Dawn R. Gilpin

Organizational Image Construction in a Fragmented Online Media Environment

This article examines the role of different online and social media channels in constructing organizational image. Bimodal network analysis was used to examine 6 months of self-presentation by natural supermarket chain Whole Foods through its online press room, blog, and microblogging account. The channels converged on a core set of terms, and overlapped in others, but each channel also addressed divergent aspects of the organizations projected image. This study suggests that the structural and social characteristics of these channels give them varying roles in the image construction process, creating new challenges for the public relations function in coordinating image management among various new media.

Socially mediated authenticity

Purpose – Use of digital media channels is growing in public communication. Given the importance of public trust in government figures and agencies, combined with the risk and fear of misrepresentation inherent in online interaction, it is important to develop theoretical frameworks for investigating the ways in which authenticity is constructed in online public affairs communication. The purpose of this paper is to produce a preliminary model of authenticity in online communication, with particular emphasis on public institutions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper first develops a theoretical model of authenticity from existing literature in various disciplines. It then uses that model to explore a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the comments on the US State Department blog, DipNote, from its inception to the end of the Bush Administration.Findings – Despite limited interactions between DipNote authors and commenters, the types and quantity of responses to posts indicate a desire by...

Identity Brokerage and Nonprofit Community Building

Scholars have increasingly approached organizations as complex systems with indeterminate, shifting boundaries. Boundaries in many nonprofit organizations may be especially fluid, given the heterogeneity of stakeholders and highly multiplexed relational and value characteristics involved in constructing identity. The present study frames nonprofit organizations as complex organizations seeking to build communities of legitimacy. Within these communities they construct their identity through a combination of boundary setting, or perceptions of the organization and in what ways it is distinct from other organizations and communities, and relationship building, through both interpersonal contacts and socially mediated interaction. These dimensions combine to allow organizations to identify and bridge structural holes in the larger network in which they are embedded, through processes of identity brokerage. These mechanisms have significant implications for driving growth and engagement in nonprofit organizations. In support of this theoretical model, the article describes a mixed-methods research study involving a nascent arts organization in a large U.S. city.