Social Media Content Analysis

The process that is being reviewed in this assignment is the creation of a social media content analysis. In analyzing the content being published about GM on social media outlets we have to review in 8 parts.

In part 1 we have to identify all of the content that is on the web making mention of General Motors. By researching the mentions on Google Alerts, Social Mention, and Twazzup I was able to make a list of top items.

Part 2 requires reviewing the content to see the type of conversation that GM was mentioned it. The majority of the content on twitter and some on news/discussion forums were focused on the automotive bailout. Other news highlighted new technology being introduced, jobs creation, and updated models at the Paris auto show.

These items would be categorized into Distributing Media, Expressing criticism, Making a joke, or Offering an opinion.

Part 3 requires a determination of visibility of the brand within the message. For the majority of the posts that GM was mentioned the were either Exclusive or Dominant. This means that GM was the only company that was mentioned in the articles or the primary focus. The prominence of the mentions were also in the top 20 percent, or in the headline. A few articles included photos of GM products.

Part 4 has us look for any quoting in the articles. Of the ones that I reviewed, there was little quoting of GM employees. This would be difficult to determine otherwise since I am not familiar with any of the actual employees of GM.

Part 5 looks at the tone of the mentions. The mentions of GM in the Twitter articles that focused on the bailout looked negative or neutral. These mentions were using GM as an example to be critical of President Obama. The other mentions in news articles were positive.

Part 6 rates the messages that were conveyed. Most of the mentions didn't include any message.

Part 7 determines the positioning on key issues or battles. The news articles were focused alternative energy and job growth.

Part 8 tries to determine the authority of the author. This was quite difficult and most of the twitter posts were  of smaller individuals that didn't have many followers. The major news organizations that picked up on mentions had a high authority.

For GM, I believe that they may need to increase their social presence. The difficulty for GM is that very few of their products are actually marketed as part of the parent company, instead they are one of the sub-brands.