21 pages, via online journal, How an agricultural organization handles the way the media reports a crisis can have an impact on the public’s perceptions of the organization, and sometimes the industry as a whole. The popularity of social media outlets as a venue for disseminating and gathering information and news makes the use of social media surrounding agricultural crises an important topic to investigate (Glynn, Huge, & Hoffman 2012; Hermida, 2010). A qualitative case study was conducted to investigate the use of social media tools during an agricultural crisis. The participants – communications directors, social media managers, and individuals with a close connection to the crisis under study – reported that social media was a major component of their communication efforts surrounding each crisis. Participants felt social media was very effective in these situations and had a major impact on their communication efforts. Although no participants reported using a structured social media strategy or crisis communication plan, they stated a need for such guidelines in the agricultural industry. From the data analyzed in this study, a model for using social media during a crisis situation, aimed specifically for use by those in the agricultural industry, was developed. This project was funded through the USDA's Beginning Farmers & Ranchers Project.
McLeod-Morin, Ashley (author), Beattie, Peyton (author), Rampold, Shelli (author), Telg, Ricky W. (author), and Association for Communication Excellence (ACE)
University of Florida
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2020-02
Published:
United States: New Prairie Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 131 Document Number: D11307
14 pages., via online journal, This study explored the social media follower engagement of a campaign with the intention to inform Florida residents about mosquito-related topics, specifically mosquito control. Engagement rates were compared between social media content type and content frames. Text graphics without characters were the most engaged content type, while the personal responsibility frame was the most engaged frame. The social media campaign examined in this study had overall low engagement rates, which could have been attributed to factors outside the scope of this study. Future recommendations for research should determine what factors most contribute to the engagement of social media content. In-depth focus groups should also be conducted to test the frames and messages used in this study. Practitioners should consider using the personal responsibility frame when communicating with the public about mosquito-related topics. Furthermore, practitioners should also apply the use of authoritative figures when designing a campaign similar to the one in this study after determining what authoritative figures effectively resonate with the intended audience.
Ruth, Taylor K. (author), Suits, Teresa (author), McLeod-Morin, Ashley (author), Telg, Ricky W. (author), and Association for Communication Excellence (ACE)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Florida
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2020-02
Published:
United States: New Prairie Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 131 Document Number: D11304
18 pages., via online journal, Hurricane Michael hit the Florida panhandle as a category five hurricane on October 10, 2018. One of the risks after a hurricane is the spread of mosquito-borne disease due to standing floodwaters, which provide perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. People often turn to social media during times of crisis to receive up-to-date information. Therefore, there is a need to understand how to use social media to communicate about risks after a natural disaster. The purpose of this study was to explore how Twitter was used to communicate about mosquito control before and after Hurricane Michael and was guided by the Centers for Disease Control’s crisis communication recommendations. Data were collected using Sysomos Media Analytics Platform (MAP). The search included tweets about mosquito control two weeks before and two weeks after Hurricane Michael made landfall and was limited to Florida residents. There were 198 tweets about mosquito control in this timeframe, and a sharp increase in tweets in the weeks following the hurricane. Users tweeting the most about mosquito control were public agencies like mosquito control districts, and common hashtags included #mosquito and #mosquitocontrol; #HurricaneMichael was rarely used. The largest number of tweets were identified with the frame Be First to warn people about mosquito spraying in their local areas. A minority of tweets promoted self-efficacy or promoted action related to mosquito control. None of the analyzed tweets expressed empathy. Extension can use the findings from this study to guide future risk communication on social media following a natural disaster.
16 pages, via online journal article, This study examined the online content of interdisciplinary agricultural center webpages. Content modification dates, mission statements, and content were determined through a content analysis. Many of the websites did not mention a modification date for the content, while many websites had outdated content mostly older than six months. More than two-thirds of the websites provided PDFs that visitor could download to learn more about topics, by many of the websites lacked any media element that was being coded. Additionally, many websites did not use multiple forms of media. More than half of the websites were coded as lacking any social media content or plugins, but out of the websites that did include social media content, Facebook was the most prevalent. The commonalities between the center’s mission displayed on the website and the content theme were analyzed and chi-square tests provided the degree of association. A significant association existed and an alignment between communication strategies and missions of the centers was concluded, which is important when organizations communicate about agricultural science as indicated by previous literature. It is recommended that centers communicate via their websites in a timely manner and allow modification times to be seen to viewers to show their information is up-to-date. Website media content should also be diversified and communicators of these centers should explore the unique communication opportunities provided by social media. Future research should explore the target audience of interdisciplinary agricultural centers and should analyze the messages centers are using to communicate with those audiences.
