Category Archives: Research

New Center for Media + Health at VCU

Posted on March 17, 2013 by marcusmessner

My colleagues Dr. Yan Jin, Dr. Ernest Martin, Professor Scott Sherman and I have received a grant to start a new Center for Media + Health at VCU. The startup funding comes from the VCU Quest Innovation Fund and allows … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Public Relations, Research, Social Media, Teaching | Tagged Center for Media+Health, communication, Facebook, grant, Health, lab, Quest, Social Media, Twitter, VCU | Leave a comment

Social media engagement of nonprofit organizations

Posted on March 14, 2013 by marcusmessner

At the International Public Relations Research Conference last week in Miami, I presented results from two research studies that analyzed the social media engagement of nonprofit organizations: “140 characters for better health: An exploration of the Twitter engagement of leading … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, International, Public Relations, Research, Social Media | Tagged Engagement, ethics, Facebook, Guidelines, IPRRC, Miami, nonprofit, organization, Page Center, Policy, research, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube | Leave a comment

Twitter and business journalists

Posted on March 5, 2013 by marcusmessner

Vivian Medina-Messner presented our latest Twitter study at the AEJMC Midwinter Conference at the University of Oklahoma last weekend. The study “Tweet-Biz: How leading business journalists engage on Twitter” analyzed the Twitter engagement of business journalists in the United States.

Posted in Business, Journalism, Research, Social Media | Tagged AEJMC, Business, Conference, Engagement, Journalism, Journalists, Midwinter Conference, Oklahoma, Reporters, research, Twitter | Leave a comment

Emerging Scholar Grant from AEJMC

Posted on February 3, 2013 by marcusmessner

My research partner Marcia DiStaso and I were recently selected as recipients for this year’s AEJMC Emerging Scholar Grants. We submitted a research proposal “Turning to the Wiki-Doctor” to examine the frequency of use of Wikipedia as a health information … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Public Relations, Research, Social Media | Tagged AEJMC, credibility, doctors, Emerging Scholar Grant, Health, Internet, Internet users, Marcia DiStaso, research, Social Media, Wikipedia | Leave a comment

What’s the future of social media?

Posted on January 13, 2013 by marcusmessner

I was recently interviewed by VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences on the future of social media. Please view the video above for an excerpt from the interview.

Posted in Blogs, Journalism, Research, Social Media, Teaching | Tagged Blogs, College of Humanities and Sciences, Facebook, Future, Social Media, Twitter, VCU, YouTube | Leave a comment

Survey on nonprofits and social media

Posted on December 5, 2012 by marcusmessner

I am currently carrying out a national survey on the social media engagement as well as policies and guidelines of nonprofit organizations. If you are working for a nonprofit organization, please take a few minutes and complete my survey. Please … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Public Relations, Research, Social Media | Tagged Campaigns, Charity, Engagement, Facebook, Google, Guidelines, Non-profit, Policy, Social Media, Strategy, Tumblr, Twitter, use, VCU, YouTube | Leave a comment

Tweets from Wall Street

Posted on September 30, 2012 by marcusmessner

My latest study with Vivian Medina-Messner examines the Twitter adoption and use of leading business media, such as the Wall Street Journal, CNBC and the Economist. We analyzed the Twitter accounts of leading business news organizations, split up by newspapers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Journalism, Research | Tagged Bloomberg, Business, Businessweek, CNBC, Economist, Financial Times, Fortune, Fox Business, Magazines, New York Times, Newspaper, Social Media, TV, Twitter, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal | Leave a comment

Brain drain? German scientists in the U.S.

Posted on September 15, 2012 by marcusmessner

The German government and several scientific foundations are attempting to reverse the so called “brain drain” and convince German scientists in the U.S. to come back home. I was recently interviewed by Stefan Koch, Washington correspondent of Madsack Media Group, … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, International, Research, Social Media, Teaching | Tagged Brain drain, Funding, Germany, Global, Government, Social Media, Twitter, Universities, VCU | Leave a comment

Can Facebook turn out voters?

Posted on September 14, 2012 by marcusmessner

A new study indicates that Facebook conversations have the potential to turning people out to vote in an election. A message sent by researchers may have triggered thousands of votes in the election two years ago, the study found. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Public Relations, Research, Social Media | Tagged Audience, Bloomberg, Campaigns, Democracy, Election, Facebook, Obama, President, Romney, Social Media, Strategy, Technology, Twitter | Leave a comment

Wikipedia health information greatly based on academic articles

Posted on August 13, 2012 by marcusmessner

Our latest study on Wikipedia explored the referencing of nutritional articles on the online encyclopedia. A content analysis of the references of nine nutritional articles over a five-year period showed that they greatly rely on academic publications. The findings of … Continue reading →