Is Facebook an effective

promoter of e-waste?

Im a g e fro m B e n ste in
Im a g e fro m B d u n n e tte
 PRIMARY SOURCES!
• E-mail
• Contacted Jeffrey Harding, creator of
Recycle San Diego - E-waste Recycling
and enquired about the ‘effectiveness of
the page, the message you are wishing to
deliver, and the target audience you are
seeking to reach?’
• Reply – ‘I spent a total of $95.53 on the
advertising… [The] Facebook Page
reminded him of what we do and he
talked to someone about us to send us
business… I’d say that the page was
worth it… I’d say the impressions are free
and worth putting our name out there’
 More E-mail!
• Contacted Ronald Phillips, moderator
of the E-Waste Recycling Facebook
page asking the same questions as
previously stated
• Reply – ‘As far as Facebook goes it’s
more or less just for fun and to let
our friends know what’s going with
my business…’
Image by dampeebe
 Image by joeltelling
Useful? YES!
• Allowed me to have direct contact
with the moderators of the
Facebook page.
• Allowed me to gain an insight into
the varying levels of involvement of
different communities on e-waste
• Continued contact could develop into
an interview format

 Further uses...
• The actual Facebook pages of these sources
were also key primary sources
• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/
pages/San-Diego-CA/Recycle-San-Diego-E-waste-Recycling/307276112624?ref=ts
• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Arvada-CO/E-Waste-Recycling/277277493797

• Why?
• ‘Fans’ are a social determinant of
effectiveness. The larger the fan base, the
greater the span of audience being
reached!
• However...
• This doesn’t necessarily mean the
promotion of e-waste is effective
 But how can this data be
supported?
• Through quantitative • A quantitative and qu
statistics!
•
• i.e. Reports! (see opposite) q ‘Half of all current adult
- social networkers say that
they access their profiles
• This report signifies the at least every other day…
behavioural attitudes of most popular site for
adults is Facebook (62%
individuals in regards to of those who have a
social networking social networking
profile.’
• Identifies trends in social
networking which can be
correlated with the
potential of Facebook as
 More supportive primary
sources!
• The Pc Graveyard is another primary
source that can undertake an
interview format through wall-to-wall
viewing of posts.
• Determines effectiveness of promoting
e-waste through frequencies of posts
and quality of information within posts
– Graphs can be comprised as a visual
representation of quantitative data.
• Can be used to benefit content analyses
on e-watse!
But what
about
secondar
y
sources?
The following


advertisement for a
Facebook page can be
used as a secondary
source in examining the
effectiveness of
Facebook, once again
Im a g e co u rte sy o f
through ‘fans’ and E le ctro n ics Ta ke B a ck C o a litio n
comments on the Fa ce b o o k p a g e

picture. Can also be

used as supporting
evidence.
 Articles are also useful
secondary sources...
•
•
• Facebook’s profiting from your life
can be used as background
information to be included in a
literature review on the process of
advertising through Facebook
And lastly, what about
tertiary sources?
Reports can also be used as
a tertiary source!


• Teenagers’ perceptions of advertising in the

• Whilst not directly associated with e-
waste, this report denotes the
effectiveness of advertising online
through Facebook.
• Determines effectiveness of social
networking promotion using previous
academic findings
• Provides ground research for research
question!
Should you jump into social netwo
• Comments on this blog can be used
as a tertiary source to link with
previous findings on the success of
social networking.
• - i.e. Facebook as a promotional
device for e-waste.


 + =
AWARENESS?
Image by Igi’s TV Network
Image by bdunnette
HOWEVER...
Do these sources
support or disprove
Facebook as an
effective promoter of
e-waste?
 Put simply, no.

..
Im a g e b y o ld m a iso n
 WHY?
- HEAPS of information on e-waste and
Facebook as a promotion device
- However few sources available
determining its effectiveness in
regards to e-waste
- How to achieve optimal results?
- Independent research (surveys,
personal interviews) would be
essential for optimal results of this
research question!
 What can this information
bring to a group project?
• The above information can be further
researched and refined into a study
on the usage of Facebook and other
social networking outlets in
creating awareness of e-waste.
• How do e-waste companies use the
content on these sites to reach a
wider audience?
• AND does it work?