A user approach to dialogic theory in a Facebook campaign on love and marriage

Abstract

Private matters of the heart are the focus of “Beautifully Imperfect,” a Singapore government-led public communication campaign on love and marriage, part of larger pro-family efforts to reverse low marriage and birth rates. Through a case study based on focus groups, content analysis and interview methods, this study takes a user approach to dialogic theory by evaluating user reactions to and user interaction on Facebook and the manifestation of dialogic strategies and outcomes for relationship cultivation and persuasion. The findings suggest that while the campaign on Facebook meets some technical and design criteria for dialogic relationship-building on the web, Facebook is used merely as a one-way communication channel devoid of dialogue to relay messages from the state to its publics.

Keywords

campaigns dialogic theory Facebook public relations social media Singapore

Private matters, public campaign

When it comes to private matters of the heart, public communications campaigns are particularly challenging. Public communication campaigns are conscious, sustained and systematic attempts to shape, change or reinforce attitudes, cognitions and behaviors, but any form of communication that aims to alter people’s attitudes or behaviors by touching on deeply held personal values in private matters such as love and marriage is bound to raise questions, especially when a campaign is government-initiated and is premised upon the good of the state. In March 2009, the Singapore government, through its Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), launched a campaign called “Beautifully Imperfect” as part of the state’s ongoing pro-family attempts to reverse low birth and marriage rates in the affluent city-state with a population of 5.1 million people.

“Beautifully Imperfect” follows in the footsteps of public campaigns such as the 2003 “Romancing Singapore” campaign that attempted to reverse the effects of the government’s post-independence anti-natalist policies of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Many Singaporeans are opposed to public communication campaigns in private matters such as romance (Leong and Sriramesh, 2006), despite the extensive deployment of government-initiated public communication campaigns that has earned Singapore the dubious tag of “campaign city.” The first public communication campaigns began in the 1960s. Newly independent from the British, Singapore sought to eradicate undesirable behaviors through anti-littering and anti-spitting campaigns, for example. Over the past few decades, Singaporeans have been exposed to numerous public education campaigns, including those that sought to promote courtesy, cleanliness, water conservation and population control (until 1987 when the government switched to pro-natalist policies in the face of slowing birth rates).

The “Beautifully Imperfect” campaign, designed and implemented by Leo Burnett and Arc Singapore Worldwide, sought to encourage young Singaporeans to cherish their “special someone” despite the individual’s flaws and imperfections. The real message is simple though less direct: be less choosy lest you miss out on the joys of marriage and parenthood. Amid the growing trend among Singaporeans to marry later or not marry at all, the marriage rate hit 6.6 marriages per 1000 people in 2009, down from 7.8 in 1999. One-third of men and women of marriageable age are single. In 2010, Singapore’s fertility rate dipped to its lowest level ever at 1.22 babies per woman, one of the world’s lowest—well below the 2.1 replacement rate.

This study investigates and evaluates the use of Facebook in the “Beautifully Imperfect” campaign. Although much has been written in the popular media about the pervasiveness of Facebook, which has surpassed 500 million users and counting, there is very little research about the use of Facebook in public communication campaigns. In the case of Singapore, little is known about the effectiveness of Facebook in government-led campaigns although news reports in the highly regulated Singapore media and statements by the communications agencies involved in the campaigns tout their success in changing people’s attitudes and behaviors.

“Beautifully Imperfect” was implemented across multiple platforms including newspapers, TV and the internet. A television Public Service Announcement (PSA), titled “Funeral,” shows a woman speaking at the funeral of her husband and discussing his flaws that made the couple perfect for one another. The decision to include Facebook as a campaign platform is natural. Facebook is Singapore’s most popular social networking site with 1.25 million active users, more than half of whom log on to Facebook at least once daily. The first two weeks of the campaign’s launch in April 2009 generated more than 100,000 visitors, with 14,000 signing up as fans.¹ The organizers also held a contest inviting Facebook fans to upload photos of themselves with their partners and share what makes them “beautifully imperfect.” “Beautifully Imperfect” won Leo Burnett and Arc Singapore Worldwide the Interactive 2010 Digital and Interactive Bronze World Medal in the Political Advertisements Digital category at the 2010 New York International Advertising Awards.

Theoretical framework

Social networking sites such Facebook are driven by user-participation and user-generated content, and allow organizations to develop, cultivate and maintain relationships with their key publics and to disseminate messages that help achieve the goals of the organization (Jo and Kim, 2003; Kelleher, 2006; Kent and Taylor, 1998). The literature has explored various virtual strategies but the three most commonly proposed strategies for online relationship cultivation are usefulness of information, disclosure, and interactivity. Useful information include organization profile, links to external news items about the organization or its causes, downloadable information through photographs or videos from the organization; and message boards or discussion walls that answer target publics’ questions (Carrera et al., 2008; Crespo, 2007; Kent and Taylor, 1998). Another category of useful information targets the media public through press releases and campaign summaries that enhance the impact of an organization’s presence on a social networking site. Kelleher (2006) urged communication professionals to be transparent in using the internet and social networking sites to advocate for their organizations and causes. For full disclosure, organizations should provide detailed descriptions of the organization and its history and mission, use hyperlinks to connect to the organization’s website, provide logos and visual cues to establish the connection, and list the individuals responsible for maintaining the social networking site (Berman et al., 2007). Interactivity—including email addresses, calendar of events and opportunities for the public to sign up as participants or volunteers, pose questions or seek additional information from the organization directly—also plays an important role in the development and maintenance of relationships online with stakeholders (Jo and Kim, 2003; Taylor et al., 2001).

The first theory-based strategic framework for public relations in online relationship management and online communication management was introduced by Kent and Taylor (1998), who proposed five strategies to create dialogic relationships with internet publics: Dialogic Feedback Loop, Usefulness of Information, Generation of Return Visits, Intuitiveness/Ease of Interface and Conservation of Visitors. Dialogue, according to Kent and Taylor refers to “any negotiated exchange of ideas and opinions” (1998: 325) and represents efforts by parties in a relationship to engage in and negotiate an honest, open and ethically grounded compromise. One of the core building blocks of good organization–publics relationships is ethical and quality dialogue that contributes to developing symmetrical relationships (Kent and Taylor, 1998, 2002; Kent et al., 2003).

As a theoretical construct, dialogue is deeply rooted across multiple disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, literature and relational communication. Many scholars (e.g. Bakhtin, 1981 [1941]; Botan, 1993; Buber, 2002 [1947]; Johannesen, 1971, 1996; Laing, 1969; Matson and Montagu, 1967; Pearson, 1989; Rogers, 1994; Stewart, 1978) have explored dialogic communication in one form or another. Martin Buber’s philosophy of dialogic communication, which focuses on the primacy of “I–Thou,” positions participants in a communicational relationship and moves away from viewing individuals as objects or means to an end. Buber conceptualized dialogue as “a relation between persons that is characterized in more or less by degree of inclusion” (2002 [1947]: 97). In the field of psychology, dialogue plays an important role in establishing the parameters for quality communication and subsequent relationship development between and among individuals (Laing, 1969) and in the formulation of therapist–client relationships (Rogers, 1994). In the field of literature, the conceptual rigor of dialogue—and its influence on rhetoric, semiotics and interpersonal communication—can be traced to Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, who viewed all language, and all ideas communicated through language, as dynamic and relational. Although Bakhtin (1981 [1941]) studied texts and language use, his ideas about dialogue as reciprocal interaction are heavily influential in rhetoric, semiotics, education, interpersonal communication and subsequently other branches of communication studies including public relations.

Comparatively, public relations is a late adopter of dialogue but the term has become a ubiquitous one in public relations today and is synonymous with effective public relations, as the field moves toward a two-way relationship communication model that affirms the value of stakeholders vis-a-vis the organization’s communication strategies. The earliest explication of dialogue and dialogic communication in public relations can be traced to Pearson (1989) who viewed dialogue as a fundamental public relations strategy. In proposing a framework for the ethical practice of public relations, Pearson, who suggested that “public relations is best conceptualized as the management of interpersonal dialectic” (1989: 177), argued that ethical public relations should have a dialogic “system” rather than monologic “policies” (1989: 206). Botan (1993), another public relations scholar who advocated moving away from a transmission-oriented, monologic model toward a dialogic, relational model of public relations, argued that dialogue is the key to relationship-building. According to Botan:

A dialogic view of public relations differs from a technician approach by being more humanistic, communication-centered, relationship-focused, and ethical. This perspective focuses on communicative relationships rather than on technical skills. Traditional approaches to public relations relegate publics to a secondary role, making them an instrument for meeting organizational policy or marketing needs; whereas, dialogue elevates publics to the status of communication equal with the organization. (1993: 197)

Kent and Taylor, who noted that public relations scholars have referred to dialogue as “dialectic,” “discourse” and “process” with “little consistency in usage” (2002: 21), undertook a definitional challenge to explicate dialogue as a concept and to connect it to dialogic communication in public relations. Based on a literature review of the concept of dialogue in philosophy, psychology, communication and public relations, Kent and Taylor (2002) proposed five principles of dialogism: mutuality, propinquity, empathy, risk and commitment.

Building on the work of Kent and Taylor (1998) in extending the concept of dialogic communication specifically to internet-based communications, Taylor et al. (2001) operationalized the five dialogic strategies (Dialogic Feedback Loop, Usefulness of Information, Generation of Return Visits, Intuitiveness/Ease of Interface and Conservation of Visitors) to examine how activist organizations use dialogic communication to build relationships on the web. In a content analysis of 100 websites, a 32-item questionnaire was used to measure the five principles of dialogic relationship-building based on multiple features each. The Dialogic Feedback Loop, for example, was operationalized as opportunity for user-response, opportunity to vote on an issue, surveys to voice opinion on issues, and offers of regular information through email. In a more recent study, Sommerfeldt et al. (2012) investigated why activist organizations did not integrate dialogic principles into their websites.

The few studies that focused on Facebook use in the public relations context used the content analytic approach to examine the social networking site’s dialogic features. Bortree and Seltzer (2009), who analyzed the use of dialogic strategies in environmental advocacy groups’ Facebook profiles, found that advocacy groups are not taking advantage of the dialogic strategies afforded by social networking. The study, which claims to offer “the first examination of the relationship between the creation of an online space for dialogue and actual dialogic engagement by identifying and measuring six dialogic outcomes, used a content analysis of a purposive sample of 50 Facebook profiles. It found that most advocacy organizations took the position that the mere creation of an interactive space via a social networking profile is sufficient for facilitating dialogue. Another study focusing on Facebook use is by Sweetser and Lariscy (2008), who examined candidates’ use of Facebook during the 2006 midterm election through a content analysis of Facebook wall comments in U.S. House and Senate races, found that Facebook has immense potential for dialogic communication. Individuals who wrote on candidate walls perceive themselves as being on friendly terms with the candidates and overwhelmingly write messages that are shallow, supportive and positive in tone. Waters et al. (2009), in a content analysis of 275 nonprofit organizations on Facebook, found that the organizations have not incorporated many Facebook applications into their social networking presence, fail to take advantage of social networking’s interactive nature, and rarely provide information in forms other than the standard email addresses, external links to news stories, photographs and discussion board posts.

Despite an overwhelming consensus in dialogic studies suggesting that public communicators do not take full advantage of the opportunities available online (Esrock and Leichty, 19998; Kent et al., 2003; McAlister-Greve, 2006, McAlister-Spooner, 2008; Taylor et al., 2001), the findings of several studies are more promising. Kent et al. (2003) found that the more dialogically oriented an organization appears, the more likely it is to respond to stakeholder questions. Seltzer and Mitrook (2007), who examined organizations’ weblogs, found more dialogic features present in an organization’s blog than their website—suggesting that such social media tools allowed more effective, ethical, two-way communication and relationship-building than traditional websites. The seeming failure in dialogic practice is not a result of a lack of knowledge; many practitioners recognize the opportunities of dialogic communication on the web but are hampered by a lack of technical expertise or manpower to maintain the sites and to handle responses from stakeholders (McAlister-Greve, 2006; Taylor and Kent, 2004).

Leong and Sriramesh (2006) evaluated the mostly traditional media-driven 2003 “Romancing Singapore” campaign using the case study method, through surveys and interviews with Singapore residents, campaign organizers and the PR agencies involved in the campaign. Apart from implementation in newspapers, TV, radio, flyers, etc., the campaign also created a website that contained news and information as well as interactive online polls, contests and e-cards (Leong and Sriramesh, 2006). The authors, concluding that “the campaign, it is obvious, failed completely,” suggested that that “the Singapore government’s widespread use of social engineering campaigns may have immunized the population against this campaign,” which through the mass media, had “some success in creating awareness but failed to generate any evidence of attitudinal or behavioral change” (2006: 252). “The fact that Romancing Singapore was led by the government, worked against it with most respondents opposing the use of campaigns to promote romance, a private matter” (2006: 246).

Most studies in dialogic communication focus on the organization or the original content creators. To date, little research (e.g. Sweetser and Lariscy, 2008) has examined user reaction to Facebook and its dialogic potential from the perspective of the user. Even more rare is the examination of web-focused dialogic communication that straddles the realms of traditional public relations and political communication in a government-initiated public communication campaign. This study aims to fill the gap by focusing on user reactions to and interaction on Facebook, as well as the manifestation of dialogic strategies and outcomes for relationship-building and persuasion through two research questions:

RQ1: What are user reactions to and interactions on Facebook as a public communication platform in “Beautifully Imperfect,” a government-initiated campaign on love and marriage?

RQ2: How are dialogic principles used in the Facebook campaign, and what are the outcomes in relationship cultivation and persuasion?

Method

This study uses a case study approach (Yin, 1984) as an “empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident, and in which multiple sources of evidence are used” (1984: 23). To answer the two research questions, data are obtained using three methods—focus groups, content analysis and an interview with the government’s communications director who was directly in charge of the campaign—in a case study based on a triangulated research strategy (Feagin et al., 1991; Stake 1995; Yin 1984).

Focus group sessions were conducted with 34 young adults between 18 and 31 years of age to understand user reaction to Facebook. All the participants are registered, active users of Facebook and were recruited through convenience sampling. In all, six focus group sessions were conducted between March and August 2010. Each session comprised 5–6 participants and lasted an average of 79 minutes. The number of sessions was determined after a repetition of themes and a cessation of new information, suggesting saturation point. There was no unique segmentation as participants were allocated to each focus group based on their availability. In semi-structured discussions with open-ended questions, participants were encouraged to talk at length about their experiences and views about the “Beautifully Imperfect” campaign on Facebook. In particular, the moderators did not introduce the concept of dialogic strategies. The “Beautifully Imperfect” page was shown during the focus group sessions to facilitate discussions. The transcripts were analyzed following Strauss and Corbin’s (1990) approach, beginning with open coding by identifying the themes that emerged from the raw data, and followed by axial and selective coding.

A descriptive content analysis of the “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page was conducted by two trained coders using a 29-item coding scheme in August and November 2010. Dialogic content categories were developed from the dialogic communication literature (e.g. Kent and Taylor, 1998; Taylor et al., 2001) and modified for applicability to Facebook. See Appendix 1 for the features coded under each of the five strategies. In the analysis, each feature was coded as present or absent. The Dialogic Feedback Loop strategy is operationalized through opportunities for user-response and overt initiatives by the organization to stimulate dialogue, for example by posting a new comment or topic, and by responding directly to users’ posts. Intuitiveness/Ease of Interface refers to a logical hierarchical organization through features such as a site map, major links to the rest of the site, search engine box and a low reliance on graphics. Usefulness of Information is coded based on the availability of information of value to target publics, including the statement of the organization’s philosophy or mission, and contact information and links to the MCYS website. As this study focuses on non-media users, the category “Usefulness of Information to Media Publics” was excluded from analysis. Generation of Return Visits is determined through elements encouraging visitors to return, including an explicit statement inviting users to return, and timely updates of news and information. Conservation of Visitors refers to organizations’ ability to keep visitors on their own online sites rather than surfing other sites. Such “stickiness” is enhanced by the availability of important information on the first page, a short loading time, and use of additional applications on the site. The content analysis further identifies and examines three outcomes of dialogic communication based on the number and content of posts on the wall and discussion board: the organization’s initial posts to users, user responses to the organization’s posts, and the organization’s direct response to users. The posts were analyzed and coded based on attitude (positive, negative or neutral) and theme (subject of post). Intercoder reliability scores, based on Scott’s Pi and Holsti’s coefficient of reliability, are excellent, ranging between 88% and 97%. A depth interview was conducted with an MCYS director. The 55-minute interview provided insights that inform the focus group and content analysis data.

Findings

The “Beautifully Imperfect” campaign on Facebook failed in cultivating relationships with young Singaporean adults, as shown in the focus group and content analysis. To some extent, the “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page created awareness about love and marriage, but the impact on relationship-building between MCYS/the government and young adults in Singapore, and on their attitudinal and behavioral changes about love and marriage is largely unrealized.

The focus group participants are avid and regular users of Facebook, which they believe to be an excellent platform for public communication campaigns. “People are intrigued” when they hear about a product or issue through comments by other Facebook users. A participant explains: “When your friends say, ‘Check this out, it’s cool,’ you know your friends have seen it and knowing your friends’ personalities, you’ll be more enticed to check it out.” Without the social networking element, the message will be “lost in the overwhelming crowd of available information on the web.” Another participant says the “viral effect” of Facebook is “an economical means to reach out to a lot of people.” However, as noted by the MCYS director, Facebook may inadvertently reach out to those who do not fall within the campaign’s target audience. Although the “Beautifully Imperfect” fan page has 3 million viewers on Facebook, not all of them are from Singapore. Although the focus group participants are overwhelmingly positive about Facebook and its strengths and potential in public communication campaigns, especially in cultivating relationships with young adults, the discussion takes a significantly negative turn specific to “Beautifully Imperfect.” Participants addressed numerous obstacles, many of which could be traced to the dialogic communication framework (Kent and Taylor, 1998), or failure to fulfill the five dialogic strategies (Dialogic Feedback Loop, Usefulness of Information, Generation of Return Visits, Intuitiveness/Ease of Interface and Conservation of Visitors). Among the 34 participants in the six focus group sessions, only 18 participants came to the sessions aware of the existence of the “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page exclusively through their Facebook use. Although other participants had watched the PSA “Funeral” on TV or YouTube, many were not aware of the “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page. As a result, the participants feel more could be done to highlight “Beautifully Imperfect” on other media platforms prior to the Facebook campaign. The following section frames the findings in user reactions and interaction, dialogic strategies and outcomes of “Beautifully Imperfect” on Facebook.

Dialogic Feedback Loop

According to Kent and Taylor (1998: 326), one advantage of new technologies is that they allow feedback from the audiences to be embedded in the public relations tactic itself. In the case of “Beautifully Imperfect,” the Dialogic Feedback Loop was not fully realized. Of the eight items under the Dialogic Feedback Loop feature, six items were present, albeit with significant limitations: opportunity for user-response, posting of new comments/issues, content sharing, opportunity to vote on issues, survey to voice opinion on issues, and profile sharing. There are no offers of regular information through email and, most significantly, no direct response to questions or comments from users.

The focus group participants do not believe Facebook allows them to question the campaign organizers or give an opportunity to the organization to respond to questions, concerns or problems. “There should also be two-way communication between the fans and the organization on Facebook,” said a participant, who follows the “Beautifully Imperfect” page closely and posts regularly on its wall. “I don’t see any two-way communication—it’s just people like me posting and talking among ourselves.” Indeed, the content analysis reveals very little dialogue between the organization (which posts under the moniker “Beautifully Imperfect” and signs off as “The Advocates of Beautifully Imperfect Relationships”) and the users who post on the Facebook wall and discussion board. The 34 posts by “Beautifully Imperfect” resulted in 1799 direct comments from fans. “Beautifully Imperfect,” whose first post was on 29 March 2009 giving the venue and date of the “Beautifully Imperfect” Couples of the Year contest, uses Facebook mainly as platform for announcements about the contest rather than a platform to cultivate relationships with its target publics. Of the 34 posts from “Beautifully Imperfect,” 23 pertain to the “Beautifully Imperfect” couples contest, four relate to news coverage of the campaign, two pertain to the production of the “Funeral” video, three concern the passing of “Funeral” director Yasmin Ahmad, one focuses on the passing of the wife of Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and celebrates their 63 years of marriage, and another post connects users to MCYS’s new campaign on filial piety (see Appendix 2).

The following are examples of the contest-related posts:

VOTE for the most Beautifully Imperfect Couple. Go to “Photos,” click on your favorite entry and vote “Like”.

Thank you for the overwhelming participation! We have found our Top 10 Beautifully Imperfect Couples

The four news media-related posts highlight the coverage of the campaign in local newspapers, and provide news clippings. The two posts on the production of “Funeral” attached materials such as a video of the interview with Yasmin Ahmad, the director, and photos of the behind-the-scenes production. In the 6 October 2010 post, “Beautifully Imperfect” wrote about the passing of Mrs. Lee Kuan Yew: “Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, delivering his eulogy, said without his wife Kwa Geok Choo, he would be a different man with a different life.” The post provides a link to a Channel News Asia news story about the funeral service. The post about the new MCYS campaign on filial piety includes a video of the TV-based PSA “Father and Son.”

In terms of user responses, of the 1799 posts on the wall, 1561 (86.8%) were positive compared to 144 (8%) that were negative, 70 neutral (3.9%), and 24 (1.3%) that are unrelated to the campaign (e.g. advertising posts by users to sell products and services such as travel packages or purses). Six themes are dominant: (1) appreciation for the PSA video, “Funeral”; (2) relating the message about love and its imperfections to self and personal experiences; (3) sharing extended stories about their significant others including contest participants; (4) general philosophical statements; (5) condolence messages on director Yasmin Ahmad’s passing, and (6) participants soliciting votes for the contest. A number of posts incorporate multiple themes. The most frequent theme is appreciation for the PSA video (76.3%). The second most-recurring theme is found in posts that linked the message about love and its imperfections to self and personal experiences (64.9%), followed by a sharing of stories about their significant others (52.8%), general philosophical statements about love and marriage (37.1%), condolences to Yasmin Ahmad (19.6%); and soliciting votes for the contest (16.4%). Referring to “Funeral,” one fan wrote: “love this video…so touching indeed! and its message is so true…..it’s the imperfect moments that we share with our loved ones that truly make it most endearing….:-).” Another fan said: “I loved the Funeral TVC - such a creative moving approach that mix humour & tears…. and people laugh at Singapore having a campaign for everything :) But at least it’s not a cliche approach.” Another said: “It was so touching that brought memories of my dear husband. I was reminded of his snoring too which I miss so much now that he is gone forever.”

“Beautifully Imperfect” did not address any user concern nor respond to questions or comments from users. On 29 September 2009, a fan wrote with questions about the campaign: “I would like to know more about this beautifully imperfect. Is this an activity? a program? It looks like this is a good program couples! Please reply.” There was no response from “Beautifully Imperfect.” The post, instead, was answered by another fan (Marianne Sham) two days later on 24 September: “It’s a campaign done by MCYS to dispel the notion of that ‘Perfect Someone’ and to celebrate beautifully imperfect relationships!” There was no action from “Beautifully Imperfect” to confirm or reject this assertion. Another fan, who asked if the speech in the “”Funeral PSA was “real or staged” on 9 August 2009 was answered by another fan five days later who explained, “Staged but so real and meaningful.” A number of users received error messages in opening the photos of the contestants. Although users struggled with the technical issues, there was no response from “Beautifully Imperfect.” This issue of non-response was discussed in the focus group sessions. A few focus group participants give the example of the Resorts World of Singapore Facebook page (“They update very frequently, make me feel that someone is there, and they reply to me”). As pointed out by a participant, “this [“Beautifully Imperfect”] Facebook page owner doesn’t want to be contacted!” There was no contact information (email address, mailing address or telephone number). However, several participants feel that any email address provided on the “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page would be “just for show” and “useless.”

The elements of Profile Sharing and Content Sharing (videos and photos) are present through the standard Facebook interface. Through the contest, users have an opportunity to vote on “the most beautifully imperfect” couples. The contest is, in fact, the driving force behind the Facebook page. It provided only one survey for users to voice opinions on issues; on 12 November 2010, there was a new post from “Beautifully Imperfect” seeking participation in a dinner and dance event through a SurveyMonkey poll instead of the Facebook Poll application. “Beautifully Imperfect” wrote:

Dear Fans!

We are thinking of having a Dinner & Dance in Singapore for all our Beautifully Imperfect fans. Would you be interested in a party where we can celebrate the imperfections that make us perfect for each other? Take part in this short poll! [Link] If you have any suggestions on this party, share them with us!

The survey contains two questions based on: (1) interest in attending the party; and (2) the fee that participants are willing to pay.

Generation of Return Visits

This second strategy, which focuses on features that entice users to return to the page, such as updated information, downloadable information, special forums, and news items, is fulfilled to some extent. There were explicit statements inviting users to return (“Find out [the winners of the contest] on May 18”) but information was updated infrequently. Focus group participants bemoan the lack of updates, which they feel are necessary to engage the “fans” on Facebook. One participant says “the topic has to be something that I want to be constantly updated on.” Many participants joined the “Beautifully Imperfect” page as fans and never returned to the page because “there is no reason to go back” and “it’s the same old content.” Participants say follow-up events or updates are needed “to leverage on the momentum of the initial success and buzz of the campaign.” Said one participant, “Not sure if I should really follow this campaign. It’s probably another short-lived campaign like the many we’ve seen.” The calendar of events consisted of only one event—the contest venue at a beach resort. News events focused on a few select issues, such as coverage of the campaign, the passing of the director of the “Funeral” video and the passing of the senior minister’s wife. After posting the invitation on 12 November to participate in a survey, there were no follow-up posts or updates from “Beautifully Imperfect” about the proposed party as of 3 January 2011.

According to the focus group participants, the campaign organizers, to ensure return visits, “must at least appear now and then for the message to be locked sufficiently in the young people’s mind. If not, interest will just disappear and move on to another campaign… and it defeats the purpose.” “Beautifully Imperfect” made infrequent and few posts over the 16-month period (1 April 2009 to 26 December 2010). With the conclusion of the “Beautifully Imperfect” couples contest, the campaign organizers shifted their focus to the next MCYS campaign, which is on filial piety, leading users to question the organizers’ commitment. The “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page also lacks new content to engage fans; “There must be additional content that can sustain interest.” One participant signed up as a fan because she “likes the commercial [PSA video “Funeral”] but there’s nothing interesting to stalk the fan page.” Users seek incentives or benefits, new information updates, or “interesting or controversial topics” that generate talking points among young adults to entice them to revisit the “Beautifully Imperfect” page. The content analysis reveals only two topics in the Discussion page. In November 2009, “Beautifully Imperfect” posted two topics in Discussion (“Searching for the Perfect Partner” and “How can we overcome our imperfections?”) that generated only seven and two replies respectively.

Intuitiveness/Ease of Interface

Websites should be easy to navigate and understand, with more emphasis on textual content rather than the graphical, which is slower to load. The “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page has a site map, a search engine box and major links to the rest of the site, such as Discussion, Poll and Video, etc. These features are standard in the Facebook interface but user reaction to the intuitiveness and logical hierarchical organization of information in the focus group sessions suggests that that the “Beautifully Imperfect” page is not intuitive and not easy to navigate. “You have to link back to the Facebook fan page, if not, you’re just look at the commercial [PSA video, ‘Funeral’]. There are so many URLs on Facebook. How much difference is there watching one video from another?” Despite the Dialogic Framework’s low-graphics principle, many focus group participants favor more visuals. A participant explains: “I’m a very visual person. When I click on the page, I want to see the photo of the page owner.” Another participant says, “Our generation is impatient and easily distracted. We need massive visual images to help us zoom into the message.” In highly wired Singapore, the prevalence of graphics does not appear to be an obstacle to page loading speed.

Usefulness of Information

According to this strategy, an organization’s online presence should incorporate information of general value that is useful to all publics. Users should also be provided with contact information and explanatory information about how a product or service works. “Relationships with publics must be cultivated not only to serve the public relations goals of an organization, but so that the interests, values, and concerns of publics are addressed. Information is made available to publics not to stifle debate or win their accent [sic], but to allow them to engage an organization in dialogue as an informed partner” (Kent and Taylor, 1998: 328). The Facebook page of “Beautifully Imperfect” fails in this respect. The Info page merely lists the URLs of MCYS² without explicitly identifying the Facebook page’s ties to the state. Its Facebook profile simply states: “Beautifully Imperfect: the story of celebrating imperfections in a partner that makes a relationship beautiful. Witness more than 390 personal stories in ‘Photos’.” No mission statement or organization philosophy was evident, including disclosure about the campaign organizers. Under “Event,” an old link can be found that refers to an offline activity about the contest venue at a beach resort (“Join in the fun where our top 10 winners will share embarrassing details of their Beautifully Imperfect relationship”). No organization logo is found, consistent with the campaign organizers’ decision to downplay the MCYS/state involvement. Many focus group participants did not realize the PSA video was produced by a government body when they first watched it on Facebook. “When I first watched this commercial on Facebook right, I was very touched by it, but when I saw it on TV a few weeks later, I felt that it was propaganda.” Interestingly, in contrast to the disclosure strategy that advocates greater openness and transparency, several participants feel that the government should downplay its involvement in public campaigns to more effectively engage the public, by partnering with private organizations so that they can be “the face of the campaign.” “This way we won’t get the idea that the message comes directly from the government.” One participant believes the “Beautifully Imperfect” video, Funeral, is an improvement over previous campaign messages because it is a “new and indirect manner of putting the message across and we can accept it without realizing that this is part of a government campaign.” Disclosure is a double-edged sword. There is little disclosure about MCYS’s involvement. As a result, the dialogic relationship could not be advanced.

The page does provide a link to the MCYS website. Details on how to become affiliated are unclear, as Facebook’s interface has a “Join Now” feature that allows a user to sign up as a fan. Although there is an overt invitation to participate in the contest, user involvement in “Beautifully Imperfect” does not go beyond posting photos, sharing their stories and winning prizes. With the large number of fan pages on Facebook, it may not be easy to attract the attention of young adults. According to the focus group participants, they will join a fan page if the topic is something that is useful or one that they can identify with or support. They would join the “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page if they “feel strongly for the issue” or “is directly relevant to the individual or benefits the individual directly.” Despite these assertions, participants feel that Facebook is not a suitable platform for public campaigns focusing on private matters. With regard to the “Beautifully Imperfect” couples contest, focus group participants say they would not participate in it because it was “too flashy,” “too private,” “too embarrassing,” or “too much information!” One participant traces it to the issue of face: “To publicly talk about our significant other’s flaws is not good.” Other participants ask, “what if you break up?”

“Beautifully Imperfect” provided three photo albums (The “Beautifully Imperfect” couples event at Fort Siloso; exclusive behind-the-scenes shots of the making of the video; Weekly Contest Winners) containing 435 photos. The Notes page contained items related to “Death of Director Yasmin Ahmad” (3); “Looking for Newly Weds” (1); “Winners” (4), and “news coverage of the campaign” (5)—elements consistent with the use of Facebook as a platform for announcements rather than an online space for negotiation, cultivation of dialogue and relationship-building.

Conservation of Visitors

The final strategy calls for minimal opportunities or links that could lead visitors astray. The “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook page has a fast loading time of less than four seconds, when accessed from four different locations in Singapore over 20 times each. The standard Facebook interface ensures important information could be made available on the first page, but it is limited by the lack of disclosure about the campaign organizers and the government’s role. The standard Facebook “Join Now” features allows users to sign up as fans, although it is unclear how this alone could ensure a strong conservation of visitors if there is a lack of infrastructure in terms of usefulness of information, return visits, and the dialogic loop. There is an attempt by the campaign organizers to link users to the TV-based campaign featuring the PSA video, “Funeral.” On 17 April “Beautifully Imperfect” wrote:

Dear Fans of Beautifully Imperfect,

Thank you for showing your support for Beautifully Imperfect relationships. Many of you have seen the “Funeral” TVC and were touched by it. Now, it’s your turn to share YOUR Beautifully Imperfect story and touch thousands of others.

There is also a clear effort to link the “Beautifully Imperfect” campaign to the new MCYS pro-family campaign on filial piety. On 17 June 2010, “Beautifully Imperfect” posted a video and a link to the filial piety campaign:

Follow the journey of a young boy, as he sees first hand the importance of respecting, honouring, and loving his parents, through the best and the worst of times. View this moving TV spot at www.facebook.com/myfilialpiety.

In the “Beautifully Imperfect” campaign, it is questionable whether a minimization of external links to ensure a captive audience is a fruitful strategy. Focus group participants feel the campaign organizers should use new media and traditional media channels for a wider reach given the “information saturation” on Facebook.

Discussion

This study contributes to an understanding of user reactions to and interactions on Facebook and the social networking platform’s dialogic potential for public communication campaigns and political communication. The focus group findings to assess user reactions support to a large extent the significance of dialogic strategies (e.g. Kent and Taylor, 1998, 2002, 2003; Kent et al., 2003; Taylor and Kent, 2004) as useful means for engaging with and cultivating relationships with an organization’s target publics. With consistency, many of the issues raised directly pertain to dialogic principles expounded in the Dialogic Loop, Generation of Return Visits, Conservation of Visitors, Usefulness of Information and Ease of Interface. Although the “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook campaign meets some technical and design criteria for dialogic relationship-building on the web, the campaign is not engaging its publics in two-way communication. With Facebook’s standard interface, it is easy to meet the technical principle of Ease of Interface but the other four principles pose more of a challenge, as they rely on actual dialogic efforts on the campaign organizers’ part. The findings support the consensus in dialogic studies that suggests public relations practitioners and communication professionals are not taking full advantage of the opportunities online to build relationships with their publics and to engage them on messages that achieve the goals of the organization (Esrock and Leichty, 19998; Kent et al., 2003; McAlister-Greve, 2006; McAlister-Spooner, 2008; Sommerfeldt et al., 2012; ; Taylor et al., 2001). Facebook, in the case of “Beautifully Imperfect”, is a one-way communication channel, devoid of dialogue, to relay messages from an organization to its publics. The positive content generated by Facebook users is an immediate response to the video PSA “Funeral” rather than to the organization or the state, and offers little evidence of the campaign’s impact beyond reminding users about the fragility of life and human imperfections. To be fair, although the failure of the “Beautifully Imperfect” Facebook campaign could be traced to the unfulfilled principles of the dialogic framework (e.g. Kent and Taylor, 1998; Kent et al., 2003; Taylor et al.,), it is evident that other obstacles are equally daunting, if not more so, in the content and context of the campaign. Campaigns are effective only if they are conceptualized and implemented in sync with the socioeconomic realities of the environment in which they seek to operate.

Theoretically, the dialogic framework (Kent and Taylor, 1998) suggests that the fulfillment of the five dialogic principles would ensure success but, as demonstrated by “Beautifully Imperfect”, public communications campaigns do not operate in a vacuum. The quality of the existing organization–publics relationship, the campaign’s subject matter and the environment are important considerations. In campaign-saturated Singapore, a systemic problem of campaign fatigue and desensitization to public campaign messages is expected as Singaporeans have been subjected to more than five decades of overexposure to persuasive messages bordering on social engineering from the state. Consistent with the population’s apathy and resigned acceptance of the government’s paternalistic approach, many Facebook users believe they have no direct access to government officials nor the power to engage the state in a political structure that is authoritarian, hierarchical and non-egalitarian. The situation is exacerbated by the top-down, one-way communication stance of the campaign organizers on Facebook, in which a conversation is missing at the most basic level, as “Beautifully Imperfect” does not even address user comments and questions nor provide systematic updates to engage users. The process of inclusive decision-making is flawed at best; fans are invited to participate in polls but no updates are given as to the intermediate results and final decision. For public communications campaigns to thrive, several building blocks must first exist to support dialogue, as explained by Kent and Taylor:

Mutuality, or the recognition of organization–public relationships; propinquity, or the temporality and spontaneity of interactions with publics; empathy, or the supportiveness and confirmation of public goals and interests; risk, or the willingness to interact with individuals and publics on their own terms; and finally, commitment, or the extent to which an organization gives itself over to dialogue, interpretation, and understanding in its interactions with publics. (2002: 24–5)

These ingredients are missing in “Beautifully Imperfect”.

The focus of “Beautifully Imperfect” is further diffused, given the hidden or indirect messages of the campaign, its unfocused reach targeting all Facebook users, weak campaign implementation across different media platforms and limited disclosure about the government’s involvement. Although the campaign was conducted for over a year on Facebook, the sporadic organization of events and a lack of momentum are significant obstacles. In all fairness, the subject matter, love and marriage, is challenging. Matters of the heart are complex—and any public communication campaign is easily perceived as an infringement of privacy and personal values. The implementation of a contest, a dominant feature of the campaign, where Facebook users announce publicly the imperfections of their partners on a social networking site is also questionable.

The findings further raise questions about the public’s receptivity to pro-family persuasive messages over the long term, of which this Facebook campaign appears to be only one of many “small” channels for message dissemination in Singapore. Little evaluative research is evident in the case of “Beautifully Imperfect,” and yet more similar campaigns are being planned immediately as it does not appear that MCYS is letting up on its efforts to persuade Singaporeans to give love a chance as the country grapples with dipping birth and marriage rates. In August 2010, MCYS issued a new tender through the government’s official procurement website calling for proposals to encourage singles to date and get married. The tender notice reads: “This tender is called to engage a communications agency to conceptualise, plan and implement a public communications campaign to promote dating.”³ Although this study did not examine actual behavioral change, the findings suggest that Singaporeans are not likely to be persuaded by the messages put forth by public communication campaigns on Facebook in their current form. To that end, the campaign titled “Beautifully Imperfect” to persuade individuals to accept their partners’ imperfections remains just that—beautifully imperfect.

Footnotes

Appendix 1. Dialogic features

Ease of Interface (4 items)

Site map

Major links to rest of site

Search engine box

Low reliance on graphics

Usefulness of Information (6 items)

Statement of philosophy/mission

Details of how to become affiliated

Logo of organization is prominent

Contact information

Links to the MCYS website

Links to rest of the site (Events, Photos, Discussions)

Conservation of Visitors (4 items)

Important info available on 1st page

Short loading time (less than 4 seconds)

Use of applications (Events, Links, Photographs, Polls)

Join Now Option

Return Visits (7 items)

Explicit statement invites user to return

News forums (regularly scheduled)

Calendar of events

Downloadable information

Information that can be requested by mail/email

Relevant news items/Posting news stories within last 30 days

Discussion forums

Dialogic Loop (8 items)

Opportunity for user-response

Opportunity to vote on issues

Survey to voice opinion on issues

Posting a new comment/issue for discussion

Direct response to a question or comment posted by a user

Profile sharing

Content sharing

Offers of info through email

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes

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