2015/03/30 by Scott Woodward Hazard Young, Scott W. H. Young, Doralyn Rossmann
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Web and Library Services
paper · pdf · doi:10.6017/ital.v34i1.5625
openalex publication_date 2015/03/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02
In this article academic librarians present and analyze a model for community building through social media. Findings demonstrate the importance of strategy and interactivity via social media for generating new connections with library users. Details of this research include successful guidelines for building community and developing engagement online with social media. By applying intentional social media practices, the researchers’ Twitter user community grew 100 percent in one year, with a corresponding 275 percent increase in user interactions. Using a community analysis approach, this research demonstrates that the principles of personality and interactivity can lead to community formation for targeted user groups. Discussion includes the strategies and research approaches that were employed to build, study, and understand user community, including user type analysis and action-object mapping. From this research a picture of the library as a member of an active academic community comes into focus.