case study social media communication

Top 3 Social Media Case Studies to Inspire You in 2024

Discover three successful social media case studies from top brands and learn how to create one. Benefit from their strategies and mistakes to ensure the success of your next campaign.

Social media is every marketer’s safe haven for branding and marketing.

And why not?

More than 50% of the population is active on social media, and more are signing up with every passing second.

In a recent poll by HubSpot, 79% of the respondents have made a purchase after seeing a paid advertisement on social media .

This isn’t just a happenstance.

It’s the constant efforts that these brands put behind their dynamic presence on social media, that counts.

But how do they captivate their customers’ attention for this long despite the budding competitors?

Well, that’s something that we’ll reveal in this blog.

We shall assess 3 different social media case studies by top brands who are best in their niches. Their game is simple yet effective.

How effective? Let’s take a look.

Social Media Case Study 1: Starbucks

Starbucks and social media are a match made in heaven. Being one of the sensational brands online, they are stirring the social media world with their strong presence.

They brew the right content to elevate the experiences of their coffee lovers. But how do they nail marketing with perfection every single time? Let’s find out.

Starbucks in Numbers

Starbucks mastered the advertising transition from offline fame to online undertaking. They use each social media with a varied goal to target pitch-perfect reach. Drawing in more customers than ever before, they strike the right balance in content across multiple platforms.

Key Takeaways

Though not every company has a Starbucks budget to promote and spend lavishly on social media marketing, here are some quick takeaways that will undoubtedly help.

1. Chasing Trends

Be it any event, brands must take the advantage to showcase their viewpoints and opinions. Successful brands like Starbucks jump into the bandwagon and leave no stone unturned to make their voice count in the trending list.

Here’s one such social media campaign example from Starbucks.

Starbucks is a firm believer in LGBTQ+ rights. When the pride wave surged, Starbucks came forward and reinstated its belief through the #ExtraShotOfPride campaign.

Starbucks joined hands with the Born This Way Foundation to raise $250K to support the LGBTQ+ community. Throughout the social media campaign, they shared quotes and stories of various Starbucks employees cherishing the pride spirit.

2. Less is More

Social media is not about quantity but quality. Starbucks follows the “less is more” principle to maintain the quality standards, even in the caption. Spamming followers’ feeds with constant posting is a big no-no. Starbucks shares 5-6 posts per week on Instagram and 3-4 weekly posts on Facebook .

Creative and crisp! That’s what defines a Starbucks caption. This post with 111+k likes is no exception. Nothing is better than a minimalist post with a strong caption.

3. User Generated Content is the King

Ditch the worry of creating content every day when you can make use of user generated content. Starbucks makes sure to retweet or post its loyal customers’ content. User generated content postings starkly improve brand credibility.

Look at this Facebook post made out of customers’ tweets. The new Oatmilk drink got the appreciation shower by some, and Starbucks couldn’t resist but share it with others. It saved them efforts on content brainstorming, plus they got free PR.

4. Building Rapport

Building rapport with the audience is an unsaid rule to brand fame. Social media has now taken the onus of dispensing quality service by aiding brands in prompting faster replies .

Starbucks is always on its toe to respond to customers actively solving concerns, expressing gratitude, or reposting. That kind of proactive service definitely deserves love and adoration.

5. Loads of campaigns

Starbucks is known for its innovative social media campaigns. Be it a new product launch or any festivity around the corner, Starbucks always turns up with a rewarding campaign.

In this social media campaign example, Starbucks introduced #RedCupContest with prizes worth $4500 during Christmas of 2016. A new entry came every 14 seconds.

The grand total of entries was a whopping 40,000 in just two days. Indeed Starbucks knows how to get the most out of the festive fever.

6. Content mix

Last but not least, the content mix of Starbucks is inspiring. They create tailored content for every platform.

The official youtube channel of Starbucks comprises content in varied hues. From recipes to even series, Starbucks is the ultimate pioneer of experimenting.

Even on Instagram, they use all the features like Guides, Reels, and IGTV without affecting their eye-popping feed. Starbucks also follows the design consistency for its aesthetic content mix.

Starbucks has proved time and again to be a customer-centric brand with their unrelenting efforts.

Social Media Case Study 2: Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather needs no introduction. Founded by David Ogilvy, the ‘Father of Advertising’ in 1948, the agency continues the legacy of revolutionizing marketing long before the advent of social media.

The iconic agency helps several Fortune 500 companies and more make a massive impact on their audiences worldwide.

Ogilvy & Mather knows its game too well and never fails to astonish. Not just high-profile clients, Ogilvy nails its marketing with perfection every single time.

Keep on reading.

Ogilvy & Mather in Numbers

They use social media to target pitch-perfect reach. Drawing in more hype than ever before, they know how to strike the right balance and bring out emotions with their heart-warming campaigns.

Not every company has David Ogilvy’s legacy or even affluent clients to boast of, but here are some quick takeaways that will undoubtedly help you become a pro marketer.

1. Integrating Values

Ogilvy stands apart from the crowd, creating trends. They leave no stone unturned to communicate values.

Proud Whopper is one such social media campaign by Ogilvy that was an instant hit on the internet. People were offered whoppers in rainbow-colored wrappers, with a note that said, “Everyone’s the same on the inside.” This was to reinstate the importance of LGTQ+ rights.

The campaign got 1.1 billion impressions, $21 million of earned media, 450,000 blog mentions, 7 million views, and became the #1 trending topic on Facebook and Twitter.

Ogilvy made a remarkable #Tbt video to honor this momentous event showcasing their supremacy in creating impactful campaigns.

2. Quality over Quantity

Ogilvy believes in the “ Quality supremacy ” to maintain their high standards, even in post captions.

Arbitrary posting isn’t a part of their agenda. They share 5-7 posts on Instagram and Facebook weekly.

Direct and very precise. That’s what defines an Ogilvy caption. This post is no exception. They have exhibited the success of their client work by describing the motive behind the campaign and sharing the ad they created for raising awareness.

3. Adding Credibility

Won awards? It’s time to boast! Because that’s the most authentic way of establishing trust among your clients. It bears proof of your excellence.

Look at this pinned Twitter post. Ogilvy won the Global Network of the Year by the very prestigious London International Awards. It also earned Regional Network of the year for Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

What better than this to give its audience an idea about Ogilvy’s roaring success and undoubted potential?

4. Being Innovative

Building rapport with the audience is an unsaid rule to brand fame. And that’s why you need to tell stories. Social media has become an indispensable medium to spread your stories far and wide.

Ogilvy shares its historical tale of existence and how it has adapted to the challenges of the changing world. The team extensively talks about their adaptation to the latest trends to stay on top always.

5. Brainstorming Uniqueness

Being unique is what propels you on social media. People are always looking for brands that do something different from the herd. So your task each day is undeniably brainstorming unique content.

KFC wanted more of its customers to use its app. Well, Ogilvy and KFC decided to hide a secret menu in the app, which was a mass invitation for the download without being salesy at all. Results? Downloads up by 111% at launch!

6. Inspire Your Peeps

Inspiration is everywhere. But how do you channelize and mold it as per your brand guidelines? The renowned brands move their audience, filling them with a sense of realization. Who doesn’t seek validation? We all need quotes and inspiration to live by.

Ogilvy has dedicated its entire Pinterest profile to inspiration. The profile has numerous insightful infographics that encourage you to pursue marketing when your spirits run low. And that’s how it brings out the very essence of being the marketing leader: by inspiring its followers.

Got some good ideas for your branding? We have created templates and tools to help you execute them hassle-free. Tread on further and download the Trending Hashtag Kit for 2024 to get into action.

Social Media Case Study 3: PewDiePie

YouTube king with 111 Million subscribers on PewDiePie Channel, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, has defied all norms. One of the most prolific content creators of the decade, Felix was on the list of World’s 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine in 2016.

Needless to say, he is still relevant to this day and has a massive following on social media. Not just for branding, the Swedish YouTuber leveraged social media to give himself a new identity and opened doors to fame and a successful career.

What was the cause of this extraordinary trajectory?

Let’s find out.

PewDiePie in Numbers

PewDiePie likes to keep his social media raw and unfiltered. That’s why subscribers love to have a glimpse of his everyday life and follow him on other social media platforms as well. Here’s a quick snapshot of that.

Felix took the early bird advantage and started creating content when it wasn’t even popular practice. We can’t go back in time, but we can definitely learn a lot from his social media success.

1. Start Now

If you are still skeptical about making the first move, then don’t. Stop waiting and experiment. It’s better late than never.

Social media is in favor of those who start early because then you create surplus content to hold your audience . You quench their thirst for more quality content.

PewDiePie started creating videos in 2011 and live-streamed his gaming sessions with commentaries. It was something new and completely original. Ever since, he has continued to make thousands of videos that entertain his audience.

2. Gather Your Tribe

Being a content creator, PewDiePie knows his act of engaging his audience very well. He strives to build lasting connections and encourages two-way communication. As a result, his followers like to jump onto his exciting challenges.

Felix treasures his gaming community. He frequently asks his followers to take screenshots and turn them into funny memes . He gives them tasks to keep them engaged and amused .

3. Collaboration and Fundraising

Once you reach the stage and gain popularity, people want to see more of you with their favorite personalities. That’s what Felix does.

He collaborates with multiple YouTubers and brands and puts out exclusive content for his followers. He also goes for multiple fundraising campaigns to support vital causes and social wellbeing.

Here’s one such social media campaign example. PewDiePie supported the CRY foundation and raised $239000 in just one day to bring a positive impact for children in India. He thanked all for their contribution and taking active participation towards a noble cause.

4. Keep it Real

Felix likes to keep his content fluff-free. You get to witness raw emotions from an unfiltered life. This instantly appeals to the audience and makes the posts more relatable .

Apart from that, he also uses storytelling techniques to narrate his experiences, adding a very personalized touch to each of the videos.

Here’s a video of Felix where he and Ken from CinnamonToastKen discuss what can be possibly done with a million dollars around the world. The topic is quite intriguing.

More than 3.8M people have watched it and 216K of them liked it as well, proving that you need not always sweat to create complex content. Even the simplest ones can make the cut.

How to Write a Social Media Marketing Case Study

Many small businesses struggle when it comes to social media marketing. But guess what? Small businesses can slay the competition with a powerful tool: the social media case study.

These social media case studies are success stories that prove your hustle is paying off. Here’s how to weave a case study that showcases your small business wins:

Building Your Brag Book

• Pick Your Perfect Project:  Did a specific social media campaign drive a surge in sales? Highlight a product launch that went viral. Choose a project with impressive results you can showcase.
• DIY Interview:  Don’t have a fancy marketing team? No worries! Record yourself talking about your challenges, goals, and the strategies that made a difference.
• Data Dive:  Track down social media analytics! Look for growth in followers, website traffic driven by social media, or engagement metrics that show your efforts are working.

Now that you have all the ingredients, it’s time to cook a brilliant case study

Crafting Your Case Study

• Headline Hunt:  Grab attention with a clear and concise headline. Mention your business name and a key achievement (e.g., “From 100 to 10,000 Followers: How We Grew Our Bakery’s Social Buzz”).
• Subheading Scoop:  Briefly summarize your success story in a subheading, piquing the reader’s interest and highlighting key takeaways.
• The Business Struggle:  Be honest about the challenges you faced before tackling social media. This will build trust and allow other small businesses to connect.
• DIY Social Strategies:  Share the social media tactics you used, such as engaging content formats, community-building strategies, or influencer collaborations.
• Numbers Don’t Lie:  Integrate data and visuals to support your story. Include charts showcasing follower growth or screenshots of top-performing posts.
• Simple & Straightforward:  Use clear, concise language that’s easy to understand. Bullet points and short paragraphs make your case study digestible and showcase your professionalism.

Remember: Your social media case study is a chance to celebrate your achievements and build businesses. So, tell your story with pride, showcase your data-driven results, and watch your brand recognition soar

Social media campaigns are winning hearts on every platform. However, their success rates largely depend on your year-round presence. That’s why being consistent really does the trick.

We’re sure you must have learned a few things from the above-mentioned social media case studies .

To excel further at your social media marketing, use our FREE Trending Hashtag Kit and fill your calendar with everyday content ideas.

On downloading, you get 3000+ hashtags based on each day’s theme or occasion. You also get editable design templates for hassle-free social media posting.

What are you waiting for? Download now.

Frequently Asked Questions

🌟 How do I start a social media campaign idea?

Here’s how you can start a social media campaign:

• Finalize your campaign goals
• Brainstorm personas
• Pick a social media channel
• Research your competitors and audience
• Finalize an idea that’s in trend
• Promote the campaign
• Start the campaign
• Track the performance

🌟 What are the different types of social media campaigns?

Different types of social media campaigns are:

• Influencer Campaigns
• Hashtag Challenges

🌟 Why is social media campaign important?

Social media campaigns have various benefits:

• Boost traffic
• Better Conversions
• Cost-effective Marketing
• Lead Generation
• PR & Branding
• Loyal Followers

🌟 What are some of the best social media campaign tools?

Some of the best social media campaign tools are:

• SocialPilot

🌟 What are the top social media sites?

The top social media sites are:

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Sparsh Sadhu

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How to write a social media case study (with template)

Written by by Jenn Chen

Published on  October 10, 2019

Reading time  8 minutes

You’ve got a good number of social media clients under your belt and you feel fairly confident in your own service or product content marketing strategy. To attract new clients, you’ll tell them how you’ve tripled someone else’s engagement rates but how do they know this is true? Enter the case study.

Social media case studies are often used as part of a sales funnel: the potential client sees themselves in the case study and signs up because they want the same or better results. At Sprout, we use this strategy with our own case studies highlighting our customer’s successes.

Writing and publishing case studies is time intensive but straight forward. This guide will walk through how to create a social media case study for your business and highlight some examples.

What is a social media case study?

A case study is basically a long testimonial or review. Case studies commonly highlight what a business has achieved by using a social media service or strategy, and they illustrate how your company’s offerings help clients in a specific situation. Some case studies are written just to examine how a problem was solved or performance was improved from a general perspective. For this guide, we’ll be examining case studies that are focused on highlighting a company’s own products and services.

Case studies come in all content formats: long-form article, downloadable PDF, video and infographic. A single case study can be recycled into different formats as long as the information is still relevant.

At their core, case studies serve to inform a current or potential customer about a real-life scenario where your service or product was applied. There’s often a set date range for the campaign and accompanying, real-life statistics. The idea is to help the reader get a clearer understanding of how to use your product and why it could help.

Broad selling points like “our service will cut down your response time” are nice but a sentence like “After three months of using the software for responses, the company decreased their response time by 52%” works even better. It’s no longer a dream that you’ll help them decrease the response time because you already have with another company.

So now that you understand what a case study is, let’s get started on how to create one that’s effective and will help attract new clients.

How to write a social marketing case study

Writing an effective case study is all about the prep work. You’ve got to get all of the questions and set up ready so you can minimize lots of back and forth between you and the client.

1. Prepare your questions

Depending on how the case study will be presented and how familiar you are with the client to be featured, you may want to send some preliminary questions before the interview. It’s important to not only get permission from the company to use their logo, quotes and graphs but also to make sure they know they’ll be going into a public case study.

Your preliminary questions should cover background information about the company and ask about campaigns they are interested in discussing. Be sure to also identify which of your products and services they used. You can go into the details in the interview.

Once you receive the preliminary answers back, it’s time to prepare your questions for the interview. This is where you’ll get more information about how they used your products and how they contributed to the campaign’s success.

2. Interview

When you conduct your interview, think ahead on how you want it to be done. Whether it’s a phone call, video meeting or in-person meeting, you want to make sure it’s recorded. You can use tools like Google Meet, Zoom or UberConference to host and record calls (with your client’s permission, of course). This ensures that your quotes are accurate and you can play it back in case you miss any information. Tip: test out your recording device and process before the interview. You don’t want to go through the interview only to find out the recording didn’t save.

Ask open-ended questions to invite good quotes. You may need to use follow-up questions if the answers are too vague. Here are some examples.

• Explain how you use (your product or service) in general and for the campaign. Please name specific features.
• Describe how the feature helped your campaign achieve success.
• What were the campaign outcomes?
• What did you learn from the campaign?

Since we’re focused on creating a social media case study in this case, you can dive more deeply into social strategies and tactics too:

• Tell me about your approach to social media. How has it changed over time, if at all? What role does it play for the organization? How do you use it? What are you hoping to achieve?
• Are there specific social channels you prioritize? If so, why?
• How do you make sure your social efforts are reaching the right audience?
• What specific challenges do organizations like yours face when it comes to social?
• How do you measure the ROI of using social ? Are there certain outcomes that prove the value of social for your organization? What metrics are you using to determine how effective social is for you?

As the conversation continues, you can ask more leading questions if you need to to make sure you get quotes that tie these strategic insights directly back to the services, products or strategies your company has delivered to the client to help them achieve success. Here are just a couple of examples.

• Are there specific features that stick out to you as particularly helpful or especially beneficial for you and your objectives?
• How are you using (product/service) to support your social strategy? What’s a typical day like for your team using it?

The above quote was inserted into the Sprout Lake Metroparks case study . It’s an example of identifying a quote from an interview that helps make the impact of the product tangible in a client’s day to day.

At the end of the interview, be sure to thank the company and request relevant assets.

Afterwards, you may want to transcribe the interview to increase the ease of reviewing the material and writing the case study. You can DIY or use a paid service like Rev to speed up this part of the process.

3. Request assets and graphics

This is another important prep step because you want to make sure you get everything you need out of one request and avoid back and forth that takes up both you and your customer’s time. Be very clear on what you need and the file formats you need them in.

Some common assets include:

• Logo in .png format
• Logo guidelines so you know how to use them correctly
• Links to social media posts that were used during the campaign
• Headshots of people you interviewed
• Social media analytics reports. Make sure you name them and provide the requested date range, so that if you’re using a tool like Sprout, clients know which one to export.

4. Write the copy

Now that the information has been collected, it’s time to dissect it all and assemble it. At the end of this guide, we have an example outline template for you to follow. When writing a case study, you want to write to the audience that you’re trying to attract . In this case, it’ll be a potential customer that’s similar to the one you’re highlighting.

Use a mix of sentences and bullet points to attract different kinds of readers. The tone should be uplifting because you’re highlighting a success story. When identifying quotes to use, remove any fillers (“um”) and cut out unnecessary info.

5. Pay attention to formatting

And finally, depending on the content type, enlist the help of a graphic designer to make it look presentable. You may also want to include call-to-action buttons or links inside of your article. If you offer free trials, case studies are a great place to promote them.

Social media case study template

Writing a case study is a lot like writing a story or presenting a research paper (but less dry). This is a general outline to follow but you are welcome to enhance to fit your needs.

Headline Attention-grabbing and effective. Example: “ How Benefit turns cosmetics into connection using Sprout Social ” Summary A few sentences long with a basic overview of the brand’s story. Give the who, what, where, why and how. Which service and/or product did they use? Introduce the company Give background on who you’re highlighting. Include pertinent information like how big their social media team is, information about who you interviewed and how they run their social media. Describe the problem or campaign What were they trying to solve? Why was this a problem for them? What were the goals of the campaign? Present the solution and end results Describe what was done to achieve success. Include relevant social media statistics (graphics are encouraged). Conclusion Wrap it up with a reflection from the company spokesperson. How did they think the campaign went? What would they change to build on this success for the future? How did using the service compare to other services used in a similar situation?

Case studies are essential marketing and sales tools for any business that offer robust services or products. They help the customer reading them to picture their own company using the product in a similar fashion. Like a testimonial, words from the case study’s company carry more weight than sales points from the company.

When creating your first case study, keep in mind that preparation is the key to success. You want to find a company that is more than happy to sing your praises and share details about their social media campaign.

Once you’ve started developing case studies, find out the best ways to promote them alongside all your other content with our free social media content mix tool .

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20 Best Social Media Marketing Case Study Examples

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How would you like to read the best social media marketing case studies ever published?

More importantly, how would you like to copy the best practices in social media marketing that are based on real-world examples and not just theory?

Below, you’ll find a list of the top 20 social media case study examples along with the results and key findings. By studying these social media marketing studies and applying the lessons learned on your own accounts, you can hopefully achieve similar results.

Table of Contents

Social Media Case Study Examples

793,500+ impressions for semrush on twitter  – walker sands social media case study.

The case study shows how Walker Sands implemented a premium Twitter microcontent program for Semrush, a global leader in digital marketing software. Semrush needed a strategic social media marketing partner to help distinguish its brand from competitors, drive a higher engagement rate among its target audience, and build brand loyalty. In this case study, you’ll find out how the social strategy focused on three things: using humor, embedding the brand in trending conversations, and focusing on the audience’s interests over marketing messages. The result was an increase of more than 793,500 impressions, 34,800 engagements, and a 4.4% average engagement rate.

Viral Oreo Super Bowl Tweet  – Social Media Case Study

This is a popular case study to learn valuable insights for B2C marketing. During Super Bowl XLVII, the lights went out in the football stadium and the Oreo brand went viral with a single tweet that said “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” Read the historical account of that famous social media marketing moment from the people who lived through it so you can gather ideas on how to be better prepared for future social media campaigns that you can take advantage of in real-time.

Facebook Posting Strategy That Lead to 3X Reach & Engagement  – Buffer Social Media Case Study

In this social media case study example, you’ll find out how Buffer cut its Facebook posting frequency by 50% but increased the average weekly reach and engagement by 3X. Hint: The strategy had to do with creating fewer, better-quality posts, that were aimed at gaining higher engagement.

Achieving a 9 Million Audience by Automating Pinterest SEO  – Social Media Case Study

This is a good social media marketing case study for marketers who use Pinterest. Discover how Chillital went from 0 to 9 million engaged audience members and 268 million impressions. You’ll learn about the step-by-step research process of finding where your audience lives and breathes content, get a detailed analysis of how the author used Pinterest to generate brand awareness, and learn about using community-driven content promotion to scale social media results.

5X Increase In App Installs from TikTok  – Bumble Social Media Case Study

With the use of TikTok on the rise, social media case studies are now being shared about how to get the most value out of marketing on this platform. This one, in particular, is good to read because it explains how Bumble, a dating app, used TikTok more effectively by following the mantra, “Don’t Make Ads, Make TikToks”. This case study in social media marketing resulted in a 5X increase in app installs and a 64% decrease in cost-per-registration.

330% Increase In Reach for the Make a Wish Foundation – Disney Social Media Case Study

Check out this case study to find out how the Make-A-Wish Foundation increased its social media reach, audience, and engagement by partnering with Disney in a Share Your Ears campaign. The strategy was simple: ask people to take a photo of themselves wearing Mickey Mouse ears, post it on social media with the hashtag #ShareYouEars, and a $5 donation would be made to Make-A-Wish. The results were unbelievable with over 1.7 million posted photos and 420 million social media impressions. This led to a 15% audience increase on Facebook and a 13% audience increase on Instagram with a total increase of 330% in social media reach and a 554% increase in engagement during the campaign.

How 3 Schools Used Social Media Advertising to Increase Website Traffic & Applications – Social Media Case Study

This example includes three of the best social media case studies from Finalsite, a marketing agency for educational institutions. It shows the power of social media advertising to increase website traffic and enrollment. One case study, in particular, shows how a limited budget of $350 per month increased website sessions by 515%, more than 2,200 clicks on the apply button for a study abroad application, 2,419 views on the request information page, and 575 views on the application process page.

Client Case Studies – LYFE Marketing Social Media Case Study

LYFE Marketing is a social media management company that helps clients gain new customers, generate sales, and increase brand exposure online. This page includes several of its top social media marketing case studies along with the approach and key results from each campaign. It’s packed with screenshots of the social media posts and engagement metrics so you can understand how each strategy worked for success, and get inspiration for your own campaigns.

3X Leads for a Local Business – Vertex Marketing Social Media Case Study

This is a good case study about finding the right balance between organic reach with social media posts and paid reach with social media marketing ads. You’ll find out how Vertex Marketing helped a local kitchen and bath remodeling business increase the number of leads by 3X. As for the return on investment (ROI) for this campaign, each lead for the client was worth about $10,000. The result was 6,628 audience reach, $12.43 average cost per conversion, and 18 conversions.

235% Increase In Conversions with Facebook Ads Funnel – Marketing 360 Social Media Case Study

This is one of Marketing 360’s case study examples that demonstrates the effectiveness of a Facebook ads sales funnel for B2B marketing. An ads funnel is a series of social media advertisements that target a specific audience at each stage of the buyer’s journey. By mapping out the buyer’s journey and creating a social media marketing ad campaign for each stage, you can guide new leads through the sales funnel and turn them into paying customers. This case study resulted in a 235% increase in conversions for a truck lift manufacturer.

15% Increase In Social Media Followers In 6 Months – Hootsuite Social Media Case Study

This is one of the best social media marketing case studies available online for businesses in the hospitality industry. Find out how Meliá Hotels International incorporated social media directly into its business model, both as a channel for client communication and as a platform to listen and learn about client needs and preferences. As a result, Meliá Hotel’s social media following grew from 5 million to 6 million in six months; an increase of more than 15%.

The Impact of Social Signals On SEO – Fat Stacks Social Media Case Study

This is a good case study for understanding the effect social media can have on SEO. By building links for a web page on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc, the rankings for long tail keywords improved in Google’s search engine.

96 Link Clicks for a Vacation Rental – Maria Peagler Social Media Case Study

As the title of this social media case study example suggests, you’ll learn how Maria Peagler helped a vacation rental get 96 clicks out of 3,274 audience reach on a single Facebook ad; about a 2.9% click-through rate (CTR). What’s most important about this B2C example is those clicks were of the highest quality the client could receive because Maria dug into the analytics to find out the best time during the day to post the ad and the perfect age groups to target while also using specific language to only drive clicks that would more likely convert.

Vienna Tourist Board Uses an Instagram Wall to Attract Tourists – Walls.io Social Media Case Study

Inside this case study, you’ll find out how the City of Vienna uses a simple social media content aggregator to display its Instagram feed on the website. This basic marketing strategy harnesses the power of user-generated content to gain more followers and keep in touch with previous visitors to increase brand awareness and repeat visits.

Complete Instagram Marketing Strategy for Sixthreezero – Vulpine Interactive Social Media Case Study

This is an in-depth case study on social media marketing with Instagram. You’ll discover how Vulpine Interactive was able to turn an existing, unmanaged account into a strong company asset for Sixthreezero, a bicycling company that uses ecommerce to drive sales. There was a lot of strategy and planning that went into growing the account by 39%, increasing website traffic from Instagram by over 300%, and achieving 77,659 total engagements. Inside, you’ll get the complete social strategy, tactics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and results

Twitter Marketing Success Stories – Social Media Case Study

If you’re looking for social media case study examples for Twitter using both organic and paid ads, then this page has everything you need. It includes Twitter’s top marketing success stories for you to get new ideas for your own B2C and B2B marketing campaigns.

How 3 Big Brands Use Pinterest for Marketing – SmartInsights Social Media Case Study

This is a case study page by SmartInsights with an overview of how 3 big brands use Pinterest for marketing. Although it’s a quick read, you can learn some valuable tactics that Nordstrom, Sephora, and Petplan are using to market their brands on this social media platform.

25+ TikTok Social Campaign Results – Chatdesk Social Media Case Study

If you’re looking for the best social media case studies for TikTok, then this list by Chatdesk is an excellent resource. It includes more than 25 examples from big brands like Starbucks, Redbull, Spikeball, Crocs, Guess Jeans, and Gym Shark. Give it a read to find out exactly how these brands use TikTok effectively to scale their businesses.

Reddit for Business: Meet Your Maker – Social Media Case Study

Want to learn how to use Reddit to market your business online? This new social media marketing case study page by Reddit called “Meet Your Maker” showcases the people behind some of the most innovative and creative brand activations on our platform. Examples include campaigns by Adobe, Capcom, and noosa Yoghurt.

How Boston University Uses Snapchat to Engage with Students – Social Media Case Study

With more than 75% of college students using Snapchat on a daily basis, it became clear that Boston University had to make this platform a primary marketing channel. This social media case study outlines all of the top strategies Boston University uses to connect with prospective and current students.

Now, if you’re looking for more digital marketing ideas, then make sure to check out these other related guides:  SEO case studies with data on improving organic search engine optimization, PPC case studies  for paid search examples, email marketing case studies , affiliate marketing case studies , content marketing case studies , and general digital marketing case studies .

What Is a Social Media Case Study?

A social media case study is an in-depth study of social media marketing in a real-world context. It can focus on one social media tactic or a group of social media strategies to find out what works in social media marketing to promote a product or service.

Are Case Studies Good for Social Media Marketing?

Case studies are good for social media because you can learn about how to do social media marketing in an effective way. Instead of just studying the theory of social media, you can learn from real examples that applied social media marketing methods to achieve success.

Summary for Social Media Marketing Case Studies

I hope you enjoyed this list of the best social media marketing case study examples that are based on real-world results and not just theory.

As you discovered, the social media case studies above demonstrated many different ways to perform well on social platforms. By studying the key findings from these case study examples, and applying the methods learned to your own accounts, you can hopefully achieve the same positive outcome. New social media case studies are being published every month and I’ll continue to update this list as they become available. So keep checking back to read the current sources of information on social media.

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5 outstanding social media marketing case studies

Do you read social media marketing case studies for inspiration? It’s always a good idea to benchmark against your competitors or pinch ideas from them, but it’s also worth looking at success stories from the biggest brands out there. You might not have their budget, but you can always gain inspiration from their campaigns.

Here are five of the best brands on social and what I think you can learn from them:

1.Mercedes Benz – Repeated, successful social media marketing campaigns

Mercedes Benz seem to win every time with their social media campaigns.  The one that stands out to me was back in 2013 when they created what I still believe to be one of the best Instagram marketing campaigns to date. Mercedes wanted to reach out to the younger audience so they hired five top Instagram photographers to each take the wheel of a new Mercedes CLA. Whoever got the most likes got to keep the car – so they all really worked at it!

By the end of the campaign, Mercedes has received:

• 87,000,000 organic Instagram impressions
• 2,000,000 Instagram likes
• 150 new marketing assets (stunning photos)

What lessons can you learn from this? Could you put your followers up for a challenge and make it into a competition or campaign?

• Can you do a competition that gets people trying out your product first?
• Think about your target audience. What is a prize they would value?
• Like Mercedes you could recruit bloggers/influencers via social media and get them blogging about your service or product. Whoever receives the most engagement wins .

2. Dove – Connecting with their target audience

Is it just me or do all the Dove marketing campaigns make you cry? If you’ve seen their Real Beauty sketches campaign, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Dove’s goal is to make women feel good about themselves. They know their target market and create content that tells a story that women can relate to.

Today I am… pic.twitter.com/VoAf2wRdwa — Dove UK & Ireland (@DoveUK) February 19, 2016

Dove did some research and found that 80 percent of women came across negative chatter on social media. Dove’s goal was to change that and make social media a more positive experience. As a result, Dove teamed up with Twitter and built a tool to launch the #SpeakBeautiful Effect, that breaks down which body- related words people use the most and when negative chatter appears during the day.

According to Dove, women were inspired by their message.

• #SpeakBeautiful was used more than 168,000 times
• Drove 800 million social media impressions of the campaign

Dove know their audience. Knowing your audience is the only way you will engage with them. The best way for this is creating personas. Knowing what life stage they are in, if they’re employed, what their interests are etc. will certainly help you when creating content. Then think about linking your audience to your brand values in order to create something just as successful as Dove’s campaign.

3. Nutella – Incredible content that makes you salivate

Each post makes you want to eat Nutella. There are a lot of people (including me) who take photos of their food before they eat it. Nutella does the same and it works. Nutella isn’t afraid to be fun and creative with different ingredients. Nutella is just a chocolate spread yet they manage to have fun with it. Do you, or could you, have a bit more fun with your brand?

Here are some ideas for having fun with your brand:

• Are you on different social media channels? If you’re B2B you might not think that Instagram is for you, but it can be a great way to demonstrate your brand values by telling a story. Fedex is a great example of this, showing images of their trucks always on the move. This tells a story that they are always delivering and that is the key message we take away.
• Key influencers/bloggers can be a great way to  different types of content and to see how they have fun with your brand (if this is new to you, read our post on the rise of the social media influencer ).
• Instead of posting behind-the-scenes photos at your head office, can you encourage your followers to share their experiences with your brand? Maybe host an event or go out and meet them.

Take your #breakfast bread pudding to the next level with #Nutella ! 😉 pic.twitter.com/k0ko5Nm9iX — Nutella (@NutellaGlobal) May 5, 2016

4. Oreo – Smart content planning and timely delivery

Oreo is another brand that is known for their creative social media marketing. They must have a big design team to produce their content, but it works! They are consistent with their branding and manage to catch onto real time events. We all remember when the lights went out at the Super Bowl and during the half hour blackout Oreo tweeted out:

Power out? No problem. pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC — OREO Cookie (@Oreo) February 4, 2013

This was retweeted over 15,000 times.  Are you thinking outside the box about your brand? Plan ahead for events coming up that you might be able to jump on to.

Do you plan your social media content out? If you’re in B2B and don’t currently create content read here for some B2B content marketing tips to help you get started, or check out our B2B marketing strategy tips ebook for 2021.

It’s always a good idea to prepare content ahead of time. If you can schedule content on a monthly basis – perfect, but if not bi-weekly is great. That way you can check what events are coming up and plan content around them. This gives you time for any ad hoc creative to be done, such as jumping on real-time events like the Oreo blackout example above.

5. Airbnb – Stunning imagery and UGC

What might look like a visual travel blog,  Airbnb ’ s content attracts fans with their visually compelling posts. On Instagram, they post user-generated photos from its hosts and guests. The content embraces their new campaign of ‘Don’t just go there, Live there’ which is captured through real photography. Each post receives high engagement, between 3,000 and 14,000 Instagram likes.

This is a great example of thinking slightly outside the box. Airbnb is all about accommodation. They don’t just post images of the inside of people’s homes. Seeing the culture and images of places all over the world comes with the experience of where you stay and that’s what connects with people. Think about your brand: are you just posting about the product/ service itself? Why not tell your followers a story instead?

Thanks for reading. I hope by reading these five social media marketing case studies it has spiked some inspiration! If you need any help with your social media advertising , influencer marketing , or other aspects of your social media strategy, feel free to contact us .

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Effective Social Media Campaigns: Case Studies

• Key Takeaways

79% of marketers believe that social media is an effective marketing channel. (Source. Sprout Social)

Video content on social media generates 12 times more shares than text and images combined. (Source. SmallBizGenius)

71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals. (Source. HubSpot)

Effective social media campaigns hinge on visual content, compelling narratives, and audience targeting.

Influencer marketing and data-driven decisions can significantly impact campaign success.

The rise of social media has transformed digital marketing. Today, social media campaigns are essential for brand success. They can reach a global audience, boost engagement, and deliver results. The key is to run effective campaigns. This article acts as a guide, using real case studies to explain how.

We will now explore the strategies behind successful campaigns. Topics include visuals, storytelling, targeting, ads, influencers, data use, cross-platform planning, and crisis management. We’ll also cover how to measure success with KPIs. Each section includes case studies to provide practical insights for marketers and businesses.

Introduction to Social Media Campaigns

Social media is crucial in digital marketing. It helps businesses reach their audiences. A “social media campaign” is a structured marketing effort across various platforms. This article will explain the importance and relevance of these campaigns.

• The Role of Social Media in Modern Marketing

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn are now key to business marketing. They help engage a worldwide audience, boost brand visibility, and enhance loyalty. Being on these platforms unlocks social media marketing’s vast potential.

• Importance of Effective Campaigns for Brand Success

The success of a brand often hinges on its ability to effectively utilize social media. The digital era brought a big change in how consumers act. They now turn more to social platforms for product info, reviews, and recommendations. Therefore, brands that can craft and execute compelling social media campaigns have a competitive edge in the market. In this article, we delve into case studies to highlight the tangible impact of well-executed campaigns on brand success.

• Overview of the Article’s Focus on Case Studies

This article shows how to run successful social media campaigns. It uses real cases as examples. These examples reveal how companies meet marketing goals using social media. By studying successful campaigns, readers learn about key strategies and results.

• The Value of Real-World Examples in Learning

Case studies uniquely blend theory with practice, making them a great learning tool. They show how to apply marketing concepts in real situations and offer lessons for personal marketing efforts. By studying these cases, readers learn patterns, best practices, and social media campaign pitfalls to avoid.

The Power of Visual Content

Visual content is vital in today’s digital world, especially for social media campaigns. It grabs attention, quickly conveys messages, and leaves a lasting impact. In this section, we’ll look into visual content’s many facets. We’ll also see how it enhances social media campaigns.

• Utilizing Eye-Catching Images and Graphics

Visual content begins with captivating images and graphics. These include striking photos, intriguing illustrations, or attention-grabbing infographics. They quickly engage the audience. Marketers must pick visuals that match their brand and goals. We will also highlight how the right visuals can shape a campaign’s tone and leave a lasting impression.

• The Impact of Video Content

Videos now rule social media. They come in various lengths, from short clips to longer videos. Notably, they engage audiences well. This article explores their use in social media campaigns. It will discuss the benefits of video marketing. For example, it can share complex ideas, evoke emotions, and boost audience interaction. Additionally, it will showcase successful campaigns through case studies.

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Explore 'State of Technology 2024' for strategic insights into 7 emerging technologies reshaping 10 critical industries. Dive into sector-wide transformations and global tech dynamics, offering critical analysis for tech leaders and enthusiasts alike, on how to navigate the future's technology landscape.

• Infographics as a Storytelling Tool

Infographics are great for social media stories. They quickly present information in an attractive way. Here, we will see how they can effectively share data, statistics, and stories. Also, we’ll look at the key design principles. We’ll then share examples of successful campaigns. These campaigns used infographics to educate and engage their audiences.

• User-Generated Content and Its Authenticity

User-generated content (UGC) has become popular for building trust and authenticity. It’s content by customers or brand fans, sharing real experiences and testimonials. We’ll explore its impact on social media campaigns. It boosts authenticity and credibility. Case studies will show how brands have used UGC to strengthen relationships with their audiences.

• Case Studies Showcasing Successful Visual Campaigns

We will show successful social media campaigns using visuals. These include images, videos, infographics, and user content. They’re compelling and effective. We’ll explain how businesses and organizations used these elements. By looking at these stories, readers will learn the strategies and tactics for engaging audiences.

Crafting Engaging Content

In the realm of social media campaigns, crafting engaging content is undeniably a cornerstone of success. Your content is the bridge that links your brand with your audience. It’s crucial to ensure that this link is not just made but also made strong. Here, we delve into the intricacies of creating content that captivates and resonates with your target audience.

• Strategies for Creating Compelling Content
• Know your audience. Engaging content starts with understanding them well. Take the time to research their preferences, interests, and pain points. Tailoring your content to address their specific needs is key to engagement.
• Storytelling Techniques: Storytelling is a powerful tool in the world of content creation. Learn how to weave narratives that not only convey your brand’s message but also evoke emotions and create a memorable impact.
• Building Brand Personality Through Content
• Consistency in Branding: Effective content aligns with your brand’s identity. Explore how to keep messages, tone, and visuals consistent. Do this across all your social media platforms. This will strengthen your brand’s personality.
• Showcasing Brand Values: Engaging content often reflects your brand’s values and mission. Discover ways to infuse your content with your brand’s ethos. This will create a stronger bond with your audience.
•  Interactive Content and Engagement Tactics
• Interactive content, like polls and live sessions, boosts engagement. We’ll show you how to use these in social media to increase participation. Also, response speed, contests, and user-generated content are key tactics for active engagement.
• Case Studies Exemplifying Effective Content Strategies

We’ll use successful social media campaigns to show how to create engaging content. These case studies will highlight strategies that boost engagement and results.

Creating engaging content is a continuous effort. It needs creativity, audience understanding, and adaptability. By applying the strategies in this section, you can make content that grabs and retains your audience’s attention. This approach boosts your campaigns’ success.

Targeting the Right Audience

In social media campaigns, success depends on knowing and targeting the right audience. Identifying your audience is like building a foundation. It sets the stage for your efforts. Here, we explore key aspects of audience targeting. Our goal is to help your social media campaigns succeed.

• Importance of Understanding Your Audience

Before starting a social media campaign, it’s crucial to know your audience well. This step involves deep market research to learn about their age, gender, location, and interests. Understanding your audience helps you create tailored content and messages. The following case studies show how brands effectively researched their audience, leading to successful campaigns.

• Segmenting Your Audience for Personalized Messaging

Once you’ve identified your broader audience, the next step is segmenting it into smaller, more specific groups. This segmentation allows you to craft personalized messages that cater to the unique needs and preferences of each group. We’ll explore various segmentation strategies, including psychographic, behavioral, and geographic segmentation. Real-world examples will show how brands divided their audience. They then delivered tailored content for maximum impact.

• Data-Driven Targeting Strategies

In today’s data-driven landscape, harnessing the power of analytics is paramount. We’ll discuss how data can inform your targeting strategies, enabling you to make informed decisions. By studying user behavior, engagement, and conversion, you can refine your targeting. This will help you reach the right people at the right time. Case studies will highlight instances where data-driven targeting resulted in remarkable campaign success.

• Case Studies Demonstrating Successful Audience Targeting

This section will showcase case studies on audience targeting. It will feature real examples from top brands. You’ll see how they found, divided, and used audience data for successful social media campaigns. These stories will offer tips for your campaigns. You’ll learn to attract and engage potential customers effectively.

Leveraging Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising has become an integral component of modern digital marketing strategies . Businesses need to understand paid promotion, ad formats, budgeting, and measuring ROI. This is key to using social media ads well. In this section, we will delve into key aspects of leveraging social media advertising for successful campaigns.

• Paid vs Organic Reach on Social Media

One of the fundamental decisions in social media advertising is whether to rely on organic reach or invest in paid promotion. Organic reach is the audience your content naturally reaches without paid promotion. Paid reach involves allocating a budget to boost content visibility. It’s crucial to strike the right balance between these two approaches. Organic reach is limited, and algorithms frequently change, making it challenging to reach a wider audience. Paid reach, on the other hand, offers more control over targeting and exposure but requires a financial investment. Businesses must assess their goals, target audience, and available resources. They do this to find the best mix of paid and organic strategies.

• Ad Formats and Placements

Social media platforms offer a diverse range of ad formats and placements to cater to different campaign objectives. Understanding these options is essential for crafting effective advertising strategies. For instance, Facebook provides options such as image ads, video ads, carousel ads, and more. Instagram offers sponsored posts and stories. LinkedIn specializes in B2B advertising, while Twitter has promoted tweets. Every platform has its own strengths and audience. Thus, it’s crucial to choose the right ad format and placement. These choices should match campaign goals. Also, creating engaging ad content for the chosen format is key. It boosts the campaign’s effectiveness.

• Budgeting and ROI Tracking

Allocating a budget for social media advertising is a strategic decision that impacts campaign reach and outcomes. It involves setting aside funds for ad spend, creative production, and campaign management. Establishing a clear budgeting strategy ensures that resources are utilized efficiently. Additionally, tracking ROI is essential to measure the effectiveness of advertising efforts. Tools like Google Analytics and social media platform insights provide data on ad performance, including click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition. Regularly monitoring these metrics allows businesses to make data-driven adjustments and optimize their advertising spend.

• Case Studies Showcasing Successful Social Media Advertising Campaigns

To illustrate the concepts discussed in this section, we will delve into real-world case studies that exemplify successful social media advertising campaigns. These case studies will provide concrete examples of businesses that effectively leveraged paid promotion, selected the right ad formats, allocated budgets strategically, and achieved measurable ROI. By examining these success stories, readers can gain insights and inspiration for their own social media advertising endeavors.

Harnessing the Power of Influencers

In social media campaigns, influencers play a crucial role. They boost brand engagement and reach. This section dives into influencer marketing. It provides tips on how brands can best work with influencers.

• Identifying the Right Influencers for Your Brand

To start a successful influencer marketing journey, you must find influencers who match your brand’s values. They must also match your target audience and goals. This involves meticulous research to pinpoint individuals whose content resonates with your niche. The right influencer will not only bring authenticity to your campaigns but also enhance credibility.

• Collaboration and Partnership Strategies

Once you’ve found potential influencers, the next step is to start collaborations and partnerships. Successful influencer marketing hinges on building authentic relationships with influencers. Brands must craft compelling proposals, outlining the mutual benefits of the partnership. Effective communication, transparency, and negotiation skills are essential in establishing a fruitful collaboration.

• Measuring the Impact of Influencer Campaigns

The effectiveness of influencer campaigns goes beyond mere follower counts. In this section, we delve into the metrics and tools required to measure the true impact of influencer marketing. Brands must monitor engagement, clicks, conversions, and sentiment. This helps measure campaign success. Equally important is calculating ROI. They should also align influencer activities with business goals.

• Navigating Potential Pitfalls

Influencer marketing is not without its challenges. Brands should prepare for influencer controversies, authenticity concerns, and algorithm changes. This section offers strategies to reduce risks and keep influencer partnerships strong.

• Case Studies of Effective Influencer Marketing

We will show you how influencer marketing works. First, we’ll present successful brand stories with influencers. Then, we’ll explain how these influencers boost brand messages, increase engagement, and aid in campaign success. Finally, each example offers lessons for your influencer marketing strategy.

Data-Driven Decision Making

In today’s digital age, data plays a pivotal role in the success of social media campaigns. Marketers and businesses can’t rely only on intuition and creativity. They must use data to make informed decisions that drive results. This section explores the significance of data-driven decision making in social media campaigns and its s.

• Importance of Data in Campaign Decisions

Data serves as the foundation upon which effective social media campaigns are built. It provides valuable insights into audience behavior, content performance, and campaign reach. Marketers can use data to find trends, preferences, and opportunities. This lets them tailor their strategies for maximum impact.

Analyzing data shows businesses the best social media platforms. It also shows them the best content and posting times for their target audience. This data helps in making marketing decisions. It ensures resources go where they are most effective.

• Key Metrics to Monitor for Success

To make data-driven decisions, it’s crucial to identify and monitor key performance metrics. Metrics vary by campaign goals. Common ones include engagement rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate. Also, return on investment (ROI). Each metric provides unique insights into campaign performance.

A high engagement rate shows your content is popular. However, a low conversion rate means you need to optimize. By tracking these, marketers can quickly judge campaign success. They can then tweak efforts to boost results.

• Tools for Social Media Analytics

The availability of advanced analytics tools has made data analysis more accessible to businesses of all sizes. The platforms offer insights and analytics dashboards. They let marketers track metrics within the platform. Additionally, third-party analytics tools provide more in-depth analysis and reporting capabilities.

Tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social help marketers gauge social media success. They offer audience segmentation, content performance tracking, and competitor analysis. This data helps businesses tweak their strategies.

• Case Studies: Highlighting Data-Driven Success

This section shows how data-driven decisions boosted social media campaigns. It features real examples. Businesses used data to improve targeting, content, and strategies. This led to better campaign results.

By studying these case studies, readers will learn how to apply data-driven decision making. Also, they will get inspired by success stories. These stories show how businesses can enhance their social media campaigns with data-driven methods.

Cross-Platform Integration

• Coordinating Campaigns Across Multiple Platforms

Businesses must be on social media to reach diverse audiences. They should run campaigns on multiple platforms. This ensures a consistent brand message and boosts social media impact. Strategies are key. They help tailor content and messages for each platform, such as Facebook or Twitter. Good coordination guarantees a strong, unified brand experience for all users.

• Consistency in Messaging and Branding

Consistency is key for cross-platform integration. It means keeping your brand’s message, tone, and look the same across all social media. This builds your brand’s identity and makes it more trusted and recognized. To achieve this, create guidelines for your brand. These should detail using the same colors, logos, fonts, and voice.

• Maximizing Reach Through Integration

Cross-platform integration boosts your reach. Each platform has unique users and strengths. For instance, Instagram is great for visuals, Twitter for updates, and LinkedIn for networking. By integrating them, you reach a wider audience. You maintain a consistent brand.

• Case Studies of Successful Cross-Platform Campaigns

To show how cross-platform integration works, let’s consider some examples. First, a clothing brand might use Instagram and Pinterest for ideas. They would use Facebook to chat with customers and Twitter for fast promos. This strategy lets the brand display products, connect with customers, and boost sales. Likewise, a tech company could use LinkedIn for business outreach, Twitter for support, and YouTube for tutorials. These examples show how businesses can blend social media well. They do this to meet goals and engage their audience.

Cross-platform integration isn’t just being on many social media platforms. It’s about creating a strong brand presence on all. This involves coordinating campaigns, staying consistent, and using each platform’s strengths. By doing so, businesses can reach more people and make social media more engaging for their audience. Case studies show the benefits. They highlight how this method can help businesses of any size or industry.

Crisis Management on Social Media

• Preparing for Potential Social Media Crises

In social media, crises can pop up without warning. So, brands must be ready. This means creating a crisis management plan. It should outline scenarios, roles, and communication strategies. First, they need to know what crises might hit. For example, these could be bad customer reviews, product recalls, or social media scandals. Next, brands can detail how to respond. Then, they choose team members and a leader. They also set up monitoring tools to catch problems quickly. This way, they can react fast.

• Handling Negative Feedback and PR Disasters

Negative social media feedback can turn into a crisis fast if not managed well. Brands need clear rules for handling negative comments or reviews. They must respond quickly and with empathy. It’s crucial to admit mistakes and offer solutions. Transparency is vital for maintaining trust during crises. For PR disasters, like product recalls or scandals, brands need a crisis communication plan. This plan should cover messaging, media responses, and a spokesperson. Effective crisis communication means providing accurate information, taking responsibility, and outlining solutions.

• Case Studies Illustrating Effective Crisis Management

To understand crisis management on social media, we should study real cases. Johnson & Johnson’s response to the 1980s Tylenol crisis is a great example. After tampered Tylenol capsules caused deaths, the company quickly recalled all products. It then openly communicated with the public. This strategy restored trust and protected the brand. Another case is Starbucks’ reaction to racial bias in a store. It apologized publicly, shut down for anti-bias training, and kept engaging with stakeholders. Both cases show the importance of being proactive in crisis management.

In today’s fast digital world, creating and running effective campaigns is crucial. This article delves into social media marketing , using real cases as examples. It covers visual content and storytelling. It also includes audience targeting, ads, influencers, analytics, and cross-platform tactics. It also includes crisis management. All are key to a successful campaign.

Social media marketing is always changing and needs flexibility. Strategies that work now might need changes later. But, with the knowledge, insights, and examples in this article, you can better manage it. Your campaigns can do more than just include posts and hashtags. They can build your brand, engage users, and meet goals. Success requires creativity, using data, and learning from others’ wins. Now, it’s time to start your journey to social media success.

• Q. What’s the importance of visual content in social media campaigns?

Visual content grabs attention and boosts engagement, making it a key element in successful campaigns.

• Q. How can I measure the success of my social media campaigns?

Define KPIs, set benchmarks, use analytics tools, and analyze data to gauge performance.

• Q. Why are real-world case studies valuable for marketers?

Case studies provide practical insights and examples of effective campaign strategies.

• Q. What role does influencer marketing play in social media campaigns?

Influencers can amplify brand messages and connect with niche audiences authentically.

• Q. How do I handle a social media crisis effectively?

Preparedness, transparency, and swift response are vital in managing social media crises.

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Case Studies in Strategic Communication

An online, peer-reviewed, open access journal.

To cite this article Young, C. L., & Flowers, A. (2012). Fight viral with viral: A case study of Domino’s Pizza’s crisis communication strategies. Case Studies in Strategic Communication, 1 , article 6. Available online: http://cssc.uscannenberg.org/cases/v1/v1art6

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Fight Viral with Viral: A Case Study of Domino’s Pizza’s Crisis Communication Strategies

Cory L. Young Arhlene Flowers Ithaca College

Domino’s Pizza was embroiled in a viral crisis situation when two rogue employees posted videos of adulterated food on YouTube in April 2009. Tim McIntyre, Vice President of Communications, was part of the internal team that delivered the company’s crisis communication plan through Twitter and YouTube. What makes this story so compelling is the social media aspect of both the crisis itself and the strategy for managing the crisis. Using a case study approach, this paper assesses Domino’s decision to integrate the same medium that sparked the crisis into the strategies to manage the situation, and it questions the efficacy of best practices and principles of crisis management in the age of social media.

Keywords : Domino’s Pizza; crisis communication; social media; YouTube; Twitter; case study; public relations

Overview and Background

The way in which companies communicate with stakeholders during a crisis event is rapidly changing with the 24-hour access provided by the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Public relations practitioners and other communication executives are struggling to craft messages and maintain control of the flow of messages within this dynamic landscape. As Schiller (2007) explains, in “times of crisis, while corporate communication executives are preparing manicured statements, customers are [simultaneously] blogging, e-mailing and posting photos out of rage and desperation because the very people who should be listening to them aren’t” (p. 16). Bell (2010) asserts that stakeholders become “interpretive communities in organizational crisis contexts,” capable of cultivating an organization’s reputation through information they receive in cyberspace (p. 148). Social media allow stakeholders to control when, where, and how “reputational meanings are born and disseminated” as “an organization’s reputation is built on the stories formed by stakeholders and spread within networks” (Aula, 2011, p. 28, 30). Nowhere is this dynamic between organizations and their publics more apparent than on video sharing sites, such as YouTube, that encourage citizens and bloggers to be the co-producers of messages.

Burgess and Green (2009) explain that YouTube users engage with this medium “as if it is a space specifically designed for them and that should therefore serve their own particular interests” (p. vii). This can have enormous positive or negative impacts for organizations involved in crisis management, including but not limited to the inability of boundary spanners to monitor the vastness of this space; malicious users who might create a crisis; and the leveraging capabilities of this platform to enhance a brand during a crisis. Just as consumers can use this social medium to create a crisis for a company and interpret an organization’s reputation throughout, so too can an organization use this medium to manage a crisis and improve its reputation. Patrick Doyle, President of Domino’s Pizza, would come to understand this dynamic as his brand suffered a devastating blow when two employees uploaded a vulgar video demonstrating their grotesque adulteration of food.

Bob Garfield (2010), a writer for Ad Age Blogs , recounts in an online article how this incident began. On Easter Sunday in April 2009, two Domino’s employees who were bored “working in a North Carolina store figured it would be just hilarious to post a video of themselves, defiling sandwich ingredients” (para. 2). The duo created five videos in total, one of which showed an individual sticking mozzarella cheese up his nose and then blowing the cheese on a sandwich, among other unsanitary and stomach-turning activities. An estimated 1 million people viewed these videos before they were pulled two days later.

During the first 24 hours, Tim McIntyre, Vice President of Corporate Communications, surveyed the situation and determined that the videos were not a hoax. He then began to communicate internally and externally with “relevant audiences at that time [including] our social media people, our head of security, senior management team,” according to Amy Jacques (2009) in an article published in The Public Relations Strategist (para. 4, 7). McIntyre collaborated with the consumer watchdog organization GoodAsYou.org , which first alerted Domino’s of the employee video, to identify the rogue employees as Kristy Hammond and Michael Setzer. By Tuesday, according to McIntyre, the company was responding to customers’ queries on Twitter about whether the company knew about the situation, what the company was doing, and why the company had not issued an official statement (Jacques, 2009). By Wednesday, Patrick Doyle, President of Domino’s Pizza, recorded an apology that was then uploaded onto YouTube.

During this event, bloggers and journalists alike captured this crisis in articles and case studies, offering step-by-step timelines [1] (Jacques, 2009; Peeples & Vaughn, 2010) and criticisms of Domino’s responses (Beaubien, 2009; Esterline, 2009; Gregory, 2009; Vogt, 2009; Weiss, 2009; York, 2009). What follows in this case study is an analysis of Domino’s crisis communication strategies, using a blend of best practices for crisis management from the principles of public relations management crafted by Arthur W. Page and from an academic perspective as the framework for analysis. From a communication perspective, according to Jaques (2008), case studies “are generally a narrative of events which are critically examined in relation to recognized public relations theories and models in order to fully appreciate what happened and to consider alternative strategies and outcomes” (p. 194), and are written to provide practical value to managers and practitioners alike who are struggling to manage and control the flow of messages in the viral/digital landscape (Coombs, 2008; “How Social Media,” 2009; Oneupweb, 2007).

The Arthur W. Page Society is a professional organization for executives in the public relations and communication industries. Named after one of the first public relations executives to work for a Fortune 500 corporation (AT&T), this organization is charged with the goal of “embracing the highest professional standards; advancing the way communications is understood, practiced and taught; and providing a collegial and dynamic learning environment” (“Vision, Mission & Goals,” n.d., para. 2). According to the Society’s website, the following principles are designed to guide public relations practitioners’ actions and behaviors and exemplify Page’s philosophy of public relations management: (1) Tell the truth ; (2) Prove it with action ; (3) Listen to the customer ; (4) Manage for tomorrow ; (5) Conduct public relations as if the whole company depends on it ; (6) Realize a company’s true character is expressed by its people ; and lastly, (7) Remain calm, patient and good-humored (“The Page Principles,” n.d.).

These principles are similar to the 10 best crisis communication practices Seeger (2006) generated, based on the work of communication scholars and expert practitioners:

• Process approaches and policy development ;
• Pre-event planning ;
• Partnership with the public ;
• Listen to the public’s concerns and understand the audience ;
• Honesty, candor, and openness ;
• Collaborate and coordinate with credible sources ;
• Meet the needs of the media and remain accessible ;
• Communicate with compassion, concern and empathy ;
• Accept uncertainty and ambiguity ; and
• Messages of self-efficacy .

Veil, Buehner, and Palenchar (2011) extend Seeger’s best practices, incorporating social media tools by making social media engagement a part of risk and crisis management policies and procedures; incorporating social media when scanning the environment; being a part of rumor management to determine appropriate channels; and using social media to communicate updates in an interpersonal manner (pp. 119-120).

Compiling and synthesizing these practices is not an easy task as “crises and disasters are relatively unique in nature, inherently dynamic, and unpredictable” (Bell, 2010, p. 151). These practices, according the Seeger (2006) “do not constitute a plan, but are the principles or processes that underlie an effective crisis communication plan and effective crisis response” (p. 242). Given the nature of crises, these practices will unfold and evolve differently within each situation.

Taking a situational approach to crisis communication, Coombs (2004) offers the Situational Crisis Communication Theory as an explanation for how organizations select a crisis response strategy. Essentially, a crisis triggers attributions of responsibility to the organization from stakeholders, along three dimensions: 1) whether the crisis has happened before or will likely happen again; 2) whether the event was controllable or uncontrollable by an individual or the organization; and 3) whether the crisis occurs within the organization or external to it. In this case, Domino’s as an organization was not directly responsible for this crisis, as the event occurred internally at the hands of employees, and this type of crisis had never happened before.

Based on stakeholder attributions, an organization will respond communicatively by cycling through a four step process: 1) observe events; 2) interpret information for accuracy and relevance; 3) choose a strategy among alternatives; and 4) implement the solution (Hale, Dulek, & Hale, 2005). Ideally, the strategy chosen will be aligned with the best practices and principles articulated above and will follow the four step process. Did Domino’s follow the best practices outlined by Seeger and the Page principles? What were the brand’s overall actions, decisions, and strategies for managing the crisis? In the case of Domino’s, it was not the consumers’ attributions of responsibility to Domino’s that triggered the strategy. Rather, what triggered Patrick Doyle’s decision to deliver a video apology on YouTube was the medium itself, which begs the questions, How did social media impact or influence the decision making process?, and What crisis communication lessons were learned in the process?

Strategies and Execution

This first Page principle—Tell the truth—begs a series of questions about whose truth needs to be told and about what in particular. In crisis situations, multiple truths or social constructions of the event(s) are vying for attention simultaneously: in general, customers, the company, its employees, and the media. In the case of Domino’s, particular watchdog organizations like GoodAsYou.org and Consumerist.com were also constructing versions of the event. The truth that Tim McIntyre, VP of Communications, wanted to convey was that this incident was “a rogue act of two individuals who thought they were being funny. That they do not represent this brand. That they do not represent the 100,000 people who work every day at Domino’s Pizza all over the world” (Flandez, 2009, para. 6). The truth that Patrick Doyle wanted to articulate was that “We didn’t do this. We’re sorry. And we want to earn your trust back” (Peeples & Vaughn, 2010, p. 3).

However, in wanting to be honest, open and candid (Seeger, 2006) about the situation, Domino’s needed to take responsibility. However, taking responsibility had the potential of exposing the organization to lawsuits and other legal vulnerabilities (Claeys & Cauberghe, 2012), including freedom of speech and copyright claims. In order to mitigate the consequences of being truthful and minimize the damage to the organization’s reputation, the company collaborated and coordinated with credible sources (the watch dog organizations and local authorities) and partnered with the public to observe and interpret the events , so as to not “act too hastily and alert more consumers to the situation it was attempting to contain” (York, 2009, para. 5), and to not “add fuel to the online fire” (Levick, 2009, para. 5). Unfortunately, a consequence of following the principles and best practices was that a 24 hour lag occurred. Because Domino’s hesitated, customers began tweeting about whether the company actually knew what was happening and questioning what it was going to do about the videos. Veil, Buehner, and Palenchar (2011) point to the fact that “The power to communicate remains with the communicating organization and their behaviors and narrative content, not in the technology” (p. 120).

A second challenge in telling the truth in the digital age hinges on additional questions (Roberts, 2010): Where in cyber and virtual spaces does an organization tell the truth and with what social medium or platform? York (2009) brought this to our attention in her online article, asking “why Domino’s has been lambasted for a lack of social media presence. After all . . . the brand is on MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and most visibly on Facebook with nearly 300,000 fans” (para. 18). There is a big difference, however,

between how emerging social media are used for marketing and how they work in a serious crisis situation . . . Companies that fail to integrate their marketing efforts with their online crisis response plans before a crisis hits are letting their antagonists have free reign. (Levick, 2009, para. 2-4)

The first message acknowledging the crisis was uploaded onto the corporate website on the day after the offending videos had been posted, but the message hardly yielded any hits. Domino’s did not reach its most popular audience through this social medium.

According to McIntyre, prior to this event ,

[the crisis team had a social media plan] already in place. We didn’t want to just jump in without a strategy. We wanted to do it right. So the irony for us was that we have a plan and we were going to implement it only a week later, so we ended up having to jump in [during] a crisis, which was the opposite of how we wanted to do it. (quoted in Jacques, 2009, para. 10)

However, after listening to the customers/publics’ tweets , the company was compelled to speed up the implementation of the social media plan. A decision was made to

[change] course and [respond] with a viral video . . . [that] featured all the elements of effective crisis communication. The company president apologized. He thanked the online community for bringing the issue to his attention. He separated the company from wrongdoers and announced their prosecution. And he outlined steps that Domino’s was taking to deal with the issue to make sure it never happens again (Levick, 2009, para. 6).

This strategy and decision to fight the crisis’ viral nature using YouTube was the tipping point that allowed the company “to cull user-generated content from social networking sites and use the platform for distributing information back to users” in order to prove itself with action and to communicate with passion, concern and empathy (Veil et al., 2011, p. 114). Levick (2009), in an online article for Bloomberg Businessweek , stipulated that “Domino’s not only demonstrated concern for its customers, but also an understanding of the critical importance of reaching out to a target audience on its own terms and in its own preferred space” (para. 7). This strategy and decision also suggests that Domino’s has the ability to manage the crisis for tomorrow : “This crisis happened online. It had to be dealt with online. By learning that lesson under fire Domino’s broke new ground and opened a new chapter in the ongoing evolution of crisis communications” (Levick, 2009, para. 7).

Evaluation & Discussion

Arthur W. Page advocated for public relations practitioners to tell the truth, a laudable goal to aspire to, but nonetheless one that is increasingly challenging in today’s digital era. Initially, Domino’s relied on its traditional technology (the Internet) to upload a video response on its corporate website to tell the public the truth about the situation. However, the number of people who viewed this video paled in comparison to the number of YouTube viewers who watched the employee prank videos—over one million within 24 hours. This realization accelerated and expedited the implementation of Domino’s social media plan that was still in development.

The crucial lesson to be learned about crisis communication comes in the form of extending and aligning the Situational Crisis Communication Theory with best practices for the integrating of social media (Veil et al, 2011). Coombs (2004) stipulated that a crisis triggers stakeholders’ attributions regarding the organization’s level of responsibility. These attributions, in turn, influence the strategy that an organization will use to lessen the damaging effects. In this case, however, it was not stakeholder attributions that dictated Domino’s strategy, but rather it was the social medium in which the crisis occurred that shaped the company’s decision to respond on YouTube as well as its overall strategy.

The only way to combat and lessen the impact of a social media generated crises like what Domino’s experienced is to integrate social media into crisis communication strategies and to create strategies for monitoring social media dialogue (Tinker, Fouse, & Currie, 2009). Schiller (2007) agrees that “Brands that get it right will be the ones that will use the same online tools as their customers” (p. 16). Further, Peeples and Vaughn (2010) concluded that Domino’s “effectively leveraged social media – the same channel used by the pranksters – to transparently communicate the company’s efforts to address the situation” (p. 1).The end result was that Domino’s emerged from this vulnerability criticized, yet knowledgeable about the reality of crisis communication in the age of social media.

The reality of crisis communication today is complex and contradictory. The speed at which consumers generate information about organizations is surpassing the speed by which public relations practitioners can monitor and verify the validity of such content, in order to respond before, during, and after a crisis incident. Because social media users can instantaneously create visual and textual dialogue with an organization, there is a corresponding expectation that organizations should respond just as quickly throughout all phases of a crisis incident. But taking the time to verify information and craft appropriate and effective responses is necessary to avoid legal issues and other complications. This dynamic has several implications for:

• How often organizations need to communicate with stakeholders: Regular updates across multiple social media should occur, using such platforms as HootSuite or Bottlenose to ensure consistency.
• How far and wide organizations need to span the boundaries of cyberspace and social media for potential crises and for potential stakeholder groups that can be impacted and affected: Johnson, Bazaa, and Chen (2011) conducted a study on boundary spanning, concluding that “organizations should focus on recruiting, attracting, and nurturing those online users with high levels of enduring involvement and social identity,” i.e., highly engaged social media users (p. 15).
• How organizations can manage their online reputations through search engine optimization (SEO).
• How new principles and best practices need to be developed to determine what messages or images from which stakeholder groups will tip towards a crisis.

As organizations grapple with these new directions, employees and consumers will need to learn how to accept uncertainty and ambiguity , and remain calm, patient and good humored.

Discussion Questions

• What impact does social media have on public relations practices, particularly crisis communications and reputation management? How significant is it for organizations today to monitor content on social media sites, including hash tags and other signs of internal and external dialogue?
• How should crisis communications preparedness plans address the proliferation of social media outlets?
• From the perspective of crisis communicators concerned with social media, what else could Domino’s have done or said to prove with action that its key messages are sincere? What other messages could Domino’s have delivered?
• What other types of traditional media and social media could Domino’s have used to reach its stakeholders?
• What other challenges do you think that PR practitioners, marketers, or corporate communicators could have in telling the truth in the digital age?
• How important is speed of response rate in a digital world, particularly when an organization is facing a crisis situation?
• Are there any other conclusions that you can draw from this incident?

Learning Activities

• According to its website, Media Curves “is the leader in public perception of topical issues.” This communications research company uses its patent pending technology to evaluate the “believability” of a particular video, such as the apology posted on YouTube by Domino Pizza’s President Patrick Doyle. To see how Media Curves’ technology captured people’s perceptions of Doyle’s apology video, watch Doyle’s apology video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFiXWboPD5A . Discuss the specific moments in the video that people found most believable and least believable and what public relations practitioners can learn from studies like this. Visit the Media Curves website to watch other assessments of video apologies.
• Using the framework presented in this article, apply the Arthur W. Page Society’s principles (“Vision, Mission & Goals,” n.d.), Seeger’s (2006) best practices, and Veil, Buehner, and Palenchar’s (2011) suggestions for integrating social media to United Airlines and its handling of Dave Carroll’s “United Breaks Guitar Video” or to Providence Renaissance and its handling of “Joey Quits” video . What lessons can be learned about social media and crisis communication from analyzing these organizations’ strategies?
• To see how Domino’s has dealt with this crisis, consider some background information about its Pizza Turnaround campaign . How does this compare with the best practices? How did tweets like #newpizza help?

[1] A visual timeline of the first four days is available on the Arthur W. Page’s website: http://www.awpagesociety.com/insights/winning-case-studies/2010/

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Garfield, B. (2010, January 11). Domino’s does itself a disservice by coming clean about its pizza: We like apologies and honesty, but there are limits. Just ask Ford. Ad Age Blogs . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/ad-review/advertising-domino-s-a-disservice-ads/141393

Gregory, S. (2009, April 18). Domino’s YouTube crisis: Five ways to fight back. Time Magazine . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1892389,00.html

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Jaques, T. (2008). A case study approach to issue and crisis management: Schadenfreude or an opportunity to learn? Journal of Communication Management, 12 (3), 192-203.

Johnson, P. R., Bazaa, U., & Chen, L. (2011, May). The new boundary spanners: Social media users, engagement, and public relations outcomes . Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Boston, MA. Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.icavirtual.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/FULL-PAPER-SUBMISSION-TEMPLATE-EK1.pdf

Levick, R. S. (2009, April 21). Domino’s discovers social media. Bloomberg Businessweek . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.businessweek.com/print/managing/content/apr2009/ca20090421_555468.htm

Oneupweb. (2007). Principles of crisis management in a viral age: Integrating the tools and lessons of search 2.0 into a comprehensive crisis response [White paper]. Traverse City, MI: Oneupweb. Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://internetetopinion.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/crisis_management.pdf

The Page principles. (n.d.). Arthur W. Page Society . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.awpagesociety.com/about/the-page-principles/

Peeples, A. & Vaughn, C. (2010). Domino’s “special” delivery: Going viral through social media (Parts A & B). Arthur W. Page Society case study competition in corporate communications . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.awpagesociety.com/insights/winning-case-studies/2010

Roberts, J. (2010, March 18). Bringing your brand back from the brink. Marketing Week . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/bringing-your-brand-back-from-the-brink/3011206.article

Schiller, M. (2007, March 5). Crisis and the web: How to leverage the Internet when a brand takes a hit. Adweek, 48 (10), 16.

Seeger, M. W. (2006). Best practices in crisis communication: An expert panel process. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 34 (3), 232-244.

Tinker, T., Fouse, D. (Eds.), & Currie, D. (Writer). (2009). Expert round table on social media and risk communication during times of crisis: Strategic challenges and opportunities [Report]. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association. Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.apha.org/NR/rdonlyres/47910BED-3371-46B3-85C2-67EFB80D88F8/0/socialmedreport.pdf

Veil, S. R., Buehner, T., & Palenchar, M. J. (2011). A work-in-progress literature review: Incorporating social media in risk and crisis communication. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 19 (2), 110-122.

Vision, mission & goals. (n.d.). Arthur W. Page Society . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.awpagesociety.com/about/vision-misson-goals/

Vogt, P. (2009, April 24). Brands under attack: Marketers can learn from Domino’s video disaster. Forbes . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/24/dominos-youtube-twitter-leadership-cmo-network-marketing.html

Weiss, T. (2009, April 22). Crisis management—Domino’s case study research. Trendsspotting Blog . Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://www.trendsspotting.com/blog/?p=1061

York, E. B. (2009, April 20). What Domino’s did right–and wrong–in squelching hubbub over YouTube video. Advertising Age [Online]. Retrieved December 31, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/news/crisis-pr-assessing-domino-s-reaction-youtube-hubub/136086/

CORY L. YOUNG, Ph.D. , is an associate professor of communication management and design in the Department of Strategic Communication, Roy H. Park School of Communications, at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, where she teaches courses in corporate communication. Email: youngc[at]ithaca.edu.

ARHLENE FLOWERS is an associate professor of integrated marketing communications in the Department of Strategic Communication, Roy H. Park School of Communications, at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, where she teaches courses in public relations. Email: aflowers[at]ithaca.edu.

Acknowledgments

This manuscript was made possible in part by a James B. Pendleton grant from the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College. A version of this paper was presented at the International Communication Association’s pre-conference hosted in Tokyo, Japan, June 2010. Additionally, the following graduate assistants need to be acknowledged for their research contributions: Rui Liu, Savitha Ranga, Nate (Zheli) Ren, and Danielle Clarke.

Editorial history Received November 4, 2011 Revised April 9, 2012 Accepted June 12, 2012 Published December 31, 2012 Handled by editor; no conflicts of interest

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Social Media Use and Impact on Interpersonal Communication

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This research paper presents the findings of a research project that investigated how young adult interpersonal communications have changed since using social media. Specifically, the research focused on determining if using social media had a beneficial or an adverse effect on the development of interaction and communication skills of young adults. Results from interviews reveal a negative impact in young adult communications and social skills. In this paper young adult preferences in social media are also explored, to answer the question: Does social media usage affect the development of interaction and communication skills for young adults and set a basis for future adult communication behaviors?

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• Social media
• Social interaction
• Interpersonal communications
• Young adults

1 Introduction

Human interaction has changed drastically in the last 20 years, not only due to the introduction of the Internet, but also from social media and online communities. These social media options and communities have grown from being simply used to communicate on a private network into a strong culture that almost all individuals are using to communicate with others all over the world. We will concentrate on the impact that social media has on human communication and interaction among young adults, primarily college students. In today’s society, powerful social media platforms such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (IG), and Pinterest have been the result of an evolution that is changing how humans communicate with each other. The big question we asked ourselves was how much has social media really impacted the way that humans communicate and interact with each other, and if so, how significant is the change of interpersonal interaction among young adults in the United States today?

The motivation behind this research has been personal experience with interaction and communication with friends and family; it had become difficult, sometimes even rare, to have a one-on-one conversation with them, without having them glancing at or interacting with their phone. Has social interaction changed since the introduction of advanced technology and primarily social media? In correlation with the research data collected in this study, it was concluded that many participants’ personal communication has decreased due social media influence encouraging them to have online conversations, as opposed to face-to-face, in-person conversations.

2 Related Work

The question of how social media affects social and human interaction in our society is being actively researched and studied. A literature review highlights the positive and negative aspects of social media interaction, as researchers battle to understand the current and future effects of social media interaction. A study done by Keith Oatley, an emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, suggests that the brain may interpret digital interaction in the same manner as in-person interaction, while others maintain that differences are growing between how we perceive one another online as opposed to in reality [ 1 ]. This means that young adults can interpret online communication as being real one-on-one communication because the brain will process that information as a reality. Another study revealed that online interaction helps with the ability to relate to others, tolerate differing viewpoints, and express thoughts and feeling in a healthy way [ 2 , 3 ]. Moreover a study executed by the National Institutes of Health found that youths with strong, positive face-to-face relationships may be those most frequently using social media as an additional venue to interact with their peers [ 4 ].

In contrast, research reveals that individuals with many friends may appear to be focusing too much on Facebook, making friends out of desperation rather than popularity, spending a great deal of time on their computer ostensibly trying to make connections in a computer-mediated environment where they feel more comfortable rather than in face-to-face social interaction [ 5 ]. Moreover, a study among college freshman revealed that social media prevents people from being social and networking in person [ 6 ].

3 Experimental Design

This research study was divided into two parts during the academic year 2013–2014. Part one, conducted during fall semester 2013, had the purpose of understanding how and why young adults use their mobile devices, as well as how the students describe and identify with their mobile devices. This was done by distributing an online survey to several Kean University student communities: various majors, fraternity and sorority groups, sports groups, etc. The data revealed that users primarily used their mobile devices for social media and entertainment purposes. The surveyed individuals indicated that they mainly accessed mobile apps like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram, to communicate, interact, and share many parts of their daily life with their friends and peers.

Based on the data collected during part one, a different approach and purpose was used for part two, with the goal being to understand how social media activities shape the communication skills of individuals and reflects their attitudes, attention, interests, and activities. Additionally, research included how young adult communication needs change through the use of different social media platforms, and if a pattern can be predicted from the users’ behavior on the social media platforms. Part two of this research was conducted by having 30 one-on-one interviews with young adults who are college students. During this interview key questions were asked in order to understand if there is a significant amount of interpersonal interaction between users and their peers. Interpersonal interaction is a communication process that involves the exchange of information, feelings and meaning by means of verbal or non-verbal messages. For the purposes of this paper, only the data collected during spring 2014 is presented.

4 Data Collection

Through interviews, accurate results of the interaction of young adults with social media were collected. These interviews involved 30 one-on-one conversations with Kean University students. Having one-on-one interviews with participants allowed for individual results, first responses from the participant, without permitting responses being skewed or influenced by other participants, such as might occur in group interviews. It also allows users to give truthful answers, in contrast to an online or paper survey, as they might have second thoughts about an answer and change it. The one-on-one interviews consisted of ten open-ended questions, which were aimed to answer, and ultimately determine, how social media interaction involuntarily influences, positively or negatively, an individual’s attitude, attention, interests, and social/personal activities. The largest motive behind the questions was to determine how individual communication skills, formally and informally, have changed from interacting with various social media platforms. The interviews, along with being recorded on paper, were also video and audio-recorded. The average time for each interview was between two to ten minutes. These interviews were held in quiet labs and during off-times, so that the responses could be given and recorded clearly and without distraction (Fig.  1 ). A total of 19 females and 11 males participated, with ages ranging from 19 to 28 years old.

Female participant during one-on-one interview

After conducting the interviews and analyzing the data collected, it was determined that the age when participants, both male and female, first began to use social media ranged between 9 to 17 years. It was found that, generally, males began to use social media around the age of 13, whereas females started around the age of 12. The average age for males starting to use social media is about 12.909 with a standard deviation of 2.343. For females, the average age is 12.263 with a standard deviation of 1.627. From this, we can determine that males generally begin to use social media around the age of 13, whereas females begin around the age of 12.

After determining the average age of when participants started using social media, it was necessary to find which social media platforms they had as a basis; meaning which social media platform they first used. MySpace was the first social media used by twenty-three participants, followed by Facebook with three users, and Mi Gente by only one user, with two participants not using social media at all. It was interesting to find that all of the participants who started using Myspace migrated to Facebook. The reasoning provided was that “everyone [they knew] started to use Facebook.” According to the participants, Facebook was “more interactive” and was “extremely easy to use.” The participants also stated that Myspace was becoming suitable for a younger user base, and it got boring because they needed to keep changing their profile backgrounds and modifying their top friends, which caused rifts or “popularity issues” between friends. After finding out which platform they started from, it was also essential to find out which platform they currently use. However, one platform that seemed to be used by all participants to keep up-to-date with their friends and acquaintances was Instagram, a picture and video-based social media platform. Another surprising finding was that many users did not use Pinterest at all, or had not even heard of the platform. After determining which social media platforms the users migrated to, it was essential to identify what caused the users to move from one platform to another. What are the merits of a certain platform that caused the users to migrate to it, and what are the drawbacks of another platform that caused users to migrate from it or simply not use it all?

4.1 Social Interaction Changes

For some participants social interaction had a chance for a positive outcome, while others viewed it in a more negative aspect. The participants were asked if their social interactions have changed since they were first exposed to social media (Table  1 ). One participant stated that “it is easier to just look at a social media page to see how friends and family are doing rather than have a one-on-one interaction.” As for people’s attitudes, they would rather comment or “like” a picture than stop and have a quick conversation. On the other hand, another participant felt that social media helped them when talking and expressing opinions on topics that they generally would not have discussed in person. Moreover, the participants are aware of the actions and thing that they are doing but continue to do it because they feel comfortable and did not desire to have one-on-one interactions with people.

The participants were also asked to explain how social media changed their communication and interactions during the years of using social media (Table  2 ). The data shows that participants interact less in person because they are relating more via online pictures and status. For other participants, it made them more cautious and even afraid of putting any personal information online because it might cause problems or rifts in their life. On the contrary, some participants stated that their communication and interaction is the same; however, they were able to see how it had changed for the people that are around them. A participant stated that “internet/social media is a power tool that allows people to be whatever they want and in a way it creates popularity, but once again they walk around acting like they do not know you and ‘like’ your pictures the next day.”

5 Discussion

The data illustrated in this paper shows how much the introduction and usage of social media has impacted the interaction and communication of young adults. The future of interaction and communication was also presented as a possibility, if the current trend continues with young adults and social media or online communities. This raises the notion of possibly not having any social, in-person interaction and having all communication or interaction online and virtually with all family and friends.

6 Conclusion

Referring back to the question asked during the introduction: how much has social media impacted the way we communicate and interact with each other? After reviewing all the findings, seeing the relationship individuals have with their mobile phones, and comparing social media platforms, it is clear that many young adults have an emotional attachment with their mobile device and want interaction that is quick and to the point, with minimal “in-person” contact. Many young adults prefer to use their mobile device to send a text message or interact via social media. This is due to their comfort level being higher while posting via social media applications, as opposed to in-person interaction. To successfully and accurately answer the question: yes, social media has had a very positive and negative effect on the way we communicate and interact with each other. However, how effective is this method of “virtual” communication and interaction in the real world?

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Jimenez, Y., Morreale, P. (2015). Social Media Use and Impact on Interpersonal Communication. In: Stephanidis, C. (eds) HCI International 2015 - Posters’ Extended Abstracts. HCI 2015. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 529. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21383-5_15

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Social media use can be positive for mental health and well-being

January 6, 2020— Mesfin Awoke Bekalu , research scientist in the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discusses a new study he co-authored on associations between social media use and mental health and well-being.

What is healthy vs. potentially problematic social media use?

Our study has brought preliminary evidence to answer this question. Using a nationally representative sample, we assessed the association of two dimensions of social media use—how much it’s routinely used and how emotionally connected users are to the platforms—with three health-related outcomes: social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health.

We found that routine social media use—for example, using social media as part of everyday routine and responding to content that others share—is positively associated with all three health outcomes. Emotional connection to social media—for example, checking apps excessively out of fear of missing out, being disappointed about or feeling disconnected from friends when not logged into social media—is negatively associated with all three outcomes.

In more general terms, these findings suggest that as long as we are mindful users, routine use may not in itself be a problem. Indeed, it could be beneficial.

For those with unhealthy social media use, behavioral interventions may help. For example, programs that develop “effortful control” skills—the ability to self-regulate behavior—have been widely shown to be useful in dealing with problematic Internet and social media use.

We’re used to hearing that social media use is harmful to mental health and well-being, particularly for young people. Did it surprise you to find that it can have positive effects?

The findings go against what some might expect, which is intriguing. We know that having a strong social network is associated with positive mental health and well-being. Routine social media use may compensate for diminishing face-to-face social interactions in people’s busy lives. Social media may provide individuals with a platform that overcomes barriers of distance and time, allowing them to connect and reconnect with others and thereby expand and strengthen their in-person networks and interactions. Indeed, there is some empirical evidence supporting this.

On the other hand, a growing body of research has demonstrated that social media use is negatively associated with mental health and well-being, particularly among young people—for example, it may contribute to increased risk of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Our findings suggest that the ways that people are using social media may have more of an impact on their mental health and well-being than just the frequency and duration of their use.

What disparities did you find in the ways that social media use benefits and harms certain populations? What concerns does this raise?

My co-authors Rachel McCloud , Vish Viswanath , and I found that the benefits and harms associated with social media use varied across demographic, socioeconomic, and racial population sub-groups. Specifically, while the benefits were generally associated with younger age, better education, and being white, the harms were associated with older age, less education, and being a racial minority. Indeed, these findings are consistent with the body of work on communication inequalities and health disparities that our lab, the Viswanath lab , has documented over the past 15 or so years. We know that education, income, race, and ethnicity influence people’s access to, and ability to act on, health information from media, including the Internet. The concern is that social media may perpetuate those differences.

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• v.12(6); 2020 Jun

Social Media Use and Its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review

Fazida karim.

1 Psychology, California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychology, Fairfield, USA

2 Business & Management, University Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu, MYS

Azeezat A Oyewande

3 Family Medicine, California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychology, Fairfield, USA

4 Family Medicine, Lagos State Health Service Commission/Alimosho General Hospital, Lagos, NGA

Lamis F Abdalla

5 Internal Medicine, California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychology, Fairfield, USA

Reem Chaudhry Ehsanullah

Safeera khan.

Social media are responsible for aggravating mental health problems. This systematic study summarizes the effects of social network usage on mental health. Fifty papers were shortlisted from google scholar databases, and after the application of various inclusion and exclusion criteria, 16 papers were chosen and all papers were evaluated for quality. Eight papers were cross-sectional studies, three were longitudinal studies, two were qualitative studies, and others were systematic reviews. Findings were classified into two outcomes of mental health: anxiety and depression. Social media activity such as time spent to have a positive effect on the mental health domain. However, due to the cross-sectional design and methodological limitations of sampling, there are considerable differences. The structure of social media influences on mental health needs to be further analyzed through qualitative research and vertical cohort studies.

Introduction and background

Human beings are social creatures that require the companionship of others to make progress in life. Thus, being socially connected with other people can relieve stress, anxiety, and sadness, but lack of social connection can pose serious risks to mental health [ 1 ].

Social media

Social media has recently become part of people's daily activities; many of them spend hours each day on Messenger, Instagram, Facebook, and other popular social media. Thus, many researchers and scholars study the impact of social media and applications on various aspects of people’s lives [ 2 ]. Moreover, the number of social media users worldwide in 2019 is 3.484 billion, up 9% year-on-year [ 3 - 5 ]. A statistic in Figure  1  shows the gender distribution of social media audiences worldwide as of January 2020, sorted by platform. It was found that only 38% of Twitter users were male but 61% were using Snapchat. In contrast, females were more likely to use LinkedIn and Facebook. There is no denying that social media has now become an important part of many people's lives. Social media has many positive and enjoyable benefits, but it can also lead to mental health problems. Previous research found that age did not have an effect but gender did; females were much more likely to experience mental health than males [ 6 , 7 ].

Impact on mental health

Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which people understand their abilities, solve everyday life problems, work well, and make a significant contribution to the lives of their communities [ 8 ]. There is debated presently going on regarding the benefits and negative impacts of social media on mental health [ 9 , 10 ]. Social networking is a crucial element in protecting our mental health. Both the quantity and quality of social relationships affect mental health, health behavior, physical health, and mortality risk [ 9 ]. The Displaced Behavior Theory may help explain why social media shows a connection with mental health. According to the theory, people who spend more time in sedentary behaviors such as social media use have less time for face-to-face social interaction, both of which have been proven to be protective against mental disorders [ 11 , 12 ]. On the other hand, social theories found how social media use affects mental health by influencing how people view, maintain, and interact with their social network [ 13 ]. A number of studies have been conducted on the impacts of social media, and it has been indicated that the prolonged use of social media platforms such as Facebook may be related to negative signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress [ 10 - 15 ]. Furthermore, social media can create a lot of pressure to create the stereotype that others want to see and also being as popular as others.

The need for a systematic review

Systematic studies can quantitatively and qualitatively identify, aggregate, and evaluate all accessible data to generate a warm and accurate response to the research questions involved [ 4 ]. In addition, many existing systematic studies related to mental health studies have been conducted worldwide. However, only a limited number of studies are integrated with social media and conducted in the context of social science because the available literature heavily focused on medical science [ 6 ]. Because social media is a relatively new phenomenon, the potential links between their use and mental health have not been widely investigated.

This paper attempt to systematically review all the relevant literature with the aim of filling the gap by examining social media impact on mental health, which is sedentary behavior, which, if in excess, raises the risk of health problems [ 7 , 9 , 12 ]. This study is important because it provides information on the extent of the focus of peer review literature, which can assist the researchers in delivering a prospect with the aim of understanding the future attention related to climate change strategies that require scholarly attention. This study is very useful because it provides information on the extent to which peer review literature can assist researchers in presenting prospects with a view to understanding future concerns related to mental health strategies that require scientific attention. The development of the current systematic review is based on the main research question: how does social media affect mental health?

Research strategy

The research was conducted to identify studies analyzing the role of social media on mental health. Google Scholar was used as our main database to find the relevant articles. Keywords that were used for the search were: (1) “social media”, (2) “mental health”, (3) “social media” AND “mental health”, (4) “social networking” AND “mental health”, and (5) “social networking” OR “social media” AND “mental health” (Table  1 ).

Out of the results in Table  1 , a total of 50 articles relevant to the research question were selected. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, duplicate papers were removed, and, finally, a total of 28 articles were selected for review (Figure  2 ).

PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Peer-reviewed, full-text research papers from the past five years were included in the review. All selected articles were in English language and any non-peer-reviewed and duplicate papers were excluded from finally selected articles.

Of the 16 selected research papers, there were a research focus on adults, gender, and preadolescents [ 10 - 19 ]. In the design, there were qualitative and quantitative studies [ 15 , 16 ]. There were three systematic reviews and one thematic analysis that explored the better or worse of using social media among adolescents [ 20 - 23 ]. In addition, eight were cross-sectional studies and only three were longitudinal studies [ 24 - 29 ].The meta-analyses included studies published beyond the last five years in this population. Table  2  presents a selection of studies from the review.

IGU, internet gaming disorder; PSMU, problematic social media use

This study has attempted to systematically analyze the existing literature on the effect of social media use on mental health. Although the results of the study were not completely consistent, this review found a general association between social media use and mental health issues. Although there is positive evidence for a link between social media and mental health, the opposite has been reported.

For example, a previous study found no relationship between the amount of time spent on social media and depression or between social media-related activities, such as the number of online friends and the number of “selfies”, and depression [ 29 ]. Similarly, Neira and Barber found that while higher investment in social media (e.g. active social media use) predicted adolescents’ depressive symptoms, no relationship was found between the frequency of social media use and depressed mood [ 28 ].

In the 16 studies, anxiety and depression were the most commonly measured outcome. The prominent risk factors for anxiety and depression emerging from this study comprised time spent, activity, and addiction to social media. In today's world, anxiety is one of the basic mental health problems. People liked and commented on their uploaded photos and videos. In today's age, everyone is immune to the social media context. Some teens experience anxiety from social media related to fear of loss, which causes teens to try to respond and check all their friends' messages and messages on a regular basis.

On the contrary, depression is one of the unintended significances of unnecessary use of social media. In detail, depression is limited not only to Facebooks but also to other social networking sites, which causes psychological problems. A new study found that individuals who are involved in social media, games, texts, mobile phones, etc. are more likely to experience depression.

The previous study found a 70% increase in self-reported depressive symptoms among the group using social media. The other social media influence that causes depression is sexual fun [ 12 ]. The intimacy fun happens when social media promotes putting on a facade that highlights the fun and excitement but does not tell us much about where we are struggling in our daily lives at a deeper level [ 28 ]. Another study revealed that depression and time spent on Facebook by adolescents are positively correlated [ 22 ]. More importantly, symptoms of major depression have been found among the individuals who spent most of their time in online activities and performing image management on social networking sites [ 14 ].

Another study assessed gender differences in associations between social media use and mental health. Females were found to be more addicted to social media as compared with males [ 26 ]. Passive activity in social media use such as reading posts is more strongly associated with depression than doing active use like making posts [ 23 ]. Other important findings of this review suggest that other factors such as interpersonal trust and family functioning may have a greater influence on the symptoms of depression than the frequency of social media use [ 28 , 29 ].

Limitation and suggestion

The limitations and suggestions were identified by the evidence involved in the study and review process. Previously, 7 of the 16 studies were cross-sectional and slightly failed to determine the causal relationship between the variables of interest. Given the evidence from cross-sectional studies, it is not possible to conclude that the use of social networks causes mental health problems. Only three longitudinal studies examined the causal relationship between social media and mental health, which is hard to examine if the mental health problem appeared more pronounced in those who use social media more compared with those who use it less or do not use at all [ 19 , 20 , 24 ]. Next, despite the fact that the proposed relationship between social media and mental health is complex, a few studies investigated mediating factors that may contribute or exacerbate this relationship. Further investigations are required to clarify the underlying factors that help examine why social media has a negative impact on some peoples’ mental health, whereas it has no or positive effect on others’ mental health.

Conclusions

Social media is a new study that is rapidly growing and gaining popularity. Thus, there are many unexplored and unexpected constructive answers associated with it. Lately, studies have found that using social media platforms can have a detrimental effect on the psychological health of its users. However, the extent to which the use of social media impacts the public is yet to be determined. This systematic review has found that social media envy can affect the level of anxiety and depression in individuals. In addition, other potential causes of anxiety and depression have been identified, which require further exploration.

The importance of such findings is to facilitate further research on social media and mental health. In addition, the information obtained from this study can be helpful not only to medical professionals but also to social science research. The findings of this study suggest that potential causal factors from social media can be considered when cooperating with patients who have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression. Also, if the results from this study were used to explore more relationships with another construct, this could potentially enhance the findings to reduce anxiety and depression rates and prevent suicide rates from occurring.

The content published in Cureus is the result of clinical experience and/or research by independent individuals or organizations. Cureus is not responsible for the scientific accuracy or reliability of data or conclusions published herein. All content published within Cureus is intended only for educational, research and reference purposes. Additionally, articles published within Cureus should not be deemed a suitable substitute for the advice of a qualified health care professional. Do not disregard or avoid professional medical advice due to content published within Cureus.

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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• Open access
• Published: 23 May 2024

Modeling the audience’s perception of security in media discourse

• Chajuan Hu 1 , 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  663 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Combining the concepts of securitization with a discourse analytic approach, the study presents an attempt to investigate how the audience’s perception toward an unconventional security issue has been shaped in media context. As a case study, this paper delves into the portrayal of the Confucius Institute in the U.S. media discourse. By analyzing the coverage of the Confucius Institute in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal from 2004 to 2022, it aims to unpack the narratives and representations surrounding this institution. With a particular focus on how the use of language shapes the audience’s perception and subsequently influences their cognition in the context of the securitization of Confucius Institutes, a select sample of texts from the corpus was collected for coded qualitative analysis to allow for a deeper understanding of how the media constructs and disseminates information about the Confucius Institute. The findings turn out that American media actors deliver a bottom-up securitizing move by interacting with socio-political value positions on Confucius Institutes in the United States, grounding a cognitive construction of security threat into shaping public emotive perceptual experience with dialogically patterned linguistic configurations.

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Introduction.

With language as means of representation, the discourse of security is a discursive formation constituted from a diversity of texts and text genres which are generated at different sites. Those texts are produced and reproduced in the political and public sphere in multiple forms, and therefore they might be policy documents, institutional reports, media texts, and conversational exchanges of everyday life (Krzyżanowski and Tucker 2018 ; MacDonald and Hunter 2019 ). Due to the global terrorist attacks in the first decade of 21st century, the discourse of security appears to be formed in a way that security agencies consolidate their own epistemological base into something approaching their own discipline. When it comes specifically to U.S. security practice, the post-9/11 security discourses are characterized by ‘a state of exception’ via the discursive articulation and construction of continuous threats, following an expansionist security strategy that emphasizes the idea of shaping global society in accordance with U.S. values and interests (Agamben 2005 ; Martin and Simon 2008 ; Dunmire 2011 , 2015 ). In addition, later studies suggest that the emotive perception of enmity through the dichotomous structure characterizes the resonance of U.S. security narratives (van Rythoven 2015 ; Amin 2019 ; MacDonald and Hunter 2019 ;). Besides, there are other studies examining U.S. security discourses in terms of the linguistic, ideological and cognitive features, underlining that the discourse system is primarily construed through Self-Other dichotomous assertions for their preferred interpretations of the presented representations (Berrocal 2019 ; Homolar 2021 ; Hu 2023 ).

The aforementioned studies enlighten the linguistic methodological attempts on security studies with discourse analysis. With the argument that U.S. security discourses carry a dualistic discursive structure, more empirical studies concerning particular security issues are needed to explore illuminating evidences showing how exactly they are linguistically configurated to exert an influence on the ways people are thinking. Especially, the nexus between the security agencies’ discursive practices and their influence on the audience’s affective and cognitive process should be explored. Drawing U.S. media security discourse as an empirical case, this research has the following implications. For one, motivated by theories of security from the discipline of poststructuralist philosophy, this study makes its attempt to conduct a piece of interdisciplinary research which specifically combines the seminal framework of securitization theory with techniques of discourse analysis. By putting the securitization analyzing units under the particular socio-political context, the investigation of the relationship between the linguistic configurations and the audience’s perceptual and mental representations would be more empirically grounded in reality. In addition, when compared to the studies concerning the discourses of conventional security issues (war, terrorism etc.), the discourses of unconventional security issues (culture, education, economy etc.) have been less-explored. Different from the situation that people would have intuitive fear and other perceptual emotions on war and terrorist attack, it is hardly possible for them to get to know the insecurity that an unconventional case, for instance, a cultural and educational institution, could bring about, let alone having security threat believed. It would be interesting to find out how it works to get an unconventional security issue expressed toward the public. To that end, this paper would provide a comprehensive understanding of how such unconventional security issues are framed and discussed in the media, thereby offering insights into their potential impact on public perception of an unconventional security threat.

Theoretical background

Securitization and media discourse.

According to the securitization theory proposed by Copenhagen school, one of the new schools in security theory in European critical security studies, securitization is an extreme version of politicization that issues are prioritized and constructed as security threats to be dealt with urgently via speech acts by a securitizing actor (Buzan et al. 1998 ). Central to the theory is the securitizing speech act—a rhetorical device—employed by securitizing actors when depicting an issue as an existential threat. When an issue is successfully construed as an existential threat, exceptionality is imposed and power is sanctioned (Balzacq et al. 2016 ). Apart from the concern on the moment of intervention by the speech act, the process of security being constructed diachronically via a series of routinized incremental conceptualizations is not fully explored. Beyond the top-down speech act of defining an existential threat, it is everyday security discourse and practice that iteratively makes an issue securitized during an evolutionary period of time. Later concern on a bottom-up approach has been introduced in securitization theory, and the importance of institutionalizations and routinizations in the generation of security issues has been highlighted (Balzacq, 2005 , 2011 ; Balzacq et al. 2016 ; Rothe 2016 ). With an equal focus on the bottom-up security practices, securitization is, therefore, not static and linear but progressive over time. Apart from concerning the dynamic and multi-interactive actors-in-process, the audience and the context are equally concerned and fully considered. Following that, therefore, securitization is a process of truth production, consisting of three elements, i.e., security definition, discursive efforts, and security practices. It is the discursive and securitizing practices that normalize and routinize the security definition. Critically, it can be undertaken over a lasting period of time through discourses and practices, and in concert by many actors rather than by a single lead actor (Bigo 2002 ; Emerson 2017 ; Baysal 2020 ; Neo 2020 ).

In light of the above studies, we draw special attention to how a successful securitization occurs by analyzing the securitization trinity in the protracted span of process in which securitizing moves are delivered multi-directionally and multi-interactively. To that end, being critical parts in the process, the media actors and their discourses are specifically focused in this article. Moreover, we draw a dialogic perspective that a securitization speech-act is also a verbal communicative act, in which securitizing actors take a position on the diverse standpoints being referenced by the text, and thereby modulate the securitizing audience’s attachment to or detachment from securitization.

The intersubjective stance in securitization

All verbal communication is dialogic due to the fact that to speak or to write is always to refer to what has already been said or written in some way, and simultaneously to anticipate the responses of potential readers or listeners (Vološinov 1995 ). Inspired by the proposition that the actual reality of speech is the social event of verbal interaction implemented in an utterance or utterances, this paper argues that the securitizing speech-acts are the socio-political events of verbal interaction implemented in a discourse or discourses. Accordingly, attending to how language construes perception and hence influences expectations, attitudes, beliefs and ways of interrelating, we explore the dialogic and linguistic mechanisms by which discourses naturalize perceptual experience with certain ideological positions and construct for themselves ideal or compliant readerships.

Drawing on the point of construing an external threat intersubjectively, we examine the resources of intersubjective stance by categories of ENGAGEMENT and ATTITUDE. Engagement is a cover-all term for resources of intersubjective positioning and is later extended into a diverse array of wordings by which speakers or writers construct for themselves a particular relationship with its projected or modeled readership (Martin 1992 , 1997 ). Considering that speech is essentially a social event involving verbal interaction, White ( 2003 ) distinguishes heteroglossic utterances from monoglossic utterances in terms of the dialogic property in utterances. This is also referred as the communicative and rhetorical functionality of the wordings by which speakers or writers take a stand on the diverse value positions being referenced and thereby align themselves with those who hold these positions (Martin and White 2004 ). Besides, this would be fully explained with the dimensions of attitude category, which refers to a system of meanings that construe feelings in English texts. Attitude involves three semantic regions covering what is traditionally referred to as emotion, ethics and aesthetics, which are introduced as affect, judgment and appreciation. Therefore, they allow for a better understanding on how the authorial voice is positioned and engaged with the other voices or positions which are construed as being in play in the current communicative context. In that sense, it would lead us to attend to how the securitizing actors construe themselves as morally authoritative, naturalize the securitization, and align themselves with their intended or imagined audience.

Legitimization through cognitive proximization

Apart from the orientation towards meanings in context and rhetoric effects, we still draw attention to how it works in reader’s mind, i.e., the cognitive processing of turning the writers or speakers’ proposition into the readers or listeners’ belief. Proximization (Cap 2008 , 2013 , 2015 , 2017 , 2021 ) offers a way to explore in this aspect, which is defined as a construal operation. It is intended to evoke sense of urgency on the outside threat so as to legitimate the preventive measures (Cap 2008 , 2015 ). This approach displays a cognitive linguistic framework, in which the ideological load of linguistic structures is fully considered and the concepts of categorization, spatial representation, and deixis are mainly focused. According to Cap ( 2021 ), a focus on the linguistic deictic choices that speakers make, lexically and grammatically, can reveal how Other is conceptually construed as a threat by invading the in-group’s space.

The proximization approach employs two antagonistically constructed concepts in the discourse space, that is, IDC (Inside-Deictic-Center) and ODC (Outside-Deictic-Center). Specifically, one end is referred to the securitizing actors and audiences within the deictic center group, while the other end is related to the referent subjects at the periphery of the discourse space. Tellingly, the referent subjects are construed as immediate threats to a degree that antagonistic ODC is closing in on spatially, temporally, and axiologically, and putting IDC at peril or even taking it over. (Cap 2017 ). Also crucially in this approach, the categorization of language choices enables an attempt to provide quantitative and qualitative evidences for the analyses, in which discursive items and linguistic formulae are distinctly classified into different linguistical units, i.e., lexical and grammatical items, phrases, and discursive sequences, for a better understanding on how a discourse is made up and transformed ideological-materially (Cap 2010 , 2021 ).

An analytic framework with a combined approach

In light of the aforementioned theories, a combined discourse analysis approach is adopted with the key securitization concepts. This approach investigates how an issue is securitized dialogically, discursively, and cognitively through discourses and practices in its social, political and historical background. As is generally displayed in Fig. 1 , this framework presents a process-oriented account to reveal how securitization is mobilized over time iteratively through an astatic securitization trinity, basically, the existential threat, the securitizing actor, and the audience. A successful securitization is realized when the conceptualization of a common existential threat against the referent object is evoked into a WE perspective (i.e., intersubjective cognition), which, likewise, is a construct of two antagonistic entities (referent subject vs. referent object) in the discourse space. Meanwhile, the securitization suggests a process of engagement and proximization in the audience, in which a diversity of linguistic configurations are applied to bring the audience into an intersubjective stance, while legitimization of exceptionally urgent actions is fulfilled by indicating the approaching of the threat from spatial, temporal and axiological directions.

A proposed theoretical framework.

Critical to this framework, the securitizing actor and the audience are subjects-in-process due to the truth that their roles are enacted over time in the protracted securitization process, and therefore work together to produce discourses-in-process filled with diverse securitizing moves. More specifically, the core role of securitizing actor in the speech-act is decentered and shifted to a dual role of being a speaker as well as a listener, while the audience are more examined in terms of their ideational and material investment in the process, especially when they transform from a listener to an agent whose everyday life becomes an integral part to securitization. It’s noteworthy that the audience plays a constitutive role in the course of securitization via their material and ideational investment. On one hand, it is the audience’s implicit, embodied experiences that make securitization possible. On the other hand, it is their recognition of the subject positions and discursive apparatuses that enables the securitized utterance to circulate. For the purpose of investigating the security discourses and practices, this study makes an attempt to understand how the intersubjectiveness of securitization is cognitively realized by grounding into the perceptual experience with specific dialogical and discursive configurations.

Method and materials

Context of the case study.

With the enforcement of national security strategies, a much wider area of issues are covered in U.S. security agenda. Confucius Institute (CI), declaring to strengthen Chinese educational and cultural cooperation worldwide, has recently been shuttered or closed down in the United States for being treated as a threat. In recent decade, a series of political control measures have been adopted to restrict CIs in U.S., including the influence of public opinion, legal restrictions, state education budget cut etc. (Lien and Tang 2021 ). Like Rome was not built in a day, the CI-program as a security issue is not construed in a moment. With a reference to the critical socio-political CI-related events in the U.S., its evolution can be categorized into three stages, namely, the positive reception (2004–2013), the cognitive transformation (2014–2020), and the post-closure period (2021to present) (Hu 2023 ).

In the initial establishment years from 2004 to 2013, CI-program became popular among American campuses and schools since its first launch in Maryland University in 2004, with a total number of 96 Confucius Institutes in the United States by the end of 2013. During this stage, Confucius Institute was considered to be an educational institution and improved China’s international image to a certain degree (Li and Dai 2011 ; Liu and An 2012 ; Wu 2011 ). Meanwhile, there were controversies accompanying the development of CIs, some of which criticize the corporatization of co-host university with the CI (Sahlins 2014 ). Along with the increasingly negative attitude towards the operation of CIs on campus, the year 2014 saw the first close-down at the University of Chicago and a follow-up later by the Pennsylvania State University, which marked a turn in its evolution in U.S. and meant a beginning of the cognitive transformation stage. During 2014 to 2020, with more closures driven by various securitizing moves, the proposition of identifying Confucius Institute into a ‘political agency’ rather than an ‘educational institution’ had gradually taken root in American society (Hartig 2016 ; Peterson 2017 ). There were more and more discourses examining the role of CI in the name of securing the country, which had a great incitation on public and hence exerted a bottom-up influence on state and federal official policy. With an increasing concern nationwide, American political powers began to exert a top-down control over CIs (Lien and Tang 2021 ). In 2018, U.S. congress granted the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 , in which specified Articles urged universities to make an ‘either-or’ decision between CI-program and the Chinese Language Flagship Program funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, indicating a bipartisan consensus in using federal legislation against Confucius Institutes. In 2020, Trump administration publicly delivered a move toward Confucius Institutes, i.e., the designation of CI U.S. center as Foreign Mission. To ensure that China would no longer exert political propaganda in American universities through CIs, a strong whole-of-society claim for a follow-up concern on what happens after the closure of Confucius Institutes was made (Carter 2020 ; Peterson 2020 ). By July 2021, there was an estimated number of 85 Confucius Institutes closed or to be closed in the United States, marking a turn into the post-closure period. In June 2022, a report called ‘After Confucius Institutes: China’s Enduring Influence on American Higher Education” had been released by NAS, presenting a whole-of-society constant concern on what happens after Confucius Institutes were shuttered (Peterson et al. 2022 ).

Specifically, Table 1 gives a list of actors in the course of securitization toward Confucius Institutes. Among those actively engaged agents in the key events, we argue that U.S. academia elites and groups exert a strong influence on pushing at the beginning of the securitization process. Represented by American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and American National Association of Scholars (NAS), they conduct follow-up researches on Confucius Institutes since 2014, calling on the public and political actions against CI (Hu 2023 ). Interactively driven by the bottom-up securitizing move, the politicians and institutions put Confucius Institutes into U.S. security agenda. In line with the previously proposed framework, there are astatic relationships across the securitization trinity, that is to say, they are all agents in the matter of securitization. Over time one agent can be passive being an audience at one point and later active in delivering a move at another point of time, with a dual role transforming along with the change of socio-political context. In the securitization case of Confucius Institutes, the securitizing actors are political agents (senators, U.S. government, political institutions etc.) and public agents (American university administrators, academia elites or groups, public media etc.), who deliver securitizing moves at different times. Accordingly, the securitizing audiences can be also concluded as the political and public agents due to their addressee’s position in the discourse context. In the complex course of securitization, what arouses our concern in this paper is the relationship between the media securitizing actors and the public audience. For one thing, the media discourses are mass-communicative texts that are delivered to large groups of unknown audience. For another, it is the public who are the ultimate target audiences of the securitizing moves from either the top-down political actors or the bottom-up public actors. Besides, rather than making a securitizing move themselves, the public civilians, part of the U.S. security agenda, whose beliefs in the security threat from Confucius Institutes would need to be construed first. Therefore, this case study specifies the previous research concerns as follows: How do the media texts dialogically and discursively construe Confucius Institutes with the perception of threat? And then to what extent are the audiences modeled cognitively as sharing the media’s beliefs?

Data collection and the sample texts

In order to investigate more evidences showing salient characteristics of how the media discourses of Confucius Institutes influence the audience’s perception and then their judgment of pushing securitization, this case study collected texts with the coverage of Confucius Institutes as data for the corpus. More specifically, using ProQuest online database, the research collected texts concerning Confucius Institutes from 2004 to 2022 in two elite news publications, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal , which were sampled to be the study’s media outlets for they are major newspapers representing U.S. mainstream media.

By the end of 2022, 139 search results were found with the search word ‘Confucius Institute’ or ‘Confucius Institutes’. After excluding the unrelated topics by scanning over the abstract, a total number of 124 texts were collected into the corpus for the statistics (Size=145,437, Tokens=125,289, Types=12,022). Being media agents who play a role of securitizing actors in this matter, the two elite newspapers present a similar trend in publishing articles on Confucius Institutes. As is displayed in Fig. 2 , the number of articles on CI-related events on each newspaper reaches a top in 2014, and then declines till another top in 2020, which echoes the timeline of the socio-political key CI-related events happening in the U.S. Consequently, for a meta-discursive analysis as well as a deep investigation of how media actors operate the public’s positioning on Confucius Institutes under particular socio-political context, the study further selected 13 texts with a total size of 10,925 (9437 types) words, 5 from the New York Times and 8 from the Wall Street Journal , for the coded qualitative analysis. Those texts are characterized by the contents of particular events critical to the evolution of Confucius Institutes in the U.S., namely, the outright pushback from the academia in 2014 and the designation of CI U.S. center as Foreign Mission by Trump administration in 2020. In line with this, those texts were further identified with an occurrence of ‘Confucius Institutes’ in the article title. Then the texts were coded in terms of ENGAGEMENT category with an aid of BFSU Qualitative Coder 1.2 to examine the way how the wordings of the texts are applied, and how the different stances on Confucius Institute under the particular event context are put together and presented to the audience.

Texts concerning Confucius Institutes from 2004 to 2022.

Results and discussion

Resources of constructing intersubjective stance.

When it turns specifically to the media security discourse of Confucius Institutes in this case study, the discourses are featured by a specific journalist genre, i.e., news narratives, which has been shown to positively influence information comprehension through engagement. The degree of engagement depends on the various ways in which meanings are construed for a text, and among which quoting sources of information would be one way with the functions of both enhancing engagement and credibility. Besides, the genre of reported speech presents a ‘projection’ in which the author is positioning its voice with the anticipated reactions and responses of the public audience for the security discourse of Confucius Institutes. According to the statistics, the sample texts hold 137 quotes, which indicates more than one occurrence per 100 words (Freq.%=1.45). Generally, those quotes represent information and explanations provided at press conference, interviews, and court hearings etc., helping the media agents to source their information in a verifiable way and increase the credibility of their narratives on what is happening to Confucius Institutes. With further category coded analysis on the media agents’ stance-taking when referring to a quote in the texts, the statistics display an average of 13 counts on the resources of intersubjective stance in one single text, and show 1.79 occurrence of an engagement category per 100 words in all sample texts (Table 2 ). Furthermore, there is no significant difference in the resources of intersubjective stances between The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (loglikelihood=0.1607, p  = 0.6885 > 0.05), indicating that analyzing the sample texts as a whole can represent the two media agents’ resources of intersubjective stance.

For the clarification on how the authorial voice is positioned in quoting, the resources of engagement are further categorized into DISCLAIM, PROCLAIM, ENTERTAIN, and ATTRIBUTE as White ( 2003 ) demonstrates. Table 3 gives an overview of the engagement categories concerning the authorial positioning of source of information on Confucius Institutes in sample texts, in which tagged texts were primarily coded manually by the author only if there were uncertainties that another researcher would be involved in discussion (e.g., words with an asterisk). Among those categories, ATTRIBUTE ranks as the dominant pattern of use of resources of intersubjective stance while DISCLAIM and ENTERTAIN, two overt means of the subjective involvement of the textual voice, compose the less used pattern in the sample texts. This makes sense to the idea that the media agents use less explicit ways of taking a stance in order to keep its objectivity in reporting the event. Alternatively, with a pair use of its two sub categories of PRONOUNCE and ENDORSE, PROCLAIM is made through formulations in which the foregrounding of a textual voice on Confucius Institutes is some external source introduced by attribution, hence helping the media agents attending its value position to the public audience more truthfully and verifiably. As is the case with ENDORSE mentioned above, ATTRIBUTE is retrospective when it represents the textual voice as referencing to the utterances of prior communicative participants, yet it is also prospective in that it is overtly grounded in the individual subjecthood of one speaker. Giving a group of similar value positions which commonly operate among different individual speakers, the media agents invest authorial positioning toward Confucius Institutes implicitly.

In general, it is conclusive that the media securitizing actors construe the communicative context of Confucius Institutes as heteroglossically diverse and engage in a way of employing the resources of reported speech to ground the value position in external voice. Although it is secondary to investigate who or what is the primary source of information, producers of the source information in the sample texts are the securitizing actors, namely, U.S. university professors, academic groups, politicians, and political institutions, whose value positions toward Confucius Institutes are actually and currently operating in society of the time. In that sense, the media security discourse makes a constructive process of engaging the audience with socio-politically determined perceptual experience that Confucius Institute poses a threat to security, either affectively or morally.

Linguistic realizations of emotive perception

External voices are allowed to engage the audience in a way that the media securitizing actors bring them into and also choose to include or exclude in the text. For a further investigation of the role that the wordings play in the accomplishment of securitization in the discourse, it would lead us to attend to, discursively or meta-discursively, how the securitizing actors, with an intended use of resources of intersubjective stances, construe themselves as morally authoritative, naturalize the securitization, and align themselves with their intended or imagined audiences. As is proved in critical discourse studies that language reproduces ideology and no text is free, a news report is also embedded with journalists’ standpoints and values no matter how much effort it makes to remain neutral. Although positions and evaluations made through such sources cannot be attributed directly to the media agents in that they are patterns for them to just show a heteroglossical engagement in the text, yet it does work to model the perception of the audience when they co-occur with ATTITUDE (Table 4 ). In other words, the media agents of our sampled texts position their voice by the use of resources of intersubjective stances towards Confucius Institutes with respect to attitudinal assessments. Those patterns show a large proportion to linguistic realizations of expressing affect and judgment. Thus, the pair use of the formulations that media agents apply in their language devices would be possibly discussed in a linguistic and meta-discursive level.

Perception on the identity of Confucius Institutes

Tellingly, the stances associated with the discursively construed identity of Confucius Institutes are stances which operate interactively in society. Excerpt 1 is taken from The New York Times , a piece of news titled U.S. Professors Call on Colleges to Re-evaluate C.I ., which reports AAUP’s statement toward Confucius Institutes in 2014. As is reviewed in the previous section, this news event marks a critical turn of the CI development in U.S. As an external voice from the U.S. academic group, the text presents an occurrence of authorially-sourced inscribed judgment with reference to the judgment statement of AAUP. By quoting at the very beginning of the report, the textual voice engages with and positions itself with respect to the views that “Confucius Institutes function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom”. Subsequently, the text takes a stance with AAUP that Confucius Institute is ‘an arm of the Chinese state’ posing a threat to U.S. ‘academic freedom’ by the authorial moral judgment, perceptually exposing the audience to a discursive context of consensual knowledge about Confucius Institutes, that is, the identity of ‘most ambitious cultural diplomacy’ is ‘widely recognized’. The thing is that these judgments are introduced into the text through bare assertion that accepts no rejections. And phrases ‘in less than a decade’, ‘heavily subsided by’ etc. engage the audience with the emotive perception of ‘too fast’, ‘too much’ for something running out of control. Besides, the proposition is endorsed with another attribute to the Chinese state news agency, precisely, an external voice sourced from the head of CI headquarters in Beijing, confirming the truthfulness of what AAUP is pointing out and upholding the proclaim of the text taking a stance with AAUP’s statement over Confucius Institutes. Through the formulations, the public perception of CI as a Chinese government agency is modeled, and they naturally come into the text’s representation of the given stance and uniformly share the text’s view.

“Confucius Institutes function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom ,” the statement said . “Most agreements establishing Confucius Institutes feature nondisclosure clauses and unacceptable concessions to the political aims and practices of the government of China,” it added . (Paragraph 4)

Widely recognized as one of China’s most ambitious cultural diplomacy endeavors to date, the Confucius Institute program has been embraced by universities around the world as a cost-effective way to offer Chinese language and culture instruction to students. In less than a decade since the first institute was established in Seoul, South Korea, in November 2004, the program, which is heavily subsidized by the Chinese government, has grown to include more than 400 Confucius Institutes in over 100 countries and regions, according to the state news agency Xinhua, citing Xu Lin, head of the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing . (Paragraph 5)

The New York Times , June 17, 2014

Perception on the joint actions against Confucius Institutes

While reporting the event of closing CIs in University of Chicago and Pennsylvania State University, the media discourses show a consensual attitude in presenting some external voices. As is discussed in the socio-political context of this case, the exceptional action that the securitizing actor, i.e., AAUP, at this period of time called on the American universities to take is to cut ties with Confucius Institutes. The media actor in Excerpt 2 presents the event with a judgment as its authorial inscribed voice, making the action of cutting ties with Confucius Institutes a natural consequence which has already been intersubjectively agreed. Here the media actor directly engages with construed audience the perception that being a tie with Confucius Institute is on the wrong track and more actions against CIs are needed. For the public civilians and other American universities, what Chicago and Pennsylvania State university act toward Confucius Institute is the right thing to do and should follow up. Then at the end part of this discourse, more entities are referenced in the text, i.e., the AAUP, Canadian professors, the Toronto school board. The point of referencing here is bringing more external voices for a perception that taking actions against Confucius Institutes is happening truly, really, and sensibly around us. Finally, versions-of-events are represented by the text in a way that they are seen as true facts or unproblematic propositions which are widely known or accepted under the current communicative circumstances. Here an inscribed authorial stance is overtly made through the deontic discursive pattern “ It’s time to ”, an assumption of ontological, epistemic and axiological commonality between textual voice and audience, where the audience are assumed to operate with the same knowledge, beliefs and values as those relied upon by the proposition. With a judgment of the whole event, the audiences are perceptually engaged with an emotion of emergency and a sense of obligation.

Chicago Teaches Beijing a Lesson ; The University of Chicago kicks the Confucius Institute--one of China’s top overseas propaganda programs --off the campus. How long until other American colleges follow suit? (Paragraph 1)

The American Association of University Professors recently urged an end to affiliations with the institutes, which “function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom.” Canadian professors took a similar position. The Toronto school board this year postponed a planned launch. (Paragraph 13)

With Chicago’s decision to rid its campus of an outpost of the Chinese Communist Party , universities with a prominent institute presence such as Stanford and Columbia will have to reconsider. It’s time to say “zaijian” --goodbye--and good riddance to Beijing’s propaganda presence on campuses. (Paragraph 14)

The Wall Street Journal , September 28, 2014

Attending to how the linguistically construed perceptual emotions influence people’s beliefs, we now turn to the cognitive perspective of how it is legitimized in our mental representations. From the perspective of constructivism, the intersubjectiveness is integral to securitization and needs to be constructed over time through legitimization. It invokes the audience’s conceptualizing process of representing Confucius Institute as an outside threat that invades and even takes over the inside space of U.S. As is indicated previously, the resources of intersubjective stances toward CIs are referenced by the media actors in the sample texts with affect or judgment patterns. Those discursively constructed perceptual experience would start the mental working process to reason the whole matter, and this will resonate with other linguistic evidences referring to a cognitive proximization spatially, temporally and axiologically.

As is proposed in the analytic framework of the study, proximization involves entities conceptualized in different degrees of geopolitical and ideological distance from the discourse addressee located in the deictic center of the temporal, spatial and axiological axis. Illustrated in Fig. 3 , USA is inside the deictic center (IDC) of the media discourse space, while Confucius Institutes, in the deictic periphery (OTC) of the discourse space, are approaching closely and even taking over the U.S. insiders. As a progressive threat to U.S. interests, the media discourses display an approaching danger by sharing a position that Confucius Institute is not an education institute but a foreign governmental agency against the United States. The cognitive proximizing of Confucius Institute as a threat is firstly construed spatially and temporally, and meanwhile axiologically legitimized for its pivoting around the Chinese government and its ideology. As is displayed in the diagram, the cognitive proximization of CI-threat is closing in on the spatial and temporal axis for its deep invasion into various fields from academic freedom to American education and to national security . Likewise, the urgency of the threat is enhanced by two different ideologies symbolizing authoritarian versus democracy on the axiological axis in the dichotomous discourse space. Table 5 presents the corpus statistics of the linguistic evidences regarding Confucius Institutes’ proximity to the inside deictic center group concerning the United States.

Proximization of CI as an outside threat.

Spatially, the media discourse space of CIs is dichotomously constructed through the key lemmas in the first two categories. Category 1 presents the core components of ODCs, and they are Confucius Institutes/ Classroom(s), Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party, China, Beijing, Hanban , etc. (Total Freq.%=3.28). Category 2 displays the other end of the event stage, i.e., IDCs which include the American(s), America, University(-ies), college(s) etc. (Total Freq.%=1.47). A relation of shared identity is established between certain elements which are put on common ground through the sheer proximity of their lexical occurrence in the whole corpus, for instance, Confucius Institutes is collocated with Beijing with a MI (mutual information) plus Log-likelihood score of 2.53 ( P  < 0.05). The distance between IDCs and ODCs in the discourse space is shrinking as a result of the actions interpreted by lexical items in Categories 3 and 4. As the invader, Confucius Institutes have carried out or are carrying out actions against U.S. people’s benefits and value system, employing the behavior of interfere, disseminate, steal, bully, expand etc., and hence exerting an influence, expansion, control, challenge, threat over U.S. academic freedom and its security. As a result, the consequence of ODCs bringing forth over IDCs is realized by the lexical items in Categories 5 and 6, in which contracts, soft power , propaganda from China and Chinese Communist Party pose a threat to U.S. academic freedom, security etc. Hence, the media discourse of Confucius Institute as an existential threat invading United Sates is cognitively constructed through the proximization in the spatial axis.

Calling the action “arbitrary”, “unauthorized” and an act of censorship , the association said Ms. Xu “ordered her entourage straight away to remove all the conference materials from the venue and take them to the apartment of one of the Chinese teachers employed at the Confucius Institute at the University of Minho,” in Portugal. The incident was resolved only when Roger Greatrex of the University of Lund, the president of the association, ordered original copies to be printed and redistributed, the association said. (Paragraph 18)

The New York Times , September 26, 2014

Temporally, the horizonal axis represents past, now and future . By referring to things that happened in the past as well as those possibly to be happening in the future, CI threat is construed as not only historic but also imminent, and thus needs to be responded immediately with unique preventive measures. In the details of Excerpt 3, the past incident of speech censorship by Ms. Xu, former director-general of Confucius Institute Headquarters, in a conference in Portugal indicates that the threat also is or will be approaching and invading American academic freedom. If there were future ties with Confucius Institutes, there would be permanently threatened potentials. More than describing the incident, the media actor takes a stance by attributing to the external voice of labeling arbitrary , unauthorized , judging what Confucius Institutes’ official has done is ideologically and morally illegal and unacceptable.

The Justice Department has also brought a series of prosecutions involving Chinese programs to recruit academic talent, which U. S. officials say encourage research theft . In one case last year, prosecutors alleged that the head of the Confucius Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston offered to use the university in a plan to secure visas for visiting scholars who in actuality sought to recruit American scientific talent . (Paragraph 8)

The Wall Street Journal , August 13, 2020

Axiologically, being two ends in the dichotomous discourse space, American value system is construed as good , while the Chinese one is antagonistically construed as bad . When CI program is assigned as an association with the ideological concepts of the Chinese Communist Party, its spread in the United States would be an aggression with an alien ideology. The linguistic enactment of values antiesthetic to American beliefs would naturally be rejected. The lexical items in Category 7 in Table 5 represent the ideology totally against the value system of those in the deictic center. Specifically, the extreme imagery would be activated by the lexical term authoritarian , that is, a prototype of an uncivilized alien ideology that is totally against American democracy. More urgently, it is the authoritarian ideology that is approaching close to the American people on the axiological axis, and this is verified by Confucius Institutes’ interference in the speech freedom, i.e., the speech censorship . Besides, the concordance lexical items genocide, massacre, theft etc. further descriptively make up negative pictures of the alien ideology which definitely goes against American core values in democracy. By describing Chinese programs as research theft as verified news straight from the horse’s mouth, i.e., U.S. officials, Excerpt 4 starts a reasoning process in the audience that CCP has already initiated actions morally and legally incorrect with the hand of Confucius Institute program to threaten U.S. interests as well as its national security. In either case, the cognitive proximization is eventually realized by successfully invoking the readers’ prototype of the enmity, and Cold War mentality would naturally be triggered in American people’s cognition.

Concluding remarks

By conducting a case study on the securitization of Confucius Institutes in U.S. media discourses, the findings turn out that CI-program are constructed as an existential threat dialogically, discursively and cognitively. From a dialogical perspective, the CI-focused media discourse is also a communicative event that displays the intertextuality of other discourses in American society, and therefore an interjective stance of securitization has been projected to the audience by intentionally quoting sources of information into the text as its inscribed voice. Likewise, the emotive and attitudinal wordings construct Confucius Institutes an identity of threat and conform the audience to the given information in the text. While the audience is exposed to a negative stack of information toward Confucius Institutes, the media agents align themselves with the audience by legitimizing securitization through further invoking a cognitive proximization of the CI-threat spatially, temporally and axiologically.

In general, this study makes an attempt to investigate the relationship between language and its function in modeling one’s perception of particular referent subject and hence influencing one’s cognitive processing in the complex course of securitization. It draws the following considerations. Theoretically, the study displays a discourse-based approach to understanding security issues, and a combined securitization framework is proposed to instruct the analysis with a focus on how exactly language configurations would influence the audience affectively and cognitively. Especially, when securitization turns to an unconventional security issue, the speech act of defining it as an existential threat is much more discursively constructed through an iterative security practice in the current society. Empirically, based on the case analysis, it turns out that American media actors deliver a bottom-up securitizing move by constructing Confucius Institutes security discourse, grounding a cognitive construction of threat into shaping public perceptual experience with dialogically patterned linguistic configurations. These linguistic bundles make the source information, e.g., negative voice from the academia, the security professionals etc., the inscribed voice of the text. Again, when it comes to unconventional security issues, the securitization depends a lot on the bottom-up routinized security discourse and practice which, in some cases, may play the leading role in the whole securitizing process. Besides, this case study also echoes the argument that stances and attitudes are basically social rather than personal in nature. The stances in association with a particular discursively construed identity are value positions which operate interactively in current society. When the media securitizing actors take a stand in delivering a securitizing move, it is via a process of interacting with current socio-politically determined value positions on Confucius Institutes in U.S. society.

Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available in the supplementary file.

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Hu, C. Modeling the audience’s perception of security in media discourse. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 663 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03079-1

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• About Adverse Childhood Experiences
• Risk and Protective Factors
• Program: Essentials for Childhood: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences through Data to Action
• Adverse childhood experiences can have long-term impacts on health, opportunity and well-being.
• Adverse childhood experiences are common and some groups experience them more than others.

What are adverse childhood experiences?

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years). Examples include: 1

• Experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect.
• Witnessing violence in the home or community.
• Having a family member attempt or die by suicide.

Also included are aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding. Examples can include growing up in a household with: 1

• Substance use problems.
• Mental health problems.
• Instability due to parental separation.
• Instability due to household members being in jail or prison.

The examples above are not a complete list of adverse experiences. Many other traumatic experiences could impact health and well-being. This can include not having enough food to eat, experiencing homelessness or unstable housing, or experiencing discrimination. 2 3 4 5 6

Quick facts and stats

ACEs are common. About 64% of adults in the United States reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18. Nearly one in six (17.3%) adults reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs. 7

Preventing ACEs could potentially reduce many health conditions. Estimates show up to 1.9 million heart disease cases and 21 million depression cases potentially could have been avoided by preventing ACEs. 1

Some people are at greater risk of experiencing one or more ACEs than others. While all children are at risk of ACEs, numerous studies show inequities in such experiences. These inequalities are linked to the historical, social, and economic environments in which some families live. 5 6 ACEs were highest among females, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native adults, and adults who are unemployed or unable to work. 7

ACEs are costly. ACEs-related health consequences cost an estimated economic burden of $748 billion annually in Bermuda, Canada, and the United States. 8

ACEs can have lasting effects on health and well-being in childhood and life opportunities well into adulthood. 9 Life opportunities include things like education and job potential. These experiences can increase the risks of injury, sexually transmitted infections, and involvement in sex trafficking. They can also increase risks for maternal and child health problems including teen pregnancy, pregnancy complications, and fetal death. Also included are a range of chronic diseases and leading causes of death, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and suicide. 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

ACEs and associated social determinants of health, such as living in under-resourced or racially segregated neighborhoods, can cause toxic stress. Toxic stress, or extended or prolonged stress, from ACEs can negatively affect children’s brain development, immune systems, and stress-response systems. These changes can affect children’s attention, decision-making, and learning. 18

Children growing up with toxic stress may have difficulty forming healthy and stable relationships. They may also have unstable work histories as adults and struggle with finances, jobs, and depression throughout life. 18 These effects can also be passed on to their own children. 19 20 21 Some children may face further exposure to toxic stress from historical and ongoing traumas. These historical and ongoing traumas refer to experiences of racial discrimination or the impacts of poverty resulting from limited educational and economic opportunities. 1 6

Adverse childhood experiences can be prevented. Certain factors may increase or decrease the risk of experiencing adverse childhood experiences.

Preventing adverse childhood experiences requires understanding and addressing the factors that put people at risk for or protect them from violence.

Creating safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children can prevent ACEs and help all children reach their full potential. We all have a role to play.

• Merrick MT, Ford DC, Ports KA, et al. Vital Signs: Estimated Proportion of Adult Health Problems Attributable to Adverse Childhood Experiences and Implications for Prevention — 25 States, 2015–2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:999-1005. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6844e1 .
• Cain KS, Meyer SC, Cummer E, Patel KK, Casacchia NJ, Montez K, Palakshappa D, Brown CL. Association of Food Insecurity with Mental Health Outcomes in Parents and Children. Science Direct. 2022; 22:7; 1105-1114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2022.04.010 .
• Smith-Grant J, Kilmer G, Brener N, Robin L, Underwood M. Risk Behaviors and Experiences Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness—Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 23 U.S. States and 11 Local School Districts. Journal of Community Health. 2022; 47: 324-333.
• Experiencing discrimination: Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Impacts of Racism on the Foundations of Health | Annual Review of Public Health https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090419-101940 .
• Sedlak A, Mettenburg J, Basena M, et al. Fourth national incidence study of child abuse and neglect (NIS-4): Report to Congress. Executive Summary. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health an Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.; 2010.
• Font S, Maguire-Jack K. Pathways from childhood abuse and other adversities to adult health risks: The role of adult socioeconomic conditions. Child Abuse Negl. 2016;51:390-399.
• Swedo EA, Aslam MV, Dahlberg LL, et al. Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among U.S. Adults — Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2011–2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:707–715. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7226a2 .
• Bellis, MA, et al. Life Course Health Consequences and Associated Annual Costs of Adverse Childhood Experiences Across Europe and North America: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Lancet Public Health 2019.
• Adverse Childhood Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associations with Poor Mental Health and Suicidal Behaviors Among High School Students — Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January–June 2021 | MMWR
• Hillis SD, Anda RF, Dube SR, Felitti VJ, Marchbanks PA, Marks JS. The association between adverse childhood experiences and adolescent pregnancy, long-term psychosocial consequences, and fetal death. Pediatrics. 2004 Feb;113(2):320-7.
• Miller ES, Fleming O, Ekpe EE, Grobman WA, Heard-Garris N. Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes. Obstetrics & Gynecology . 2021;138(5):770-776. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004570 .
• Sulaiman S, Premji SS, Tavangar F, et al. Total Adverse Childhood Experiences and Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review. Matern Child Health J . 2021;25(10):1581-1594. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03176-6 .
• Ciciolla L, Shreffler KM, Tiemeyer S. Maternal Childhood Adversity as a Risk for Perinatal Complications and NICU Hospitalization. Journal of Pediatric Psychology . 2021;46(7):801-813. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsab027 .
• Mersky JP, Lee CP. Adverse childhood experiences and poor birth outcomes in a diverse, low-income sample. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. 2019;19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2560-8 .
• Reid JA, Baglivio MT, Piquero AR, Greenwald MA, Epps N. No youth left behind to human trafficking: Exploring profiles of risk. American journal of orthopsychiatry. 2019;89(6):704.
• Diamond-Welch B, Kosloski AE. Adverse childhood experiences and propensity to participate in the commercialized sex market. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2020 Jun 1;104:104468.
• Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232–e246. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663
• Narayan AJ, Kalstabakken AW, Labella MH, Nerenberg LS, Monn AR, Masten AS. Intergenerational continuity of adverse childhood experiences in homeless families: unpacking exposure to maltreatment versus family dysfunction. Am J Orthopsych. 2017;87(1):3. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000133 .
• Schofield TJ, Donnellan MB, Merrick MT, Ports KA, Klevens J, Leeb R. Intergenerational continuity in adverse childhood experiences and rural community environments. Am J Public Health. 2018;108(9):1148-1152. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304598 .
• Schofield TJ, Lee RD, Merrick MT. Safe, stable, nurturing relationships as a moderator of intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment: a meta-analysis. J Adolesc Health. 2013;53(4 Suppl):S32-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.05.004 .

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

ACEs can have a tremendous impact on lifelong health and opportunity. CDC works to understand ACEs and prevent them.

Social media health 'cures' are not what the doctor ordered

Many people are flocking to social media for healthcare guidance from online quacks and laypersons, research shows. a recent university of chicago study on tiktok videos regarding sinus infections is a case in point..

University of Chicago researchers found that nearly 60% of certain TikTok videos they analyzed on sinus infection contained inaccurate or misleading information. That compares to nonfactual information in 15% of videos from medical professionals.

Michael Dwyer/AP

Medicine is an imperfect science and doctors, being human, can make mistakes. But that doesn’t mean a physicians’ advice and expertise can be replaced with the musings of a social media influencer with the latest iPhone and selfie light.

Health misinformation proliferated during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to deadly consequences for some Americans who flouted scientists by opting to go maskless and not get vaccinated.

Chucking the doctor’s orders appears to be an infectious disease in itself, as more people are flocking to social media to seek guidance for ailments from online quacks and laypeople.

Case in point: TikTok videos on sinusitis, or sinus infections, created by nonmedical influencers, or those who didn’t identify themselves as medical professionals were more popular than clips posted by health experts, a recent study by two University of Chicago researched found.

Not all the content generated by medical professionals that was analyzed in a 24-hour period was perfect. Fifteen percent of their videos had nonfactual components. But nearly 60% of the more visible recordings made by people who never went to medical school contained inaccurate or misleading information, as Sun-Times reporter Mary Norkol noted.

• Garlic in your nostrils? Potatoes in your socks? Health misinformation is rampant on TikTok, Chicago researchers find

Tips like shoving garlic in a nostril to combat sinus problems and placing potatoes in a pair of socks overnight to “draw out toxins” may just elicit laughs from most viewers. And maybe the risks to people who attempt these hacks are mostly going to be smelling like they’re trying to ward off a vampire,having a bulbous plant stuck in their nose, or starchy feet. But straying away from expert medical assistance can be a slippery slope and cause serious harm if science-deniers are dealing with a serious or potentially life-threatening disease.

The statistics on the reliance on social media for health care are nothing to sneeze at.

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans trust health influencers more than medical professionals and nearly 1 in 5 Americans flock to TikTok before their doctors when seeking treatment for a health condition, a 2022 survey commissioned by discount pharmacy service CharityRx revealed.

It is OK to glance at the internet for some answers when you’re under the weather, as there is evidence-based information online. But in most cases, “there’s no substitute for seeing the doctor,” said Dr. Christopher Roxbury, one of the researchers who conducted the University of Chicago TikTok study.

Still skeptical over what the doctor suggests? There’s always a second opinion, or third, from other medical experts.

It’s not rocket science: There’s an easy cure for health misinformation, if we use common sense.

The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines .