Communication Design Quarterly May 2020 Open Access

Social media in professional, technical, and scientific communication programs: a heuristic to guide future use

Jennifer Roth Miller ; Brandy Dieterle University of Central Florida ; Jennifer deWinter Worcester Polytechnic Institute ; Stephanie Vie University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Abstract

This article reports on the results of a research study supported by a CPTSC research grant that analyzed programmatic use of social media in professional, technical, and scientific communication programs (TPCs). This mixed-methods study included a survey of TPC program administrators (n = 29), an inventory of TPCs' social media account use (n = 70), and an inventory of TPCs' course offerings that included social media (n = 27). Results showed that programmatic use of social media requires strategic consideration, particularly in order to generate two-way communication, a goal of many of the TPCs studied. To that end, our article generates questions and guiding suggestions (drawn from our three-part study) to guide administrators who wish to include social media in their TPC.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2020-05-24
DOI
10.1145/3375134.3375136
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Topics
writing program administration scientific writing social media
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