Dialogic communication on social media: How organizations use Twitter to build dialogic relationships with their publics

Abstract

This study examined how both nonprofit and for-profit organizations use Twitter, a social media platform, to establish a dialogic relationship with their publics. Specifically, the study performed a content analysis of 6678 tweets, identifying the dialogic principles in organizations' Twitter pages and examining public engagement with these organizations. The study found that organizations, both nonprofit and for-profit, most closely followed the usefulness of information principle. Nonprofit organizations focused more on the principles of usefulness of information and the conservation of visitors, while for-profit organizations emphasized the dialogic loop principle. Organizations’ dialogic communication significantly influenced their public engagement, a conclusion that helps expand dialogic theory. The theoretical and practical implications of the study were also discussed.