Social Media Audit and Conversation Analysis Project
Sounds pretty convoluted, huh? Words like “audit” and “analysis” tend to conjure images of data tables and conference rooms – at least for me. This was the title of the group project that my J452 professor assigned in the second week of fall term. I admit that at first I wanted nothing to do with it. I imagined having to make calculations and crunch numbers – the very activities I was hoping to leave behind when I first entered the J-School. “I won’t gain anything from this,” I thought, “It’s just more busy work.” I was wrong. Looking back I can honestly say that completing the project was a challenging yet rewarding experience. The best part: it was all about beer.
My three fellow group mates and I were tasked with auditing and analyzing the social media presence of a local business, and we decided on the Eugene brewery “Agrarian Ales.” We compiled data such as Facebook “likes” and Twitter “favorites” and also compared the brewery’s social media channels to those of two of its main competitors: Laurelwood and Hopworks Urban Brewery. We concluded our project with a presentation in front of the class where we explained our findings and recommended specific steps that Agrarian could take to improve its social media use and, by extension, business. Working on this project helped me improve both my critical thinking and presentation giving skills. I feel equipped to undertake a similar project in the future if my career calls for it. I enjoyed working with my group and think that this project is a valuable exercise for any journalism major.