Social Media Selection Behavior of Information Seekers

Why do social media users select one channel over another?
With each advent of a new social media channel, users may move from established channels toward adoption of the new channel.  Frustration occurs when authority figures  adopt a channel  to improve communication or develop additional access points for information, only to watch younger users’ preferences change.

I will conduct a year-long study to identify social media users’ attributes related to selecting a preferred social media channel. Uses & Gratifications Theory, first introduced by Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch in 1974, will serve as the framework for this study. The theory integrates well with because it assumes that “the media audience plays an active role in the selection of sources to attend to rather than being the passive target of audiences” (Case, 2003, p. 178). Also, research carried out by Papacharissi and Rubin in 2000 will contribute to this study. The authors examined Internet uses, and identified five motives for using it. Research results “suggested distinctions between instrumental and ritualized Internet use”, and as an alternative to face-to-face interaction. (2000, p.1)

For the purposes of this research, the term “authority figure” can refer to teachers – both K-12 and higher education; parents or guardians; or even collectively refer to government entities. It will also be assumed that the term “users” refers to individuals – youth, residents of a municipality, etc. – over whom authority figures have such some form of authority. “Channel” refers to the social media application or method that users may select; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram are commonly used social media channels or applications.

Questions and hypotheses that will be addressed through the course of this research are:
•    Why do users decide to transition from a preferred channel to a new social media channel?
•    What attributes of a social media channel do users cite as making it more desirable than other channels?
•    How do users identify which social media channel fulfills their various information needs? For the purposes of this research, examples of user information needs may include utility, pass time, convenience, or entertainment.

Twitter is one of the social media channels that I'll be studying.

Methods
Initial quantitative data will be collected via a traditional exploratory survey distributed to a population sample of at least 500 North Texas residents. Questions will be developed to include variables associated with Uses & Gratifications theory. Survey data should provide indicators of why users transition from one channel to another for their various uses. Qualitative interview questions will then be generated to determine the attributes of the preferred channel and how users identify which channel fulfills their needs.

Another data collection method I propose is to utilize social media channels Twitter and Youtube to collect data. Twitter will be used not only to collect quantitative data – answers to the same questions posed in the exploratory survey – but also to solicit interviewees for the qualitative portion of the study. Similarly, video replies to a Youtube video I intend to post be used to collect qualitative responses. This element of using social media to collect data regarding a social media study should provide more direct answers directly in the context of the user.

Why is this important? Knowledge of why information seekers transition from one channel to the next may help authority figures to be more flexible in order to adapt to change from users. Authority figures may also use this knowledge to modify their current social media use to maintain lines of communication with users.

Relationships such as students and teachers in the classroom, or between government and the governed, will benefit from this type of research. Authority figures will be better prepared to craft messages and present information in ways more likely to be found and accepted by users. Likewise, users may find a benefit to this research. By recognizing the factors that drive them from one channel to the next, users may realize authority figures are making efforts in other channels, and will seek out those messages in order to create complete knowledge

References
Case, D. (2003). Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior. Collection Management, 28 (4), 95-96.
Papacharissi, Z., & Rubin, A. (2000). Predictors of Internet use. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 44 (2), 175-196. doi:10.1207/s15506878jobem4402_2.

Matt MacVeigh is a TSMRI 2013-2014 Fellow and doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Information Science program at University of North Texas. He also serves as Marketing & Communications Specialist at the UNT System Business Service Center in Denton, Texas. Follow Matt on Facebook  or Twitter.

Agritourism and social media

Morris, Minnesota (my hometown) is a small community, surrounded by farmland,

in West-Central Minnesota.   In March 2012 the weekly town newspaper announced that the county’s Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture wanted to use a portion of local business tax dollars to promote “agritourism”.   This initiative, and ones like it throughout the US, are driving communities to investigate new ways to communicate effective messages for both local and distant 21^st century audiences.   Strategic social media use can provide some answers.

What is agritourism?

Rural tourism invites people to enjoy visiting and vacationing in less-populated areas such as small towns, villages, farms and nature-areas (Lane, 1994).  Rural tourism is often also promoted as a way to economically diversify a formerly-agricultural area (e.g., Kneafsey, 2001).  In several small, farming communities, agritourism has been a new/ old way to revitalize, to build enthusiasm for rural life, and to encourage young people and entrepreneurs to return to the area.

Farm visit. Image used with permission.

Various regional USDA Cooperative Extension Offices have been active in teaching about agritourism (check out this PDF on entertainment farming and this list of resources from the University of Minnesota ). 

For the purposes of my research (some of which was presented at the recent TSMRI annual conference) I apply a very-broad definition of agritourism, including (any or all of the following):

• ·         farm/ ranch stays;
• ·         tours & touring
       (e.g., wildflower or fall foliage);
• ·         You-Pick local foods;
• ·         farmers markets;
• ·         vineyards & wineries;
• ·         maple syrup-making;
• ·         (school and town) fairs and agricultural/ harvest festivals;
• ·         farm animal visits;
• ·         local dining events and dinners;
• ·         wildlife viewing, hunting and fishing;
• ·         educational programs and experiences related to nature;
• ·         agricultural heritage and local history events, pageants and tours; and
• ·         regional arts and crafts programs and activities

(Gustafson, 2007, referring to SW Michigan Tourist Council, 1997).

This wide assortment of activities considers many types of content for messages that might be constructed by tourism promoters and/or communication specialists.

Social media uses in the tourism industry

In my analysis of regional agritourism organizations in real-life contexts (see forthcoming publication, Burke 2014), I found social media that work well have most of the following features in common: 

Pick your own.
Image used with permission.

1) “mindful adoption” (Culnan & Zubillaga, 2010).  This means the “ right’ innovation at the ‘right’ time and in the ‘right’ way” should be what gets adopted.  Despite the cry that “everyone else” is on Twitter, for instance, my research and the findings of others say that Twitter may not be the right communication tool for your organization or business to use to communicate with a targeted audience you know well.  Understanding on-going decisions about integrated management of image and brand identity may mean that the people you most want to reach are instead on different social media—such as Pinterest, or TripAdvisor. 

2)  “varied messages/ multiple elements”.  Within tourism promotions on the selected social media platform(s), more successful campaigns use multiple media types—text, designed graphics, photos and videos--submitted by the source, as well as comments and content generated by visitors.

3)  “strategic participation patterns”.  In forums like Facebook, Flickr and Groupon, posting activity should be sufficient to keep the organization’s name and identity “popular”.  Although the event schedule for tourism activities may greatly influence the amount of messages at a particular time, your organization or group should recognize that all messages function to maintain “connections” which need to be nurtured on a regular schedule.

4) “community building”.  This means, once you find and connect with “your people” offer them a sense that they have a stake in belonging to your fan group.  Provide “friends” and allies frequent content input options and incentives for continued activity or participation in the forum(s).  Understanding that others will generate interest in your social media sites by linking to their networks will mean that you will be able to reap the greatest benefits of the communicative activities of the happy tourists that have come to activities in your region, and they will be your promotion’s strongest advocates.

Conclusions

In agritourism, successful new social media users generate long(er)-term awareness of the activities and events in their communities. The relationship-building and maintaining messages they share aggregate to create a general impression about their region or community, for both internal and external audiences.  The more diverse and varied the messages and activities appear, the more exciting the region becomes for locals and visitors alike. 

Farm animals. Image used with permission.

The Internet is increasingly used as an information-source in vacation and travel-planning, and it would be wise for agritourism to strategically implement 21^st-century media plans. Regional tourism promoters in rural areas are eager to be part of this new communication “revolution”, and it appears there are exciting opportunities for people who are educated in effective use of social media to make a difference in rural revitalization. 

Sources:

Culnan, M. J., McHugh, P. J., & Zubillaga, J. I. (2010). How large US companies can use Twitter and other social media to gain business value. MIS Quarterly Executive, 9(4), 243-259.

Gustafson, K. 2007 (5 February). Building Bridges: Connecting Agriculture & Tourism (.pdf).  Available from

http://www.tourism.umn.edu/ResearchReports/MarketSegments/Agriculture/

retrieved 2013, September 26.

Kneafsey, M. (2001).  Rural cultural economy: Tourism and social relations. Annals of Tourism Research, 28(3), 762-783.

Lane, B. (1994). What is rural tourism? Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2 (162), 7-21.

Barbara Burke is an Associate Professor of Communication, Media & Rhetoric at the University of Minnesota, Morris. She is also a Fellow of the TSMRI for 2013, and a Fulbright Scholar and Media Specialist.  In Spring, Barbara will be teaching courses in Social Media & Agritourism and Media Technologies & Society in Valmiera, Latvia at

Vidzemes Augstskola.