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ADVANCING THE GOALS OF THE MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA USING SOCIAL MEDIA
The Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) was founded in 1919 “for the advancement of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, petrology, and promotion of their uses in other sciences, industry, and the arts”. Over the past 100 years MSA has adapted to use modern methods to promote its goals. In the past 20 years this involved the creation of a web page for members, and includes using web pages to disseminate educational materials (i.e. Mineralogy4 Kids at https://min4kids.org/). Mineralogy4 Kids is one of the most popular sections of the MSA website.
An email list (since 2000) links directly to members. A Facebook Page and a Facebook group were started in 2011 to reach a broader audience. The Facebook Page is more of an official presence of the MSA, while the Facebook group reaches mostly hobbyists and mineral collectors. A You Tube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC43D1PLrmBkChtrsNi2y7YQ) houses videos of award presentations, videos from the 2019 MSA Centennial, career videos, and outreach videos. A Twitter account (@MinSocAm) was started in May 2020, and an Instagram account (minsocam) in May 2021. All media have shown steady growth in members and followers.
As Social Media Liaison for MSA since my turn as Secretary in 2011 – 2015, I maintain the social media presence for the society and report to MSA Council. Publications in American Mineralogist are showcased on the platforms, and activities of the MSA are publicized. As a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization we must be careful not to have sales occurring on our social media platforms. This needs vigilant monitoring, on Facebook especially.
Our organizational profile has been enhanced and it may be that the impact factor of the American Mineralogist has increased due to social media promotion.