to tube or not to tube: an analysis of ethical … · to tube or not totiube - 1 by marcus messner,...
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To Tube or not to Tube: An Analysis of Ethical Guidelinesfor the YouTube Engagement of Non-Profit Organizations
To Tube or not to Tube - 1
IBy Marcus Messner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University
This study was supported by a Legacy Scholar Grantfrom the Arthur W. Page Center at Pennsylvania State University.
The widespread adoption of social media has changed how the public communicates about andwith organizations. The old one-way communication model of mass communication is replacedby the need to engage the public through two-way communication. This presents challenges forhierarchical organizations that have structured lines of communication. As shown by theexample of the widely popular viral video Kony 2012, social media engagements on platformslike YouTube can be only successful, if organizations maintain a continuous communicationwith their audiences.
Some strategists have argued that a social media engagement for media organizations needs to beconducted through the creation of "an 'open media ethics' and offers an exploration of how thesedevelopments encourage a transition from a closed professional ethics to an ethics that is theconcern of all citizens." Non-profit organizations are faced with the same ethical challenges of asocial media engagement and are thereby important subjects for the study (If social media uses aswell as campaign and ethical guideline implementations.
This study examined how frequently communicators for non-profit organizations engage onYouTube compared to other social media platforms and to what degree their engagement isdetermined by ethical guidelines. The study used a national Web-based/e-mail survey of 2,000non-profit organizations that was carried out in December 2012 and January 2013. Theorganizations were sampled from the "200 Largest U.S. Charities" list by Forbes magazine aswell as the website Nonprofitlist.org, which allowed sampling from all 50 states. While all of the200 largest charities were included, non-profit organizations from each state were selectedthrough a stratified random sampling technique. This allowed for the representation of non-profitorganizations of different sizes as well as from different geographic locations. Additionally, thesurvey was made available through nonprofit pages and groups on various social media sites.
395 respondents from 44 states and the District of Columbia filled out the survey. 73% of therespondents were female and 27% were male. 51.7% of the respondents had a bachelor's degree,40.5% a graduate degree. 68.1 % of the respondents had been with their employer for fewer than5 years. 42.1 % of the respondents' organizations had an employee with social media as aprimary job responsibility.
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Demographics
How many people does your organization employ overall?
_i-5
_5-10
_11-20_21·50
_5'1-100
_101-500_5f'!1·1::r.:<l
Which calegory BEST describes the sector of your organization?
56~06>.
2.a",12 "
2.S?,10.' Yo
151:'
_ Cultural
_ Oon;estlc N~~.
_Edueati~_ Er'vlrOOl'f'<nt/Mtm.oJ
_Health
_ ItltemaliOnal tJHds
_MedK4!2D9Yo
_Pt.b1lc~j!irs
_ Pvb!Ic-8r~(lflQ
_ PUtilC Pohcy
_RellllOLl,
_Vo!Sth
_Ott-t't
112%
165~
5.5~
Findings
Approximately for how many years have you used the following socialmedia platforms professionally for your NONPROFIT ORGANIZA TION?
o 100
How often do you use the following social media platforms professionallyfor YOUR JOB at the nonprofit organization? Choose one answer per row.
To Tube or not to Tube - 3
_ Less than a veer
_i-2.,.e::.rs_ :3-5ye~r5
_ More then 5 years
_ Oor;-t 1..;5e plettom-
_ Several times a d::~'
_ Once a dav
_ .!:.. few times a month
Approximately how many pieces of content (posts, tweets, photos,videos, etc) does YOUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZA TION generally publish
PER WEEK on the following social media platforms?
Youfube
Cooqle+
Linked!n
To Tube or not to Tube - 4
_1-2_}-5_:'-1Co
_10-15
_1.5-2"_ 20:25_25-30_ More than 30
40f}
From which devices do you access the following social media platformsregularly for YOUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION? You can choose multiple
devices for each platform.
Turnblr
o 100 3(}{}200
YouTube
Cooqle-
Turnblr
Linkedln
I} 50 100 150 200 250
_ Desktop con.puter
_ L.pt"p,-r.etoc.ck
_ ip.diother teblet
_ Mobile phone
3W
--_/
-------------------------- -- - - -----~
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What best describes the kind of social media policy or guideline that your nonprofit organizationhas for its employees and volunteers?
A written policy
Verbally providedguidelines
Don't know if we havepolicy or guidelines
We have no policyor guidelines
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
In your opinion, who is best suited to develop social media policies or guidelines foryour organization?
t'llanagement 50.7%
Staff
Outside consultant
Online cornmunity
o 50 100 150
160
200
To Tube or not to Tube - 6
Which of the following social media platforms is specifically addressed in your organization'spolicy or guideline? You can choose multiple platforms.
Youfube
Gooqla-
Tumblr
Linkedln
49.7~
I) 50 150 20[)1GO
In your opinion, which of the following social media platforms is most likely to cause an ethicalproblem for your organization?
Fecebook
YouTube
Cooqle+
Tumblr
Linksdln
None
o 50 100 150 200
I