50 Proceedings | Vol. 83, No. 1 members typically are not willing to spend even one second liking or reacting to a post that is blatantly edu- cational,” Zilnicki concludes. The analysis found that content about Heartland District operations, such as search-and-rescue cases and law enforcement missions, reached more people and received greater engagement than any other type of content. Newsworthiness also played a role. Heartland’s most engaging subjects in 2020 were the capsizing of the liftboat Seacor Power, which delivered a reach of 2,942,464 in nine posts, and Hurricane Ida, which developed a reach of 4,489,071 with 48 total posts. These so-called booster events helped grow the Heartland Division’s Facebook audience 88.6% during the 34-month study period. The analysis showed that video posts performed best, followed by photo posts. Surprisingly, posts with longer text descriptions of 71-100 words performed better than those with short captions —1 to 30 words—or moder- ate captions—31 to 70 words. And posts that tagged two or more other Facebook pages elicited significantly more comments than those without tags, reinforcing the importance of collaboration. While Zilnicki’s research focused on Facebook, her findings can be applied to boat- ing and boating-safety messaging on other platforms, notably Instagram, X, and YouTube. Collaborate or Stagnate Collaboration is the key ingredient of social media out- reach. We see that with Zilnicki’s research showing the importance of tagging on Facebook, and the com- pounding effect of collaborative posts on Instagram. The platform allows up to five collaborators on a single post, which enables boating safety outreach projects to reach new audiences and maximize the impact of limited resources. Like other forms of advertising, the cost of influencer marketing is scaled to audience size. But an influencer campaign can resonate far beyond its paid reach. By introducing the influencer’s audience to the campaign’s own social channels, a well-designed collab- oration can bring thousands of views and new followers to a boating safety organization. The National Safe Boating Council invites collaboration with dozens of agencies and brands each year, Phillips said. “Some of those are the different Coast Guard sectors and state agencies. Some are boat manufacturers or life jacket manufacturers, and others might be a Waves of Hope family,” she said. One of the biggest collaborative events in RBS is National Safe Boating Week, an annual awareness cam- paign in the run-up to Memorial Day. The event dates to 1958, but in recent years has become a social media phenomenon with strong participation from the boat- ing industry, government agencies, and nonprofits. The National Safe Boating Council has created a calendar and toolkits designed to make it easier for organizations and individuals to share safe boating messages dur- ing the designated week and year-round. The toolkits include suggested text, images, and hashtags. The Sea Tow Foundation also has developed social media toolkits supporting its Sober Skipper campaign and National Boating Safety Awards. One Piece of the Strategy Social media is consuming ever more of our attention. In little more than a decade it has become the primary source of information for millions of Americans, and RBS nonprofit grant recipients have responded by mak- ing social media the centerpiece of many national boat- ing safety outreach efforts. Like a fast-spreading invasive species, social media has radically changed the media ecosystem. But it’s still an ecosystem. Those magazines that used to clutter medical offices are still around, pub- lishing in print and online. Television is more accessible to niche marketers than ever before. Podcasting has become a powerful cultural force. Mobile apps are gain- ing momentum, radio is going strong, and newspapers are still hanging on. All have a place in an integrated national RBS outreach strategy. At the moment, social media is the best way to grab an audience’s attention, though other forms of media are still better at holding it. The video of SGT Parkton pulling that 7-year-old boy from Destin Pass didn’t go viral by itself. The tension, emotion, and raw reality were there, but it needed a push to gain traction and context to drive home the safety lessons. That came in the form of a part- nership with Boating magazine, which published the video together with an article full of important details a three-minute reel couldn’t convey. Boating and its sis- ter titles promoted the story with shorter clips on their social media channels, funneling traffic to the article. All of those elements worked together to create a powerful story with one unforgettable message: Life jackets save lives. About the authors: Tom Dardis is the Recreational Boating Safety Outreach Coordinator in the Boating Safety Division of the Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety at U.S. Coast Guard headquarters. Jeff Moag is the Content Director at the Water Sports Foundation, an educational nonprofit dedicated to recreational boating and paddling safety. Endnotes: 1. Water Sports Foundation. (n.d.) Heroic Boating Rescue. Water Sports Foundation. Retrieved November 18, 2025, from https://www.watersportsfoundation. com/heroic-boating-rescue-at-destin-pass 2. SRDS (n.d.) Media Buying Solutions. Standard Rate & Data Service, 2025. Retrieved November 18, 2025, from www.srds.com/media-buying-solutions
