Factors influencing the perceived efficacy of communicating agricultural messages through social media

The use of social media and specifically Twitter is a growing trend within agricultural communications. Social media allows individuals to publish content in real-time for little to no cost. This research examined the factors that lead to the perception of successful communication through Twitter. Two populations were studied, agricultural communicators who were members of 1 or more of 5 professional organizations, and members of the American Quarter Horse Association, an agriculturally-based organization that uses Twitter to communicate with members. Researchers collected data on use of Twitter, number of Tweets sent and received, number of followers and following relationships, age, time spent per day using Twitter, and use of auxiliary means to access information transmitted via Twitter. This auxiliary variable included the use of subject keywords, called hashtags, within messages, and the use of search engines to access tweets of interest. These seven variables were then regressed upon on perceived efficacy to send messages and perceived efficacy to receive messages to make two mathematical models to predict perceived efficacy of Twitter communications. The model for sending efficacy had an adjusted R2 of .215. The model for efficacy of Twitter in receiving messages had an adjusted R2 of .216. Variables that contributed the most to the models were the number of followers, number following, and the use of auxiliary means to access information. Researchers proposed a graphical model to represent communication within Twitter.