SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY —Jacquelyn Askins University 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 News from Cooperative Extension  Making a Difference 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 UW-Extension ANRE  Cooperative Extension 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, Cooperative Extension  UW-Extension Family Living Programs UW-Extension Family Living Programs  Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development  UW-Extension Community, Natural Resource & Economic 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?