This was presented to a group of county commissioners and county judges to provide them the pros and cons of social media. The goal was to show them the benefits of using it to reach customers in the county, especially by state extension agents.

1. The SWOT of #SocialMedia
Amy Grace Wells, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications
amy.wells@tamu.edu
December 2011

2. Social Media in 2011
• 50% of the world’s population is
under 30. These people are
growing up with technology and
integrating it into their lives daily.
• Smartphone owners are twice
more active on social media as
non-smartphone owners.
• 90% of consumers trust peer
recommendations. Only 14% trust
advertisements.
Sources:
Social Media Revolution:
http://youtu.be/x0EnhXn5boM
The World of Social Media:
http://youtu.be/H61WvxOm1AM

3. Facebook
• Facebook has surpassed Google for weekly traffic in
the U.S.
• If Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest.
• 50% of users log onto Facebook daily.
• The average user has 130 friends.

4. Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr
 The average Twitter user has 115 followers.
 A new member joins LinkedIn every second.
 YouTube is the second largest search engine in
the world.
 More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days
than the 3 major U.S. networks created in 60 years.
 3500 photos are uploaded each second on Flickr.

5. What does this mean for your
organization?
Image source:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Swot_analysis

6. Strengths
 Provides venue to communicate directly with
stakeholders
 Allows for easy distribution of information and
news
 Provides for brand building

8. Weaknesses
 Confidentiality issues
(FERPA, HIPPA, legal, proprietary)
 Staff turnover and ongoing training
 Facebook pages admins linked to personal
accounts
 Maintenance and technology upgrades
 Constantly emerging new media outlets

10. Opportunities
 Provides a listening venue
 Positioning as experts (#agchat)
 Crisis Communications
 Expand your network/sharing expertise with other
counties and states
 Reach people where they are (farmers and
ranchers in the field)

14. Threats
 Spammers
 Rant-ers
 Abuse by employees (rare)

15. Recommendations
 Don’t be afraid of Social Media because of the
cons or seemingly lack of control. The positives of
its use outweigh any negatives.
 Utilize web resources for training and
maintenance.
 Create an editorial calendar.
 Trust employees. Set expectations and then let
them self monitor.

16. Questions?
Amy Wells, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications
amy.wells@tamu.edu