TSMRI Research Fellows Announced for 2013-2014

STEPHENVILLE, Texas—The Texas Social Media Research Institute (TSMRI) has announced its research fellows selected for 2013-2014. The 10 fellows for 2013-2014 are

• Robin Bartoletti, Academic Partnerships
• Barbara Burke, University of Minnesota - Morris 
• Lora Helvie-Mason, Tarleton State University
• Janet Johnson, University of Texas at Dallas
• Jennifer Novak Ladd, Tarleton State University
• Matt MacVeigh, University of North Texas
• Randy McCamey, Tarleton State University 
• Jeton McClinton, Jackson State University
• Laurie Phillips, University of Oregon
• Sudarshan Kurwadkar, Tarleton State University

"The fellowships are designed to help faculty and others research their area of interest in the social media/new media fields," said Dr. Credence Baker, co-director of TSMRI. The fellows will present at the TSMRI conference in November and produce a social media oriented research project during the year.

Each of the fellows was selected for the fellowship based on prior research experience and research agenda, Baker said. The selected TSMRI fellows anticipate researching a variety of areas including presidential campaign rhetoric in social media venues, why public educational institutions who were early adopters of social media use have made the decision to discontinue use, dissemination of environmental issues, the impact of social media in college athletics, the roles of social media in higher education, social media and tourism, expectations of privacy, perception, image of those who engage in social networking, and understanding niche social networks.

Applications for fellowships are posted at www.tinyurl.com/tsmrifellow each year, and are due in mid-March.

About TSMRI: The Texas Social Media Research Institute is a multidisciplinary collaboration based at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. The institute provides research and training focused on communication technology and social media for K-12 education, higher education, businesses, and non-profit organizations. You can find TSMRI on Facebook and Twitter.

Getting More Followers on Twitter

This post is reprinted (with minor changes) with the author's permission. It originally appeared here.
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 I work in an academic library in a small, semi-rural area where bandwidth coverage can sometimes be less than reliable. So, Twitter didn't really "hit" here until 1-2 years ago. But, between July 17, 2012 and February 13, 2013 we put in some extra effort and went from 209 to over 418 Twitter followers. More importantly, the second "half" of our followers has a much larger proportion of students, staff, faculty, and university organizations than the first half did, so we are reaching more of our target audience.

Here's how it happened.


1. We used popular hash tags.
Last summer a tidal wave of prospective freshman began tweeting about the school--how excited they were to attend, how much they loved the informal camp in the weeks beforehand, etc. Tarleton State University is famous for its traditions, many of which are shared for the first time during freshman Duck Camp. So, we re-tweeted prospective students who used school-related hash tags. We tweeted out interesting facts, pictures and trivia questions with the hash tag #Tarleton. One was, "Who was the first Tarleton president to say 'Bleed Purple'?" with a link to our newspaper archives. Another was a picture of the homecoming queen in 1984 (which, let's face it, is practically pre-historic if you are a freshman).

2. We followed members of the community a.k.a. our desired audience (students, staff, and university organizations).
When using Twitter as the library, I would search for words and hash tags related to the university. Our account would follow anyone whose Twitter biography stated that they were a student here. If they mentioned their major or a hobby in their Twitter bio, I would tweet them links to related library resources. We also followed (and re-tweeted) other university departments and organizations--and they often returned the favor.

3. We thanked users who followed & re-tweeted us.
People choose to follow you or re-tweet your content, so show them appreciation with a quick "Thanks", "You rock", or "Let us know if you need anything." Often students would re-tweet our thank yous, as if to say, "Check it out. The library *knows* me." To find these interactions, go to the top of your Twitter screen and click @Connect. On the next screen, click on Interactions and Mentions to see who has been tweeting you, following you, and "favoriting" your links.

4. We didn't make every tweet about us.
It's OK to occasionally tweet about memes, or the weather, or something cool another department is doing. It's also OK to be friendly. Once on our home feed I saw a sad tweet from a student whose pet had just passed away. So they received a message through the library's account: "We're so sorry to hear about your pet. Hope you feel better soon." Small as it was, the gesture was appreciated. If we see a student tweet about a high grade, they'll receive a quick congratulatory tweet or message. During a recent nearby tornado, we tweeted emergency safety information.

5. We monitored tweets geographically.
OK, some people might call this creeping, but as an organization we prefer the term "brand monitoring" (cough cough). You can go to Advanced Twitter Search and limit your searches by keyword ("library") and geography (name of city and state). I set up an alert using IFTTT that texted me whenever someone used the word "library" within a 5 mile radius of the campus. The fact that we're in a semi-rural area without competing universities meant there weren't very many people tweeting about libraries other than this one, or possibly the small public library.
This allows us to find gems like "I forgot my highlighters at the library" or "Why can't the girl next to me at the library shut up?!"

Sometimes these tweets are worded less politely (see picture below). With the tweets above, we'll respond directly with information about our uber cool supply vending machine, or remind students to ask a librarian to shush their neighbor. These tweets often get re-tweeted or favorited. Advanced searches for words like library AND (APA, MLA, paper, research, project, final) allowed us to send students "just in time" links to citation resources or to answer their questions about hours.

6. We tracked our followers. An easy (and free) way to do this is with Twitter Counter. You may want to take screenshots so that you can document the number of your followers over time.

Time management:
You may want to set aside a designated time daily for working with Twitter, or you can rotate the responsibility among co-workers. If you're on Twitter a lot in your spare time and have a mobile device, use an app like echofon that allows you to easily toggle between multiple accounts. Bufferapp lets you pre-schedule tweets for upcoming events like contests.

is a cross-collaborative initiative where Tarleton State University students, faculty, and staff organize an annual social media conference and produce a peer-reviewed social media research journal. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. for the latest social media news, research, and more.

Yvonne Mulhern is a librarian, a co-director for TSMRI, and a confirmed Twitter addict.  You can find more of her Twitter tips here and  please follow @tarletonlib  and @tsmri on Twitter.

TSMRI Social Media Conference 2013: Call for papers and proposals

We are excited to announce The Texas Social Media Research Institute's 2013 Social Media Conference on Friday, Nov. 8, in Fort Worth, Texas.

We are excited about this wonderful opportunity and we anticipate 250+ attendees this year at the Tarleton State University- Southwest Metroplex campus. Deadline for proposals is June 30.  

This conference consists of a few research tracks: a SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH, SMALL BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, K-12, HIGHER EDUCATION, and TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT tracks. The conference planning committee is actively seeking papers, panels, and training workshops focused on, but not limited to the following topics:

- Mobile applications, interactions and technologies

- Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest, Instagram (How to Use the Technologies)

- Social Media in Business (Ideas for Entrepreneurs and Large Organizations).

- Social Media in Education

- Social Media in the Non-Profit Sector

- Social Media in Interpersonal and Intercultural Communication

- Practical Solutions for Social Media Problems

- Benefits and Disadvantages of Social Media in K-12 and Higher Education

- Social Media and Generational Communication

- Social Media and Information Sciences/Library Sciences

- Social Media and Mobile Applications and Devices

Additional Information

Possible forms of submission include: panels (including roundtables and discussions), papers/abstracts, and training workshops. Complete the conference submission form (http://www.tinyurl.com/SocialMediaConferenceCall) AND e-mail papers/panels to TSMRI (texassocialmediaresearch@gmail.com) no later than JUNE 30TH, 2013

Participants will have an opportunity to publish their papers in the conference proceedings book, which will be published on the Texas Social Media Research Institute's website. The top paper will be considered for publication in TSMRI's peer-reviewed publication, The Journal of Social Media in Society.

If you have any questions, please contact the Texas Social Media ResearchInstitute via e-mail or telephone (254-307-8211).

Marketing on Pinterest

Have you ever thought about turning your Pinterest addiction into beneficial marketing?

If you’re like me, even on your busiest days you make time to pin interesting things to your boards and follow your friends on Pinterest. It not only makes time fly, but is a great way to share convenient ideas fast. So why not use Pinterest in a productive way?

      According to John Brandon’s article “9 Tips: Boost Your Business With Pinterest,” some important things to remember when creating a Pinterest account for work are to keep it simple and use other social nets to feed Pinterest.

The TSMRI Pinterest page.

This means creating clean cut and professional boards. It is important to create a link to your company’s website on every picture pinned so that viewers are always led in the right direction. Pinterest makes it easy to get carried away, but focusing on the goals of your company will help you keep the boards simple.

Your followers connect through all social networking sites. Create a link to your Pinterest page on your business website, Facebook, Tumblr and any other networks so viewers are directed straight to your pins.


Pinterest has become one of the most interesting social networks for me and I think it has the potential to become a great way to market businesses. Show your followers what your company values and likes by creating one of your own.


Do you have any great Pinterest tips? Share them in the comments section below.

Jordan Trumble is a public relations major and former TSMRI intern who graduated from Tarleton State University in May of 2013. You can find her on Twitter as @JNTrumblehttp://twitter.com/JNTrumble.