Since social and other emerging media (including Twitter, social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn plus Wikis such as Wikipedia) are having a significant impact on public relations practice, the Institute for Public Relations initiated its Social Science of Social Media Research Center in 2012.

Recently, the three research editors of this center were asked to identify the top ten social media reports published during the first half of 2013. Studies were selected based upon methodological rigor, sample size, findings and accessibility.

However, the editors only selected nine articles and the Institute seeks your help in identifying the tenth. We hope readers will nominate suggestions for this tenth article and/or provide comments about the nine already selected.

Top 10 SM articles 2013edit_3

Please comment on the nine articles and/or nominate a tenth.

PDF: Top 10 Social Media Research Articles for the First Half of 2013 for Public Relations Professionals

Heidy Modarelli handles Growth & Marketing for IPR. She has previously written for Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, The Next Web, and VentureBeat.
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10 thoughts on “Top 10 Social Media Research Articles Important for Public Relations from the First Half of 2013

  1. I second the nomination of Shannon Bowen’s 2013 article in the Journal of Mass Media Ethics: Using Classic Social Media Cases to Distill Ethical Guidelines for Digital Engagement, 28(2), 119-113. Her guidelines are rooted in theory and evidenced through the cases she describes.

  2. My submission explanation for the 10th spot (and, please note that I believe my entry should be topping the list, and not bringing up the rear) can be found on the RepMan blog: http://www.repmanblog.com/repman/2013/08/my-vote-for-the-best-social-media-study-of-2013.html

    I’d recommend the Spreadable Media project. This collection of 34 articles are case studies and cultural analyses written by academic researchers in media studies, cultural studies, film studies, communication, journalism, sociology, history, anthropology, business and marketing, design, English, and American studies, at institutions from MIT, UC-Berkeley, NYU, and USC to Universidad Veritas, Queensland University of Technology, North Carolina State University, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a range of other universities. The collection also includes media and marketing industry professionals at places like Microsoft, Bluefin Labs/Twitter, Godrej Industries, and Hill Holliday.

    The research project can be found here: http://spreadablemedia.org/essays/

  3. Fleishman-Hillard and Lepere Analytics have partnered to create a new research methodology to help companies understand and pro-actively manage the ‘Authenticity Gap’ – the gap between consumers’ expectations and their actual experience of a company or brand. The research identifies nine drivers that shape perceptions of a company. The drivers can be tracked over time to monitor the organization’s current authenticity and momentum against key competitors. All findings are country, category and brand specific.

    The data shows managers what they can do, specifically, to close the gaps between expectations and experience, allowing them create true relationships with consumer audiences – real Authentic Engagement – that drives progress and opportunity.

    The study can be found here: http://fleishmanhillard.com/wp-content/uploads/meta/resource-file/2013/authenticity-gap-executive-summary-1367433000.pdf

    A webcast for the report is also available at http://fleishmanhillard.com/2013/05/news-and-opinions/managing-the-authenticity-gap/

  4. I wanted to caIl your attention to another research paper that served the pharmaceutical industry and which might be an excellent 10th to add to your list.

    In 2013, Weber Shandwick released Digital Health: Building Social Confidence in Pharma. We interviewed senior in-house pharmaceutical executives responsible for social media decisions in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America to understand the issues that are keeping pharma companies from better leveraging social media as an engagement tool. Our investigation found that while regulatory restrictions remain a concern, internal obstacles are more paramount, including a general lack of confidence to more fully embrace social communications. Our report offers insights into how pharma companies are using social media currently, where they believe the opportunities are and what they see as the real challenges to going social. The study offers a guide called “10 Rules of Engagement: Building Social Confidence in Pharma” to help pharma professionals maximize their social confidence.The full report can be found here: http://www.webershandwick.com/uploads/news/files/Digital_Health_Study_2013.pdf.

    Also it received good coverage…here are a few examples….

    http://www.pmlive.com/blogs/digital_intelligence/archive/2013/june/lack_of_social_media_confidence_holding_pharma_back

    http://www.outsourcedpharma.com/doc/how-pharma-should-be-using-social-media-or-using-it-better-part-0001

    http://www.outsourcedpharma.com/Doc/how-pharma-should-be-using-social-media-or-using-it-better-part-0002

    We appreciate your making this opportunity available. Best, lgr

  5. Love this top nine list of 2013. Excellent readings for social media courses at universities.

    Another really good paper is one authored by Angela Jeffrey called Social Media Measurement: A Step by Step Approach Using the AMEC Valid Metrics Framework.
    In this paper, she reviews measurement concepts and processes as well as social measurement tools and resources. Here’s the link: https://instituteforpr.org/topics/social-media-measurement-a-step-by-step-approach/

    Julie O’Neil

  6. I nominate Shannon A. Bowen’s article in the Journal of Mass Media Ethics: Using Classic Social Media Cases to Distill Ethical Guidelines for Digital Engagement, 2013, 28/2, pp. 119-113. This is the first article that addresses the 15 ethical guidelines that should drive social media.

  7. Thank you for sharing the Top Nine of 2013. I look forward to making my way through the articles on the list.

    Another useful report is the Telefónica Global Millennial Suvey, conducted in partnership with the Financial Times. The study involved over 12,000 online interviews (conducted in early 2013) among people aged 18-30, across 27 countries in six regions.

    The report is broken down into five themes. Only the first two focus on technology use (including social media) and the impact of technology in young people’s lives. The rest focus on defining their values, concerns and key drivers for leadership.

    The report (and raw data) can be found here: http://survey.telefonica.com/globalreports/

  8. In July 2013, Social@Ogilvy released the most comprehensive Global Brand Advocacy study. We analyzed data from almost 7 million social media mentions of 23 brands spanning 4 countries (Brazil, China, United Kingdom and United States) and 5 categories (hotels, fashion retail, skincare, coffee and movies).

    Our research highlights our findings and actionable insights that identify the drivers that motivate consumers to share in social, and also outline new ways brands can take advantage of these findings to make their brand marketing more effective and efficient.

    We’d love to be considered for the top 10 and you can read the full report here: http://bit.ly/Advocacy13

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