From the viewbook to Facebook: a content analysis of universities' Facebook posts to measure organization-public relationships

Identifier

etd-06062012-155305

Author

Aariel Roxanne Charbonnet, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical CollegeFollow

Degree

Master of Mass Communication (MMC)

Department

Mass Communication

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

This study examined StudentAdvisor.com's top 25 social media colleges to determine the ways in which these universities communicated with their various publics on Facebook. Using Hon and Grunig's models of public relations as frameworks, a quantitative content analysis was performed. The study considered each individual post on the universities' Facebook walls (n=709) over the course of a three-week period. The study's research questions were based on whether the posts promoted Hon and Grunig's relationship indicators, as well as what public relations models the posts resembled. Results indicated that posts were least likely to resemble the two-way symmetrical model and seldom promoted any of the relationship indicators. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Date

2012

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Recommended Citation

Charbonnet, Aariel Roxanne, "From the viewbook to Facebook: a content analysis of universities' Facebook posts to measure organization-public relationships" (2012). LSU Master's Theses. 842.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/842

Committee Chair

Sanders, Meghan

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.842