Start Simple: Content Dynamics Shaping Social Media Engagement

Social media allows for rapid communication between an organization and individuals. The fast-moving nature of social media encourages the creation and publication of multiple social media posts. Prior research has examined social media engagement primarily through the lens of a single post. This study examines the longitudinal effects of repetition within specific topics. A pilot study is conducted for a 5-year window from 5 NASDAQ 100 companies to examine how repetition within a specific topic and post complexity affect engagement. Initial findings suggest that repetition within a topic may have a u-shaped relationship with engagement while post complexity has an inverted u-shaped relationship. Also, post complexity moderates the relationship between repetition and engagement. These findings provide a foundation for a full study to examine the dynamics of repetition and complexity on social media.