A content analysis of social media engagement in communication efforts for major livestock shows

Practitioners and organizations will go where the consumers go when considering message strategy and media planning, and in this case, it is social media (Ashley & Tuten, 2014). Social media are ever-evolving technologies that can be incorporated into communication practices. For agricultural communications to continue to have a successful reach, have open doors and endless opportunities, the use of social media must be ensued (Graybill, 2010). Previous studies have explored social media use in agriculture, but none have looked at the social media communication efforts of junior market livestock show and rodeos. With the Uses & Gratifications Theory, this study identified different characteristics of user-created and organization-created posts during the Denver National Western Stock Show and Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. Through a content analysis of 4,698 Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts over two weeks, this study examined how these different post characteristics influenced engagement levels and have the most interest. The study found how Instagram is the most engaging platform and the Junior Market Livestock Show is the most engaging content topic area for organization-created content. The results of this study will benefit future agricultural communications within the major livestock show and rodeo industry.