The Use of the Twitter in Public Benefit Organisations in Poland: How Communicative Function of Tweets Translates Into Audience Reaction?

Abstract

AbstractScientific research into the use of social media in the activities of nonprofit organisations has focused mainly on the scale of their application and on the analysis of the static elements of the social media profile. The research presented in this article concerns the specific form of nonprofit organisation, namely public benefit organisations (PBOs). The aim of the article is, therefore, to identify the leading function of the content published on Twitter and to determine how this function translates into public engagement. During the research process, the content analysis method was used (a sample of 981 tweets was selected for this purpose). The results indicate that Twitter usage by Polish PBOs is of minor importance. Generally, with the exception of the largest organisations, the Twitter profile was primarily focused on delivering information only and, hence, was used in one-way communication.