McCorkindale, Tina. (2010, Summer). Can you see the writing on my wall? A content analysis of the Fortune 50’s Facebook social networking sites. Public Relations Journal, 4(3), 1-13.
While public relations research has investigated how organizations are using blogs and websites, few have analyzed social networking sites such as Facebook. A content analysis of 55 Facebook member and fan pages was conducted to determine how the 2008 Fortune 50 companies used Facebook. The sites were analyzed to determine how many “fans” an organization had, what organizational information was included, use of photos and videos, use of discussion boards, level of engagement, whether the site generated feedback, and whether there was a discussion of community relationships or social responsibility. Overall, most companies in the Fortune 50 did not disseminate information effectively or attempt to build relationships through engagement and dialogue. Most corporations only posted news releases and mission statements, and failed to disseminate news and information about the organization (including social responsibility efforts), both internally and externally. On the other hand, companies such as Dell, Ford, and Microsoft, were the few companies that responded to users who posted on their company’s Facebook wall. This study was one of the first conducted about Fortune companies on Facebook, and demonstrated how few Fortune 50 companies used social media.
Method
Content analysis of Fortune 50 companies Facebook member and fan pages from February 21 to March 7, 2009
Key findings
1) 80% of pages did not have any recent news posted, indicating pages were being created, but not being used.
2) Verizon, IBM, and Ford had the highest number of wall posts while Ford, General Electric, and Chevron had the highest number of positive wall posts.
3) Only 22% of companies referenced social responsibility.
4) Only slightly more than half included official logos or pictures on their pages.
Implications for practice:
This study can be used as a benchmark for how the largest companies in the US were using Facebook, and also demonstrates how companies were not using Facebook to its fullest potential Few organizations publicly responded to individuals who attempted to contact a company with questions or issues. Responding to postings in a public manner shows the company is listening. Companies must also post information on their Facebook pages for publics to get more information. However, companies should not just use the site for information dissemination and instead should use Facebook to engage and build relationships with stakeholders.
Article Location
This article is free and available at: http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/PRJournal/Documents/2010McCorkindale.pdf
