#AdvocatingForChange: The Strategic Use of Hashtags in Social Media Advocacy

Advances in Social Work, Vol. 16, Number 1, pp. 154-169

26 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2018

See all articles by Gregory D. Saxton

Gregory D. Saxton

Schulich School of Business, York University

Jerome Niyirora

SUNY Polytechnic

Chao Guo

Penn School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania

Richard Waters

University of San Francisco - School of Management

Date Written: July 31, 2015

Abstract

Social media continues to change how advocacy organizations mobilize, educate, and connect with their constituents. One of the most unique yet understudied tools available on social media platforms is the hashtag. Little research exists on how social work and advocacy organizations use hashtags, much less on how such use can be effective. This study examines the hashtag use by 105 constituent members of the National Health Council, a national US-based patient/health advocacy coalition. The study presents an inductive coding scheme of the types of hashtags employed, analyzes inter-sectoral differences in hashtag usage, and examines the relationship between hashtag use and measures of the effectiveness of social media messages.

Keywords: e-advocacy, hashtags, health, nonprofits, social media

JEL Classification: D72, L30, L31, L38, O33

Suggested Citation

Saxton, Gregory D. and Niyirora, Jerome and Guo, Chao and Waters, Richard, #AdvocatingForChange: The Strategic Use of Hashtags in Social Media Advocacy (July 31, 2015). Advances in Social Work, Vol. 16, Number 1, pp. 154-169, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3034801

Gregory D. Saxton (Contact Author)

Schulich School of Business, York University ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://social-metrics.org

Jerome Niyirora

SUNY Polytechnic ( email )

100 Seymour Road
Utica, NY NY 13502
United States

Chao Guo

Penn School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104-6214
United States

Richard Waters

University of San Francisco - School of Management ( email )

San Francisco, CA 94117
United States

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