1. Proposal for the Use of Social Media to
Educate for Read Aloud Chattanooga
By
Nickele Stone
Summer 2014
Introduction
Dr. Vollaro’s Technical Writing and Communications class is a hands-on process of learning technical
writing. The class has been split into the following tracks: Project Manager, Web Content Developers,
Editors, Graphic Designers, Video, and Web Developer. This is a semester long project that the class,as a
team, will be working with Mr. Bill Thurman, the founder of Read Aloud Chattanooga who has agreed to
be the client of Dr. Vollaro’s Summer 2014 class. The purpose of our Technical Writing Team is to help
the organization reach its goals to increase the frequency of reading aloud to young children, expose the
myth that schools can achieve this on their own, to educate people on the benefits of reading aloud to
children, and to provide the tools for reading aloud to ordinary citizens (Thurman). The problem is that
there are thousands of children that don’t have excess to the education they deserve. Reading aloud to
children can help them in the long run. For instance, from reading aloud children learn public speaking
skills, presentation skills, and have a higher comfort level using those skills in front of large groups of
people.
In order to help Read Aloud Chattanooga reach their goals, I propose that the organization take into
consideration the use of social media websites to be able to reach a broader audience in our digital and tech
savvy society. This requires the Technical Writing class to do research on various social media sites that
can best reach their primary audience, parents, and display content that best represents the client. This
proposal will explore a few social media platforms where the organization, Read Aloud Chattanooga, can

2. possibly manage their content and connect to a broad audience in order to educate for the purpose of giving
young children a brighter future.
ProposedProgram
In this section, I will first explain why social media is important for businessesand organizations to have,
especially in this era. Then I will explain why the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
are the best sites to connect with people in order to educate them. I have gathered my data from expert
sources on social media (Entreprenuer.com, and Mashable.com).
Social media gives everyone the ability to connect with massive amounts of people and organizations all
over the world. It is up to us to go out and make those connections. By taking advantage of sites such as
Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, Read Aloud Chattanooga can reach more people. More than one social
platform is required if social media is to be used successfully. Two or more platforms are better than one
for the following reasons:
• Depending on one platform will leave organizations atthe mercy of the changing policies and tools
of the platform.
• More platforms mean reaching an audience who only use one or prefer to use one platform
• More than one site to tell the organizations story
Figure 1: Pins by Method
Picturecredit: Mashable.com
Pinterest
Pinterest is a tool for visual experiences. The site
allows users to create and share ideas into collections of
visual bookmarks called pins. Think of it asa cork board
that you can pin important or interesting things to.
Anything online such as a photo, or a video related to
the organization and what it stands for, can be pinned to
the board. This site can be used to achieve any goal; the
content can be labeled, and organized into categories.
Through Pinterest, viewers can get an inside look at
an organization. People have a high response to visuals.
Pinterest is perfect for displaying photos as well as
videos. Pinterest would be able to display infographs of
how children who are read aloud to benefit more than
children who are not. Pinterest would be able to show
how-to videos of the best way to read aloud to children.
It would also be able to
display a recipe for how to make a rain-gutter bookshelf.

3. A tool that Pinterest has is the re-pin tool that allows users to pin material on their board that they have
found on another person’s board. This person, for instance, could be an advocate for reading aloud and had
a photo re-pinned of a child reading. Read Aloud Chattanooga could share with their audience, such as
schools or daycares,a photo of the best way to set up a rain-gutter bookshelf so that young children would
be interested in reading. Pinterest is a way to associate positivity with a brand through visuals. If someone
were to re-pin a photo from Read Aloud Chattanooga’s board, that photo could be the beginning of a viral
movement across the web reaching millions of people. More than 75% of Pinterest users re-pin (Figure 1)
what they have seen on other user’s board (Mashable infographic).
Pinterest’s demographic audience is mostly women ranging from the ages 18-34 reaching the age range
(Figure 2) of women with children. Based off of an infograph from Mashable, 50% of their users have
children (Figure 3). Making the Pinterest page mobile or tablet friendly is important because Pinterest has
high referralrates (Entrepreneur).
Figure 2: Pinterest Age Demographics
Picturecredit: Mashable.com
Figure 3: Pinterest Age Demographics
Picturecredit: Mashable.com

4. Facebook
Facebook is a blogging space where users can post comments, pictures, and videos. Facebook reaches
people based on their interests, hobbies, and pages that they have “liked.” From this site users can also
provide links to their other social sites such as Pinterest or Twitter. Facebook also allows users who view a
Facebook page to leave comments. A Facebook page can provide users who visit the page a business to
community experience. With the comment tool, organizations can reply to comments and questions that the
viewers have. Facebook updates can be made through email or SMS (Text Message). Facebook actually
allows users to schedule updates to a page. This feature is very helpful in managing a page. Think of
Facebook as a way to advertise an organization. Show pictures of children enjoying the reading experience.
Post videos of the therapy program of young children reading to their therapy dog.
Here organizations can share anything with their viewers and they can in turn share with the organization.
Posting comments and sharing videos of how to read aloud and the benefits of reading aloud will educate
people. Encourage employees to add comments. Share pictures and bios of employees to the page to show
viewers that the organization is making a difference and that the organization can be trusted.
Advertising on Facebook is a good idea because it provides links to a page that can reach more people.
Facebook has a new feature where it allows important posts or messages to reach more people called
Boosted Post. Facebook simply extends the reach of a post within the normal news feed (Pring) based on
the budget the owner is willing to put towards their post (Figure 4). The owner can choose to expand the
audience they want to reach and pick a target location. Facebook will charge based on the number of clicks
the adreceivesbut the chargeswill not exceedthe chosen budget (Facebook). Boosted Postis another option
from having to pay Facebook for advertising on a monthly basis.
Figure 4: Facebook Boosted Post Budget based on People Reached

5. Picturecredit: Ignite.com
This Boosted Post method is best for getting more people to see posts and promoted events, offers, and
news. When getting started,another wayto create awareness on the importance of reading aloud is to create
an ad that encourages people to “like” a page. Getting “likes” means brand awareness which most
importantly means that the word is spreading about reading aloud. Owners of a page can view how many
people have seen a post they have posted as well as “liked” a page.
Figure 5: Facebook View of How Many People Viewed Post

6. The best time to post or update a Facebook page is on Fridays (Figure 6). According to the Social
Media Intelligence Report, user interaction is highest and 25% of all videos are played on Fridays.
Therefore, scheduling posts between Fridays and Saturdays will give an organization the most user
engagement than during any other time of the week.
Figure 6: Time Spent on Facebook throughout the Week
Picturecredit: Social IntelligenceReport
Picturecredit: Ignite.com

7. Twitter
Twitter is a fast-paced blogging site that allows up to 140 characters per blog post called tweets. It is an
online social network where people can read, comment, post tweets, and re-tweet. Twitter users have
followers which is the same thing as having online friends like on Facebook. Anyone can follow anybody,
there is no permission needed to follow another person. However, they don’t have to follow back and one
user can un-follow another. Users can find followers that they know by typing in their names or through
similar interests in the search engine or their Twitter account which will appear as
@johndoe (Figure 7). Just like any Figure 7: Example of a Tweet social platform, users can stay in PictureCredit:
Twitter touch with people they know,
connect with people they would like to
know, and “follow” people who share
in the same interests. The brief 140
characters allow users to express
themselves quick and easy, and keep
their main idea relevant. The character
limit was created for the purpose of
being able to update tweets via SMS
also called text message. Tweets do not
have to be words, they can be photos,
videos, and links. When a tweet is
posted, it automatically shows up publicly on the owners Twitter page. The tweets show up on in a stream
going down the page that viewers can follow called a timeline. Every Twitter owner has a profile page
which is simply an about page.The profile page allows ownersto write a short description and add a picture.
Here the owner can tell people what they can expect their tweets to be about.
Twitter can be set up as an open chat-room or a blog site. Twitter can be used to gather data about how
an audience feels about Read Aloud Chattanooga. The audience would have the space to make suggestions
to the organization. If given the space,the audience will share what they don’t like and what they want to
see more of. If tweets are good enough, they can become viral because having a Twitter is like having free
marketing. The hashtag sign (#) is a great asset for getting tweets to go viral. The purpose of the hashtag is
to mark keywords or topics that put posts into categories (Figure8). Hashtagged words can become very
popular and therefore viral. Clicking on a hashtagged word will show tweets with the same hashtag.
Organizations should create a list about things that they are allowed to tweetsuch as,achievements, changes
beneficial to clients, how-to videos, links to videos or articles, and photos of dogs that help children.
Figure 8: How a Hashtag is Used (#FF stands for Follow Fridays, a weekly trend that recommends people to follow)
Picture Credit: Twitter

8. Over half of Twitter users that are mothers connect with each other and log into Twitter on a daily basis
(Figure 9). 29% of Twitter users are age 15-34. The average amount of time spent on Twitter a month is
170 minutes. Billions of users have an active Twitter account which means that there are billions of people
to connect with. The best time to post new Twitter updates is on Mondays from 1P.M – 3 P.M (Mashable).
Figure 9: Percentage of Moms that Log into Twitter
Qualifications and Experience
In this section I will explain my qualifications and experience they have with social media.
I have done a project for Dr. Vollaro’s Intro to Writing Professions class in spring semester 2014. In this
class I was required to come up with a creative way to educate people about an aspect in professional
writing. I chose to do my project on social media. I created an animated video that gave information about
the use of social media and its importance to any organization. I exhibited the information by creating a
client that needed to promote his business, keep and gain customers. This project required to go in depth on
my research,not only knowing how these sites work, but give ideas on how the sites would work with the
business, when posts or updates should be made, and statistics. I also have experience from shadowing a
public relations professional at Georgia Gwinnett College through Dr. Vollaro’s Intro to Writing
Professions. Through this experience, I received insight on the importance of social media to businesses,
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9. which is telling the story of the organization. It is a key point that helps direct the use of social media. I am
an academically successfulstudent that is qualified to conduct research and execute the project.
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