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Annotated Bibliography

Is Social Media the Next Great Tool For Social Advocacy?

Ashley Stinson Professor Malcolm Campbell English 1102 18 March 2013

Stinson 2 Annotated Bibliography Correa, Christopher. Social Cause Social Media: Silver Bullet or Spam? Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 24 May 2011. Web 15 Mar. 2013. This online magazine discusses multiple pros and cons to social medias part in social activism. The article examines the results of a study done by Georgetown University. In this study, it was discovered that 75% of people feel they are being spammed by socalled causes. The study also observes the habits of men vs. women in participating in online social media causes. It was found that women are much more likely to advocate through social media by liking, sharing and tweeting about causes theyre interested in. Men, on the other hand, were found to be less interested in causes presented through social media, and less likely to participate in this way (Correa). Journalist, blogger, and civil society activist, Hani Naim, was interviewed on this topic as well. Naim mentions the positive influence social media has had in uniting peoples off different backgrounds with the common goal of bringing social and political change to the Middle East (Correa). Forbes Magazine is a popular source, tailored to topics dealing with business and marketing. Since my paper will largely deal with each of these topics, Forbes is a reliable website. However, the content within this specific article is not of the quality that I would prefer for my research. The study by Georgetown University was credible, and may be useful in my discussion of involvement in social media causes for specific groups of people. Other than this study, there were no cited people or sources with scholarly knowledge of the topic. Though Hani Naims work was not well researched or in depth, I would like to include similar ways social media is being used for activism outside of the U.S.

Stinson 3 Greenblatt, Alan. Have You Friended Your Favorite Cause? NPR. National Public Radio, 4 May 2012. Web. 9 March 2013. This article discusses the usefulness of social media in cause-related organizations. He uses a few particular examples, including Kony 2012, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and established causes such as The Red Cross. In these Greenblatt displays how social media is being used as a tool to create interest amongst viewers as well as to inform and involve them. Greenblatt interviews Tonia Ries, founder of The Realtime Report, a social-media business blog, who stresses throughout the article the importance of each of these aspects. This article comes from the NPR website, which is a reliable popular source (serving 19 million viewers on its online center alone). It appears to be somewhat biased, as many of the interviewees are a part of organizations working with social media sites; however, the article is not written in an argumentative style, so the bias is not a major factor. This piece was written as an informative article, with an audience of well-informed, publically involved, socially aware, and highly educated individuals across the country. For this reason, it is going to be a helpful source in my final project, but it may not be as in depth as I would like. Because of its overall surface level coverage and lack of scholarly contributors, I will not be using it as a main source for my paper, but rather to compliment other findings.

Jessica Lucas, et al. "Engaging Stakeholders Through Social Networking: How Nonprofit Organizations Are Using Facebook." Public Relations Review 35.2 (2009): 102-106. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.

Stinson 4 This scholarly journal analyzed 275 nonprofit organizations and their usage of social media sites - specifically, Facebook. A majority of the article discussed the process and statistical results of the study in great depth. It was discovered that Facebook was sometimes being used to create discussion boards, upload pictures and videos, and to attach external links (Lucas). Most of the organizations failed to connect with their viewers in efficient ways. Some left an email address to contact (71%), and few provided discussion boards (44%) or ways to donate online. (13%) (Lucas). The results showed that though organizations recognized their need to be involved online, they did not use all of the resources and tools available to them. Many aspects of this article make it credible, including the fact that it is built upon previous research. Multiple times throughout the article the authors reference previous studies, and provide new discoveries and correct earlier mistakes. This allows for errors to be fixed, and the research to be more reliable. The four authors all come from North Carolina State University, and I have separately researched each one. Richard D. Waters, Ph.D., is a member of the Public Relations department at N.C. State. He has taught many courses specifically dealing with social media and nonprofit marketing; for this reason, he is a very reliable author for my topic. One minor flaw to the credibility of this research is that it was published in 2009. While that may seem fairly recent, there has been a great deal of advancement in social media since then, and some of the information may be outdated. There are sufficient citations within this article to back up the information presented. The in depth statistical analysis, and research used suggest a well-informed, scholarly audience. For this reason, some of the information is more detailed than I will need for my final project. However, many of the statistics can be very useful. I am very interested in the main argument of this paper,

Stinson 5 which is that nonprofits wish to use social media, but fail to do so effectively. This is a different angle than I have seen in my previous research, and I plan on developing this idea further.

Poovey, Cherin. Social Media, Social Good. Wake Forest Magazine. Wake Forest University, 11 November 2010. Web. 23 February 2013. This online magazine discusses the revolution that is social media. Initially, Poovey describes the way the introduction of social media has changed the way people go about supporting and initiating social good. She even mentions how the power to connect and join people through social media helped to elect a president, as well as fund many national and international projects. The author notes that it is no longer a question of the Internet being good or bad; society has accepted the Internet, and now it is just a matter of maximizing its use for public good. The rest of the article displays three stories, and how social media has been a part of each organization. The author seems to have very high expectations for the potential good social media could promote. Though Wake Forrest University is a reliable source, I do not feel comfortable resting on the credibility of this particular article. This article was not written in an argumentative way; it was simply an informative piece, meant to draw the attention of fellow Wake Forrest Students. It was a very helpful source, because it showed a variety of examples and had many valid points. I most likely will not be using this article as a main source for my final paper. This is mainly because it does not support one side of an argument, and is not backed by scientific research.

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