SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS FOR SPACE EVENTS: THEORY AND PRACTICE

摘要

This paper describes a methodology on how to design and implement a successful social media campaign to greatly increase reach and impact of space events. These events can be conferences, launches, mission milestones or other occasions where an event is organized, both physically and virtually. The rest part of the paper describes the three phases of a social media campaign: pre-event, event and post-event. These phases all have different objectives, using different messaging to different audiences. The second half of the paper consists of several case studies where this method was or was not followed. It describes the quantitative and qualitative success of these social media campaigns. Depending on participation in the paper these case studies will include World Space Week 2013, the Wake Up Rosetta campaign and the "What NASA might tweet" community campaign during the NASA shutdown of 2013. Objective of the paper is to demonstrate the use of a structured social media campaign as a multiplier of the impact of space events. The case descriptions add the practical evidence and quantitative support for the method described.