Abstract:
Although public relations scholarship has often discussed the possibilities of dialogue and engagement
using social media, research has not truly explored this dynamic. Instead, research on social media
platforms has focused on measuring the content and structure of organizational profiles. This study
seeks to enhance the field’s discussion about social media engagement by determining what organizational content individual stakeholders prefer on Facebook in terms of liking, commenting, and sharing.
A content analysis of 1,000 updates from organizations on the Nonprofit Times 100 list indicates
that, based on what they comment on and like, individuals prefer dialogic, as well as certain forms
of mobilizational, messages; however, they are more likely to share one-way informational messages
with their own networks. These findings are interpreted using practical and theoretical implications
for the practice of public relations.