17 pages., via online journal., Social media are transforming communication between organizations and their audiences, and even changing the organizations themselves. Social media's low cost and low requirements for technical skills needed to both use and maintain an online presence allow small businesses with limited marketing budgets to use the same marketing strategies as bigger businesses with large marketing budgets. In addition, social media provides businesses direct and interactive ways to reach out and retain customers. This case study analyzes Cedar Park Farmers Market (CPFM)'s use of its Facebook page. Using Facebook Graph API Explorer, we extracted data regarding posts and fans of CPFM's Facebook page since the page was created. We then examined the data to explore the social networks, including farmers market organizers, vendors, and customers, within CPFM's Facebook page and how the market used its Facebook page, by looking at the Facebook page layout, composition of fans, post intensity, post ownership, media type, and degree of engagement. We found that (1) the market organizers, customers, vendors, and local communities were all engaged with the CPFM Facebook page; (2) the CPFM used Facebook as a marketing platform to publish timely information (e.g., available products or upcoming events) and to reach and retain customers and vendors; and (3) the CPFM's Facebook page functioned as a cyber–social hub to connect and engage the local community.
14 pages., via online journal., The preservation, management, and sharing of indigenous knowledge is crucial for social
and economic development in rural Africa. The high rate of illiteracy (print-based) in
rural Africa and the exclusion of indigenous knowledge from Western education add to
the information gap experienced in rural Africa. Other challenges facing oral cultures are
the disappearance of traditional knowledge and skills due to memory loss or death of
elders and the deliberate or inadvertent destruction of indigenous knowledge. The
rapidly increasing use of social media and mobile technologies creates opportunities to
form local and international partnerships that can facilitate the process of creating,
managing, preserving, and sharing of knowledge and skills that are unique to
communities in Africa. This article proposes the use of social media and mobile
technologies (cell phones) in the creation, preservation, and dissemination of indigenous
knowledge and discusses the role of libraries in the integration of social media
technologies with older media that employ audio and audiovisual equipment to reach a
wider audience.
