Toward an Approach to Analyze, Conceptualize, and Implement Linguistic Strategies to Engage University Students with Social Media

• In Event: Computer-Mediated Communication

Abstract

The current paper reports findings from a collaborative effort between the marketing office and the communication studies department. The primary goal is to understand student engagement with the university’s social media, in terms of blog views, number of comments, and social scores (i.e., proprietary scores of sharing). Based on language expectancy theory, the current paper proposes a research framework that initially employs the linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) program to explore connections between textual characteristics of blog content and student engagement (Study 1). The linguistic analysis informed development of original concepts related to engagement, which were empirically tested for predictive validity (Study 2). We propose that the results of the two sequential studies illuminates on a process that can lead to formulation of instructional materials and automated feedback systems to train blog writers to create more engaging content in the information system environment.

Authors

• Yuhua (Jake) Liang, Chapman University

• Kerk F. Kee, Chapman U