The Importance of Social Media Responses:

A MNsure Case Study

Paige Harker
University of Minnesota

Abstract
The prevalence of social media in modern day society has drawn considerable attention

from scholars. What was once viewed as a casual form of communication now has the potential

to be influential in terms of rhetoric, civic participation, and marketing. The following research

aims to analyze social media responses to the actions and products of businesses, to determine

the value of these responses, and to explain why businesses should be more aware of these

responses. The research includes textual analysis of six separate collections of social media

responses related to the MNsure website and user experience. The tools used in this analysis are

WordList, Concordance, Collocation, and Connotation Analysis, all implemented through usage

of AntConc software. By using these tools, the nature of the social media responses was better
The Importance of Social Media Responses 2

understood. Upon analysis, it became evident that the social media responses were very critical

of the MNsure website and provided information similar to what could be gathered from a

usability test. If the employees managing the MNsure website were to take notice of these

responses and use them to improve the website and application process, the website would be

more user-friendly, and the general public would have a much more positive view of the MNsure

program.

Table of Contents
Literature Review.4
Social media in the field of communication........4
Social media and civic engagement ....5
Social media and marketing.6
Overview of MNsure.......7
Research Questions..8
Research Methods8
WordList..9
Concordance..10
Collocation.11
Connotation analysis..11
Results12
Data set #1..12
Data set #2..14
Data set #3..16
Data set #4..19
Data set #5..21
Data set #6..22
Discussion..24
Implications30
Limitations.32
References..33
The Importance of Social Media Responses:
A MNsure Case Study
Literature Review
Social media in the field of communication
The Importance of Social Media Responses 3

The advent of social media has greatly changed the way humans communicate. The

widely accepted definition of social media provided by the Oxford Dictionary is as follows:

Websites and applications which enable users to create and share content or to participate in

social networking (Oxford Living Dictionary). This broad definition encompasses many of the

technological networks used daily by Americans. What started (and is sometimes still viewed) as

a time-wasting technology used by millennials has taken a professional turn, according to

Kimme Hea (2014). Social media are also interwoven into the political, rhetorical, and material

work of technical communication scholars, so more professionals are now becoming aware of

the importance and possibility in social media (p. 2). In the field of technical communication,

professionals have taken notice of the various aspects of social media and have started describing

it, in its many forms, as much more than simple online communication because social media

are symbolic representations, metaphors, articulations, and assemblages of cultural systems of

knowledge and power (Kimmie Hea, 2014, p. 2).

Aside from this, social media platforms now dominate the internet in terms of

communication because social media websites attract more users than new websites do (Lim,

2016, p. 1404). In fact, major news websites have fallen so far behind social media websites that,

according to Lim, no news websites were listed in the top 20 websites of the year. Though news

websites have lost popularity, people have not stopped consuming news content; they simply

consume their news in a different way. Social media networks allow users to share news content

while adding their own take on it, which is referred to as user-generated content (Lim, 2016).

By sharing the URL of a news story on a social media network, users can add their own opinions

about the news story in their post, and other users can contribute their own insights by

commenting. News organizations have taken advantage of the new trend in user-generated

content by creating news forums, chatrooms, and wikis that invite their audience to participate in
The Importance of Social Media Responses 4

the content. Whether news organizations offer this feature with their news content has a

significant effect on the customers favorability and likelihood of purchasing a subscription with

the organization (Lim, 2016, p. 1405). This results in a major redefining of the role of the

audience in communication.
Social media and civic engagement
Tobias Olsson (2016) reviews scholarly work related to the connection between social

media and civic life and concludes that the introduction of the internet and social media into

Western societies opened up a world of possibilities in the realm of civic participation through

the power to substantiate the idea of an electronic direct democracy, to change [the] idea of

what the public sphere is, to facilitate stronger contacts between citizens and local government,

and to stimulate new versions of a more active citizenship (p. 2242). Also in the realm of

politics, Velasquez (2012) looks at the increased rate of online news story postings and the

increased rate of audience participation with these online stories while asking the following

question: Can social media create a space for legitimate political discussions? (p. 1287). In fact,

Velasquez finds, social media is very much capable of doing so. Active users in political social

media are able to establish their credibility as knowledgeable members of the community

through the longevity and frequency of participation; therefore, the discussions on social media

tend to mirror the real-life political discussions that were studied in the behavior of participants,

social cues used by participants, and overall experience expressed by participants after the

conclusion of the study (p. 1289). Similarly, Skoric et al. (2015) find that easy and expanded

access to diverse political information might reinvigorate citizen participation by improving

political knowledge and stimulating political discussionThe internet could offer new

opportunities for citizen networking and open up new venues for political expression, potentially

activating those previously disengaged citizens (p. 1833). Thus, users of social media are more
The Importance of Social Media Responses 5

inclined to participate in civic conversations as a result of social media. According to Rim &

Song (2016), social media encourages people to share and discuss issues they care about, and to

engage in value creation via two-way communication (p. 476). The ease of use, wide array of

information and channels, and ability to connect with others encourages citizens to engage in

conversations that otherwise may not have existed prior to the introduction of social media.
Social media and marketing
Another sphere of society feeling the effects of social media is business. The significant

number of businesses utilizing social media for marketing purposes brings attention to social

medias usefulness. In particular, Chinese companies have taken advantage of the usefulness of

social media in business, and they utilize the information gained from it in their strategic

marketing plans. Nyguen et al. (2015) identifies that 646 million Chinese citizens access the

internet through smartphones on a daily basis, producing a tremendous marketing opportunity for

technology-savvy businesses and giving them a significant competitive advantage over their

offline counterparts (p. 11). In Nyguens study, the social media analyzed include discussion

forums, social networks, rating and reviewing websites, and crowdsourcing websites. From these

channels of media, the study finds that the knowledge acquired from these networks allows

businesses to gather information about customer experience, which in turn allows businesses to

develop innovative solutions that will improve their products for their customers (p. 13). More

specifically, the information received from social media informs businesses about the

effectiveness of product distribution, manufacturing, and ability to meet the expectations and

preferences of their customers (p. 15). In the study done by Jiang et al. (2016), the usefulness of

social media responses in a crisis situation (described as any type of failure by the company)

were evaluated. The researchers found that using social media during such situations was

conducive to strengthening relationships with online publicsreinforcing the relationships by

The Importance of Social Media Responses 6

resonating to online stakeholders emotions, attending to the needs of the concerned publics, and

managing conversations (p. 688). The usage of social media allows companies to respond

quickly to public concern, thus allowing the companies to create connections with their

customers, especially in negative situations. Revisiting the study done by Rim & Song (2016), it

was found that 68% of American citizens are willing and able to provide feedback about a

business through social media (p. 476). Not only can companies benefit from using social media

for marketing purposes, but a majority of the population is willing to engage with businesses on

social media in order to help them improve their business practices.

Overview of MNsure
The focus of this study is the social media response to the MNsure website. According to

the programs website, MNsures mission is To ensure all Minnesotans have the security of

health insurance [and] to create a statewide resource that provides access to private heath

insurance and public medical assistance programs (MNsure, 2016). The origins of MNsure stem

from the passing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which inspired the state of Minnesotas

government to create its own insurance exchange-marketplace tailored to the needs of

[Minnesotas] families, employers, and health care system (MNsure, 2016). This online

marketplace was launched in 2013 and immediately received a hailstorm of negative reactions

about website functioning from the public, many of which were received through social media.

The website was (and continues to be) criticized about its usability and reliability.

Research Questions
The problem identified in this study is as follows: Though research shows that social

media has an impact on public political and marketing discourse, not as much research exists

about social medias value and impact on business relationships between companies and

customers. Many companies, especially those in China, have embraced using social media

responses to better their businesses, yet a large number of companies in the United States have
The Importance of Social Media Responses 7

yet to do so in the same manner as their Chinese counterparts. This research about social media

responses seeks to answer the following questions: Are social media responses valuable to

businesses and companies? Why are these responses valuable? This study looks to social media

responses related to the MNsure website launch and existing literature about social media to

answer these questions, seeking to prove that social media responses provide valuable

information about customer experience and can be utilized in conjunction with usability testing

to improve customer experience.

Research Methods
The data analyzed in this study include social media responses from the following online

sources: a Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) blog titled Have you used the MNsure website?

from 10/01/2013, comments on an online Star Tribune newspaper article titled Sign up

navigators are helping to ease MNsure headaches from 12/23/2013, comments from an online

Star Tribune newspaper article titled Dayton Slams IBM for failures with MNsure website

from 01/04/2014, comments on an online Star Tribune article titled MNsures troubles are

leaving the poor stranded from 01/05/2014, comments on an online letter to the Star Tribune

editor titled MNsure made me cry: My five-month quest for health insurance from 03/24/2014,

and audience responses to an MPR broadcast titled MPR Daily Circuit Show with MNsure

Director from 07/21/2014. It is important to note that the dates listed with each data set are the

dates that the blogs/articles/broadcasts were published; the social media responses accompanying

the blogs/articles/broadcasts may have been published either on or after that date. It is also

important to note that each data set was viewed separately from the others in order to analyze the

differences of user reactions in each data set.

Textual analysis was used to organize, categorize, and understand the responses. This

method was executed through the software program AntConc, a corpus analysis toolkit for
The Importance of Social Media Responses 8

concordance and text analysis (Anthony, 2016). Each set of data were converted to a text file,

loaded separately into the program, and individually analyzed. The specific tools used in this

software were WordList, Concordance, and Collocation. An additional tool, Connotation

Analysis, was also utilized based on the findings produced by WordList, Concordance, and

Collocation.
WordList
The WordList tool provides a list of the words used in the text file, sorted from most

frequently used to least frequently used. This tool was used to identify the most common words

used in each data set. The words that had the potential to relate to the operations of the MNsure

website were recorded in a spreadsheet, along with the frequency (number of times the word

appeared in the text file). These results can be found in Tables 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.
Concordance
The Concordance tool allows the user to search for a specific word and provides all of the

instances the word appears in the text file, including the 10 words appearing before and after

each instance (the number of words before and after is an adjustable setting in the software). This

tool was used in the study to identify the words in the WordList that actually pertained to the

MNsure website. To identify these pertinent words, each word in the WordList with potential

relationship to MNsures website was searched via the Concordance tool, causing the software to

display all of the instances in which the words were used in the text file. With each word, each

instance of appearance in the text was read and determined if it was of use to this research

purpose. For example, if a word was included in discussion about website errors, the word was

determined to be useful, and it was recorded in the spreadsheet. However, words that were only

related to the actual MNsure health insurance program (not the website) were deemed

unimportant in this research, so those words were not recorded. If a specific word appeared to

have relation to the website based on the Concordance results, the word was recorded on a
The Importance of Social Media Responses 9

spreadsheet, along with summary of the words relation(s) to the website. The information

gathered through the Concordance tool is not explicitly listed in this document because of the

large amounts of information and, subsequently, the inability to include all results. However, the

results of Concordance are reflected in the WordList results because the Concordance results

were used to identify the words pertaining directly to the MNsure website. For larger data sets,

20 pertinent words were included in the WordList, and for smaller data sets, 10 words were

included in the WordList. These results can be found in Tables 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.

Collocation
The Collocation tool proved to be the most useful tool in this research because it

provided the greatest insight into the nature of the social media responses. This tool allows the

user to identify a specific word and view the words most frequently used in conjunction to it,

identified by ranking each surrounding word with a Collocation Score. Once the words from the

WordList were narrowed to those pertaining to the MNsure website through the Concordance

tool (as described in previous section), each of those words was analyzed with the Collocation

tool. With each word, the top five results from the Collocation tool were recorded. These results

can be found in Tables 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12.

Connotation Analysis
After running Collocation, it was deemed useful to identify words with positive and

negative connotations in order to better understand the nature of the responses. To do this, the

results of the Collocation Analysis were recorded in a spreadsheet and examined. Using the

summary gathered from the Concordance tool, the connotation of the words was identified

through the context of the responses. By understanding the words used in conjunction with the

specified word, it became clear what words were used in either a positive way or a negative way.

All words with negative connotation (i.e., bad, frustration, unhappy) were highlighted in
The Importance of Social Media Responses 10

red. All words with positive connotation (i.e., happy, easy, helpful) were highlighted in

green. If the word was too ambiguous, it was not highlighted. The highlighting of these words

provides a visual representation of the nature of the responses and allows for easier analysis of

the data.

Results
The results of WordList, Concordance, Collocation, and Connotation analysis are

displayed in two tables for each data set. Due to the varying sizes in data sets, the results will be

reported in sets of 10 for smaller sets and sets of 20 for larger sets.
Data set #1: MPR blog from 10/01/2013
This blog is titled Have you used the MNsure website? What was your experience? It

asks the public about their experience with MNsure in the early stages of the program. The

information gathered in this data set is dominated by negativity that is specifically related to the

websites usability. The responses are lengthy, generally well-composed (full sentences, proper

grammar), and almost all contain emotion. Respondents provide very specific complaints about

the website that could be remedied. For example, many responses mention an error message

occurring in the same place on the website, with some even identifying the exact page that

prompts the error message. The results shown in Table 1 were gathered through the usage of the

WordList tool (gathering of potentially useful words) and the Concordance tool (narrowing

WordList to words pertinent to the MNsure website). Due to the large size of the data set, 20

words were included.

Table 1. WordList and frequency from MPR blog.

Words Related to MNsure Website Frequency Used

mnsure 35
site 33
account 26
website 25
work 23
The Importance of Social Media Responses 11

error 22
application 20
create 18
message 16
phone 16
system 13
help 11
nothing 10
page 10
wait 10
frustrating 9
obamacare 9
poor 9
experience 8
process 8

The words identified through WordList and Concordance in Table 1 were analyzed with

Collocation. In Table 2, the first five results from Collocation are listed under subsequent

columns. The red highlight indicates a word with negative connotation. The green highlight

indicates a word with positive connotation. There were 100 words identified through

Collocation, and within these 100 words, 26 words had negative connotation (26%), and 6 words

had positive connotation (6%).

Table 2. Collocation from MPR blog.

WordList 1 2 3 4 5
mnsure woefully welcome unheard todays timeout
site rebuttal worst watch waiting troll
account extended userid submitted stupid retrieve
website curious written unheard todays slow
work websites sad ridiculous released pray
error popped indicated verification sucks submitted
application whoever twice submit stated results
create userid thinking submit stupid redesign
message popped verification sucks saying platform
phone woman unless talk responds recognize
system user opening longer indicated glitching
help tasked employees retired possibly great
nothing zippo zilch doing agony totally
The Importance of Social Media Responses 12

page surprises showing refreshed keeps indicating

wait kill woman witnessed wish unresponsive
frustrating renewal recently poorly move clearly
obamacare written supporter shrivel rotting myths
poor launch wonder unemployed released homeless
experience talk shoot interview extensive developer
process research rumors registration letter hear

Data set #2: Star Tribune online article from 12/23/2013

The title of this article is Sign-up navigators are helping to ease MNsure headaches.

The responses analyzed are from online comments about this article. This data set is smaller than

the first. The article discusses the MNsure programs attempt to help users find/apply for health

insurance through the addition of a customer support program, and the data comes from the

comments on the article. The overall nature of the comments is mixed. Though many

respondents react negatively about the website process, this negativity is balanced with other

respondents discussing their experience working with the navigators, who offer support that

improves user experience. MNsure appears to have taken notice of the publics negative reaction

to the website and has taken steps to improve its usability in the form of human assistance, and

the public is generally appreciative of MNsures attempt to make the program better. The results

shown in Table 3 were gathered through the usage of the WordList tool and the Concordance

tool. Due to this data sets smaller size, 10 words were included.

Table 3. WordList and frequency from 12/23/2013 Star Tribune article.

Words Frequency
mnsure 23
people 13
medica 7
system 6
email 5
problems 5
wait 5
companies 4
website 4
The Importance of Social Media Responses 13

application 3

The words identified through WordList and Concordance in Table 3 were analyzed with

Collocation. In Table 4, the first five results from Collocation are listed under subsequent

columns. The red highlight indicates a word with negative connotation. The green highlight

indicates a word with positive connotation. There were 50 words identified through Collocation,

and within these 50 words, 9 words had negative connotation (18%), and 8 words had positive

connotation (16%).
Table 4. Collocation from 12/23/2013 Star Tribune article.

WordList 1 2 3 4 5
mnsure week via transfer told themselves
people working wonder underestimat swamped succeed
e
medica touch sending saying rep policy
system wonderful wonder vanished usability previously
email via sending contact askmedica answering
problems wording web thru site reporting
wait words times incompetence helpful friendly
companies working take swindling requiring quicker
website underestimat says phrase month complexity
e
application transfer sure hope following november

Data set #3: Star Tribune online article from 01/04/2014

The title of this article is Dayton Slams IBM for failures with MNsure website. The

responses analyzed are from online comments about this article, which discusses Minnesota

Governor Mark Daytons response to the issues with the MNsure website. The subsequent social

media responses to the article and Gov. Daytons actions are very critical. The nature of these

responses are overwhelmingly negative and bipartisan; Republicans and Democrats alike were

unhappy with the way the MNsure website was built. There is a reoccurring frustration among
The Importance of Social Media Responses 14

the responses about how politics and technology did not mix well in the case of MNsure. This

data set does not identify any specific issues with website functioning, but rather issues with the

process in which the website was created and the lack of usability testing. The results shown in

Table 5 were gathered through the usage of the WordList tool and the Concordance tool. Due to

this data sets larger size, 20 words were included.

Table 5. WordList and frequency from 01/04/2014 Star Tribune article.

Words Frequency
ibm 103
dayton 68
government 68
private 53
project 41
state 39
mnsure 36
contractor 29
blame 26
fault 25
time 25
maximus 24
website 22
contract 21
governor 21
job 21
failure 20
business 19
sector 19
problem 18

The words identified through WordList and Concordance in Table 5 were analyzed with

Collocation. In Table 6, the first five results from Collocation are listed under subsequent

columns. The red highlight indicates a word with negative connotation. The green highlight

indicates a word with positive connotation. There were 100 words identified through

Collocation, and within these 100 words, 28 words had negative connotation (28%), and 7 words

had positive connotation (7%).

Table 6. Collocation from 01/04/2014 Star Tribune article.

The Importance of Social Media Responses 15

WordList 1 2 3 4 5
ibm undermining represented readiness offshore miss
dayton raging bending thank witch wanting
government implemented crowd created confuse control
private subsequently hardly unlike theft teams
project planned destructive cases visibility undermining
state worker withhold websites washington unbelievable
mnsure wonder transferring tired structure straightened
contractor yourself swim specified remodel proposed
blame yourself witch websites tired taking
fault whose unbelievable states related proof
time basis materials vet typically truth
maximus usps totals suing stipulating stage
website building waiting strategy smoothly refused
contract viking totals tech subsequently subcontractor
governor watch thank surprised squirm serve
job yuk subcontractor pick mainly expenditures
s
failure success stem provisions post passing
business unlike ton soon smart shocked
sector capital performs truth sentences host
problem salaries lower houston contribute biggest

Data set #4: Star Tribune online article from 01/05/2014

This article is titled MNsures troubles are leaving the poor stranded. The responses

analyzed are from online comments about this article, which discusses people living in poverty

who are applying for health insurance through MNsure. The responses are very politically

charged. The divide between Republicans and Democrats is apparent in this article, but the

majority of that conversation is related to funding and the actual program (not the website), so

the political comments are not of interest in this particular study. What is of interest is the issue

of usability and people of lower socioeconomic status. Many respondents come to the defense of

people living in poverty and argue that the website causes issues for people who are familiar with

technology and have a higher level of education, so the website must be very challenging to
The Importance of Social Media Responses 16

navigate for those without socioeconomic and educational privileges. Some respondents share

their successful experiences working with the website, but the self-identification of these users

signifies that they are not of lower socioeconomic status. The nature of the responses was a

mixture of positive and negative emotion. Some respondents were angry at the government for

spending money on people of lower socioeconomic status, some were angry at the government

for not making the website user-friendly for those people, some were compassionate about

helping those people, and some were pleased with the website functioning. The results shown in

Table 7 were gathered through the usage of the WordList tool and the Concordance tool. Due to

this data sets smaller size, 10 words were included.

Table 7. WordList and frequency from 01/05/2016 Star Tribune article.

Words Frequency
people 35
mnsure 20
program 16
system 14
state 13
problems 10
time 10
website 10
mess 8
folks 6

The words identified through WordList and Concordance in Table 7 were analyzed with

Collocation. In Table 8, the first five results from Collocation are listed under subsequent

columns. The red highlight indicates a word with negative connotation. The green highlight

indicates a word with positive connotation. There were 50 words identified through Collocation,

and within these 50 words, 17 words had negative connotation (34%), and 10 words had positive

connotation (20%).

Table 8. Collocation from 01/05/2014 Star Tribune article.

The Importance of Social Media Responses 17

WordList 1 2 3 4 5
people young worst wit version unfortunate
mnsure vacation ucare systems sponsored sounds
program theory sponsored savings poorly mistake
system room service scrapping roughly purpose
state level wasting wanting wake verify
problems purpose interfacing identity delays incompetence
time wasting relatively plenty orchestrated little
website hole genuine empathy design clearly
mess straighten sector says orchestrated hurting
folks tip theme suggested iceberg doomed

Data set #5: Star Tribune online letter to the editor from 03/24/2014
The title of this letter is MNsure made me cry: My five-month quest for health

insurance The responses analyzed are from online comments about this letter, which tells the

story of a woman on a quest to attain health insurance coverage. As was the case with previous

data sets, this data set was very politically charged, and both major political parties were

represented. The nature of the responses was mixed, with both positive and negative reactions to

the MNsure website. The most striking information from this data set is the large amount of

comments from MNsure users who gave up on the online process and decided to print out a

paper application to mail to the insurance company instead. The results shown in Table 9 were

gathered through the usage of the WordList tool and the Concordance tool. Due to this data sets

smaller size, 10 words were included.

Table 9. WordList and frequency from the letter to the editor.

Words Frequency
insurance 42
people 24
mnsure 19
health 18
government 11
work 10
experience 9
problems 9
time 9
website 9
The Importance of Social Media Responses 18

The words identified through WordList and Concordance in Table 9 were analyzed with

Collocation. In Table 10, the first five results from Collocation are listed under subsequent

columns. The red highlight indicates a word with negative connotation. The green highlight

indicates a word with positive connotation. There were 50 words identified through Collocation,

and within these 50 words, 16 words had negative connotation (32%), and 7 words had positive

connotation (14%).

Table 10. Collocation from letter to the editor.

WordList 1 2 3 4 5
insurance trading subsidized broker won whose
people mostly losers younger web upgrade
mnsure willing wife unable resolve reluctantly
health welcome united thus taxpayers taken
government worth water spending screws real
work ugh performance paid feds correctness
experience waited till thank stymied small
problems sector record monopoly critics blended
time talk recently mentions matched leader
website until total privately navigation create

Data set #6: MPR Daily Circuit Show with MNsure director from 07/21/2014
This data set is the smallest in the research, but it provides detailed, personal accounts

that are useful for the purpose of the research. The responses in this data set are reactions to an

online radio broadcast containing an MPR interview with the MNsure director. The nature of the

responses was very negative, and the functioning of the website was addressed frequently. The

most common topic in the responses was related to glitches in the website that halted the online

application process for users. Despite the issues with their applications, the respondents were not

attacking the program, but rather wanting to provide feedback to make the process better. The

results shown in Table 11 were gathered through the usage of the WordList tool and the

Concordance tool. Due to this data sets smaller size, 10 words were included.
The Importance of Social Media Responses 19

Table 11. WordList and frequency from MPR broadcast.

Words Frequency

mnsure 13
insurance 7
report 6
family 5
changes 3
functions 3
process 3
site 3
website 3
work 3

The words identified through WordList and Concordance in Table 11 were analyzed with

Collocation. In Table 12, the first five results from Collocation are listed under subsequent

columns. The red highlight indicates a word with negative connotation. The green highlight

indicates a word with positive connotation. There were 50 words identified through Collocation,

and within these 50 words, 12 words had negative connotation (24%), and 4 words had positive

connotation (8%).

Table 12. Collocation from MPR broadcast.

WordList 1 2 3 4 5
mnsure want rejected read number application
insurance paid temporary surprisingly private penalty
report ago yourself want uncovered read
family small nothing members glitch farmers
changes your workarounds job either desire
functions wait thirds six necessary work
process you streamline mechanism manual errors
site web think talking really improvement
website system rejected march manual errors
work tasks properly work story functions

Discussion
The Importance of Social Media Responses 20

The analysis of these six data sets addresses the following research questions: Are social

media responses valuable to businesses and companies? Why are these responses valuable? The

data sets included in this research offer a variety of takeaways related to these questions. The

first data set (Tables 1 & 2) provides useful information to the managers of the MNsure website

through specific, detailed complaints that identify the exact areas of the website needing

attention. The second data set (Tables 3 & 4) is valuable because it provides proof of the benefits

of addressing the publics concern about website functionality. MNsure seemed to have taken

notice of the publics discontent and offered a new form of customer support for the website.

Taking notice of the publics positive response to this change is beneficial to MNsure because it

affirms that the change was useful and suggests more changes to further improve the websites

usability. The most important takeaways from the third data set (Tables 5 & 6) are the bipartisan

nature of the responses, the general publics growing concern with usability, and the anger

caused by technology that does not work properly. The bipartisan nature of the responses is

significant because it proves that social media responses are produced by individuals with

various viewpoints. These responses are representative of society as a whole. Due to the

advanced nature of modern technology, users tend to expect their experiences online to be quick,

seamless, and easy, as is apparent in these responses. The fourth data set (Tables 7 & 8) provides

information about the importance of usability for all users, regardless of education or

socioeconomic status. People in minority categories are also customers, so companies must keep

in mind the importance of making their services accessible. Like the fourth data set, the fifth set

(Tables 9 & 10) emphasizes the importance of usability. Many users of the MNsure website

abandoned the online application for a paper application, which is significant because it proves

the website had not accomplished its most basic goal of making online health insurance
The Importance of Social Media Responses 21

applications simple and accessible. The sixth data set (Tables 11 & 12) is useful because it

provides information that reflects the knowledge gained from usability testing. Usability testing

is expensive and time consuming, so using social media responses instead would be a cost-

effective solution to improving the website.

These findings answer the research questions and provide suggestions to businesses

around the usage of social media. Social media responses are, in fact, useful to businesses and

companies because social media (1) is a major outlet for public opinion, while also (2) giving

businesses insight about customer experience and (3) providing information similar to that of

usability testing. The following sections describe these reasons in detail.

Social media is a major outlet for public opinion

The overwhelming amount of data in this research is proof of the publics engagement in

social media. Regardless of respondents opinions of the MNsure website, it is evident that social

media is a major outlet for public opinion. The social media networks analyzed are not

completely representative of the entirety of social media because the responses to MNsure on

popular social media networks like Facebook and Twitter are not included in this research. If

such responses were included, the evidence would likely be even more overwhelming in the

prevalence of social media. Referring back to the Social media and civic engagement section

of this document, the data in this research mirror the findings of the various scholars referenced:

Many members of the public utilize social media to participate in societal happenings.
The nature of the responses analyzed in this research was varied. From the responses, one

can conclude that respondents were representative of the viewpoints of both Republicans and

Democrats. When the political viewpoint of the respondent was self identified, respondents

behavior was consistently representative of their political beliefs. Republicans were unhappy

with the concept of MNsure and were also displeased with the website, while Democrats were
The Importance of Social Media Responses 22

generally happy with the concept of MNsure and were more likely to see the positive aspects of

the website. In regards to the study done by Velasquez (2012), the same research question can be

applied to this research: Can social media be the basis for legitimate political discussion? In the

case of this research, it can. The varied mix of self-identified Republicans and Democrats

provides the variety of opinions deemed necessary by Velasquez. In other words, the discussion

is not dominated by one viewpoint. It is helpful to note that diversity in political viewpoint is

present in all six data sets. In these data sets, the respective social media networks invite political

discussion by posing questions to the public and encouraging the public to participate. Social

media is useful in this regard because respondents likely would not have an outlet through which

they could voice their opinions to a large, public audience. Before social media encouraged civic

participation, a person would have to take many actions in order to have their opinion heard by

the public. Now, with social media, anyone with access to the internet has the ability to weigh in

on topics like MNsure from wherever and whenever, with the potential for their opinion to reach

any other internet user. Though it is unclear if respondents were able to establish credibility in

their responses (as discussed by Velasquez), it is apparent that the respondents take their

responses seriously due to the composition, completeness, amount of information, and

enthusiasm visible in their responses.

Social media gives businesses insight about customer experience
The next piece information that can be gathered from the data is in regards to

positive/negative customer experience. The Collocation data from each set of responses was

categorized by positive, negative, and ambiguous connotation, providing a representation of the

nature of the responses. Though the majority of words containing some connotation in all data

sets were negative, all data sets also included words with positive connotation. This is important

to note because it proves that not all respondents were seeking to unleash their emotional
The Importance of Social Media Responses 23

frustration about the websites functioning, thus removing the emotional nature from their

responses and leaving comments that accurately represent user experience. Though emotional

responses can accurately represent user experience, many of those responses appear to be less

credible because of the emotion involved. Here, the data proves that not all social media

responses are emotionally charged and can be useful to businesses.

The findings in this research also make clear that the public expects technology to be

usable, and when technology is not usable, it is unacceptable and frustrating. Society has become

increasingly more reliant on technology, and technology has become increasingly more advanced

and user friendly. Users now expect technology to work well, quickly, and with little to no

problems. The MNsure website is a perfect example of a recent technology that arguably fulfills

none of those expectations. The user-friendly nature of most social media sites invites users to

voice opinions freely, and these sites usability directly contrast with the functioning of the

MNsure website. The various mentions of the term usability and, more specifically, usability

testing proves that the public is concerned with user experience. Businesses should take note of

this trend and be aware of the ultra-critical nature of the public when it comes to the usability of

technology.
As was referenced in the section Social media and marketing in this document,

businesses have taken more notice of their customers on social media, especially in China. This

is a promising trend because the focus has shifted away from the business and product being the

main concern to the customers experience being most important. As was referenced in the study

by Nyguyen, Yu, Melewar & Chen (2015), businesses need to be focused on customer

experience in order to compete with other businesses. If businesses do not provide the highest

quality product or service, the customer will likely be vocal about that experience on social

media, which decreases brand favorability. The data gathered from social media responses about
The Importance of Social Media Responses 24

the MNsure user experience show that MNsures creators did not take user experience into

account in the website design. This point relates back to the discussion of the importance of

usability, but also makes the point that the customers perception of a product or service is now

more public than ever, and that influences others perceptions of the product or service as well. It

is important that businesses take notice of social media responses because these responses are

extremely relevant to a businesss success. A store would not ignore a displeased customer

standing at the checkout counter, demanding to speak to a manager. Social media responses

provide a similar situation; a business must be aware of the online attitudes of its customers if it

wants to provide them with a favorable experience. Though social media responses are numerous

(due to the accessibility and ease of social media networks), it is important that businesses do

their best to treat online customers just like in-person customers. At the very least, businesses

should take notice of what customers are writing on social media and use that knowledge to

improve their product or service.

Social media provides information similar to that of usability testing
Just like a usability test, social media responses can help businesses understand the

customer experience, and the MNsure website could have benefited greatly from both usability

testing and monitoring of social media responses. An initial usability test is required to identify

the major issues with a website, but after a websites launch, businesses could also monitor social

media responses as a second usability test to identify issues that were not resolved during the

initial testing. The consistent negativity found in the MNsure social media responses suggests

that MNsure did not consider these responses when making improvements to the process, except

for the data set titled Sign up navigators are helping to ease MNsure headaches, which paints

the picture of more satisfied customers as a result of the addition of customer support. In addition

to negative social media responses, a variety of newspaper articles have since been published
The Importance of Social Media Responses 25

about the issues related to the website. Rep. Mark Uglem (2015) takes time to write an opinion

article about the still-present flaws: While the website may function better than it did during its

disastrous rollout, there is still room for improvement (n.p.). Had MNsure taken into account

the complaints and suggestions offered through social media, the publics overall perception of

the website and program could have been much more positive. At the time of this writing,

MNsure still receives criticism on social media. There is no way to know for sure if this is

directly linked to MNsures unwillingness to utilize social media comments, but one cannot

wonder if MNsures actions (or, rather, inactions) had an effect on the publics ongoing attitude.

Related to the study done by Lim (2016), the public is very aware of a businesss actions online,

and that awareness has an effect on the favorability and profits of that business. Is there hope for

MNsure to change the publics perception of the program? One cannot be sure, but given the

time in which the MNsure website has been active and the apparently unchanged public opinion

of the website, it seems that MNsure has a lot of ground to cover if it wants to improve its brand.

However, the case of MNsure and the data analyzed in this study is useful to prove the

importance of social media responses for businesses.

Implications of research findings
The sheer volume of social media responses about any given subject makes utilizing the

content of responses a daunting task. However, businesses can take steps to be more aware of

their customers on social media.

Social medias broad reach makes it a useful tool for marketing and gathering

information about customer experience. All businesses should consider creating company

accounts on popular social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. Not only will these

accounts allow the business to market their products/services, but it will also invite customers to

interact with the business. If, for example, a customer is displeased with the product they

received, the customer can tag the business in a Tweet about their negative experience. Upon
The Importance of Social Media Responses 26

being tagged, the business will be notified about the Tweet and will be able to record the

complaint and respond to the customer. Likewise, a customer can send a complaint to the

business through the messaging service on a social media platform. This form of communication

is convenient because it is less formal and takes place in on a platform that the customer

frequently uses. Instead of going to the trouble to call or email, a social media message is a

quicker alternative, especially when working with younger generations. Creating a space where

the customer can contact the business will allow for easier tracking of social media responses

directed at the business.

Social media management platforms like HootSuite are useful for both planning a

businesss social media posts and monitoring other social media users posts. Businesses can

elect to track certain phrases or tags through these management platforms to stay aware of

response activity. For example, a business like Apple could choose to follow the phrase iPhone

7 to see social media responses containing that particular phrase.

Businesses interested in using social media responses to improve their company can also

reach out directly to their customers and ask for their feedback. Platforms like Facebook and

Twitter allow for the creation of polls that gather information from the public anonymously.

Businesses can also create posts on social media asking the public to respond directly to the post

with feedback. In both techniques, the business is signaling to its customers that their feedback is

valued and important to the business. Not only will the business gain valuable feedback, but they

will also create a positive image for the company.

Since the launch of the MNsure website, the managers of MNsure appear to have taken

interest in social media responses. MNsure has created Facebook and Twitter pages in order to

advertise services and to ask for customer feedback. A search of MNsure or #MNsure on

Twitter reveals an ongoing conversation between MNsure representatives and customers. Recent

customer feedback seems mixed between positive and negative responses, but the most
The Importance of Social Media Responses 27

important takeaway from the current MNsure social media situation is that no customer response

goes unanswered. Though these recent responses show that the MNsure website still has room

for improvement, MNsure has clearly taken necessary steps to utilize valuable social media

responses to improve their customers experiences.

Limitations of Research
Though this research includes a large volume of social media responses, more analysis is

needed, specifically from other social media networks. More insight could be gathered from

social media responses on popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter during the time of the

MNsure launch. Without data from a larger variety of social media networks, it cannot be said if

some social media networks produce more valuable responses than others. Research about

specific methods of using these responses would also provide more insight and guidance for

businesses.
Social media is a relatively new technology in the world of communication, so it is

necessary to improve upon the knowledge in the field about this new tool. The existing studies

about social media are useful and full of captivating information. Additional research building on

existing knowledge about social media will allow businesses and those in the field of

communication to better understand the online culture created by popular social media platforms.

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