Week 5- Level 2 Challenge Option: Tweet Like Cory
TWEET LIKE CORY
Cory Booker, United States Senator from New Jersey and former mayor of Newark, Links to an external site. has leveraged social media to engage with his constituency, making headlines for his round-the-clock responses and authentic dialogue. How have other public leaders utilized platforms such as Twitter and Facebook? For this Challenge, you will conduct a content analysis of the social media presence of two public leaders in similar positions (e.g. two mayors, two state representatives) over the course of one week.
PREPARATION
- What stands out to you?
- How does he interact with his constituents?
- What types of content does he post on Twitter and Facebook?
- Why do you think he is seen as a model for public officials using social media?
ACTION
- Select two public leaders who hold similar positions (e.g. two mayors, two state representatives, two members of the United States Congress, etc.) and who have a social media presence. Follow their social media profiles over the course of a week and conduct a content analysis of their posts.
- Tell me who the two officials are, which you will be following this week, along with the URL’s for the social media profiles (either Facebook or Twitter) you are following.
- Conduct your content analysis. Approximately what percentage of posts/tweets fall under the following categories:
- Policy issues (what types of policies?)
- Announcements about work schedule, appearances, meetings
- Other work-related posts, posts about decision-making processes, etc.
- Commentary about other public officials
- Promotional posts (promoting self, political party, etc.)
- Responses to/interaction with constituents
- Posts about personal life/diversions
- Other
- Additionally, what is the ratio of text-based posts versus visual posts with photos and/or videos? What is the content of the photos and videos?
Here is a suggestion for how your tracking of the above elements COULD look:
| Name of Official 1, Title 1 | Name of Official 2, Title 2 | |
| URL of social media profile you followed | URL of social media profile you followed | |
| Policy Issues | 25% | 50% |
| Announcements about work schedule, appearances, etc. | 7% | 21% |
| Other work-related posts about policy decision-making | 19% | 5% |
| Commentary regarding other elected officials | 6% | 9% |
| Promotional posts (regarding self or others) | 18% | 4% |
| Response to/interaction with constituents (i.e., citizens) | 9% | 1% |
| Posts about personal life/likes/exercise/etc. | 12% | 5% |
| Other Posts | 4% | 5% |
| RATIO OF: | ||
|
Text-based sharing Image/Video Sharing |
115 13 |
30 9 |
REFLECTION
Write a 1-page reflection paper stating the following:
- How were the leadership styles of the two public officials you observed reflected through their social media profiles?
- Based on the model example of Senator Booker, as well as the tips provided in the multimedia resources below, what were the public officials doing well?
- How could the public officials strengthen their social media presence?
SUBMISSION
Please submit all of the following through Assignments:
- Responses to the "Preparation Section"
- The names, titles and URLs of the social media outlets you followed
- Your content analysis
- Your 1-page reflection paper answering the reflection prompts.
RESOURCES
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Title |
Senator Cory Booker’s social media profiles on Facebook and Twitter |
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URL |
https://www.facebook.com/corybooker Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. |
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Annotation |
These resources provide the model example of a politician engaging with constituents via social media. |
|
Title |
Stelter, B. & Preston, J. (2012). In crisis, public officials embrace social media. The New York Times. |
|
URL |
|
|
Annotation |
This resource provides an overview of ways public officials have utilized social media to engage with their constituents during various crises. |
|
Title |
Fifelski, K. (2012). A politician’s guide to social media. |
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URL |
http://www.govtech.com/govgirl/A-Politicians-Guide-to-Social-Media.html Links to an external site. |
|
Annotation |
This video resource provides several tips for politicians to optimize their social media presence. |
|
Title |
Government representative listing |
|
URL |
http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/fgils/government.html Links to an external site. |
|
Annotation |
Find names of local, state, and national representatives affiliated with the State of Florida which you can then search for on social media sites. |
RUBRIC
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No credit |
Below expectations |
Meets expectations |
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Model profiles
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For the four questions, the student appears to simply answer the question and does not provide evidence of thoughtful reflection; OR the student does not respond to 1 or more of the questions.
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The student responds to all four questions, but some of the responses are not fully developed and appear to be lacking detail or thoughtful reflection.
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For each of the four questions, the student provides complete and thoughtful responses.
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Content Analysis |
The student does not provide a content analysis of social media profiles for one or more public officials. |
The student provides a content analysis of social media profiles for both public officials, but the analysis is lacking in detail or some information is missing.
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The student provides a complete content analysis of social media profiles for both public officials. |
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Reflection |
For the three questions, the student appears to simply answer the question and does not provide evidence of thoughtful reflection; OR the student does not respond to 1 or more of the questions.
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The student responds to all three questions, but some of the responses are not fully developed and appear to be lacking detail or thoughtful reflection.
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For each of the three questions, the student provides complete and thoughtful responses.
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