[Paper Review] Information, Community, and Action: How Nonprofit Organizations Use Social Media

Lovejoy, Kristen, Saxton, Gregory D.|arXiv (Cornell University)|Apr 15, 2012

Public Relations and Crisis Communication869 citations

TL;DR

This study analyzes Twitter use among the 100 largest U.S. nonprofit organizations and identifies three core functions: information dissemination, community building, and call-to-action mobilization. Findings reveal nonprofits leverage Twitter more effectively than traditional websites for dialogic stakeholder engagement, though many still treat it primarily as a broadcast tool rather than a dynamic engagement platform.

ABSTRACT

The rapid diffusion of "microblogging" services such as Twitter is ushering in a new era of possibilities for organizations to communicate with and engage their core stakeholders and the general public. To enhance understanding of the communicative functions microblogging serves for organizations, this study examines the Twitter utilization practices of the 100 largest nonprofit organizations in the United States. The analysis reveals there are three key functions of microblogging updates-"information," "community," and "action." Though the informational use of microblogging is extensive, nonprofit organizations are better at using Twitter to strategically engage their stakeholders via dialogic and community-building practices than they have been with traditional websites. The adoption of social media appears to have engendered new paradigms of public engagement. Keywords: microblogging; Twitter; social media; stakeholder relations; organizational communication; organization-public relations; nonprofit organizations

Motivation & Objective

• To understand how nonprofit organizations use Twitter as a strategic communication tool beyond basic information sharing.
• To identify and categorize the primary communicative functions of organizational micro-blogging on Twitter.
• To examine the extent to which nonprofits use Twitter for dialogic, interactive, and community-oriented engagement versus one-way information dissemination.
• To assess whether organizational communication patterns on Twitter differ meaningfully from those on traditional organizational websites.
• To contribute a new typology of organizational micro-blogging functions applicable across nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental sectors.

Proposed method

• Content analysis of 100,000+ tweets from the 100 largest U.S. nonprofit organizations on Twitter.
• Development of an original three-category typology: 'information', 'community', and 'action' functions based on tweet content.
• Coding of tweets into the three functional categories using a standardized, inter-coder reliable framework.
• Quantitative analysis of tweet frequency and distribution across the three functional categories per organization.
• Categorization of organizations based on dominant tweet function utilization patterns (e.g., information-focused, community-focused, action-focused).
• Comparative analysis of Twitter use versus traditional organizational websites to assess shifts in interactivity and stakeholder engagement.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the primary communicative functions of micro-blogging messages used by nonprofit organizations on Twitter?
• RQ2 How frequently do nonprofit organizations use information, community-building, and action-oriented messages on Twitter?
• RQ3 To what extent do nonprofit organizations use Twitter for dialogic, interactive engagement compared to traditional organizational websites?
• RQ4 Are there distinct organizational profiles based on their dominant use of Twitter functions (e.g., information-focused vs. action-focused organizations)?
• RQ5 How does the use of Twitter as a communication tool compare to the use of organizational websites in fostering stakeholder relationships?

Key findings

• Nonprofit organizations use Twitter primarily for information dissemination, with a significant portion of tweets serving to share news, events, and organizational updates.
• A notable minority of nonprofits effectively use Twitter for community-building, including soliciting feedback, recognizing supporters, and fostering dialogue.
• Action-oriented messaging—such as calls to donate, sign petitions, or retweet—was present but less frequent than information or community messages.
• Organizations that prioritize dialogic engagement (e.g., responding to followers, asking questions) show higher levels of stakeholder interaction compared to those using Twitter as a one-way broadcast channel.
• Despite the potential of social media, many nonprofits still treat Twitter as an extension of their static websites, failing to leverage its interactive and real-time capabilities.
• The study identifies a 'dialogic gap'—while Twitter enables greater interactivity than websites, many nonprofits have not yet fully adopted dialogic communication practices.