PR and Social Media - Coursework Example

PR and Social Media Name: Name of institution:   Introduction In more than a century, The Public Relations (PR) function has remained an important organizational function. PR is defined as the communication between the organization and its stakeholder (Edwards and Hodges 2011; p. 2). Stakeholders include customers, the media, investors, prospects, employees, and the government; they are also referred to as the organization’s publics. Opinion about an organization has always been divided with people saying good or bad things about an organization. Social media is a new exciting platform to voice opinions and concerns about a products, goods and services. Unlike traditional media, public relations through social media have a high likelihood of going viral. This means that a conversation on social media about a company’s products can easily be noticed by millions of users on social media. This makes communication with the public faster and easier. However, conversation about an organization on social media can either be beneficial to the organization or damaging to the organization. Thus, organizations have to ask themselves how they can manage or influence social media conversations about their products. Secondly, social media has the potential to communicate to the global public more than any other method. PR practitioners are thus left to consider the impact of Global social media conversations on their organization. Social media is also seen as a tool that can enhance two-way communication between the company and its public. Interactive social media is having a great impact in the practice of HR in a globalized environment. Furthermore, globalization has led to an increase in democratic space and freedom of speech. Consequently, the public is more willing to engage the company in PR conversations which have the potential of being beneficial or harmful to the organization. This essay first discusses the globalization of communication including social media noting that social media has a worldwide reach. Secondly, it looks at how social media is changing PR and the firm’s communication with the public. Thirdly, it tackles some issues that complicate the application of social media in Public relations. Globalization of Communication and Social Media The internet has led to the globalization of communication on an unprecedented scale. The advancement in communication technology especially the internet has enabled people around the world to communicate more easily and faster. Wireless technology is also changing the way people communicate in the world (Norris 2012; p. 1). People can now access the internet from handheld devices and thus communication is more convenient and personal. Since most people use their time on the internet for social networking, the advances in internet technology has led to an increase in the usage of social media networks. Social media can be defined as an online network for sharing information, interest, opinions and knowledge. Therefore, organizations are presented with a new platform to spread the perception of their products and organization in the public. Unlike traditional media, social media communication is a two-way process where the organization can obtain feedback from the users (Breakenridge 2012; p. 6). These conversations should be of interest to the organizations as they occur in independent contexts and are rarely biased. Launched less than a decade ago YouTube, Bebo, Twitter, facebook among other sites connect the globe more closely and are changing the way a public relations is practiced. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of a social media site for PR communication depends on the sites popularity. However, this popularity keeps changing over time and rarely will a site remain the most popular for more than a few months. While Social media platforms provide organizations with meaningful ways of engaging with the public, they also present numerous challenges to PR practitioners as they are new to them (Fitch, 2009; p. 6). PR practitioners need to monitor multiple social media sites including blogs. Effective incorporation of Social media into the PR practice of a firm remains hard. According to Galloway (2005; 573), the traditional ways of communicating to the public are no longer effective when used on social media platforms. Impacts of social media 1. Reaching more audiences According to reports in 2013, facebook the world largest social media site had over 1.19 billion users and was still growing (Fitzsimmons 2013). This implies that public relations can easily reach a wider public than any other media. In the next section this paper discusses the impact of social media on the field of public relation and how PR practitioners are leveraging public relations to their advantage. 2. Greater impact of PR Communication The leveraging of social media to spread PR communication has the potential to increase the impact of PR communication greatly. According to Macnamara (2010; p. 23), appropriate behavior on social media remains loosely defined and thus the boundaries of marketing and PR are further blurred. The fact that messages on social media spread through relationships called friendships means message has a greater impact on the recipient (Bardhan and Weaver, 2011; p. 46). The friendships conceal the underlying promotional nature of public relations. PR on social media relies on online friends and influential bloggers to communicate the PR communication indirectly. According to Edwards and Hodges (2011; p. 71), information from credible third party has a greater impact than the organizations direct communication with consumers. 3. Increase in PR deception Deceptive practices by organizations have increased since they started using social media for PR communication. Several organizations have been in the spotlight for unethical social media PR campaigns. Consequently, these organizations image and reputation are affected negatively. According to Macnamara (2010; p. 23), organization’s like Wal-Mart and L’Oreal were in the media recently allegedly accused of creating fake blogs. The fake blogs were created by public relations firms or individuals working for the organization. However, the bloggers purport to be independent experts within their industry. In the views of Macnamara (2010; p. 23), the use of PR deceptively is quite widespread on social media. Companies that run such campaigns risk causing harm to their reputation. Macnamara (2010; p. 24), disapproves of Cinderella-type story that was fabricated by Fashion chain, Witchery man. It involved a search for a man who had left his jacket in a Sydney Cafe. Unfortunately, even reputable organizations like Tourism Queensland are using deceptive PR . According to Macnamara (2010; p. 24), Tourism Queensland fabricated a narrative that had a woman tattooed with a Great Barrier Reef advertisement on her arms for publicity. 4. PR across Cultural boundaries Organizations have to know that they are reaching a culturally diverse audience when they use social media for PR. PR practitioners have to know how to communicate effectively in various cultures and avoid offending some people (Bardhan and Weaver, 2011, p. 53). The global communication context is characterized by ambiguity and uncertainty. A word or an image may have multiple meanings depending on the culture of the audience. Ordinarily, PR practitioners have to address multiple stakeholders within one national culture, and the situation is complex enough (Edwards and Hodges 2011; p. 45). Social media presents a more complex problem where communication is with multiple cultures. The global public lives across real political and perceived cultural barriers which PR practitioners have to consider while communication. PR practitioners also have to be concerned about the question of what is considered ethical across international boundaries. In some countries corruption is considered a way of life and organizations are forced to participate in order to survive (Bardhan and Weaver, 2011; p. 64). Some organizations in an attempt to cut cost may use unfair labour practices in foreign operations. Regardless of the country the violation occurs, social media now provides a platform that makes the repercussions of unethical action real. Nike recent involvement in a Sweatshop scandal is a clear indication that social media will no longer allow organizations escape responsibility for corporate evil doing (Bardhan and Weaver, 2011; p. 69). Nike’s story on Sweatshop labour went viral once it was released on popular video sharing site You Tube. However, Nike cannot pull down the video that accuses them of exploiting Dominican Republic workers. 5. The rising importance of bloggers and influencers Organizations should use popular social media bloggers or journalists to help them spread their messages. A PR practitioner must know the topics that are likely to attract the attention of these influencers (Edwards and Hodges 2011; p. 82). The bloggers gauge their own success according to the excitement of the stories they publish, and the plaudits they attract. PR practitioners must develop a connection with influential blogger and online journalists (Fitch 2009; p. 11). Hope of being mentioned in influential posts may lie in the relationships between the company PR people and these important influencers. However, with social media, it is easier for PR practitioners to develop connections with influential social media personalities (Fitch 2009; p. 11). By being in connection, the influencers will contact the PR people before publishing any stories related to the organization. 6. Forcing organization to be Creative with their Press releases Success in Public relations can only be achieved by the use of creative content. Content needs to be exciting and interesting to the audience for it to make an impact (Edwards and Hodges 2011; p. 79). Indeed, very creative content means more media coverage. With exciting, compelling or funny content, social media users will want to share it and talk about it. A company has to have social media content which has the potential to go viral (Fitch 2009; p. 11). Social media content should showcase the company as a thought leader which can creatively engage its audience. With creative content, media coverage of successful viral content might be possible. Organization can achieve greater coverage of their videos by making top industry influencers aware of the content (Fitch 2009; p. 11). Sending links to top influencers and bloggers will make them aware of the content provided by the company. However, for bloggers to run a story based on an organizations media release, the release has to be good quality and creative. Organizations have to ask themselves how fun their content is? And how engaging the audience finds it? Issues in Using Social Media as PR Platform 1. Containing negative press PR communication over social media is considered to be less controlled communication than other forms of PR communication. Once an organization does a press release on social media they lose control of that communication. Blogger and other influencers may choose to run the content or not. Furthermore, bloggers may run the news in a negative way that is detrimental to the organization’s reputation. However, Edwards and Hodges (2011; p. 18) note that PR has been working in uncontrolled communication for long. Thus, the challenge of uncontrolled communication is not new to PR practitioners. PR practitioners must be aware that negative communication about the company can come from virtually anywhere. The organization has the responsibility to put its ear on the ground and alleviate damage from internet rumours. Customer complaints, employee complaint, labour relations are among issues in that people may raise about an organization online (Breakenridge, D 2012; p. 8). Responding to multiple instances of negative press on social media platforms is one of the hardest tasks for contemporary PR (Bardhan and Weaver, 2011; p. 230). For example, an employee may tweet innocently about an organization’s labour relations but such a tweet goes viral. Unlike traditional media, such negative press cannot be retracted or removed. In most cases comments made on social media are available long after a post has been pulled down. In addition, major news networks have adopted a habit of airing controversial social media posts that may further damage an organizations reputation. 2. Privacy issues While social media offers the PR Company a good opportunity to collect consumer insights, serious privacy issues arise from collection of consumer information. Organizations may mine data about how consumers perceive them from the consumers’ social media posts (Edwards and Hodges 2011; p. 54). Already powerful software that can mine consumer information across several social media sites exists. However, such information belongs to the consumer and PR practitioners have no right to access this information. Furthermore, media releases find their way to the profiles and walls of people who have not asked for them. This practice too may be considered a violation of the individual’s privacy. 3. Social Media and Crisis Situation In times of crisis choosing to communicate to the public through social media may not be very effective (Edwards and Hodges 2011; p. 135). Crises such as server crash, website crash, and defective products cannot be effectively handled using social media channels. The public needs to have updates on what is happening, if the crisis is to be effectively handled. In a crisis situation, PR can be undermined by an attempt to use the wrong channel. The press need a human to respond to the situation and show the audience that the company cares (Edwards and Hodges 2011; p. 138). In contrast, using Social media is unsatisfactory and the company will only expose themselves to situations of ridicule. Conclusion Used as part of integrated Public Relations communication social media platforms like Twitter, Google+, Facebook and Youtube can increase the impact of an organization’s PR. As seen earlier, over 1.19 billion people have active social media accounts, this greatly increases the potential of PR communication to reach a wider audience. Secondly, PR communications has the potential to make greater impact on the audience than traditional media. The fact that PR messages are shared among friends conceals the underlying promotional nature of public relations. PR practitioners also have to consider the impact of operating in a multicultural environment where people may understand messages differently. It is important not to use PR messages that may offend people of diverse cultures. On the other hand, Social Media threatens organizations with damaging scandals, if they fail to uphold their corporate social responsibility. Thus, social media is making organizations more accountable for their activities around the world. Unfortunately, many organizations use social media platforms to pass on deceptive public relations communication. As seen in some examples, Organizations may fabricate stories and fake blog posts that put the company in positive light. These practices are unethical and are further blurring the divide between public relation and marketing. To use PR properly organizations must recognize the power of connecting with authentic bloggers and online journalists. An authentic public relations story will help the organization improve its reputation while fake stories only attract the public’s wrath. Furthermore, organizations are forced to offer creative, exciting, compelling, and funny content to appeal to social media users. Only content that can go viral is able to achieve the public relations effect desired by most organizations. Unfortunately, Social media is a largely uncontrolled platform of PR communication. Once the organization releases the information online it can be distorted by user comments and posts. Some detractors of the organization may take the opportunity to spread negative information about the organization. Secondly, the issue of privacy also confronts the use of social media as a tool for PR. The right of organizations to collect information about consumer’s perception of their products or organization may be seen as a violation of the social media user’s privacy rights. Finally, in time of crisis, it must be remembered that Social media is just a PR tool not a substitution of the PR function. However, it is not in doubt that social media is changing and redefining the practice of Public Relations. Works Cited Bardhan, N., & Weaver, C. K 2011. Public relations in global cultural contexts: Multi-paradigmatic perspectives. London: Routledge. Breakenridge, D 2012. Social Media and Public Relations: Eight new practices for the PR professional. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Edwards, L. & Hodges, C. 2011. Public relations, society & culture: Theoretical and empirical explorations. Abingdon, England: Routledge. Fitch, Kate. 2009. “Making friends in the Wild West: Singaporean public relations practitioners perceptions of working in social media.” PRism 6, no 2, http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/4008/ Fitzsimmons, Michelle. 2013.  Facebook has 1.19 billion monthly active users, mobile use is skyrocketing, TechRadar, http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/web/facebook-now-has-1-19-billion-monthly-active-users-mobile-use-is-skyrocketing-1195063. Galloway, C. 2005. “Cyber-PR and “dynamic touch.” Public Relations Review, 31(4); 572–7 Macnamara, J. 2010. “Public relations and the social: how practitioners are using, or abusing,social media. “Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/apprj/articles/11-macnamara.pdf Norris, A. R 2012. “Computer-Mediated Communication and Globalization: Considering Social, Academic, and Business Factors.” Student Pulse, 4, no. 2. Read More