SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY—Jacquelyn AskinsUniversity of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension

What do we mean by “social media”? Web-based and mobile technology used

to turn communication into interactive dialogue

Social media are: Low-cost Easily accessible Wide-reaching Immediate

Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, blogs

Social media functions

Engage Form relationships Share content Social media may be a new term, but the

theories and fundamentals behind it are not

Blogs

Platform for long form text, documents, photos, video

Searchable archives for documents, press releases, reports

Often include links to other blogs, websites and resources

Sometimes a supplement to a static website

Also sometimes used to create static websites

Wisconsin blog examples

News from Cooperative Extension Making a Difference

Twitter

Micro-blogging service Messages are limited to 140 characters

Twitter users “follow” each other to receive updates

Users often post links to other websites and resources

Twitter examples

UW-Extension ANRE Cooperative Extension

Facebook

Social network with more than 500 million active users

Members can join networks and communities

Businesses can communicate with users through Pages

Wisconsin Facebook examples UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension UW-Extension Family Living Programs Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development UW-Extension Community, Natural

Resource & Economic Development

User demographics – Facebook 500 million users 37% of users are 35+ years old More than 250 million users access

Facebook through mobile devices 40% of users follow a brand

User demographics – Twitter 106 million users 53% of users are 35+ years old 40 million users access Twitter through

mobile devices 25% of users follow a brand

Opportunities in social media Communicate with broad audiences Highlight and enhance work Amplify message Control over information

Engaging audiences

Social media can reach large numbers in a short time

New, broad groups Engages old audience in new ways Administrative benefits

Highlighting our work and amplifying our message Opportunity to share media mentions Emphasizing university research

connections Promote awareness of colleagues’ work

around the state

Control over information

Reliable platform for posting news Information shared on organization’s

timeline Immediacy

Perceived challenges – Social media survey Loss of control over brand Social media learning curve Internet connectivity issues Increased staff time commitment Decreased personal connections

Challenges in Wisconsin

Finding new content Participation from other staff Numbers of followers Interactions on pages

Last points

Our social media sites are constant works in progress

Social media is just PART of a larger communications strategy

“Like” us on Facebook! Questions?