Haylee Walker & Jake Fagenson SCOM 450: Advanced Studies in Org. Comm.

Social Media and University Recreation Center Promotion

Introduction
Humans are social beings. We naturally seek to form bonds and connections with
others. That use to mean going outside and knocking on a friends door but nowadays a
message on Facebook often takes place of face-to-face interactions. We live in a society
where social networking has a strong presence in everything we do. Organizations need
to adapt the way they approach online social interactions. The University Recreation
Center at James Madison University, also known as UREC, plays a very important role
on the college campus. According to the University Recreation Center website, UREC is
more than a place to sweat. It is a place to learn about healthy lifestyles and develop
positive habits that students can take with them when they leave JMU (UREC). Its
important to understand college students use of social media, their motivations behind
exercise and what strategies of branding need to be used in order to create a handbook
dictating what should and should not be posted on URECs social media sites.
Young Adults and their use of Social Media
In our society, young adults are constantly using social media. With widening
social networking opportunities, its necessary for health centers such as UREC to use
multiple social networking sites in order to reach as much of the student body as possible.
According to Lenhart, 73% of wired American teens now use social networking
websites, a significant increase from previous surveys. Just over half of online teens
(55%) used social networking sites in November 2006 and 65% did so in February 2008
(p. 2). Teens are now going online for health information and University Health Centers

Haylee Walker & Jake Fagenson SCOM 450: Advanced Studies in Org. Comm.

such as UREC must meet that trend. According to Frimming in her article Evaluation of
a Health and Fitness Social Media Experience, an approach to assisting the health and
fitness awareness of college students could be in helping them to establish healthy habits
early (p. 223).
Facebook is currently the most commonly used online social network among
young adults. 73% have a profile on Facebook, 48% have a profile on MySpace and 14%
have LinkedIn (Lenhart, p. 3). Its no surprise that utilizing Facebook is important in
health promotion, but Facebook isnt the only option. According to Social Media and
Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults (2010) noted that, Young adults
lead the way when it comes to using Twitter or status updating. One third of online 18-29
year olds post or read status updates.
Exercise Influences
There are quite a few intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors that determine
physical activity. According to Egli in his article Influence of Age, Sex, and Race on
College Students Exercise Motivation of Physical Activity, intrinsic motivations predict
psychological well-being in relation to exercise level: college students who were
physically active for less than 6 months showed more extrinsic motivations, which were
significantly related to poorer psychological well-being. Additionally, college students
physically active for more than 6 months were more intrinsically motivated and had
significantly higher positive psychological well-being (p. 404). In general, college
students want to lead healthy lifestyles. They just need motivation to pursue it. According
to the same article, 31% of online teens get health, dieting, or physical fitness information
from the Internet (p. 4). Young adults are now going online for health information.

Haylee Walker & Jake Fagenson SCOM 450: Advanced Studies in Org. Comm.

Its important for a University to focus on its students physical well-being in

order to maintain their psychological well-being. By promoting events through social
media sites, UREC can help ensure that JMU students are performing at their peak not
only physically but psychologically as well. An improvement in URECs social media
practices will make it easier for students to get hold of the information they need to
succeed.
Environmental Factors. Different environmental factors affect a young adults
willingness to participate in physical activity. According to Humpel, these factors include
accessibility of facilities, opportunities for activity, weather, safety, and aesthetics. In her
study, she found that accessibility, opportunities, and aesthetic attributes had significant
associations with physical activity (p. 1). Students want a recreation center that looks
good, offers classes that they cant find anywhere else, and is easily accessible.
According to Carl Hanson in his article Use and Acceptance of Social Media among
Health Educators, stated that health educators can use social media tools to mobilize
communities around an issue, correct misinformation that is circulating through social
media outlets, direct the public to information that they can easily access and develop
relationships with their audiences, making them true partners in promoting health and
behavior change (p. 198). UREC can use social media sites to show off its plans for the
future of the facility, let students know about all the classes offered, and remind students
of URECs hours of operation and any cancellations that may occur due to weather or
construction.
Connectedness. Students are more likely to participate in places and with people
they feel connected to. According to a series of conclusions made by Miller in his article

Haylee Walker & Jake Fagenson SCOM 450: Advanced Studies in Org. Comm.

The Impact of a University Recreation Center on Social Belonging and Student Retention,
despite different names and orientations, a common theme among the research is that
humans form emotional connections to places in their lives, whether the focus is their
community or in their own home. Some individuals develop a sense of belonging,
identity and dependence toward places that become the only place for recreational
pursuits. As individuals become more attached, they begin to have a greater importance
in continuing their involvement (p. 118-119). We naturally feel a need to belong. Social
networking sites help guide that sense of group belonging. According to their study
College Students Motivations for Facebook Use and Psychological Outcomes, Park and
Lee note that communicating campus-related news and information via Facebook may be
valuable to students by increasing their belongingness. Further considering that
entertainment was a also motivation for students Facebook use. Incorporating
entertainment components in these programs may enhance the effectiveness of Facebook
use in the college setting (p. 617). UREC can increase student awareness and
involvement by advertising events and promoting different health issues through social
media outlets.
Promoting Health Issues
In addition to increasing students awareness of upcoming events that UREC will
be promoting, there are also many diseases and health issues that are important to college
students today. According to the federal website, healthfinder.gov managed by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (2015) almost every month of the year the
United States nationally recognizes a disease or relevant issue in order to promote
awareness among citizens. During these months opens the opportunity for UREC to share

Haylee Walker & Jake Fagenson SCOM 450: Advanced Studies in Org. Comm.

information about the issues and diseases and promote awareness of these rising issues
among college students. A few of these diseases or issues include: teen dating violence
awareness month, alcohol awareness month, national physical fitness and sports
month/skin cancer detection and prevention month, fruits and veggies month, breast
cancer awareness month and diabetes month.
As previously stated, these issues are very important and pertinent to college
students today. For example, college student dating violence rates have been reported to
be between 20-45% (Iconis R., 2013, p. 111); 65% of college students consume alcohol
and a large number of those who do drink, binge drink (White A. & Hingson R., 2014, p.
202); and 30-60% of college students participate in indoor tanning that can lead to skin
cancer (Heckman, C., Cohen-Fiiipic, J., Darlow, S., Kloss, J., Manne, S., & Munshi, T.,
2014, p. 168). These monthly themes are appropriate topics for collegiate ages that
UREC has the ability to reach via social media networks, hold events in support of the
national monthly issues or collaborate with other campus organizations that promote
awareness directly for the causes to build brand awareness and positive brand image.
Social Media Branding
Effectively advertising these campus-wide events in order to create opportunities
for students to connect with one another and socialize requires UREC to have a strong
brand awareness and image. According to Severi & Ling (2013) brand awareness is
created by ongoing visibility, enhancing familiarity and powerful associations with
related experiences (p. 126). Brand awareness is directly related to brand image. Brand
image is a consumers thoughts and feelings about a brand (p. 127). If there is no
awareness of the brand, there is no brand image. It is very important for UREC to have a

Haylee Walker & Jake Fagenson SCOM 450: Advanced Studies in Org. Comm.

positive brand image with students so they are willing to participate in and share high
quality experiences after attending UREC sponsored events. The brand image will also
play an important role when students share valuable knowledge about health issues via
social media sharing. According to Yans Social Media in Branding article (2011), brands
need to communicate and its been found that firms doing so online are successful (p.
689). Yan also lists nine important goals that any organization participating in social
media branding should aim for (p. 691-692):
1. [Students are able to] build a
sense of membership or

a competitive advantage [over

local recreation centers],
5. Inform the vision behind the

citizenship with the

organization.
2. Encourage the acceptance and

brand and build differentiation,

6. Act as a check on whether the
brand is being properly

communication of brand
values.
3. Encourage the [students] to

communicated and understood.

7. The consequences are to: build

engage in dialogue and

positive brand associations,

8. Build the perceived quality of

promote the brand.

4. The dialogue can: help the

the brand,
9. Build greater awareness of the

organization find and maintain

brand to [students] that it has

not yet reached.

Yan also believes that personalities shown through social networks can be useful for
smaller organizations (p. 692), such as UREC. A unique voice can differentiate an organization,
fulfill a sense of belonging among followers and has the potential to increase identification with
an audience or in this case, the students at JMU. Though, personalities can show through tweets
and Facebook posts, creating a University Recreation Center Social Media Conduct Handbook
would be of assistance to employees in maintaining the sense of a solitary voice across the
different social networks.
Creating a University Recreation Center Social Media Conduct Handbook
A Social Media Conduct Handbook is an important tool that holds employees
accountable. When creating a Recreation Center Conduct Handbook its important to keep a
consistent voice. According to the U.S. Army Social Media Handbook, when establishing and
maintaining social media presences, its important to consider and do the following: developing a
strategy, providing up-to-date contact information, including a terms of use statement, enforcing
posting policy and monitor comments, engaging the audience, listening to the audience, mixing it
up, and measuring results based on statistical analysis (Social Media Handbook).
When developing a strategy for social media sites is to place your organizations
messages in the social media space. The organization should develop a strategy that mixes
messages with items the audience, or students, find interesting. Language should be
conversational, fun and engaging (Social Media Handbook).
Be specific and avoid broad-based employee gag like
policies. Handbook/social media policy provisions should
be narrowly tailored with language that addresses that

companys specific, valid and legitimate concerns

(Jacobson).
Guidelines. There are important procedures to follow in order to ensure professionalism
when posting on social media sites on behalf of UREC.
1. Employees should get appropriate permission before you
refer to or post images of current or former employees,
members, vendors or suppliers. Additionally, employees
should get appropriate permission to use a third party's
copyrights, copyrighted material, trademarks, service marks
or other intellectual property. (Sample Social Media
Policy)]
2. Employees need to know and adhere to the [Companys
Code of Conduct, Employee Handbook, and other company
policies] when using social media in reference to
[Company]. (Sample Social Media Policy)
3. Employees should be aware of the effect their actions may
have on their images, as well as [Companys] image. The
information that employees post or publish may be public
information for a long time. (Sample Social Media Policy)
4. Employees should be aware that [Company] may observe
content and information made available by employees
through social media. Employees should use their best
judgment in posting material that is neither inappropriate

nor harmful to [Company], its employees, or customers.

(Sample Social Media Policy)
5. Although not an exclusive list, some specific examples of
prohibited

social

media

conduct

include

posting

commentary, content, or images that are defamatory,

pornographic, proprietary, harassing, libelous, or that can
create a hostile work environment. (Sample Social Media
Policy)
6. If employees encounter a situation while using social
media that threatens to become antagonistic, employees
should disengage from the dialogue in a polite manner and
seek the advice of a supervisor. (Sample Social Media
Policy)
7. If employees publish content after-hours that involves work
or subjects associated with [Company], a disclaimer should
be used, such as this: The postings on this site are my own
and may not represent [Companys] positions, strategies or
opinions. (Sample Social Media Policy)
Conclusion
By increasing student involvement through social media promotion, UREC can truly
follow through with its motto, Motivating Madison into Motion (UREC). According to
Frimming, Polsgrove, and Bower (2011) the use of technology has increasing educational
opportunities (p. 222). Their studys results showed that students believed their health and fitness

routine would benefit from long-term access to a health and fitness media site (p. 226). UREC
has the ability to influence students motivation to become or stay physically fit and strive for
healthier eating habits. In a digital age of increasing access to information, communication
through social media networks has been proved to be effective for active lifestyles.
Students want to live healthy lifestyles. Students want to feel the connectedness and a
sense of belonging that can be found at the UREC facility. The previous study indicated that
ideally these social media sites could also be used to enhance health and fitness knowledge to
other areas or in URECs specific case, after graduation from JMU. UREC strives to encourage
students to develop positive habits that they can take with them when they leave JMU. Through
the process of developing an interactive social media site that provides information of events and
possibly national health issues, URECs mission is to develop a single voice for their sites.
Though it is proven that personalities shown through social media is effective in giving the
organization a sense of identification and differentiation, there must be guidelines for the
employees behind the posts. Through the use of a well-designed handbook for their social media
that includes guidelines and considerations for promoting monthly national issues UREC can
develop an effective use for their social media positive brand image.

References

About UREC, Mission & FAQs. Retrieved from

https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/about/index.shtml.

Egli, T., Bland, H. W., Melton, B. F., & Czech, D. R. (2011). Influence of age, sex, and race on
college students' exercise motivation of physical activity. Journal Of American College
Health, 59(5), 399-406.

Frimming, R., Polsgrove, M., & Bower, G. (2011). Evaluation of a health and fitness social
media experience. Retrieved from https://illiad.lib.jmu.edu/illiad/pdf/534879.pdf.

Hanson, C., West, J., Thackeray, R., Barnes, M., & McIntyre, E. (2011). Use and acceptance of
social media among health educators. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ936502.pdf.

Heckman, C., Cohen-Filipic, J., Darlow, S., Kloss, J., Manne, S., & Munshi, T. (2014).
Psychiatric and addictive symptoms of young adult female indoor tanners. American
Journal of Health Promotion. 28(3). 168-174.

Humpel, N. (2002). Environmental factors associated with adults participation in physical

activity: A review. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379701004263.

Iconis, R. (2013). Dating violence among college students. Contemporary Issues In Education
Research, 6, 111-114. Retrieved from
http://www.cluteinstitute.com/ojs/index.php/CIER/article/viewFile/7609/7675.

Jacobson, J. (2012). How to update your employee handbook to include social media. Retrieved
from http://i-sight.com/employee-relations/how-to-update-your-employee-handbook-toinclude-social-media/.

Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., & Zickuhr, K. (2010). Social media & mobile Internet use
among teens and young adults. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED525056.pdf.

Miller, J. J. (2011). Impact of a university recreation center on social belonging and student
retention. Recreational Sports Journal, 35(2), 117-129.

Park, N., & Lee, S. (2014). College students' motivations for Facebook use and psychological
outcomes. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 58(4), 601-620.
doi:10.1080/08838151.2014.966355

Sample Social Media Policy. Retrieved from

http://www.acfe.com/uploadedFiles/ACFE_Website/Content/documents/sampledocuments/sample-social-media-policy.pdf.

Severi, E. & Ling, K. (2013). The mediating effects of brand association, brand loyalty, brand
image and perceived quality on brand equity. Asian Social Science, 9(3), 125-137.
Retrieved from http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/view/25284/15724.

Social Media Handbook 2013. (2013). Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/USArmySocialMedia/social-media-handbook-2013.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National health observances. (2015). Retrieved
from http://healthfinder.gov/nho/.

White, A., & Hingson, R. (2014). The burden of alcohol use: Excessive alcohol consumption and
related consequences among college students. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 35(2),
201-218. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3908712/pdf/arcr-35-2-201.pdf.

Yan, J. (2011). Social media in branding: Fulfilling a need. Journal of Brand Management, 18.
688-696. doi: 10.1057/bm.2011.19