Over the Hurdles: Barriers to Social Media Use in Extension Offices

Authors

• Elizabeth Newbury, Cornell UniversityFollow
• Lee Humphreys, Cornell UniversityFollow
• Lucas GuessFollow

Volume

52

Issue

5

Abstract

The research reported here explored the perceived barriers to social media use by Extension educators. Using a sequential mixed method approach, the research was composed of two parts. The qualitative study used interview data (n=27) from Wisconsin and New York Extension educators. The quantitative study gathered data from surveying Extension offices in New York State (n=42). We argue that key barriers to adoption of social media as an outreach platform include perceptions around time and control. Ultimately, we recommend that Extension educators receive focused, hands-on training to more efficiently and effectively use social media for education and outreach efforts.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Newbury, E., Humphreys, L., & Guess, L. (2014). Over the Hurdles: Barriers to Social Media Use in Extension Offices. Journal of Extension, 52(5), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.34068/joe.52.05.14