Opinion Leaders and Twitter: Two-Step Flow
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Opinion Leaders and TwitterTwo-Step Flow in the Social
Media Sphere
Opinion Leaders Online Key Influencers
Message Force Multipliers
Third-Party Credibility
Professional Definitions of Influencers
The “ability to cause measurable actions and outcomes.”
Motivate offline action through online efforts
I’m Famous Online Regular Users: Mommy Bloggers
Experts: Tech Gurus
Celebrities: MC Hammer
Twitter 1382% Growth in 2009
Unique users 35-49
70% for professional
Twitter: Deceptively Simple Magic bullet
Low effort or expertise/High ROI
Anyone can be a Twitter star! (SOS)
Unlike Facebook, users are unknown to each other
Scholarly Research Allows “arbitrary subsets of users to communicate with each other on a
social basis.”
Conversationality
Propagation of ideas
Community: Strength of ties between individual users
The Million Follower Fallacy Popularity or Influence?
Followers
Retweets
Replies
Finding Influencers: The Perfect Formula? Forced follow
Algorithms Longevity, Trending Topics,
Hashtag Conversations
Links, sentiment
Algorithms and Services Identify
Verify
Rank
Categorize
Metrics and measurement
Usefulness of social media in discovering and tracking data
Klout Scores
Network Value
Engaged Users
Amplification Probability
Assumptions Two-Step Flow
Importance of interpersonal influence in acquiring information.
Opinion leaders are accessible to ordinary users
Applying theory to new media
Katz: Three Attributes of an Influential The Personification of Certain Values
“Who one is”
Competence
“What one knows”
Strategic Social Location
“Whom one knows”
Primary Questions
Can previous methods of examining opinion leaders, grounded in two-step-flow, be used to analyze online opinion leaders?
Expertise, information and popularity being equal, what are the attributes of those consistently identified as online opinion leaders?
Do online opinion leaders have attributes similar to those identified in offline opinion leaders? Excluding: Celebs, organizations, media
Strength of Personality Scale Universality, nuanced
Strength of Personality Scale “I usually count on being successful in everything I do”
“I enjoy convincing others of my opinions”
“I am rarely unsure about how I should behave”
“I often give others advice and suggestions”
“I am good at getting what I want”
“I am often a step ahead of others”
“I like to assume responsibility”
“I like to take the lead when a group does things together”
“I often notice that I serve as a model for others”
“I own many things that others envy me for”
Analysis of Opinion Leaders Success
Responsibility
[Achievement]
Confidence
Persuasive
Leadership
Model for others
[Envy]
Early Adopter
Advice-Giving
Accessible
Opinion Leaders Suggested by popular websites and
bloggers
High Klout Scores (50-100): High Level of Engagement
Similar in expertise and popularity
Relatively unknown offline prior to engaging in social media
Findings Prominent themes
All had at least one attribute, but most had one dominant attribute
Responsibility Kept up with tasks assigned to them
Work related or personal obligations
Competence
“Last of my interviews done. Time for a quick workout.”
Success Accolades, professional opportunities
“Exciting! I've been asked to be the emcee for the third annual 2010 SXSW Accelerator!”
Self-Promotional
Influential because they tell us so?
Advice-Giving Given directly or in mentions, replies to specific users.
“Eventually karma catches up. Being helpful seems to be a far better way to get ahead.”
Quotes: Transfer of Influence
“I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it. [Charles M. Schulz]”
Model for Others Geo-location based check-ins
“I just unlocked the ‘Swarm’ badge on @foursquare!”
Accessibility Sent replies, acknowledged or thanked individual followers directly.
Reciprocity
Two-way communication BOTS: Expectation of engagement on a personal level
Dialogic Theory: Building relationships Mutuality, empathy, propinquity, risk, commitment
Professional Public Relations Implications Engage opinion leaders
Humanize the organization and engage publics
Twitter best practices and rationale
Online persona: Ethics
Research Implications Criticisms of two-step flow
Application and reevaluating theory in social media
Influencers or opinion leaders: What is media in social media?
Further Study Categories of expertise
Social news and news aggregators
Strength of ties