120 Disseminating equine science with infographics on social media

Continuous increases in technology use have improved the opportunity for extension professionals to engage with a broader audience and maximize dissemination of information through social media platforms. Infographics utilize visuals to narrate complex information in a simple and concise manner and therefore may represent a key educational tool for extension professionals. The objective of this project was to evaluate the effect of communication mode on audience engagement and reach in extension programming through social media. The authors hypothesized that Facebook posts containing infographics would elicit a greater number of reactions, comments, shares, and reach compared with posts containing webpage links. Four informational webpages discussing colic, ration balancers, round-bale feeders, and planning a pasture were selected from the University of Minnesota (UMN) Equine Extension website and were utilized to create corresponding infographics (n = 4). The infographics were designed following a consistent style guide (e.g., 20 pt body text, single page, etc.) and UMN Extension formatting (e.g., approved fonts and colors). Infographic-webpage pairs were systematically assigned to a month (February, May, July, October 2020) and posted on the UMN Equine Extension Facebook page. Infographic posts contained an introductory sentence and infographic. Webpage posts contained a similar introductory sentence, image, and webpage link. Posts occurred on the first and third Mondays of the month with a one-week washout period between post types (webpage or infographic). The order of post type was alternated each month. Facebook metrics (number of reactions, comments, shares, and reach) were recorded at 1, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 168 h following posting. Results were compared on the log scale using mixed ANOVA models with post type and hour as fixed effects and repeated measures and pairs as random effects. Reported results were back transformed and P-values