Investigating the Rationale for Social Media Use by Nashville Nonprofits

Abstract

The advent of social media gave nonprofit organizations the ability to communicate with their audiences in unprecedented ways. Nonprofits were quick to create their own accounts on social media and establish themselves on their chosen platforms. However, the rationale behind this decision is not as simple as initially considered. To understand the rationale, six in-depth interviews were conducted with Nashville-area nonprofit organizations. Then, through a qualitative inductive coding process, the transcripts were analyzed to fully uncover what the rationale behind social media use is. It was discovered that while social media plays an important role in the organizations, the implementation of social media does not align with how social media should be implemented according to foundational public relations theory.