Military Facebook Study March2010 Final

8/9/2019 Military Facebook Study March2010 Final

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THINK

CreaTe

ValIdaTe

delIVer

MIlITarY FaCeBOOK STUdY

March 2010

JANSON Communications

10530 Linden Lake Plaza

Suite 302

Manassas, VA 20109

P 703 393 2500

F 703 393 2505

Visit us on the web:jansoncom.com

This document is a study of Military Facebook pages conducted and paid for by JANSON

Communications. This study analyzed the trends, themes, and commonalities between

Facebook users and owners. The views and analyses expressed in this study are solely those of

JANSON Communications and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Military.

Copyiht 2010 JaNSON Communictions. a ihts sv.


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MIlITarY FaCeBOOK STUdY March 2010

TaBle OF CONTeNTS

Welcome..........................................................................................................................................2

Aboutthestudy................................................................................................................................ 3

ExecutiveSummary...........................................................................................................................4

OverallFindings................................................................................................................................5

PersonalityPages..............................................................................................................................8

RecruitingPages.............................................................................................................................10

OrganizationPages.........................................................................................................................12

LocationPages................................................................................................................................ 14

Recommendations,Conclusions,andLinks..................................................................................... 15


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WelCOMe

Inthelastthreeyears,socialmediahasbecomeanincreasinglylargepartofthecommunicationstoolboxfor

theDepartmentofDefense(DoD)andmilitaryservices.Whilemanymilitaryorganizationshaveembracedthis

technology,moststillstruggletondanadequatestrategyandsetofbestpracticestooperateon.

DoDreleaseditsrstcomprehensivesocialmediapolicyonFebruary26,2010,directingthat,acrosstheservices,

thenon-classiednetworksdefaultsettingwouldallowaccesstosocialmediapages.Withthereleaseofthis

policy,itisanticipatedthatsocialmediawillgrowasaneffectiveandnecessarycommunicationstoolforthemilitary

totelltheirstoryandcommunicatetheirmission.

JANSONembarkedonthisstudytotakeasnapshotoftheU.S.militarysuseofthisuniquecommunications

channelandexaminethebestpracticesandpossibleshortcomingsofthoseefforts.Withover400millionmembers,

andgrowingexponentially,Facebookrepresentsamassivepotentialcommunityformilitaryorganizationstoinform

stakeholders.

Ifyouhaveconsideredstartingasocialmediaprogram,orhaveonethatneedsimprovement,wehopethat

thisinformationaidsinyourendeavor.Thisstudyappliesnotonlytothemilitary,buttoanyorganizationin

government,businessornon-prot,byofferingasetofuniqueinsights,strategiesandtechniques.

Ifyouwouldlikeanelectroniccopy,visitourWebsiteatjansoncom.com.Foranyquestionsormediainquiries,

[email protected].

Sincerely,

FredWellman

SeniorDirectorofCommunications,PublicRelationsandSocialMedia


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aBOUT THe STUdY

l ThestudyexaminedtheuseofFacebookpagesbytheU.S.militarytoidentifytrends,bestpracticesand

typicalusesofthiscommunicationstool.

l Itwasconductedoveratwo-weekperiodbetweenJanuary4thand18th,2010.

l Weapproachedthestudyasfans,establishingaFacebookprolepageforJANSONSocial-Mediatoview

thepagesfromauserperspective.

l PageswerecollectedbyrstgoingtotheDoDSocialMediaHubsiteandthearmedservicessocialmedia

homepagesandfollowingallofthepageslisted.

l SimplesearchtermswereusedintheFacebooksearchenginetoidentifyotherpagesusingcommonmilitary

termssuchasbrigade,battalion,Marine,Naval,fort,USS,commanderandothers.

l Welimitedourstudytoactualmilitaryorganizations,excludinggroupssuchasMorale,Welfareand

Recreationprograms,familysupportgroupsorsmallunits.

l 682pageswereidentiedandenteredintoourdatasetusingthismethodology.

Ofthedatasetfound,thesamplesetwascomprisedofthefollowing:

Agency Percent of Total Sample

DepartmentoftheArmy 70%

DepartmentoftheNavy 14%

DepartmentoftheAirForce 5%

UnitedStatesMarineCorps 2%

OtherAgencies 9%

Thepagesweredividedintovecategories:

l PersonalityPagesFanpagesdedicatedtoorcreatedbyaspecicperson.Personalitypagesaretypically

representativeofmilitarypersonnelinpositionsofauthorityand/orseniorleadershiproles.

l RecruitingPagesFanpagesownedbyindividualrecruitingstationsororganizationsthatarespecically

designedtoenhancerecruitingmissions,usuallyinaspeciclocaleorforaspecicspecialty.

l OrganizationPagesFanpagesdedicatedtopromotingmilitarycommands,departments,divisionsorunits.

l LocationPagesFanpagesdedicatedtoaparticularbaseormilitaryinstallationanditsservicesandsupport

tothemilitarycommunity.

l GroupPagesGrouppagesaremeanttofostergroupdiscussionaboutaparticulartopicorsubjectmatter

(notincludedinthisstudy).


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exeCUTIVe SUMMarY

Introduction

ThepurposeofthisstudywastoevaluatethecontentofmilitaryFacebookpagesfromtheuserspointofview.When

aFacebookmemberbecomesafanofapage,theyarecreatingaveryuniquelinktothatpersonality,locationor

organization.Bystudyingtheusefulness,uniquenessandeaseofuseofthepagescontent,wewereabletoevaluate

thereturnonthatuserscommitment.ThestudyusedDoDsandmilitaryservicesownsocialmediahubpagesanda

simplesearchtond682fanpagesforexamination.

Highlighted Findings

Thestudyfoundthefollowing:

l 87%ofpageshadatleastoneformofcontactinformationwithalinktotheirofcialpagebeingthemost

primaryformon71%ofpages.l Only22%ofpagesstudiedhadcleartermsofuseposteddelineatingwhatisacceptablebehaviorand

commentsonthepage.

l Duringthestudyperiod84%ofmilitarypageshadnointeractionwiththeirfansatall.

l 4%ofthepagesexaminedhadnocontentorhadnotbeenupdatedforseveralmonthsresultingin

zombiepagesthoughmanymorewereexcludedfromthestudydataset.

l ManymilitaryFacebookpagesarenotclearlymarkedasofcialandcanbeconfusedwiththelarger

numberofunofcialandclonepagesthatlooklikegovernmentsponsoredpagesbutmaycontain

inaccurateandinappropriatecontent.

l Thereisaclearcorrelationbetweentheamountofinteractionapersonalitypageownerhaswithhisfansandthesubsequentnumberoffanswhosignupforthepage.

l Duringourstudyalmostnoneofthepersonalitypageownersinteractedwiththeirfanseitherbyanswering

commentsontheirpostingsorrespondingtoqueriespostedonthepageswall.

l Recruitingpagesattractfaninterestwith89%ofpageshavingfanpostswithquestionsandsupportive

comments.

l Recruitingpagesanswered1outofevery12.5questionsorcommentspostedtotheirpages.

l 87%ofrecruitingpageshadnoFrequentlyAskedQuestionspostedtoanswersimplequeriesforinterested

potentialrecruits.

l Onorganizationpagesinteractionwithfanswasalsolowwith72%ofcommentsandqueriesreceivingno

responsesfromthepageowner.

l TheU.S.MarineCorpshadthemosttotalfansfollowedbytheNationalGuardandU.S.Armypages.

l 74%oflocationpagesdidnotcontainanycriticallocationinformationsuchasgateclosingsorBase

RealignmentandClosureupdates.


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OVerall FINdINgS

Contact Information

Placingcontactinformationonapageprovidesacrucialavenue

forfanstocontactthepageadministratorwithinquiries.Ofall

thepagesstudied,87%containedatleastonetypeofcontact

informationintheformofacontactperson,address,email

address,phonenumberorWebsite(Figure1).Whenexamined

individually,themostpopularformofcontactinformationisa

linktotheofcialWebsitewith71%ofoverallpagesdoing

so.Ontheotherhand,only8%ofpagesprovidedanofcial

contactperson(Figure2).

Terms of Use

Forofcialsites,itisconsideredvitaltoincludeterms

ofuseonaFacebookpage,asitgivestheusersclear

rulesonwhatisandisnotappropriateoracceptable

useofthepage.Italsopreventsaccusationsof

censorshipifusercontentorpostsmustberemoved.

Only22%ofpagesstudiedhadcleartermsofuse.

Pageswithoutcleartermsofuseoftencontained

advertisementsorprofanecomments/postsontheir

wallsandintheirdiscussionboardsthatwerenot

removedinatimelymanner.

Fan Interaction

OneofthetrulyuniqueadvantagesofusingFacebookasanadditionalcommunicationtoolforthemilitaryisthetwo-

wayconversationandinteractionthatothertraditionalmeansofcommunicationdonotoffer.Studieshaveshown

thatthesocialaspectofsocialmediaiswhatdrivestheexplosivegrowthofthismedium.FormilitaryFacebook

pages,thismeansextracareisnecessarynottousethepageasjustanotherinternetpressroomforissuingreleases

andcommandinformationstories,butasaconversationwithcommunitiesandaplacetohostconversationsrelated

tothemission.Duringthe

studyperiod,84%ofpages

reviewedhadnointeraction

withtheirfans,and33%of

pageshadinteractionamong

theirfanseveniftheowner

neverparticipated(Figure3

andFigure4).

Figure 1. Percent of Pages with

Contact Information

Figure 2. Contact Information by Type

Figure 3. Overall Fan

Interaction

Figure 4. Owner Interaction

with Fans


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Overall Content

Likeanyinternetmedium,contentiskingonFacebook.The

channelhasquicklybecomethenumberonemediumforsharing

photos,videosandnewsamongfriendsandwithfans.Duringourstudy,asurprisinglylownumberofpicturesandotherforms

ofmediawerefoundonmanymilitarypages,and9%hadno

mediaatall(Figure5).

Zombies

Mostmilitarypageswerefairlyactive,althoughthechangeinthe

U.S.MarineCorpssocialmediapolicyinSeptember2009slowed

theactivitiesonmostoftheirofcialFacebookpages.Duringthe

study,anumberofZombiepageswerefoundthosethatwere

createdandthenliveinlimbo.Only4%ofthepagesexaminedinthedatasetwerezombies,thoughalargenumberwere

excludedfromthedatasetafterbeingfoundinourinitialsearch.

Justlikeintheprivatesector,pagesareoftencreatedbyearly

adoptersandthengointosuspendedanimationwhenthatperson

movesontoanotherassignment(Figure6).

Figure 5. Overall Content by Type

Figure 6. Pages with No Content


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Figure 8. Clone PageCreated by Military Basebook Application

Clones

Akeypieceofanyofcialpresenceontheinternetisclearlyidentifyingthatsiteasbeingtheofcialoutlet.Thestudy

foundthatanextremelysmallnumberofthepagesclearlyidentiedthemselvesasbeingofcial(Figure7).There

arehundredsofunofcialfanpagesformilitaryservices,units,personalitiesandinstallationsorclonesites.Itcanbedifculttosorttheofcialpagefromthefan-createdclone,asthetwoscreenshotsbelowforFortCampbell,Kentucky

demonstrate(Figure8).

Figure7istheofcialpage

titledFortCampbell,

KentuckyandFigure8was

createdwiththeMilitary

BasebookApplicationand

istitledFortCampbell.

Therearemanyfanpostson

theunofcialpagewhich

implythatconfusionexists.

Figure 7. Ofcial Page


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OwnerResponse

6%

0%

UnearnedFans

PerSONalITY PageS

Interaction with Fans

Thereareseveralwayspersonalitiescanleveragetheirpages.Page

ownerswithcelebrity-likestatuscantrulyhumanizetheircharacter

withpersonalitypages.KeytothisistheuniqueabilityofFacebook

fanpagestofostertwo-waycommunicationswithfansfor

answeringqueriesandrespondingtocommentsonposts.During

thestudyperiod,almostnoneofthepersonalitypagesexamined

interactedwiththeirfans(Figure9andFigure10).

n Of the personality pages reviewed,44% did not have any new fan posts andonly 3% responded to queries from fans.

Figure 9. Fan Posts vs. Owner Responses

Figure 10. Top Ten Personality Pages by Number of Fans*

Personality pages can serve a range of communicationsfunctions, including being a spokesperson for the mission,or as an extended open door for the leader to gainfeedback from their subordinates and communities.

Personalitypagesareusedasbothinternalandexternalcommunicationschannels.Primarily,thepersonalityactsasa

spokespersontoextendthecommunicationsoutreachfortheirgroup,organizationorlocation.

n On personality pages, the number of fans earned showeda correlation to the owners response tendency.

*Some personality pages have hidden their fan count including General Ray Odierno, and were not counted on this chart.


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n Listing the ofcial web site is the most popular form of contactinformation on a personality page.

Figure 11. Contact Information on Personality Pages

Figure 12. Owner and Fan Posts by Type

Contact information

Likemanyofthepagetypesstudied,

realcontactinformationwasrareorcompletelymissingonmostpersonality

pages(Figure11).Contactinformation

isespeciallyimportantifthepage

administratorisnotregularlymonitoring

fanpostsoransweringinquiries.

Owner posts only

Fan posts only

Owner postsand fan posts


Post types

Itwasapparentthatfansusedpersonality

pagestoaskspecicquestionsthatthey

neededansweredortoexpressgeneral

support.Duringthestudy,thenumberof

personalityresponsestofaninquirieswere

verysmall.Mostpersonalitypagestalked

totheirfansbutdidnotengagethem

(Figure12).


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reCrUITINg PageSRecruiting pages can be used to increase awareness forindividual stations and organizations while providing aunique communications medium where many potentialrecruits are already active on the web.

Recruitingpagesprimarilyservetoenhancetheawarenessandrecruitingmissionofthestationandmilitary

organization.Asarecruitingtool,Facebookprovidesavaluableavenueforrecruiterstoconnectandinteractwith

potentialrecruits.Bydesign,thesepagescanbeusedtoattractamoretargetedaudienceatanytimeandlocation.The

U.S.ArmyRecruitingCommandhasrecentlylaunchedacomprehensiveinitiativetogetrecruitingorganizationsallthe

waydowntostationleveltouseFacebook,andthenumbersinourstudyshowtheresultsofthateffort.Manypages

werebrandnewandsomewhatunder-developedorsetupinadvertentlyasprolepagesinsteadoffanpages.When

contacted,USARECexpressedknowledgeofthisandstatedtheyareworkingtotransitionthemallovertofanpages.

n On average, recruiters responded to 7% of questions or commentsposted. Only 5% of the pages announced upcoming events.

n Of all the recruiting pagefan posts, 67% were unique.

Figure 13. Fan Interaction on Recruiting Pages

OwnerResponse

0%

0%

8%

7%

Interaction

Facebookoffersauniqueenvironmentfor

localpotentialrecruitsorthoselooking

forspecicspecialities,suchasmedical

careers,toaskquestionsofrecruiters.

Faninteractioniskey,andbyanswering

onequestiononthewalloftheirpage,

theymayprovidejusttheinformation

anotherfanwaslookingfor.Itisclearlya

placewherepotentialrecruitsarewillingtoengage,as89%ofthepageshadfan

postsontheirwalls.Interactionfromthe

pageadministratorswasfairlylowonmost

oftherecruitingpageswithresponsesto

querymeasuringjust1in12.5questionsor

commentsposted(Figure13).

Figure 14. Top Ten Recruiting Pages by Number of Fans


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FAQs

Justasontheofcialrecruitingpages,asetofFrequentlyAsked

Questions(FAQs)canhelpanswermanypotentialrecruits

questionsandlocalstationsandcommandscantailorthose

messagesfortheirspecicareas.87%ofrecruitingpagesdonot

postFAQs(Figure16).

Events

Recruitingeventsorcommunityactivitiesbyrecruiters

provideimportantopportunitiesforpotentialrecruits

andrecruiterstomeetface-to-face.Byensuringthat

appropriateupcomingeventsarepostedandupdated,

recruitingstationscanincreasetheeventspresence

amongsocialnetworksandsearchengines.95%of

recruitingpagesdonotannounceupcomingevents

(Figure17).

Figure 16. Frequently Asked Questionson Recruiting Pages

Figure 17. Announcement of Upcoming Eventson Recruiting Pages

Contact information

Evenmorethantheothertypesofpages

inthestudy,contactinformationisa

criticalelementofsuccessfulrecruiting.Inthisstudy,mostrecruitingpageswere

doingbetterthanallothertypesofpages

inprovidingclearcontactinformation

(Figure15).

Recruitingpagescanrelyonthefull

spectrumofFacebooktoolstoengageawiderrange

ofpotentialrecruits.Discussionboards,upcoming

eventsandmediapostscanbeaseffectiveaswall

poststoinformusersaboutgeneralrecruitingnews

andevents.

Figure 15. Contact Information on Recruiting Pages


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OrgaNIzaTION

PageSOrganization pages are typically used to improve awarenessamong users with a vested interested in the organization.

Organizationpagesareprimarilyusedtoimproveawarenessamonguserswhohaveavestedinterestinthe

command,suchasmembers,theirfamiliesandveterans.Organizationpagesprovidearangeofinformationincluding

in-theaterupdates,picturesanddeploymentinformationtosupportcohesionintheunit,informfamilymembersand

buildoutsidesupport.

EffectiveFacebookpagescancreateauniquelyopenconversationandtwo-waycommunicationtoolformilitaryunits.

Toeffectivelyengageusersandencouragecommandadvocacy,organizationscanusetheirpagestoprovidecontent

thatisuseful,timelyandrelevant,suchasthoselistedinthetablebelow.

User/Advocate Typical Needs

OrganizationMembers Mission/PolicyChange

MotivationalStories/Pictures

CommandPointsofContact

FamilyMembers UpcomingEvents

MotivationalStories/Pictures

InquiryPointsofContact

Media&GeneralPublic ExceptionalServiceStories

BehindtheScenesInformation

Veterans HistoricalStories

CommandNews

Inthisstudy,weexamined279organizationalpagesforcontentsimilartotheabove.Fromthesampleset,wefound

that77%oftheorganizationalpageslackedinformationthataddressedmissionandpolicies(Figure18andFigure19).

Figure 18. Organization Pages DisplayingMission Information

Figure 19. Organization Pages DisplayingActivities


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Contact Information

Duringourstudy,wefoundthat

organizationpagesheavilyreliedon

referencingofcialWebsitesastheirprimarysourceofcontactinformation.

Nearlyhalfofthepagesreviewedprovided

aphonenumberasanentrypointto

thecommandandonly6%ofthepages

viewedlistedaspecicindividualasa

contact(Figure20). n Listing the ofcial Web site is the most popular form of contactinformation on an organization page.

Figure 20. Contact Information on Organization Pages

Figure 21. Owner Response onOrganization Pages

Interaction

n Users interacted on 54% of the sitesstudied. In over 7,900 user posts, ownersresponded 28% of the time during the study.

Number of fans

Whilenotnecessarilyameasureoftheeffectivenessofafan

page,totalfancountisamatterofbraggingrightsfor

organizations.Figure22depictsthetoptenorganizational

pagesfornumberoffans.Wefoundthatthelargestnumber

offansbelongedtotheUnitedStatesMarineCorpsOfcial

Pagewith241,515,secondwastheNationalGuardwith

224,623fansandthirdwastheU.S.Armyat152,958.

TheU.S.Navyassumedcontrolofwhathadbeenanunofcial

pageafterourstudyhadclosedandcurrentlyhas84,173

fansputtingtheminfourth.TheUSSNewYorkseemslikean

anomalywhenithasmorefansthantheU.S.AirForcebut

thiswasdrivenbyitsrecentlaunchafterhavingbeenbuilt

outofsteelfromtheWorldTradeCenterwreckageandthe

associatedpublicitywithitsdebut.

Figure 22. Top Ten Organization Pages by Number of Fans


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Owner posts only


Fan posts only

Ownerposts only

lOCaTION PageSLocation pages generally focus on communicatinginstallation services, support and events at the base orinstallation.

Bydesign,alocationpageisanopportunitytofocusonthebaseorinstallationandthecommunityitserves.

Communicationeffortscanhighlighttheservices,supportandeventsavailabletotheuserattheinstallationor

location.Theyarealsoimminentlyusefulduringacrisissuchastherecentblizzardsontheeastcoast.Thelocation

pageactsasanextensionoftheofcialinstallationWebsiteandasarealtimehostforcommunityinformation.

Althoughthiscategoryisoneofthesmallestinthestudy,itisapowerfultoolformilitarycommunitiesandisshowing

steadygrowthasaprimarytooltoaugmenttraditionalcommandinformationstrategiesonmanymilitaryinstallations.

Wefoundthatprovidingacentralizedlocationforuserstondreal-timeupdates,

news,andinformation,encouragesuser

relianceonthepageforinformation.

Asaresult,fansusethepageastheir

primarysourceofinformationspecic

totheirlocation,suchasgateclosings,

majorexercises,weatherinformation,and

facilitiesontheinstallation.

Information Content

Whileourstudyfoundincreasinggrowth

intheuseofFacebookforlocations,theystilllackimportantinformationtobuildalargercommunityincluding

upcomingeventsandcriticalinformationabouttheinstallationsuchassupportfacilitiesavailable,constructionplans,

andhealthalerts(Figure24andFigure25).UsingFacebooktoaugmenttraditionalcommandinformationchannelsis

becomingastandardoperatingprocedureatmanylocations.

Figure 23. Location Page Owner and Fan Posts by Type

Figure 24. Location Pages Containing SocialEvent Information

Figure 25. Location Pages ContainingCritical Location Information


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reCOMMeNdaTIONS, CONClUSIONS, aNd lINKS

General Recommendations

FacebookpagesserveasextensionsofanorganizationsofcialpresenceontheWeb.Basedonourstudyoutcomes,

werecommendthefollowingitems:

l AmilitaryFacebookpageshouldbeclearlyidentiedonthelandingpageastheofcialpageofthe

organization.

l Termsofuseshouldbeclearlydelineatedontheinformationpagetoensureinappropriatecontentisnot

postedtothepageandisrightfullyremovedandviolatorsreportedtoFacebook.

l Basiccontactinformation,includingaphonenumberoremailaddress,shouldbeavailablesothatfanscan

contacttheadministratorforinquiries.

l InteractionwithfansisakeypartofthesocialmediaandFacebookexperience.Militaryfanpage

administratorsshouldmakeeveryefforttointeractwiththeirfans,answerquestionsinatimelymannerand

usethepagetohelpbuildadvocacyfortheirmissions.

l Manyorganizationsestablishtheirpageswithoutaclearcontentframeworkormanagementstrategyor

process.

l Pagesshouldbesetupsothatthefanpostsandownerpostsareonthesamewallinsteadofseparate

locationstobettermanagethepageandensureinappropriatepostsarequicklyidentiedanddeletedbythe

administrator.

l Namingconventionsshouldbestandardizedandeasytond.

l Militarypagesshouldbecreatedasfanpagesandnotprolepages.ItisaviolationoftheFacebookTermsof

Usetocreateaprolepageforanythingotherthananindividual.

Conclusions

TheuseofFacebookasakeycommunicationstoolisbeingembracedbythemilitaryatafasterratethaninmost

cornersoftheprivatesectorandwellaheadofothergovernmentagencies.Themilitaryisundertakingtheeffortwith

greatspeed,thereforestandardizedrulesareeithernon-existentoryettobepublished.Itisclear,however,thatbest

practicesarebeingsharedandimplemented.


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Key Links

JANSONCommunications................................................ www.jansoncom.com

DepartmentofDefenseSocialMediaHub........................ www.defense.gov/RegisteredSites/SocialMediaSites.aspx

DepartmentoftheArmySocialMediaPage..................... www.army.mil/media/socialmedia

DepartmentoftheAirForceSocialMediaHomepage......www.af.mil/socialmedia.asp

DepartmentoftheNavySocialMediaList........................ www.navy.mil/media/smd.asp

USMarineCorpsSocialMediaPage................................. www.marines.mil/usmc/Pages/socialmedia.aspx

NationalGuardSocialMediaPage...................................www.ng.mil/features/Social_media/default.aspx

Military Facebook Study March2010 Final

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