Chichi Onwuegbu

Elizabeth Kim
Kayla Schorr
Garrett Hall

Proposal for the Ethnographic Research Project

First Draft
Introduction

The future is here. Culture ticks by the second and there is no such thing as offline. The ways in
which our world communicates in the digital age is evolving in revolutionary ways never seen
before. Businesses run entire marketing campaigns on Facebook, celebrities manage their
public relations affairs over Instagram, and our very own President of the United States
notoriously turns to Twitter as his primary method of announcing policy stances. Evidently,
social media has become an integral part of our everyday lives. The unstoppable integration of
social media usage throughout every industry has carved out a special space for social media
writing in the world of professional writing.

This ethnographic study explores the ways in which social media revolutionizes communications
in the professional world and challenges traditional methods of professional writing. The
research practiced throughout this study seeks to explore how professional social media writers
differ from traditional professional writers in their approach to writing.

Research Question(s)

This project aims to answer many questions; however, the main topic of speculation would ask
how social media writing is different from traditional writing. Social media is a paradigm very
new and specific to the millennial generation; much of the way we communicate on social media
reflects people’s personalities and temperaments. This project is significant because of the
prevalence of social media in today’s world. Statista has concluded that approximately 81% of
the U.S. population has an active account on at least one social media platform. With this in
mind, social media communication is constantly happening. To adapt to today’s digital culture,
we must understand the strategies of social media communication, and how these strategies aid
companies’ goals and objectives.

This topic is not only pertinent to today’s culture, but also important to study for the purposes of
intellectual and professional development. In just a short period of time, all members of this
group will be in the workforce, and probably working for a company with several social media
accounts. Even if some of us may not be entering the communications or marketing fields, it will
still be important for us to support our companies’ public relations endeavors through social
media.

Research Subject
The research subject we plan to study is Seton Brems, Marketing and Communications
Coordinator at Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic. Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic is a chapter of Make-A-
Wish, the largest wish granting organization in the world. Make-A-Wish’s mission is to grant the
wishes of children with critical illnesses. When a child is diagnosed with a critical illness, they
can be referred by a parent or medical professional to their local Make-A-Wish chapter. if the
organization deems that they are eligible for a wish, these children determine their one true
wish. They think about what kind of experience could help them get through the hardships that
have come along with their recovery processes, and with enough funding, donations, and
proper documentation, these wishes can be granted.

Essentially, Make-A-Wish is a non-profit, which means that over 75% of their funding goes
toward granting wishes. The only revenue the organization brings in is in the form of donations.
For these donations to come in, someone needs to promote the organization, raise awareness
for the types of illnesses that warrant a wish, and truly showcase the inspiring work that the
organization performs every day. These types of roles fall to Seton.

As Marketing and Communications Coordinator at Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic, Seton is

responsible for managing the organization’s publicity, website, content, and social media. She
strives to ensure that all content drafted by Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic coincides with their
national branding principles and company voice. One of her main tasks is managing the
chapter’s social media accounts. Seton consistently posts content that promotes the company’s
achievements, showcases current wishes, and advertises for donor events.

Because social media writing is a much different form of writing than typical essay writing or
related professional writing tasks, it will be helpful to speak to Seton about the specific
differences across writing platforms.

Data Collection

Our primary sources of data outside of the interviews being conducted will consist of posts on
mainstream social media sites from our interviewees, as well as from other companies. We will
look at the content being posted, language they use, average length of posts and frequency of
posts. Along with the posts themselves, we will collect information about the engagement of the
posts from other people. The reactions of people following these companies’ social media
accounts is an important aspect of technical writing in the social media field because the
purpose of it is to not only share information, but to evoke emotion.

We will be conducting a semi-structured interview that will consist of open-ended questions,

geared toward learning about our informant’s expertise and knowledge in the field of social
media writing. We already have some knowledge of social media writing in general, so these
questions will help to clarify and progress our current knowledge. Also, it will give us a first-
person look at what it is like to write for a company’s social media.

Data Analysis
 Our goal is to explore the elements revolving around writing for social media and the traditional
essay writing. To do this from the data collected in the interview we will organize the information
we collect into two different categories. One category will carry information regarding elements
of writing for social media. The second category will carry information regarding elements of
writing in a traditional essay-like context. Categorizing these will help us explore the distinctions
between these two writing fields. We will also use the data collected from the interview to see if
there are any similarities amongst these two writing fields.

Schedule of Work

Deadline Task Assigned Status

To

3/12/18 Meet to work on Proposal for Ethnographic Whole

Research Project (Final Draft) Group

3/13/18 Contact Seton Brems - Kayla Completed

Marketing/Communications Coordinator at
Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic. Request and
schedule an interview

3/30/18 Interview Seton Brems Kayla

4/2/18 Write up summary and analysis of the Kayla

interview with Seton Brems

3/13/18 Collect social media samples Garrett

3/30/18 Complete ethnographic coding notes of Garrett

social media samples

4/2/18 Synthesize analysis of media samples Garrett

3/13/18 Collect at least five academic texts on social Bethy

media theory, strategy, and supporting
research

3/30/18 Complete annotations of the five texts Bethy

4/8/18 Synthesize analysis of the five texts Bethy

3/13/18 Collect social media engagement data Chi Chi

samples

3/30/18 Synthesize analysis of social media Chi Chi

engagement data samples
4/1/18 Compose progress report Whole
Group

4/5/18 Complete personal drafting Whole

Group

4/11/18 Design project website Kayla

4/11/18 Assist in design of project website Garrett &

Bethy

4/20/18 Submit all materials to project website Whole

Group

4/25/18 Complete reflective annotations for project Whole group

website