building 26(1), 15–19.
Hwang, S. (2013). The Effect of Twitter Use on Policians’ Credibility and Attitudes
toward Politicians. Journal of Public Relations Research 25(3), 246–258.
Jacques, A. (2013, August 1). Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Kevin Saghy on Managing
Communications for the Chicago Cubs. PRSA Tactics.
www.prsa.org/Intelligence/Tactics/
Articles/view/10277/1081/Take_me_out_to_the_ball_game_Kevin_Saghy_on_managi
#. UqE5LWRDuvk
Latchaw, J., Allen, C., & Ogden, D. (2009). Public Relations Professionals as Shapers of
Public Information: The Role of Theory in Their Education. Simile 9(1).
Lin, K.-Y., & Lu, H.-P. (2011). Intention to Continue Using Facebook Fan Pages from the
Perspective of Social Capital Theory. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social
Networking 14(10), 565–570.
McWilliams, A., & Siegel, D. (2001). Corporate Social Responsibility: A Theory of the
Firm Perspective. Academy of Management Review 26, 117–127.
McWilliams, A., Siegel, D. S., & Wright, P. M. (2006a). Corporate Social Responsibility:
International Perspectives. Rensselaer Working Papers in Economics. Troy, NY:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Press.
McWilliams, A., Siegel, D. S., & Wright, P. M. (2006b). Corporate Social Responsibility:
Strategic Implications. Journal of management Studies 43(1), 1–18.
Miller, D. P., & Kernisky, D. A. (1999). Opportunities Realized: Undergraduate
Education Within Departments of Communication. Public Relations Review 25(1), 87–
100.
PR News (2013a, June 7). Benefits of CEO Participation in Social Media. PR News. www.
prnewsonline.com/topics/research/2013/06/10/social-media-and-mobile-video-
equalmore-web-sharing-death-of-newspapers-greatly-exaggerated-for-a-change/
attachment/ chart2-2/
PR News (2013b, October 21). PR Teams Build Internal Newsrooms as Communications
Strategies Shift. PR News. www.prnewsonline.com/topics/media-relations/2013/10/21/
pr-teams-build-internal-newsrooms-as-communications-strategies-shift/
PRSA (2013, October 27). Conference Recap: Brian Solis on the Future of Public
Relations. PRSA Tactics.
www.prsa.org/SearchResults/view/10397/105/Conference_Recap_Brian_Solis_
On_the_Future_of_Publ#.UqTXWWRDuvk
Quintana, J. (2013, December 5). Real-Time Marketing Lessons from DiGiorno.
Lonelybrand. http://lonelybrand.com/blog/real-time-marketing-digiorno/
Risi, J. (2013, November 4). Three Ways to Maximize PR in the Age of Content. PR
Week. www.prweekus.com/three-ways-to-maximize-pr-in-the-age-of-content/article/
319180/
Smith, B. L., Kaufman, C. O., & Martinez, G. D. (2012). Engaging Public Relations: A
Creative Approach, third edition. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
Solomon, L. (2013, May). Understanding Social Capital. American Librarian Magazine
44(5), 34–37.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 97

Sudhaman, A. (2013, December 1). The ‘Organized Chaos’ of the World’s Largest PR
Agency. The Holmes Report. www.holmesreport.com/featurestories-info/14285/The-
Organized-ChaosOf-The-Worlds-Largest-PR-Agency.aspx
Taylor, R. (2013). Networking in Primary Health Care: How Connections Can Increase
Social Capital. Primary Health Care 23(10), 34–40.
Toth, E. L. (2006). On the Challenge of Practice Informed by Theory. Journal of
Communication Management 10(1), 110–111.
Vaynerchuk, G. (2013). Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy
Social World. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Wisner, F. (2012). Edelman and the Rise of Public Relations. Chicago, IL: Daniel J.
Edelman.
Xifra, J., & Grau, F. (2010). Nanoblogging PR: The discourse on public relations in
Twitter.
Public Relations Review 36, 171–174.
This page intentionally left blank

5 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND

MARKETING

“Fifty-five percent of social network users reported they typically keep in touch by
visiting brands’ websites—the top method of staying connected to a brand.”
—@eMarketer (2013)

The online publication eMarketer, which covers digital marketing, marketing and
commerce, tracks social media impact on traditional advertising and marketing.
“Advertising is commonly defined as paid, one-way promotional communication in
any mass media” (Tuten, 2008, p. 2). Social media, however, are interactive two-
way consumer and brand communication. “Online, advertising becomes more about
conversations, connections, and shared control and less about passive consumption
of packaged content” (p. 3). Online advertising also blurs the traditional line
between it and marketing functions, and it offers key advantages. “Because of the
networked nature of online computers, the Internet has proven to be highly
measurable” (Kelley, Jugenheimer, & Sheehan, 2012, p. 253).
Context, including the level of consumer involvement with media, has become
increasingly important:
. . . media should be thought of more from the consumers’ viewpoint, and it
is no longer enough to know basic media usage figures . . . Rather
consumers’ relationships with the media can be critical to they way they
respond to the brand message. (Katz, 2007, p. 29)
Social media are maturing into an industry that aligns with traditional media
advertising and marketing plans designed to reach large audiences (Miller, 2013).
Beyond offering additional marketing channels, social media are unique because of
relationship building. Earned exposure is defined as when customers “relay their
positive experiences” to others “via social media sites for reviews and ratings” (p.
89). In fact, early research found that three-fourths of comments to retailer sites
were positive. Still, potential customers “want to see negative reviews to be able to
accurately assess the degree of product risk they face when purchasing” (Tuten,
2008, p. 121). The ultimate goal in most advertising and marketing campaigns is to
convert people, through a conversion process, from having initial interest into
completing a sale of products or services:
The basis of social media is informal conversation. Prospects want to be
involved in a dialogue, not subjected to a stream of sales pitches. Even when
 no back-andforth conversation is taking place, a company’s posts need to
sound like human speech. (P. Miller, 2013, p. 92)

89

McKinsey Partner David Edelman (2013) writes that social media began as
unstructured, spontaneous activity, but organic development generates little strategy
and may inflate company fears and sometimes lead to denial of importance. His
Boston marketing firm identified four foundations:

1. Customer care must address complaints: “Having a formal social care team
that peels off those posts and handles them in a structured way, with real case
management tools to resolve problems is essential” (para. 3). Cost per case is a
fraction of telephone customer service.
2. Risk management involves careful use of filters and disclaimers: “Few have a
formal triage system laid out for which types of posts can simply adhere to
some basic guidelines and go out, which ones need legal review, and what just
cannot be sent” (para. 4).
3. Content maximization relates to leveraging conversation monitoring and
content repurposing: “Stepping back and rethinking how to unlock more
vectors of content and then funneling access to it to those on the front line of
posting can amortize the value of content investments, and open up more ways
to get engagement” (para. 5)
4. Analytics are important “to get ahead of the sentiment of the market” and
amplify content in it: “[W]e have seen enormous value from social analytics
that enable spotting new innovation ideas, building social lead flows, and
testing marketing messages before going big” (para. 6).

Because of the nature of the more subtle social media conversion process,
advertising and marketing content are being adapted to blend with editorial content.
Digital native advertising, which looks like online journalism, is projected to
increase 30% in 2014 at Forbes’ BrandVoice (Mickey, 2013). The BrandVoice 10%
annual increase pushed beyond 20% of all ad revenue in 2013, which means that
online advertising is beginning to pay the bills. One of more than two dozen
advertisers, Zurich Insurance, created a newsroom link from the ad. This drives
traffic to news releases, newsletters and other media content. BrandVoice allows
advertisers to attach their brands to the trusted Forbes business brand. The idea is to
present sponsored and branded content within an editorial context of Forbes
content, and to move the content based upon trending topics and popularity. It is
easy to see why advertisers would be pleased to be associated with business news
content and the Forbes online brand. At the same time, the rapidly growing revenue
stream is good news for traditional print publishers, as magazines struggle to
survive in an era of print declining circulation and advertising revenues. The idea
that online advertising can be larger than print advertising is seen as a life jacket for
100 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

print journalism. The key to successful native advertising campaigns is linkage to

audience measurement of social network activity, as the content is shared.
David Carr, media reporter at The New York Times, worried that native
advertising might diminish the credibility of journalism because of its proximity to
news content:
Now the new rage is “native advertising,” which is to say advertising
wearing the uniform of journalism, mimicking the storytelling aesthetic of
the host site. Buzzfeed, Forbes, The Atlantic and, more recently, The New
Yorker, have all
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 101

developed a version of native advertising, also known as sponsored

content; if you are on Buzzfeed, World of Warcraft might have a
sponsored post on, say, 10 reasons your virtual friends are better than your
real ones. (Carr, 2013, para. 3)
Carr wrote that Wonderfactory founder Joe McCambley, one of the pioneers of
banner advertising in 1994, is among those raising issues about native ads.
Among the questions about sponsored content is clear disclosure through labeling
for the reader. McCambley told Carr that it is a mistake for publishers to offer PR
and advertising firms direct access to content management systems. The Atlantic
made one of the earliest mistakes when it allowed the Church of Scientology to
publish a sponsored story within the site’s content stream. The publication
quickly issued a simple apology: “We screwed up” (Stelter & Haughney, 2013,
para. 1).
Online publications, anxious to grow revenue, are tempted to allow sponsored
posts that may look much like editorial content—even using similar design and
art standards. Forbes’ online site features a mixture of content types, which may
add to the confusion by diminishing traditional advertising separation from news.
Forbes was “incubating this whole notion of giving marketers a seat at the table”
beginning in 2010, and the native advertising idea spread to other online
publications desperate to grow new revenue streams (Sebastian, 2013, para. 4). In
this sense, current trends return us to the early issues faced with media
advertising.

Advertising and Marketing Theories

The advertising and marketing industries experienced explosive growth, as
products were marketed through commercial mass media, such as radio and
television. We are now experiencing an important online shift. As the book
Youtility describes it, consumers now expect trustworthy online information and
answers: “Success flows to organizations that inform, not organizations that
promote” (Baer, 2013, p. xi):

Youtility is marketing upside down. Instead of marketing that’s needed by

companies, Youtility is marketing that’s wanted by customers. Youtility is
massively useful information, provided for free, that creates long-term
trust and kinship between your company and your customers. (p. 3)

Baer (2013) relates this fundamental shift to traditional marketing ideas:

• Top-of-Mind Awareness—branding through “a sustained level of

marketing and messaging” (p. 7) that influences customers at the time of
purchase.
• Frame-of-Mind Awareness—“reaching potential customers when they
are in an active shopping and buying mode” (p. 17).
102 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

• Friend-of-Mine Awareness—“your prospective customers must

consider you a friend” (p. 26) to compete for their time, attention and
loyalty.

This type of “smart marketing” uses data to determine what customers want,
and then it offers planning and social media strategy that attempts to account for
ROI. A solid social marketing plan must account for labor and technology costs
related to social media operation, and then determine if the effort produces
satisfactory results.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 103

BOX 5.1 4 P’S—PRODUCT, PRICE, PLACE AND PROMOTION MARKETING

MIX
E. Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State and Notre Dame,
developed the often-mentioned marketing decisions first known as the 4 P’s in his
book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach (1960/1981). Product refers to
goods, services and support. Price is about the cost of something, including money
and time. Place refers to either a point-of-sale or other contexts, such as online,
geography, demographic target or sales experience. Promotion is about
advertising, publicity and branding. The model helps companies ask the right
marketing questions in development of a plan. For example, marketers want to
know how a product satisfies consumer wants and needs, which features are
unique to the competition, and who wants it. Pricing is a function of perceived
value, profit margins and price points. Place focuses on where consumers can find
the product or service. Promotion is the P that we are interested in most when
examining social media. Online conversation may be very important in terms of
friends functioning as opinion leaders. Traditional marketing media may diffuse to
individual influencers within social media spaces. For example, Pinterest is
considered a good platform for sharing product photographs and descriptions. This
may trigger sharing, questions and even website clicks that could be converted to
sales.
McCarthy (1960/1981) explored what he called a “marketing mix” within a
“dynamic social and political environment” (pp. v–vi). By the seventh edition of the
popular book, he viewed “social responsibility” and “consumerism” as “hot”
marketing topics (p. vi). Yet, in advance of what later was called the corporate
responsibility movement, McCarthy’s marketing focus was on individual cognitive
steps in the process: motivation, investigation, organization and utilization (p. viii).
The idea that “selling” and “advertising” were “negative” words (p. 3) cultivated an
idea that we produce and consume: “Consumers and producers must continually
interact” (pp. 11, 13). If the four P’s happen within “controllable” spaces that are
“cultural” and within a “social environment” (p. 52), then marketing would need to
be focused on how to “manage channels” (p. 338). The match between “target
customers and media” (p. 495) was somewhat uncertain because of challenges in
tracking media exposure. Marketing, then, was a promotion challenge of
“informing, persuading, reminding” within a “frantically competitive” environment
(p. 600). The traditional marketing view in 1981, however, could barely see the
coming impact of the personal computer and electronics industry. New products
were about to be introduced in very new places.
By 2013, a Harvard Business Journal posting urged that it was time to update
the marketing mix. The business-to-business (B2B) model is less focused on
products and more related to “the imperative to deliver solutions” (Ettenson,
Conrado, & Knowles, 2013, para. 1). Research suggested that the four P’s approach
has three shortcomings: it leads to technology and quality, which do not
differentiate; it does not emphasize enough the
104 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

value of solutions; and it “distracts them from leveraging their advantage as a

trusted source of diagnostics, advice, and problem solving” (para. 2). Their SAVE
model shifts each of the four P’s:
• Products → Solutions
• Place → Access
• Price → Value
• Promotion → Education
The SAVE marketing approach fits nicely into the social media context of talking
to favorite brands for informational purposes.
Sources:
Ettenson, R., Conrado, E., & Knowles, J. (2013, January-February). Rethinking the 4 P’s.
Harvard Business Review. http://hbr.org/2013/01/rethinking-the-4-ps/
McCarthy, E. J. (1960/1981). Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach, seventh edition .
Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.
Mind Tools (n.d.). The Marketing Mix and 4 Ps, Understanding How to Position
Your Market Offering. www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_94.htm

Critical perspectives see what is happening across screens as feeding

consumption:
Media marketing narratives engage in materially oriented hegemonic
address to consumer citizens, seeking to align and reconcile the interests of
all . . . Our immersing in brandscapes from Coffee Bean culture to
Starbucks connoisseurship may be imagined . . . Consumption across these
familiar forms of life does not so much require our engaging in the
diversified “work of culture.” (Wilson, 2011, pp. 29–30)
Product branding is seen as immersing individuals in physical and virtual
spaces that help define meaning for consumers. “They are not only public but
private (e.g., the personal branding of the self as a subject to trust on Facebook)”
(p. 117).

Consumers
The selling process typically has been structured on generating leads for sales
people, who qualify a prospect and make a pitch or proposal. This also may
involve a selling process that ends with closing or losing a sale. Paige Miller
(2013), however, proposes that consumers follow a social media marketing
customer-driven path of finding sites and content, learning through engagement
and listening, validating information through reviews and community
conversation, using via demonstrations or a trial, buying through a sales process,
and advocacy after the purchase (p. 95). The last step is perhaps most unique to
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 105

social media. Companies may announce through social media that they have a
new client, or the new customer may endorse the product. A company may
reward brand loyalty through a special program that has a linkage to their social
media marketing communication plan. Throughout the process, social media
conversation plays an important role in strengthening public perceptions of the
brand.
Branding
Corporate brand management may be seen as a PR function of “promoting and
protecting the reputation of the corporation” (Morley, 2009, p. 4). At the same
time, advertising agencies see that their work is to “build a strong, distinctive,
memorable brand” (Williams, 2005, p. 3). Branding is closely related to a
company’s purpose, or “reason for being” (p. 9). This may drive a desire to
position the brand as being distinct from all others. “It means not only deciding
what you are, but what you are not” (p. 10). Leaders of a “focused, engaged
business” (p. 181) must determine how to execute branding through
communication. In an age of social media, branding involves both purposeful
online communication and also recognition of critical moments when the best
choice is silence.
Branding involves a “bond,” which has been described as “a powerful
emotional connection” (Morley, 2009, p. 7). Social media engagement creates
real-time opportunities for brand representatives to connect with the public and
establish or reinforce relationships. Advertisers showed a lot of early interest in
buying space on Facebook. Edwards (2013) notes that $1.8 of Facebook’s $2
billion in quarterly revenue is generated by advertising (para. 1). Business Insider
used a variety of data and sources to estimate top Facebook advertisers over a 12-
month period. Samsung, with about $100 million in advertising, appeared to top
all other brands, and it spent about $10 million per week during the launch of its
Galaxy S III smartphone. Edwards (2013) listed the top 12 advertisers:

1. Samsung
2. Procter & Gamble
3. Microsoft
4. AT&T
5. Amazon
6. Verizon
7. Nestlé
8. Unilever
9. American Express
10. Walmart
11. Coca-Cola
12. Starbucks
106 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

Coca-Cola, with more than 82 million Facebook fans, has more than any other
brand. The complete list of advertisers represents many of the top global brands
and advertisers.

Promotions, Market Research and Segmentation

Customers use social network sites to create and distribute “brand-centric”
content and media (Tuten, 2008, p. 101). Within this broad concept are several
types of potential relationships with companies (pp. 102–103):

• Simple consumer-generated media is created without prior request.

• Consumer-solicited media, or participatory advertising, occurs when brands
ask consumers to create, for example, their own advertisement.
• Incentivized consumer-generated media offers prizes for submissions.
• Consumer-fortified media result occurs when a professional advertisement
sparks trusted consumer conversation.
• Compensated consumer-generated media is a term used to describe paid
bloggers and other arrangements.

The various arrangements may create a more democratic form of advertising,

may encourage crowdsourcing, may develop engagement, and may offer
opportunities for long-term relationships.

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

The IMC concept addresses a need to integrate brand-marketing communication
across previously separate industries of PR, advertising and marketing. IMC is
designed to take a step back from specific messaging and employ integration of
approaches to achieve strategic goals. Clow & Baack (2011) see IMC as
involving coordination of all marketing—including promotions and social media.
An IMC plan, for example, might address shifting funding from traditional
advertising to non-traditional media, including social media platforms.
This involves more than simply having a presence on a social media site.
Vaynerchuk (2013), an early promoter of social marketing, identifies his rules of
engagement:
Brands and small businesses want to look relevant, engaged, and authentic,
but when their content is banal and unimaginative, it only makes them look
lame. Content for the sake of content is pointless. Tone deaf posts,
especially in the form of come-ons and promos, just take up space, and are
justifiably ignored by the public. Only outstanding content can cut through
the noise. (p. 16)
Vaynerchuk defines outstanding content as that which: 1) is native to platform;
2) does not interrupt the social media flow; 3) rarely makes demands; 4) leverages
pop culture; 5) contains micro-nuggets of “information, humor, commentary, or
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 107

inspiration;” and 6) stays consistent and self-aware (pp. 16–28). Within this
framework, social media storytelling may resonate with viewers and spread
sometimes at a viral rate. The “native to platform” idea is an extremely important
social media consideration. A photograph posted on Facebook may not fit the
context and moment within Instagram, which is stylized. A tweet with a Twitter
handle, shortened words and a hashtag will appear out of place on Pinterest.
Likewise, Twitter feeds are a good example of flow that changes by the moment.
While it may be useful for a content manager to use Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to
organize social media conversations, it is crucial to recognize what is being said
within a particular platform at a given time. Online engagement translates to
conversation that is aware of what is happening within the culture—from Super
Bowl chatter to a storm response. A social media brand manager understands her
or his personal brand, company brands and those of others. Consistent and
sensitive messages help build online trust over time, which may be leveraged in
the future.

Social Media Strategic Planning

One important distinction between social networking site activity and social
media is the role of social business models. Cha (2013) identified value creation,
sources of competency, target market and revenue as four business
considerations. Value is theoretically created through successful brand
positioning within the market, but branding also is considered a specific
competency (p. 63). Social media engagement is created through positive
interaction within a specific social media online space. For example, Twitter’s
real-time information positioning is different from LinkedIn’s professional and
job seeker target market, which typically is not as connected to a moment in time
(p. 76). It is important within advertising and marketing perspectives for a team to
develop social media plans that guide responses during a crisis, but also direct the
general purposes and goals of ongoing engagement. Increasingly, teams employ
an integrated media approach that weds PR, advertising, marketing and general
business plans.

Awareness and Engagement

Awareness begins with online impressions. An advertising buyer may bid on a
sponsored search keyword that matches a user search and produces a high page
ranking. This creates a consumer point of entry (Jansen, 2011, p. 77). A click-
through rate (CTR) may be measured as the number of clicks divided by
impressions (p. 77). In other words, advertisers are interested in how a sponsored
search was observed by consumers and served as a catalyst to drive a percentage
of these users to a website for possible conversion. Social media conversation is
important as a means to either spark the initial search or generate traffic through
use of a direct link. CTRs appear to be in decline from the height of an era of
searching for online content. This is being replaced by content that is pushed out
108 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

across social media sites. Awareness is a cognitive processing of initial

information about a product or service. Through engagement with other
consumers, paid brand managers or other representatives may increase motivation
to learn more.
Google (2013) studied rapidly growing mobile media usage. In a Nielsen
study, Google explored the purchase path when consumers use mobile devices,
such as smartphones and tablets. The research team studied 950 people, as well as
a panel of mobile users over two weeks, and found the following points to be true:

1. Consumers spend time researching in mobile. Consumers spend 15+

hours per week researching on their smartphone and, on average, visit
mobile websites 6 times.
2. Mobile research starts with search. More smartphone users start
researching about products or services on a search engine vs. a branded
mobile site or app.
3. Location proximity matters to mobile consumers. 69% of consumers
expect businesses to be within 5 miles or less of their location.
4. Purchase immediacy is key. Over half of consumers want to make a
purchase within an hour of conducting research on their smartphone.
5. Mobile influences purchases across channels. 93% of people who use
mobile to research go on to purchase of a product or service. Most purchases
happen in physical stores (p. 3).

The proliferation of smartphones and inexpensive tablets is leading marketers

to focus on the mobile path to purchase in order to strategically develop
campaigns that start with a search trigger and end with purchasing at a local store.
A website visit is part of the process, but not all of it. In areas such as health and
nutrition (41%), automotive (38%) and home and garden (42%), more than one-
third of consumers begin the shopping process with a mobile search (p. 8).
Branded apps are also important in beginning the purchase process in finance
(36%), electronics (22%), and apparel and beauty (21%) (p. 9). For some areas,
such as restaurants, a nearby location is very important to a majority of mobile
consumers (61%) (p. 12). The desire for purchase immediacy means that the brick
and mortar retail world remains important—83% of mobile consumers want to
buy within a day, although about half of those now make an online purchase (pp.
14, 17). The social media component of the mobile path to purchase is the
important role that consumer reviews play in the process. Google talks about
consumer research, with 93% of the people in their study using mobile devices to
help them decide. This is consistent with Stanford University research findings:
“As you might suspect, the research shows that a wealth of online product
information and user reviews is causing a fundamental shift in how consumers
make decisions” (Richtel, 2013, para. 2). Traditionally, consumers would pick a
mid-priced option between three choices, but reviews now allow consumers to dig
deeper in determining value. This finding has important social media
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 109

implications. It means every consumer has the power to be an influencer through

his or her reviews on sites such as Amazon and Yelp. Advertisers and marketers
that engage with consumers likely to be reviewers have an opportunity to create
positive experiences, brand loyalty and future purchasing persuasion.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Online searches remain one of the most important methods for finding
information on the Internet. While information pushed out through social media is
increasingly a factor, SEO literacy skills help practitioners achieve successful
reach with their messages. More people, for example, will see bloggers’ content,
if headlines and tags are SEOfriendly. Likewise, an online press release should be
optimized with the SEO words that people associate with when thinking about the
ideas. A Google search begins with a person thinking about what they are looking
for and then entering a word or phrase. Quickly, Google begins to suggest
keywords (also identified within computer coding of a site) that are popular, and
continuously changing computer algorithms, also driving Yahoo! and Bing,
benefit some Web pages over others. Website and content operators can control
search engine result placements (SERP) (Fleischner, 2013, p. 24). “Offpage
optimization” is a function of links to a page from other popular and similar pages
(p. 61). Social media may positively impact SEO through profile links and
rankings:
If you have a Facebook account it likely includes links of various kinds—
links to books you’re reading, products and websites you recommend, and
hopefully links back to your websites and blogs. By the very nature of
Facebook, it carries tremendous authority. If you are linking to your own
website, it passes that authority back to you. (p. 120)
Beyond links, social media activity—likes, favorites, comments, etc.—may be
influential. Google property YouTube, for example, is an important social media
site for practicing great SEO. Through keywords and links, video offers access to
“one of the largest sources of traffic on the planet” (Fleischner, 2013, p. 123).
Kaushik (2010) offers a comprehensive model for understanding SEO. He uses
clickstream data, multiple outcomes analysis, and experimentation and testing to
focus massive consumer data into usable customer information (p. 7). Customer
voice, competitive intelligence and insights help businesses understand why
products are purchased or not:
The degree of positive or negative engagement lies on a continuum that
ranges from low involvement, namely, the psychological state of apathy, to
high. An engaged person is someone with an above-average
involvement . . . Customers can be positively or negatively engaged with a
company or product. (p. 57)
Kaushik (2010) views this involvement as connected to “emotional states and
rational beliefs” (p. 57). One can easily see how social media conversation, with
110 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

its use of trust, may elevate or lower involvement. For example, a company post
might express pride of winning an award, and this may be connected to an
increase in trust levels. Likewise, a company representative engaging with a
complaining customer might express sympathy and offer to correct the problem.
Google has an approved set of strategies to improve a page rank, and this is
referred to as “white hat SEO” (Williams, 2013, p. 7). There also are “black hat”
SEO strategies, such as “on-page keyword stuffing to backlinking blasts using
software” (p. 7). Google and other search engines seek to point users to trusted
sites, whether or not high search rankings are a function of payment. An
historically trusted site has a lot of positive SEO, and search engine algorithms
allow for some negative SEO that would label a new site as spam. Social media
interaction is an important way to generate positive conversation: “. . . if they ask
a question, make sure you answer it as this starts a dialogue with your target
audience and builds trust and authority” (p. 87).

Return on Investment (ROI)

Most of what we call advertising and marketing is predicated on the goal of
converting consumers into customers of products or services. The consumer
process may begin with an online search that leads to social media engagement.
The use of a search engine, such as Google, involves entry of a “term“ that may
be linked to a “keyword,” an advertisement or a “sponsored-search result”
( Jansen, 2011, p. xviii). For businesses, ROI measurement is related to the use of
online platforms for generated leads and conversions to sales:
The objective of the advertiser is to find the “sweet spot” of terms that will
generate significant volumes of convertible traffic. This set of keywords is
advertiserdependent. This selection can generally be done through
concentration of a few keywords in the head, a lot of terms in the tail, or a
combination of both. (p. 55)
ROI can be achieved through alignment of social media terms used with
advertising and marketing website keywords. In order to be effective, these
keywords must surface in specific screen locations identified through “eye-
tracking patterns” research (p. 72). In general, paid search is most effective when
it appears at the top of a page or on the left side of it. These are hot areas of screen
viewers for those using languages that read left to right, such as in the United
States.
There is ongoing debate about whether or not ROI can or should be computed
for social media activities. Initially, there was an interest in justifying social
media to the C-suite managers who did not understand it by making an ROI
argument. ROI social media measures, though, tended to be secondary and
indirect. Current thinking focuses on clear social media benefits: “the new metrics
evaluate social media strategies in terms of audience-building, brand awareness
and customer relations” (Heggestuen, 2013, para. 3). Marketers moved away from
revenue per customer metrics, at the same time as they increased social media
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 111

budgets. From this perspective, “audience reach, engagement, and sentiment” are
most important (para. 9). A Facebook friend’s share, for example, is more likely
to be seen in news feeds (29–35%) than brand pages (para. 10). According to
Business Insider, “Post reach is the most fundamental indicator of reach on
Facebook, but it’s important to track it relative to the number of page fans and
enrich it with complimentary indicators” (para. 12). Fans and likes alone are seen
as “feel good” or “vanity measures” that do not reflect meaningful marketing
context (para. 16). Social media probably have more in common with traditional
personal influence than advertising or marketing impact. Still, advertising media
buyers now seek to develop integrated marketing campaigns in which social
media components reinforce other messages.
At the same time, social media have the potential to spark negative sentiment
within social network conversations. Brand managers must tune in on regular and
systematic conversation monitoring and engagement in order to avoid missing
important moments of influence.

Cost of Ignoring (COI)

MacLean (2013) identified the cost of ignoring (COI) as a measurement of “social
shyness” (para. 2). Companies need to respond to those consumers and customers
using social media to communicate. Therefore, social listening and engagement is
a very important strategy for customer service, reputation management,
crowdsourcing, collaboration and recruitment (para. 5–9). Engagement may drive
customer loyalty and help manage any negative sentiment being expressed by
consumers. By being a part of social media communities while not in an
advertising or marketing mode, it is possible to build credibility that may be
important to use later.

Advertising and Marketing Case Studies

The University of Chicago, in the south side neighborhood of Hyde Park, is in a
bit of a food desert with few stores and restaurants. Beyond the campus, there is a
nearby, small business district with only a few places to eat lunch. Food truck
vendors have seen the opportunities for driving onto campus and offering
students, faculty and staff a variety of selections from convenient locations. These
change from day to day, so the food trucks use Twitter and other social media to
identify daily locations and cuisines.
@BridgeportPasty1m: UofC, you get to see us again for our scheduled
day, you lucky dogs! Try the new Gobbler AND Broccoli and Cheese soup
while they last. Yum! (November 13, 2013)
@taquerofusion54m: #HydePark (58th & Ellis) . . . We’ll be in your
area by 11 am!! Come and get your #HumpDay Taco on! @UChicago
@uchiNOMgo.
( January 30, 2013)
112 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

Figure 5.1 University of Chicago food trucks tweet in the morning before they serve
lunch customers. Photo courtesy Holly Lipschultz, October, 2013.

Real-time Social Marketing

Social media marketing frequently happens in real-time without much of a delay
between the time of an initial conversation and commercial response. Mobile
smartphones position a consumer at a specific location within a specific amount
of time. Applications such as FourSquare encourage users to check in at a
business for access to specials and coupons. Customer loyalty programs can take
advantage of communication tools by literally reaching out to nearby customers
with new offers. Macy and Thompson (2011) connect real-time social marketing
to a system of customer relationship management (CRM) that includes
customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention (pp. 40–41). “When marketers
approach social media as a viable business intelligence platform, they often get
unexpected insights into consumer opinions and shared experiences” (p. 58).

Successes
Wendy’s turned fast food marketing on its head with a campaign designed to shift
the focus away from issues often associated with consuming unhealthy food. The
pretzel pub chicken sandwich was promoted using overly dramatic soap opera
YouTube videos that were produced based on tweets that used the
#PretzelLoveStories hashtag, such as:
@Cborbzz3: You caught my eye, your scent made me float, you make my
mouth salivate. I miss you. #PretzelLoveStories. ( July 8, 2013)
The user-generated content features humor that engages the audience and
potential customers. Wendy’s initiated the campaign with two videos—one about
a love triangle and the other with a woman behind bars. The result was positive
social media across platforms. On Facebook, for example, a video was shared
more than 2,000 times and liked more than 12,000 times. The use of
crowdsourcing for video content development was a unique way to utilize
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 113

engagement. At the same time, though, some complained about not knowing that
the hashtag was related to a Wendy’s sandwich promotion. The successful social
media campaign also opened the door to brand confusion, as some users tweeted
about other pretzel brands.
114 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

BOX 5.2 THOUGHT LEADER ROBERT MOORE

Before the advent of social media, institutions had
the opportunity to be more considered and/or
deliberate in how they addressed their stakeholders
or the public- at-large. While there might have been
rumors or word-of-mouth concern about certain
actions of the institution, these were circulated
relatively “locally” among existing communities,
alumni groups, or other interested observers. With
Twitter, in particular, that has entirely changed. News
now breaks on Twitter (supported by Facebook,
Instagram, Tumblr, etc.) and can spread like wildfire
—whether or not the news is actu- Figure 5.2
@LipmanHearne. ally based in fact. As a result, the institution Courtesy
LipmanHearne. has to balance on a knife-edge of conflicting
responsibilities: the need for transparency and engagement with its concerned
stakeholders, and the need to actually be sure of what’s going on before
responding—which isn’t always easy. This also brings up the issue of “who
speaks for the institution” and whether or not a staff member tweeting on
his/her feed is authorized to be the transmitter of official information (which
can bring up a whole can of worms in terms of the conflict noted above), or if
the tweets are strictly personal.
Institutions must stay current and integrate traditional (print, earned media,
print and out-of-home advertising, etc.) and emerging media in strong, effective
programs that build upon each other in order to capitalize on the strength and
potential of each medium or channel— rather than cannibalizing one to feed
the other or having it all run amok. And, as is often the case in higher education,
having to manage and fill all these emerging media without significant
additional staff, new training investments, new technology, and other resources
remains and will remain a real problem.
I believe that “engagement management” is going to be a big issue moving
forward: the training and deployment of communications professionals who can
understand, integrate, and utilize the complex opportunities that traditional and
emerging media offer in terms of outreach, behavior tracking, analytics,
program design and refinement for timely and effective response, budget
allocation, and the like. Professionals trained or experienced in more traditional
media will have to learn the new realities, and digital communicators will have
to understand and deploy the “tried and true” methods that still work with
many stakeholder audiences. To date, training and professional development
tend to go down these two separate paths; in the future, integration will be
absolutely necessary.

(continued )
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 115

Robert Moore, Ph.D. is President & CEO at Lipman Hearne—a firm that helps
market higher education, non-profit and other organizations. He is a nationally
recognized authority on non-profit branding and marketing practices in higher
education. Moore has more than 30 years of experience providing marketing
counsel and creative services for non-profit organizations. Outside of academe, his
clients have included the Ford Foundation, Mayo Clinic and others. He is founding
member of the CASE Industry Advisory Council. His doctorate is in English from the
University of Illinois at Chicago.

Failures
During the first years of the social media communication era, numerous
companies have struggled to use the new form of branding. Miranda Miller
(2013) reported on KFC’s use of #IatetheBones—a Twitter campaign that
continued to produce negative sentiment. In attempting to raise awareness about
its new boneless chicken brand, KFC’s hashtag led to “sharing memes of people
choking on chicken bones, or Hannibal Lecter” (para. 7). Apparently, neither
KFC nor its agency predicted that the brand would be associated with the
cannibalistic killer featured in the film The Silence of the Lambs.
At about the same time, social media erupted over automaker’s Hyundai’s use
of a failed suicide attempt in a video designed to say its emissions are clean
(Brockwell, 2013). It sparked an open letter from a woman whose father had died
in a similar suicide:
Surprisingly, when I reached the conclusion of your video, where we see
that the man has in fact not died thanks to Hyundai’s clean emissions, I did
not stop crying. I did not suddenly feel that my tears were justified by your
amusing message. I just felt empty. And sick. And I wanted my dad. (para.
7)
The competition for attention within social media in some cases has led
advertisers and marketers to ignore the risks associated with edgy content. In a
digital world in which everyone has a platform to respond, more than ever
creative teams must be able to predict all possible responses. In 2012 alone, a
long list of social media failures resulted from a lack of anticipation to how
people would use content:

• The McDonald’s #mcdstories hashtag was used by people telling about bad
experiences, resulting in unexpected negative publicity.
• Celeb Boutique tweeted following the Aurora, Colorado movie theatre
shootings: “#Aurora is trending, clearly about our Kim K inspired #Aurora
dress; Shop” ( July 20, 2012).
116 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

• @KitchenAidUSA tweeted, “Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad!

She died 3 days b4 he became president. #nbcpolitics” and then had to
apologize (October 3, 2013).
• @Gap tweeted, following Hurricane Sandy, “All impacted by #Sandy stay
safe! We’ll be doing lots of Gap.com shopping today. How about you?” The
company removed the tweet following a negative reaction (Fiegerman, 2012).
Clearly, some of the largest brands ran into trouble for a variety of reasons—
poor advertising content, unsupervised content managers, weak editing for real-
time processes and even hacked accounts. It appeared that brands were learning
through trial and error to be careful in social media.

Lessons
A case can be made that all digital marketing departs from traditional forms, and
social media magnify the differences. Greg Satell (@Digitaltonto, 2013) contrasts
the traditional purchase funnel (Awareness -> Opinion -> Consideration ->
Preference -> Purchase) with a triangular visualization of Awareness, Advocacy
and Sales (para. 8). Within it, consideration and loyalty flow. The non-linear
continuum should lead marketers to “shift from grabbing attention to holding
attention” (para. 10). The idea is to create a valuable exchange between the brand
and the consumer. For example, the Nike+ community page told users which
Facebook friends have joined, and shares competitive training data across social
networks.
Richards and Yakob (2007) were among the first to recognize that consumers
began to see traditional advertising as an interruption:
Today, in response to an aversion to advertising, some of the world’s
leading brands have begun to craft an entirely new model for
communications to help them earn the right to talk to consumers. They’re
doing this by making their marketing valuable, developing brand
communications that deliver a genuine service value to consumers, free
and with no strings attached. (para. 4)
Social media fit nicely into the marketing shift toward creating valuable
consumer services—so valuable that people want to share positive experiences
with connections on their social networks. At the same time, there is skepticism
about the effectiveness of social media marketing. An IBM report on Black
Friday sales in 2013 suggested that “only 1% of orders on shopping sites came
from people who visited a social network immediately before” (Fiegerman, 2013,
para. 2). IBM Smarter Commerce Strategy Director Jay Henderson told Mashable
that “social networks have a ‘huge indirect influence’ on shopping decisions by
building brand and product awareness” (para. 3). Social marketers have not
developed precise measurement of what happens when a future customer is
exposed to social media, leaves these sites but then is later motivated to visit a
website to purchase products. While retailers, such as Amazon and Walmart, have
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 117

hundreds of thousands of brand interactions during the holiday season kickoff

period, only some lead to sales. Pinterest and Facebook appear to be influential
generating consumer interest.
The bottom line in social media marketing is developing a program with an eye
toward generating new leads and sales, whether or not there is an immediate ROI
(Baer, 2013). Social interaction requires patience. “That doesn’t mean it will, or
should, take you multiple years to start seeing return on your useful marketing,
but recognize that you are planting seeds that will bloom in time, not necessarily
overnight” (p. 184). Development of blog content as a marketing vehicle, for
example, may have some links back to a commercial website, but not too many.
“These blogs should add value and be high quality . . . and post unique
information” (Williams, 2013, p. 64). Authenticity of branding is built upon the
role of quality content in developing reputation and relationships (Morley, 2009,
p. 204). All industries interact with audiences through content presented within
media networks (Ognyanova & Monge, 2013). “In a new media landscape
characterized by networked production, networked distribution and networked
consumption, relational thinking should be an essential aspect” (p. 85).
Contextual social media should yield positive outcomes for advertisers and
marketers.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How can we better understand relationships consumers have with brands

through social media sites? What are the most important benefits and
constraints within these interactions?
2. What risks may exist for brands using native advertising and sponsored
content to drive media exposure within contexts that appear similar to
traditional news stories?
3. How can brands leverage the importance of social media interaction with
consumers to grow product sales through indirect effects from ongoing
online communication?

References
Baer, J. (2013). Youtility, Why Smart Marketing is About Hype Not Help. New York, NY:
Penguin Group.
Brockwell, H. (2013, April 25). An Open Letter to Hyundai. Slate. www.slate.com/blogs/
browbeat/2013/04/25/hyundai_suicide_ad_an_ad_exec_responds_with_memories_of_h
er_ father.html
Carr, D. (2013, September 15). The Media Equation: Storytelling Ads May Be
Journalism’s New Peril. The New York Times, B1 (September 16).
www.nytimes.com/2013/09/ 16/business/media/storytelling-ads-may-be-journalisms-
new-peril.html?pagewanted= 1&_r=1&smid=tw-share&&pagewanted=all
Cha, J. (2013). Business Models of Most-visited U.S. Social Networking Sites. In A. B.
Albarran (Ed.), The Social Media Industries, pp. 60–85. New York, NY: Routledge.
118 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

Clow, K. E., & Baack, D. (2011). Integrated Advertising, Promotion and Marketing
Communications, fifth edition. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.
Edelman, D. (2013, October 30). Say Hi to the Social Media Elephant in the Room.
LinkedIn . www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131030130324-1816165-say-
hi-to-the-social-media- elephant-in-the-room
Edwards, J. (2013, November 28). These Are the 35 Biggest Advertisers on Facebook.
Business Insider. www.businessinsider.com/top-advertisers-on-facebook-2013-
11#ixzz2mKOsoSGf
Ettenson, R., Conrado, E., & Knowles, J. (2013, January-February). Rethinking the 4 P’s.
Harvard Business Review. http://hbr.org/2013/01/rethinking-the-4-ps/
Fiegerman, S. (2013, November 30). Social Media Drove Just 1% of Black Friday Online
Sales. Mashable. http://mashable.com/2013/11/30/black-friday-statistics/
Fiegerman, S. (2012, November 25). 11 Biggest Social Media Disasters of 2012.
Mashable. http://mashable.com/2012/11/25/social-media-business-disasters-2012/
Fleischner, M. H. (2013). SEO Made Simple, Strategies for Dominating the World’s
Largest Search Engine, third edition. Lexington, KY: Michael H. Fleischner.
Google (2013, November). Mobile Path to Purchase, Five Key Findings. Google Insights.
www. google.com/think/research-studies/mobile-path-to-purchase-5-key-findings.html
Heggestuen, J. (2013, October 22). The Death of Social ROI—Companies Are Starting to
Drop the Idea That They Can Track Social Media’s Dollar Value.
www.businessinsider.com/ the-myth-of-social-roi-2013-10
Jansen, J. (2011). Understanding Sponsored Search, Core Elements of Keyword
Advertising. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Katz, H. (2007). The Media Handbook, third edition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kaushik, A. (2010). Web Analytics 2.0, The Art of Online Accountability & Science of
Customer Centricity. Indianpolis, IN: Wiley.
Kelley, L. D., Jugenheimer, D. W., & Sheehan, K. B. (2012). Advertising Media
Workbook and Sourcebook, third edition. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
MacLean, H. (2013, May 28). The Cost of Ignoring Social Media. Salesforce Marketing
Cloud
Blog. www.salesforcemarketingcloud.com/blog/2013/05/cost-of-ignoring-social-
media/
Macy, B., & Thompson, T. (2011). The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
McCarthy, E. J. (1960/1981). Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach, seventh edition.
Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.
Mickey, B. (2013, October 10). Forbes BrandVoice Accounts for 20 Percent of Total
Revenue . www.foliomag.com/2013/forbes-brandvoice-accounts-20-percent-total-
advertising-revenue#.
UmE4cJTwKeu
Miller, M. (2013, April). Brands Gone Wild: Social Media Marketing Fails & Lessons
Learned. Online Marketing Blog. www.toprankblog.com/2013/04/social-fails-lessons/
Miller, P. (2013). Social Media Marketing. In A. B. Albarran (Ed.), The Social Media
Industries, pp. 86–104. New York, NY: Routledge.
Mind Tools (n.d.). The Marketing Mix and 4 Ps, Understanding How to Position Your
Market Offering. www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_94.htm
Morley, M. (2009). The Global Corporate Brand Book. New York, NY: Palgrave
Macmillan.
 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 119

Ognyanova, K., & Monge, P. (2013). A Multitheoretical, Multilevel, Multidimensional

Network Model of the Media System. In E. L. Cohen (Ed.), Communication Yearbook
37, pp. 67–93. New York, NY: Routledge.
Richards, B., & Yakob, F. (2007, March 19). The New Quid Pro Quo. Adweek.
www.adweek. com/news/advertising/new-quid-pro-quo-88322
Richtel, M. (2013, December 7). There’s Power in All Those User Reviews. The New
York Times. www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/business/theres-power-in-all-those-user-
reviews.html
Satell, G. (2013, February 1). What Makes Digital Marketing Fundamentally Different?
Forbes. www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2013/02/01/what-makes-digital-marketing-
fundamentally- different/
Sebastian, M. (2013, December 2). Need a Native-Ad Rock Star? Find a Former Forbes
Exec. Ad Age. http://adage.com/article/media/forbes-breeding-ground-native-ad-
experts/245475/
Stelter, B., & Haughney, C. (2013, January 15). Media Decoder: The Atlantic Apologizes
for Scientology Ad. The New York Times.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/ the-atlantic-apologizes-for-
scientology-ad/?_r=0
Tuten, T. L. (2008). Advertising 2.0, Social Media Marketing in a Web 2.0 World.
Westport, CT: Praeger.
Vaynerchuk, G. (2013). Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Williams, A. (2013). SEO 2013 & Beyond, Search Engine Optimization Will Never Be the
Same Again! Lexington, KY: Andy Williams.
Williams, T. (2005). Take a Stand for Your Brand, Building a Great Agency Brand from
the Inside Out. Chicago, IL: The Copy Workshop.
Wilson, T. (2011). Global Advertising, Attitudes and Audiences. New York, NY:
Routledge.
This page intentionally left blank

6 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND

ANALYTICS

“Prove your point with numbers, but make sure you attempt to do so with
numbers that matter.”
—Jay Baer (@jaybaer, 2013)

Social media offer a unique opportunity to measure human nature and

communication behavior. With every online click, we leave a digital trail. Experts in
measurement metrics and analytics are discovering how to collect, analyze and
present data. Social media measurement serves basic business goals, which include
raising revenue, lowering costs and increasing satisfaction among customers. In
other words, measurement helps make the ROI case for social media tactics to
sometimes-skeptical C-suite managers.
Traditional communication research methods emphasize rigorous and transparent
methodologies. Researchers seek to ground studies in social theory, conceptualize
measurement and operationalize definitions. Scientific research offers reliability or
consistency of measurement from one time to the next (Wimmer & Dominick,
2013). This is important when using sampling to generalize about larger
populations, as is the case in survey research. We hope to be able to reproduce
results of our systematic observation. “Mass media researchers have a great deal to
see, and virtually everyone is exposed to this information everyday” (p. 5). The
research process can be divided into “phases”— the medium, its uses, medium
effects and improvement (p. 6). Academic researchers also have concerns about the
validity of measures because we cannot assume to know what social phenomena
are being measured. Data points may or may not measure what we think is a valid
observation. Only through repeated measures and replication of data can we build
concepts around predictive theory and analytics. While social science involves
statistical tests or rigorous qualitative frameworks, these requirements have not
always been applied in the new field of social media measurement. Academic rigor
is beginning to come to social media research through transparency of methods,
but “cool” new online tools, more than scientific method, have, thus far, driven
proprietary social media measurement.
Social media is still a young field that tends to be grounded in the business of
social media marketing. As we become interested in social media, we naturally seek
to measure online behavior. Unlike traditional experimental research, survey
research, focus groups or content analyses, measurement of social media involves
tracking online behavior and responding to it in real time. Savage (2011) explains
that Twitter, for example, is “a surprising window” into “moods, thoughts, and
activities of society” that may not be discovered by traditional research data:
“Researchers are finding they can measure

107

public sentiment, follow political activity, even spot earthquakes and flu outbreaks,
just by running the chatter through algorithms that search for particular words and
pinpoint message origins” (p. 18). We conceptualize social media measurement
around awareness, engagement, persuasion, conversion and retention (Sterne, 2010,
p. 15). We are interested in those users visiting sites, as well as their behavior while
there.

Social Media Measures

Sterne (2010) was one of the first to understand the power of social media data and
catalog dozens of possible measures. Some of the earliest important measurements
of social media marketing consumers were (pp. xx–xxv):

• Buzz based upon number of impressions at a given time, on a specific date,

time of year, channel, etc.
• Popularity
• Mainstream media mentions
• Number of fans, followers, friends, etc.
• Reach, or second-degree impressions
• Likes or favorites
• Sentiment
• Number of interactions or engagement rate
• Conversions to purchases

Behind these sometimes-crude measures was a desire to demonstrate social media

ROI, which may be measured also as a business cost. Just as companies typically do
not attach ROI to a receptionist’s work, Edelman’s Phil Gomes has asked, so why
measure social media ROI? Further, a Cost of Ignoring (COI) was introduced as a
way to say that social media offer both opportunities and risks (Radian6, 2013):
“The COI of social media comes down to missed opportunities . . . you need to
question your opportunity costs” (para. 4).
Miller (2013) sees social media marketing as part of the larger marketing task for
businesses. This includes “relationship building” with prospects and customers,
“earned exposure” through “unrequested endorsement” and customer sharing,
“authentic insight” from comments, “search engine visibility” from posts, “cost
savings” and tractable “results” (pp. 89–90). The marketing process involves
ongoing engagement with customers. Much of what happens within social sites may
be seen through the lens of earned media, or content the user spends time creating.
In other words, ROI exchanges the cost of staffing brand community managers
122 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS

against measurable results that translate to new clients, potential new business and
increased revenue opportunities.

See, Say, Feel, Do

One group has conceptualized social media measures as involving breaking down
behavior into four fundamental types linked to ROI:
The greatest obstacle to determining ROI doesn’t happen on the back end
once you’ve collected mounds of user engagement data like RTs, bounce
rates, and the
 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 123

number of “Likes.” The main obstacle to determining ROI comes from a

failure to define the “R” on the front end. What is the return you are trying
to create? Without knowing what you are trying to accomplish, it’s
impossible to measure your success. (Gordon, 2012, p. 2)
Gordon finds that social media are frequently related to “see” measures. Reach,
for example, is a function of the number of eyeballs seeing a Facebook post.
Impressions are this type of measure. Gordon (p. 5) lists the following “see”
metrics:

• Facebook Page Like totals

• Twitter Follower totals
• Website traffic
• Email sign-ups
• RSS subscriptions
• Advertising impressions
• Earned media impressions

As social media content activate users through engagement Gordon’s “say”

measures— content likes, shares, re-tweets, email forwards, and Google +’s—all
are data that can be measured. Beyond the quantitative measures, we can examine
the qualitative comments and sentiment. It is easier to measure online comments
than to track those offline statements activated by the original content. Social
media users may have emotional responses to what they see or comment about,
and the reaction, or the sentiment, may be important. Totaling the number of likes
or +’s also provides a quantitative measure for “feel.” At the end of the social
media measurement process, “do” metrics allow us to track behavioral outcomes,
such as making a product purchase. Conversion to sales is the most obvious
behavioral objective. Organizations, such as non-profits, may be more interested
in increasing the number of members and donations. Public radio stations, for
example, need to raise money during annual fund drives, and social media tactics
have become an important way to grow the numbers. Likewise, a campaign may
be designed to increase attendance at a sponsored event, activate advocacy for a
political position or candidate, or identify a new crop of volunteers to replace
those leaving. Social media campaigns usually are connected to organization or
company websites, which also offer opportunities to measure activity. Even if
direct ROI cannot be shown, nearly every personal brand, organization or
company benefits from raising awareness through maintaining a strong and
consistent presence within social media.

Google Analytics
On websites, individuals, organizations or companies may interest users in what
Edelman PR has called owned media, or content residing on sites that are
maintained by owners. A strategic campaign may use techniques, such as banner
advertising on other sites, email marketing or social media to attempt to drive
124 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS

traffic back to a homepage. By incorporating Google Analytics tracking code on a

page, owners are provided with data on the sources of web traffic, such as search
engines, referrals from other sites, direct traffic and social media linkages. While
a majority of site visitors typically still arrive via searching, a campaign can
produce a spike in traffic of more than 10%.
The importance of searching to find online content means that the keywords
need to be carefully selected and tracked. Google Adwords has maintained a tool
for analyzing data on keywords and phrases. For example, the term “social
media” produces data on this search.
The search produces other keywords that may be relevant to a particular
business website, such as one selling consulting. Keywords allow us to strive for
Search Engine Optimization (SEO). By identifying popular searches, content
creators can focus on some words and avoid others. The top words should
generate more clicks at the owned website. Words such as “sale,” for example,
may generate new traffic and interest. Web coders need to incorporate the tags
that align with the words used by customers or brand fans.
Referrals—online traffic that comes from a link on another page—are an
important way to generate interest. An analysis of referrals on a site, for example,
might reveal that visitors clicked on a link while spending time on Twitter,
Facebook or a blog site. This could be the result of owned or earned media. By
checking the source of referrals, users learn more about what works. A check of
similar or competitor sites should reveal web traffic secrets. At some level,
referrals could be the result of a social relationship

Figure 6.1 Keywords are very useful in social media searches, and this helps explain why
search engine optimization remains important.
 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 125

Figure 6.2 Page views include data on the number of visitors returning to a page.
that may be built over time, maintained or even reinforced through a strategic
social media plan and tactics.
Once users land at a website, we are interested in learning more about the type
of content and its placement that generates clicks, time spent or other results.
Analytics allow a site manager to examine page bounce rates, which measure how
quickly a user exits an individual page. Engaging content keeps users on a page,
or it moves them to another page that meets the goals for the site. For example, a
news or sports site may be selling a cap or t-shirt. The goal would be to display
the product on a main page and persuade users to click on a “buy now” link.
For social media sites, such as Facebook pages, we are interested in increasing
the number of page views, unique visitors and likes (which are similar to fans,
followers and members on other social sites). While we want visitors to respond
to each post, we also seek higher levels of engagement through liking comments
of others and making comments of our own. Within the comments section, we are
interested in sentiment analysis of those opinions as positive, neutral or negative.
Frequently, there is a lack of neutral commenting within most social media sites.
Long-term analyses tend to find a preponderance of either very negative criticism
or glowing praise. Obviously, the goal typically is to maximize positive sentiment
and minimize the negative feelings that may exist toward a personal or
organizational brand. At a minimum, measuring sentiment offers a benchmark
starting point for moving the needle away from negativism and toward positive
outcomes.
Strong bonds between social media users and media content should produce
these benchmark data. By identifying a standard for measuring success, we can
set goals for tracking growth in unique visitors and their levels of engagement
through time spent, as well as satisfaction. For products, sales create customers—
some of whom require additional support. In fact, a lot of brands see the ROI of
social media as found within the customer service business function. Social media
have become important online spaces for responding to complaints, engaging
customer problems, solving issues, converting unhappy customers to loyal fans,
and promoting brands. A good customer experience will generate likes, positive
comments and shares of information.
126 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS

Facebook Insights
Facebook, arguably one of the most important social media sites this decade with
more than one billion users worldwide, has developed a useful set of free insight
data. For each Facebook page created, a site manager can download and analyze
real-time data compared each week.
Ideally, a site sees continuous growth in the number of likes, increases in the
reach of posts beyond those users liking the page and following it on their feeds.
By creating engaging content, a manager can spark comments, shares and post
clicks. Some managers export insight data to an Excel spreadsheet and track long-
term data for seasonal shifts or effectiveness of post attributes. Beyond the
quantitative measures of engagement, a page manager should drill down and
examine the most engaging content.
In the above example, the weekly reach spiked higher because of a newly
posted YouTube video. In this example, the post had a small number of likes, but
there were clicks through to watch the video. Reach can be used to identify
promising potential

Figure 6.3 Analysts examine individual Facebook page posts for clues about fan
engagement.

for future content. Although the content generated only two likes, so far, the
clicks through to the video and relatively high reach offer promising potential. It
is also possible to link a Facebook page to a Twitter account. By posting on the
page, an automatic tweet generates a headline and link for Twitter followers.
This, in turn, may also increase the reach for content. On a news-sharing page, for
example, Twitter can be used to boost the number of clicks for an item of high
interest. Following Miley Cyrus’ sexually charged MTV Video Music Awards
2013 performance, for example, there was considerable buzz in terms of reach
and engagement. The linkage of Facebook and Twitter profiles can be useful in
strengthening overall brand awareness and activity.
 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 127

Twitter Analytics
The open environment of Twitter, as compared to the gated online communities
of Facebook and LinkedIn, presents a unique opportunity to access and analyze
open and accessible data. On Twitter, there are obvious measures, such as number
of followers, number of re-tweets and replies. Twitter includes the activity of
human users and automated robot “bots,” which are computer-generated
scheduled tweets. On Twitter, we can measure following to followers as a ratio,
we can study content, and we can explore social networks. One raw measure is
number of tweets per day.
Until early 2014, Edelman Digital generated a TweetLevel.com score based
upon four dimensions: influence, popularity, engagement and trust. These are
important measures from a PR perspective, as they offer opportunities to score
and improve online behavior of influencers. Trust is viewed by Edelman PR as an
association, such as through a retweet. Engaging content generates new
connections and may increase influence. The “permanent beta” model attempted
to develop measurement variables important within social media, as seen in
Figure 6.4.
AMEC’s Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles (2010) serves as
useful guidance to practitioners. The seven principles are:

1. Importance of Goal Setting and Measurement

2. Measuring the Effect of Outcomes is Preferred to Measuring Outputs
3. The Effect on Business Results Can and Should Be Measured Where
Possible
128 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS

BOX 6.1 TWEETLEVEL METHODOLOGY

Beyond followers (Fo) and follower to following ratio (Fo:Fg), the model focused on
updates (UP), retweets (Rt), broadcast to engagement ratio (B:E), the Topsy.com
influence score (To), as well as engagement (e) and trust (t). Edelman TweetLevel
(2013) was removed in early 2014: “We are currently assessing new methods and
technologies to measure influence on Twitter. We appreciate your patience as we
explore the realm of possibility. Please reach out to [email protected] for
more information.” http://TweetLevel.Edelman.com Trust is a proprietary measure
that is not disclosed. TweetLevel also includes in the Edelman formula number of
name pointing (@U) and recent replies (@R). It also is important to appear on
follower lists and exhibit measures of influence (i). Overall popularity (p) tends to
be an obvious measure, although it is vital to filter raw numbers of followers for
the presence of bots and spammers using Twitter for direct marketing. While the
overall model is transparent, some of the actual data fall under proprietary
company information. So, we cannot fully evaluate reliability of measures for trust
and influence. Likewise, without clear evidence of data consistency, it is impossible
to be sure about validity of the measurement.

Fo+Fg+Fo:Fg+Up+Up30+LQ+
Up +@U+[Rt Q/Ed]+@R30+B:E+Is+To+li+Vi
v

TweetLevel = Rgxw (i\p\e\t) Z

Variables
Fo = Number of followers Fg = Number users following
Fo:Fg = Follower to Following ratio Up = Number of updates all time
UP30 = Updates over the past 30 days LQFo = Number of lists following you
related to the number people
following that list
Upv = Number of updates over specific @U = Number of name pointing
time period
(Rt Q/Ed) = Retweets related to quoted @ R30 = Replies sent related to all time
and edited proportioned to all and previous 30 days B:E =
Broadcast to engagement ratio Is = Idea Starter score
To = Topsy influence score li = Involvement index score
Vi = Velocity index score w = Weight assigned each attribute
Z = Standardized scorep = Popularity e = Engagement i
= Influence t = Trust Rg = Range assigned to score

Figure 6.4 Tweetlevel aggregates many measures in generating a standardized score.

Source: http://tweetlevel.edelman.com/ (Accessed January 2014; as of February 2014, the site
had been discontinued for updates to the model, as Edelman PR assessed “new methods to
measure influence on Twitter.”)

4. Media Measurement Requires Quantity and Quality

5. AVEs [Averages] are Not the Value of Public Relations
6. Social Media Can and Should be Measured
 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 129

7. Transparence and Replicability are Paramount to Sound Measurement

Social media measurement is considered “a discipline” rather than “a tool” under

the principles. Principle 6 calls for “clearly defined goals and outcomes,” multi-
method analysis, quantity and quality evaluation, of “no ‘single metric’ ” for
conversation and communities, and precision of data: “Understanding reach and
influence is important, but existing sources are not accessible, transparent or
consistent enough to be reliable; experimentation and testing are key to success”
(Principle 6, bullet 6). Public relations professionals have concluded that
transparency is central to credible and trusted social media measurement: “PR
measurement should be done in a manner that is transparent and replicable for all
steps in the process” (Principle 7). The content source and method of analysis
(“whether human or automated, tone scale, reach to target, content analysis
parameters”) should be transparently reported to clients and the public (Principle
7, bullet 2).
The exploratory efforts to measure social media behavior are important in
identifying general strengths and weaknesses, as long as one understands that
current data may reflect a fairly large amount of measurement error. No social
measure is exact and without various sources of error, but we would like to look
at individual scores and be able to estimate error. Currently, this is not a standard
for social media measurement.
In the TweetLevel conceptualization, the tool places active Twitter users
within five possible roles: viewer, commentator, curator, idea starter and
amplifier. The author of this book is measured as an idea starter (78.7). A score in
this model is the sum of four sub-scores: influence (78.7), popularity (67.8),
engagement (62.2) and trust (63.3)— each on a 100-point scale. Larger media
personalities @GaryVee (88.4) and @LadyGaga (93.3) are classified as
amplifiers to a much larger, more popular Twitter following.
Edelman developer Jonny Bentwood (@jonnybentwood) says idea starters are
“creative brains” behind talked about thoughts. They connect with other idea
starters, curators and amplifiers—those with very large followings. The processes
of curating and commenting may be influential, while viewers observe but do not
“leave a foot print” on Twitter.
Once we can measure a Twitter user type, it is also valuable to be able to
examine word clouds to see key words frequently used by and about an
influencer. Lady Gaga, with more than 41 million global followers, is an
interesting example of a brand using social media to reinforce fan relationships.
From a PR and branding perspective, the words of the influencer should mirror
personal and professional branding of a consistent message to the Twitter
audience. The most important branded words should appear in a word cloud as
the largest words shown. All of the important brands should at least appear within
the cloud. If not, the speaker should adjust message over time and re-examine the
data.
130 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS

Other Twitter measurement tools include We Follow, which generates an

aggregate “prominence” score. In the example in Table 6.1, we see the top four
on Twitter for social media. The Mashable.com site, represented by Pete
Cashmore, has a perfect 100 for social media and also a near-perfect 98 for tech
and news. Users may add themselves to the database and compare word scores
with word cloud emphases. By using multiple tools to connect a brand with
words, we can look for rough patterns in the data.

Figure 6.5 Reporters and fans gather outside Lady Gaga’s hotel in Bucharest prior to a
performance in 2012. Courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

Table 6.1 Top Social Media Influencers as Measured by We Follow

Name Twitter Handle Identity We Follow
Score
Pete Cashmore @mashable News and Commentary 100
TechCrunch @techcrunch News and Commentary 99
Kevin Rose @kevinrose Google Ventures partner 98
Ashton Kutcher @aplusk Actor and Entrepreneur 97
Source: WeFollow (http://wefollow.com)

Other top Twitter tools have included:

 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 131

• ReTweetRank (http://retweetrank.com)—Track re-tweets and the number of

influential followers.
• TweetReach (http://tweetreach.com)—Measure reach (accounts reached),
exposure (impressions) and activity.
• Topsy (http://topsy.com)—compare recent Twitter activity of brands and link
to specific tweets.

The potential to measure Twitter influence is an exciting development, even if it

cannot capture offline influence. Still, popularity on Twitter also cannot be
directly associated with measurement of other social media activity. The
centrality of engagement is important across all social media. Hootsuite,
Tweetdeck and other platforms have attempted to integrate and aggregate social
media data across sites with varying degrees of access and success. Twitter, for
example, controls the technology for limiting access to data retrieval. Likewise,
news sites now behind paywalls require paid licensing to access their social
media data.
Many companies now offer to clients what is called a social media
dashboard. The idea is to synthesize key insights on a screen to offer the user
key data without needing to jump from screen to screen. Universal Information
Services (@Universal_Info) is an international media tracking and news
monitoring company that offers a dashboard product. President Todd Murphy
(@Todder4News) says Universal examines keywords, performs indexing, and
uses human coding of content instead of computerized, online coding with poor
accuracy. Other companies, such as Cision (@cision), Vocus (@Vocus) and
Burell (@BurrellPR) also combine computer tools with human coding. A
Universal dashboard tracks top hashtags, total word counts, top tweeters, top
mentions, influence via social network visualization, top websites, impressions,
top journalists, key topics, impressions by state and other measures. The goal is to
measure impact and publicity value for influencers.
A dashboard provides the client with the aggregate amount of social media
conversation, but it goes further in breaking down types of content across key
platforms. Facebook and Twitter in this example are stronger social media spaces
for an organic packaging of the message, but Facebook is much more active in a
debate over mustard versus ketchup. At the same time, charity engagement
appears stronger on blogs and YouTube. A user would need to drill down deeper
into the data to examine specific content and posts to better understand how the
results align or fail to measure up to strategic goals.
132 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS

BOX 6.2
THOUGHT LEADER TIMOTHY AKIMOFF
The changing landscape for storytelling is the biggest change. When
Twitter first came out, it allowed us to expand our marketing of sto-
ries. With developments like video capabilities and
display
longer-form

Figure 6.6
@timakimoff. Photograph by Jeff Rivet, courtesy of Tim Akimoff,
WBEZ.
 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 133

areas in Facebook, social media has taken much of the gusto from front page
newspaper exclusives and even specialized web storytelling templates. As social
media become the common CMS for our lives, our storytelling will shift more
and more to the social realms as opposed to specialized, monetized platforms.
Social media grow exponentially because of changes in technology. The more
iPhones and Androids sold, the more people use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
and other various social media services. The biggest challenge will be to keep
ahead of the massive changes taking place on the social media landscape due to
technology improvements. Mobile-only applications like Path could be true
disruptions, because of how much they divorce us from websites.
Looking ahead, there will be more brand-exposure for individual reporters.
By developing brand-making skills in college, young journalists can build their
expertise in whatever direction their interests lie. With a newsroom full of
branded, social-media driven reporters, that news organization will excel in its
coverage and spread of information.
Live coverage and breaking news remain the biggest hurdles and
opportunities with social media. In all the big-scale news events since the
advent of social media, not one single news organization has risen above the
rest in terms of accurate and innovative social media usage. The first news
organization to figure this out will gain a significant advantage over others.
Timothy Akimoff is Director of Digital Content at Chicago Public Media, which
includes WBEZ Radio. He previously held positions at KTUUTV in Anchorage, Alaska,
and at Lee Enterprise and the Missoulian/Ravalli Republic in Missoula, Montana. He
studied journalism at the University of Oregon and has reported in Oregon and in
Kiev, Ukraine.

Network Analyses
Academic researchers have begun to explore online behavior and measurement
through application of social network theory. The systematic study of how
individuals interact in social settings has been the focus of research for more than
50 years. Tubbs and Moss (1983), for example, traced investigations in the nature
of “popular” or “overchosen” and “unpopular” or isolated people (pp. 108–109).
In describing social interaction between popular and unpopular people, they
diagrammed through the “sociogram” how positive traits, such as enthusiasm and
maturity, may be related to judgments about “sincerity” of another’s conversation
(p. 110). In the current era of social networks and social media, these connections
are important to journalism and public relations (PR). Social networking
generates measures of branding, influence, trust and dispersion of ideas through
Twitter and Facebook, and offers an opportunity to be seen as an opinion leader.
Information theory and models emphasize flow of messages through channels.
The perception of communication depends upon situations and context (Severin
134 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS

& Tankard, 2001). Much of this work was grounded in Heider’s balance theory
and Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory from the 1950s, which may be related
to social judgment (Milburn, 1991). Burnett and Marshall (2003) link
communication models to Internet discussion:
At the very core of the meaning of the Web is linkage and connection: it is
fundamentally about modes of communication and presenting possibilities
about how those modes might intersect. Thus the Web is simultaneously a
massmediated and one-to-one form of communication. It is a site of
incredible cultural consumption and cultural production and makes it
harder to establish the boundary between these two activities. (p. 59)
Twitter users (sometimes called “tweeps”) may be analyzed to identify “visual
patterns found within linked entities” (Hansen, Shneiderman, & Smith, 2011, p.
32). Researchers have proposed and developed methods for analysis of structure
and grouping of categories and clusters in a social network. One model is called
Group-In-A-Box (GIB):
One particularly important aspect of social network analysis is the
detection of communities, i.e., sub-groups of individuals or entities that
exhibit tight interconnectivity among the other wider population. For
example, Twitter users who regularly re-tweet each other’s messages may
form cohesive groups within the Twitter social network. In a network
visualization they would appear as clusters or sub-graphs, often colored
distinctly or represented by a different vertex shape in order to convey
their group identity. (Rodrigues, Milic-Frayling, Smith, Shneiderman, &
Hansen, 2011, para. 2; emphasis added)
Some researchers call the network graph that is produced by analysis software a
“sociogram,” which has “vertices (also called nodes or agents) and edges (also
called ties or connections)” (Hansen, Shneiderman, & Smith, 2011, p. 33). In
social network analyses, Twitter users are connected by a series of lines in social
space. The maps represent a center of people at the core of a network, as well as
“isolates” at the periphery.
Network analyses are grounded in nearly 300 years of study in graph theory. In
modern terms, “It is often useful to consider social networks from an individual
member’s point of view” (Hansen, Shneiderman, & Smith, 2011, p. 36).
Information from journalists and PR practitioners, either to one another or
spreading to the general public, may be visually displayed through computer-
generated mapping. As early as the 1930s, researchers were developing hand-
drawn “pictures of patterns of people and their partners” (p. 38). This theoretical
perspective has influenced the modern study of relationships. For example,
Heaney and McClurg (2009) applied social networks to the study of American
politics. They found social networks useful in understanding information flow, as
well as collaboration within political organizations. Garton, Haythornthwaite, and
Wellman (1997) describe social network analysts as examining relations:
 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 135

They treat the description of relational patterns as interesting in its own right—
e.g., is there a core and periphery?—and examine how involvement in such
social networks helps to explain the behavior and attitudes of network
members . . . They use a variety of techniques to discover a network’s
densely-knit clusters and to look for similar role relations. (para. 3)
Communication theory also has been concerned with how networks relate to
personal influence. Cooley (1909/1966) identified four factors: expressiveness,
permanence, swiftness and diffusion of communication—he viewed the extension
of messages as “enlargement” and “animation” (pp. 149–159).
Social contacts are extended in space and quickened in time, and in the
same degree the mental unity they imply becomes wider and more alert.
The individual is broadened by coming into relation with a larger and more
various life, and he is kept stirred up, sometimes to express, by the
multitude of changing suggestions which this life brings to him. (p. 150)
Baran and Davis (2006) suggest that influence of opinion leaders may be
understood through similar interests and social stratification of leaders and their
followers. At one time, the shift from interpersonal to mediated communication
reduced feedback (Westley & MacLean, 1957), but the lines between
interpersonal and media communication have now blurred. Even so, Gumpert and
Cathcart (1986) concluded that, “Every type of communication, from face-to-face
to mass communication, is still basically an interpersonal communicative act” (p.
19). Influence may disperse from the center of a social network. This influence
often accelerates when a leader is “stimulating” what has been called “virtual
communities” (Koh, Kim, Butler, & Bock, 2007, p. 70). In order to be
sustainable, the researchers contend that four principles must exist: clear
purpose/vision, clear member role definition, moderator leadership, and
online/offline events (p. 70–71; emphasis added). Events, in fact, play a key role
in strengthening member identification within a social network. It is for this
reason that the present research focuses on a specific international event that
receives widespread media coverage.
Data analyses can be performed using NodeXL software. A white-listed
company on Twitter may collect 20,000 queries per hour, but a regular user is
limited to 150 queries per hour. Researchers use NodeXL, which is a social
network analysis tool built into Microsoft Excel in current versions and is
specifically designed for non-programmers, to collect, analyze and visualize
network data from social media sites, such as Twitter. In a Twitter network, there
are times when researchers are less concerned about importance of a specific
account and more concerned about position in the network. A position in the
network may have something to do with having access to information or the flow
of information. For example, a PR practitioner may appear near the center, if she
or he is disseminating new information to be used by electronic news media.
Thus, it is important to examine the betweenness centrality measurement.
Utilizing the NodeXL filter, tweeps with a low betweenness measurement can be
removed. NodeXL has the capability to identify clusters or cliques of tweeps
136 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS

based upon the network structure. The software uses an algorithm that looks for
groups of densely clustered tweeps that are only loosely connected to other
tweeps in another cluster.
Russo and Koesten (2005) address the concepts of centrality and prestige.
Within a network, an individual can be placed within a social space occupied by
others:
An actor’s centrality (out-degree) represents his or her ability to touch
others in the network. In particular, centrality is a measure of potential
influence and popularity based on who an actor seeks to interact with
within the social network . . . An actor’s prestige (in-degree) represents the
degree to which others seek out a particular actor in a social network. (p.
256)
It is possible to examine centrality of network positioning, as contrasted with
being on the periphery, to determine importance in the flow of information. A
person at the center of a network has a lot of information flowing through them.
Prestige is another way to say that influence happens when others seek out an
individual in the network. For example, a financial journalist may be sought out
by a PR person with a goal of gaining media attention for her or his event.
Centrality and prestige may place an individual in the role of being “the object of
communication,” (p. 256) without necessarily being the original source.
Consider the example of an annual and very popular stockholders’ meeting.
Billionaire Warren Buffett attracts more than 30,000 each May to Omaha,
Nebraska. In 2013, 665 users actively tweeted using #BRK2013, which was the
official hashtag designated by the corporation’s Borsheims jewelry store.
 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 137

BOX 6.3 OVERALL SOCIAL NETWORK VISUALIZATION OF #BRK2013

The #BRK2013 hashtag demonstrated a large amount of activity. There were a total
of 1,517 mentions and re-tweets using the hashtag between May 4 and May 10.
The top 10 influencers included key business websites and media. According to
their Twitter bios (and June, 2013, N of followers), they are:
1. @andrewrsorkin—“New York Times Columnist & CNBC Squawk Box
(@SquawkCNBC) Co-Anchor. Author Too Big To Fail. Founder, @DealBook.”
(442,413)
2. @themotleyfool—“Helping the world invest . . . Fool on! Alexandria, VA—
fool.com.” (423,175)
3. @QSAYTHAT—“Everyone follow me on #Instagram QSAVAGE & go like my page
www.facebook.com/qsavagepromotions . . . Baton Rouge, La.” (127,474)
4. @dealbook—“News from The New York Times about deals and those who
make and break them. New York, NY—nytimes.com/ dealbook.” (66,377)
5. @TheStreet—“Stock market coverage with an edge. Valuable information.
Unique insight. Strong opinions . . . From the Heart of Wall Street—
thestreet.com.” (64,045)
6. @xiaolai—Individual’s site in “Beijing—lixiaolai.com.” (56,004)
7. @DirectorsTalk—“the most followed in the UK providing London Stock
Exchange AIM news and interviews with Directors of leading PLC’s.
DirectorsTalk.com.” (54,813)
8. @TrendsSthAfrica—“Real-time South Africa Twitter trends South Africa—
trendsmap.com/south+Africa.” (54,036)
9. @beckyquickcnbc—“Co-host of CNBC’s Squawk Box from 6–9 am Eastern with
Joe Kernen and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Fortune
Columnist. Former WSJ reporter. Rutgers grad.”(52,919)

(continued )
138 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS
s Berkshire Hathawa

NodeXL software g

Figure 6.7
 10. @MariaLatella—SKY TG24 Italian television personality following
“Wall Street—www.facebook.com/marialatellapaginauffi ciale.” (47,263)
Three of the top ten influencers—Andrew Sorkin, DealBook and Becky Quick—
all had direct connections to the CNBC business news channel. A fourth, The
Motley Fool, is an influential business blog site. These were all found within the
center of the complex social network, which did not feature any Berkshire
companies. The remaining six top ten influencers were found along a well-defined
edge of the social network within three distinct sub-areas. The Street, Trends Africa
and Directors Talk were distanced from the top four influencers. QSAYTHAT and
xiaolai were connected to Becky Quick. Maria Latella’s main connection was with
Andrew Sorkin.
The social network map showed six accounts that had fewer Twitter followers
than the top ten, but generated significant re-tweets:
1. @alexcrippen—“Tracking all things Warren Buffett for http:// CNBC.com’s
Warren Buffett Watch blog.”
2. @insidermonkey—“Finance blog following insiders and hedge funds. Our small-
cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per
year.”
3. @alechogg—“Writer, broadcaster, entrepreneur, thinker, striver for
an open mind; founder Moneyweb . . . tweets breaking news and links to
interesting info. Johannesburg, Gauteng—alechogg.com.”
4. @borsheimsbrk—“The ultimate guide for updates about Warren Buffett’s
annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting— brought to you by
Borsheims Fine Jewelry & Gifts. Omaha, NE— borsheimbrk.com.”
5. @jennablan—“Editor of US Investment Strategy at Reuters. Shar-
ing my world in covering biggest, most influential US investors. Barron’s
alum (wrote Current Yield column).”
6. @vitaliyk—“Investor—CIO at IMA, educator, writer—author of The Little Book
of Sideways Markets and writes monthly column for Institutional Investor
Magazine. Denver, CO—activevalueinvesting. com.”
Borsheims was the only Berkshire company to appear in the graph as an influencer.
The Borsheims Twitter account began using the #BRK2013 days before the annual
meeting, and their placement among media as a main re-tweeter of content was
important. The @borsheimsbrk account was the main official voice for Berkshire
during the annual meeting.

By analyzing the visual appearance of the network we can see that most of the users
ringed an oval shaped social network dominated by CNBC affiliated and other business
opinion leaders. Most of the audience for tweets was not tightly connected to the media
sources. Users are paying attention to each other, and there is a symmetric
SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 123
140 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS
exchange of attention and information in this social network (Hansen,
Shneiderman, & Smith, 2011). The top-ten influencers clustered around four
major starbursts and triads between users with strong social ties (Hansen et al.,
2011). The users with the highest between-ness centrality revealed the bridging
users. These users are vitally important to the structure of the network and are
important for three reasons: 1) these users are in a better position than others in
terms of having access to information; 2) these users are a bridge to different
people in other networks, which have the potential to carry the message further
and thus increase the reach; and 3) these users are connected to different people,
and they have greater chances of having access to different information.
The measurement of social networks opens the possibility to develop greater
sophistication in social media analyses. By understanding communication patterns
of influence, as well as the content of the communication, we should be able to
understand impact of Twitter and other social tools. This is important for social
networks and media, as well as social marketing efforts.
At the same time, social networks offer an opportunity to understand political
communication. Himelboim, McCreery, and Smith (2013) integrated network and
content analyses to study political views on Twitter. By mapping conversation on
ten controversial subjects, the team discovered subgroups of “highly connected
users—clusters— that were loosely connected to users outside their clusters” (p.
167). Conservative and liberal clusters were common, as younger users tended to
move away from neutral news sites. Academic research will continue to develop
and help us better understand the nature of communication on Twitter and other
social media sites.

Other Social Network Measurement

As Miller (2013) observes, social media marketing involves a lot of variables and media
channels and opportunities:

Social media are exciting new marketing channels deserving serious

experimentation and analysis for integration into marketing programs.
They provide hundreds of channels for networking and building
relationships . . . The conversation must be unfettered . . . The company
must respond honestly to complaints or criticism and trust its customers to
distinguish unfair comments from fact. (p. 102)

Social media can be a powerful force to reach large audiences with important
messages. Audience size and “connectedness” matter in “online word of mouth”
campaigns, as well as general conversation (Sterne, 2010, pp. 51, 57).
Social media measurement returns us to central issues of computer-mediated
communication (CMC). These spaces allow us to develop online relations, explore
interaction with new people, create identities and grow communities of interest.
Tools such as Klout.com attempt to measure influence across social media
platforms. Conversation monitoring of relevant quantitative and qualitative data
offers opportunities to learn from social networking and social media. Sentiment
analysis techniques continue to be developed that will take us beyond broad
measures of influence and trust toward understanding the quality of engagement
and the nature of impact.
Mobile media provide a relatively new glimpse into the future of social media
measurement. Advertising Age (2013) summarized important trends data:

• 50% of the U.S. population and 24% of the world population were projected to have a
smartphone by the end of 2014.
• Growth in U.S. mobile advertising spending was 75% in 2013 at about $8 billion.
• 110 million unique visitors to Facebook place its revenues only behind Google.
• Mobile media are growing among all of the top five social networking platforms:
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Pinterest.
• Facebook has the fourth largest overall multiplatform audience behind Google,
Yahoo and Microsoft.

These changes have opened the world of big data in which marketers have access to large
amounts of consumer data. The measurement industry offers “deliverables” to clients,
and social media metrics and analytics have become big business. The ongoing
development of best practices for measuring communication tone, for example, should
yield greater precision in the future. Whether or not social media engagement increases or
decreases on specific sites over time, scientifically reliable and valid data will be needed.
In the United States, there are few government regulations of the Internet. Smartphone
and tablet access now includes high quality video, which is extending the average amount
of time users spend online. Video sites are integrating social chats and other functions,
and new tools are likely to emerge to measure user behavior. Social media platforms are
viewed as branding opportunities for media industries (Greer & Ferguson, 2011). This
will push marketers to develop more complex social media measurement tools and
techniques.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. If you were advising a CEO who had never been on Twitter to create a profile, which
key concepts would you discuss with her or him?
2. Consider ways to use social media to improve trust and influence. Which Twitter
measures would you want to track?
3. Is there ever a case for disengagement from social media? Which circumstances
would provide reasons to lower levels of engagement?
4. How could you integrate the findings from data on Facebook and Twitter to use best
practices at other social media sites? Which other data points are of interest to you?
5. Explore your social network. What do the data tell you about your use of Twitter?
What is missing from the data? How could you improve measurement and your use
of Twitter?
142 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS
References
Advertising Age (2013, Aug. 18). Mobile Fact Pack. Chicago, IL: Crain Communication.
AMEC (2010, July 19). Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles. http://amecorg.
com/2012/06/barcelona-declaration-of-measurement-principles
Baran, S. J., & Davis, D. (2006). Mass Communication Theory, fourth edition. Belmont, CA:
Thomson Wadsworth.
SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND ANALYTICS 125

Burnett, R., & Marshall, P. D. (2003). Web Theory. London, UK: Routledge.
Cooley, C. H. (1909/1966). The Significance of Communication. In B. Berelson & M.
Janowitz (Eds.), Reader in Public Opinion and Communication, second edition, pp.
147–155. New York: Free Press.
Garton, L., Haythornthwaite, C., & Wellman, B. (1997, June). Studying Online Social
Networks. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(1).
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue1/ garton.html
Gordon, J. (2012). See, Say, Feel, Do: Social Media Metrics That Matter. Fenton. www.fenton.
com/see-say-feel-do/
Greer, C. F., & Ferguson, D. A. (2011). Using Twitter for Promotion and Branding: A
Content Analysis of Local Television Twitter Sites. Journal of Broadcasting &
Electronic Media 55(2), 198–214.
Gumpert, G., & Cathcart, R. (Eds.) (1986). INTER/MEDIA, Interpersonal Communication in a
Media World, third edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hansen, D. L., Shneiderman, B., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Analyzing Social Media Networks with
NodeXL. Burlington, MA: Elsevier.
Heaney, M. T., & McClurg, S. D. (2009, September). Social Networks and American Politics.
American Politics Research, 37(5), 727–741.
Himelboim, I., McCreery, S., & Smith, M. (2013). Birds of a Feather Tweet Together:
Integrating Network and Content Analyses to Examine Cross-Ideology Exposure on
Twitter. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 18, 154–174.
Koh, J., Kim, Y.-G., Butler, B., & Bock, G.-W. (2007, February). Encouraging Participation in
Virtual Communities. Communications of the ACM, 50(2), 69–73.
Milburn, M. A. (1991). Persuasion and Politics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Miller, P. (2013). Social Media Marketing. In Alan B. Albarran (Ed.), The Social Media
Industries, pp. 86–10. New York, NY: Routledge.
Radian6 (2013). The Cost of Ignoring Social Media. Sales Force Marketing Cloud. www.sales
forcemarketingcloud.com/blog/2013/05/cost-of-ignoring-social-media/
Rodrigues, E. M., Milic-Frayling, N., Smith, M., Shneiderman, B., & Hansen, D. (2011).
Groupin-a-Box Layout for Multi-faceted Analysis of Communities.
http://hcil.cs.umd.edu/trs/2011– 24/2011–24.pdf
Russo, T. C., & Koesten, J. (2005, July). Prestige, Centrality, and Learning: A Social Network
Analysis of an Online Class. Communication Education, 54(3), 254–261.
Savage, N. (2011, March). Twitter as Medium and Message. Communicators of the ACM 54(3),
18–20.
Severin, W. J., & Tankard, Jr., J. W. (2001). Communication Theories, fifth edition. New York,
NY: Longman.
Sterne, J. (2010). Social Media Metrics. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Tubbs, S. T., & Moss, S. (1983). Human Communication, fourth edition. New York, NY: Random
House.
Westley, B. H., & MacLean, Jr., M. S. (1957). A Conceptual Model for Communications
Research. Journalism Quarterly, 34(1): 31–28.
Wimmer, R. D., & Dominick, J. R. (2013). Mass Media Research: An Introduction, tenth edition.
Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
This page intentionally left blank

7 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA

TECHNOLOGIES, INNOVATION AND
INVESTMENT

“Twitter is the socialization of our inner lives.”

—@UncleDynamite (2013)

Digital media ushered in an era of continuous innovation. Beginning with

multimedia software programs and the early Web in the 1990s, the United States
became a global hotbed for an innovation culture that spread to many parts of the
world. The investment in new technologies increasingly has a connection to
social media communication. Some large corporations created the title of Chief
Digital Officer (CDO) to incorporate the need for internal thought leaders who
attempt to keep pace with the changing landscape of social and mobile media, as
well as to focus the previous work of Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Social networking sites that employ social media must transform innovation
into a business model. Social business is complex, involving at least four key
sources: value creation, competencies, target markets and revenue (Cha, 2013). A
successful social media platform must provide a needed product or service, it
must function within user expectations, it must serve a particular market, and it
must ultimately generate revenue in order to survive and prosper: “The inherent
nature of social networking sites keeps users coming back on a regular basis,
which also likely increases the exposure of these returnees to the goods and
services marketed on these sites” (p. 78). Amazon.com, for example, offers
Today’s Deals as a way to motivate customers to return and engage. Each product
is rated by a five-star average, and consumers may also read customer reviews.
The social media communication of customer engagement provides important
texture and context for site visitors. Social media observers have connected
customer engagement to sharing, altruism, value creation, influence and other
important marketing concepts.
 BOX 7.1 VIEWPOINTS CURATED PRODUCT AND
SERVICE REVIEW SYSTEM
Amazon and other sites have shown that shoppers consider product reviews an
accurate way to gauge consumer experiences, and a site known for independent
and trusted reviews in 2014 reached out to marketers. In an age of social media,
brands cannot ignore the voice of the people. The challenge, however, is building
consumer engagement that
(continued )

127
146 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

does not game the system. Viewpoints.com, a consumer reviews platform,

launched Pulse for brands to listen to and engage more directly with consumers.
“For the first time we’re giving the brands, the owners of the products, the
ability to now claim those products and collect reviews . . . manage those reviews
and promote them,” founder and CEO Matt Moog said. Viewpoints collected nearly
600,000 reviews of more than 37,000 products and 450 categories in seven years.
The site attempts to verify reviewers, and uses an editorial process before
publishing reviews.
Viewpoints reviewers complete a proactive disclosure form, including required
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) disclosure of any payments or products received.
Beyond this, every review is screened “at multiple points,” Moog said. “We also
have a number of fraud detection signals . . . that are automated . . . We then
human moderate every review that comes on the site.” Each review is scored, and
about 25% are rejected—20% for poor quality and 5% spam, Moog said.
Viewpoints seeks to know its reviewers and build “a rich social profile of them”
by collecting reviews “as an independent third party,” Moog said, and organizing
and curating them to “validate their authenticity” as a “trusted intermediary.”
Unlike typical retailer sites designed to sell products, Moog says Viewpoints tells
consumers products not to buy, highlights those with low ratings and offers access
to negative reviews. By identifying reviewers and their review history and offering
reviewer badges (trusted, verified trusted and VIP), Viewpoints is different from
retailers.
By having a large number of reviews and active community of millions of users,
Moog says Viewpoints limits the impact of an illegitimate review that might initially
sneak through. Viewpoints has questioned reviewers, and Moog says “if we’re not
satisfied that it’s a legitimate review, we’ll remove it.”
“I would never tell you or anyone else that it’s a perfect system,” Moog said,
“but you can certainly over time be able to trust more people who contribute
regularly, whose opinions are spread across many different products and
categories, who have many interlocking relationships.”
Online shoppers are not the only ones checking reviews. A growing number of
in-store shoppers also read product reviews, survey data suggest. Nearly half of all
shoppers check for reviews prior to making a buying decision.
While Viewpoints will allow brands to engage with consumers, marketers will
pay to add information—not delete or re-order existing reviews. By creating a
corporate account, Pulse offers review collection tools, product description
publishing and reply management, analytics and promotion tools through a
partnership with Google Shopping and Google Search, Moog said.
The collection, management and promotion of reviews also features social
media tools that connect with Facebook and Twitter.
 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES 147

Moog sees the model as having an “opportunity to bring greater transparency

and accountability to the market” by shining a light on good and bad products.
“When you think about the environment and sustainability and peoples’ need to
spend money in places where it matters,” Moog says, “I’d rather get something
that lasted for a long time, that didn’t fill a landfill and go spend my money on
health care or education rather than disposable consumer goods.”
Source: Lipschultz, J. H. (2014, January 23). Consumer Review Credibility, Brand Marketing
and Social Media. The Huffington Post, Media. www.huffingtonpost. com/jeremy-harris-
lipschultz/consumer-review-credibili_b_4634447.html

When Foursquare Co-founder Dennis Crowley launched the location-based

app, he saw it as social media communication. The concept of “checking-in”
somewhere quickly became connected to the Facebook social graph, which
Crowley described as “anyone you’ve ever shaken hands with” (Crowley, 2010,
at 0:21). Twitter, Crowley concluded, was more about entertaining people.
Foursquare, in its initial concept, was “people you actually overlap with in real
life.” Crowley began his work in graduate school with “a lot of creative freedom”
to follow what he was passionate about (at 2:12): “Creativity is people trying
interesting things without the fear of failure or ridicule” (at 2:28). The focus is on
“rapid iteration”—building something that probably will not work, and then
fixing it and improving the product each week (at 2:46). This is the nature of
start-up culture and thinking. It begins with learning what has been done in the
social media space and then trying to improve it. In a few short years, social
media moved from innovation to important function within small and large
established companies.

BOX 7.2 THOUGHT LEADER ZENA WEIST

My career took a complete shift in 2006 because
of social media. I was Group Manager of Online
Branding for a telecom and was responsible for
all corporate digital marketing and our online
voice. It became very apparent that our
customers were talking about us on discussion
boards and blogs – Facebook was still gated for
universities, and Twitter hadn’t been launched
yet. We began working with our customer service
team to create an online response team that
listened and responded to customer inquiries.
We launched a YouTube “How To” video Figure
7.1 @zenaweist. channel and by 2007 we were
active on Courtesy Zena Weist.

(continued )
148 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

Facebook and Twitter, as well. Our mantra was listen, respond, resolve and
engage. I was recruited to become the first Social Media Director at H&R Block
in 2010, and I have been focused on integrated marketing, including social
media, ever since.
Social media has been “siloed” into Marketing or Communications. It really
flows across all business functions and needs to be part of change management
and operations. The shift in thinking that needs to occur to move social media
programs from tactical to more strategic and company-wide will be the biggest
challenge for organizations. I bumped into this narrow line of thinking while
brand-side and agencyside and see it has the largest pain point for current
clients.
The opportunity is largest with social media in customer experience and
product innovation. We will have our customer service, marketing and
communication foundation solid within social media, and organizations will
focus more attention on utilizing social media to enhance customer experience
and product innovation through predictive analytics from social media
listening.
Zena (Monsour) Weist is Strategy Director at Level Five Solutions in Kansas
City. She has more than 18 years experience, including at Edelman Digital and H&R
Block, leading online marketing and interactive agency branding. In 2011, TopRank
named Weist “One of the 25 Women Who Rock Social Media.” She is a founding
member of the Kansas City Chapter of The Social Media Club.

Entrepreneurs
Social media innovation captured the imagination of those energized by an
entrepreneurial spirit. The same open approach to development that was seen
during the personal computer and Internet revolution seems present with social
and mobile media. The development of smartphone apps almost immediately
helped define social media as mobile. Rapid diffusion of smartphones and
dropping prices for tablets created a ready market for new social media platforms,
such as Vine and Snapchat. Initially, entrepreneurs may start projects with little or
no money, but eventually it requires investment to launch, grow and sustain a
company as a profitable business.

Angel Investors and Start-ups

A social media start-up, once beyond initial development and testing, would be
expected to make a “pitch” to an investor or investment group. These are people
who have large amounts of money. They are willing to participate in a risky
investment because of the potential to earn huge gains. An angel investor brings
capital to the business and buys into the start-up. Some investors have organized
into groups that share debt and evaluate new ideas within a competitive
environment. An investor must weigh opportunity costs of what else could be
done with the money, if not invested in the concept. It is common for start-ups to
 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES 149

be developed with a goal of either selling to a large corporation or issuing public

stock.
Many start-ups attempt to take advantage of the fact that we rarely go
anywhere without our smartphones. HearHere Radio, a Chicago-based start-up
for example, launched the Rivet News Radio app (Glenn, 2013). Users may “hear
news on their own schedules—starting, stopping, skipping and selecting stories as
they wish” (para. 2). Founder John MacLeod planned to expand to other major
markets in 2014. It is a crowded market for smartphone apps, as developers
compete for our limited attention.

Big Ideas and Business

Social media reach billions of people, so it should not be a surprise that this is
now about big business. Facebook was one of the earliest social media sites to
generate large amounts of revenue by selling advertising. Once Facebook sold
stock, it offered small and large investors the opportunity to participate in its
growth in exchange for risking money on it. Estimates of active social media
users are rough but offer some idea of the size of these businesses, as shown in
Table 7.1.

“Crush It” and the Thank You Economy

Gary Vaynerchuk (2009) was an early adopter of social media platforms as a way
to build brand identity. His book and eBook Crush It, Cash in on Your Passion
reflected the entrepreneurial spirit embodied in the social media shift. The
Internet “lowered the entry barriers to monetizing,” (p. 5) and he argued that
personal branding was a key to success through storytelling—writing, podcasts or
videos. Vaynerchuk linked social media content, such as blogs, to marketing
principles of making “the extra effort” to “show genuine appreciation” (p. 28).
Social media communication ushered in an era in which entrepreneurs
comfortable in social media spaces may be able to skyrocket in popularity and
become a rock star within the innovation culture. This, in turn, generates interest
and potential funding of new ideas.

Table 7.1 Estimates of Active Users on Top Social Network Sites

SNS Launch Year Estimated Active
Users
1. Facebook 2004 1.19 billion
2. Google+ 2011 540 million
3. LinkedIn 2003 259 million
4. Twitter 2006 232 million
5. Instagram 2010 150 million
6. Pinterest 2010 70 million
150 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

Source: Dustin.tv (2013, December 9). Social Network Active Users 2013.
Google+. https://plus.google.com/+ChristopherRizzo1/posts
Crowdfunding
A relatively new way to fund a start-up is by going to the public and using
Internet interest rather than angel investment. A social media start-up can capture
the interest of thousands of small investors through viral media rather than risking
the idea on an investment group that may want to control it. Kickstarter.com
pioneered the idea.

BOX 7.3 KICKSTARTER

Kickstarter (2013) describes itself as “a new way to fund creative projects” using
“direct support of people” (para. 1). It was launched in 2009, and the numbers are
impressive: 53,000 projects, more than 5 million pledges, and nearly one billion
dollars in support.
Projects are independent of Kickstarter, which protects the creative process.
“Anyone can launch a project on Kickstarter as long as it meets our guidelines”
(para. 2). Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing—projects must reach their
funding goals to receive any money” (para. 3). Kickstarter reports that 44% of
projects have reached funding goals. Under the model, creators retain all
ownership of their ideas. Creators decide what those who pledge obtain.
Sometimes it is the product or service. Kickstarter views this as an extension of the
patron or subscriber model of funding: “Kickstarter is an extension of this model,
turbocharged by the web” (para. 5). There is a clear connection between this and
the social media Web:
It’s supporting their dream to create something that they want to see exist in
the world. People rally around their friends’ projects, fans support people they
admire, and others simply come to Kickstarter to be inspired by new ideas.
Some projects take longer than anticipated, but creators who are transparent
about issues and delays usually find their backers to be understanding. (para. 6)
Kickstarter makes its money by charging a 5% fee to successfully funded projects.

Emergence of New and Mobile Media

Much of what we call in this book social media is happening as users of mobile
devices connect with their social networks worldwide. Researchers are beginning
to take on the task of understanding mobile access and use. In South Korea, for
example, it is possible to predict mobile divides by measuring demographic and
skill variables (Jung, Chan-Olmsted, & Kim, 2013). While South Korea has “one
of the highest smartphone penetration rates,” the “younger, more innovative”
users downloaded more apps:
Specifically, male respondents used news/information applications more
frequently, whereas female respondents used communication, utility, and
 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES 151

commerce applications more frequently . . . the observed gender

differences in technology might be attributed more to differences in
functional preferences . . . women prefer online person-to-person
communication more than men, and women use social media for relational
purposes more frequently than their male counterparts. (pp. 728–729)
The research team suggested that a gender difference in news and information
application use may magnify social and human capital differences.
Social media are beginning to also drive mobile video viewing. Harris
Interactive (2012) reported that about 67% in their study found videos to watch
through social sharing. A declining number of survey respondents (41%) use
search engines to find videos, but platforms such as YouTube and Hulu internally
drive much of the viewing (64%). The U.S. study found about one third (35%)
were watching on mobile devices, with about 35 of the 50 million mobile viewers
discovering videos through social media. Similar to the South Korean gender
difference findings, men in the U.S. were slightly more likely to watch mobile
video, and users 18–44 were three times more likely. During the annual March
Madness college basketball tournament, for example, about one third watch
games on mobile devices, and two-thirds check scores (Harris Interactive, 2012).

BOX 7.4 BRICKFLOW

Marketers and branding gurus frequently promote social media storytelling and
content curating. Tom Grasty, co-founder of Stroome (a collaborative video editing
site), interviewed Peter Langmar, CEO and founder of Brickflow, a site tracking
social media conversation hashtags to generate “cinematic slideshows” (para. 8).
The goal is to be able to work with the mass of content while staying within an
online environment:
These can be Tweets, photos, or videos, and they disappear just as instantly as
they came. It’s very hard to handle content when it comes from multiple
platforms and disappears in seconds. Journalists often want to collect the best
quotes and videos on a topic, and embed them into their stories. Doing it one by
one can take a whole day. Marketers and brands are trying to conduct
campaigns around social media content and often end up having to develop
their own solution for engagement campaigns. This is expensive and time
consuming. (para. 11)
Brickflow, then, replaces scrolling with a video presentation. Once generated, the
summary can be edited and shared back within social media platforms. The B2B
business model for the company is targeted at marketers and journalists trying to
effectively tell social media stories. The start-up seeks to improve the user
experience created with Storify, which requires users to manually curate content
within a stream.
As a start-up, Langmar said the biggest challenge was finding their product
market, listening and responding to early adopters, and

(continued )
152 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

understanding the risk of failure from lack of platform traction. In this

environment, start-up team members may decide to move on to another project
that looks more promising before success can be achieved.
The social media market continues to grow at a rapid rate (34% per year), but
there are no guarantees that Brickflow will be the next Instagram. Still, a lot of
people are willing to take risks with new ventures because of the potentially huge
rewards from an app that becomes popular.
Source: Grasty, T. (2013, October 25). Brickflow Founder Tells His Tale Behind ‘Social Media
Storytelling.’ The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/ tom-grasty/brickflow-founder-
tells-his-tale_b_4138962.html

Implications of Revolutionary Mobile and Social Media

Social media behavior tends to favor a crowdsourcing desire because mobile
technologies create flexibility to briefly bring people together physically or
virtually and “plug in valuable information” (Greengard, 2011, p. 20). At the
heart of social and mobile media are relationships, social ties, social capital and
motivation (Brown, 2011). Social capital theory has been applied to research on
Facebook fan pages. Social interaction, shared values and trust are important
predictors of future use (Lin & Lu, 2011). The researchers suggest that there is a
complex process involving structure, cognition and relational aspects. As
expected, “shared values are an important factor influencing trust” of social
media content (p. 568).
Barack Obama was one of the first politicians to harness the power of social
and mobile with an innovative campaign app in 2008 (Kenski, Hardy, &
Jamieson, 2010). For example, young voters allowed the presidential campaign
app to access their contact lists, and then sorted these with a focus on key swing
states.
The app tracked calls in which users were urged to encourage their friends in
swing states to remember to vote on election day. The app also was a mobile
portal for
 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES 153

Figure 7.2 Candidate Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election iPhone app changed
modern political campaign strategy by incorporating social media
communication.
campaign information, upcoming events, Obama videos and positions on key
issues. The technology opened the door to mobile and social media campaigning.
By 2012 in the key swing state of Ohio, PBS reported that President Obama’s
campaign utilized an extensive ground network of volunteers, an iPad app for
door-to-door campaigning and a big data approach to filtering and targeting
messages at different types of voters.
Facebook also became a battleground for social media sharing in the 2012
presidential election. Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg identified social networking
as social space for activism and change:

Through social media, people not only donate money, but even more
importantly, their reputation and identity. Each time someone clicks “like”
or joins a cause on Facebook, they are broadcasting that message to
hundreds of their friends, and aligning themselves with a particular issue . .
. the awareness generated from that simple action has a ripple effect and
has the potential to recruit some extremely engaged volunteers and donors
in the future. (Vericat, 2010, p. 177)

Zuckerberg suggests that Facebook may fill a void in face-to-face conversation

lost for social or political reasons: “I believe that Facebook’s ability to occupy the
space of a free and unmoderated media and civil space will bring many more
opportunities for meaningful democratic change” (p. 178). Online social networks
may allow us to visualize “clear patterns” of affiliation and communication
(Langlois, Elmer, McKelvey, & Devereaux, 2009, p. 425)—even among weak
“acquaintances and other people with shallower connections” (Brown, 2011, p.
31).
Mobile and social media developed new media channels created and
maintained by new players (Mathison, 2009). The Twitter space, for example,
lends itself to mobile use at large events (Pogue, 2009). In a stadium crowd, the
140-character text format functions with low bandwidth availability when other
platforms, such as Facebook, bog down.
Many residents of large cities commute on trains and busses, and this leaves a
lot of time to access mobile devices. In the same way that commuters once read
newspapers, magazines and books while riding, mobile apps offer access to
information and entertainment. The difference is that smartphones and tablets
offer more options and extremely current content. Bloggers have capitalized on
the desire for more and diverse content (Rettberg, 2008). Access to new points of
view may influence social change and acceptance of new political positions and
adoption of ever-newer technologies (Rogers, 2003; Genachowski, 2010). In
countries where democracy is struggling to flourish, there have been numerous
154 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

attempts to use social and mobile media as tools of mobilization, revolution and
international awareness (Motadel, 2011).
While political discussion may account for relatively small proportions of
social media on Facebook—especially outside of a presidential election—it is
more common among those using Twitter (Pew, 2009). One can envision a social
network as a place where opinions are activated by distribution of news,
information, data and opinion. At the same time, salience of a particular social
issue reflects the rise and fall of news cycles and various social contexts.
Twitter Impact
Time (2013) listed 140 Twitter moments, and this serves as a way to understand
how social media buzz may translate into a business success. Twitter has been a
social media space for #fails—including the many failed attempts by brand
managers to take advantage of events in real time. For example, baked goods
brand Entenmann’s tweeted immediately following the Casey Anthony case
verdict (and then quickly apologized):
@Entenmanns: Who’s #notguilty about eating all the tasty treats they
want?! ( July 5, 2011)
Naturally, the failed attempt to hijack a popular hashtag—hashjacking—
backfired, as Twitter users responded with criticism. Keenan (2013) explains that
brands need to research whether or not a hashtag is promoted by another brand or
linked to a tragic event. In either case, it is a good idea to avoid using the tag. The
key is relevance: “With #RoyalBaby, brands like Pampers and Johnson &
Johnson had a perfect opportunity to throw some fun, branded images into the
mix” (para. 5). Twitter is a mobile platform that favors smart social media
communication. In real time, mistakes happen, but apologies can work. An
American Red Cross social media manager, for example, accidentally tweeted
from the official account about getting “slizzered,” and a well-timed correction
diffused the crisis:
@RedCross: We’ve deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross
is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys. (February 15, 2011)
By responding with a designated driver reference, the Red Cross appropriately
used the context of Twitter to apologize and move on. Twitter is one of many
popular mobile social media apps that take advantage of real-time
communication, as well as other characteristics of mobile devices.

BOX 7.5 THOUGHT LEADER BRIAN ZUERCHER

The company called Seen, a Columbus, Ohio, start-up
that uses visual marketing to drive customer
engagement, encouraged Indy 500 fan sharing on race
day. Twitter and Instagram photographs were tagged by
 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES 155

fans with #Indy500orBust. The photos were incorporated

into race marketing through an interactive map and geo-
tagging. The Indy 500 gained new followers to their social
media Figure 7.3 @bzuerche. accounts, and greater
reach Courtesy Brian Zuercher.

across the social media landscape. CEO and Co-Founder Brian Zuercher identifies a
continuous environment:
The most significant change for marketing professionals is the concept of
“always on.” Additionally, it’s managing industry information flow, personal
identity (i.e. public persona and perception) and channel awareness.
• Industry information flow: We now have access to a fire hose of data and
understanding how to manage and synthesize the massive amount of
incoming information can be a challenge. At the same time, with the right
tools the data can be turned into actionable insights.
• Personal identity: It’s essential to keep your brand’s personal voice
authentic and in line with your company’s positioning. Because of social
media, marketing professionals need to be aware of the various networks,
apps and services available and then decide on the places to focus their
time and effort. For example, instead of road tours and speaking
engagements, it’s possible to develop an expert view by creating and
sharing valuable content to social networks.
• Channel awareness: Marketing professionals must have a true
understanding of this and it should not be delegated.
The largest challenge will be having a healthy balance between your time
spent participating online and offline. You still need to be aware of the
conversation surrounding your industry, but at the same time, as information
spreads faster and new platforms pop up, it’s easy to get lost in all the
information available online. The best way to strike a balance between the two
is to understand the mediums and be strategic about which platform makes the
most sense for your business’s audience.
Our business is focused on consumer visual media. The confluence of data
will enable major opportunities to provide marketers critical insights to make
smart, quick decisions. As transactional, social and customer data evolve, it also
becomes a major opportunity for marketers to drive growth.
Brian Zuercher has a graduate degree in management and technology from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an undergraduate degree from Butler
University. He has worked for GE, Honeywell, ABM, Clearwish, The Ohio State
University Technology Commercialization, Seen and others. He was an advisor for
UQ Marketing. He has been an account manager, product manager, consultant,
advisor, reviewer and company founder.
156 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

Mobile Geotagging
Location-based services (LBS) leverage mobile and social media by linking
“people, places and things to enhance interactions” (Humphreys & Liao, 2011, p.
407). Armed with smartphones, users interact with two-way data interaction that
may facilitate real-time social media behaviors. Conceptually, a sense of place
may be meaningful to people: “Space is considered a more abstract term.
Whereas place is considered more concrete” (p. 408). Researchers do not fully
understand how users’ mobile geotagging—placing digital tags on people, places
or objects—develops within a social context, but there appears to be “place-based
storytelling and self-presentation through place” (p. 415). At the heart of these
social networking and social media activities, “people make meaning” (p. 418).

Google Glass
There has been a lot of interest in the Google Glass technology. Wearable mobile
technologies appear to be the next wave by allowing users to have hands free for
activities instead of holding a smartphone. Basically, Glass allows you to see a
screen via a pair of glasses.
Google released the technology, and developers have begun to build apps for
it. Among the ideas: hands-free information for bike riding, cooking, golf and
travel (Google, 2013). Wearable technologies may either enhance social
interaction or inhibit it as a distraction. It will take some time for social media
platforms to incorporate data from wearable technologies, but it is easy to see
how they may improve the quality of crowdsourcing. Mobile technologies allow
for new relationships between people and technologically mediated social
communication, and they raise issues about personal privacy, law, ethics and
media literacy.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How is the push toward technological innovation changing your life? How
do you think it may impact work during your career?
2. What are the challenges of connecting mobile technologies to social media
communication? What are the new opportunities to benefit from this
connection?
3. What are the privacy concerns about geo-location and tagging mobile social
media services? How do you think these services and concerns will evolve in
the future?

References
Brown, A. (2011, March–April). Relationships, Community, and Identity in the New
Virtual Society. The Futurist 29–31, 34.
Cha, J. (2013). Business Models of Most-Visited U.S. Social Networking Sites. In A.B.
Albarran (Ed.), The Social Media Industries (pp. 60–85). New York, NY: Routledge.
 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES 157

Crowley, D. (2010, May 16). Foursquare Co-Founder Dennis Crowley. YouTube.

www.youtube. com/watch?v=UjEc85wosw4
Genachowski, J. (2010, October 15). U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship, FCC chair’s response,
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC302374A1.pdf
Glenn, L. R. (2013, December 5). Press Release. Chicago-based Startup Launches App to
Reinvent Radio News for Smartphone Era. http://rivetnewsradio.com/about/
Google (2013). Glass. www.google.com/glass/start/
Grasty, T. (2013, October 25). Brickflow Founder Tells His Tale Behind “Social Media
Storytelling.” The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-grasty/brickflow-
founder-tells-histale_b_4138962.html
Greengard, S. (2011). Following the Crowd. Communications of the ACM 54(2), 20–22.
Harris Interactive (2012, March 15). One in Five Adults With Mobile Devices Will Use
Social Media to Follow March Madness in 2012.
www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/IMRE%20Sports%20 Research%20Release-3–15–
12.pdf
Humphreys, L., & Liao, T. (2011). Mobile Geotagging: Reexamining Our Interactions
with Urban Space. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 16(3), 407–423.
Jung, J., Chan-Olmsted, S., & Kim, Y. (2013). From Access to Utilization: Factors
Affecting Smartphone Application Use and Its Impacts on Social and Human Capital
Acquisition in South Korea. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 90(4), 715–
735.
Keenan, C. (2013, July 25). Hashjacking: Hot or Not? Social Solutions Collective.
http://socialsolu tionscollective.com/hashjacking-hashtag-hot-or-not/
Kenski, K., Hardy, B. W., & Jamieson, K. H. (2010). The Obama Victory: How Media,
Money, and Message Shaped the 2008 Election. New York, NY: Oxford University
Press.
Kickstarter (2013). Seven Things to Know About Kickstarter.
www.kickstarter.com/hello? ref=nav
Langlois, G., Elmer, G., McKelvey, F., & Devereaux, Z. (2009). Networked publics: The
Double Articulation of Code and Politics on Facebook. Canadian Journal of
Communication 34(3), 415–434.
Lin, K.-Y., & Lu, H.-P. (2011). Intention to Continue Using Facebook Fan Pages from the
Perspective of Social Capital Theory. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social
Networking 14(10), 565–570.
Lipschultz, J. H. (2014, January 23). Consumer Review Credibility, Brand Marketing and
Social Media. The Huffington Post, Media. www.huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-harris-
lipschultz/ consumer-review-credibili_b_4634447.html
Mathison, D. (2009). Be the Media. New Hyde Park, NY: Natural E Creative Group.
Motadel, D. (2011). Waves of Revolution. History Today 61(4), 3–4.
Pew Research Center. (2009, June 24). Strong Public Interest in Iranian Election Protests:
Many Know Iranians Using Internet to Get Message Out. Pew Research Center.
http://peoplepress.org/report/525/strong-public-interest-in-iranian-election-protests
Pogue, D. (2009). The World According to Twitter. New York, NY: Blackdog &
Levanthal.
Rettberg, J. W. (2008). Blogging. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations, fifth edition. New York, NY: Free Press.
158 NEW AND MOBILE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

Time (2013, November 4). Twitter: The 140 Moments That Made Twitter Matter. Tech.
Time.
http://techland.time.com/2013/11/04/the-140-moments-that-made-twitter-matter/slide/all/
Vaynerchuk, G. (2009). Crush It, Cash in on Your Passion. New York, NY: Gary
Vaynerchuk.
http://crushitbook.com/wp-content/themes/CrushIt/images/crush_it_ebook.pdf
Vericat, J. (2010). Accidental Activists: Using Facebook to Drive Change. Journal of
International Affairs 64(1), 177–180.
This page intentionally left blank

8 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

“Funny how technerds are all suspicious about Google and privacy, unless
Google wants to run a big data pipe right into their house.”
—Brad Daily (@bradleyboy, 2014)

Social media and the ability to track and collect behavioral data have created
“issues at the center of a polarized debate” (Lee, 2013, p. 146). By providing
personal information in exchange for the use of social media sites, there are risks:
Information on social media sites may not only be searched without
permission or knowledge but may be permanently stored, meaning some
material intended to be private may never enjoy a cloak of privacy. Photos,
rants, relationship statuses, and people’s whereabouts, for example, may
always be “out there” for future employers, dates, neighbors, police
investigators, and commercial businesses to mine, share, and utilize. (p. 147)
Privacy protection depends upon a patchwork of state and national laws, and these
provide little in the way of consistency across the large global social network. The
collection, organization, analysis, distribution and use of big data—huge online
datasets tracking user action and interaction—is very relevant for those concerned
about social media communication privacy.

Privacy Development
The concept of privacy was conceived by Cooley (1888), theorized by Warren and
Brandeis (1890), and later developed in law by Brandeis as a right “to be let alone”
(Olmstead v. United States, 1928, p. 478). Cooley viewed privacy as an absolute
protection, while Warren and Brandeis sought to challenge a right of newspapers to
invade domestic life through words and new flash photography. Many years later,
Prosser (1960) and Bloustein (1964) debated a framework, but Prosser’s categories
were widely accepted: “intrusion upon seclusion or solitude; public disclosure of
private facts; false light; and appropriation of persona for commercial exploitation”
(Lipschultz, 1988, p. 509). Growing from British common law, the tort of invasion
of privacy captured the idea that even the King was not allowed to enter into a
private home without invitation. In the 20th century, concern focused on news
media disclosure of embarrassing facts, a newsworthiness defense, and notions of
160 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

community decency (Sidis v. F. R. Publishing Corp., 1940). New technologies of

their times—aerial photography and satellite

141

imagery—sparked concerns beyond the traditional on-the-ground photography. At

the same time, governmental intrusion by law enforcement raised constitutional
Fourth Amendment questions about search and seizure privacy law. Whether or not
an intrusion is connected to governmental activities, continuous surveillance may
be seen as intrusion upon one’s expectation of privacy. Invasion of privacy has a
potential to disclose embarrassing information, defame reputation, or
commercialize persona. Under current law, privacy protection is judged as “a
matter of community mores” (Virgil v. Time, Inc., 1975, p. 1129).
In an era of surveillance and data, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that
telephone booth wiretaps violated what courts have defined as a close zone of
privacy around a person (Katz v. United States, 1967). The Electronic
Communications Privacy Act of 1986 criminalized interception of computer data.
Additionally, special classes of records, such as health and educational information,
are protected under federal statutes (HIPAA, 1996). After the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks, the PATRIOT Act gave law enforcement agencies new rights to
monitor previously private personal data and share it with other police powers
seeking to avert future attacks:
It relaxed restrictions on the sharing of information between domestic law
enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies, enhanced the government’s
subpoena power to obtain and inspect e-mail records of suspected terrorists,
expanded bank record-keeping requirements to track transactions of money
laundering, and permitted roving wiretaps of suspected terrorists. (Terilli &
Splichal, 2014, p. 315)
The National Security Agency (NSA), as was disclosed by former government
contractor employee Edward Snowden, has engaged in broad surveillance of online
communication, including social media activities. Publication of details by
WikiLeaks, The Guardian, the Washington Post, The New York Times and others
forced the Obama Administration to defend its practices and review processes. A
secret court is assigned the job of reviewing surveillance, but critics have claimed
that few safeguards remain to protect personal privacy in an age of big data.
Humbach (2012) contends that any right of privacy must defer to First Amendment
freedom of expression constitutional rights, and should be treated as exceptions.
The right of social network site users to protect private data on social media sites
is not clear because only lower courts, so far, have taken these cases (Moreno v.
Hanford Sentinel, Inc., 2009). Facebook was forced to settle with users whose
online data was gathered and distributed without consent (Lane v. Facebook, Inc.,
2012). The Appeals Court affirmed a $9.5 million settlement approved by a lower
court, and a rehearing was later denied (Lane v. Facebook, 2013). In the Lane case,
it was disclosed that Facebook had launched a program in 2007 called Beacon,
which involved member sharing of information about website visits away from
Facebook. Beacon updated profiles with personal information useful to Facebook’s
business partners. For example, Blockbuster would give Facebook data about video
rentals, and then Facebook would share this with a user’s friend network:
Although Facebook initially designed the Beacon program to give members
opportunities to prevent broadcast of any private information, it never
required members’ affirmative consent. As a result, many members
complained that
162 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

Beacon was causing publication of otherwise private information about

their outside web activities to their personal profile without their
knowledge or approval. Facebook responded to these complaints (and
accompanying negative media coverage) first by releasing a privacy
control intended to allow its members to opt out of the Beacon program
fully, and then ultimately by discontinuing operation of the program
altogether.
Unsatisfied with these responses, a group of nineteen plaintiffs filed a
putative class action in federal district court against Facebook and a
number of other entities that operated websites participating in the Beacon
program. The classaction complaint alleged that the defendants had
violated various state and federal privacy statutes. Each of the plaintiffs’
claims centered on the general allegation that Beacon participants had
violated Facebook members’ privacy rights by gathering and publicly
disseminating information about their online activities without permission.
The plaintiffs sought damages and a variety of equitable remedies for the
alleged privacy violations. (Lane v. Facebook, 2012, pp. 816–817)
The Lane court upheld the settlement as fair, although it may have been too small
and directed away from the users who lost their privacy. In a dissenting opinion, a
judge pointed out that some go online to shop in order to keep purchases private,
but Facebook marketed Beacon to retailers, such as Blockbuster, Zappos and
Overstock, to enable brands “to gain access to viral distribution” and “act as
word-of-mouth promotion” that “may be seen by friends who are also likely to be
interested” in purchasing the products (p. 827). Beacon was implemented over the
objections of Facebook users:
Worse, Facebook made it very hard for users to avoid these broadcasts.
The user had to actively opt out. And opting out required video game
skills. The user would get a pop-up on his screen asking whether he
wanted to opt out, but the pop-up would disappear in about ten seconds.
Too slow reading the pop-up or clicking the mouse, and all a user’s
“friends” would know exactly what he had bought. Since the pop-up
disappeared so quickly, someone looking at another window, or answering
the phone, or just not paying attention, would likely not even be aware of
the opt-out option before it disappeared. (p. 827)
The dissenting opinion made it clear that the settlement money went to lawyers
and an educational program rather than those wronged by the privacy invasion.
Class members received “no compensation,” and they did “not get even an
injunction against Facebook doing exactly the same thing to them again” (p. 835).
Feldman (2012) has asked what seems to be a persistent question: “Is privacy
dead?” in an analysis published in The Huffington Post. “Even in this new
exhibitionist environment, anyone doing business utilizing user or customer
information should make sure to implement fair and transparent privacy policies”
 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY 163

(para. 7). “Is privacy dead? No. But we are changing how we feel about it” (para.
11). Not so, say technology promoters from Palo Alto to New York.
Data aggregators are in the business of selling consumer data. The nearly
complete adoption of mobile smartphones presents perhaps the most troubling
aspect of the privacy question. Whether or not you check in or broadcast your
location,

BOX 8.1 LACK OF PRIVACY AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

The Social Media Research Foundation’s Marc A. Smith (@marc_smith) suggested
in 2012 that the United States does little to protect privacy. Germany, for example,
has a law protecting employee privacy. U.S. employers may analyze employee
email for valuable patterns. The NodeXL software allows for analysis of social
networks of Outlook email users.
Computers can now read 130 million tweets per day. Smith has tracked daily
snapshots of topics, such as Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party. “Anytime two
people interact in email or otherwise,” Smith said, “it leaves a graph.”
“Nothing is private,” Smith claims. He sees it as similar to an iceberg with about
10% “above the water line” and public. Smith views this as an issue because, for
example, an employer may decide to fire an employee for being at the periphery
rather than the center of a company email social network.
Source: Lipschultz, J. H. (2012, August 28), Privacy Is Dead?—Really? The Huffington Post.
www.huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-harris-lipschultz/online-privacy_b_ 1831956.html

telecommunication firms may collect continuous data on your whereabouts. They

do not have to tell what they are doing with the data.
The technologies continue to morph with adoption of facial recognition. The
U.S. Supreme Court has yet to take on the definition of privacy within a social
media context. There are some European safeguards, such as those from the
Council of Europe Privacy Convention, that go beyond U.S. law in terms of data
protection.

Top Social Media Site Privacy Policies

For this chapter, nine generally accepted top social media platforms in 2013 were
selected to study privacy policy language: Twitter, Facebook, Google+,
Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and Snapchat. Some of the policies
were difficult to find. Some sites had made recent updates.1

Twitter
Twitter is considered one of the most public social media sites. In order to spread
content across the network, users must have a public profile. Anyone may follow
a user, but she or he may block and/or identify a follower as spreading spam.
164 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

Twitter encountered a brief conflict with its users in late 2013 when it suspended
blocking, only to allow most features again following an online protest. The Los
Angeles Times (Guynn, 2013) reported:
The mass protest on Twitter was the first for Twitter as a public company.
Executives held an emergency meeting Thursday night to deal with the
escalating situation.
Twitter users took to the service to protest under the hashtag
#RestoreTheBlock. They said the changes to the block feature would
encourage online abuse and harassment on the service. Many women in
particular said they would no longer feel safe on Twitter, where they say
they receive rape and other threats. (paras. 2–3)
Twitter users complained that, without the ability to block stalkers, they would
not feel safe to use the service. Twitter continued to work on ways to avoid the
retaliation that sometimes happens following a block. Twitter limits each tweet to
140 characters, and its 2013 policy stated that, “What you say on Twitter may be
viewed all around the world instantly” (para. 2). Further, Twitter users agree to
allow their data to be used:
When using any of our Services you consent to the collection, transfer,
manipulation, storage, disclosure and other uses of your information as
described in this Privacy Policy. Irrespective of which country you reside
in or supply information from, you authorize Twitter to use your
information in the United States and any other country where Twitter
operates. (para. 2)
Twitter broadly collects user data and has a right to use it: “This includes not only
the messages you Tweet and the metadata provided with Tweets, such as when
you Tweeted, but also the lists you create, the people you follow, the Tweets you
mark as favorites or Retweet, and many other bits of information that result from
your use of the Services” (para. 5). The Twitter default is public data, unless a
user deletes information or locks down an account with privacy settings. Users
also decide if they want to share their location in tweets and the trend selection.
Twitter discloses that the service tracks interaction with links: “We do this to help
improve our Services, to provide more relevant advertising, and to be able to
share aggregate click statistics such as how many times a particular link was
clicked on” (para. 7). Each time a user goes to Twitter, the service collects log
data: “Log Data may include information such as your IP address, browser type,
operating system, the referring web page, pages visited, location, your mobile
carrier, device and application IDs, search terms, and cookie information” (para.
8). Twitter says third-party log data is saved for up to 10 days, and deleting
identifiers and converting it to aggregate data may take another week. The policy
also makes it clear that there is interaction with third-party advertisers creating
tailored ads, and that this feature may be turned off in privacy settings. Critics of
 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY 165

online service privacy complain that opt-out procedures should be replaced by

opt-in because many users do not realize their choices.
Twitter allows users to delete accounts, but the service holds data for 30 days:
“After 30 days, we begin the process of deleting your account from our systems,
which can take up to a week” (para. 16). Twitter users must be at least 13 years
old, and the service will delete data if it becomes aware that a younger child is
using it. As an international SNS, Twitter follows European rules: “Twitter
complies with the U.S.-E.U. and U.S.Swiss Safe Harbor Privacy Principles of
notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access, and enforcement”
(para. 18).

Facebook
Facebook has also received user criticism over changes to its default privacy
settings in recent years. Users may not want to share information beyond their
friends list, but some data are difficult to protect.
An issue for Facebook users is the data shared by friends: “We receive
information about you from your friends and others, such as when they upload
your contact information, post a photo of you, tag you in a photo or status update,
or at a location, or add you to a group” (para. 8). Facebook may closely track user
behavior:

We receive data about you whenever you use or are running Facebook,
such as when you look at another person’s timeline, send or receive a
message, search for a friend or a Page, click on, view or otherwise interact
with things, use a Facebook mobile app, or make purchases through
Facebook. (para. 11)

Social media privacy concerns frequently focus on data that have commercial
value, as all SNSs seek business models to grow revenue through targeted
advertising or other means. Facebook user data, including location, is tapped in a
variety of ways: “We may put together your current city with GPS and other
location information we have about you to, for example, tell you and your friends
about people or events nearby, or offer deals to you in which you might be
interested” (para. 17). When a user shares information with the public, rather than
just friends, data can be used with third-party services and others off Facebook.
Your name, which is required, and profile and cover photographs are always
public:

These help your friends and family recognize you. If you are
uncomfortable making any of these photos public, you can always delete
them. Unless you delete them, when you add a new profile picture or cover
photo, the previous photo will remain public in your profile picture or
cover photo album. (para. 27)
166 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

User friends and networks also are public data on Facebook, and it retains the
right to use data (para. 45):

While you are allowing us to use the information we receive about you,
you always own all of your information. Your trust is important to us,
which is why we don’t share information we receive about you with others
unless we have:
• received your permission;
• given you notice, such as by telling you about it in this policy; or
• removed your name and any other personally identifying information
from it.

Facebook accounts may be deactivated, which closes access but stores data for
possible reactivation, and accounts also may be deleted: “It typically takes about
one month to delete an account, but some information may remain in backup
copies and logs for up to 90 days” (para. 51).

Google+
Google’s social media service is connected with its massive cloud data operation,
which includes many other functions. Google says it uses data to “make those
services even better—to show you more relevant search results and ads, to help
you connect with people or to make sharing with others quicker and easier” (para.
1). Of course, like other services, Google aims to generate revenue from your use
and data.
Google connects user profile data with other data collected, such as from
Google Analytics on websites: “We may collect information about the services
that you use and how you use them, like when you visit a website that uses our
advertising services or you view and interact with our ads and content” (para. 6).
Google collects location data through mobile devices and WiFi spots. Google also
uses data from browser cookies. While a user may turn off these, some sites do
not function without them. Google shares limited data: “We will share personal
information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Google when
we have your consent to do so,” and uses opt-in for “sensitive personal
information” (para. 30). The Google+ environment can be confusing for users, as
the company continues to integrate its services. YouTube comments on videos,
for example, can be linked to Google+ feeds, and the convergence of platforms
offers the largest companies advantages in social media spaces.

Instagram
Instagram was acquired by Facebook in late 2012. Some Instagram users were
concerned because of Facebook privacy issues over the years, and Instagram
 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY 167

responded: “You still get to choose who can see your Instagram photos, and you
still get to choose whether you post your photos on Facebook” (para. 2).
Instagram emphasizes its public sharing platform: “This means that other
Users may search for, see, use, or share any of your User Content that you make
publicly available through the Service, consistent with the terms and conditions of
this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use” (para. 6). As with other services, friend
connection weakens privacy while increasing functionality. Instagram also uses
cookies to track user data. Metadata also weakens privacy for Instagram
photographs and other content: “If you geotag your photo or tag your photo using
other’s APIs then, your latitude and longitude will be stored with the photo and
searchable (e.g., through a location or map feature) if your photo is made public
by you in accordance with your privacy settings” (para. 27). User data may be
shared with other businesses: “We may share User Content and your information
(including but not limited to, information from cookies, log files, device
identifiers, location data, and usage data) with businesses that are legally part of
the same group of companies that Instagram is part of, or that become part of that
group (“Affiliates”)” (para. 30). Public data may be searched by anyone: “Subject
to your profile and privacy settings, any User Content that you make public is
searchable by other Users and subject to use under our Instagram API” (para. 35).
Users retain ownership of their content, although Instagram can use it. Instagram
says it attempts to be secure, but cannot guarantee it: “Instagram cannot ensure
the security of any information you transmit to Instagram or guarantee that
information on the Service may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed”
(para. 42). As with other privacy policies, Instagram maintains typical age
restrictions and other account protocols.
LinkedIn
The professional network application opens its privacy policy by saying
LinkedIn’s “top priority” is maintaining trust:
We protect your personal information and will only provide it to third parties:
(1) with your consent; (2) where it is necessary to carry out your
instructions; (3) as reasonably necessary in order to provide LinkedIn
features and functionality to you; (4) as we reasonably believe is permitted
by law or regulation; or (5) as necessary to enforce our User Agreement or
protect the rights, property, or safety of LinkedIn, its Members, and the
public. (para. 2)
LinkedIn discloses the address in California where U.S. user data is stored, and a
second address in Ireland for all other users from other countries. LinkedIn
profiles serve clear professional purposes: “With your approval, your connections
may provide recommendations and endorsements of you” (para. 6). Access to
contacts, such as those in email, may also raise privacy issues: “If you grant these
products (mobile applications or other LinkedIn applications that sync external
email services) permission to access your email accounts, they will access your
email header information in order to match it to LinkedIn and other public social
168 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

media profiles” (para. 8). As with other services, users exchange lower privacy
for improved functions. Users must opt-out of third-party data access and use
designed to target information and advertising: “LinkedIn will use this
information to personalize the LinkedIn-provided functionality on third-party
sites, including providing you insights from your LinkedIn network and allowing
you to share information with your network (1st and 2nd degree connection on
LinkedIn)” (para. 15). LinkedIn is like other services in collecting cookie and log
file data. LinkedIn’s career focus means that it also offers premium services to
employment recruiters. User data also may be subject to subpoena and law
enforcement requests.
LinkedIn also requires users to follow their terms of service that emphasize
content related to purpose and spirit of its communities—content that does not
violate rights of others or is considered offensive. LinkedIn also is bound in
California by its Shine the Light Law, which attempts to protect consumer data
from direct marketing.

Tumblr
The 2012 Tumblr policies open with the valuable suggestion that users read the
rules: “When you use the Services, you are consenting to the collection, transfer,
manipulation, storage, disclosure and other uses of your information as described
in this Privacy Policy; please read it carefully” (para. 1). A common concern is
how people may search for users: “We also allow users to look for their friends
by e-mail address; you can, however, opt out of this feature through your Account
Settings page, and we do not expose your e-mail address to the public or third
parties, except in the limited circumstances set forth in this Privacy Policy” (para.
4). Tumblr’s default setting is public: “By default, all sharing through the
Services is public, and when you provide us with content it is published so that
anyone can view it” (para. 8). Users are warned that, once posted, content copies
are likely to exist: “While you are free to remove published pieces of content
from or delete your Account, because of the nature of Internet sharing, the strong
possibility of Reblogging of your content by others, and technological limitations
inherent to the Services, copies of that content may exist elsewhere and be
retained indefinitely, including in our systems” (para. 8). As with other services,
Tumblr uses cookies and third party services to track and analyze user data.

Vine
In mid-2013, the six-second video app Vine added new privacy settings. Vine is
owned by Twitter, which makes it a competitor to Facebook and Instagram. Vine
is open about its data collection:
Vine receives your information through our mobile applications, websites,
email notifications, and other interactions with our Services. When using
any of our Services you consent to the collection, transfer, manipulation,
 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY 169

storage, disclosure and other uses of your information as described in this

Privacy Policy. Irrespective of which country you reside in or supply
information from, you authorize Vine to use your information in the
United States and any other country where Vine operates. (para. 1)
Vine also collects and stores contact information:
Vine will match the information you provide with the contact information
of other Vine users. We do not retain your address book information after
displaying these matches. When you connect your Vine account to other
services, you are able to post your Content to those services as well. (para.
4)
Vine follows a standard disclosure approach to privacy. It reminds its users that
by sharing sites, including the sharing of video and other information, these acts
are public:
Vine is a video sharing platform, so most of the information you provide
us is information that you choose to be made public. This includes not only
the Content that you post and data provided with such Content, such as
when it was posted, but also the accounts you follow, the Content that you
like or comment on, and other public interactions on the Services. (para. 5)
Lack of privacy, as with other social media, includes location data, cookies, links,
log data and third-party data. By updating a profile or sharing a video, users have
consented to allowing Vine to broadly share this information.

Snapchat
This video service is designed to send point-to-point brief videos that appear to
disappear after being viewed. Snapchat’s privacy policies, though, explain that
the data are stored for viewing:
As mentioned in our previous blog post, Snaps are deleted from our
servers after they are opened by their recipients. So what happens to them
before they are opened? Most of Snapchat’s infrastructure is hosted on
Google’s cloud computing service, App Engine. Most of our data,
including unopened Snaps, are kept in App Engine’s datastore until they
are deleted. (para. 2)
Snapchat, which tends to have a young group of teen users, explains data retrieval
to its users:
Is Snapchat capable of retrieving unopened Snaps from the datastore? Yes
—if we couldn’t retrieve Snaps from the datastore, we wouldn’t be able to
deliver them to their recipients desired by the sender. Do we manually
retrieve and look at Snaps under ordinary circumstances? No. The ordinary
process of sending Snaps to their recipient(s) is automated. (para. 3)
170 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

Snapchat says if Snaps are on their servers, then they must comply with law
enforcement requests under the Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA).
“Since May 2013, about a dozen of the search warrants we’ve received have
resulted in us producing unopened Snaps to law enforcement,” Snapchat
discloses. “That’s out of 350 million Snaps sent every day” (para. 5). Snapchat
claims only two top company officials have access to a tool that may be required
to preserve a Snapchat during a law enforcement investigation. Snapchat follows
typical terms of service, community and privacy policies.
Overall, the analysis of these privacy policies leads to some clear conclusions:
1) Social media communication tends to be public, except where sites allow users
to dial back and opt out of specific features; 2) Social media sites track user data
for system improvement, user direction and advertising purposes; 3) Data tend to
be stored, retrievable and copied, which makes deletion of uploaded content
difficult and time-consuming; 4) Users need to read and understand the
implications of privacy policies, opt out of what is possible and not use social
media, if they desire complete privacy; 5) Users should consider site purpose and
context when deciding to participate; and 6) When it comes to privacy, as with all
media in a commercial society, the rule of thumb is “buyer beware.”

Big Data and Privacy

There appears to be no standard big data definition, but it is related to predictive
analytics, data mining and trends (Nelson & Simek, 2013):
Facebook has a huge amount of our data. In fact, it has more than some
people think because they never read the Terms of Service, which allow
Facebook to monitor your online activities while you are logged in. That
very valuable data is sold to advertisers so that they can have ads related to
your online activities pop up or show on visited web pages. Not so bad if
you’re searching for a new car, but what if you hang out (while married) in
dating sites? Or you frequent pornography sites? What are you doing
online that you’d prefer to be kept private? How about searching for help
in treating a substance abuse problem? Or how to file a bankruptcy?
Perfectly innocent activities certainly deserve to be private but privacy is
eroding fast in the big data world.
We just don’t think about our digital privacy. We use our car’s GPS, we
post on Facebook, we buy on Amazon, and we use location service apps on
our smartphones. We create our own “big data” cloud about who we are,
where we are, what we do, what we like and what we don’t. (pp. 34–35)
Allen (2013) considered whether or not individuals have an ethical responsibility
to protect privacy within the big data information pool. One challenge is that,
“People are giving away more and more personal data to intimates and strangers
for a variety of self-interested, altruistic, or civic-minded reasons” (p. 847).
Further, there are practical limits to managing data privacy given technological
 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY 171

complexities: “I am suggesting a new, richer way to think about the moral

relationship of consumers to business and government—as partnerships in ethical
goodness” (p. 865). Allen believes that assertive consumers do not give social
media businesses and government a pass on privacy and ethics, but rather create
the potential for a stronger system of safeguards.

BOX 8.2 GERMANY AND PRIVACY

Germany has been a leader in online data privacy protection since the 1970s. At
that time, West Germany passed laws to avoid abuse of personal data, which
citizens had experienced under Hitler and saw in East Germany before the fall of
the Berlin Wall (Somaskanda, 2013). The scale of the U.S. NSA PRISM spy program,
as disclosed by Edward Snowden, fell outside of what is legal under German law:
Under German data protection law, the BND is not allowed [to] register and
store communications data on a wide scale, or randomly tap phone
conversations. Instead, they have to use sensors and look for keywords within
phone and email conversations—but even there, they are only allowed to scan
10 percent of international communication. (para. 21)
The German government, however, has been unable to use its courts to fully
protect social media privacy. Facebook and other sites locate their European
operations in Ireland, which has weaker data privacy laws. The German
government has expressed the view that Google and other large companies use
their size and power to ignore concerns. Some Germans have called for suspension
of Safe Harbor rules that allow sharing of European Union banking information
with companies in the United States (Overdorf, 2013). Social media privacy is a
piece of the larger concerns raised by the NSA disclosures.
Sources:
Somaskanda, S. (2013, July 26). NSA Spying Rankles Privacy-Loving Germans. The Atlantic.
www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/07/nsa-spying-ranklesprivacy-loving-
germans/278090/;
Overdorf, J. (2013, November 5). Germany: Privacy Protections Must Go Beyond ‘No-Spying
Act.’ MINNPOST. www.minnpost.com/global-post/2013/11/germanyprivacy-protections-
must-go-beyond-no-spying-act

FTC Regulation
In the United States, the strongest privacy protections for social media consumers
derive from Federal Trade Commission regulation. The FTC has called upon
Congress to enact laws that would address data security, breaches of security and
brokering of data (FTC, 2012). The FTC identified three critical areas for
businesses to address (paras. 4–6):
172 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

Privacy by Design—companies should build in consumers’ privacy protections

at every stage in developing their products. These include reasonable security for
consumer data, limited collection and retention of such data, and reasonable
procedures to promote data accuracy;
Simplified Choice for Businesses and Consumers—companies should give
consumers the option to decide what information is shared about them, and with
whom. This should include a Do-Not-Track mechanism that would provide a
simple, easy way for consumers to control the tracking of their online activities.
Greater Transparency—companies should disclose details about their collection
and use of consumers’ information, and provide consumers access to the data
collected about them.
The FTC raised specific concerns about large platforms and mobile use, which
would impact social media sites such as Google+ and Facebook. In its full report,
the FTC noted enforcement action in 2010 against Facebook:

Brought enforcement actions against Google and Facebook. The orders

obtained in these cases require the companies to obtain consumers’
affirmative express consent before materially changing certain of their data
practices and to adopt strong, company-wide privacy programs that outside
auditors will assess for 20 years. These orders will protect the more than one
billion Google and Facebook users worldwide. (p. ii)

The FTC took action with orders against Google, Facebook and online advertising
networks, and used fair credit reporting and child online privacy protection laws
to force changes. “To the extent that large platforms, such as Internet Service
Providers (“ISPs”), operating systems, browsers, and social media, seek to
comprehensively track consumers’ online activities, it raises heightened privacy
concerns” (p. 14). The FTC held workshops to better understand tracking issues
and consider the need for tougher regulation. At the same time, “the Commission
generally supports the exploration of efforts to develop additional mechanisms,
such as the ‘eraser button’ for social media . . . to allow consumers to manage
and, where appropriate, require companies to delete the information consumers
have submitted” (p. 29). That idea, however, may conflict with free speech
constitutional rights. “While consumers should be able to delete much of the
information they place on a particular social media site, there may be First
Amendment constraints to requiring third parties to delete the same information”
(p. 71, fn. 358).

Privacy and Legal Implications

Social media communication privacy is likely to spawn industry guidelines and
standards for self-regulation, future regulation and legislation, and court cases
challenging the status quo in the United States. At the international level, there
will be continued political and legal pressure on large social media platforms to
 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY 173

be transparent and offer users more opportunities to protect their data. Still, the
very nature of social media sharing is that social networks negotiate privacy
through friend, follower and fan interaction. The commercialization of social
media, sophistication of data collection and tracking, and desire of advertisers to
target consumers ready to act present numerous ongoing privacy challenges.
Judges and juries will be faced with interpreting legal conflicts over protection of
privacy.
While privacy may be seen as a matter of user literacy, site terms of service or
government regulatory protection, it also is connected to the norms of information
flow. Traditional journalists seek to access as much information as possible, but
there may be a cultural shift. Social media spaces encourage sharing of private
stories to an audience. Bloggers, for example, use sometimes-personal narrative
storytelling to attract readers. Blogger Tracy Solomon wrote about her daughter’s
battle with leukemia to increase public understanding, and in doing so she and her
family voluntarily gave up some of their privacy.
The social norms of privacy will continue to evolve, just as lawmakers and
social network sites adjust to new uses of technology. Data protection is a social,
political and legal issue. Social media communication by mobile smartphone or
other Internet device
174 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

BOX 8.3 THOUGHT LEADER TRACY SOLOMON

Before I started Katia’s blog in November
2002, there had already been identity issues
with pictures of others being used to start
fake fundraising cancer sites.
I made it a point to tell many cancer
organizations about Katia’s blog. Also, the
media was covering her story, and I posted
links to those articles. There were continuous
marrow drives done nationwide trying to find
a match for her over a six-month period in
2002–2003, so her story was widely covered.
Figure 8.1 @tracysolomon.
Internet security is very important
Courtesy Tracy Solomon. to me, and keeping my own name
and Katia’s name clear is important. We are always willing to share and take part
in something when asked. We just prefer to be asked:)
Social media create ease of access to a variety of forms of available
information; it challenges journalism to not focus on being first to report
something or running a story that is sensationalized—something to grab more
followers/viewers. Readers run the risk of having too much information quickly
at their fingertips, some sourced and some not. This can cause a great deal of
confusion and put people at risk, causing avoidable harm.
Over the next five years, I would like to see a more collaborative effort in
bringing social media to the forefront of schools, news

(continued )

organizations, emergency services and more. This requires a better

understanding of fact checking and the need to provide source information
along with what is posted to avoid the misunderstanding of what is opinion
versus what is fact. If social media are used correctly, they can save lives. So
many can benefit from a tool that ties our world together if it is used in a
positive way. We can reach out to people we were never able to before to sell
our product, brand or service and/or have a message heard.
Tracy Solomon is active across social media platforms, her Change Happens
blog at TracyLSolomon.com and with the Tampa, Florida Examiner’s Political Buzz.
She has blogged for more than a decade about her daughter’s battle with
leukemia. Solomon has current interests in the community, nation and world. She
uses social media to help others: “Each day has a moment to remember forever. If
we are lucky, we’ll be watching and realize the moment.”
 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY 175

identifies the speaker, and there is no complete online anonymity. Therefore,

users must rely upon businesses and government to be more careful with data. At
the same time, social media users must act with an understanding of the public
nature of most online communication.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How have your expectations for personal privacy changed, if at all, in the age
of social media? What are your most important concerns?
2. What do you think can be done to align United States privacy policies with
those in the European Union? What are the advantages and disadvantages of
global policies?
3. What are the significant implications for privacy based upon use of mobile
smartphones and tablets to access social media sites? Which areas might lead
to litigation or changes in law?

Note
1. Search google to find each site’s privacy policy: Twitter, https://twitter.com/privacy;
Facebook, www.facebook.com/about/privacy/; Google+,
www.google.com/policies/privacy/; Instagram,
http://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/; LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-
policy; Tumblr, www.tumblr.com/policy/en/privacy; Pinterest,
http://about.pinterest.com/en/privacy- policy; Vine, https://vine.co/privacy; Snapchat,
http://www.snapchat.com/privacy/

References
Allen, A. L. (2013). An Ethical Duty to Protect One’s Own Information Privacy? 64
Alabama Law Review 845.
Bloustein, E. J. (1964). Privacy as an Aspect of Human Dignity: An Answer to Dean
Prosser. 39 New York Law Review 962.
Cooley, T. M. (1888). Cooley On Torts 2d, 29.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1986). 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2510.
Feldman, M. J. (2012, February 28). Is Privacy Dead? The Huffington Post.
www.huffingtonpost. com/miles-j-feldman/internet-privacy_b_1306701.html
FTC (2012, March 26). FTC Issues Final Commission Report on Protecting Consumer
Privacy. Federal Trade Commission.
www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/03/ftc-issues-final-commi ssion-report-
protecting-consumer-privacy [Full report downloaded at: FTC Report: Protecting
Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change.
www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ reports/federal-trade-commission-report-
protecting-consumer-privacy-era-rapid-change-rec
ommendations/120326privacyreport.pdf
Guynn, J. (2013, December 12). Twitter reverses changes to blocking feature after mass
protest. Los Angeles Times. www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-twitter-
reverses-changesto-blocking-feature-after-mass-protest-20131212,0,1607498.story?
176 BIG DATA AND PRIVACY

track=rss&utm_source=
dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=515009#axzz2nSu22Y1q
HIPAA (1996). Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. 42 U.S.C.A.
Sec. 1320d, 4.
Humbach, J. A. (2012). Privacy and the Right of Free Expression. 11 First Amendment
Law Review 16.
Katz v. United States (1967). 389 U.S. 347.
Lane v. Facebook (2013). 709 F.3d 791.
Lane v. Facebook, Inc. (2012). 696 F.3d 811 (9th Cir.).
Lee, L. T (2013). Privacy and Social Media. In A. B. Albarran (Ed.), The Social Media
Industries, pp. 146–165. New York, NY: Routledge.
Lipschultz, J. H. (1988). Mediasat and the Tort of Invasion of Privacy. Journalism
Quarterly 65(2), 507–511.
Lipschultz, J. H. (2012, August 28), Privacy Is Dead?—Really? The Huffington Post.
www. huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-harris-lipschultz/online-privacy_b_1831956.html
Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel, Inc. (2009). 172 Cal. App. 4th 1125.
Nelson, S. D., & Simek, J. W. (2013). Big Data: Big Pain or Big Gain for Lawyers? 39
The Vermont Bar Journal & Law Digest 33.
Olmstead v. United States (1928). 227. U.S. 438, p. 478.
Overdorf, J. (2013, November 5). Germany: Privacy Protections Must Go Beyond ‘No-
Spying Act.’ MINNPOST. www.minnpost.com/global-post/2013/11/germany-privacy-
protections- must-go-beyond-no-spying-act
Prosser, D. (1960). Privacy. 48 California Law Review 383.
Sidis v. F. R. Publishing Corp. (1940) 113 F.2d 806.
Smith, M. (2014, May 3). Mapping and Measuring Connections. Slideshare.
www.slideshare.net/ Marc_A_Smith/2014-the-next-websmrfnode-xlsnasocial-media-
networks
Somaskanda, S. (2013, July 26). NSA Spying Rankles Privacy-Loving Germans. The
Atlantic.
Terilli, Jr., S. A., & Splichal, S. (2014). Privacy Rights in an Open and Changing Society.
In W. W. Hopkins (Ed.), Communication and the Law, 2014 edition, pp. 291–316.
Northport, AL:
Vision Press.
Virgil v. Time Inc. (1975). 527 F.2d 1122 (9th Cir.).
Warren, S., & Brandeis, L. (1890). The Right to Privacy. 4 Harvard Law Review 193.
This page intentionally left blank

9 LAW AND REGULATION

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that when they decide to start a blog or post
comments . . . they are potentially making themselves open to being liable to the
laws of that country.”
—Anthony Fargo, @AnthonyFargo1 (2012)

Facebook claimed user Christopher Peter Tarquini posted deceptive messages that
promised to show others a video of celebrities Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez
having sex. Bieber had a whopping 49 million followers, as shown in Table 9.1—
second only to Katy Perry—and Gomez had 17.7 million followers at the time.
When people clicked on the link, they were reportedly led to spam that
automatically posted the link on their Facebook walls (Crook, 2013). TechCrunch
learned that Facebook spent $5,000 investigating Tarquini’s social media
commission scam, which violated its terms of service (paras. 3–5). Facebook went
to court to recover its costs and have Tarquini banned for life from the social
networking site. Spamming as commercial speech is one form of behavior that may
spawn case law. Concern over illegal online behavior in cyberspace is nothing new
(Branscomb, 1996), but the openness of social media publishing generates many
more cases and concerns. The complexity of social networking also impacts groups
of people with every networked communication. In the United States, social media
users are governed by the British common law tradition and constitutional
development of free expression rights.

Table 9.1 Top Number of Followers on Twitter

Twitter Account Followers Following Tweets
1. @katyperry 49,789,759 129 5,346
2. @justinbieber 48,993,460 123,719 25,957
3. @ladygaga 41,034,003 134,145 4,319
4. @YouTube 38,693,676 566 9,636
5. @taylorswift13 38,513,299 121 2,102
Source: Friend Or Follow (2014, January 24). http://friendorfollow.com/twitter/most-followers/
178 LAW AND REGULATION

157

Free Expression and the First Amendment

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, while not interpreted as providing
an absolute right of free expression, remains a strong statement in favor of it:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were not considered before the U.S. Supreme
Court, but constitutionality of government action was reviewed beginning with the
Espionage Act of 1917. Although the Court upheld convictions for publishing and
distributing anti-war fliers, a clear and present danger test began to emerge, as well
as support for what later became known as the marketplace of ideas. Milton (1644)
offered the earliest marketplace of ideas articulation that remains a free speech
justification:
Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so
Truth be in the field, we do injuriously by licensing and prohibiting to
misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth
put to the worse in a free and open encounter?
As the U.S. Supreme Court grappled with 20th-century free speech cases, dissenters
offered defenses for speech. Justice William O. Douglas (1951) expressed what
became known as the near-absolutist position:
Unless and until extreme and necessitous circumstances are shown, our aim
should be to keep speech unfettered and to allow the processes of law to be
invoked only when the provocateurs among us move from speech to action.
— Dennis v. U.S. (1951, p. 590)
Fifty years ago, New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) convinced a majority of U.S.
Supreme Court justices to support constitutional protection for political speech,
which includes debate on public issues that is “robust” and “wide open” (p. 271).
So it is with Twitter and other platforms. Social media pages empower users to be
global publishers through blogs, podcasts and social sites. Although anonymity is
more “a complicating factor” on Twitter, even for Facebook, LinkedIn and other
sites, it challenges attempts to regulate social media:
Like traditional media, the Internet allows speakers to communicate their
messages to a large consuming public. However, because the content
providers include independent speakers—whose information may be subject
to minimal editing—as well as traditional media speakers—whose
information is often verified and edited—defamatory speech has greater
potential to reach a widespread audience . . .
 Given the speed with which such content can be disseminated and
reputations injured as a result, the level of First Amendment protection
available for defamatory Internet speech must be critically evaluated . . .
Thus, defamatory statements published online have serious potential to cause
both reputational injury and economic harm . . . (Sanders & Olsen, 2012, pp.
365–366)
180 LAW AND REGULATION

Sanders and Olsen (2012) suggested the need for a psychological sense of
community rather than one based upon traditional legal geography. Social media
are global (Ali, 2011), and online freedom brings a unique set of legal
responsibilities. Social media transform every user through their interaction with
others. The international distribution of unfiltered media across a mosaic of legal
systems and structures means technological freedom as a trend is colliding with
governmental, corporate, organizational and individual desires to control
messages. The massive and ubiquitous Internet may be too large to completely
control (Fang, 2008), but legal systems and structures attempt to incorporate new
cases within traditional rules. Social media have triggered a new set of
expectations in journalism (Briggs, 2010), and present new legal challenges
(Nockleby et al., 2013).

Internet Libel
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have protection from liability for libel. America
Online, for example, could not be sued for potentially libelous content distributed
using its network (Blumenthal v. Drudge and America Online, 1998). AOL was
protected, a lower court ruled, because of the limited exercise of editorial control
and a mostly passive role. In a social media context, it is interesting to think about
the use of the RT on Twitter, which may or may not be passive depending upon
the context of tweets. In any case, social media make it more difficult to measure
economic impact because of the absence of a definable mass media audience.
Social media crowds instead are dependent upon individual social networks for
distribution. Further emergence of a sharing culture, promoted by sites that
encourage users to share content with online friends or fans, introduces a new
media model. Content owners who benefit from advertising revenue generated by
increased numbers of site visitors must also try to protect property rights. At the
same time, some brands use social media to promote valuable content or services
that generate revenue (Mathison, 2009). In this model, each user has the power to
be her or his own media outlet. It is a world in which sites such as Twitter
generate unique content (Pogue, 2009), leverage digital assets (Keller, Levine, &
Goodale, 2008; Pavlik, 2008), and internationalize thinking (Groggin &
McLelland, 2009).

Facebook, Twitter and the Law

While journalists are, of course, not the only social media users, they have a
particular need to verify accuracy of online information (Chow, 2013). Over the
last five years, social media sites have gone from being unheard of in the courts to
the subject of hundreds of cases each year (Stewart, 2013). Media law scholar
Derigan Silver notes that social media law may be eroding First Amendment
protections for free speech:
One of the biggest issues facing non-media users of social media is the
distinctions some courts have created between the constitutional
 LAW AND REGULATION 181

protections afforded the media and those afforded to average individuals . .

. in effect, lower courts are removing a wide range of speech from
constitutional protections at the very time new communication
technologies such as email, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs are giving non-
media individuals the power to reach wider and wider audiences. (Silver,
in Stewart, 2013, pp. 39–40)
For example, in Tatro v. University of Minnesota (2012), a state Supreme Court
upheld university discipline against a mortuary science student posting what she
said were “satirical” comments on her Facebook wall. Amanda Tatro violated
student conduct code and program rules designed to professionally respect
privileged access to human cadavers. According to court records, the University
of Minnesota focused on four Facebook posts:

• Amanda Beth Tatro: Gets to play, I mean dissect, Bernie today. Let’s see if
I can have a lab void of reprimanding and having my scalpel taken away.
Perhaps if I just hide it in my sleeve . . . (November 12, 2009)
• Amanda Beth Tatro: Is looking forward to Monday’s embalming therapy as
well as a rumored opportunity to aspirate. Give me room, lots of aggression
to be taken out with a trocar (December 6, 2009)
• Amanda Beth Tatro: Who knew embalming lab was so cathartic! I still want
to stab a certain someone in the throat with a trocar though. Hmm . . . perhaps
I will spend the evening updating my “Death List #5” and making friends
with the crematory guy. I do know the code . . . (December 7, 2009)
• Amanda Beth Tatro: Realized with great sadness that my best friend,
Bernie, will no longer be with me as of Friday next week. I wish to
accompany him to the retort. Now where will I go or who will I hang with
when I need to gather my sanity? Bye, bye. Bernie. Lock of hair in my pocket
(Undated, p. 513)

While the postings broke no laws, Tatro was barred from the lab during an
investigation of her comments. Meanwhile, two local television newsrooms
interviewed her, and this generated public pressure on the university. As the
investigation continued, Tatro was allowed to return and take final examinations.
Tatro testified at a hearing that she did not understand Facebook posts fell under a
rule that prohibited blogging. Anatomy Laboratory Rule #7 specified that,
“Blogging about the anatomy lab or the cadaver dissection is not allowable.”
Tatro’s punishment included a grade of “F” in the course, as well as these
requirements: that she completes an ethics course, writes a letter to faculty, and
completes a psychiatric evaluation. Additionally, she was placed on probation for
the remainder of her undergraduate work. Relying primarily on elementary and
high school cases, the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Tatro’s First
Amendment argument, noting that she had signed a contract to follow lab rules:
We acknowledge the concerns expressed by Tatro and supporting amici
that adoption of a broad rule would allow a public university to regulate a
182 LAW AND REGULATION

student’s personal expression at any time, at any place, for any claimed
curriculum-based reason. Nonetheless, the parties agree that university
may regulate student speech on Facebook that violates established
professional conduct standards. This is the legal standard we adopt here,
with the qualification that any restrictions on a student’s Facebook posts
must be narrowly tailored (emphasis added) and directly related to
established professional conduct standards. Tying the legal rule to
established professional conduct standards limits a university’s restrictions
on Facebook use to students in professional programs and other disciplines
where student conduct is governed by established professional conduct
standards . . . we limit the potential for a university to create overbroad
restrictions that would impermissibly reach into a university student’s
personal life outside of and unrelated to the program. Accordingly, we
hold that a university does not violate the free speech rights of a student
enrolled in a professional program when the university imposes sanctions
for Facebook posts that violate academic program rules that are narrowly
tailored and directly related to established professional conduct standards.
(p. 521)

As a general rule, social media and other Internet communication are not
immune from traditional media law—libel, privacy, copyright and commercial
speech. When a user signs on to a site, such as Facebook, she or he agrees to a
Terms of Service (TOS) agreement that is essentially a contract. Each Facebook
user should explore terms and policies, as these are a legal contract between the
social media site and the SNS participant. Too frequently, users click to gain
access without reading and understanding terms, which specify rules covering
vague areas of the law. Facebook divides its terms into three categories: Rights
and Responsibilities, Data Use, and Community Standards.
The 2013 revision (current in May, 2014) of Facebook rights and
responsibilities highlights privacy and references its data use policy. “You own all
of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it
is shared through your privacy and application settings,” the company articulates
under its sharing policy. However, photos and videos fall under intellectual
property (IP). Users grant Facebook “a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-
licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content” posted. The
license “ends” when users delete “IP content or your account, unless your content
has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.” This effectively makes
it difficult to take back control of content once it is shared.
Facebook notes that deleted content “may persist in backup copies for a
reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others).” Some computer
program applications seek user permission and then use the content that is posted.
Additionally, content shared as “public,” such as a profile picture, can be seen by
“everyone, including people off of Facebook.”
Facebook “cannot guarantee” safety, and its TOS has user “commitments” to
“not post unauthorized commercial communications (such as spam),” not “collect
 LAW AND REGULATION 183

users’ content or information” without prior permission, “not engage in unlawful

multi-level marketing,” “not upload viruses,” and not “access an account
belonging to someone else.” The Facebook TOS contract also requires that users
“will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user,” “will not post content that: is hate
speech, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or
graphic or gratuitous violence.” So-called “mature” content requires “appropriate
age-based restrictions.” In general, Facebook is not to be used “to do anything
unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory.”
Under the heading “Registration and Account Security,” Facebook requires use
of “real names and information.” As with other TOS provisions, the site relies
upon complaints, if a user registers a fake name. Social networking sites rarely
require identity verification beyond an email address, and this makes it easy to
dodge the rules.
Under the rules, users are to create only one personal account for themselves.
Under the TOS, “You will not use your personal timeline primarily for your own
commercial gain, and will not use a Facebook Page for such purposes.” Convicted
sex offenders are not allowed to use Facebook, under the rules. In 2013, Facebook
announced it would be updating its rules and processes. The changes in areas such
as promoted posts were delayed amid new privacy concerns.
Twitter also presents a number of legal issues.
184 LAW AND REGULATION

BOX 9.1 EMERGING TWITTER LAW

Tweets, messages of no more than 140 characters on Twitter, are receiving
increasing attention from lawyers. The National Law Journal reported in 2008 that
micro-blogging was a quick way to get an employee or an employer in trouble
(Baldes, 2008). Social media interaction can be subpoenaed during a case, and
tweets create a legal record of communication and behavior. The tech website
Mashable.com (@Mashable; Cashmore, 2008) identified four potential lawsuit
areas: company secrets, invasion of privacy/defamation, trademark violations and
wrongful employee termination claims.
In 2009, for example, Horizon Group Management, which manages rental
property in Chicago, sued tenant Amanda Bonnen for $50,000 after she tweeted as
@JessB123: “You should just come anyway. Who said sleeping in a moldy
apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay.” Bonnen had just
twenty followers on Twitter, but the libel lawsuit claimed the tweet damaged
Horizon’s reputation. A Cook County judge dismissed the case in finding the tweet
was too vague. Other examples of Twitter law include:
• In U.S. v. Fumo, 655 F.3d 288 (2011), a Pennsylvania state senator’s criminal
convictions were upheld, but the appeals court ordered re-sentencing. During
deliberations, a TV station reported that a juror had posted on Twitter, as well
as on Facebook. After watching the report the night before the verdict, the
juror panicked and deleted the postings, which included this tweet: “This is it . .
. no looking back now!” On the same March, 2009, evening the juror also
deleted this Facebook wall post: “Stay tuned for the big announcement on
Monday everyone!” A District Court judge found that the juror violated
instructions to avoid discussing the case outside the jury room, but there was
no evidence of outside influence. The posts were called “nothing more than
harmless ramblings with no prejudicial effect” and that, “They were so vague
as to be virtually meaningless.” (p. 301)
• The Kentucky Supreme Court cited New York rules that allow a lawyer to
search social media sites to research prospective jurors, as long as there is no
contact or attempt to “friend” the person. It is also considered ethical for a
lawyer to visit public sites during trial evidence and deliberations to monitor
but not engage in
 LAW AND REGULATION 185

discussion. (Sluss v. Commonwealth, 381 S.W.3d 215 (2012)) (Lipschultz,

2014)
• The Florida Bar Association, which regulates attorney advertising, found that, “If
access to a lawyer’s Twitter postings is restricted to the followers of the
particular lawyer, the information posted there is information at the
request of a prospective client and is not subject to the lawyer advertising
rules under Rule 4–7. l(h)” (Faehner, 2012, p. 36)
In the area of public relations, Hall (2013) suggests that every strategic
communication social media policy must address legal concerns that are now
central to social media communication on sites, such as Twitter— transparency,
privacy, employee control, intellectual property and tone (pp. 223–224). In
particular, social media audiences should know who is speaking to them and have
some sense of content producer motivation. Social media communication happens
within contexts that include employee roles and obligations, content property
rights, and normative expectations for personal and company branding.
Sources:
Baldes, T. (2008, December 22). Beware: Your “Tweet” on Twitter Could Be Trouble,
National Law Journal. www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202426916
023&slreturn=20131026150648
Cashmore, P. (2008, December 20). Twitter Lawsuits: 4 Reasons Your Tweets Might be
Trouble, Mashable, http://mashable.com/2008/12/20/twitter-lawsuits/
Chicagoist (2010, January 21). Twitter Lawsuit Dismissed http://chicagoist.com/ 2010
/01/21/twitter_lawsuit_dismissed.php
Faehner, M. J. (2012, June). Advertising. Florida Bar Journal 86(6), 36–37.
Hall, H. K. (2013). Social Media Policies for Advertising and Public Relations. In D. R. Stewart
(Ed.), Social Media Law, A Guidebook for Communication Students and Professionals, pp.
212–226. New York, NY: Routledge.
Wang, M. (2009). UPDATED: Rounding up the Buzz. ChicagoNow. http://culture
wav.es/public_thought/72990

For Facebook and other sites around the world, the rapid global shift to mobile
media through smartphones and tablets has presented new legal challenges. From
Asia to the Middle East, high-speed mobile networks opened social media
communication and challenged traditional legal restrictions.

International Social Media

Internet access broadened with mobile and real-time applications (“apps”), and
social media law and regulation have been evolving with rapid global adoption.
Nearly half of the Internet users worldwide are located in Asia (44.8%), and the
fastest-growing regions are in Africa and Europe (Internet World Stats, 2012).
Within social media, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all had historically large
user numbers in 2011 and 2012. Media Metrix reported that overall, Facebook
186 LAW AND REGULATION

attracted 157.2 million unique visitors in May 2011 and was growing each month.
Facebook and MySpace started as equals in 2004, but MySpace has declined
since 2008. Social networking, meanwhile, accounts for increasing percentages of
user online time. Even China, a country that filters the Internet, has its own social
network sites, such as Weibo—a huge Twitter-like application
(www.weibo.com).
Global data painted enormous growth on every continent, and it was most
dramatic in Asia. While China barely trailed the United States in 2008—with just
eight million fewer Internet users than the estimated 218 million in the United
States— China’s broadband connections of more than 66 million outpaced the
United States. With more than four times the population, China’s Internet
penetration continued to grow dramatically. China took the lead in number of
Internet users in 2009. However, freedom continued to be a concern, as China
pressured computer manufacturers to pre-install filtering software and resist
outside nudging to be more open. China has a huge portion of the world
population (more than 56% of all people—3.8 billion— reside in Asia). The U.S.
had a diffusion advantage in the 1990s, but rapid global growth is happening
almost everywhere across cultures and cybercultures (Bell & Kennedy, 2007).
The 2010 re-licensing of Google in China was contingent upon regulatory
limitations. So-called “law-based management” required Google to accept
government filtering. In the application letter, Guxiang (Google) pledged to
“abide by Chinese law,”

Figure 9.1 In China, hundreds of millions have access to Weibo, but they are officially
blocked from Facebook, Twitter and other international sites.
and “ensure the company provides no law breaking content as stipulated in the
57th statement in China’s regulations concerning telecommunications” (Xinhua,
2010). The statement says that any organization or individual is prohibited from
using the Internet to spread any content that attempts to subvert state power,
 LAW AND REGULATION 187

undermine national security, infringe on national reputation and interests, or that

incites ethnic hatred or secession, or transmits pornography or violence. Guxiang
also accepted that all content it provides is subject to supervision of government
regulators, said the official.
Broad issues of global cyber crime fall under the relatively new area of
“Internet governance,” which address a variety of activities, including online
pharmacies’ marketing of nationally regulated medicines:

Conceptually, it is defined as the establishment of shared principles,

norms, rules, decision-making procedures and programs developed by
governments, the private sector, and civil society on the use and evolution
of the Internet. Reflecting a heretofore decentralized, multi-stakeholder,
multi-country, interconnected, self-governed and autonomous group of
actors, the UN has made Internet governance a global priority despite its
highly challenging nature. (Mackey & Liang, 2013, para. 36)

A UN-initiated World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) established the

Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and it has begun to address global Internet
governance issues, such as the marketing of counterfeit medicines. This involves
both technical and behavioral concerns, as stakeholders seek “solutions to issues
arising from the misuse of the Internet” (para. 37). Similar to early Internet
studies, social media communication presents both challenges and opportunities
(Ali, 2011). Former Egyptian President Mubarak, for example, sought to stifle
Internet communication at the height of protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square because
of “the incredible power of social media” (p. 185). “The story of social media in
developing nations so far is one of individual empowerment” (p. 209). In the
Arab world, free speech has been challenged because of the need for “state
security,” which can be weakened as people discuss and debate social change on
social media sites:

The Internet and social media are important because of their intrinsic value
and the possibility they create of starting a campaign, spreading news
about what is going on, or even starting a movement that demands change.
But what is important to remember is that these are only tools used by
people who desire change—and want it because of the current situation in
which they live. (AbuZayyad, 2013, p. 40)

While social networking sites may be used to mobilize protests, more often legal
issues arise based upon the power to distribute messages to a wide audience.

Prior Restraint and Terrorism

The post-9/11 world is sensitive to the dangers posed online by terrorists who
may use social media to plan violent acts. The law, however, provides centuries
of cases highlighting protection of free expression. Blackstone’s Commentaries
on the Laws of England (1765–1769) defines prior restraint doctrine:
188 LAW AND REGULATION

In this, and the other instances which we have lately considered, where
blasphemous, immoral, treasonable, schismatical, seditious, or scandalous
libels are punished by the English law, some with a greater, others with a
less degree of severity; the liberty of the press, properly understood, is by
no means infringed or violated. The liberty of the press is indeed essential
to the nature of a free state: but this consists in laying no previous
restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal
matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what
sentiments he pleases before the public: to forbid this, is to destroy the
freedom of the press: but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous, or
illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity.
In Blackstone’s widely accepted view, “Every freeman has an undoubted right to
lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this is to destroy the
freedom of the press, but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal,
he must take the consequences for his own temerity.” Therefore, the larger social
good was achieved by placing responsibility in the hands of individuals. It would
be somewhat more likely that individuals would challenge the order with new
ideas than that a censor would allow such controversial ideas out. Once available
to the public, these could be judged. However, it is not clear that Blackstonian
legal theory afforded any protection beyond the point of publication, even under
the framers’ view. Four types of expression that could be punished under
common law were:

• Seditious libel—words “designed to bring the government into dispute,”

meant that truthful criticism was subject to greater punishment.
• Obscenity—words that tended to corrupt people through “immoral
influences,” meant that sexuality was taboo.
• Blasphemy—words against the church were seen as “offenses to God,”
meaning that the state could inflict punishment.
• Libel—words against other individuals were thought to threaten peace,
meaning that government would punish the offender rather than allow for
retribution.

In Near v. Minnesota (1931), the Supreme Court established an American prior

restraint doctrine. The Court left open the possibility for a narrow class of prior
restraints: where national security in time of war was threatened, in times when
publication might incite violent overthrow of the government, publishing fighting
words or obscenities.
For social media communication, prior restraint law places a burden on
government to limit a speaker before online publication, but it does not protect
her or him from subsequent punishment through civil lawsuit or the criminal
justice system. The Web over time was less revolutionary than first predicted and
more an extension of traditional media in terms of American communication law.
A difficult challenge is how to define offensive material. For example, Senator
Joseph Lieberman in 2008 complained to Google about the existence of YouTube
 LAW AND REGULATION 189

videos posted by terrorist organizations, such as al-Qaeda. Google operates

YouTube, and it protects free speech for legal, nonviolent and non-hate speech
videos.

BOX 9.2 SOCIAL MEDIA TERRORISM

Professor Gabriel Weimann (2010) recounts the exchange between two
Palestinians—one with homemade explosives asking for instructions, and the other
explaining how to make a bomb on the public site, Izz al din al Kassam:
The internet has enabled terrorist organizations to research and coordinate
attacks; to expand the reach of their propaganda to a global audience; to recruit
adherents; to communicate with international supporters and ethnic diasporas;
to solicit donations; and to foster public awareness and sympathy for their
causes. (p. 46)
Beginning with the chat room and electronic forum, and developing within social
media communication, there is a “cyber-jihad” movement (p. 46). The U.S. has
warned that Twitter could be “an effective communication tool for terrorists trying
to launch military attacks” (p. 48). Wary that Facebook and similar sites do not
guarantee anonymity, terror groups look for apps that are not focused on
individual identity. On the other hand, there have been examples of recruiting on
Facebook.
YouTube is one of the oldest social media sites, and it is the most popular global
video space. Since its launch in 2005, terrorist groups “realized the potential of this
easily accessed platform for the dissemination of their propaganda and
radicalization videos” (p. 51). One user posted more than 100 such videos in 2009
alone (p. 52). YouTube videos considered “jihadist content” have been spread “far
beyond traditional jihadist websites” (p. 52). Social networking is an effective tool
for those wishing to fuel political sympathies and even convert individuals to a
cause by luring them to extremist messages.
Source: Weimann, G. (2010). Terror on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Brown Journal of
World Affairs 16(2), 45–54.

The U.S. First Amendment perspective tends to promote freedom of

expression by limiting government action against media—including social media.
In most countries, though, there are few protections for freedom of speech and
publication. Consider the 2013 conviction of Jeremy Forrest in the United
Kingdom. Authorities investigated tweets that named his victim, which were
against the law. Sussex police said the Crown Prosecution Service monitors social
media sites for violation of law designed to protect the identity of sexual assault
victims. The British law provides for lifetime anonymity. The Guardian’s David
Banks (@DBanksy) observed that the identity of the victim had been made public
at the time of her abduction, and this may have confused some, but not all,
Twitter users:
190 LAW AND REGULATION

Others clearly knew the legal position, but were intent on defying it
because it did not make sense to them, or somewhat disturbingly, they did
not think the victim had deserved anonymity in this case. One taunted the
authorities to sue him for it if they dared (apparently unaware that this is
not a civil matter, it is a criminal one; naming a victim of a sexual offence
is itself a sexual offence). (Banks, 2013, para. 8)
In the U.K., there are guidelines of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for
prosecution of social media communication. These attempt to strike a public
interest balance between protecting individuals and allowing for balanced
freedom of speech. British common law made through cases is a foundation for
U.S. law, which also provides constitutional First Amendment protection.
Nevertheless, the British social media guidelines offer instructive principles to
consider.
 LAW AND REGULATION 191

BOX 9.3 CPS GUIDELINES ON PROSECUTING CASES INVOLVING SOCIAL

MEDIA
The British guidelines offer prosecutors “clear advice” on making consistent
decisions in social media cases. U.K. law applies to all social media, including “to
the resending (or retweeting) of communications.”
General principles test two stages of a case: “the first is the requirement of
evidential sufficiency and the second involves consideration of the public interest.”
Cases require “sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction,” and
this “means that an objective, impartial and reasonable jury (or bench of
magistrates or judge sitting alone), properly directed and acting in accordance with
the law, is more likely than not to convict.”
****
An initial assessment is made of “the content of the communication and the
conduct in question so as to distinguish between,”
1. Communications which may constitute credible threats of violence to the
person or damage to property.
2. Communications which specifically target an individual or individuals and which
may constitute harassment or stalking within the meaning of the Protection
from Harassment Act 1997.
3. Communications which may amount to a breach of a court order. This can
include offences under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, section 5 of the Sexual
Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, breaches of a restraining order or breaches of
bail. Cases where there has been an offence alleged to have been committed
under the Contempt of Court Act 1981 or section 5 of the Sexual Offences
(Amendment) Act 1992 should be referred to the Attorney General and via the
Principal Legal Advisor’s team where necessary.
4. Communications which do not fall into any of the categories above and fail to
be considered separately (see below): i.e., those which may be considered
grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false.
192 LAW AND REGULATION

* ***
The guidelines distinguish “credible threats of violence,” referencing Lord Chief
Justice in Chambers v DPP [2012]: “. . . a message which does not create fear or
apprehension in those to whom it is communicated, or may reasonably be expected
to see it, falls outside [section 127(i)(a)], for the simple reason that the message
lacks menace.” (para. 30)
Threats should not be prosecuted if they are not credible. The guidelines urge
prosecutors to look for “evidence of hostility or prejudice,” and criminal law
encourages an “increase in sentences for racial and religious aggravation,” as well
as “increase in sentences for aggravation related to disability, sexual orientation or
transgender identity.”

* ***
The British are concerned about “targeting specific individuals through
harassment or stalking, which are defined as “repeated attempts to impose
unwanted communications or contact upon an individual in a manner that could be
expected to cause distress or fear in any reasonable person” and “contacting, or
attempting to contact, a person by any means.” Courts in the U.K., as is the case in
the U.S., may issue a restraining order against an individual engaged in online
stalking. British law also restricts “grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false”
communication. At the evidence stage of an investigation, the guidelines call for a
“high threshold” because of the millions of daily social media messages, which
create “the potential that a very large number of cases could be prosecuted before
the courts” and “the potential for a chilling effect on free speech.” Prosecutors are
urged to “exercise considerable caution before bringing charges.”
The British also reference Article 10 of the European Convention on Human
Rights: Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include
the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas
without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers . . .
Article 10 “protects not only speech which is well-received and popular, but
also speech which is offensive, shocking or disturbing” (citing Sunday Times v UK
(No 2) [1992].
The U.K. standard is “communication that is grossly offensive” for there to be
criminal charges. “Just because the content expressed in the communication is in
bad taste, controversial or unpopular, and may cause offence to individuals or a
specific community, this is not in itself sufficient reason to engage the criminal
law.” The context of a social media communication is considered, as in the case of
an Internet bulletin board . . .

. . . Instead, prosecutors should focus on cases “where a specific victim is

targeted and there is clear evidence of an intention to cause distress or anxiety,
prosecutors should carefully weigh the effect on the victim, particularly where
there is a hate crime element.”
(continued )
 LAW AND REGULATION 193

Interestingly, age is also considered because children and young people “may not
appreciate the potential harm and seriousness of their communications and a
prosecution is rarely likely to be in the public interest.”
Source: The Crown Prosecution Service (2012). Guidelines on prosecuting cases involving
communications sent via social media. www.cps.gov.uk/legal/a_to_c/
communications_sent_via_social_media/

The emphasis on a public interest standard is similar to what is found under U.S.
broadcast regulation. While the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
reconsiders its regulation of electronic media, the U.S. Supreme Court has
rejected public interest regulation for Internet communication, which now
includes social media.

U.S. Internet Indecency

A portion of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, called the Communications
Decency Act (CDA), set the stage for several attempts to regulate the Internet and
social media communication by making it explicitly illegal to knowingly send or
make available to minors any indecent or obscene material. The U.S. Supreme
Court, however, found part of the CDA’s indecency provisions unconstitutional.
In Reno v. ACLU (1997) it acknowledged Congress’ concern with preventing
children from being the targets of, or having access to, sexually explicit
communications, but it said the CDA’s ban on indecency was vague and
overbroad.
The Internet uses nearly unlimited digital space, which makes it very different
from the limited broadcast public spectrum. Further, people are not as likely to be
exposed inadvertently to sexually explicit material on the Internet as they might
be on broadcast stations. Still, obscene material may be banned from the Internet
because the First Amendment does not protect any obscene messages, regardless
of medium. Website operators act as publishers: “Publishers may either make
their material available to the entire pool of Internet users, or confine access to a
selected group, such as those willing to pay for the privilege” (p. 853). The Court
has consistently called for narrowly tailored restrictions on Internet speech and
application of traditional obscenity law. From a legal perspective, the Internet has
been viewed as similar to print media. Social media communicators have First
Amendment rights, but they also are subject to its narrow restrictions. In the Reno
case, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was ahead of her colleagues on the
bench in calling for zoning the Internet by using .xxx domain names—it was a
technological solution that took more than a decade to begin to materialize.
Courts use Miller v. California (1973) to define obscenity across all media—
including social media. An early computer bulletin board operator in California,
for example, was charged in Memphis under federal law with transmitting
obscene content, and the conviction of two people was upheld (United States v.
194 LAW AND REGULATION

Thomas, 1996). When judging obscenity, a jury must examine three parts of the
Miller legal test for media content:

1. Prurient Interest. An average person, applying contemporary local

community standards, must find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to
prurient interests.
2. Patently Offensive. The work must depict in a patently offensive way sexual
content specifically defined by applicable state law.
3. Value of Work. The work lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific
value.

The Miller v. California approach to obscenity requires all three items to be

satisfied for a jury to find that the media content is obscene. Justice John Paul
Stevens observed in one case, though, that prurient appeal is a problem by
potentially forcing the most puritanical village standards on everyone. For social
media, it may be quite difficult to identify “the work” in the context of “a whole,”
as mobile social platforms such as Snapchat are brief and temporary. Likewise, it
is unclear how state law can be applied within the international context of social
media. Finally, the value test is a matter of generational and cultural definition
that is very challenging for judges and juries. Online pornography remains
profitable, and commercial interests often clash with restrictive local community
standards (Nitke v. Gonzalez, 2005). Pornography spammers continue to be a
problem, and Facebook is among those social media sites filing lawsuits to stop it
(Crook, 2013).

Regulated Media Technologies

The growth of media technologies and a free market economic system helped
generate a 20th-century information economy that included commercial
newspaper “metropolitan distribution networks” (Pool, 1983, p. 20). It is easy to
see how potentially powerful social networks are now replacing the importance of
newspaper networks.
Likewise, United States global media “imperialism” through traditional
channels (Innis, 1972, p. 169) also is being weakened in the 21st century by social
media. Printing presses gave way to the Internet, and social media sites that
offered anyone access destroyed professional journalism norms of gatekeeping.
Despite the weakening of controls over media communication, the U.S.
government maintains a regulatory interest in information accuracy and consumer
perception of claims.
 LAW AND REGULATION 195

BOX 9.4 THOUGHT LEADER MISTY MONTANO

The relationship between the journalist and the news consumer has had the
greatest impact from social media. The basic rules of journalism—who, what,
where, when, why and how—will always be the backbone of good, solid
reporting. However, journalism has been greatly impacted by social media when
applied to each person who engages with the story. Journalists have found
themselves being the “who” because readers expect them to actively talk with
people about their stories on social media. The witness on the scene of a
breaking news situation who tweets it or posts it anywhere on social media is
now the one who “breaks” the news and is often thrown into a citizen journalist
role.

(continued )
196 LAW AND REGULATION

Journalists and news organizations use social media as a

tool in every part of the story process, from finding the
story to determining the angle of it. Journalists learned
how to let their social communities actively engage with
the process before and after the story is finished. This in
itself can be dangerous in the sense that information can
be misinterpreted in 140 characters or can change
between Facebook posts. Social media requires journalists
to have a transparent relationship with news consumers,
and this includes attribution of information and editorial
process.
News travels to family and friends through their social
networks even though many of these Figure 9.2 @Misty -
people wouldn’t normally seek out news items. Montano.
News organizations now have an integrated Courtesy Misty Montano. social media
marketing plan to engage regular
and new audiences to move them to the end product: TV, online and mobile
news.
While millions of people use social media, in my opinion, a large majority of
them do not understand how the social networks actually work. Many do not
understand why they see what they see in their news feed on Facebook. Many
do not understand that Facebook is constantly changing based upon user
behavior. Many who have Twitter accounts don’t know how to make Twitter
useful in their lives other than being forced into using it to participate in favorite
TV shows or to find out emergency information from local law enforcement or
news agencies.
Journalists do not understand much of this either. They’ve been asked or
required to use social media, but have limited understanding of how it works.
What every journalist is told, and many believe, is that social media can be the
reason a person chooses their story over the story of another journalist.
Without understanding how different social sites work, many journalists begin
to use them only to find that just using them doesn’t mean the audience
follows.
Social media can be the reason a journalist becomes a trusted source of
information; however, many do not know how to find the right, ethical balance
as a journalist. Many journalists don’t know the answer to these questions:
When is opinion allowed? When is commentary appropriate? How do I respond
to questions from viewers or readers?
News organizations, which expect employees—from the reporter to the
behind-the-scenes employee like an editor, producer or photographer—to use
social media but provide little to no training or guidelines, will end up in a
situation where either the social communities aren’t developed or one action of
an employee on social media could harm the organization.
 LAW AND REGULATION 197

For those who work in television, one of the most important opportunities
over the next five years is to develop true social TV engagement with the
audience. Social TV has already been created through sharing comments of
viewers, live polls, running commentary of viewers, but social TV is just in its
infancy. When developed further, social TV will make local TV a news
destination for viewers.
Journalists and news organizations have new opportunities through the
continued development of digital and mobile products that make it easier for
the news consumer to access and engage with the story. Digital and mobile apps
need to focus on social sharing and user- generated content. Social sharing of
news content is vital in keeping and creating loyal news consumers.
Viewer/reader generated content not only helps build out a story, but it also can
be the motivator for someone to choose one news report over another.
I believe an often-overlooked opportunity is that of partnerships. People
want information that will impact their lives in some way. People want
resources, ideas, and information that help them with their day-to-day actions,
as well as help keep them safe and informed during an emergency situation. The
community a news organization serves is filled with many experts, from the
hyper-local communitybased publications to the person who manages a website
focusing on one specific area, such as special needs children. These are
resources that news organizations can partner with to provide expertise, ideas
and information to have an impact on their audience. These partnerships will
not only create new, useful content for a news organization, but will tap into the
social communities of their partners.
Weaving one’s personal life with his work and public life on social media is
truly an art form. Anything posted on social media can have an impact on one’s
employment.
Disclaimers in “about me” and “bio” sections with phrases like “views are my
own” and “RTs are not an endorsement” provide no protection to someone
whose actions on social media are seen as damaging to the company for which
that person works.
The law protects an individual’s right to free speech and protects an
individual from being forced to give their social network passwords to their
employers; however, nothing is truly private on social media and the right to
have a job is not protected by law. One’s use of social media becomes one’s
personal brand. Employers have the right to protect their company profile and
brand. Employers have the right to search the digital footprint of its employees.
Often employers don’t seek out what their employees are actively doing online.
Instead employers find out what has been said or done because of others’
sharing their reaction to it. When the public reaction to what one has done on
social media snowballs or turns into a social mob mentality, an employer has
the right to determine if what is
(continued )
198 LAW AND REGULATION

happening is damaging to the company and to take actions against that

employee.
The main rule I preach wherever I go is this, “Don’t BE the news.” This
simply means to think first and be smart in all you do. Behave on social
media the way you would behave in front of the important people in your life
—managers, colleagues, parents, teachers, grandparents, etc. If you wouldn’t
say or do it in front of these people, then don’t do it on social media.
Misty Montano is the Digital Content Manager for 9NEWS in Denver,
Colorado. She is an Emmy award-winning journalist who supports and teaches
others to use and develop social media communities. Montano works to create
social TV in which TV, digital and social all work together to engage the 9NEWS
journalists with the audience. She previously was Assignment Editor at KCNC-TV
and received her B.A. in Media Communication from Hastings College.

Commercial broadcasters, such as Misty Montano, rely upon advertising

revenues to pay the bills and turn a profit. Media businesses and their advertising
are governed in the U.S. by commercial speech law and regulation.

FTC Regulation: Advertising, PR and Social Media

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates advertising in the United States
utilizing a “clear and conspicuous” legal standard. Commercial speech, defined
by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens as “expression related solely to the
economic interests of the speaker and its audience,” (Hayes, 2013, p. 264) is a
special class of communication under the law. The FTC has as its mission: “To
prevent business practices that are anticompetitive or deceptive or unfair to
consumers; to enhance informed consumer choice and public understanding of
the competitive process; and to accomplish this without unduly burdening
legitimate business activity” (FTC, 2014a, para. 1). The FTC seeks “vigorous
competition among producers and consumer access to accurate information,
yielding high-quality products at low prices and encouraging efficiency,
innovation, and consumer choice” (para. 2). Their top strategic goal is consumer
protection: “Prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the
marketplace” (para. 3). The FTC has jurisdiction over a variety of privacy and
identity concerns in the digital age: limiting unwanted calls and emails; computer
security; online safety of children; protection of identity from theft; and repairing
identity after theft (FTC, 2014b). After Typhoon Haiyan, for example, the FTC
urged consumers “to do some research to ensure that your donation will go to a
reputable organization” rather than “fraudsters” (Tressler, 2013, paras. 2–3).
The FTC has used a reasonable consumer standard as the legal test for
deception since 1983, when a policy statement defined this:
 LAW AND REGULATION 199

The Commission believes that to be deceptive the representation, omission

or practice must be likely to mislead reasonable consumers under the
circumstances.
The test is whether the consumer’s interpretation or reaction is reasonable.
When representations or sales practices are targeted to a specific audience,
the Commission determines the effect of the practice on a reasonable
member of that group. In evaluating a particular practice, the Commission
considers the totality of the practice in determining how reasonable
consumers are likely to respond. (FTC, 1983)
Advertising is considered deceptive, if it lacks a reasonable basis (Firestone,
1973). The FTC determines deception based upon false advertiser claims that
would give a consumer a false impression (Ibid., fn. 5). In particular, disclosure
needs to be written, clear and conspicuous.
The FTC also has investigated complaints about the Yelp review site (Eater,
2013). Questions persist about whether or not Yelp offered search benefits to
those restaurants advertising on the site—an allegation that Yelp firmly denies.
Still, at sites such as Yelp and Amazon, the influence of reviews opens the
possibility that some may try to “game” the system in their favor by encouraging
positive reviews or promoting placement of negative reviews against competitors.
This is a very difficult social media environment to control or regulate because it
is fluid and dispersed.
The FTC clear and conspicuous standard is reflected through the guidance to
be prominently placed using easily understood words. Disclosures need to be
located in places where they will be seen, as well as near a review or claim that is
being made. A social media site that buries important details in fine print would
not be following FTC standards. Font size is an issue because of the use of small,
mobile devices and various operating systems or device settings.
In 2004, the FTC investigated Amazon.com’s online Toy Store because of
concerns over protection of child privacy. The FTC responded to complaints by
finding that the purpose of the site was to sell toys to adults, Amazon used adult
language and there were no activities targeted at kids: “Thus, the FTC staff does
not believe the overall character of those websites indicates that they are targeted
at children” (FTC, 2004, p. 2). Children under 13 are protected under the COPPA
online privacy law, but the FTC found that a “Kid’s Review Form” was not
promoted to attract children. The FTC also has been concerned with the issue of
paid blogging. The FTC issued guidelines reflecting truth-in-advertising
principles (FTC, 2010, p. 1):

• Endorsements must be truthful and not misleading;

• If the advertiser doesn’t have proof that the endorser’s experience represents
what consumers will achieve by using the product, the ad must clearly and
conspicuously disclose the generally expected results in the depicted
circumstances; and
200 LAW AND REGULATION

• If there’s a connection between the endorser and the marketer of the product
that would affect how people evaluate the endorsement, it should be
disclosed.

Although the principles and guidelines are not new, the FTC revised these to
emphasize that they apply to social networking sites and social media marketing:
The FTC revised the Guides because truth in advertising is important in all
media—including blogs and social networking sites. The FTC regularly
reviews its guides and rules to see if they need to be updated. Because the
Endorsement Guides were written in 1980, they didn’t address social
media. The legal principles haven’t changed. The FTC revised the
examples to show how these standards apply in today’s marketing world.
(p. 2)
The FTC said financial arrangements between paid bloggers and advertisers may
not be apparent to readers, and the law defines deceptive practices as those
misleading “ ‘a significant minority’ of consumers” (p. 2). FTC enforcement
focuses on advertisers rather than endorsers. The FTC has authority to regulate
deceptive advertising as commercial speech, which does not have full First
Amendment rights. “If you have a relationship with a marketer who’s sending
you freebies in the hope you’ll write a positive review, it’s best if your readers
know you got the product for free” (p. 3). The guidelines emphasize transparency
in communication.
On a personal Facebook page, for example, FTC urges identifying an
employer, if products are mentioned: “People reading that discussion on your
Facebook page might not know who you work for . . . readers might not realize
the products you’re talking about are sold by your company” (p. 4). The onus is
on advertisers and marketers to train people, monitor content and review
“questionable practices” (p. 6).
In one case, the Bureau of Consumer Protection notified Hyundai Motor
America that gift certificates given to bloggers encouraging links to Hyundai
videos or comments on Super Bowl advertisements may have run afoul by failing
to disclose the relationship. The law “requires the disclosure of a material
connection between an advertiser and an endorser when the relationship isn’t
otherwise apparent to consumers” (Fair, 2011a, p. 1). A staff letter read: “An
advertiser’s provision of a gift to a blogger for posting specific content promoting
the advertiser’s products or services is likely to constitute a material connection
that would not be reasonably expected by readers of the blog” (p. 1).
Still, the FTC closed its investigation without further action. The FTC found
that Hyundai may not have known in advance about the arrangement, “a
relatively small number of bloggers received the gift certificates,” and some
bloggers did disclose the payments (p. 1). Hyundai had hired a media firm, which
developed the blogging campaign, as noted by FTC staff:
 LAW AND REGULATION 201

Although advertisers are legally responsible for the actions of those

working directly or indirectly for them, the actions at issue were contrary
both to Hyundai’s established social media policy, which calls for bloggers
to disclose their receipt of compensation, and to the policies of the media
firm in question. Moreover, upon learning of the misconduct, the media
firm promptly took action to address it. (p. 2)
It is important to recognize the responsibilities of all parties. The advertiser has
ultimate responsibility for its social media campaigns, and the correct path is
compensation disclosure. While the company received some initial cover for
having hired a firm to run the campaign, its social media policies also were
relevant. The FTC draws three rules from its Endorsement Guides: 1. Mandate a
disclosure policy that complies with the law; 2. Make sure people who work for
you or with you know what the rules are; and 3. Monitor what they’re doing on
your behalf (p. 2).
More recently the FTC has become interested in the so-called “blurred
lines”—“the blending of ads with news, entertainment, and other content in
digital media—sometimes called ‘native advertising’ or ‘sponsored content’ ”
(Fair, 2013a, p. 1). As public relations firms venture into advertising work,
previous divisions between traditional PR earned media and sponsored or paid
media become difficult to separate. In all areas, the FTC calls for disclosure and
transparency.
Privacy also continues to be a regulatory issue. The FTC issued a complaint
against Facebook for “deceptive or unfair” privacy practices (Fair, 2011b, p. 1).
The FTC-proposed order stated that information “from or about” individual
consumers, such as names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers, are
covered by privacy rules. FTC staff (pp. 1–2) said that:

• Facebook can’t misrepresent what covered information it collects or

discloses.
• When Facebook offers privacy settings on its site, it has to honor them. For
example, it can’t offer settings that restrict information to “Only Friends” and
then share it with others.
• Facebook can’t mislead people about the extent to which it shares covered
information with third parties, like apps or advertisers.
• Facebook can’t mislead people about the steps it takes to verify the privacy or
security that third parties provide—for example, apps used on its site.
• Facebook can’t mislead people about the extent to which their covered
information is accessible after they’ve deactivated or deleted their accounts.
• Facebook can’t mislead people about the extent to which the company
complies with the government or third-party privacy programs—like the US-
EU Safe Harbor Framework.

The FTC says Facebook needs to “clearly and prominently” disclose data sharing
and receive consent from its users. The guidance called for severing control of
202 LAW AND REGULATION

user data within 30 days of account terminations, as well as independent

assessment, monitoring and compliance reporting.
One other developing FTC concern is the use of Internet “spycam”
technologies (Fair, 2013b, p. 1). Some software has offered “detective mode”
settings that triggered webcams without awareness and consent. The FTC
concludes, “Technologies that track or monitor consumers can raise privacy and
security eyebrows” (p. 2). In business settings, the FTC urges “appropriate notice
and consent safeguards” (p. 2). Some employers, for example, monitor employee
social media usage or prohibit it. If spyware is used for monitoring, then
employees should know this within a set of clear rules. The FTC may attempt to
impose broad liability through its lawsuits, including software developers,
corporate officers and companies using monitoring. Beyond the FTC, courts also
rule on commercial property rights within social media communication.

Copyright Infringement, File Sharing and Fair Use

Social media communication have extended intellectual property rights issues
beyond the early Internet cases. Copyright protects original material upon its
creation, and the creator has exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute it, as well
as the right to create other works derived from the original. Therefore, uploading
a document or media file such as a photograph, copying a posting and re-
transmitting it without permission all could violate copyright and digital theft
statute law (Digital Theft Deterrance Act, 1999). Content owners may exercise
rights for specific periods of time, which have been extended under U.S. law to
sometimes more than a century. At some point content falls into the public
domain and can be copied and shared without restriction.
Social media, which emphasizing creative content sharing on sites, such as
YouTube, raise numerous important legal issues. When a user sees a posting, the
computer temporarily loads the file, which might be considered illegal copying.
Of course, downloading the file by taking a screen shot or saving it more clearly
reflects copyright infringement under U.S. law.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 eliminated loopholes by
addressing streaming media and licensing fees for music and videos (Eldred v.
Ashcroft, 2003). There is a long history of copyright cases against illegal use of
media content. From music bootleggers to video thieves, the U.S. government has
attempted to protect the property rights of copyright owners. Social media,
however, generate holes in these enforcement efforts by dispersing illegal activity
across user networks and sites. Given these enforcement challenges, corporate
owners seek to manage and control use and payments through social media sites,
such as iTunes and YouTube. The Digital Rights Management (DRM) approach
seeks to collect user payments for media, control downloading/uploading and
sharing. To some extent, social media sites make it easier to track, charge and
restrict illegal copying than the earlier websites. However, DRM has proven
difficult to enforce. Some critics believe that a better system may emerge over
time, based upon user behavior.
 LAW AND REGULATION 203

Social Perspectives on Law

Social media communication, as with earlier computer and Internet law, has
raised new concerns about free expression. From hopes to fears, the marketplace
of ideas brings with it norms expressed in the law. Freedom of expression is at
odds with, for example, a general right of privacy or right to be forgotten:
The concept of a privacy interest arising out of the obscurity of
information, as a socio-normative principle, and the right to be forgotten,
as a legal mechanism concerned with the European idea of dignity-based
privacy, are both fundamentally at odds with the established theories that
undergird the American First Amendment right of freedom of speech . . . It
appears that the differences between the long tradition of vigorously
protecting free speech and the concepts of obscurity and the right to be
forgotten are irreconcilable. (Larson III, 2013, pp. 119–120)
Normative theory within a social context has been defined as how media ought to
operate based upon values (Lipschultz, 2008). Normative legal theories, including
classical liberalism, are tested through cases and case law. As a function of
technology, social media communication challenges traditional industrial
assumptions about control. Normative laws restrict prior restraint on publication,
including the types happening in social media communication, but also enable
subsequent punishment for harmful speech through libel suits. Economic forces
influence which cases are brought, as well as outcomes. In its simplest form, libel
involves damage to reputation.
In a libel case, a plaintiff must prove publication, identification, falsity, fault
and damages. Proving publication on the Internet, in some cases, could be more
difficult than earlier mass media forms. Unless the offending pages were
downloaded and saved or printed, it is possible that the defamation could vanish
in cyberspace. Assuming the social media communication content was saved,
identification of the plaintiff should be fairly straightforward and not unlike other
media forms. The plaintiff’s evidence that the material in question is false is
always one of the most difficult aspects of a libel suit, regardless of media form.
The Internet might pose some special problems because of the ability to “cut and
paste” images and words digitally. The standards of fault depend upon whether
the plaintiff in a libel suit is a public figure or not. For most people alleging libel,
they merely must show that the social media publisher was negligent with the
facts. Because most content providers are not trained journalists, it would seem
that standards for negligence might be lower and more difficult to prove in court.
For public figures and officials, the standard is “actual malice”—defined legally
as reckless disregard for the truth and entertaining serious doubts about the
information. If all of these elements can be shown, a plaintiff in a libel suit must
still make the case for economic damages. For example, a tweet would have to
show to cost an individual or organization a specific amount of money. Or, if a
Facebook post led to someone being fired, a court could examine actual damages
of lost wages, as well as additional costs.
204 LAW AND REGULATION

Once a plaintiff has made his or her case, the defendant in a libel suit has
several defenses to follow. Had someone published a libel on a social media site,
the simplest defense would be that the information was the truth. That judgment
depends upon Internet communication of millions of people. Baym (1995) was an
early observer of the nature of online culture and communities:
If language use is an important locus of cultural meaning making in
traditional cultures, it is only more so for Usenet cultures, which are so
heavily linguistic in nature . . . There are few if any shared spaces, face-to-
face encounters, or physical artifacts to provide cultural foundations. Thus,
the discourse, shaped by the forces of the system and object of interest as
well as the idiosyncrasies of the participants, carries inordinate weight in
creating a group’s distinct environment. (p. 33)
But the once-isolated online communities began to take on traditional qualities
within social networking sites. Facebook, for example, offered the possibility for
political opponents to confront each other amid the heat of a contested political
campaign. Top social media communication sites at any given time represent
“self-sustaining” forms of interaction (Rogers, 1995, p. 313). Legal rules may
encourage a marketplace of ideas, but they exist within a much broader set of
social, political and economic constraints. Stevenson (1995) viewed modern
media as a form of radical democratization with “a plurality of voices” in a
“fragmented culture” (pp. 68–69). Early computermediated communication
norms were harbingers for social media communication. Although global in
nature, users in the United States tend to adopt a First Amendment perspective.
On the one hand, social media provide a platform for free speech and access to
potentially large audiences. On the other, use leads to loss of personal privacy.
Social Media Privacy Issues
Social media users continue to express concerns about protection of their privacy
on sites such as Facebook. At the same time, Facebook is among those sites that
attempt to protect users from spammers. YouTube owner Google continues to
make technological changes in an attempt to limit, if not eliminate, spam email
and comments. The site also has banned some videos, targeting those intended to
promote illegal activities or incite violence.
Employees at work also have very limited privacy rights while online. They
are subject to company social media policies, which vary greatly in the level of
restrictiveness. A very real legal question remains about whether or not First
Amendment rights extend into the workplace, as other constitutional rights do.
New technologies also threatened to erode traditional common law views
about the sanctity of privacy in one’s own home. Privacy becomes a question
when law enforcement authorities tap into computer transmissions. While a court
order is required, it may be possible for computer users to encrypt transmissions.
In 1993, the National Security Agency (NSA) proposed a clipper chip to allow
decoding. The government’s homeland security efforts since September 11, 2001,
to fight terrorist threats also have caused new privacy concerns. The U.S. Court of
Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, for example, upheld the Federal
 LAW AND REGULATION 205

Communications Commission decision that law enforcement agencies require

wiretap compatibilities to listen in on mobile telephone and network use (Am.
Council of Educ. v. FCC, 2006). The NSA has come under scrutiny in recent
years for accessing large stores of social media and other data through orders of a
secret court. The global nature of emerging spy centers in various countries make
it likely that virtually every email and other social media communication may be
tracked by governments. In the U.S., the Fourth Amendment protections against
illegal search and seizure have been seriously weakened by the emerging security
state. Documents released in 2013 by exNSA contractor Edward Snowden and
published in The Washington Post and The Guardian raised concerns about the
widespread government surveillance of communication networks, including
social network sites. The media coverage was shared across social media and
generated a public backlash. The ongoing WikiLeaks release of classified
government information offers a new model of networked news (Beckett, with
Ball, 2012).
Changing social and political conditions created from the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks presented a new level of complexity. New communication
technologies may be used for good or evil, and regulators struggle to allow for
advancements without making it easier to harm people. Within sites such as
Facebook, the company warns users about data it collects on postings and even
user locations. As Facebook (2014) tells users: “Remember, when you post to
another person’s timeline, that person controls what audience can view the post.
Additionally, anyone who gets tagged in a post may see it, along with their
friends.” User settings may limit public viewing, but data are saved for use by the
company for advertising purposes and for the government, if subpoened.
The boundaries and limitations of communication and business in cyberspace
remain unsettled. As one scholar of computer-mediated communication has
noted, digital and Internet technologies present a paradox: “Utopian and
dystopian views about the future of the Internet describe two very different future
scenarios” (Barnes, 2003, p. 331). Increasingly, events such as the 2014 Olympics
in Sochi offer contexts controlled by a hosting government and economic entity
focused on profits rather than free speech (Dickey, 2013). For athletes and even
audience members, there may be social media restrictions when entering
controlled venues.
As Pool (1983) noted: “The onus is on us to determine whether free societies
in the twenty-first century will conduct electronic communication under the
conditions of freedom established for the domain of print through centuries of
struggle, or whether the great achievement will become lost in a confusion about
new technologies” (p. 10). It remains to be seen what happens now that the
powerful must deal with potentially billions of social media “publishers”
communicating through complex and unpredictable computer networks. These
can be seen as part of a larger technological system driving social change and
resistance to it (Ellul, 1980). These new media force examination of social and
legal assumptions (Lievrouw & Livingstone, 2006). The emerging social media
communication environment is mobile and wireless (Raychaudhuri & Mario,
206 LAW AND REGULATION

2011), and it is ahead of the legal rules designed to protect individuals, social
systems and political actors.
The challenge for us is to see concepts such as “marketplace of ideas,” “social
responsibility” and “public interest” in light of social, political and economic
factors. If we do this, it will follow that new technologies such as the Internet may
not fundamentally change the tilt of power. Nowhere can this be seen more than
among bloggers who speak their minds and sometimes exert influence (Rettberg,
2008). Social media communication technology can encourage open international
communication (Thussu, 2009). It also may activate meaningful exchanges,
collaboration and social change. Social media communication law mirrors older
media law in that it remains fluid as policies and regulation adapt to change
(Wiley, Abernathy, & Wadlow, 2007). The ambiguity of law in this environment
leaves space for behavior evaluated in terms of values and ethical norms.
The global nature of social media communication presents many challenges
going forward. The online publication The Daily Beast, for example, noted that
tweeting from the U.K. “racist or otherwise libelous bile can land you in jail”
(Moynihan, 2014, para. 1). A 44-year-old Staffordshire shopkeeper, for example,
“was arrested, fingerprinted, and had his computer seized by police when he made
a pair of tasteless jokes about Nelson Mandela” (para. 12). Although newspapers
reprinted the tweets, only the Twitter user was targeted by authorities. Likewise,
in the area of U.S. libel law, users can be sued for defamation, but Facebook and
other social network sites are immune from liability (Finkel v. Facebook, 2009)
under provisions of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (47 USC 230).
Nevertheless, journalists using social network sites to source their reporting that
turns out to be inaccurate may be sued for libel (Chow, 2013). Social media law is
an evolving legal landscape that requires understanding by users. In the end, as
legal scholar Kimberly Chow warns, social media communication should be
handled with care.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How are social media a significant change for U.S. and global rules of law?
In this redefinition, what are important limitations on free expression?
2. How are social media rules applied within workplaces? What differences
exist between government restrictions on use and those limits imposed by
others?
3. What can we conclude about the existence of social media privacy? How
does interest in having access to content and wanting to share it conflict with
privacy?
References
AbuZayyad, Z. K. (2013). Human Rights, the Internet and Social Media: Has Technology
Changed the Way See Things? Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture 18(4), 38–40.
 LAW AND REGULATION 207

Ali, A. H. (2011, Summer). The Power of Social Media in Developing Nations: New
Tools for Closing the Global Digital Divide and Beyond. Harvard Human Rights
Journal 24(1), 185–219.
Am. Council of Educ. v. FCC, U.S. App. LEXIS 14174 (2006).
Baldes, T. (2008, December 22). Beware: Your “Tweet” on Twitter Could Be Trouble.
National Law Journal. www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?
id=1202426916023&slret urn=20131026150648
Banks, D. (2013, June 26). Jeremy Forrest Case: Twitter Users Could Have Broken the
Law. The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jun/26/jeremy-forrest-twitter-
users.
Barnes, S. (2003). Computer-Mediated Communication, Human-to-Human
Communication Across the Internet. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Baym, N. (1995). The Emergence of Community in Computer Mediated Communication.
In S. G. Jones (Ed.), CyberSociety: Computer-Mediated Community and
Communication. Thousand Oaks; CA: Sage.
Beckett, C., with Ball, J. (2012). WikiLeaks, News in the Networked Era. Cambridge, UK:
Polity Press.
Bell, D., & Kennedy, B. M. (Eds.) (2007). The Cybercultures Reader, second edition.
London: Routledge.
Blackstone, W. (1769). Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769). The
University of Chicago.
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_speechs4.html Blumenthal v.
Drudge and America Online, 992 F. Supp. 44 (D.D.C. 1998).
Branscomb, A. W. (1996, June). Cyberspaces: Familiar Territory or Lawless Frontiers.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2(1).
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083- 6101.1996.tb00178.x/full
Briggs, M. (2010). Journalism Next. Washington, DC: CQPress.
Cashmore, P. (2008, December 20). Twitter Lawsuits: 4 Reasons Your Tweets Might be
Trouble. Mashable. http://mashable.com/2008/12/20/twitter-lawsuits/
Chicagoist (2010, January 21). Twitter Lawsuit Dismissed. http://chicagoist.com /2010
/01/21/ twitter_lawsuit_dismissed.php
Chow, K. (2013, Fall). Handle with Care: The Evolving Actual Malice Standard and Why
Journalists Should Think Twice Before Relying on Internet Sources. 3 N.Y.U. Journal
of Intellectual Property & Entertainment Law 53–75.
Communications Decency Act (1996). Pub. L. 104, Tit. 5, 110 Stat. 56.
Constitution of the United States, Bill of Rights (1789).
www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/ bill_of_rights.html
Crook, J. (2013, November 21). Don’t Spam Facebook with Fake Bieber Porn Unless You
Want to Get Sued. TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/21/dont-spam-
facebook-with- fake-bieber-porn-unless-you-want-to-get-sued/
The Crown Prosecution Service (2012). Guidelines on prosecuting cases involving
communications sent via social media.
www.cps.gov.uk/legal/a_to_c/communications_sent_via_social_ media
Dennis v. U.S., 341 U.S. 494, 590 (1951).
Dickey, J. (2013, August 12). Express Yourself. Or Not. Sports Illustrated, p. 20.
Digital Theft Deterrence Act, 17 U.S.C. § 504(a), (c)(1)(1999).
Eater (2013, January 23). FTC Complaints About Yelp Allege Extortion, Libel, More.
http:// eater.com/archives/2013/01/23/ftc-complaints-about-yelp-allege-extortion-libel-
more.php Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186, reh’g denied, 538 U.S. 916 (2003).
208 LAW AND REGULATION

Ellul, J. (1980). The Technological System, Translated from the French by Joachim
Neugroschel. New York: Continuum.
Facebook, Rights and Responsibilities. 2. Sharing Your Content and Information.
www.face book.com/legal/terms
Facebook (2014). Choose Who You Share With.
https://m.facebook.com/help/www/459934584 025324
Faehner, M. J. (2012, June). Advertising. Florida Bar Journal 86(6), 36–37.
Fair, L. (2011a, December 22). Using Social Media in Your Marketing? Staff Closing
Letter Is Worth a Read. Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission.
Fair, L. (2011b, December 1). Facebook’s Future: What the FTC Order Means for
Consumer Privacy. Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission.
Fair, L. (2013a, November 18). Blurred Lines. Washington, DC: Federal Trade
Commission.
Fair, L. (2013b, October 22). How Aaron’s Erred: What Your Business Should Take from
the Latest Spycam Case. Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission.
Fang, I. (2008). Alphabet to Internet, Mediated Communication in Our Lives. St. Paul,
MN: Rada Press.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (1983, Oct. 14). Policy Statement on Deception:
Appended to Cliffdale Associates, Inc., 103 F.T.C. 110, 174 (1984). www.ftc.gov/ftc-
policy-statement- on-deception
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (2004, November 24). Letter to Marc Rotenberg,
Electronic Privacy Information Center. Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (2010, June). The FTC’s Revised Endorsement Guides:
What People Are Asking. Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (2014a). About the FTC. www.ftc.gov/about-ftc
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (2014b). Consumer Information. Privacy & Identity.
www.con sumer.ftc.gov/topics/privacy-identity
Finkel v. Facebook (2009). N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3021, NY Slip Op 32248(U).
Firestone, 81 F.T.C. 398, 1972, aff’d, 481 F.2d 246, 6th Cir., cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1112
(1973).
Groggin, G., & McLelland, M. (Eds.). (2009). Internationalizing Internet Studies, Beyond
Anglophone Paradigms. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hall, H. K. (2013). Social Media Policies for Advertising and Public Relations. In D. R.
Stewart (Ed.), Social Media Law, A Guidebook for Communication Students and
Professionals, pp. 212–226. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hayes, A. S. (2013). Mass Media Law, The Printing Press to the Internet. New York, NY:
Peter Lang.
Innis, H. A. (1972). Empire and Communications. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Internet World Stats (June, 2012) www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Keller, B. P., Levine, L., & Goodale, J. C. (2008). Communications Law in the Digital
Age 2008, three volumes. New York: Practicing Law Institute.
Larson III, R. G. (2013, Winter). Forgetting the First Amendment: How Obscurity-based
Privacy and a Right to Be Forgotten are Incompatible with Free Speech.
Communication Law & Policy 18(1), 91–120.
Lievrouw, L. A., & Livingstone, S. (Eds.) (2006). The Handbook of New Media, Updated
Student Edition. London: Sage.
Lipschultz, J. H. (2008). Broadcast and Internet Indecency, Defining Free Speech. New
York, NY: Routledge.
 LAW AND REGULATION 209

Lipschultz, J. H. (2014). Communication and the Law 2014 Edition, W.W. Hopkins (ed).
Northport, AL: Vision Press.
Mackey, T. K., & Liang, B. A. (2013). Globalization and Health 2013, 9(45).
www.globalization andhealth.com/content/9/1/45
Mathison, D. (2009). Be the Media. New Hyde Park, NY: Natural E Creative Group.
Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973).
Milton, J. (1644). Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the
Parliament of England. Project Gutenberg.
http://gutenberg.readingroo.ms/6/0/608/608-h/608-h.htm
Moynihan, M. (2014, January 23). Can a Tweet Put You in Prison? It Certainly Will in
the UK. The Daily Beast. www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/23/can-a-tweet-land-
you-inprison-it-certainly-will-in-the-uk.html Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931).
New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 271 (1964).
Nitke v. Gonzalez, 413 F. Supp. 2d 262 (S.D.N.Y. 2005), affd., 547 U.S. 1015 (2006).
Nockleby, J. T., Levinson, L. L., Manheim, K. M., Dougherty, F. J., Gold, V. J., Ides, A.
P., & Martin, D. W. (2013). The Journalist’s Guide to American Law. New York, NY:
Routledge.
Pavlik, J. V. (2008). Media in the Digital Age. New York, NY: Columbia University
Press.
Pogue, D. (2009). The World According to Twitter. New York, NY: Black Dog &
Leventhal.
Pool, I.d.S. (1983). Technologies of Freedom. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Raychaudhuri, D., & Mario, G. (Eds.) (2011). Emerging Wireless Technologies and the
Future Mobile Internet. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1997).
Rettberg, J. W. (2008). Blogging. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of Innovations, fourth edition. New York, NY: Free Press.
Sanders, A. K., & Olsen, N. C. (2012, Autumn). Re-defining Defamation: Psychological
Sense of Community in the Age of the Internet. Communication Law & Policy 17(4),
355–384.
Stevenson, N. (1995). Understanding Media Cultures. London, UK: SAGE.
Stewart, D. R. (Ed.) (2013). Social Media and the Law, A Guidebook for Communication
Students and Professionals. New York, NY: Routledge.
Tatro v. University of Minnesota, 816 N.W.2d 509 (2012), Minn. LEXIS 246.
Thussu, D. K. (Ed.) (2009). Internationalizing Media Studies. London, UK: Routledge.
Tressler, C. (2013, Nov. 12). How to Help Victimes of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
www.con sumer.ftc.gov/blog/how-help-victims-typhoon-haiyan-philippines United States
v. Fumo, 655 F.3rd 298, 301 (2011).
United States v. Thomas, 74 F.3rd 701 (6th Cir. 1996).
Wang, M. (2009). UPDATED: Rounding up the Buzz. ChicagoNow. http://culturewav.es/
public_thought/72990
Weimann, G. (2010). Terror on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Brown Journal of
World Affairs 16(2), 45–54.
Wiley, R. E., Abernathy, K. Q., & Wadlow, R.C. (Eds.) (2007). 25th Annual Institute on
Telecommunications Policy & Regulation. New York, NY: Practicing Law Institute.
Xinhua (2010, June 30). Google Says to “Abide by the Chinese Law” in Order to Renew
License. http:// news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-07/01/c_13377786.htm
10 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

“Hyping transparency distorts media ethics in several ways: It misunderstands

the basis of media ethics, while blurring crucial differences among concepts; it
wrongly implies that transparency can replace other principles and can resolve
ethical issues created by new media.”
—Stephen J. A. Ward (@MediaMorals, 2013)

Social media communication raises important ethical issues because it can be

perceived as anonymous—crossing borders and cultures worldwide. From its
computer-mediated communication origins to state-of-the-art PR and advertising
campaigns, a lack of transparency and communication independence may trigger
a social media response.
The new media landscape has some wanting to say that transparency is more
important than other values, but it is not “a magical idea—a norm with seemingly
magical powers to restore democracy” (Ward, 2013a, para. 6). Ward suggests that
“responsible publication for democracy,” not transparency, is the ethical
foundation in journalism, and “editorial independence” also is a basic idea (para.
11)—especially in an era of nonprofessional journalists:

Without a stress on independence, and without a constant critical eye for

conflicts of interest, I fear that questionable, non-independent journalism
will fly under the flag of transparent journalism. One can be a transparent
journalist, yet still be inaccurate or care little for minimizing harm. But
more than this, even if a journalist is transparent, accurate and minimizes
harm, we still are left with a crucial question for her: How free are you to
tell the stories that the public needs to hear? Telling people “where you
come from” as a journalist is to be commended. But it is not enough for
journalism ethics. (para. 32)

Editorial independence may be compromised when special interests override

larger public interests. Ward suggests that lack of independence leads to
“propaganda” or “narrow advocacy,” if “non-professional journalists” do not
“make a strong ethical argument for ignoring considerations of independence”
(paras. 29–30). In the online world, the speed of information distribution, for
example, leads to incorrect information distributed on Twitter about nearly every
breaking news national story—from the Boston Marathon bombings to the
shootings in 2013 at the Los Angeles airport. In Ward’s view, “irresponsible
 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS 211

reporting” happens when we ignore some values, “such as verification and

minimizing harm,” and instead emphasize being first with the story.

185

Social media communication tools and practices are beginning to mature, so it

makes sense to discuss and debate values that underlie behavior. Journalists, PR
and advertising managers and marketers must confront changing norms. Ward has
made the case for “radical” change in the view of journalism ethics and global
practices. Beyond the implications of an interconnected world, Ward is concerned
with the proliferation of activist journalism:
But when are activist journalists not propagandists? When are journalists
partisan political voices and when are they journalists with a valid cause?
Rather than simply dismiss activist journalism on the traditional ground of
objectivity, how can we develop a more nuanced understanding of this
area of journalism? (Ward, 2013b, para. 21)
This relates to the problem of real-time public sourcing on Twitter of the
separation of rumors from story facts—particularly when journalists work across
cultural norms.
It comes down to credibility and trust. In Ward’s view, “independence, not
transparency, distinguishes journalism from propaganda, journalism from narrow
advocacy.” He challenges a key point in The New Ethics of Journalism (2014), a
volume edited by Kelly McBride and Tom Rosenstiel (@tbr1)—Ward wants to
reform independence rather than replace it. To be fair, McBride and Rosenstiel
discuss transparency within the context of 20th-century mass media scale and
neutral voice:
These two precepts, which grew out of both an economic and a democratic
imperative, led to an ethical principle of independence: the notion that the
organization and the individuals who create the news should not advocate
for outcomes or slant the news in favor of a particular point of view. (pp.
89–90)
212 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

Figure 10.1 A large screen at Edelman PR in New York merged social and mass media
information for viewers seeking the latest news.
Reading further, their perspective values “independent observers” and not
lowering standards because “true transparency is more than disclosure” requiring
“producing the news in ways that can be explained and even defended.” The book
explains this in Adam Hochberg’s (@adamhochberg) chapter discussing the
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism’s concerns related to non-profit
news organizations: donor transparency, editorial independence, the firewall
between journalism and fundraising, and conflicts of interest (Hochberg, 2014, p.
132).
We should also recognize that independence has always been an ideal, and
local news organizations regularly struggle with the need to keep advertisers
happy. This has not changed in the digital era. If a newspaper uses its official
news brand on Facebook and Twitter to promote a grand opening, it sacrifices a
degree of editorial independence. There is a conflict of interest, if it fails to report
a problem, such as a traffic jam, that affects the public interest.
But do not limit thinking to journalism. Failure to disclose interests is a huge
social media communication problem with public relations, advertising and
marketing. From sponsored content to native advertising, the lines between
content and vested interests are crossed in ways that promote neither transparency
nor independence. On LinkedIn, for example, Felix Salmon (@felixsalmon, 2013)
notes that “there is very little distinction between editorial and advertising”
because it “is all just posts” (para. 13):

LinkedIn is about people more than it is about companies, but that really
only helps—it makes everything feel more personal and less corporate, and
that in turn makes the message more likely to be well received. No one
cares about the editorial/advertising divide: the very concept seems silly.
Indeed, if any disclosure is needed, readers would much rather know
 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS 213

whether a certain CEO wrote a given post himself, or whether he had it

written for him. (Good luck finding that out.) (para. 13)

Therein lies the deeper issue of social media communication ethics. Real-time
interaction and engagement happens within the context of individual social
networks and marketing strategies. CEO’s are now being called upon to be social
media participants, according to one study, in order to show innovation, build
media relationships, provide a human face for the company and other aspects of
reputation management. Joe Mathewson (@joemathewson) boils down the
challenge of our time to “seek the truth, verify, and be fair” (Mathewson, 2014, p.
198). Corporate executives, meanwhile, worry about their participation in social
media communication—even within the professionally oriented LinkedIn
platform, where their specific concerns include (Toomey, 2013, p. 8):

1. Can I keep my contacts private? “Contacts can be visible only to you, or to

all of your connections.”
2. Do I have to connect with everyone who asks me to? “Your connections
should be people you know personally and/or have done business with, and
who you might be able to refer to others.”
3. What types of content should I share on LinkedIn? “Share your company’s
news, thought leadership and blog posts.”
4. What are the differences between Endorsements and Recommendations?
“. . . an Endorsement is a one-click way for your connections to validate
your Skills & Expertise . . . A Recommendation is a detailed, written
statement . . .”
5. When should I connect with new contacts? “Growing your network is an
ongoing process”

Information verification goes a long way toward finding an ethical path.

Fairness is more challenging because we make subjective judgments. It owes a lot
to traditional ethical concerns about morality, justice, virtue and safety of others.
In journalism, for example, media ethics regarding traditional roles are stressed
by the lack of social media control:
The public is swamped with information through more traditional sources
as well as via the Internet, and its social media “children,” the bloggers,
Facebook updaters and tweeters . . . It is our contention that this new
“role” of the mass media is to sift through all that information . . . The
gate-keeping role of journalists has not ended, but the number of non-
journalistic gates is increasing and editors are competing against more
sources, more outlets and more voices. (Patching & Hirst, 2014, p. 218)
Social media communication should not alter fundamental values and ethical
principles, but we must be open to differing values, principles and practices that
we encounter within global social networks. The early debate about ethics is not a
214 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

threat. It is healthy and serves our desire to promote democracy, community and
freedom.

Theories and Philosophies

Media ethics developed as a field within the context of issues surrounding 20th-
century mass media. Christians, Rotzoll, & Fackler (1991) used the Potter Box as
a way to think about morality within “a systematic process” (p. 2). Potter’s moral
reasoning box moves a person through a process of definition, values, principles
and loyalties (p. 4). For example, media may decide to publish “even if some
people get hurt or are misunderstood,” (p. 4) if they value the information as
representing truth. The first definition stage of the process begins with a
“situation” (p. 8). There are a variety of ethical principles, such as:

• Aristotle’s Golden Mean is that which lies “between two extremes” (pp. 11–
12).
• Kant’s Categorical Imperative is that “moral law is unconditionally binding”
(p. 14).
• Mill’s Principle of Utility is that “happiness was the sole end of human
action” (p. 15).
• Rawl’s Veil of Ignorance seeks to have the “most vulnerable party” receiving
“priority” (p. 18).
• Judeo-Christian Persons as Ends is the ethics of loving “your neighbor” (p.
19).

Media ethicists have advanced thinking to bring it into a global and digital media
context, which may create an “open media ethics” (Ward & Wasserman, 2010, p.
276). Opening media ethics is a matter of “meaningful participation” and
“significant influence on the course of discussion” (p. 277), “content
determination and revision” (p. 278), and transformation related to “citizen-based
new media” with a “potential to create a global ethics discourse” (p. 281). Social
media communication may be media critiques or activism that may be understood
within the framework of “mobilization efforts” (p. 282). Consider what Ward and
Wasserman (2010) describe as “peer-to-peer ethics” on a global scale:
This peer-to-peer accountability can take the form of comments or blog
posts, responses to Twitter feeds, or exchanges that take place parallel to
citizen journalism posts . . . citizen journalists are held accountable for
misrepresentations or inaccuracies by fellow commentators or visitors to
the site.” (p. 286)
Drawing upon the work of Habermas, Ward and Wasserman (2010) suggest that
ethical processes and “reasoning should aim at an ideal mode of inclusive and
equal discourse” (p. 288), which aligns with the veil of ignorance. A global
context within journalism ethics addresses, for example, cultural sensitivities in
“times of grief and trauma” (Motlagh, Hassan, Bolong, & Osman, 2013, p. 1).
There is initial evidence that media credibility is related to “role conceptions of
 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS 215

professional journalists while social trust was positively associated with both
professional and citizen journalists’ role conceptions” (Chung & Nah, 2013, p.
274). Transformative credibility standards and role perceptions may represent the
beginning of more open ethical processes.

Idealism and Relativism

Ethical idealism of truth, independence and minimization of harm has been
altered by digital media realities. While truth remains an ideal principle, emerging
values include transparency and community engagement: “Clearly articulate your
journalistic approach, whether you strive for independence or approach
information from a political or philosophical point of view” (McBride &
Rosenstiel, 2014, p. 3). Shirky (2014) wrestles with the Internet dilemma of
beliefs, facts and “post-fact” assertions:
The Internet allows us to see what other people actually think. This has
turned out to be a huge disappointment. When anyone can say anything,
we can’t even pretend most of us agree on the truth of most assertions any
more. (p. 15)
The fundamental shift is from a world in which media function within a structure
that offered a degree of scarcity and exclusivity. “What does change, enormously,
is the individual and organizational adaptations required to tell the truth without
relying on scarcity and while hewing of ethical norms without reliance on a small
group of similar institutions that can all coordinate around those norms” (p. 20).
As a new expectation of transparency is offered by open ethics, the very fact that
storytellers are confronted in real time with their audience members suggests a
philosophical level of social media communication ethics ambiguity:
What’s harder to gauge is the power—and tension—that social media
interaction will bring to this kind of storytelling. As journalists tell their
stories via Twitter, they will certainly also receive questions and comments
from their followers. Some of that interaction will no doubt interrupt and
change the course of the storytelling. (Huang, 2014, p. 50)
Social media storytelling, journalism and other forms, is likely to align with
practices of collaboration in which communities contribute to its development.
The shift from professional ethical norms to small group behavioral rules could
replace the need for normative ethical rules with the engaged community desires
to crowdsource and correct story narratives.

Moral Development
While traditional ethics seeks to cultivate individual moral development through
its principles, rules, codes and processes, the emergence of fluid community
narratives might be a function of interpersonal and small group communication
and agreement. Typically, codes of ethics serve to guide media professionals,
including those engaged in social media communication (Roberts, 2012). Tension
216 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

exists, as codes may blur “distinctions between minimal expectations and ideal
standards” (p. 115). It is debatable that media ethics codes are effective in training
new employees, or even that they serve a valuable public relations function for
media industries. Yet, research has found that codes reflect values: “Decision
makers need to identify their values to understand the reasons behind their
actions” (p. 116). Based upon Rohan’s (2000) dimension contrasting individual
and social context outcomes, Roberts (2012) identifies key concerns. While an
individual may seek “achievement” or “power,” society may be driven by
“universalism” (i.e., “tolerating”) and “benevolence” (i.e., “enhancing the
welfare”) (pp. 117–18). Likewise, an organization may be concerned with
“tradition” (i.e., “commitment”), “security” and even “conformity,” at the same
time that opportunity is stimulating (p. 117–118). After examining 15 ethics
codes, Roberts (2012) confirmed that they tend to emphasize social context rather
than individual values:
These values make fundamental claims about the interdependent
relationships among media, society, and the environment. The reliance
upon benevolence and universalism themes is not surprising, given that
nearly all of these codes were created by organizations that espouse some
level of social responsibility . . . and desires by the code-writing
organizations to reflect values that society would respect. (p. 122)
The values, while important ideals, may present difficult challenges for social
media communicators. The search for truth, for example, is highly valued across
media fields. Yet, social media communication may blur truth by valuing
subjectivity and opinion. Further, personal branding places pressures on
individuals to differentiate themselves from the social media crowd, while ethical
guidelines urge caution. Within such an environment, it is not clear how the
process of moral development advances individual and organizational thinking.

Trust and Transparency

Social media communications practitioners may assume that by being as
transparent as possible, they will build trust. The examination of conflict between
individual and social values, however, suggests that transparency alone will not
be effective. Bowen (2013) lists fourteen other values—fairness, avoiding
deception, dignity and respect, eschewing secrecy, reversibility, viewpoint
identification, rationality, clarity, disclosure, verification, responsibility,
intention, community good and consistency: “Consistency allows publics to know
and understand you, and you can meet their expectations” (p. 126). If we build
trust through consistency rather than transparency alone, then social media ethics
needs to be understood within a very broad context.
Social media may replace traditional media communication in areas such as
political discussion, as distrust of institutions leads to new forms of “interaction
and information consumption” (Himelboim, Lariscy, Tinkham, & Sweetser, 2012,
p. 106):
 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS 217

Whereas trust of one’s outer circle was a good predictor for a variety of
online behaviors and attitudes, political openness was found to be more
sensitive to differences between types of spaces preferred for gaining
political information. Trust in the outer circle predicted use of all types of
online media (consumption and interaction), where political openness
successfully predicted only the use of social media. (p. 107)
In other words, social media behavior is more aligned with expressing political
opinions or support for a candidate than it is trust in information coming from
others. Social media communication spaces may be useful to people with a need
to express opinions, even when they may be controversial or even potentially
harmful in an ethical sense.
At a fundamental level, CMC anonymity may cultivate a different form of
communication, which breaks down social taboos or reaffirms narrow social
norms (Leonard & Toller, 2012). In a study of MyDeathSpace.com
communication, several themes emerged: sympathy for deceased and loved ones,
suicide method, judging the deceased and others, explanations for suicide, regret
for death, and loved ones’ response to posters (pp. 392–399): “. . . we found that
the Web site MyDeathSpace provided a setting for individuals to write in and
discuss the death of an individual due to suicide rather than a site for the bereaved
to commiserate and make sense of the death of their loved one” (p. 400). Such
CMC may serve individual more than social needs. This site did not “serve as a
venue where survivors of suicide can reach out to others for social support and
encouragement” (pp. 400–401). “Online spaces that allow for primarily absolute
and pseudo anonymity appear to encourage extremely disinhibited
communication that demonstrates no regard for others involved in the
communication” (p. 402). As an ethical issue, individuals had the freedom to
discuss the frequently avoided issue of suicide, but the anonymous
communicators did so without regard for potential harm inflicted on family and
friends. Clearly, social media communication raises ethical issues of human
dignity.

BOX 10.1 THOUGHT LEADER CRAIG NEWMARK

Some years ago I started reading some history about large-scale social change,
since it felt like something big is happening right now, as regular people learn to
work with each other via the Internet.
In high school American history, we dug into our own revolution and how
that was affected by the leaders of the British “Glorious Revolution” about a
century before. Much more recently, I’ve read about
(continued )
218 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

the Protestant Reformation, the rise of Christianity,

and how the Roman Republic became the Roman
Empire.
It dawned on me, and many others, that the
leaders of dramatic change were very effective
doing what we’d now consider blogging. Tom Paine
and Ben Franklin blogged compellingly that the
Colonies should declare their independence. John
Locke (not the guy from LOST) blogged about
individual rights in the context of British
representative democracy, and Martin Luther
blogged about his vision of Christianity.
Saint Paul described his vision of Christian- Figure 10.2 @craignewmark.
ity in the form of “epistles,” not that different from the warblogs written by
Julius Caesar in the conquest of Gaul.
(Caesar had arguably invented journalism previously.)
These bloggers used the best technologies of their time, usually involving
paper or parchment, and either copyists or, later, the printing press. Networked
distribution involved what we now call “store and forward” methods, via
network nodes, including churches or coffee houses.
A number of folks have made these observations, best documented by Tom
Standage, of The Economist, in his recently published “The Writing on the Wall.”
Looks like massive social change involves tipping points that are inspired by
the most compelling voices of their time. Victor Hugo said something like
“there’s nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come.” Compelling
bloggers both manifest and articulate those ideas, creating those tipping points.
For you biology nerds, society and culture evolve a la “punctuated
equilibrium” where not much happens until something triggers a tipping point.
Tom eloquently points out that, “history retweets itself.”
That’s happening now, where people use the Internet and social media to get
people to work together.
That’s to say that the Internet provides everyone with their own printing
press and the means to distribute their work . . . and to possibly influence large
numbers of people.
Some people have specific agendas in mind; others are a little more meta,
hoping to give voice to the voiceless, by writing about it in essays like this.
After all, a nerd’s gotta do what a nerd’s gotta do.

Craig Newmark is founder at craigconnects.org, a site created “to give the

voiceless a real voice and the powerless real power.” Newmark holds
undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science from Case
 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS 219

Western Reserve University. The native of New Jersey lives in San Francisco. He
worked at IBM for 17 years, as well as GM, Bank of America and Charles Schwab.
His 1995 project to help friends promote events in San Francisco became Craigslist
—now among the top English-language web platforms. He does customer service
for the site, which is “run by a small group of very smart people who have stayed
loyal to the idea that it should be simple, fast, mostly free, and ‘bottom-up’
oriented,” Newmark says. “I’ve learned a lot that can be applied to the common
good.”

Human Dignity Frameworks

Bowen (2013) utilized the 2006 case of a fake blog—a “flog” created by Edelman
PR for Wal-Mart—which posed a personal and positive RV couple interacting
“with happy Wal-Mart employees” (p. 126). By concealing the identities of paid
bloggers and its source, “the website does not respect the dignity of the public,
nor does it respect their intellectual need for open and honest information to form
independent judgments” (p. 127). Deception is an ethical violation of human
dignity. “Deliberately concealing sponsorship, astroturfing, and flogging are
practices that violate the moral duty communicators have to society to be
universally honest, to communicate with dignity and respect, and act with good
will” (p. 127).

Practical Social Media Ethics

As social media have developed in recent years, traditional media organizations
adapted to the new interaction with audience members. National Public Radio, in
response to ethical concerns, has offered its journalists specific rules of
engagement.

BOX 10.2 NPR SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES

NPR has emphasized that real-time breaking news coverage of events “present
new and unfamiliar challenges” and has urged reporters to “tread carefully.” The
guidelines have urged that online behavior—“just as you would in any other public
circumstances”—means treating people with “fairness, honesty and respect.” NPR
has emphasized verification of information: “Verify information before passing it
along.”
Under an accuracy heading, NPR has told its reporters to be “careful and
skeptical.” A social media team was created for consultation on difficult challenges.
“Its members have expertise in collecting information from a variety of sources, in
establishing to the best of their ability the credibility of those voices and the
information they are posting, and in analyzing the material they use.” The
guidelines connect trust and credibility to transparency: “And to the greatest
extent practical, spell out

(continued )
220 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

how the information was checked and why we consider the sources credible.”
Crowdsourcing, while not determining what would be reported, is considered
useful.
The guidelines have expressed concern about false online identities. Under an
offline follow-up heading, NPR again urged caution. “So, when appropriate, clarify
and confirm information collected online through phone and in-person interviews.”
Likewise, NPR has expressed concern about manipulated photographs and old
video that are distributed online: “bring a healthy skepticism to images you
encounter, starting with the assumption that all such images or video are not
authentic.”
The guidelines also address honesty, including avoiding political partisanship, a
lack of Web privacy and independence:
It’s important to keep in mind that the terms of service of a social media site
apply to what we post there and to the information we gather from it. Also: The
terms might allow for our material to be used in a different way than intended.
Additionally, law enforcement officials may be able to obtain our reporting on
these sites by subpoena without our consent—or perhaps even our knowledge.
Social media is a vital reporting resource for us, but we must be vigilant about
keeping work that may be sensitive in our own hands.
NPR reminds reporters that their “standards of impartiality also apply to social
media.” The traditional rules apply to personal pages and joining groups—whether
or not the employee identity is “readily apparent.”
“In reality, anything you post online reflects both on you and on NPR.” The
guidelines also address the important issue of media accountability. Social media
happen in “public spaces.” NPR adds, “don’t behave any differently online than you
would in any other public setting.” The standard is a conservative one in
recommending that reporters avoid online norms that sometimes may be looser
than the face-to-face world.
As such, reporters are asked to consider legal implications, “regardless of
medium.” In respecting community norms, there is a need for awareness: “Our
ethics don’t change in different circumstances, but our decision might.” Finally, the
NPR guidelines conclude: “Social media are excellent tools when handled
correctly.”
Source: NPR (2012, May 2). NPR Ethics Handbook. Social media. http://ethics.npr.
org/tag/social-media/

Equality and Fairness

Lack of disclosure to the public raises issues of fairness. Paid tweets by
celebrities, for example, earn some thousands of dollars. Bowen (2013) concluded
that failure to be transparent about sponsorship violates fundamental ethical
principles:
Be transparent; paid speech should be identified as such. Identify
communication as personal, individual speech and opinion versus speech
as a representative of the organization, so that publics have the information
 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS 221

to evaluate it appropriately. Check relevant facts. A rational analysis

should examine messages from all sides and viewpoints. (p. 129)
While deception through failure to disclose sponsorship may not lead to harmful
outcomes, it runs the risk of creating public misperception that could be
influential. For example, if a healthy-looking movie star is paid to promote an
unhealthy product on Twitter, the social media communication may lead some to
buy and consume it.

Natural Law and Harm

Beyond legal implications of potentially harmful social media communication, it
is ethically fundamental to follow the principle to do no harm. “Communication
professionals who implement social media initiatives would be well advised to
consider the harm to their reputations that can be caused by ignoring ethics in the
technological space” Bowen (2013, p. 132). Particularly when young people are
present in social media spaces, which may be difficult to know, safety is a
concern: “In response to concerns about online predators, illegal downloading,
and imprudent posting of content online, a number of cyber safety initiatives have
emerged online and in schools around the country” ( James et al., 2010, pp. 218–
219). Core and salient issues include: “identity, privacy, ownership and
authorship, credibility, and participation” (p. 219), and one research group calls
for the use of “good play” rules to address ethical online behavior from a positive
perspective to encourage “meaningful and engaging” participation within a
community:
. . . definitions of responsible or ethical conduct in online spaces may differ
markedly from offline definitions. Here we consider the new digital media
as a playground in which the following factors contribute to the likelihood
of good play—(1) technical literacy and technology availability; (2)
cognitive and moral person-centered factors (including developmental
capacities, beliefs, and values); (3) online and offline peer cultures; and (4)
presence or absence of ethical supports (including adult or peer mentors,
educational curricula, and explicit or implicit codes of conduct in digital
spaces). Our approach to ethics does not focus solely on transgressions but
strives to understand why, how, and where good play happens. (p. 226)
The approach emphasizes media literacy rather than rules to cultivate and
“develop ethical reflection and conduct as a key foundation for youth
empowerment” (p. 277). While the application of moral development through
online play may be appropriate in an educational learning context, social media
communication practitioners are expected to adhere to organizational standards
and industry guidelines. Privacy, such as that when a user is on Facebook or
adjusts settings, is a fundamental expectation: “Crucially, these rights and
obligations hold regardless of the perceptions that users have of their online
interactions” (D’Arcy & Young, 2012, pp. 535–536).
222 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

Reconsidering Community
Ethical issues are all around us in social media communication, which offer
competing values to the traditional world of journalism and media. As the NPR
social media guidelines mentioned earlier say, “Realize that different
communities—online and offline—have their own culture, etiquette, and norms,
and be respectful of them.” Respect for others is an important community value.
Too often, organizations run into online and offline difficulties because of a
breakdown of respect for others.
New social media tools, such as Storify, create spaces that are not as limited by
space as Twitter. At the same time, organizations across the social media
communication landscape are developing understanding about the need to provide
employee guidance, support and ongoing feedback.
The global nature of social media has challenged ethicists “to account for a
diversity of ethical perspectives globally, while avoiding cultural relativism”
(Wasserman, 2011, p. 791). Post-colonial criticism of traditional media ethics is
that “constructs such as freedom and responsibility, which are often presented as
having universal validity, are themselves ‘local’ in that they have originated from
particular epistemological traditions rooted in Western thought and experience”
(p. 792). In Africa, for example, there is “a contested terrain” of “development
journalism,” “indigenization” and “professionalization and social responsibility”
(p. 800). While media practitioners in the U.S. push for First Amendment
freedoms, a global perspective must take into account stages of development and
cultural assumptions within the language used to describe normative ethics.

Limitations of Ethics
Social media ethics typically are applied as a set of professional guidelines.
Formal law rarely governs them. Organizations have attempted to incorporate
traditional ethical guidelines based upon a set of values, even though social media
norms may differ among online communities. There will continue to be tension
between the practice of social media communication and the constraints desired
by media organizations.
Social media communication tends to follow traditional media in testing our
ideals about freedom and social responsibility within a democratic context
(Christians, Rotzoll, & Fackler, 1991). Beyond a desire to avoid harm to others,
ethics assumes accountability to others within a social context. Each decision
made has implications within society. The best hope is to align individual notions
of morality and ethics with industry and organizational values and practices. By
communicating with others, including online communities, it is hoped that greater
understanding emerges over time.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. Is there a proper role for activist journalists within social media? How should
traditional or mainstream journalists differentiate their work?
 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS 223

2. Which values are most important for ethical behavior within social media? In
what ways may it be difficult to be governed by traditional ethical
guidelines?
3. How are global norms of ethics a challenge to U.S. rules? In what ways will
global social media communication influence future directions in ethics?

References
Bowen, S. A. (2013). Using Classic Social Media Cases to Distill Ethical Guidelines for
Digital Engagement. Journal of Mass Media Ethics 28(1), 119–133.
Christians, C. G., Rotzoll, K. B., & Fackler, M. (1991). Media Ethics, Case & Moral
Reasoning, third edition. New York, NY: Longman.
Chung, D. S., & Nah, S. (2013). Media Credibility and Journalistic Role Conceptions:
Views on Citizen and Professional Journalists Among Citizen Contributors. Journal of
Mass Media Ethics 28(4), 271–288.
D’Arcy, A., & Young, T. M. (2012). Ethics and Social Media: Implications for
Sociolinguistics in the Networked Public. Journal of Sociolinguistics 16(4), 532–546.
Himelboim, I., Lariscy, R. W., Tinkham, S. F., & Sweetser, K. D. (2012). Social Media
and Online Political Communication: The Role of Interpersonal Informational Trust
and Openness. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 56(1), 92–115.
Hochberg, A. (2014). Centers of Investigative Reporting. In K. McBride & T. Rosenstiel
(Eds.), The New Ethics of Journalism, pp. 123–135. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Huang, T. (2014). Centers of Investigative Reporting. In K. McBride & T. Rosenstiel
(Eds.), The New Ethics of Journalism, pp. 39–59. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
James, C., Davis, K., Flores, A., Francis, J., Pettingill, L., Rundle, M., & Gardner, H.
(2010). Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media. Contemporary Readings in
Law and Social Justice 2(2), 215–284.
Leonard, L. G., & Toller, P. (2012). Speaking Ill of the Dead: Anonymity and
Communication About Suicide on MyDeathSpace.com. Communication Studies 63(4),
387–404.
Lipschultz, J. H. (2012, August 28), Privacy Is Dead?—Really? The Huffington Post.
www. huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-harris-lipschultz/online-privacy_b_1831956.html
Mathewson, J. (2014). Law and Ethics for Today’s Journalist: A Concise Guide. Armonk,
NY: M. E. Sharpe.
Motlagh, N. E., Hassan, M. S. B. H., Bolong, J. B., & Osman, M. N. (2013). Role of
Journalists’ Gender, Work Experience and Education in Ethical Decision Making.
Asian Social Science 9(9), 1–10.
McBride, K., & Rosenstiel, T. (Eds.) (2014). The New Ethics of Journalism. Los Angeles,
CA: Sage. NPR (2012, May 2). NPR Ethics Handbook. Social media.
http://ethics.npr.org/tag/social-media/
Patching, R., & Hirst, M. (2014). Journalism Ethics, Arguments and Cases for the Twenty-
first Century. London, UK: Routledge.
Roberts, C. (2012). Identifying and Defining Values in Media Codes of Ethics. Journal of
Media Ethics 27(2), 115–129.
Rohan, M. J. (2000). A Rose by Any Name? The Values Construct. Personality and
Social Psychology Review 4(3), 255–277.
Salmon F. (2013, March 15). Too Many Flavors of Native Content. Reuters Opinion.
http://blogs. reuters.com/felix-salmon/2013/03/15/the-many-flavors-of-native-content/
224 SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

Shirky, C. (2014). Truth Without Scarcity, Ethics Without Force. In K. McBride & T.
Rosenstiel (Eds.), The New Ethics of Journalism, pp. 9–24. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Toomey, K. (2013, September). 5 Questions Executives Ask About LinkedIn. Public
Relations Tactics 20(9), 8.
Ward, S.J.A. (2013a, November 4). Why Hyping Transparency Distorts Journalism
Ethics. PBS Media Shift. www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/11/why-hyping-transparency-
distorts-journalism-ethics/
Ward, S.J.A. (2013b, August 19). Why We Need Radical Change for Media Ethics, Not a
Return to Basics. PBS Media Shift. www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/08/why-we- need-
radical-change-for-media-ethics-not-a-return-to-basics/
Ward, S.J.A., & Wasserman, H. (2010). Towards an Open Ethics: Implications of New
Media Platforms for Global Ethics Discourse. Journal of Mass Media Ethics 25, 275–
292.
Wasserman, H. (2011). Towards a Global Journalism Ethics via Local Narratives,
Southern African Perspectives. Journalism Studies 12(6), 791–803.
This page intentionally left blank

11 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

“I love Twitter. Sure it is noisy. Yes, it has quite a few spammers and bots and
‘push’ marketers . . . but just about everything good that has happened in my
business has had its origin in Twitter. It is surreal quite frankly.”
—Kim Garst (@kimgarst, 2013)

Kim Garst is CEO of Boom Social in Tampa, Florida. Her blog

(http://kimgarst.com) was among the Social Media Examiner’s top sites, and Forbes
has called her a social media power influencer. On Twitter, Garst has more than
200,000 followers, and she follows more than 150,000, yet she attempts to respond
and thank all engaging with her content. She has posted more than 170,000 tweets.
Social media “has invaded the very core of the way we communicate,” Garst said at
the 2012 IBM Global Summit in Orlando. “It affords you the opportunity to connect
with people you would never in the ordinary course of life connect to.” In search of
online business opportunities for more than two decades, Garst sees social media as
the direction ahead. She added Pinterest to her list of key sites, with traffic second
only to Twitter. Clients interested in personal or company branding also need to be
on Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn for marketing purposes. These sites are
increasingly visual, so photographs, graphics and video are very important to be
effective within social media. Test engagement with various approaches to see
which content is “sticky” on specific sites. Live video sites, such as Spreecast
(http://spreecast.com) offer the lure of video connected to real-time chat and
engagement. This is a potentially powerful combination as a way to promote ideas,
products and services. The mobile new media environment presents distinct
challenges and opportunities for each communicator and medium.

Mobile Media
It is clear that users of smartphones and tablets are beginning to have a major
impact on social media, and this trend will continue. The “new forms of sociability”
may reinforce or work against traditional communication, as “mobile
communication, along with other network technologies, is associated with increased
face-to-face engagements with network ties, bringing people together physically as
well as psychologically” (Campbell & Ling, 2011, p. 325). However, the “flip side”
of networked communication is that it may emphasize “social divisions” through
226 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

member boundaries “when mobile media are used for network configuration” (p.
325).

199

The organization of mobile apps reflects “a fingerprint of sorts” in that these

show “the combination of interests, habits, and social connections that identify that
person” (Gardner & Davis, 2013, p. 60). Social networking and social media
sharing through apps “becomes an integral part of the way” people in general—and
particularly youth— “choose to express themselves online” (p. 61). Hunsinger
(2014) contends that computer connections along with social media immediacy
created communal perceptions:
It is the interactivity that generates the sense of presence and thus
community that enables most people to engage with social media. However,
it is also this interactivity that encourages people to use it with friends and
communities . . . the interfaces are mediations of data . . . Social media
interfaces engage us through interactivity and the appearance of co-presence,
community, and in the end, the appearance of social connection. (p. 9)
Appearance or reality, these online connections are useful for all forms of media
communication. Those seeking to engage with a dispersed media audience can find
many of its members now using mobile media devices to access social media
platforms.

Newspapers, Magazines and Journalism

Social media interest is high among journalists. In terms of best practices, the
following are popular:

• Live tweet from a news event and create a Storify summary of a curated list of
the best engagement and information.
• Send out links to stories across social media sites to drive traffic to websites.
• Use great photography to spark audience interest in coverage and promote the
brand.
• Engage online with people in the community to identify news sources and seek
verifiable information.
• Search social media platforms for story ideas and possible new trends.
• Monitor government operations and behavior of politicians.
• Cultivate personal brands of star journalists.
• Respond to criticism of coverage.
• Promote advertisers’ events with sponsored posts.
• Curate content from credible news sources to clarify and correct bad
information circulating as social media rumors.
• Post photographs from publication archives and offer to sell popular prints.
• Take advantage of convergence opportunities by publishing audio, video and
streaming events in real-time.
• Thank fans for engaging and sharing content.
• Answer questions from readers.

Steve Buttry has posted dozens of ideas for journalists on Slideshare.net. He

suggests that news organization community engagement equates to making a “top
priority to listen, to join, lead & enable conversation to elevate journalism” (Buttry,
2013). This happens across many evolving social media platforms, including Tout
mobile video
228 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

and Instagram. Journalists can use social media as a reporting tool by looking for
blogs and content in their local communities. Social media offer the opportunity
to connect with comments and commentators. Journalists also use crowdsourcing
in the search for verified news content. From live tweeting to tracking hashtags,
journalists using social media may have an advantage over those ignoring sources
and content. Across all forms of journalism, mobile apps and social media create
new opportunities and possibilities.

Radio and Mobile Apps

Internet podcasts initially created some competition for local radio stations, as did
the movement toward purchasing online song libraries from iTunes. In the social
media era, online services such as Spotify and Pandora allowed music listeners to
share playlists with friends.
A recent trend is the creation of news and information apps that cater to an
increasingly smartphone-oriented audience. All-news radio, for example, has
survived and prospered for decades in large media markets. In an age of mobile
smartphones and social media, radio is again changing to meet new habits.
Rivet Radio News, a Chicago start-up, launched in late 2013 with an iPhone
app, and its developers are coming after the all-news audience. Rivet is targeting
people on the go and wanting to personalize story selection in categories such as
breaking news, business, sports, arts & entertainment, technology and lifestyle.
The app allows users to pause, rewind and skip stories. Newscasters emphasize
conversational style, even as they keep pace with breaking news.
Rivet also uses listener location to provide on-demand stories, including hyper-
local traffic updates. “It shows the power of being free from the tyranny of the
clock,” General Manager Cindy Paulauskas said. “We can make our traffic
reports as long or as short as they need to be, and we can create updated reports
whenever the situation changes.” Rivet uses the flexible approach with all of its
recorded stories grouped in categories selected by the user instead of a clock-
driven live radio format.
 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA 229

Figure 11.1 Rivet News Radio sought to engage mobile smartphone users with an app
that distributed hyperlocal traffic reports and customized news. Courtesy
Rivet News Radio.
Across at the other end of the Loop, Chicago’s WBBM Newsradio 780 is
mobile on the award winning CBS Radio.com app. It allows users to select
favorite stations and has a built-in sleep timer and alarm. Users can read online
stories while listening to live radio, and there is some basic Twitter and Facebook
sharing.
News Director Ron Gleason believes that live radio audiences come and go,
and he is not convinced they will take the effort to select and navigate recorded
content. Gleason sees social media as impacting all of journalism:
The good: more and more people are getting valuable information faster
and faster. The bad: you can’t always trust what you see—because the
information is only as good as the source. As a credible source on which
Chicagoans rely, we are actively involved in the use of social media to let
people know about the stories we’re reporting. We reach people with our
AM and FM signals, through our stream, at CBSChicago.com, through the
CBS local YourDay app, via Twitter, Facebook, etc. The more ways we
can reach out, the more people we’ll reach. The good news for WBBM:
there’s still no medium more immediate than Newsradio, and the ability
for broadcast outlets to reach the masses during breaking news stories and
emergencies is second to none. (Gleason, 2013)
The Newsradio 780 format follows its consistent model that has been successful
over several decades. It is a strong media brand with news, sports, weather, and
traffic built around quarter hours and immediate updates.
While WBBM has “trained” listeners over the years to keep an eye on the
clock, Rivet News Radio is building brand loyalty through engaging content.
“Our key metric now is Repeat Users,” Paulauskas said. “We hope that continues
to trend upward, and are doing everything we can to create an engaging
experience that makes listeners want to tune in again and again.” The Rivet
mobile app model has been called a Pandora-like service for news because it
plays news like a streaming music service. While music services pay for rights to
play music, news and information may be created much less expensively. Radio
news must continue to evolve to become a form of mobile news that includes the
frequent convergence of photographs and video. The larger social media shift
demands a visual presence and interaction with fans.
230 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

BOX 11.1 THOUGHT LEADER CHARLIE MEYERSON

The leveling of the playing field between journalist and, as Jay Rosen has
dubbed them, “the people formerly known as the audience” has had
astonishing impact. Reporters are subject now more than ever to analysis,
criticism and correction by those who once had to content themselves with
letters to an editor—who may or may not have chosen to publish them. And a
reporter’s success (as gauged by audience reach) depends as never before on
readers’, listeners’ and viewers’ decision to share . . . or not to share.
 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA 231

The challenge will be finding journalists

whose ability to engage an audience
matches their ability to gather and report
facts.
I’ve been saying this for years, and I’ll
say it again here: Hard though some
journalists may find it to believe, I think
this is the best time in history to become a
journalist. Yes, times are tough for some
media companies. But, as I told students
at the University of Illinois, we are closer
now than ever to the ideal advanced
Figure 11.2 @Meyerson.
by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Photograph by Lila M. Stromer, courtesy Charlie
who said, “the best test of truth is Meyerson.
the power of the thought to get
itself accepted in the competition of the market.” These days, if you have
something true to say—and I mean “true” here broadly: not just “truthful” or
“factual,” but also “truly funny,” or “truly moving,” or “truly beautiful”—this
new digital world empowers you to communicate it to anyone, anywhere,
regardless of medium. You don’t need a printing press. You don’t need an
antenna. All you need is a way with words or sound or pictures and a library
card to use a computer.

Source: Meyerson, C., as interviewed by R. Kaempfer. (2007, February 18). http://

chicagoradiospotlight.blogspot.com/2007/02/charlie-meyerson.html

Charlie Meyerson is a journalist based in Chicago. He is head of news for

HearHere’s startup, Rivet News Radio. He’s also an adjunct professor of journalism
at Roosevelt University and an occasional contributor to WBEZ-FM, Crain’s Chicago
Business and WXRT-FM. He has been an adjunct lecturer in the graduate program
at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and at Columbia College
Chicago. Meyerson holds undergraduate and graduate journalism degrees from
the University of Illinois, where he began his broadcasting career. He consults in
content strategy through his practice, Meyerson Strategy.

Television, Branding and Live from the Scene

As a major October snowstorm headed into the Denver area, reporter Kevin
Torres and his live truck operator headed outside the newsroom on assignment to
cover impact, which included accidents. For decades, live and local television
news produced predictable content. What is new and exciting is the blending of
backpack journalism, mobile media technologies and social media strategies.
As snow fell in advance of a 9 p.m. live news report, Livestream viewers of
Torres’ channel went along with him behind the scenes. Much as popular
sociologist Erving Goffman might have described “front stage” and “backstage”
232 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

life, the video stream and chat room offered a backstage glimpse into the
workings of TV news. Torres became noticeably tense as his truck operator was
unable to bounce a signal into the station. With all of the drama of reality TV, our
viewpoint was carried back inside the truck for a quick drive to the Golden,
Colorado, exit.
Even for those who have met Torres, it still may have felt like a parasocial
interaction—a sociological term coined to describe how media personalities seem
like our friends—while typing into the chat room. The video stream had an
Apollo 13 feel and sound. A duct tape joke didn’t go over that well, although
Torres did let viewers know that this was an older live truck. Once on air from
Golden, tension subsided. The 10 p.m. live shot went off on time and with
professional ease. Viewers could monitor the backstage streaming video, as well
as the on-air broadcast. After Torres finished, he was back with his online
audience for a quick wrap-up and goodbye for the night.
Torres was willing to share with online fans most of his side of cellphone calls
to the station, which ended once by unfortunately dropping what he said was a
new phone. This live and unrehearsed aspect to the online stream helped magnify
authenticity and strengthen engagement because viewers could see Torres’
engaging off-air personality. He also let them know that he was checking
Facebook, Twitter and email at different points in and out of the broadcasts.
Few reporters and stations are sharing this much about what happens away
from the bright lights of TV cameras. Television has an opportunity to be
experimenting with this innovative social media approach. It offers the
opportunity to drive audience traffic online, on the air and back online. While this
may not be the future of local news, it is an

Figure 11.3 Backpack journalist Kevin Torres has taken viewers behind the scenes with
“backstage” TV news preparation, including experiencing a ride in the live
truck.
 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA 233

Courtesy Kevin Torres.

attractive real-time model that follows the rules of computer-mediated
communication: identity (branding), interaction (two-way) and community
building (online). If Web 2.0 demonstrated the tools of social media, Web 3.0
will be about refining communication.
At the national level, television programming from The Voice (#TheVoice) to a
live performance of The Sound of Music (#SoundOfMusicLive) leveraged online
engagement. While musical theatre is challenging on network television, NBC
decided that by engaging social media fans, program interest could be magnified.
In fact, despite negative comments, NBC’s audience of 21.3 million viewers in
2013 was the largest for a non-sporting event in four years (RTT News, 2013;
Lane, 2013).

Top Media Sites on Social Media

Most readers would be able to identify Facebook and Twitter among the top
social media sites, but there are many media sites that benefit from Facebook
likes, Twitter re-tweets and overall social media exposure. Table 11.1 is a list of
the top fifteen media sites based upon Facebook likes.
A top site, such as The Huffington Post, has more than one million likes and
typically more than 150,000 Facebook users talking about it at any given time. By
posting links that get shared, some users will click and visit sites to read stories.
The deck is shuffled a bit in terms of the top Twitter tweets: 1. BBC; 2. Mashable;
3. The New York Times; 4. The Huffington Post; and 5. CNN (Thompson, 2013).
While the data are far from precise, it is clear that traditional media and new
media are competing across the social media platforms for leadership in audience
size and user activity. Blogging, which has dramatically grown in importance
because of sites such as The Huffington Post, is one of the best practice drivers
that is used to promote ideas and brands.

Table 11.1 Most Overall Facebook Likes

1. The Huffington Post

2. Buzzfeed
3. Upworthy
4. CNN
5. Daily Mail
6. New York Times
7. BBC
8. ABC News
9. The Guardian
10. NBC News
11. The Blaze
12. Fox News
234 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

13. Yahoo
14. NPR
15. Mashable

Source: Thompson, D. (2013, December 10). I Thought I Knew How Big Upworthy Was on
Facebook: Then I Saw This. The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/12/i-thought-
i-knew-how- big-upworthy-was-on-facebook-then-i-saw-this/282203/
Blogging
Activities identified as blogging may take many forms. An individual may
operate a WordPress, Blogger or other site with complete editorial control and
decision-making. At the same time, sites such as The Huffington Post maintain a
blog team that exercises an editorial review process. Blogs published there must
conform to style and other publishing rules. Beyond submission of a post and
receiving an editorial decision, bloggers typically have little contact with the blog
team.
On the other hand, the Chicago Tribune hosts ChicagoNow, a blog site that
promotes wide-open community discussion from many bloggers who do not sign
opinions with their names. Editors at this site promote a local blogger community
by hosting regular social hours called “blatherings” and other events. One is
called “Blogapalooz-Hour” in which bloggers are given a topic in the evening and
have one hour to publish. Following the event, ChicagoNow community
managers create a Storify summary of the monthly topical posts. The topics are
very general, such as, “Write about a great challenge faced by you or someone
else” (ChicagoNow, 2013).
Beyond full-length blog posts, which may run 500 to 1,000 words or more,
microblogging on Twitter, Tumblr and other social media sites is seen as a way to
regularly communicate ideas without the effort and time required by more
traditional blogging.

Blogs for Public Relations and Social Media Marketing

Blogging and micro-blogging developed from early Internet discussion boards.
The principle is the same in that online publishing gives authors exposure to a
global audience. In some cases, the combination of blogging and PR alter careers
and generate large amounts of interest. Creating, developing and maintaining a
blog are important best practice steps for anyone launching a career or seeking to
further develop awareness.
 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA 235

BOX 11.2 THOUGHT LEADER ROBERT P. MILES

Back in the olden days of yore (the mid1990s),
tech life was hard. You young’uns think it’s rough
when you can’t get Wi-Fi, drop your tablet, lose
your cellphone?
Piffle!
“Networking” meant the office computers
were linked through a mainframe that filled an
entire hermetically sealed room. (Heaven forbid
you entered without authorization! Why, a speck
of dust could take the whole system down!). And
connecting to the Internet? We had to dial a hard-
wired modem through a telephone line (the signal
had to climb Figure 11.4 @valueinvestorNE. uphill both ways! Through the
snow!), Courtesy Robert Miles.
236 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

waiting entire minutes for the call to connect. World Wide Web sites? No
graphics! No video! Just words.
The words “social” and “media” were never linked —if they were, it meant a
group of people watching a television show together (suffering through
commercials, no less!). No Facebook, no LinkedIn, no Twitter, no blogs! I know,
such deprivation. Ah, but we did have “bulletin boards.”
Not like Pinterest. Bulletin boards, back in the days of yesteryear, allowed
people to post messages that could be read by others who intentionally sought
them (no pushed content, can you imagine? Of course you can’t). As sites such
as AOL (get this: known then as America Online) and Yahoo! emerged, it was on
just such a bulletin board that I, unwittingly, became an early adopter of what
became social media marketing.
In 1993, AOL hosted The Motley Fool, a new investment newsletter founded
by brothers David and Tom Gardner. Owning a 25-employee business events
company meant investing my employee’s retirement funds. Believing it as
important to know how to invest as what to invest in, I studied strategies. The
Motley Fool and its bulletin board caught my eye.
One thing I wanted to know was, who was the most successful investor and
would he manage my investments? It may have been The Motley Fool that led
me to Roger Lowenstein’s 1995 book, Buffett: The Making of an American
Capitalist. Already considered “the Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett was then a 65-
year-old business magnate raised and living in Omaha, Nebraska. I was then a
38-year-old with a 12-year-old company, who’d been raised and lived near
Detroit, Michigan. Though Buffett most certainly was not available to manage
my investments, his Midwestern perspective and humor resonated with me,
another Midwesterner.
But, I realized, a third alternative was available: investing in Buffett himself.
After purchasing Berkshire Hathaway stock, I attended my first “Woodstock for
Capitalists” the first Saturday in May of 1996, one of 8,000 shareholders and
guests (today that number exceeds 30,000) in Omaha to absorb his sage advice.
The more I learned about and from Buffett, the more enamored I was of his
principles. Becoming something of a Buffett geek, I waxed enthusiastic to
anyone who would listen. And then I decided to share my enthusiasm more
widely, by committing to post “101 Reasons to Own Berkshire Hathaway” on
The Motley Fool bulletin board dedicated to Buffett’s company.
Using the screen name SimpleInvestor, the first post, on December 9, 1998,
read: “INVEST WITH THE BEST—There is simply no better investment than
Berkshire Hathaway, and no better investment manager than Warren Buffett. I
have been investing in the stock market for
(continued )
 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA 237

30 years and I have done just about everything imaginable . . . I have searched
high and low throughout this country and abroad. And my search has led me to
the single greatest investment that I have ever made . . . I invite you to sit back
and read my 101 REASONS TO OWN BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY. Please feel free to
debate, agree or even add your own reasons why you own Berkshire.
Fortunately there are more than 101 days until the next annual meeting. . . .”
The post drew a whopping eleven recommendations.
Although not posted daily, all 101 reasons were finished before the May
1999 shareholders meeting. “Recommendations” increased and messages rolled
in from readers around the world, including a European economist who urged
me to publish the posts. That sounded like a good idea.
Being naive about publishing, I printed out the posts into a booklet style,
then had 500 copies produced between tape-bound covers. The finished
“book,” with its manila cover and back, had all the sophistication of a college
dissertation.
Not being naive about social courtesies, I wrote Mr. Buffett to inform him of
this project. Surprisingly, he wrote me back. Even more surprising, he informed
me that as a Motley Fool reader, he’d read all 101 of the reasons. Topping things
off, he included a check for 10 copies to give his board of directors.
Reality quickly set in as libraries and bookstores refused to carry the “book.”
It was self-published, had no LOC number, no ISBN, no bar code. The best option
for promotion seemed to be where it started, on The Motley Fool. Sales were
brisk and soon more books were printed. Then I posted a different message: I’d
buy shareholders an ice cream cone at the Omaha Dairy Queen the evening
before the May 2000 annual meeting, even if they didn’t buy the book.
People showed up in droves. The local and worldwide news media appeared.
So did Warren Buffett. When he put an arm around my shoulder, flashbulbs (yes
flashbulbs) lit up. The book-signing event caught the eye of a John Wiley & Sons
publishing company representative attending the reception.
Before I knew it, I was in New York City, receiving an offer for this book and
for my next one. To which I said, “I didn’t know I was going to write another
book.” Of course you are, I was told. A check was pushed toward me. A tape-
bound copy of “The World’s Greatest Investment: 101 Reasons to Own
Berkshire Hathaway” was pushed back in return.
Little did I know this Simple Investor’s decision to share my enthusiasm on a
bulletin board would forever alter my career path. Three books later, I travel the
world speaking about Buffett’s investment strategies, appear regularly on cable
news, host the annual “Value Investor Conference,” and teach an Executive
MBA course at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Business
Administration. If it hadn’t been for the “newfangled” online communication
that ultimately
238 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

grew into social media, my enthusiasm for Warren Buffett would never have
enthused millions, but only bored my friends to tears.
Robert P. Miles is an author, founder and host of the Value Investor
Conference (www.valueinvestorconference.com/) and teaches a one-of-akind
course at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Executive MBA program, titled
The Genius of Warren Buffett.

The lessons learned by Bob Miles during the early Internet offer hints as to
how social networking and social media may create new opportunities with new
people and businesses. By jumping into what some would consider risky social
media spaces with ideas and passion, an individual connects with others seeking
similar information and interests.

Helpful Tools
Social media users typically spend a lot of time in an array of spaces, so there is a
great need for planning, strategies and development of best practices that cultivate
efficient use of new tools. Social media dashboards offer content managers an
opportunity to synthesize the most relevant and important data in real time.
For example, it may be important to track the top influencers on Twitter, which
can be viewed from different perspectives. As we have explored, a social network
can be visualized in terms of who is near the center of it, and who is at the
periphery. Likewise, we may want to track hashtags, audience size, mentions or
linked websites. The sheer size of global social media present information and
data management challenges— content duplication, content access, timeliness of
content, relevance of content to a particular platform and discussion, and
efficiency within large networks.
Beyond these issues, businesses worry about the bottom line of social media
activities. Evidence has begun to emerge suggesting that Twitter has a meaningful
value, particularly for smaller companies with less access to mainstream media
and a desire to break through the clutter (Andrews, 2013).
Brandwatch blogger and community manager Ruxandra Mindruta
(@RuxandraRux; 2013) in Brighton, U.K., published an excellent list of top free
tools used to monitor social media, shown in Table 11.2.
Social media best practices require community brand managers to hone content
by utilizing social media metrics and analytics to gauge interaction responses and
feed results into future decisions.

Getting Ahead of the Social Media Pack

There are clear leaders in social media, if one looks only at large numbers of
followers and engagement measures. Garst (2013) is listed as the tenth in a list of
top people (shown in Table 11.3) for re-tweets by marketers, according to the
Marketing Profs (2013) site.
 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA 239

Table 11.2 Top Free Social Media Monitoring Tools

1. Hootsuite allows users to manage multiple social media accounts, collaborate with
teams and analyze weekly reports.
2. TweetReach measures impact and influence of followers by tracking movement of
tweets.
3. Klout is a controversial measure of brand engagement, but it offers some
sense of community perception.
4. SocialMention monitors more than 100 sites and tracks influence along four
dimensions: Strength, Sentiment, Passion and Reach.
5. Twazzup is a first stop for Twitter users seeking real-time updates, keywords and
top influencers.
6. Addictomatic monitors brand reputation across key social media platforms.
7. HowSociable users track 12 sites, including Tumblr and WordPress.
8. IceRocket monitors sites across 20 languages with a database of 200 million blogs.
9. TweetDeck is a popular tool for scheduling posts and monitoring activity across
several sites.
10. Reachli (formerly Pinerly) measures and optimizes video and images, and it has
Pinterest analytics.

Source: Mindruta, R. (2013, August 9). Top 10 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools. Brandwatch.
www. brandwatch.com/2013/08/top-10-free-social-media-monitoring-tools/

Table 11.3 Top Marketing Sources for Re-tweets

1. @barackobama
2. @jowyang
3. @darrenrovell
4. @guykawasaki
5. @jack
6. @dannysullivan
7. @jeffbullas
8. @billclinton
9. @corybooker
10. @kimgarst

Sources: Marketing Profs (2013, August 6). Digital Marketers on Twitter: What They Share, Whom
They Retweet. www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/11340/digital-marketers-on-twitter-share-
retweet#ixzz2nxO Nt2jN
Garst, K. (2013, August 15). Twitter “Business Killers” to Avoid. http://kimgarst.com/twitter-
business- killers

Social media best practices require users to go beyond attracting followers and
fans, and it can be argued that the quality of interaction is much more important
than the numbers over time. Garst (2013) identifies a formula for success, which
240 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

includes avoiding common mistakes. She prefers offering social media tips,
repeating motivational quotes, answering questions and general conversation over
selling. Garst agrees with most successful social media practitioners who lead
with valuable content. Secondly, Garst urges users to remain focused on target
demographics in deciding whom to follow, what to say and when. She clears a lot
of social media noise by using tools such as Hootsuite to manage and filter
conversations.
Friedman (2013) listed six key trends that emphasize growing social and
mobile media use: 1. Social media’s “meteoric rise in influence” (para. 2); 2.
Mobile accounts for 15% of all Internet traffic, half “of average global mobile
web users now use mobile as . . . primary or exclusive means of going online”
(para. 3); 3. Older people like brands on Facebook, but younger users “favor
Instagram, SnapChat, and Tumblr” (para. 4); 4. Facebook and Instagram
advertising worked to produce significantly “higher clickthrough rates” (para. 5);
5. People and brands shared photographs on Instagram and Pinterest; and 6.
Google+ expanded features, and some brands experimented with it.
From Vine videos to amazing photography, best practices continue to redefine
the nature of online social media storytelling and influence. Social media are fast
and sometimes prone to quick viral sharing of content. Mobility and location
drive social networking toward authentic real-time engagement, but social media
branding and marketing rely heavily upon the features of entertainment. As was
the case before social media, entertainment interest is likely to divide along
traditional demographic group differences.

Perils
Social media communication may backfire on a user. Some consider social media
a sword with two edges that when combined with snarky comments may lead a
user to be suspended or fired from work, or worse (Nathanson, 2013).
In general, one of the social media perils is that trust for anything considered
an advertisement is very low. Consumers, however, listen to friends for most
recommendations. Marketers, for example, try to appeal to and even reward
potential influencers. They also use social media sharing and collaborative game-
like experiences. They hope to remain authentic rather than having the public turn
on them with negative sentiment.
Social media branding, re-branding and community building typically link
messages to research findings used to create strategic media campaigns. While it
is not that difficult to generate interest and buzz through a hashtag, it is
impossible to completely control users, including those who may try to hijack the
campaign for their own purposes. Still, the best practices involve building
relationships—the kind that may lead some followers, fans or friends to come to
your defense amid a social media crisis. In this sense, social media best practices
align with traditional media relations that use the power of celebrities and the
excitement of events.
 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA 241

For business owners, it makes sense to start slow in social media and seek
advice from those with experience. Social media consume time, and they are an
expense. Best practices suggest that business may benefit from having a Facebook
page, which then generates weekly insights data. Individuals should create a
LinkedIn profile, monitor key Twitter sources, and consider the value of
YouTube videos or Google+ options. The list of social media sites will quickly
grow, which means that it is problematic to enter these spaces without a clear
plan, strategies, goals, objectives and tactics. It also is a problem to jump into
social media spaces without first considering the value of creating a website or
blog. By doing this, users really must begin to have an understanding of SEO and
analytics before creating value from online relationships. By using social media to
communicate with people and businesses, it is possible to raise awareness and
interest in relationships. As has been the case with email for more than two
decades, online interaction must be timely and relevant to avoid being ignored.
IT, Collaboration, Virtual Teams and Other Trends
Information Technology (IT) offers new ways to explore technological
capabilities, best practices, and learning through use of shared mental models and
other perspectives. Much of the quality work in social media is a function of
teamwork, and these collaborative teams can also help personal and
organizational brands avoid making mistakes caused by decisions made without
thought. Collaboration happens when groups work toward common purposes,
which typically take into account stakeholders. The field of collaboration science
is emerging through engineering of the ways in which people think and work
(Morgeson, Reider, & Campion, 2005). Collaboration is concerned, then, with the
composition of group members within a social media team, as well as the ways
that leadership may promote creativity and encourage individuals to act in the
interest of the larger good (Day, Gronn, & Salas, 2004). Collaborative
communication within social media seeks to foster mutual understanding through
coorientation (Lin & Cheng-His, 2006). As individuals seek agreement and
understanding, there may be perceived performance, financial, physical,
convenience, social and/or psychological risks that deter potential group success
(p. 1208). Coorientation within a team would allow leaders to measure whether or
not the group can accurately predict orientations of other group members
(Christen, 2005).
Hollingshead and Contractor (2006) found that adding new communication
media to existing capabilities can, in fact, enhance communication and interaction
in small groups: “Collaboration among group members entails cognitive as well
as emotional and motivational aspects of communication” (Hollingshead &
Contractor, 2006, p. 115). Technologies may enhance within-group
communication, provide additional information to the group, or alter tasks.
Theoretical concerns include the degree of media richness and potential effects.
Mediation may increase anonymity, increase taskcenteredness, make
communication less personal or even have an effect on the consensus- building
process.
242 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media communications for older and new media are becoming products
of mobile media platforms and apps. The development and refinement of best
practices requires team collaboration and constant learning about new tools and
ideas.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How do mobile media devices and mobile-friendly platforms impact social

media communication? What are the major changes and trends?
2. How do newspapers, radio and television journalists need to change to adapt
to a social media environment? What are the potential rewards and risks?
3. What role may collaboration and teamwork play in improving the quality of
social media and refining best practices?

References
Andrews, E. L. (2013, April 1). The Bottom Line on Corporate Tweeting. Graduate
School of Stanford Business. www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/bottom-line-
corporate-tweeting? utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social-
media&utm_campaign=boundaries
Buttry, S. (2013, December). Better Journalism Through Engagement. Slideshare.
www.slide share.net/stevebuttry
Campbell, S. W., & Ling, R. (2011). Conclusion: Connecting and Disconnecting Through
Mobile Media. In S. W. Campbell and R. Ling (Eds.), Mobile Communication, pp.
323–330. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
ChicagoNow (2013). ChicagoNow’s Blogapalooza 3.0. Storify.
http://storify.com/ChicagoNow/ chicagonow-s-blogapalooza-3-0
Christen, C. T. (2005). The Utility of Coorientational Variables as Predictors of
Willingness to Negotiate,” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 82(1), 7–24.
Day, D., Gronn, P., & Salas, E. (2004). Leadership Capacity in Teams. Leadership
Quarterly, 15(6), 857–880.
Friedman, P. (2013, December 19). 6 Social Media Trends of 2013 and What They Mean
for the Future. The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-friedman/social-
media-trends-of2013_b_4463802.html
Gardner, H., & Davis, K. (2013). The App Generation. New Haven, CT: Yale University
Press.
Garst, K. (2013, August 15). Twitter “Business Killers” to Avoid. http://kimgarst.com/
twitter-business-killers
Gleason, R. (2013, December 18). Personal email, WBBM Newsradio 780 news director.
Hollingshead, A. B., & Contractor, N. S. (2006). New Media and Small Group
Organizing, in L. A. Lievrouw & S. Livingstone (Eds.), The Handbook of New Media,
pp. 114–133. London: Sage.
Hunsinger, J. (2014). Interface and Infrastructure of Social Media. In J. Hunsinger and T.
Senft (Eds.), The Social Media Handbook, pp. 5–17. New York, NY: Routledge.
IBM (2012, September 6). Smarter Commerce Conversations—2012 Orlando—Kim
Garst. http://youtu.be/1oVolmYybHU
 BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL MEDIA 243

Lane, E. (2013, December 9). Social Media Alive With The Sound of Music on NBC.
www.huff ingtonpost.com/eden-lane/social-media-alive-with-t_b_4401085.html
Lin, T. M. Y., & Cheng-His, F. (2006). The Effects of Perceived Risk on the Word-of-
Mouth Communication Dyad. Social Behavior & Personality 34(10), 1207–1216.
Marketing Profs (2013, August 6). Digital Marketers on Twitter: What They Share,
Whom They Retweet. www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/11340/digital-marketers-
on-twitter- share-retweet#ixzz2nxONt2jN
Mindruta, R. (2013, August 9). Top 10 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools. Brandwatch.
www. brandwatch.com/2013/08/top-10-free-social-media-monitoring-tools/
Morgeson, F., Reider, M., & Campion, M. (2005). Selecting Individuals in Team Settings:
The Importance of Social Skills, Personality Characteristics, and Teamwork
Knowledge. Personnel Psychology, 58(3), 583–611.
Nathanson, R. (2013, December 9). Social Media: Perils and Payoffs for Public Officials.
Albuquerque Journal. www.abqjournal.com/316631/news/social-media-perils-and-
payoffs.html
RTT News (2013, December 16). The Sound of Music Live! Ratings Higher Than First
Reported. www.rttnews.com/2239727/the-sound-of-music-live-ratings-higher-than-
first-reported.
aspx?type=ent
Thompson, D. (2013, December 10). I Thought I Knew How Big Upworthy Was on
Facebook: Then I Saw This. The Atlantic.
www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/12/i-thought-iknew-how-big-upworthy-
was-on-facebook-then-i-saw-this/282203/
This page intentionally left blank

12 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND

INFORMATION LITERACY

“In many ways I consider my Twitter activities a giant, distributed, never-ending

media literacy project.”
—Andy Carvin, (@acarvin, 2013)

In the 24/7, real-time world of social media, users need the ability to quickly make
good decisions. Media literacy is the skill of deconstructing messages and
understanding context. This is important for social media novices, as well as
communication professionals, who may become caught up in a social media
moment.
Justine Sacco was a public relations professional, but she said something on
Twitter that cost her a very good job. She was in London getting ready to board a
long flight to Africa when she tweeted:
@JustineSacco: Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m
white! (December 20, 2013).
Those twelve words caused a global uproar on social media while she was in the
air for more than 10 hours. There were parody accounts and critical tweets with
#HasJustineLandedYet on Twitter. By the time her flight landed in Cape Town,
South Africa, her name had been removed from the InterActiveCorp website—a PR
firm with many large clients. IACA issued an apology, calling the tweet offensive
and outrageous. At first, Sacco deleted the tweet, but it had already been captured in
screen shots and virally spread across the Net. Her initial action drew more
criticism, and she took down the Twitter account. Sacco was fired from her
executive job as communications director for the racist remark, and many found it
difficult to understand how a professional could make such a huge mistake. Her
apology even called it “a huge stupidity” (Dimitrova, 2013, para. 1). Sacco should
have had better media literacy skills, but she also had a previous history of
questionable tweets. The case is also noteworthy because the tweet sparked a social
media “mob” reaction likened to “trial by social media,” which is similar to the
more traditional notion of “pillory of the press” (Bowcott, 2011). It is understood
that media exposure—traditional or social—may generate an immediate penalty of
mass public ridicule.
One way to view social media is through the metaphor of “the stream,” which
reflects the idea that information flows and may even crest (Madrigaldec, 2013,
para. 1). The idea of a stream emphasizes real-time data, such as that on Twitter,
which has no beginning or end. A premium is placed on sharing of current
information, and the conversation is “permanently unfinished ” (para. 13). Such a
stream may not lend itself to quality content or media that remain fresh for very
long. In a media literacy sense, users

215

and fans must understand these characteristics, deconstruct what they are viewing
and make conscious decisions about how to spend time.
The lure of the social media stream is also a problem within schools. Teachers,
who can be seen using their cellphones, do so even though this activity by students
often is prohibited during the school day:
It turns out that this is a hotly debated issue. Many schools have policies that
do not allow students to use cellphones during the school day; some even
have policies that forbid students to have phones with them in school, at all.
But these policies do not necessarily extend to teachers. (Dobrow, 2013,
para. 4)
A media literacy approach would be to develop good teacher and student use habits,
rather than restricting access to the devices, because prohibition misses learning
opportunities.
In this book, social media have been explored from a variety of perspectives and
within different contexts. From computer-mediated communication concepts to the
applied fields of journalism, public relations, advertising and marketing we can
identify a desire for online engagement and influence. In this chapter, we look at
how social media may be important in driving social change. Media and
information literacy address what we know and how we know it. It is a perspective
that urges us to become smarter social media users.
246 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY

BOX 12.1 THOUGHT LEADER SAMMI HE

The most significant change in the PR industry is due to
widely adopted social media usage. Public relations
practitioners get substantially shorter periods of time to
react to an issue or crisis. The general public, journalists,
investors, employees and other related parties can now
follow the development of any event online through
various social media tools, such as Twitter and Facebook.
In the next five years, we should see more
“freelancers,” who have significant followers on their
blog or Twitter account, and write for many different
publications. They may not necessarily be primarily
journalists, as there are Figure 12.1 @SammiHe. fewer
Courtesy Sammi He.
so-called “disciplines” now in traditional
media outlets. The changes make it more dif-
ficult for PR professionals to pitch stories and also require us to have greater
knowledge in more areas. It is hard for us to identify who the true experts are in a
certain area. Also, despite many attempts to measure “engagement” or “ROI,”
there still is no industry standard to measure the efforts of social media at the
corporate or personal level. In addition, information, especially false information
like rumors, more easily flies
 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY 247

around through social media. Lastly, brands or individuals can be easily

“brandjacked” or manipulated, as others take their user names or domains and
assert themselves as someone else.
Bloggers, Twitterers and LinkedIn groups usually build audiences with like minds
and interests, which give PR professionals an advantage of targeting the right
audiences more efficiently and effectively. They have their own virtual circle, which
allows the messages to be circulated without too much promotion. Done right,
social media also may help clients reduce the cost for a campaign, yet generate
more positive and effective results.
Sammi He is a member of the Corporate/Financial Practice of BursonMarsteller.
Sammi has more than three years of experience in communications, with an
emphasis in media relations, event planning, strategy development and executive
positioning. She is also a member of B-M’s U.S.-China Specialty Group, where she
acts as a core member of the team, seeking insights into how to reach all forms of
media and audiences in Asia. Additionally, she helps Chinese clients establish and
increase awareness in the U.S. through various activities. She received her
undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Media Literacy
Literacy skills are a fundamental requirement of an elementary and secondary
education, yet media literacy may not be emphasized within traditional early
education. Further, life-long learning by adults about the nature of global media
corporations; framing of media messages; potential effects on children and adults;
and application of this knowledge in the role of active, deliberative citizenship is
crucial (Tewksbury & Rittenberg, 2012). George Takei, for example, went from
being known as Sulu on the Star Trek television show to a social media star.
More importantly, he used his connection to fans to attack negative stereotypes
about Asians and gays. Takei told The Daily Beast:
Ours is a people’s democracy, and it can be as great as a people can be, but
it’s also as fallible as people are. So, this democracy is vitally dependent
on good people to be actively engaged in the process. (Stern, 2014, para.
17)
Through his website, Oh My! memes and a play about his life, Takei blends
entertainment and political activism that is powered by social media
communication. His content may be seen as a form of social media literacy
education in response to the ignorance that also is spread online in the social
media marketplace of ideas.
The social media environment presents a challenge that young, middle-aged
and older people alike have not faced in the history of civilization—to exercise
personal responsibility in an unprecedented era of open communication and
access to a global audience. Whether we know it or not, we all have the power to
248 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY

be publishers, yet few of us are formally trained to do so. Consider high school
students in the United States who find the freedom the Internet offers an attractive
method of expression. However, mass media are full of accounts of the dangers of
predators using this information (Coronado, 2006). In the years during social
media development, the problem of inappropriate and illegal online
communication has become widespread. The general issue led the state of
Massachusetts in the early days of social media to urge MySpace.com, a website
devoted to personal pages and groups, to raise the minimum age of users from 14
to 18. Age restrictions imply that teens do not or cannot be taught to exercise
sophisticated media and information literacy skills. The soaring popularity of
personal websites is only one part of the larger social media literacy issue.

BOX 12.2 MYSPACE ONLINE COMMUNITIES

MySpace Describes Its Definition of an Online Community
MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends’ friends.
Create a private community on MySpace and you can share photos, journals and
interests with your growing network of mutual friends!
See who knows who, or how you are connected. Find out if you really are six
people away from Kevin Bacon.

MySpace is for everyone:

• Friends who want to talk Online
• Single people who want to meet other Singles
• Matchmakers who want to connect their friends with other friends
• Families who want to keep in touch—map your Family Tree
• Business people and co-workers interested in networking
• Classmates and study partners
Anyone looking for long lost friends! This MySpace online community
description falls short of taking a media literacy approach, but it does suggest
creation of “a private community” for photograph sharing. Too often, the
marketing and business interests of social network sites emphasize use and
encourage it without development of users’ critical thinking skills. A social
responsibility perspective would offer specific examples of private and public
communication.
Source: Techterms (2007, Mar. 6). MySpace. www.techterms.com/definition/ myspace

It is unfair to see social media sites only as potentially harmful to young

people. Clearly, they also provide socialization and interaction opportunities.
When a missing person report is posted on Facebook, for example, it can assist
law enforcement in an investigation. The key is how social networking is used. A
media literacy perspective allows us to examine content and technology from a
variety of angles, not just one.
 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY 249

From a computer-mediated communication perspective, Huffaker and Calvert

(2005) examined issues of online identity and language among teenage blog
users. They found that a majority of teen bloggers presented extensive personal
data, including first names, age, and contact information. One in five teens
revealed a full name.
The integration of media and information literacy produces an emphasis on
schools and education, library usage, intercultural communication and global
media. Culture and stereotypes have been found to exist within social media, as
they do in society.
Developments in social media presented new questions about how the public
processes information and entertainment. Peter Levine, Deputy Director of
CIRCLE, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and
Engagement, discussed the proliferation of unreliable information and the
challenges posed by it: “Some prominent individuals and institutions are calling
for schools to prepare young people to identify reliable information online”
(Levine, 2005, p. 1). In this context, there is a call for formalized information
literacy education in the schools, but U.S. K–16 education has been slow to
respond. One important issue for schools is the examination of media use in
different environments, such as during social free time and within different
cultural contexts (Vered, 2001; Hart, 2001; Lealand, 2001). Educators need to
respond to the larger framework of student media and social media use in a global
and multimedia environment. In such a world, media and information literacy
must be placed within an emerging multicultural education framework. Public
and private elementary and secondary school teachers appear to support the goals
and values of media education, but the constraints of curricula, time, and
resources limit their willingness to expand instruction and include media
education. While media literacy education has spread throughout the United
States, it has not been fully adopted by educators (Yates, 2004). So media and
information literacy education have yet to reach a mature status as an integral and
essential part of school curricula. Schools present one set of concerns for those
wishing to understand media and information literacy, but libraries are a different
context. The role of media librarianship has been transformed by technological
and social change. Librarians and library patrons are increasingly likely to be in
interaction with one another, likely to be utilizing technology, and likely to
approximate pedagogical structure. This blending of classroom, library online and
social media contexts will continue to evolve, as online interaction grows in
popularity.

Life-Long Learning and Media Literacy

Social media and information literacy is a dynamic field of study, which is being
dramatically influenced by social and technological change (Briggs, 2010). For
example, the introduction and diffusion of the video iPod made it possible for
people to download media content and take it for viewing anywhere. Thus, such
250 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY

portable media messages competed for attention with ubiquitous place-based

television (i.e., TV screens in supermarkets, schools, doctor’s offices, gas
stations, etc.) and traditional print media. The rapid diffusion of smartphones and
tablets followed, creating a media-rich environment. Everyone is challenged to
exercise more sophisticated media literacy skills. Increasingly, it is not enough to
be able to read and understand text-based messages. The prevalence of multi-
media requires people to exercise advanced visual literacy skills.
Aging baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—are a key group
headed toward their retirement years. Interesting issues have emerged about
whether this group, raised on television, would behave as their parents did in
terms of traditional media usage. In fact, this group quickly embraced social
media sites, such as Facebook, as well as online media usage on sites such as
Twitter. Newspapers and television remain important sources for boomers, yet
inexpensive tablets encouraged the shift away from traditional media uses. Awash
in new media choices, boomers are set to make lifestyle choices that break the
mold of previous generations. From a global media literacy perspective, boomers
can be thought of as users and fans who critically examine consumer content (Hilt
& Lipschultz, 2005). In this sense, the media literacy approach directly challenges
critical theorists who argue that consumers are passive and easily manipulated—
especially when users have the tools at their fingertips (Mathison, 2009).
The Internet led some authors to emphasize the importance of digital literacy
skills, information literacy skills, technology literacy, and visual literacy as
significant elements in understanding media literacy. Shapiro and Hughes (1996)
asked what would individuals need to know to be considered competent and
literate in an information society:
As we witness not only the saturation of our daily lives with information
organized and transmitted via information technology, by the way in which
public issues and social life increasingly are affected by information-
technology issues—from intellectual property to privacy and the structure
of work to entertainment, art and fantasy life—the issue of what it means
to be informationliterate becomes more acute for our whole society. (p. 1)
The stream of social media content makes it difficult to precisely define literacy,
much less social media literacy. Silverblatt (1995) organized media literacy
around four prime aspects of message interpretation: process, context, framework,
and production values. He builds upon this through a definition of media literacy
that has five elements— awareness of impact on individuals and society;
understanding media processes; message analysis strategy development; content
as cultural indicators; and enhancement of media enjoyment and appreciation.
Silverblatt’s framework may work for social media users in allowing them to step
back from the social stream and understand cultural significance of the
communication in a way that he describes as critical awareness (Silverblatt &
Zlobin, 2004). Within social and mobile media, messages vary in form and
content. Instead of following narrow professional content rules, any user may
 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY 251

produce content using any set of production rules. The optimistic view is that
social media promote citizen decision-making, collaboration and compromise, yet
there also continues to be anecdotal evidence that users tend to retreat to
conversations with like-minded individuals and organizations.

Global Media Corporations

One concern has been that traditional media ownership is increasingly highly
concentrated in the hands of a few major global corporations (Bagdikian, 2000).
Beyond the homogenous messages distributed by these large corporations, most
users have been educated without the media literacy tools to challenge media
values of violence and blind consumerism. McChesney (1999) saw media literacy
as a movement designed to increase education, skepticism and knowledge:
It is fueled by the large public discontent with the hypercommercialism,
banality, and assininity of corporate media fare, as well as the
commercialization of education and every possible facet of social life.
Media literacy has considerable potential as long as it involves explaining
how the media system actually works and does not posit that the existing
system is by definition good, democratic, and immutable. (p. 301)
Social media seem in one sense to liberate individuals from corporate control by
offering new communication options. Still, large corporate social media sites,
such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ continue to dominate much of the
landscape. Social media offer a paradox of freedom and control—users are free to
communicate, but they do so within systems designed by large media industries
(Albarran, 2013).

Framing of Media Messages

Relatively little structured education exists to prepare viewers to deconstruct and
critically examine complex media messages. One example would be the
innovative undergraduate program at Webster University. This field of study
views media literacy as “a critical thinking skill that focuses on the source of
much of our information: the media.” Programs such as this address media
literacy through:

• awareness of media impact on individuals and the society; •

understanding of mass communication processes;
• developing critical approaches to analyze media messages;
• media content awareness of text, sound, and images; and,
• exploration of cultural and social constructions, depictions, and presentations
of diverse groups by media.
252 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY

Further, some campuses use information literacy in education curricula to address

issues related to instruction design, web page development, and website
evaluation. Educational institutions reflect dramatic and relevant changes in
society.
Traditional media, such as radio and television, also are adapting to this new
environment. Where once the nightly network newscast was king, the lines have
blurred between news and entertainment. For example, cable television programs
like The Colbert Report employ satire and actual news video to make fun of the
political and social landscape at the same time as they critique it.
MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann (2006), which mixed serious and
humorous news until it was dropped from cable, once suggested that the public
and news sources can become confused about reality:
Number three, Stephen Colbert. When I was on his show, I told him,
you’re too good. Some conservatives will not realize you’re destroying
them. Like Tom DeLay, it turns out. The DeLay Defense Fund has e-
mailed a critique of a new anti-DeLay documentary. It credits Colbert’s
interview with the filmmaker as “cracking the story,” with such questions
as, Who hates America more, you or Michael Moore?
At its core, media literacy (Media Literacy, 2003) is the ability to pay close
attention to content (including the visual) and make sense of a wide range of
media messages and presentations (Green, Lodato, Schwalbe, & Silcock, 2012).
The critical examination of text, photographs, audio, and video requires
awareness, education, and practice.
In one example, a tourist photo was altered to include what appears to be a jet
heading toward the World Trade Center. The image was widely distributed in the
weeks following September 11, 2001. In fact, a close examination of the lighting,
color, clothing, sky, and angles reveals it is a fake. Likewise, the e-mail stories
disseminated about the image did not withstand critical scrutiny. The Snopes
website is one dedicated to debunking false Internet information, and this content
is widely shared via social media. One great advantage of the emerging social
media world is that each shared item can be scrutinized by participants within
social networks to assist a user in discovering whether or not content is authentic.

Potential Effects from Media Literacy

In order to understand the emerging field of media and information literacy,
attention must be paid to a wide range of interdisciplinary studies. Media research
frequently addresses literacy concerns as they relate to dynamic news
construction, audience perception of stories and cultivation of long-term beliefs
(Dominick, 2009). At the same time, library studies have been at the heart of
questions related to how people seek, find, process, and use new information.
Thus, media and information literacy draws from traditional disciplines, but it
 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY 253

forges a new way of looking at how people use media (Barnes, 2003; Baran &
Davis, 2000).
Social media literacy urges users to reflect upon content ownership, privacy
invasion and other issues addressed in this book. Podcasting was one early form
that helped democratize media by allowing anyone with a computer to participate.

Application of Knowledge
As people adopt new and different media, including social media through SNS
platforms, studies will need to be grounded in what we already know about the
development of visual and computer literacy skills (Kupianen, 2013). Media
audiences are known to possess complex schemas—ordered information that
offers cognitive explanations (Graber, 2006). Potter (2001/2008) aligned media
literacy as a perspective related to media exposure and meaning making from
messages. Meaning making is cognitive and affective—capable of generating
emotional response (Rodman, 2001).
Media and information literacy matter because people of all walks of life need
to be able to deconstruct media messages and critique the quality of information
sources. For example, many days after 9/11 there came a moment when morning
network TV shows left coverage and returned to the mundane: cooking recipes,
review of the latest popular music artist CD, and the following of sensational
murder cases. Likewise, we could have predicted the shift away from Hurricane
Katrina coverage. While some light has been shed on the ebb and flow of news
cycles, viewers armed with media and information literacy knowledge and skills
would immediately recognize what is happening and why. From organizational
routines to individual behaviors, news and information are important. Media
tactics help explain content from a political and economic perspective. This level
of understanding about media behavior needs to diffuse into media and
information literacy education for all ages. From WikiLeaks (Beckett, with Ball,
2012) to virtual relationships (Brown, 2011) and political change (Garrett &
Danziger, 2011), social media present literacy challenges and opportunities.
Media and information literacy remains in most places outside the definition of
what elementary and secondary school age students need to know. This is even
the case in most higher education requirements. If everyone seems to agree that
we live in a media and information age, why have educators been so slow to
respond? Is it because of politics, economics, or some other macro explanations?
Media and information literacy remains somewhat on the edge of more traditional
disciplines. This, however, must and will change in the global media and
information age. Globalization is likely to place increasing importance on cultural
theory, democratic theory, and development of new social movements. This may
be related to development of new media as technological tools for social change.
As individuals are empowered by their media and information literacy skills, it is
possible that these abilities will be harnessed as cultural tools in grassroots battles
to maintain local and national identities.
254 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY

Social media literacy extends to policy questions and issues. When a

University of Kansas media professor spoke out following the Navy Yard 2013
shootings in Washington, DC, he received death threats and personal attack. The
university placed the professor on leave and revamped its disciplinary policies to
include social media. The following social media policy amendments were made
by the Regents in the weeks following the event.

BOX 12.3 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

The Kansas Board of Regents in 2013 added social media language to a section of
their suspension, termination and dismissal policies, which were under review in
2014.
The chief executive officer of a state university has the authority to suspend,
dismiss or terminate from employment any faculty or staff member who makes
improper use of social media. “Social media” means any facility for online
publication and commentary, including but not limited to blogs, wikis, and social
networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.
“Improper use of social media” means making a communication through social
media that:
i. directly incites violence or other immediate breach of the peace; ii. when
made pursuant to (i.e. in furtherance of) the employee’s official duties, is
contrary to the best interest of the university; . . . iv. subject to the balancing
analysis required by the following paragraph, impairs discipline by superiors
or harmony among coworkers . . .
In determining whether the employee’s communication constitutes an
improper use of social media under paragraph (iv), the chief
(continued )
 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY 255

executive officer shall balance the interest of the university in promoting the
efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees against the
employee’s right as a citizen to speak on matters of public concern, and may
consider the employee’s position within the university and whether the
employee used or publicized the university name, brands, website, official title
or school/department/college or otherwise created the appearance of the
communication being endorsed, approved or connected to the university in a
manner that discredits the university. The chief executive officer may also
consider whether the communication was made during the employee’s working
hours or the communication was transmitted utilizing university systems or
equipment.

Source: University of Kansas, Board of Regents (2013). Suspensions, Terminations and

Dismissals (6)(b) Other. www.kansasregents.org/policy_chapter_ii_c_suspen sions

Social media literacy skills might have led the professor to pause and reflect on
the need to inject into a Twitter controversy, or at least the manner of the
communication. Likewise, a social media literacy perspective should have kept
the Kansas Board of Regents from revising policy so quickly after an incident.
Rather than focusing on communication restrictions and punishment, the board
might have been able to generate a statement that respected free expression and
balanced it against the need for public safety. The vague nature of several of the
policy provisions is a problem. It translates to a policy that could lead to
termination for nearly any use of a social networking platform and opens the door
to arbitrary actions. Social media use could be used as an excuse to fire an
employee when other reasons could be more easily challenged in court. It is
believed that the Kansas policy in its original language would not survive a First
Amendment review by the federal courts.
Global social media literacy will continue to generate new questions
(Lipschultz & Hilt, 2005). Computer and visual literacy skills must evolve with
constant technological change (Potter, 2001/2008). Individuals, for example using
mobile and social media, face literacy issues in the interaction between people,
messages, sounds and visual images (Hobbs, 1997). Social media literacy needs
to be connected and understood as social activity (Vered, 2001), cultural
experience and knowledge (Hart, 2001). Beyond simple access and use (Lealand,
2001), social media users will face critical multicultural challenges (Haynes
Writer & Chávez Chávez, 2001; Yates, 2004). Social media literacy experts will
need to keep up on issues and educate users (Widzinski, 2001), as few people
have adequate time to devote to the fluid environment that has political
significance (Best, 2005). Old and new media alike present information and other
content in a variety of forms. Mass media and information literacy is a way of
thinking about theories, skills and practices utilized to make better judgments.
The field is one approach that assists consumers of social media.
256 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY

BOX 12.4 THOUGHT LEADER CAROL FOWLER

Social media have given access to the
tools of mass communication once only
held by journalists and brands (through
advertising). This has had a profound
impact on the influence and
profitability of traditional news media,
and the change is ongoing, although I
think the biggest shift has taken place
and now the lords of traditional media
understand there is no “putting the
genie back in the bottle.” Anyone with
a Twitter Figure 12.2 @carolfowler.
account can be a reporter. Social Photograph by David Klobucar, courtesy Carol
Fowler. media also created an environ-
ment in which it is permissible and even encouraged for journalists to share
personal opinions about politics and religion. Objectivity, while ideal, is no longer
essential. There are a handful of examples of reporters getting fired for what they
shared in social media, but usually it is because they crossed the line of good taste,
rather than because they let their personal feelings about an issue they’re covering
be known.
The credibility of information is in question, in ways like never before. Can you
believe what you read? Those trained in the principles of journalism follow a code
of ethics, but what’s the code of ethics in sharing news and content on Facebook?
It’s up to the public to be more discerning than ever. The rise of social media has
created a demand for education in media literacy. I hope that in the next five years,
parents and educators take a more active role in teaching young people what
sources of information they should trust.
Social media tipped the scale by creating a powerful mechanism for consumers
to hold brands accountable, whether that be a restaurant, auto dealer, appliance
maker or mortgage lender. The idea of calling a lawyer or taking your complaint to
the Better Business Bureau? How oldfashioned!
As of this writing, about 70% of people read consumer reviews before making
an important purchase. Those reviews have real value, and over the next five years,
I see brands reaching out to individual customers in the social space more
respectfully and strategically. The consumer reviews website where I work,
Viewpoints.com, is responding to this paradigm shift by creating a mechanism for
manufacturers and brands to “claim” their reviewed products and respond directly
to a consumer on our site
(continued )
 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY 257

immediately after a review is posted. We’ve named it Viewpoints Pulse because it

allows brands to keep their fingers on the “pulse” of what people are saying. I’m
excited about this because it creates a fuller picture of a product for those who are
shopping. If a consumer hated something, it helps to know the brand’s response
(i.e. maybe the user wasn’t following the directions) or conversely other
consumers and the manufacturer will get an early heads-up on a problem.
In its highest use, social media should be a conversation, not a one-way rant.
Over the next five years, I am most excited about coming up with new ways to
facilitate greater understanding on all sides.
Carol Fowler is a senior digital content strategist and technology entrepreneur
who is co-founder of Queue Digital, a start-up that helps local news organizations
develop an integrated mobile strategy to expand their audiences. With decades of
experience as a major market television news manager, Fowler has led editorial,
sales and marketing teams in providing content for new audiences, with shorter
attention spans, who self-select while on-the-go. Fowler brings expertise in SEO
practices, media operations, storytelling, social media and editorial decision-
making. From 2012 to 2014, she was Vice President of Content—Digital and Social
Media for a leading consumer reviews site, Viewpoints.com. Fowler is an alumna
of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Social media literacy skills empower users to examine the technology values
that exist within much of what is shared and discussed. There are corporate
benefits when we buy and use the latest technologies. In 2014, wearables,
technologies that are connected to various parts of a user’s body, open the
possibility of sharing data across social networks. Clearly, there are issues that go
beyond personal privacy, yet social media messages tend to promote how cool
this use will be. At the same time as the wealthy developing world uses the latest
social media technologies, the poor have little or no access, may be exploited in
the manufacturing processes, and may be the victims of environmental disasters
caused by unrestrained development. If we reduce social media to consumer
satisfaction, then this postmodernism may be a “hedonistic” search for needs that
will never be fully met (Stevenson, 1995, p. 149). Such issues force us to consider
the largest social media literacy question of all: Are we making progress?

Engagement, Networked Communicators, Trust and Influence

This book began by exploring how the entrepreneur businesses culture promotes
social media change. By recognizing the challenges of big data privacy, media
organization power and control, user best practices must be informed by
knowledge about the networked world. We can learn to critically examine data,
platforms and policies. We can effectively use social media without being forced
to surrender our identities, interactions and communities.
Trust should be earned over time. Social media offer the opportunity for users
to evaluate the influencers rather than accept media agenda setting. Responsible
258 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY

social media conversation takes ownership of communication. Users should be

able to tell their own stories and judge those of others. Rather than a reflex, social
media sharing should be a thoughtful activity. From professional strategies and
tactics to simple user interaction, a media literacy approach offers the potential to
use social media in promoting a better society.
From Dubai to Shanghai, social networking has become a normal behavior for
individual users desiring to present a version of the self by interacting through
online communication and cultivating a sense of community—sometimes across
great distances. At the same time, global social media communication features
commercial marketing and advertising that is very similar to what developed in
the United States.
The future of social media communication is likely to feature continued
improvement of smaller and lighter hardware driven by advances in software
programming. The key questions must focus on how people, organizations and
businesses will use these new technologies to communicate across SNS and other
social online spaces. For journalists, public relations professionals, advertisers
and marketers, social media communication defines what Microsoft’s Bill Gates
once called “The Road Ahead.” The challenges and opportunities involve
understanding key concepts, defining best practices, examining data, operating
within a legal framework and striving to be ethical. For those willing to take the
time to master social media communication, individual and professional rewards
are likely to follow. It is not that social media communication
 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY 259

Figure 12.3 College students browse Apple laptop computers on a city campus in
Hangzhou, China, where mobile smartphones were also very popular by
early 2012.
offers a utopia, for there are clearly important concerns about data privacy,
socially responsible behavior and media literacy. In the end, though, it is not
possible to reverse the technological momentum of the last three or four decades.
The best we may hope for is to harness capabilities, think about best uses and
make reasoned decisions about the future.

■ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. How would social media literacy improve the quality of communication

within your social network?
2. Is there a balance between free expression and responsible social media
communication? How does media literacy promote user understanding?
3. In what ways are social media promoting social change or the status quo?
How do you think this might be different going forward?

References
Albarran, A. B. (Ed.) (2013). The Social Media Industries. New York, NY: Routledge.
Bagdikian, B. H. (2000). The Media Monopoly, sixth edition. Boston, MA: Beacon Press,
pp. 239, 241.
Baran, S. J., & Davis, D. K. (2000). Mass Communication Theory: Foundations,
Ferment, and Future. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson
Barnes, S. B. (2003). Computer-Mediated Communication, Human-to-Human
Communication Across the Internet. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Beckett, C., with Ball, J. (2012). Wikileaks, News in the Networked Era. Cambridge, UK:
Polity Press.
Best, K. (2005). Rethinking the Globalization Movement: Toward a Cultural Theory of
Contemporary Democracy and Communication. Communication and Critical/Cultural
Studies, 2, 214–237.
Bowcott, O. (2011, July 5). Contempt of Court Rules are Designed to Avoid Trial by
Media. The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/law/2011/jul/05/contempt-court-rules-trial-
media Briggs, M. (2010). Journalism Next. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Brown, A. (2011, March-April). Relationships, Community, and Identity in the New
Virtual Society. The Futurist, 29–31, 34.
Coronado, R. (2006, April 27). Man Pleads No Contest to Molesting Girl, Sacramento
Bee, p. B2.
Dimitrova, K. (2013, December 21). Tweet on AIDS in Africa Sparks Internet Outrage.
ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/International/tweet-aids-africa-sparks-internet-
outrage/
Dobrow, J. (2013, December 4). Do as I Say, Not as I Do: Teachers, Cellphones and
Media Literacy. The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-dobrow/do-as-i-
say-not-as-i-dot_b_4379085.html?utm_hp_ref=media&ir=Media
260 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY

Dominick, J. R. (2009). The Dynamics of Mass Communication, tenth edition. New York,
NY: McGraw-Hill.
Garrett, R. K., & Danziger, J. N. (2011, March). The Internet Electorate. Communications
of the ACM 54(3), 117–123.
Graber, D. A. (2006). Mass Media & American Politics, seventh edition. Washington,
DC: CQ Press, p. 196.
Green, S. C., Lodato, M. J., Schwalbe, C. B., & Silcock, B. W. (2012). News Now, Visual
Storytelling in the Digital Age. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Hart, A. (2001). Researching Media Education in Schools in the United Kingdom. Studies
in Media & Information Literacy Education 1, 1–5. www.utpjournals.com/simile
Haynes Writer, J., & Chávez Chávez, R, (2001). Storied Lives, Dialog—Retro-reflections:
Melding Critical Multicultural Education and Critical Race Theory for Pedagogical
Transformation. Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education 1, 1–4.
www.utpjournals.com/simile
Hilt, M. L., & Lipschultz, J. H. (2005). Mass Media, an Aging Population, and the Baby
Boomers. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Hobbs, R. (1997). Expanding the Concept of Literacy. In Robert Kubey (Ed.), Media
Literacy in the Information Age, pp. 163–183. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction
Publishers.
Huffaker, D. A., & Calvert, S. L. (2005). Gender, Identity, and Language Use in Teenage
Blogs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 10(1),
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue2/huf faker.html
Kupianen, R. (2013). Media and Digital Literacies in Secondary School. New York, NY:
Peter Lang.
Lealand, G. (2001). Some Things Change, Some Things Remain the Same: New Zealand
Children and Media Use,” Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education, 1, 1–4.
www.utpjour nals.com/simile
Levine, P. (2005). The Problem of Online Misinformation and the Role of Schools.
Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education, 5(1), 1–11.
www.utpress.utoronto.ca/journal/ ejournals/simile
Lipschultz, J. H., & Hilt, M. L. (2005). Media & Information Literacy Theory and
Research:
Thoughts from the Co-Editors. Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education 5, 1.
www.
utpress.utoronto.ca/journal/ejournals/simile
Madrigaldec, A. C. (2013, December). 2013: The Year ‘the Stream’ Crested. The Atlantic.
www.
theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/2013-the-year-the-stream-crested/282202/
Mathison, D. (2009). Be the Media. New Hyde Park, NY: Natural E Creative Group.
McChesney, R. W. (1999). Rich Media, Poor Democracy, Communication Politics in
Dubious Times. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, p. 301.
Media Literacy (2003). Center for Media Literacy.
www.medialit.org/reading_room/article37. html
MSNBC (2006, May 24). Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12971702/
Potter, J. W. (2001/2008). Media Literacy, second edition and fourth edition. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
 FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LITERACY 261

Rodman, G. (2001). Making Sense of Media. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon,
2001.
Shapiro, J. J., & Hughes, S. K. (1996, March/April). Information Literacy as a Liberal
Art, Enlightenment Proposals for a New Curriculum, Educom Review 31, 1.
www.educause.edu/ pub/er/review/reviewArticles/31231.html (June 19, 2006).
Silverblatt, A. (1995). Media Literacy, Keys to Interpreting Media Messages, pp. 2–3,
128–131, 303. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Silverblatt, A., &, Zlobin, N. (2004). International Communications: A Media Literacy
Approach. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Stern, M. (2014, January 22). “To Be Takei” Traces George Takei’s Journey from
Japanese Internment Camp to Cultural Icon. The Daily Beast.
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/22/ to-be-takei-traces-george-takei-s-journey-
from-japanese-internment-camps-to-culturalicon.html
Stevenson, N. (1995) Understanding Media Cultures. London: Sage.
Tewksbury, D., & Rittenberg, J. (2012). News on the Internet, Information and
Citizenship in the 21st Century. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
University of Kansas, Board of Regents (2013). Suspensions, Terminations and
Dismissals (6)(b) Other. www.kansasregents.org/policy_chapter_ii_c_suspensions
Vered, K. O. (2001). Intermediary Space and Media Competency: Children’s Media Play
in “Out of School Hours Care” Facilities in Australia. Studies in Media & Information
Literacy Education 1, 1–4. www.utpjournals.com/simile
Widzinski, L. (2001). The Evolution of Media Librarianship: A Tangled History of
Change and Constancy. Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education 1, 1–4.
www.utpjournals.com/ simile
Yates, B. L. (2004). Applying Diffusion Theory: Adoption of Media Literacy Programs in
Schools. Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education 4, 1–4.
www.utpress.utoronto.ca/ journal/ejournals/simile
262 GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY

Advertising—paid and commercial messages purchased by an advertiser or agency representative

to appear within mainstream traditional or hybrid digital media. Sponsored content or “native
advertising” mimics the look and feel of editorial or news content, but it is sponsored as a
single ad or part of a larger ad campaign buy.
Analytics—measurement of social media behavior through a variety of metrics. A stream of new
tools has been developed to present real-time and near real-time data on social media
dashboards, such as Google Analytics.
Apps—short for applications, an app is software, for use on a desktop, laptop, tablet or
smartphone, that allows the user to apply the power of system software for a particular
purpose.
Arab Spring—political uprisings across the Middle East beginning in 2009, and continuing, that
generated large-scale public protests, political shifts toward removal of longtime rulers and
dictators, and intense social media and network activity. Mainstream media coverage included
following social media content.
Augmented reality (AR)—use of geographic data and mobile smartphone data and images to
augment physical spaces with vast amounts of computer data.
Benchmark data—use of foundational data within a social media campaign. By benchmarking, a
social media entity may set and track longer-term goals and objectives, as well as
effectiveness of tactics.
Best practices—standard practices of an industry, developed gradually, that are the processes and
social media content that have worked well over time.
Blog—these are online sites, often owned media, in which somewhat formal and regular posts
(information and commentary) are published. Early blogs were characterized by authenticity,
which is the idea that the author presents a more “real” and unfiltered identity.
Board—Pinterest uses the term “board’ to reflect the online space where users “pin” content to a
virtual message board.
Branding—the marketing technique of emphasizing a brand for a product, service, organization or
individual. A logo, face or even a song may reinforce the brand for consumers.
Breaking news—real-time events and news that happen as developing news stories. Traditional
media emphasize breaking news, and this content frequently is spread on social networks.
Business-to business (B2B)—business between two businesses rather than between a business
and consumer.
Buzz—the aggregate social network activity from a word, term, phrase or other content. On
Twitter, for example, we can track #BreakingNews buzz on a graph of time (X) and total
number of tweets (Y).
C-suite—top-level corporate executives making key decisions that may include social media
policies.

231
Citizen journalism—individuals use online platforms to distribute news created as non-
professional citizen journalists. This content may be “hyperlocal,” with a neighborhood focus
that does not attract large enough audiences to interest mainstream media.
Click-through rates (CTR)—a measure of user clicks on sponsored results.
Community—a core CMC concept that describes how individuals create groups, including
interest groups, by sharing information within social networks.
Computer-mediated communication (CMC)—a social and research construct that begins to
explain the nature of social network and social media behavior and culture.
Convergence—an early description of the merging of previously separate media, such as print
(newspapers and magazines), broadcasting (radio and television), advertising, public relations
and marketing. So-called “convergence newsrooms” were developed to allow content
producers to work across online media platforms.
Conversation monitoring—the process of monitoring online activity, emphasizing engagement
through responding to comments, reactions and posts by others.
Conversion—marketers convert social media activity to sales.
Cost of Ignoring (COI)—a newer metric developed in response to criticism of the lack of social
media ROI; it emphasizes the need for online engagement.
Cost Per Click (CPC)—a social media alternative advertising measure to the traditional cost per
thousand mainstream method for pricing commercial messages. CPC charges advertisers for
every audience user click.
Cost Per Thousand (CPM)—a traditional advertising price method estimating how much to
charge for each 1,000 audience members who will see the ad. For example, one online
national video service charges about $25 CPM. The Super Bowl, which has the largest
national audience, has increased over the years from $5 to $27 CPM, while a popular
primetime show may cost $35 CPM.
Credibility—is related to trust and believability. In media research, we talk about source and
message credibility. The more content has both, the more likely audience members will be to
trust it.
Crowdsourcing—social networks allow individuals to interact in real time. Crowdsourcing is
defined as a method for gathering, filtering, generating and distributing information within a
social network. On Twitter, for example, crowdsourcing is used during breaking news to
separate facts from rumors.
Customer relationship management (CRM)—organizes engagement around customer
satisfaction, loyalty and retention.
Digital Rights Management (DRM)—systems of control over content access to seek user
payments.
Diffusion—the spread of new ideas, new practices, new processes and new products. Diffusion
research identifies the earliest innovators (2.5%), early adopters (13.5%), early majority
(34%), late majority (34%), and laggards (16%). The percentage of adopters (Y) is graphed
using an S-shaped curve over time (X).
Direct Message (DM)—In Twitter, followers may send private messages that are not broadcast on
the larger network.
Early adopters—in a diffusion cycle, the first to adopt new technologies and/or ideas.
Earned exposure—customer reviewer expressions of positive feelings about products or services.
Earned media—public relations professionals work to receive positive attention for their clients
through content that is not paid advertising. Earned media may be the product of media
relations, a campaign, real-time engagement or other activities.
eCommerce—online sales and business.
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)—organization promoting free and open Internet.
GLOSSARY 233
264 GLOSSARY
Engagement—the term that describes strengthening social network interaction from
passive to more active. It goes beyond passive viewing to clicking on a link, liking
content, sharing content and responding to content in some way that can be seen by
social media users.
Entrepreneurs—social media sites have been created and developed by the technology
sector, which values an innovative culture. Personal computer hardware and software
were first developed by young entrepreneurs, such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and
the current industry features inventors and their start-ups.
Fan—A Facebook user may like a page and become a fan. By doing this, the posts on this page
appear on the user’s news feed.
Gatekeepers—those who perform a traditional news editorial function of story selection.
Hardware—the physical computing equipment, such as a desktop, laptop, tablet or
smartphone. We also speak of components—keyboard, mouse, monitor, router,
modem, etc.—as hardware.
Hashjacking—hijacking a hashtag already in use on Twitter for an event.
Hashtag (#)—the number sign is used on Twitter and, more recently, Facebook as a
filtering device. By searching for and using hashtags, subsets of the larger feed can be
seen and used.
Human-computer-interaction (HCI)—early research into how humans engaged with
computer hardware and software.
Hybrid media—new media that incorporate some older media rules, such as news editorial
practices.
Hyperlinks—Web links to other content via an Internet URL address.
Idea starter—a type of user identified by Edelmen TweetLevel as someone who begins
discussion or is an early participant. Specifically, these users on Twitter are rewarded
with a high score for “originating detailed opinion and thought leadership.”
Identity—what we present online through the use of words, photographs, sounds, videos,
emoticons, avatar or other means. Each time we decide to communicate (and even
when we do not) we suggest an identity to social network site users.
Impressions—awareness of information, such as from seeing it during a search.
Influence—users with a lot of fans, followers or connections tend to be considered influencers.
These social media accounts may have high Klout, Tweetlevel or other measured scores.
Innovation—a business culture favoring change over stability.
Interaction—each engagement with another SNS account reflects a decision to interact.
Interaction and engagement are a key foundation for social media use.
Internet Protocol (IP) an address number attached to a user computer or location.
Key Performance Indicators (KPI)—continuous monitoring of important business variables.
Keywords—words used within SEO to move page placement higher in a search by relating to
common user language.
Live tweeting—during an event or breaking news, eyewitnesses and commentators may
tweet in real time with updates on any new information.
Location-based services (LBS)—designed to allow users to check in at locations.
Marketing—promoting and selling products and services targeted at a specific market.
Research is usually utilized to focus marketing, which may involve use of advertising
and social media marketing.
Measurement error—all measurement has error, and researchers estimate amounts.
Media cloverleaf—Edelman PR divides the media environment into four overlapping parts:
traditional media, owned media, hybrid media and social media.
Media literacy—is a way to describe the need for media audience members to possess
skills that allow them to deconstruct and understand media content. For example, an
 information literacy approach would emphasize knowledge and learning. Media
literacy scholars suggest
that children need to be taught to realize when they are being sold products and services
through sophisticated advertising and marketing campaigns.
Meme—social media content that features cultural imitation. Production typically uses easily
identifiable characters, iterations and humor. For example, there is a persistent use of an
image from the 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie because of an early
meme generator site.
Metrics—the measurement of behavior within social media. A variety of social media
“dashboards,” such as Google Analytics, Sprout, Chartbeat, Hootsuite, Cision, Tweetdeck,
Argyle Social, Sprout Social and Radian6 are in use.
Microblog—short, or limited space, blogging began with Twitter and its 140 character limit.
Micro-blogging became a genre to comment through without taking the time and energy to
publish a more formal blog site. Even for those blogging, microblogs are used to push out
links and drive traffic back to the site.
Mobile communication—smartphones and tablets connected through WiFi or cellphone data.
Mobile Internet connections allow for the use of a wide variety of social media apps.
Narrative—use of storytelling techniques, such as a story arc.
Network visualization—social networks generate large amounts of data that may be viewed as a
series of network maps of communication hubs and spokes. Visualization depicts through
graphs the social space between SNS accounts.
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)—entities operating in the non-profit sector rather than
government or commercial for-profit businesses.
Objectivity—a norm within journalism placing value and emphasis on balance, fairness and
telling at least two sides to every story. In the second half of the 20th century, journalists
strived for objectivity. Recent scholars see it as an unachievable ideal. Social media users of
social networks frequently emphasize subjectivity and opinion.
Opportunity costs—the cost of using money on one expense and not having it available for other
possibilities.
Organic—is a way to describe naturally evolving social media content. Facebook contrasts
content that organically circulates on the social network with paid content that is then boosted
to the top of feeds, or given more prominent placement.
Owned media—typically company-owned media, such as a website.
Packet switching—the method of moving Internet data in packet chunks and re-assembling
content upon arrival.
Paid search—search engines charge advertisers for top placement within search results.
Pandora—a streaming music service.
Paywall—a system requiring registration and payment by users.
Pins—Pinterest describes any posting on a user board as a pin, which is the online metaphor for
placing a scrap of paper on a bulletin board.
Platforms—online sites that offer various social media services.
Posting—is the act of uploading media content to a social media site. Beyond organic content, the
text, photographs or video distributed through a posting may receive wider distribution by
paying for a promoted post or sponsored content on a site.
Promoted posts—social media sites charge advertisers to appear in prominent positions that are
likely to be seen.
Privacy—a concept first suggested in the late 19th century that calls for legal protection of
intimate details of life, especially when a person seeks to protect these from public view.
Propaganda—information designed to promote or advance a view, cause, person, product or idea.
Before World War II, propaganda was simply considered persuasion. However, World War II
266 GLOSSARY
propaganda caused people to associate the term with a pejorative meaning such that now it
suggests the spread of false information.
GLOSSARY 235

Public relations (PR)—seeks through professional best practices to present, maintain and
manage public images and reputations. Ongoing campaigns use media relations tactics
to present perceived positives. Reputation management efforts may be in response to a
crisis from perceived negative information.
Reach—a traditional mass media measure of distribution, social media are also interested in
measuring the broad distribution of content.
Real-time social engagement—current PR best practices include nearly immediate
response to conversation monitoring of social media. Within a relatively short time,
sometimes a matter of minutes, a brand engages on a social network about a trending
topic, issue or person.
Reliability—social scientific measures of consistency or reproducibility of results.
Return on Investment (ROI)—calculation of a financial gain minus the cost of an
investment. ROI is expressed as a percentage or ratio and is sometimes considered a
measure of efficiency.
Retweet—re-distributing a previous tweet with the letters RT in front of it, this allows
Twitter users to easily share content to their social network. Twitter users also post
MT for modified tweets and PRT, if an item is a partial retweet.
Roles—individuals adopt roles, much as an actor might. A social media professional, for
example, may perceive and express the role of an innovator or entrepreneur.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)—Google algorithms produce a system for pushing some
Internet content to the top of any specific search.
Search Engine Result Placements (SERP)—using SEO techniques to drive high placement
during keyword searches.
Sentiment analysis—computer and human coding for positive, neutral and negative comments.
Smartphones—mobile telephones connected on cellular networks that provide an Internet
connection through devices that have personal computer capabilities.
Social graph—on Facebook, this is a user’s complete social network.
Social media dashboard—measurement tools that organize data for efficient analysis.
Social networks—an array of online platforms used to connect with others.
Social Network Site (SNS)—any online platform that enables communication between site
accounts.
Software—computer code that allows hardware to be used via an operating system, programs
and applications.
Sponsored content—paid media content that may appear near editorial media content and free
social media content.
Start-ups—new business ventures, sometimes with the funding help of “angel investors,”
launch social media sites and apps. An innovation culture, annual events such as
“South By Southwest” (#SXSW) and the tech journalism community drive interest
and activity in the diffusion of new ideas and products.
Storytelling—a fundamental concept in journalism and media communication. People
have told stories since the development of language and oral tradition. Storytelling
techniques, including the use of narrative, drive interest in content.
Tactics—strategic PR campaigns devise a set of tactics used to achieve communication
goals. For example, if a campaign is designed to raise awareness about an issue, a
tactic may be to create a YouTube video that can be shared by bloggers.
Tagging—On Facebook, a person can be tagged in a photograph. In doing so, a name is
associated with a face and perhaps a place, and these data can be shared across the
social network. More generally, geotagging is use of a computer software code that
identifies location. A smartphone photograph may be geotagged with the location, and
this data can be presented or used within the context of an application.
Thought leader—in each area of the social media communication industry, leaders emerge who
can communicate as influencers of the field. These thought leaders may be very active in
social media and are asked to speak at conferences and meetings. They frequently blog and
publish articles and books.
Transparency—the social media approach of disclosing all relevant interests and not having a
hidden agenda.
Trending—on Twitter, different words and hashtags trend at any given time. These are the most
talked-about items. These can be organic or “promoted” as advertising.
Trust—is considered an important and fundamental characteristic for a lot of influential social
media content. Trust is related to credibility and believability, which frequently is assessed by
judging previous behavior, including communication.
Tweet—Twitter limits each individual message to no more than 140 characters, and calls it a
tweet.
User-generated content (UGC)—created content by users, often not sponsored by traditional
professional media organizations.
User profiles—online descriptions of user identities.
Uses and gratifications—a research perspective emphasizing active audience participation.
Validity—in social science, the determination that measurement is conceptually what it was
planned to be.
Verification and verified accounts—authenticity of identity is an important online concern.
Twitter created a blue checkmark to identify those accounts that have been verified through its
internal process, and this also appears on some Facebook pages. Additionally, Facebook users
may take advantage of a two-step verification for login that includes a text message code to a
mobile phone for account security.
Viral—content that is shared quickly and widely because of high interest. Social media enables
individuals to post viral videos on YouTube and rise to almost-instant fame.
Virtual communities—online spaces creating a community experience among users.
Vlog—video bloggers use video posts instead of text. Vlogs are regular commentary in a video
medium.
Word clouds—a word visualization of frequently used social media language.
Word of mouth (WOM)—personal influence is spread through word of mouth communication.
In the past, this was mostly done face-to-face. Now, CMC allows for mediated WOM through
social media communication.

INDEX
Abernathy, K. Q. 181, 184
Abu-Zayyad, Z. K. 165, 182
Academy Awards 9
Addictomatic 210 Adobe 17, 22 advertising
17, 47, 50, 59, 62, 70 – 1, 73,
78, 80, 89 – 105, 109, 124, 175 – 7, 186,
200; advertorials 62; banner advertising 91;
cost per thousand (CPM) 50; mobile
advertising 62; native advertising 72, 90 – 1;
paid search 72, 98; promoted posts 72;
sponsored content 71 – 2, 91, 177; sponsored
ABC News 13, 205
268 GLOSSARY
posts 200; sponsored search 96; sponsored B. H. 220, 228 Baer, Jay 91,
tweets 62; see also Google; Facebook 103, 104, 107 balance theory
Advertising Age 124 – 5 118 Baldes, T. 162, 182
Africa 215 agenda- Ball, J. 11, 22, 57, 65, 222, 228
setting 74 Air Berlin 2 – Banks, D. 167 – 8, 182 Baran, S. J. 33,
3 Akimoff, T. 116 – 17 44, 119, 124, 222, 228
Ali, A. H. 159, 165 182 Barcelona Declaration of Measurement
Al Jazeera 15 Principles 112, 114
Albarran, A. B. 13, 22, 29, 44, 221, 228 Bargh, J. 29, 39, 44
Allen, A. L. 150, 154 Barlow, John Perry 34 – 8; Declaration of the
Allen, C. 74, 86 Independence of Cyberspace 34 – 8;
Amazon.com 18, 30, 94, 97, 103, 127, 150, Grateful Dead 34
175
AMEC 112, 124
237
American Council of Education v. FCC 180
America Online (AOL) 29, 59
American Express 50, 94
Amichai-Hamburger, A. 42, 44
Andrews, E. L. 209, 212 Android
117
analytics, see data Anthony,
Casey 136
applications (apps) 6, 19, 50, 70, 97, 129,
134, 199, 201; see also mobile
Apple 19, 30, 117, 134 – 5, 201, 219, 227;
iPad 135; iPhone 19, 117, 134; iPod 219;
iTunes 30, 201
Arab Spring 13, 15, 53, 61; Egypt 13, 15,
53, 58; Iran 15; Libya 15, 53; propaganda
15, 167; Syria 13, 53; see also Carvin,
Andy; National Public Radio
Armano, David 71, 86
ARPANET 3, 29; packet switching 29
Asia 164
Assange, Julian 58; see also Wikileaks
Associated Press (AP) 10 – 11, 19 – 20, 22,
30,
72 – 3; Toni Twins 72 – 3
Association for Education in Journalism and
Mass Communication (AEJMC) xv, 34,
AT&T 94
The Atlantic 90 – 1, 205
Audio, voice and music 30 Augmented
Reality (AR) 11 authenticity 13, 58, 103;
authentic 58 Avatar 31; see also Second
Life awareness 72 – 3, 83, 91, 96 – 7, 108,
135, 221

Baack, D. 95, 104 baby

boomers 219 backpack
journalism 203 Bagdikian,
 INDEX
269

Barnes, S. B. 28, 41, 44, 180, 182, 222, 228 Brandeis, L. 141, 155 branding xiv,
Barnum, P. T. 72 11, 14, 16 – 17, 21, 56, 62,
Baym, N. 179, 182 70 – 2, 78, 82 – 3, 85, 89 – 92, 94, 97,
BBC 3, 205 103, 111, 114, 127, 129, 190, 217, 226;
Beckett, C. 11, 22, 57, 65, 222, 228 brand ambassadors 82; brand awareness
Bell, D. 31, 41, 44, 164, 182 78,
Benedikt, M. 31, 44 91, 99, 112; brand-building 71; brand
Berger, C. 31, 44 confusion 100; brand differentiation 83;
Berkman, F. 3, 23 branded apps 97; branded content 72;
Berkshire Hathaway 119 – 22, 207 – 8; see brandjacked 217; brand loyalty 70, 72,
83, 97; brand messages 72; brand
also Buffett, Warren
narratives
Bernays, Edward 72
78; brand positioning 96; brands 62, 70,
Bernie, S. 31, 44
78, 90, 127; corporate brand
Best, K. 224, 228
management 94; global brands 72;
Best practices xiii, xiv, 22, 124, 199 – 213 online branding 129; organizational
BeTheMedia.com xv brand 56, 111; voice 80, 98; see also
Beverly Hills 42 marketing; personal brand; public
Bieber, Justin 157 relations
big data 6, 22, 78, 141 – 55; see also data Branscomb, A. W. 157, 182
Bin Laden, Osama 16 Breaking News 6, 12, 48, 52 – 3, 62
Bing 81, 97 Blackstone, W. Brickflow 133 – 4
166, 182 blasphemy 55, 166; Bridges 11, 24
see also law Briggs, M. 12, 23, 50, 65, 159, 182, 219,
The Blaze 205 228
Blockbuster 142 – 3 Brockwell, H. 102, 104
Blogs 5, 12, 30, 53, 57, 59 – 61, 84, 103, Brown, A. 134, 135, 138, 223, 228
110, 131, 135, 160, 188, 192, 201, Buffett, Warren 59, 119 – 22, 207 – 9
205 – 6; bloggers 59; blogging 30, 49, Bugeja, M. 39, 44
59, 192, 206; CEO blogging 84; Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) 3, 28
gatewatching 63; micro-bloggers 13;
Burke, T. 27, 44
microblogging 56 – 7; paid bloggers 18,
Burnett, R. 32, 44, 118, 125
95, 193; PR blogging 80; video blogs
Burrell 116
(vlogs) 31; see also ethics; The
Huffington Post Burson-Marsteller 217
Bloustein, E. J. 141, 154 Business Insider 94, 99
Blumenthal v. Drudge 159, 182 Business-to Business (B2B) 92, 133
Bock, G.-W. 33, 45, 119, 125 Butler, B. 33, 45, 119, 125
Bolong, J. B. 189, 197 Butler University 137
Bonds-Raacke, J. 39, 46 Buttry, S. 200, 212
Bonnen, Amanda 162 Butts, C. T. 34
Bosse, L. 41 Buzz 18, 77, 80, 108
Boston 1, 22, 90, 185 Boston Marathon Buzzfeed 1, 30, 90 – 1, 205
1, 22, 185 boundaries 32; see also
Calder, B. 16, 24
computer-mediated
communication California 70
Bourdieu, P. 32, 44 Calvert, S. L. 218, 229
Bowcott, O. 215, 228 Bowen, S. A. Campion, M. 212 – 13
193 – 6 boyd, d. m. 29, 31, 44 Candy Crush Saga 31
270 INDEX

Cantor, M. 56, 65 Cinch 30

Caplan, S. 31, 42, 44 Circa 47
Carey, J. W. 42, 44 Cision 80, 116
Carr, David 90 Classmates.com 29 Click-bait 56
Carroll, R. L. 73, 86 click-through rates (CTR) 96
Carvin, Andy 13, 53 – 6, 215; see also clicktivism 62 clients 69, 75, 77 –
Breaking News; crowdsourcing; 8, 85, 124; client
National relationships 75
Public Radio Clow, K. E. 95, 104
Case Western Reserve University 192 – 3 CNN 1, 205 Coca-Cola 94
Cashmore, Pete 114, 115; see also cognitive dissonance 32,
Mashable 118 Cohn, David 47
Cassim, Shezanne 2 Colbert, Stephen 221
CBS 30 The Colbert Report 221
CBS News 69 Cole, J. L. 32, 44 Coleman, J. S. 32, 44
Celeb Boutique 102 collaboration 12, 30, 33, 53, 76, 79,
Celebrity 30, 61 – 2, 73 212;
Cha, J. 95, 104, 127, 138 collaborative 30, 50, 57; collaborative
Campbell, S. W. 199, 213 communities 64; virtual teams xiv
Cashmore, Pete 114, 162 Collington, J. 58 – 9
Cathcart, R. 119, 125 Collins, E. L. 73, 86
Chan-Olmsted, S. 11, 23, 132, 139 Columbia College
Chao, C.-C. 62, 67 Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) 47
Chat Room 29, 167, 204 Communications Decency Act of 1996, 34,
Chávez Chávez 224, 229 170, 181 – 2 CompuServe 29 computer-
Chen, Y. 39, 44 mediated communication (CMC) xiv,
Cheong, P. H. 23 3, 7, 27 – 46, 123, 180, 191, 215;
Chicago 9, 49, 70, 78 – 9, 99 – 101, 131, anonymity 31, 56, 191; community 5,
162, 21, 28, 39, 53,
201 – 3 76, 118, 188, 190, 195, 200, 226;
deception 27, 190, 193; flogging 193;
Chicago Cubs 80 – 1
flame war 42; identity 5, 27 – 8, 32;
Chicagoist 163
interaction 5, 28, 32, 56, 134, 189; social
ChicagoNow 206, 213
interaction 134; online communities 63;
Chicago Tribune 49, 206 online relationship 27, 118; relational
Chief Digital Officer (CDO) 69, 127 patterns 118; paradox 180, 221;
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) 69, 84, 187 psychological variables 31;
Chief Information Officer (CIO) 127 selfdisclosure 31; self-presentation 28;
China 5, 164 – 165, 217, 227; Guxiang see also ethics; network analyses
164 – 5; Hangzhou 227; Weibo 5, 30, 164 conflict 76 Conrado, E. 92, 104
Choney, S. 61, 65 Conradt, S. 84 – 6 consistency 190
Christianity 192 consumer 30, 57, 72, 83, 93, 97, 98 –
Christians, C. 188, 196 – 7 9,
Chrysler 84 127, 171, 174, 176, 224 – 5; complaints
Church of Scientology 91 90; data 142; reasonable consumer 174;
Chow, K. 159, 181 – 2 reviews 83, 97, 127, 225; see also
Christen, C. T. 212 – 13 customer
Chung, D. S. 189, 197
 INDEX
271

consumer-generated content 72 content cyber-bullying 2,

management systems (CMS) 47, 50, 61, cyberculture 31, 164
91 cyberspace 36
Contently 62 Contractor, N. S. 212 – 13 Cyrus, Miley 112
convergence xiv, 21, 49, 52, 71
conversation 64, 70, 77, 79, 80, 92, 95, Daily, Brad 141
98, The Daily Beast 181
123, 226 conversation monitoring 12, Daily Kos 30
80, 89 conversion 78, 89, 108; see also Daily Mail 205
marketing; Dallas 79
sales Danziger, J. N. 223, 228 D’Arcy, A. 195,
Cooley, C. H. 33, 45, 119, 125 197 data 6, 18, 22, 31, 90 – 1; analytics
Cooley, T. M. 141, 155 Coombs, W. T. 22, 31, 90, 107 – 25; benchmark data 18;
14, 23 copyright 59 – 60, 177 – 8 big data 6, 22; dashboards 31, 116; digital
Coronado, R. 217 – 18, 228 corporate trail 107; metrics 22, 99, 107 – 25; social
social responsibility (CSR) 82 – 3, media dashboard 116; surveillance 142;
92 – 3, 181 corporate social transparency 107; see also big data;
performance (CSP) 83 cost of reliability; validity
ignoring (COI) 18, 99, 108 cost per Davis, C. N. 12, 23, 47 – 8, 65
case 90 cost per click (CPC) 18 Davis, D. 33, 44, 119, 124, 222, 228
Cracked 30 Davis, K. 195, 197, 200, 213
Craft, S. 12, 23, 47 – 8, 65 Dawkins, Richard 43
Craigslist 4, 193 Day, D. 212 – 13
Crowther, Nicole 85 Deadspin 27
credibility xv, 15 – 16, 52, 54, 56–7, 62, Dealbook 122
84, DeFleur, M. L. 40, 45
90, 99, 225; authorship 195; ownership Delicious 30
195; perceived 75; see also trust Dennis v. U.S. 158, 182
Crook, J. 157, 171, 182 Denten, L. L. 80, 86
crowdfunding 132 Denver 203
crowdsourcing 7, 13, 19, 30, 53 – 6, 99, Desilver, D. 5, 23
190, 195, 201 Detroit 84
Crowley, D. 129, 138; see also Foursquare Devereaux, Z. 134, 139 Dickey, J. 27, 44,
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) 168 – 181 diffusion xiii, 6, 29, 33, 39 – 40, 56,
70, 73, 119,
182 130, 219; adopters 56; adoption 39, 47,
C-suite 69, 98, 107 cultivation 74 culture 144; early adopters 29, 40; early
9, 28, 42, 55, 92 – 3, 164, 179, 195 – 6, majority 40; innovators 40; laggards 40;
219; cultural norms 55; cultural late majority 40; S-shaped curve 39
relativism 196; cultural shifts 28; Digg 30
fragmented culture 179; social cultural DiGiorno 82
30, 92 curator 63, 71; curated content Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998,
71; see also 178
Armano, David curriculum xiv Curtis, L. Digital Rights Management (DRM) 178
75, 86 customer 72, 91, 99, 107, 127; voice Digital Theft Deterrance Act 178,
83, 98; see also consumer 182 Dimitrova, K. 215, 228 direct
customer relationship management (CRM) message (DM) 49 disclaimers 90
100
272 INDEX

disclosure 59, 91, 190 disruptive innovation 127; innovation culture 21, 131;
communications 13; digital start-up culture 129; start-ups 21, 130; see
disruption 48 also mobile
Dobrow, J. 216, 228 Espionage Act 58
Domingo, D. 24, 53, 65 ESPN 1, 30
Dominick, J. R. 107, 125, 222, 228 ethics 63, 74, 185 – 97; dignity 190;
Dougherty, F. J. 159, 184 equality 194; fairness 194; harm 185,
Douglas, Justice William O. 191; impartiality 194; independence
158 du Gay, P. 41, 45 Dubai 2, 186; loyalties 188; mobilization efforts
227 Dunn, D. G. 40, 45 189; moral development 190; Potter Box
188; principles 188; respect 190; trauma
earned exposure 89, 105, 108 earned 189; truth 188 – 9; values 188, 190, 195
media 10, 77, 83; see also public – 6; see also transparency; trust
relations Etterson, R. 92, 104
Eastin, M. S. 15, 23 Europe 144
Eater 175, 182 European Convention of Human Rights
eCommerce 70 169 Evans, J. 41, 45 events, online/offline
Edelman, D. 85 – 6, 72, 90, 104 119; see also network
Edelman, Richard 70 – 1 analyses; NodeXL
Edelman PR xiv, 5, 15, 23, 40, 70 – 1, 77 – Excel spreadsheet 111, 119
9,
112 – 14, 186, 193; Creative Newsroom Faber, R. J. 16, 24
78, 86; Edelman Digital 112; Gomes, Facebook xiii, 4 – 5, 7 – 8, 30, 51 – 2, 69 –
P. xv, 77 – 8, 108; Hamburg Principles 70,
71; idea starters 114; Media Cloverleaf 77, 80 – 1, 93 – 94, 99 – 101, 103, 109 –
5, 70 – 1; traditional, owned and hybrid 12,
media 5, 70 – 1; trend spotters 79; 117, 128 – 9, 131, 142 – 6, 150, 157,
Tweetlevel 16 159 – 64, 167, 180, 181, 183, 187, 199,
Edwards, C. 75, 86 203, 205, 211, 216, 218, 221; authority
Edwards, J. 94, 104 97; beacon 142 – 3; comments 97; data
Egbert, N. 39, 46 111 – 12, 124; engagement 112; fans 8;
Eldred v. Ashcroft 178, 183 favorites 97, 108; Flores, A. 195, 197;
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) 38, Frances 195, 197; friend behavior 13,
61; see also Barlow, John Perry 162; insights 111 – 12; likes 17, 69, 97,
Elliott, G. 74, 86 99 – 100, 108 – 9, 112; links 97; pages
Ellison, N. B. 29, 31, 44 111; post reach 99; promoted posts 72,
Ellul, J. 181, 183 Elmer, G. 135, 139 162; privacy 152, 162, 178 – 81; reach
email 3, 14, 29, 69; address 29 109, 114, 123; relationship-seeking
eMarketer 23, 89 engagement 2, 5, behaviors 39; shares 17, 59, 99 – 100,
6, 7, 15 – 16, 22, 52, 109, 141; social graph 129; tag 180;
timeline 180; wall 7, 39
56, 62, 64, 73 – 4, 79 – 80, 82 – 3, 90,
Face-to-Face (f2f) 29, 31
94 – 9, 108, 112, 123, 127, 190, 199,
Fackler, M. 188, 196 – 7
216, 226; of audience 49; of customer 9;
#Fail 2
management of 101; strategy 83;
measurable 80; rules of 95; see also real- fairness 64, 188, 190, 194; see also ethics
time Entenmann’s 136 entertainment 30, Fang, I. 159, 183
40, 49, 52, 61; social 30 entrepreneur 21, Fark 30
130 – 1, 226; Angel Investors 130; Federal Communications Commission
(FCC)
 INDEX
273

180 Gearhart, S. 43, 45 Genachowski, J.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 128, 135, 138 geolocation 31, 70, 136 – 8;
151 – 2, 155, 174 – 7 geotagging
Feldman, M. J. 143, 155 136 – 8; GPS 146; see also mobile
Ferguson, D. A. 41, 45 Germany 150
Fiegerman, S. 103, 104 Gizmodo 30
Filters 90 Gladstone, Brooke 54
Find My Friends 31 Gleason, Ron 202
Finkel v. Facebook. 181, 183 Glee 85 Glenn, L. R. 131, 138 global
Firestone 175, 183 31, 72, 141, 186, 189, 215, 220;
Fitzsimons, G. 29, 44 brands 72; communities 31; discourse
Fleischner, M. H. 97, 104 189; ethics; media corporations 220 – 1;
Flickr 30 Flipboard network
30 followers 33, 56 141
food trucks 99 – Goffman, Erving 204
100 Gold, V. J. 159, 184
Forbes Brand Voice 90 – 1; see also Golin Harris 1, 9, 79, 86; global command
advertising Forrest, Jeremy 167 centers 79; holistic engagement network
Fortune 62; Trusted Original Content 79; The Bridge 9, 79; see also real-time
(TOC) Gomes, P. xv, 77 – 8; see also Edelman PR
62 Gomez, Selena 157
FourSquare 31, 70, 129 Goodale, J. C. 159, 183
Fowler, C. 225 – 6 Google 7, 18, 22, 29 – 31, 50, 77, 96 – 7,
Fox, S. 42, 44 Fox News 104, 109 – 11, 124, 138, 141, 151 – 2,
205 framing 73, 221 – 2 164,
Fraser, K. L. 75, 86 166; Adwords 110; algorithm 61, 97 – 8,
freedom of expression 108; Analytics 22, 31, 50, 70, 109 – 11;
55 Freeman, R. E. 82 – bounce rate 110 – 11; clicks 111;
3, 86 clickthrough rates (CTR) 18; Gmail 29;
Friedman, P. 211, 213 paid search 72, 98; visits 110; see also
FriendOrFollow.com 157 search
Friendster 3, 29 engine optimization (SEO); wearable
FTC 174 – 7, 183 138;
Fussell Sisco, H. 73, 86 YouTube
Google Glass 138
Gaga, Lady Google Plus (+) 7 – 8, 30, 81, 131, 144,
games 30, 52; massively multiplayer online 146 – 7, 211, 221
(MMOs) 42 Gordon, J. 109, 125
“Gangnam Style” 61 Gottfried, J. 51, 66
Gap 102 Graber, D. A. 222, 228
Gardner, H. 195, 197, 200, 213 Graham, G. 52, 66
Garrett, R. K. 223, 228 Grasty, T. 133, 138
Garst, Kim 199, 209 – 10, 213 Grau, F. 74, 87
Garton, L. 33, 45, 118, 125 Green, Hank 31
Gasser, H. 31, 45 Green, John 31
gatekeepers 9, 77 Green, S. C. 11, 23, 222, 228
gatekeeping 9, 53, 62, 188 Greenguard, S. 134, 139
Gates, Bill 227 Greenhow, C. 34, 45
274 INDEX

Groggin, G. 159, 183 Gronn, Holbert, R. L. 11, 13, 24, 25, 49, 66
P. 212 – 13 Holladay, S. J. 14, 23
Group-In-A-Box (GIB) 32, 118 Hollingshead, A. B. 212 – 13
Grunig, J. E. 74, 86 Holmquist, J. 75, 86
The Guardian 54, 142, 167, 180, 205 Horizon Group Management 162
Gudelsky, S. 75, 86 Hootsuite 22, 31, 95, 116, 210
Gumpert, G. 119, 125 Horvath, P. 31, 44
Gumuchian, M.-L. 2, 23 Howard, B. 34, 45
Guskin, E. 51, 66 Guth, HowSociable 210
A. 48 – 9 Huang, T. 189, 197
Guynn, J. 144, 155 Huffaker, D. A. 34, 45, 218, 229
Huffington, Arianna 47
H&R Block 130 The Huffington Post 6, 30, 59 – 61, 70,
Haiti 4 143,
Hamburg (Germany) 71 205 – 6
Hamilton, P. K. 74, 86 Hughs, S. K. 220, 229 Hulu
Hansen, D. L. 32 – 3, 45, 46, 118, 123, 125 132
Haot, Rachel 3 human computer interaction (HCI) 28; see
hardware 19 Hardy, B. also computer-mediated communication
W. 134, 139 human dignity 193 Humbach,
Harper, T. 76, 86 J. A. 142, 155
Harris Interactive 133 Humphreys, L. 137, 139
Harsin, J. 61, 65 Hunsinger, J. 200, 213
Hart, A. 219, 224, 229 Hurricane Katrina 222
Hart, J. 64, 65 Harvard Hurricane Sandy 3
Business Journal 92 Huynh, K. P. 42, 45
hashjacking 136 hashtag 1, Hwang, S. 75, 86 hybrid
82, 102, 133, 136 Hassan, media 6 hyperlink 52, 61
M.S.B.H. 189, 197 Hastings hyper-relevant media 9
College 174 hate speech 56, Hyundai 102, 176
59 Haughney, C. 91, 105
Hayes, A. S. 174, 183 IBM 103, 199
Haynes Writer, J. 224, 228 IceRockett 210 Idea
Haythornthwaite, C. 33, 45, 118, 125 Starter
He, S. 215 – 16 identity 5, 14, 167, 169, 195, 226; see also
Heaney, M. T. 33, 45, 118, 125 computer-mediated communication
HearHere Radio 131 Ides, A. P. 159, 184 imperialism 171
Heggestuen, J. 99, 105 impression management 31, 96
Heinhonen, A. 24 impressions 108 – 9 influence xv, 15 –
Henderson, Jay 103 16, 33, 69 – 70, 78,
Hermida, A. 24 99, 103, 114 – 15, 119, 123, 127,
Hershey’s 81 192, 216; bloggers and 82; participation
Hesmondhalgh, D. 13, 19, 23 188, 195; personal 6, 33; trust 15 – 16,
Hilt, M. 220, 224, 229 98, 225 influencers 50, 70, 92, 112,
Himelboim, I. 123 – 5, 190, 197 115; VIP 82 info-graphics 72, 77
Hirst, M. 188, 197 information technology (IT) 212
Hobbs, R. 224, 229 information theory 32 Ingram, M. 56, 65
Hochberg, A. 187, 197 Innis, H. A. 171, 183 innovation 63
 INDEX
275

Instagram 1, 5, 7, 30, 50, 70, 72, 81, 101, Katz v. U.S. 142, 155
131, 144, 147, 200, 211 Kaufman, C. O. 72, 87
integrated marketing communication Kaushik, A. 98, 105
(IMC) Kaye, B. K. 52, 65
95 Keenan, C. 136, 139
intellectual property (IP) 59 – 60 Keller, B. P. 159, 183
interaction 13 – 14, 34, 96, 226; see also Kelley, L. D. 89, 105
interactivity Kennedy, B. M 164, 182
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) 17 Kenski, K. 134, 139
interactivity 5, 12 – 14, 34, 96, 200; see Kentucky 162
also Kernisky, D. A. 74, 87 Kerrigan,
computer-mediated communication; F. 52, 66 key performance
interaction indictors (KPIs) 70
Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 165 keywords 61, 64, 77, 97 – 8, 110, 116; see
Internet indecency 170 also
Internet Protocol (IP) 32 Internet Service Google
Providers (ISPs) 152, 159 interpersonal KFC 102; #IAteTheBones 102
communication xiv, 27, 119 issues Khamis, Sarar Mohamed 55
management 74 Invisible Children 61 Khang, K. 6, 23
Ki, E-J 6, 23
Jacobson, S. 51, 65
Kickstarter 132
Jacques, A. 81, 86
Kiley, J. 51, 66
James, C. 195, 197
Kim, Y. 132, 139
James, M. 20 – 1
Kim, Y.-G. 33, 45, 119, 125
Jamieson, K. H. 134, 139
Kiousis, S. 11, 24, 49, 66
Jansen, J. 18, 23, 96, 105
Kirtley, Jane 55
Jean, Wyclef 4
Kitchen Aid 102
Jelly 7, 30, 50
Klout 31, 70, 123, 210
Johnson, K. A. 52, 65
Knight Foundation, John S. and James L.
Johnson, T. J. 52, 65 Jones, S. G. 39, 45
51 – 2
journalism xiii, 2, 10 – 14, 47 – 67, 90,
Knowles, J. 92, 104
185, 187, 200, 225; accountability 48, 129;
citizen journalism 12, 53, 57, 171, 189; KnowYourMeme 30
computer programmers 62; investigative Koesten, J. 119, 125
journalism 187; layoffs 62; live tweet 200 Koh, J. 33, 45, 119, 125
– 1; magazines 200; newspapers xiv, 47, 50 Kony 2012, 61 – 2
– 1, 62, 141, 181, 187, 200; open source Kony, Joseph 61; see also video
journalism 54; participatory journalism 57; Koper, E. 74, 86
professional journalists 53; transparent Krums, Janis 4
journalism 185; watchdog 48; see also Kupianen, R. 222, 229
crowdsourcing; ethics; objectivity; Kutcher, Ashton 115
storytelling; user-generated content
Jugenheimer, D. W. 89, 105 labeling 91 Lady
Jung, J. 132, 139 Gaga 114 – 115
Jutkowitz, Alexander 47 Lane v. Facebook 142 – 3, 155
Langlois, G. 135, 139
Kansas City 130 Langmar, Peter 133
Katz, E. 6, 23; see also influencers Lariscy, R. W. 191, 197
Katz, H. 89, 105
276 INDEX

Larson, III, R. G. 178, 183 Latchaw, J. crowdsourcing; journalism

74, 86 law 59, 141 – 2, 157 – 84; Alien Livingstone, S. 19, 23, 181, 183
and Sedition Acts of 1798 158; location based services (LBS) 30,
blasphemy 55, 166; 136
British common law 141, 157; Lodato, M. J. 11, 23, 222, 228
defamation LOLCATS 30
159; Espionage Act 158; First London 3, 58, 215
Amendment Los Angeles Times 4, 144
142, 152, 158 – 9, 167, 180; Fourth Lowery, S. A. 40, 45
Amendment 142; Free expression 158 – Lu, H.-P. 14, 23, 76, 86, 134, 139
9, Luckie, M. S. 12, 23, 49, 66
178; intrusion 142; libel 159, 166, 178 – Lunden, I. 5, 24
9; narrowly tailored restrictions 160; Lynch, A. A. 1
obscenity 166; prior restraint 165 – 6;
regulation 157; seditious libel 166; tort Mackey, T. K. 165, 184
of invasion of privacy 141, 162; U.S. MacLean, H. 18, 24, 99, 105
Constitution 158 MacLean, Jr., M. S. 119, 125
Lazarsfeld, P. 6 MacLeod, John 131
Leaders 33, 119; social stratification 119 Macy, B. 100, 105
Lealand, G. 219, 224, 229 Madrigaldec, A. C. 215,
Lecter, Hannibal 102 229 magazines 17
Lee, L. T. 155 Malthouse, E. C. 16, 24
Leonard, L. G. 191, 197 management 14 Mandela,
Levine, L. 159, 183 Nelson 181
Levine, P. 219, 229 Manheim, K. M. 159, 184
Levinson, L. L. 159, 184 Manning, Chelsea (Bradley) 58; see also
Liang, B. A. 165, 184 WikiLeaks
Liao, T. 137, 139 Maras, S. 12, 24, 63, 66
Library of Congress 4 March Madness 133 Mario, G.
Lieberman, Joseph 166 181, 184 marketing 17, 62, 70 – 2,
Lieberman, M. D. 28, 45 78, 80, 85,
Lievrouw, L. A. 19, 23, 181, 183 89 – 105, 107 – 8, 130, 165, 206;
Lim, S. W. 42, 45 channels 123; content marketing 72;
Limperos, A. M. 40, 46 eMarketer
Lin, C. A. 41, 45 17; integrated marketing
Lin, K.-Y. 14, 23, 76, 86, 134, 139 communication (IMC); marketing mix 4
Lindlof, T. 39, 45 P’s 92 – 3; paid search 17, 98; planning
72; strategy 72; sticky content 199; see
Ling, R. 19, 23, 199, 213
also branding Marketing Profs 209, 213
LinkedIn 3, 5, 29 – 30, 96, 124, 131, 144,
marketplace of ideas 178, 181 Marshall, P.
148, 164, 187 – 8, 199, 211;
D. 32, 44, 118, 125
endorsements
Mathewson, J. 187, 197
188; groups 217; recommendations 188 Martin, D. W. 159, 184
Lipman Hearne 101 Martinez, G. D. 72, 87
Lipschultz, Holly 100 Mashable 30, 70, 103, 114, 162, 205
Lipschultz, J. H. 129, 139, 141, 155, 163, Matheson, D. 53, 66
178, 183, 220, 224, 229 Mathison, D. xv, 3, 24, 135, 139, 159, 184,
LiveJournal 3 Livestream 30 live 220, 229
tweeting 1, 54, 55, 200; see also
 INDEX
277

McBride, K. 186, 189, 197 Monge, P. 104, 105

McCambley, Joe 91 Montano, M. 171 – 4
McCarthy, E. Jerome 92 – 3 Moog, Matt 128
McChesney, R. W. 220 – 1, 229 Moore, Michael
McClelland, M. 159, 183 Moore, R. 101 – 2
McClurg, S. D. 33, 45, 118, 125 Morgeson, F. 212, 213
McCombs, M. 11, 24, 49, 51, 66 Morley, M. 94, 104, 105
McCreery, S. 123, 125 Moss, S. 32, 46, 117, 125
McDonalds 9, 79, 102 Motadel, D. 135, 139
McKelvey, F. 134, 139 Motlagh, N. E. 189, 197
McKenna, K. 29, 39, 44 McWilliams, A. The Motley Fool 120 – 2, 207
83, 87 measurement 30, 80, 89, 107 – 25; Moynihan, M. 181, 184
error 114; MSNBC 221
measurable 89, 108; see also data MTV Video Music Awards 112
media cluster 34 media richness 31 media Murphy, Todd 116
literacy 10, 49, 215 – 28; information Muslim 55
literacy 215, 219; technical literacy 195; Mutz, Diana 49
visual literacy 219 MyDeathSpace.com 191
Media Metrix 164 MySpace 3, 29 – 30, 218
memes 4 – 5, 43, 72,
80 Mental Floss 84 narcissism xiv Nah, S. 189, 197
mentions 108 Mersey, narratives xv, 7, 14, 62, 64, 78, 93,
R. D. 16, 24 190;
Meyerson, C. 202 – 3 corporate 78; media marketing 93
Michigan State University 92 Nash, C. 16, 24
Mickey, B. 90, 105 micro- Nathanson, R. 211, 213
blog 162 National Law Journal 162
Microsoft 81, 94, 124, 227; Outlook 144; National Public Radio (NPR) 13, 193 – 6,
see also Excel 205; National Security Agency (NSA)
Milburn, M. A. 32, 45, 118, 125 38, 142, 151, 180; PRISM 151; Richard
Miles, R. 206 – 9
Snowden 142, 151 natural law 195;
Milic-Frayling, N. 32, 46, 118, 125 fairness 194; harm 188, 195; see also
Miller, D. P. 74, 87 ethics
Miller, M. 89, 102, 105 Navy Yard shootings 223
Miller, P. 89, 93, 105, 108, 123, 125 NBC 50, 82, 205
Miller v. California 170 – 1, 184 NBC News 15, 205
Milton, J. 158, 184 Near v. Minnesota 166, 184
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 84 Negroponte, N. 28, 45
Mindruta, R. 209, 212 Nelson, S. D. 150, 155
Minecraft 31 Mitchell, A. 51, 66 Nelson, Tammy 27
mobile 4 – 5, 7, 11 – 12, 16, 19, 32, Nestlé 94
47, network analyses 117 – 20; betweenness
50 – 1, 69 – 72, 96 – 7, 124, 127 – 39, 119;
142, 152, 172 – 3, 181, 199 – 200, 211, centrality 119; clusters 123; network
227; content 72; mobile path to purchase visualization 116, 118; prestige 119;
96 – 7; mobile publishing 71; news feeds sociogram 117; see also influence
72; sharing 72; see also smartphones; Newmark, C. 191 – 3
tablets Newspaper Association of America 51, 66
278 INDEX

Newtown shootings 55, 61 Overdorf, J. 151, 155

New York 70, 143, 162 Overstock 143
The New Yorker 90
The New York Times 15, 30, 57, 63 – 4, 69, packet switching 32
90, Palmisano, Taylor 84
142, 205 Palo Alto 70, 143
New York Times v. Sullivan 158, 184 Pandora 202
NFL 27 Park, S.-Y. 41, 46
Nielsen 96 Patching, R. 188, 197
Nike+, 102 Paulauskas, Cindy 201 – 2
Nitke v. Gonzalez 171, 184 Paulussen, S. 24, 53, 66
Nockleby, J. T. 159, 184 Pavlik, J. 11, 24, 41, 45
NodeXL 45, 119, 121, 125, 143 – 4 Paywall 50, 62
Noelle-Neumann, E. 41, 45 Non- Pearl Jam 80 – 1 Perse, E. M. 40, 41, 45
Governmental Organization (NGO) 61 personal brand xiv, 11 – 12, 20, 49, 56,
non-profits 83 Norelli, B. P. 76, 86 93,
Notre Dame University 27, 92 200
Nunnelley, C. 64, 66 Persson, A. 39, 44 persuasion
74, 97, 108; behavior
Obama administration 142 reinforcement 74; cognitive beliefs 74;
Obama, Barack xiii, 16, 56, 134 – 5, evaluation 74; intention of future
210 Obama, Michelle xiii objectivity behavior
12, 63, 186, 225 O’Connor, Sandra 74; involvement 74, 98
Day 170 Pettingill, L. 195, 197
Occupy Wall Street 144 Pew xv, 51 – 2, 61 – 2, 66, 135, 139;
Oeldorf-Hirsch, A. 57, 66 Internet studies xv; Research Center 51,
Ogden, D. 74, 86 139
Ogilvy 80, 85 photographs 30, 52, 72, 77, 92, 141,
Ognyanova, K. 104, 105 147, 200, 211; photography 49; see also
Ohio 135 – 7; Columbus 136 Instagram; selfies
The Ohio State University 13, Pinterest 5, 72, 77, 81, 92, 95, 103, 124,
137 131, 144, 199; board 17, 39; pins xv,
Oklahoma State University 59 17 Place, K. R. 14 – 15, 24 platforms 7,
Olbermann, Keith 221 64, 72, 77, 92, 95, 127 podcasting 222
Old Spice 81 Pogue, D. 63, 66, 135, 139, 159, 184
Olsen, N. C. 158 – 9, 184 Omaha 33, politics 28, 33, 54, 57, 72, 108, 123, 181,
119 – 22, 207 – 9 online communities 191; conservative and liberal clusters
5; see also computer- 123; democracy 188; freedom 188, 221;
mediated communication; influence political information 191; Political
opinion 190 media
opinion leaders 33, 70, 92, 117, 119, 122, 57; political power 28; see also Obama,
124; see also influence; public relations Barack
opportunity costs 108 Oprah 62 organic Politico 70 Pool, I.d.S. 171, 181,
content 77, 81, 90 organizational 184 popularity 112 posting xiii
communication 74; goals 75; Potter, J. W. 222, 229 Pressgrove,
orientation 74 G. 73, 86 privacy 141 – 55, 178,
Orlando 199 195; Electronic
Osman, M. N. 189, 187
 INDEX
279

Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) Twitter return on investment (ROI) xv, 18,
142, 50, 70,
150, 155; HIPPA 142; PATRIOT Act 72, 85, 91, 98 – 9, 103, 107 – 9, 216
142; terms of service 150, 161, 195; see Reuters 13, 64, 66, 122
also big data; Google Procter & Gamble 94 Rheingold, H. 39, 46
prodigy 29 product reviews 29 propaganda rich media 72
15, 72, 186 PR News 24, 80, 87 PRSA 69, Richards, B. 103, 105
80 public interest 14, 168, 181 public Richtel, M. 97, 105
relations (PR) xiii, 2, 10, 14, 69 – 87, 91, Rieder, R. 13, 24
95, 114, 186, 206, 215 – 17; copywriting right to be forgotten 178; see also privacy
15; corporate communication 15; crisis Rim, H. 11, 23 Risi, J. 85, 87 risk
communication 15, 72; earned media 10, management 90 Rittenberg, J. 12, 24,
101, 109; event planning 15; media 51, 66, 217, 229
relations 9, 15, 69, 78; paid amplification Rivet, Jeff 116
71; press releases 69, 77, 97; publicity Rivet News Radio 131, 201 – 3
tours 72; reputation management 15, 72 – Robelia, B. 34, 45
3; research 71; strategic communication 9; Roberts, C. 190, 197
tactics 9, 15, 18, 70, 72 – 3, 109, 111; Rodman, G. 222, 229
theories 73 – 5; see also trust Rodrigues, E. M. 32, 46, 118, 125
publishers 170, 181 Rogers, E. M. 39, 46, 135, 139, 179, 184
Purdue University 78
Rohan, M. J. 190, 197
Putnam, Robert 76
Roker, Al 9 – 10, 79
Quandt, T. 24 Roles 6, 22, 57, 73, 76
Quick, B. 120 – 2 Rolling Stone 80
Quintana, J. 82, 87 Rose, Kevin 115
Rosen, Jay 12
Raacke, J. 39, 46 Radian6 Rosenberg, J. 39, 46
(SalesForce) 108, 125 radio Rosenstiel, T. 186, 189, 197
73, 201 Radio Shack 10 Roston, M. 64, 66
Ramirez, A. 31, 46 Rotzoll, K. 188, 196 – 7
Raychaudhuri, D. 181, 184 Rouner, D. 15, 24
Reachli (formerly Pinerly) 210 Reagan, Rundle, M. 195, 197
Ronald 83 real-time 6, 9, 13, 54, 77 – 80, Russell, Jason 62
94, 100, 136, Russo, T. C. 119, 125
199, 215; chat 199; engagement 6, 136;
social marketing 100; verification 54, 188, Sacco, Justine 215
201 Saghy, K. 80, 86
Red Cross 136 Salas, E. 212 – 13
Reddit 30 sales 70, 92 – 3, 103
Redman, P. 41, 45 Salmon, F. 187, 197
Reich, Z. 24 Salon 30
Reid, S. 14, 24 Samsung 94
Reider, M. 212 – 13 Sanders, A. K. 158 – 9, 184
relationships 52, 211 San Diego Zoo 3
reliability 107, 113 #Sandy 3
Reno v. ACLU 170, 184 Savage, N. 107, 125
Rettberg, J. W. 63, 66, 135, 139, 181, 184 Save Ohio Libraries 76
retweet xiv, 11, 17, 55, 112; see also Scarborough Research 51
280 INDEX

Schmierbach, M. 57, 66 130 – 1, 137, 143, 227

Schmitt-Beck, R. 6, 24 Smith, B. G. 14, 24
Schramm, W. 34, 46 Schwalbe, Smith, B. L. 72, 87
C. B. 11, 23, 222, 228 search Smith, M. 32, 46, 118, 123, 125
72 Smith, M. A. 32 – 3, 45, 118, 123, 125,
search engine optimization (SEO) 22, 50, 144; see also NodeXL
60, Snapchat xiv 30, 130, 144, 149 – 50, 211;
64, 77, 96 – 8, 110, 211; black hat SEO see also video
98; page rank 96; page views 50; Snopes 222 Snowden,
referrals 110; spam 98; unique viewers Richard 142, 151 social
50; white hat SEO 98 business 70, 127 social
search engine result placements (SERP) 97 capital 76, 134 social
Sebastian, M. 91, 105 change 28, 74 social good
Second Life 28, 31 83 social judgment 32, 118
see, say, feel, do 108 The Social Media Club
– 9 selfies xiv 130 Social Media
sentiment 9, 78, 98 – 99, 108, 123; analysis Examiner 199 social media
9; positive, neutral or negative views 8 – guidelines 11
9, SocialMention 210
98; see also uses and gratifications Social network analysis 32, 34; see also
Severin, W. J. 32, 46, 117, 125 network analyses
Shanghai 226 social network sites (SNS) xiv, 1, 5, 7, 9,
Shapiro, J. J. 220, 229 sharing 29 – 13, 29 – 30, 43, 57, 63, 127, 131, 142,
30, 56, 69, 72, 76 – 7, 92; 181, 227; content 30; conversation 7, 98,
sharable online content 69; see also 133; sharing 7, 29; social networking 30;
Facebook; mobile social ties 29, 53, 134; users 142; see
Shaw, D. 51, 66 also computer-mediated communication
Sheehan, K. B. 89, 105 social stratification
Sheen, Charlie 5 33 sociogram 32,
Shifman, L. 43, 46 117 software 19, 127
Shirky, C. 189, 197 Solis, Brian 1, 69
Shneiderman, B. 32 – 3, 45, 46, 118, 123, Solomon, L. 76, 87, 153 – 4
125 Somaskanda, S. 151, 155
shopping reviews 29 – 30 Sonderman, J. 27, 46
Sidner 2, 23 Soo-bum, L. 9, 24
Sidis v. F. R. Publishing 141, 155 Sorkin, A. 120 – 2
Siegel, D. 83, 87 Soundcloud 30
Silcock, B. W. 11, 23, 222, 228 The Sound of Music 82, 205
South Korea 132
The Silence of the Lambs 102
spam 157; see also search engine
Silver, Derrigan 159
optimization (SEO)
Silverblatt, A. 220, 229
Spann, J. 7 – 8 Spencer-Oatey, H. 14, 24
Simek, J. W. 150, 155
spikes 13, 109 spiral of silence 43;
Singer, J. B. 12, 24, 57, 66
climate of opinion 43;
Skoric, M. M. 42, 45
fear of isolation 41
Slate 30
Splichal, S. 142, 155
Slater, M. D. 15, 24 Sluss v. Spotify 30
Commonwealth. 163 smartphones
Spreaker 30
19, 70, 94, 96, 100, 124,
 INDEX
281

Spreecast xiv Telecommunications Act of 1996,

SproutSocial 22 170 television xiv 17, 63, 73,
Stafford, T. 16, 24 203; I Love Lucy 73
Stakeholders 70, 101, 165 Telly 30
Stanford University 97 Te’o, Manti 27
Starbucks 93 – 4 Terelli, Jr., S. A. 142, 155 terrorism
Stelter, B. 91, 105 165 – 6, 167; cyber-jihad 167
Stern, M. 217, 229 Tewksbury, D. 12, 24, 51, 217, 229
Sterne, J. 108, 125 Thompson, D. 205, 213
Stevens, John Paul 174 Thompson, T. 100, 105
Stevenson, N. 41, 42, 46, 179, 184, 226, Thornburg, R. M. 64, 66 Thornton, K. 75,
229 86 thought leader 7, 16, 20, 41, 48, 58, 77,
Stewart, D. R. 14, 24, 159, 184 84,
Storify 14, 30, 133, 206 101, 116, 127, 129, 136, 153, 171, 187,
St. Mary’s College of California 78 191, 202, 206, 215, 225
Story 30 Thussu, D. K. 181,
Storyful 13 184 Tian, D. 62, 67
storytelling xiv, 7, 11, 14, 30, 54, 64, 77 – time management 8
8, Tinkham, S. F. 191, 197
90, 116, 131, 189 – 90; commentary TMZ 4, 30
30; storytelling aesthetic 90; visual Today Show 9, 79
storytelling 11 Toller, P. 191, 197
strategic plans 9, 74, 84, 91, 95; strategic Toomey, K. 187, 197
goals 77, 95; strategic message targeting Topsy 22, 31, 113, 115
75; strategies 74, 91; see also public Torres, Kevin 203 – 4
relations; tactics Toth, E. L. 74, 87
“the stream” 215 Tout 30, 50, 70, 200 Toynbee, J. 13, 19,
Streamcast 30 23 transparency 50, 101, 107, 129, 185,
Stroome 133 187,
subjectivity 190 190; transparent 50,
Sudhaman, A. 71, 87 56 trending 80 Tressler,
Sundar, S. S. 16, 24, 40, 46 C. 174, 184 Truman,
Super Bowl 9 Sweetser, K. D. Harry 73
75, 86, 191, 197 trust xv, 14 – 16, 22, 53, 56 – 57, 62, 72,
76 – 7, 91 – 2, 95, 98, 112, 117, 127 – 9,
tablets 19, 70, 96, 124; see also mobile 190 – 1, 194, 225; honesty 194;
tactics 9, 69 – 70, 74, 77; see also public reputation management 72; trusted
relations sources 53; verified 128; see also
tagging 29, 61 credibility; public relations
Takei, George 217 Tubbs, S. T. 32, 46, 117, 125
Tampa 199 Tulsa World 58
Tankard, Jr., J. W. 32, 46, 117, 125 Tumblr 30, 50, 81, 101, 124, 144, 148 – 9,
Tarquini, Christopher Peter 157 211
Tatro, Amanda Beth 160 Turkle, S. 28, 46
Tatro v. University of Minnesota 160, 184 Tuten, T. L. 17, 21, 25, 89, 94, 105
Taylor, B. 39, 45 Twazzup 210
Taylor, R. 76, 87 TechCrunch Tweetdeck 95, 116, 210
30, 115, 157 technology 30
282 INDEX

TweetLevel 16, 112 – 13; idea starter 16; validity 107

see also Edelman PR value creation
TweetReach 115, 210 127
Twitter 1, 7 – 8, 13, 19, 30, 49, 53 – 7, 59, Vaynerchuk, G. 7, 25, 78, 87, 95, 105, 131,
70, 72, 74 – 7, 80 – 2, 95 – 6, 99 – 101, 139
107, Vedder, Eddie 80
117 – 22, 124, 128, 131, 136, 144 – 5, Vered, K. O. 219, 224, 230
159, Vericat, J. 135, 139
162 – 4, 167, 172, 185, 187, 199, 203, Verizon 94
205, 209, 215 – 16, 221, 225; analytics video 8, 17, 30 – 31, 49 – 50, 52, 55 – 6, 61
110, 112 – 16; Biz Stone 7; data 74 – 5, – 2,
107; favorites 17; followers 64, 119; 77, 97, 100, 102, 132, 149, 195, 199,
retweets 17, 109; tweeps 118; tweets 211; cat videos 56; NDN 50; streaming
100, 3, 30; production quality 62; Vimeo xiv,
181; tribes xiv; see also journalism 30; viral 62, 72, 80; see also Kony 2012;
Typhoon Haiyan 174 YouTube
Viewpoints.com 30, 127 – 9, 225 – 6
Ugille, P. 53, 66 Virgil v. Time 142, 155
Uncle Dynamite 127 Vimeo 30
Underwood, Carrie 82 Vine 5, 10, 30, 50, 70, 81, 130, 144, 149,
Unilever 94 211
United Arab Emirates 2; Dubai 2 virtual communities 33, 39, 119
United Press International (UPI) 10 virtual reality (VR) 30
United States Department of Defense 29; Vocus 116
see also ARPANET The Voice 205
United States v. Thomas 170, 184 Vojnovic, M. 24 Voxer 30
Universal Information Services 116
University of California 4 – 5 Wadlow, R. C. 181, 184
University of Chicago 99 – 100 Wainapel, G. 42, 44
University of Illinois 203 Waldman, K. 2, 25
University of Kansas 223; social media Walker, Scott 84
policy Walmart 50, 94, 103, 193
223 – 4 Wanta, W. 11, 24, 49, 66
University of Maryland 55 Ward, S. J. A 185 – 6, 188 – 9, 197
University of Minnesota 55, 160 Wardle, C. 53, 67
University of Missouri 226 Warren, S. 141, 155
University of Nebraska at Omaha 13, 217 Washington Post 142, 180
University of Oregon 117 Wasserman, H 188 – 9, 196, 197
University of Texas at Arlington 49 Waze 31
Upworthy 30, 205 WBBM Newsradio 780, 202 WBEZ
user-generated content 6, 53, 57, 100; see 49, 116, 203 wearable 226 webinars 69
also website 96 Webster University 221
journalism, participatory journalism Weeks, B. E. 13, 25
user profiles 29 We Follow 114
uses and gratifications 8 – 9, 16, 40 – 41 Weimann, G. 167, 184
Ustream 30 Weist, Z. 129 – 30
U.S. v. Fumo The WELL 29, 39
162
 INDEX
283

Wellman, B. 33, 45, 118, 125 Yelp 6, 30, 70, 83, 97

Wendy’s 100 Yemen 55
Westley, B. H. 119, 125 York, Jillian 61
Westlund, O. 52, 67 Young, T. M. 195, 197
WGN 49 YourDay
Whisper xiii, 32 Youtility 91
Widzinski, L. 224, 230 YouTube 1, 3, 13, 15, 30 – 1, 55, 61,
Wiedenbeck, S. 52, 65 70, 97, 100, 111, 129, 132, 166 – 7,
Wikia 30 199, 211
Wikileaks 11, 57 – 8, 222 Yun, G. W. 41, 46
Wikipedia 4, 30
Wikis 30 Zappos 143
Wiley, R. E. 181, 184 Zarrell, R. 2, 25
Williams, A. 98, 103, 105 Zerba 11, 23
Williams, A. E. 53, 57, 67 Zhang, W. 43, 45
Williams, D. 31, 46 Zlobin, N. 220, 229
Williams, R. 42, 46 Zuckerberg, Randi 135
Wilson, T. 93, 105 Zuercher, B. 136 – 7
Wimmer, R. D. 107, 125 Zurich Insurance 90
Wisner, F. 72, 87
Wolff, Michael 55
Wonderfactory 91
word cloud 114
word of mouth (WOM) 18, 63, 70, 101,
123
WordPress 30
Words With Friends 31
World of Warcraft 31, 91
World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) 165
World Trade Center 222
World Wide Web (WWW) 28
Wright, A. 34, 46
Wright, K. 40, 46
Wright, P. M. 83, 87
Wrigley Field 80 – 1
WXRT 203

Xifra, J. 74, 87
Xinhua 165, 184 Xiong,
L. 31, 46

Yahoo 63, 97, 124, 205

Yahoo News 13
Yakob, F. 103, 105
Yammer 30
Yates, B. L. 219, 224, 230
Ye, L. 6, 23