Public Relations

PRO285 Public Relations in Society

Social media Topic 9

Lecture objectives

• To introduce social media and its impact on public relations

• To suggest that communication takes place in a dynamic environment that poses new challenges for professional communicators

• To identify some of these challenges for communicating in an online environment

• To consider the implications for the ways we conceptualise public relations and its role in society

Introduction

• “‘Social media’ is the term commonly given to Internet and mobile-based channels and tools that allow users to interact with each other and share opinions and content. As the name implies, social media involves the building of communities or networks, encouraging participation and engagement.” (CIPR 2011 p. 4)

Challenges of the online environment • Challenges of the online environment

Conversations in the public domain Publics become active rather than passive Direct rather than mediated information flows

• Strategic media management Publicity model vs relationship model

Digital media and channels

Website metrics and digital media KPIs

Understanding social media and public relations – industry attitudes

• Public relations practitioners were slow to embrace new media and social media

• Barriers include staff, time, budget, along with a lack of training and a fear of technology

• Practitioners trial social media for personal use before adopting it in professional practice

• Practitioners increasingly use some form of social media as part of public relations activity

Understanding social media and public relations – theoretical approaches

• Is social media really an opportunity for public relations to ‘reinvent’ itself with a renewed focus on dialogue and engagement? Or has nothing really changed?

• With social media, public relations is a distributed function performed by many people in an organisation (Kelleher, 2009).

• There is a tension between organisational or corporate voices and personal voices via social media.

Publics and social media

• 78% of Australians use the internet, a figure comparable with Singapore, Japan and the UK (Fitch, 2012).

• However, internet access varies depending on age, income, education and geographical location.

• Social media allows geographically dispersed publics to organise around a common issues.

Challenges for organisations

• The 24/7 commitment to social media erodes professional and personal boundaries.

• Traditional approval processes are inappropriate for social media, particularly in dynamic situations.

• Organisations should develop clear policies and procedures around social media use (Macnamara, 2011).

• Much communication takes place online and therefore creates new challenges for practitioners.

Legal and ethical issues

• Social media challenges traditional notions of copyright and ownership, exposing legislative grey areas (Breit, 2007).

• Integrity (including transparency and openness), competence and confidentiality should apply to all public relations activity (CIPR, 2011).

• Practitioners must comply with the Australian eMarketing Code of Practice.

Social media strategy

• Drawing on research, practitioners should choose the best platform to use and develop a communication strategy to drive people to that platform.

• For example, the website team for www.australianasbestosnetworks.org.au tweets updates, links online videos and uses an avatar to post stories on on Facebook.

• Not all campaigns need to include social media.

Social media platforms

• Blogs can develop an influential following with niche audiences. They are also useful in terms of research.

• Social and business networks, such as Google Plus, Facebook and LinkedIn, develop large networks and can be useful in terms of relationship building, promotional campaign and recruitment.

• File sharing sites, such as Tumblr, Flickr and YouTube, encourage the development and dissemination of audiovisual content.

• Twitter is emerging a an important news source and practitioners are beginning to ‘twit-pitch’ to journalists.

The future of public relations

• In 1998, Kent & Taylor viewed new media as promoting more ethical public relations.

• Do you think social media has changed public relations?

• How can practitioners use social media as an opportunity to engage in dialogue?

• Do the opportunities for publics to connect with each other ensure greater transparency in organisational communication?

Further reading

• Bridgen, L. (2013). The boys are back in town: Rethinking the feminisation of public relations through the prism of social media. Prism, 9(1). Accessed from http://www.prismjournal.org/fileadmin/9_1/Bridgen.pdf

• Kent, M. L. (2013). Using social media dialogically: Public relations role in reviving democracy. Public Relations Review, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.07.024

• Linke, A. & Zerfass, A. (2013). Social media governance: Regulatory frameworks for successful online communications. Journal of Communication Management, 17(3), 270-86.

• Waddington, S. (2013). It cuts both ways. In S. Earl & S. Waddington, Brand Vandals, pp 5-27. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. Accessed from issuu.com/bloomsburypublishing/docs/brand_vandals_online_sa mpler