Date of Award

Summer 2024

Language

English

Embargo Period

7-30-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity

Program

Information Science

First Advisor

Brandon Behlendorf

Committee Members

Carol Anne Germain, David Turetsky

Keywords

Art, Culture, Social Media, Engagement, Audience, Nonprofit

Subject Categories

Museum Studies | Other Arts and Humanities | Science and Technology Studies

Abstract

In recent years, broad access to digital communication tools provided by the “tech boom” has forced arts and culture nonprofit organizations (ACNPO) to transition to social media and mobile applications to engage audiences. While various approaches focus on building breadth (i.e. recirculation of content) and depth (i.e. replies) of engagement, ACNPO use multimedia to spur discussion and dissemination of their mission. Dependent on individual donors who generally give in small amounts, ACNPO are reliant on effective and visual social media campaigns to drive virality and broaden marketing appeal. Yet questions remain whether the presence of multimedia-inclusive posts (MIP) generates broader and deeper engagement, with conflicting theories pointing to both increased and decreased engagement. This study leverages quantitative approaches and the historical Twitter timelines of the top 20 ANCPOs (based on visitation records) in North America to address three key questions. First, do MIP increase engagement breadth, measured by the number of likes and retweets a single post receives? Second, do MIP increase engagement depth, measured by the number of replies generated? Finally, does the presence of MIP simultaneously influence both breadth and depth of engagement, measured by the number of quote tweets? The proposed research also aims to identify how the use of MIP over time changes as ACNPO use MIP more frequently and MIP become more commonplace in the broader social media ecosystem.

The findings of this research will present both practical and academic significance. First, there is no known research examining the usage of MIP by ACNPO to build engagement with audiences on Twitter. Therefore, this dissertation will add to the growing literature around social media engagement in general and the use of social media by ACNPO more specifically. Second, effective social media campaigns allow ACNPO to spread awareness about their services to a global audience without the financial burden of traditional means such as printed products. By highlighting the dynamic relationships between MIP and different types of engagement, the results of this dissertation can also inform new social media engagement strategies by ACNPO to increase breadth and depth of future engagement, and hopefully, generate a larger audience for their services.

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