ABSTRACT

This study explores the social media engagement of human service nonprofits during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed 2,726 tweets from 15 food banks in Texas to understand their communication and audience engagement on social media. During the early outbreak, food banks were more active on social media, and these organizations primarily shared community-building and informational content. Before the pandemic, community-building content led to the highest engagement level. However, action and informational content saw greater engagement during the crisis. Our findings reveal that online audiences perceive the importance of each content type differently in varying circumstances. By understanding preferences and needs of online audiences, human service nonprofits can harness the power of social media to amplify their impact while operating during times of crisis.

摘要

本研究探讨了人类服务非营利组织在 COVID-19 大流行早期阶段的社交媒体参与情况。我们分析了德克萨斯州 15 家食品银行的 2,726 条推文，以了解他们在社交媒体上的沟通和受众参与度。疫情爆发初期，食品银行在社交媒体上更加活跃，这些组织主要分享社区建设和信息内容。在大流行之前，社区建设内容带来了最高的参与度。然而，危机期间行动和信息内容的参与度更高。我们的研究结果表明，在线受众在不同情况下对每种内容类型的重要性的看法有所不同。通过了解在线受众的偏好和需求，