In our digital age, the concept of networks is pervasive.
Such advertizing is free and can be exploited with a little consideration of the network. If the content is sufficiently interesting, it can be passed along by the followers to others not directly connected to the original account. Engaging and helpful content is one requirement for a social media account to gain and keep followers. While important, this type of assessment does not address a valuable aspect of social media: the network. Social media managers can use such data to deliver relevant information and market services that will engage and benefit the library’s online audience. Prior to these efforts, the account languished with about two dozen followers, yet we observed a five-fold increase over the course of one semester.Įxamination of Twitter followers is useful in determining a library’s social media audience. We found that an e-mail from a professor to the students requesting their support, and sometimes offering a modest amount of extra credit, was often quite effective. Faculty were also recruited to publicize the effort in their courses, using whatever incentive they deemed appropriate. The program began with the promotion of the Twitter account to students and faculty in our instruction sessions. It’s easy to count and track Twitter followers, but what role do these numbers play in the library’s goal to connect college students to appropriate information sources? With his assistance, we employed research-grade tools to visualize and exploit this web when it became apparent that the standard assessment methodologies failed to tell the story of Twitter’s impact. The library enlisted the help of a faculty member from the Physics department, Jason Shulman. In addressing this, we found ourselves delving into the world of networks, the invisible web of connections linking the social media accounts of the college community. The second goal was to analyze the impact of our efforts. First, we wanted to expand our audience, or followers, in Twitter lingo. Establishing an institutional presence allows librarians to extend the library’s online reach.ĭuring the 2012–13 academic year, the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey’s Bjork Library 1 revived its social media program by concentrating efforts on Twitter. Libraries, always keen on finding more effective ways to meet users at their point-of-need, are joining social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Social media has become a staple of today’s online activities.
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