Leadership going social: How U.S. nonprofit executives engage publics on Twitter

• Published in: Telematics and informatics Vol. 65; p. 101710
• Main Authors: Yue, Cen April, Qin, Yufan Sunny, Vielledent, Marc, Men, Linjuan Rita, Zhou, Alvin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Communication; Content analysis; Dialogic communication; Information dissemination; Leadership; Leadership communication; Nonprofit communication; Nonprofit organizations; Principles; Public participation; Public relations; Social media; Social networks; Social presence; Tactics; United States > US; Social presence; Dialogic communication; Public relations; Nonprofit communication; Leadership communication; Social media
• ISSN: 0736-5853; 1879-324X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tele.2021.101710

•We explored how nonprofit executives in the U.S. engaged with online publics through various communication strategies and tactics.•We conducted a content analysis on 700 Twitter posts from 35 nonprofit executive leaders who possess an active Twitter presence and 195 public comments.•Nonprofit executives employed some degree of all four dialogic principles and capitalized on all three types of social presence strategies evenly.•Nonprofit executives were most active in disseminating information and creating an online community. This study explored how nonprofit executives in the U.S. engaged with online publics through various communication strategies. We investigated the extent to which nonprofit executives leveraged 1) digital dialogic principles, 2) social presence strategies, and 3) message tactics. In addition, this study attempted to explore how different communication strategies influenced publics’ digital engagement with nonprofit leaders. We conducted a content analysis on 700 Twitter posts from 35 nonprofit executive leaders who possess an active Twitter presence and 195 public comments. These executives led America’s largest nonprofits across a wide range of religious, educational, scientific, sports, and social welfare organizations. The results showed that nonprofit executives employed some degree of the four dialogic principles and capitalized on each of the three types of social presence strategies evenly. Regarding message function, nonprofit executives were most active in disseminating information and creating an online community. Findings regarding the associations between communication strategies and public engagement remain mixed.