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Description
The U.S. Coast Guard public affairs organization uses social media to report on the service’s unique identity as both a military branch and federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The effectiveness of social media on influencing knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of online publics is understudied in mass communication and media scholarship, and data can inform future strategic communication. This study aims to address this gap. This study uses a multi-method approach combining textual analysis and a survey to evaluate public perceptions regarding the Coast Guard’s organizational identity and legitimacy. Using Framing Theory, this study explores the frames the Coast Guard applied to communicate its identity and purpose on Twitter and survey respondents’ knowledge or perceptions of the service. The results showed that there were three main themes in Coast Guard tweets: recruiting, information about the service, and recognition of recent or historical achievements. Within these themes, three specific frames evolved: the Coast Guard supports shared interests, the Coast Guard is effective, and the Coast Guard is an important part of the broader homeland security and national defense system. Among the 328 respondents surveyed, 32.8% had no knowledge of the Coast Guard’s identity as a military branch and 42.3% had no knowledge of its identity as a law enforcement agency. Twitter messaging of the Coast Guard’s effectiveness, importance, and dual homeland security and national defense functions showed to have some resonance with respondents after they were exposed to an intervention consisting of six Coast Guard tweets. These findings can inform future strategic communication and public relations research measuring the effectiveness of social media.
