After the AASP conference in Auckland last year, some members of the executive committee initiated a discussion about how the AASP (and AJSP) could increase their presence on social media. We recognised early on in our discussions that we needed more information about AASP members’ social media behaviours and attitudes before we could go upon devising an effective strategy. To this end, we designed a survey to learn more about how our members engage with social media, and would prefer to engage with the AASP (and AJSP) on social media. Given that different social media platforms are popular in China, we devised a separate survey for our Chinese members in Chinese.
Ninety-five participants completed the English version of the survey, whereas 25 participants completed the Chinese version of the survey. The findings indicated that social media usage was high among participants, with 73% of participants who completed the English survey, and 91% of participants who completed the Chinese survey, using social media multiple times per day. Facebook was the most used social media platform among those completing the English version (85%), whereas WeChat was most popular among those who completed the Chinese version (80%). Eighty percent of participants (between the surveys) indicated that they thought that it would be useful if the AASP (and AJSP) became active on social media: 65% of the participants who completed the English survey indicated they would be very likely to follow the AASP (and AJSP) if it became active on Facebook, whereas 77% of participants who completed the Chinese survey indicated that they would be very likely to follow the AASP (and AJSP) if it became active on WeChat. Most participants indicated that they would like AASP (AJSP) social media account(s) to provide its followers with: a) information and updates about the association and journal; b) information and updates about papers published in mainstream social psychology journals of interest for Asian social psychologists; c) information about conferences and events organised by other social psychology associations/societies; and d) news stories on topics relating to social sciences and social psychology in Asia.
Sammyh Khan is currently in the process of putting together a social media strategy for the AASP (and AJSP) based on the findings from the surveys and the feedback provided on the findings by members of the executive committee.