Codes:

X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

Kayla Schorr
Garrett Hall
Elizabeth Kim
Chi Chi Onwuegbu
ENGL297
ETHNOGRAPHY REPORT:
Professional Writing for Social Media

Introduction:

Social media is the collective of online communication platforms dedicated to

community-based input, interaction, content-sharing, and collaboration. Writing in the
world of social media originates from the innate desire to reach out to others and
communicate. Social media writing has since then evolved into an exciting subsidiary of
professional writing in which companies are now able to reach their consumers and
clients in real-time, accessible, and authentic ways.

We are interested in the process of writing for professional social media contexts
and had the opportunity to study a professional writer’s work. Through an interview with
a professional social media writer, close analyses of social media artifacts, and field
notes on the typical work setting for social media writers, we uncover the ways in which
social media writing makes a direct impact on their audiences in ways that traditional
professional writing practices have not.

Research Location & Subject:

The research subject studied is X, Marketing and Communications Coordinator

at XY. XY is a chapter of XYZ, the largest wish granting organization in the world. XYZ’s
mission is to grant the wishes of children with critical illnesses. When a child is
diagnosed with a critical illness, they can be referred by a parent or medical
professional to their local XYZ chapter. If the organization deems that they are eligible
for a wish, these children determine their one true wish. They think about what kind of
experience could help them get through the hardships that have come along with their
recovery processes, and with enough funding, donations, and proper documentation,
these wishes can be granted.
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

Essentially, XYZ is a non-profit, which means that over 75% of their funding goes
toward granting wishes. The only revenue the organization brings in is in the form of
donations. For these donations to come in, someone needs to promote the
organization, raise awareness for the types of illnesses that warrant a wish, and truly
showcase the inspiring work that the organization performs every day. These types of
roles fall to X.

Before her role at XY, X served as a Staff Assistant at the U.S. House of
Representatives. This job required a ton of writing and communicating with government
officials. Because of this role, X understands how to use specific tones to target a
segmented audience.

As Marketing and Communications Coordinator at XY, X is responsible for

managing the organization’s publicity, website, content, and social media. She strives to
ensure that all content drafted by XY coincides with their national branding principles
and company voice. One of her main tasks is managing the chapter’s social media
accounts. X consistently posts content that promotes the company’s achievements,
showcases current wishes, and advertises for donor events.

Because social media writing is a much different form of writing than typical
essay writing or related professional writing tasks, it will be helpful to speak to X about
the specific differences across writing platforms.

Data Collection Procedures:

We conducted a semi-structured interview in the XY office, consisting of

open-ended questions geared toward learning about our informant’s expertise and
knowledge in the field of social media writing. We have some knowledge of social media
writing in general, so these questions helped to clarify and progress our current
understanding of the field. This interview also gave us a first-person look at what it is
like to write on behalf of a company within the realm of social media.

Our primary sources of data outside of the interview consist of our interviewees’
posts on mainstream social media sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.), as well as
the reactions and interactions with these posts. We analyzed the content being posted,
language being used, average length of posts and the frequency of posts on the sites.
Along with the posts themselves, the information we collected about the reactions of
people following XY’s social media accounts will also shed light on the field of social
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

media writing. This is an important aspect of technical writing in the social media field
because the purpose of it is to not only share information, but to evoke emotion and,
consequently, reaction from current and potential clients.

Field notes were also taken at XY to further understand the typical workday and
setting of a social media writer for a company. We focused on topics such as
atmosphere (desk arrangement/proximity etc.), appropriate language used among
employees, lunch break timing and duration, work day length, acceptable attire, etc.

Results:

Workplace Environment:

As an intern at XY, Kayla was able to take field notes about the office in which X
works to provide context of X’s position. XY is located in Bethesda, MD, on the seventh
floor of a high rise building. Right when you get off of the elevator, you can see “XY”
written in big white letters against a blue wall, providing immediate assurance of a proud
organization. When Kayla observed the office, she noticed a small room off to the side
of the reception area, with colorful walls and murals. There is a big sign that says “Wish
Kids Room” above three closet doors. The closets are filled with toys, decorations, and
snacks, for when wish kids come into the office. The reception area has inviting blue
couches that match the company logo perfectly. Just past reception is X’s office, where
she and two other XY employees sit. As a non-profit, there is limited office space
because of high rent costs in the area, so many employees at XY share an office. X
works in a nice area of the office. She sits with her back facing the window, and a TV
next to her desk. She has several pictures and small plants on her desk. She works
across from the mailroom, which is convenient, since the room also stores all of the
office supplies. The office is U-shaped, and not very large, so all employees and interns
are very accessible to one another. X usually uses phone or email to communicate with
her colleagues though, since she is always multitasking.

Social Media Planning:

Before each month, X plans out a social media calendar that outlines what the
XY social media accounts should post each day on its various pages. There are various
hashtags that are used on social media every day of the week, including Wishes Matter
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, and Feel Good Friday. XY also tries to post for
special social media holidays, like National Doctors Day, National Siblings Day, National
Puppy Day, and other holidays of that sort. Another large part of social media planning
is researching when different awareness day occur, such as epilepsy awareness day,
congenital heart defect awareness day, and others. After planning the purpose of each
post, X plans what pictures or links correspond with each post, and writes a caption that
appropriately corresponds with each different social media platform. Before posting, X
proofreads her posts, making sure that her tone effectively conveys that of XYZ. She
makes sure that her punctuation is balanced, without an overload of exclamation points.

Stylistic nuances across platforms (Facebook vs. Instagram, etc.):

In our Interview with X, she discussed the subtle nuances that exist among social
media platforms that she takes into account when planning the content of her posts.
One important aspect she keeps in mind is that “... the language you use there
(Instagram) would generally be shorter verses a Facebook post…you could write more
on Facebook. Twitter, you obviously have a character count, so you are really limited
there.” (X) This concept is highlighted when considering a post shared on XY’s
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

Facebook and Twitter accounts, but was excluded from their Instagram. The post is an
invitation to an event being held by XY this April with a link to more information and
tickets to this event. On Facebook, the text is a bit longer and detail-heavy than the post
on Twitter because of the limited word count (120 characters) Twitter implements. XY’s
Instagram account, being a platform “...based mostly on pictures and videos,” (X) did
not receive a post about this event because the text-heavy, pictureless information
would have been unfitting to the platform.

Users can observe the differences in the Instagram and Facebook posts that XY
uses to convey the same message, but utilize the nuances across platforms to
adjust content to fit the needs of each platform. The Instagram post shows a
large photo with a simple caption, while the Facebook post attaches a YouTube
video and reflects on a recent event the chapter held.

In her article, ​Managing Social Media Platforms for Different Audiences, ​Emily
Hunt discusses the mindfulness companies should have about the age variances of the
audiences across platforms. She presents the statistics that Facebook is virtually the
social media hub for 60% of people ages 50-60 in comparison to only 9% (Twitter) and
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

6% (Instagram). Hunt uses these and other statistics to recommend using Facebook to
target a “wide range of ages,” (Hunt) Twitter to target “slightly younger audience(s) in
more urban settings,” (Hunt) and Instagram for an audience “dominated by 18-29
year-olds.”(Hunt) This information also helps to provide us with information of the
content to post. Facebook’s culture of appealing to slightly more mature audiences
allows for more text to be written and for a wider range of content. Twitter’s culture of
constant posting allows us to reach audiences more frequently with informative and fun
content, geared toward a slightly younger audience. Instagram, where emphasis on
style and appealing content is placed, can be a great way to show professionalism and
reach out to young audiences with appealing photos from the company.

Strategic audience outreach:

The success of a company’s social media writing is dependent on its ability to

connect with its audiences. X explained that in her field of work there are many different
strategies to facilitate higher audience engagement. In X’s interview she shared, “I think
something that a lot of organizations [are] do[ing] is asking questions.” She expounded
that companies will commonly include a question in the caption section of a post to urge
their audiences to engage with their content and respond with their thoughts or with a
gif. X pointed out, however, that direct questions often come across as inorganic which
can even dissuade audience engagement. X revealed, “And [for] things that are organic,
I’ve seen this on Instagram: people will tag a friend in the comments and the friend will
see it to help expand.”

Artifacts:

Three of the artifacts we collected were each a social media account from a
different platform: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We analyzed certain aspects of the
posts to further our understanding of their use of technical writing and for companies.
The content that was shared was generally the same, with a bit more frequency on
Twitter (possibly due to the platform’s accepted culture of posting with more frequency),
and a bit less on Instagram due to the specificity of needing a photo or video for every
post. The posts usually consist of work XY has done to help someone, advertisements
promoting donations to XY or XYZ, invitations to events XY or XYZ is hosting and
photos or updates from events.
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

Users can observe the differences in the type of content that is posted across
social media platforms. While Instagram posts many pictures of children on their
wishes, thank-yous to volunteers, and awareness day posts, Twitter is more
informational and posts event recaps and ways to donate.

The purpose of these posts is to evoke emotions and reactions from people. On
Facebook, photo albums generated the most reactions (comments, likes, reactions and
shares), with videos second, single photos right behind that, and text-invitations falling
last. Twitter seemed to evoke less response than Facebook and was a bit more
randomized in the amount of reactions. Gifs and videos tended to do very well, along
with photos with a bit of text alongside the photos. Text-based tweets were a toss up
between many reactions and barely any, which could be tied to the time of day they
were posted and how many people were online or another external reason. Instagram,
being that every post is either a video or photo alongside text, evoked fairly consistent
responses to the posts shared to the platform. Posts generally got between 50 - 100
likes on photos and 100+ likes on videos. While videos were posted with a bit less
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

frequency, the high-quality videos tended to get the best response on Instagram. All
posts received an average of 1 comment, with the exception of some getting upwards to
10 when an extraordinary event or occurrence is being posted about.

The frequency of posts varied a bit between each platform, Facebook was
posted to generally once every day, Twitter was posted to every day but would receive
multiple posts about a single event throughout the day, and Instagram was posted to
about once every other day.

Data Analysis:

To analyze our data we will be using concepts from chapter 17 of the book
titled“Solving Problems in Technical Communication”. The chapter is titled “What do
technical communicators need to know about New Media?”. We chose this chapter
because it discusses how technical communicators engage in new media. New media is
similar to social media. Which makes this chapter a great fit to analyze the data we
collected.Chapter 17 encouraged us to look at how writing in social media engages in
single sourcing and content management. The chapter also encouraged us to consider
a few things involved writing in social media. These include the audience, purpose, and
content. These three considerations go hand in hand in the sense that the content being
presented is supposed to match the purpose, which is supposed to resonate with their
audience.
Single sourcing involves using the same information in different documents.
Managing the information in single sourcing is content management.To analyze the use
of single sourcing and content management we gathered some of the information we
got from our interviewee during the interview. The interviewee declared that two of the
most common information that they post about on different platforms are about events
being held by the organization and information about some of the children that they are
involved with and how they helped the children achieve their wish.They manage similar
information by the way they present their texts on different sites. For instance, when
looking at the similar information posted on both Instagram and facebook our
interviewee declared that she posts more pictures on Instagram and less text to deliver
their content. Whereas on facebook she posts both pictures and text in their content but
there is more text on posts on their facebook page.
When considering purpose, content, and audience for the purpose we determine
if the writer was trying to convince or inform their audience through their content. We
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

considered the purpose, content, and audience in the works of the interviewee's
organization by looking at their posts on Facebook and some information from the
interview. In the interview, it was revealed that the purpose of the company’s post was
to inform their audience about events and the work that they are doing with children.
This purpose was implemented in the content of their posts. For instance one of the
posts that they shared on Facebook included information about how the interviewee’s
workplace granted a wish for a boy with kidney disease by making it possible for him to
be a judge for a day.
To see if the purpose of their posts (relating to the children they helped)
resonated with their audience, we looked at the comments of each of their posts. Most
of the comments they received were positive. They involved people from their audience
thanking the organization for what they were doing for children. For example, one of the
comments made for the facebook post I mentioned previously said “ Great work to the
team at the chapter, Amazing wish for an amazing young man hugs to you all”.
What was interesting to see when looking at the comment section (on facebook)
was that the organization would reply to the responses made by their audience. Most of
their replies involved gratitude from the company regarding their appreciative feedback
left by an audience member. For instance, after receiving a positive comment from a
post (which I mentioned earlier) through their Facebook account the corporation replied
to the good feedback from an audience member by saying “Thanks it was such an
honor to grant this wish”. The fact that an audience member appreciated the post and
that the writer appreciated the member's comments showed that the impression the
writer wanted to leave on their audience was implemented and the purpose of the writer
resonated with the audience.

Conclusion:

This study focused on the planning, strategy, and execution behind professionally
writing for the world of social media. The data and information collected through an
interview with X of XY and extensive field notes about XYZ’s professional environment
provide an excellent framework for students interested in pursuing social media writing
in both professional and non-professional contexts. While this study centers in on one
specific social media writer, it presents insight into the cleverly calculated approaches to
social media writing and audience outreach.
 Codes:
X: Name of Subject
XY: Name of Local Chapter
XYZ: Name of National Organization

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hunt, Emily. “Managing Social Media Platforms for Different Audiences.” Social Media
Today, 12 Feb. 2015,
www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/2015-02-12/managing-social-media-
platforms-different-audiences.

Johnson-Eilola, J., & Selber, S. A. (2013). ​Solving problems in technical communication​.

Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.