The Benefits and Disadvantages of Using Social Media in Public Relations

“Balance the risks and the rewards of social media in your planned profession“

What is Social Media?

The term Social media describes the different internet platforms and mobile channels of communication that enable users to engage in networking exchanges whilst developing and sharing user-generated content online (Dewing, 2012, page 1). The evolution of  new media and the internet has emerged various social media platforms including  Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube and many others (Rouse & Wigmore, 2015; Dewing, 2012, page 1; Horton, 2009).

What is Web 2.0?

These social networking mediums also known as “Web 2.0” have transformed human interaction processes, changing the way in which information is transmitted between countries. Thus, enabling people to send and receive messages around the globe instantly. The term Web 2.0 is used to describe how individuals have the facility to network, share, tag and post information via social networking sites such as those previously mentioned (Flew, 2014, page 67). Web 2.0 is more interactive than Web 1.0 which only allows individuals to read information without sharing it.

  Industries Affected by Technological Expansions and New Media

The operational aspects of various communication industries have unavoidably been impacted by the emerging cyber changes in many ways. For example, public relations (PR) industries as Horton (2009, page 1) suggests have in recent years been forced to switch from traditional platforms to using social media networks in order to generate content and reach wider publics. These changes in the cyberspace have enabled PR practitioners to send single messages through multiple online channels with the aim for their content to appeal to different audiences.

This Article will Discus how Social Media has Impacted the PR Industry

However, like any emerging trend, people should also consider the risks and benefits involved as both outcomes could positively or negatively impact the functioning and the success of organisations. Therefore, to better explain the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in a planned profession, the following article will outline the risks and benefits of using social media in the PR industry.

PR, Building  and Maintaining Relationships

The area of PR mainly focuses on building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their key publics (PRIA, 2015).  The practice is a correlation of various disciplines including media relations, public affairs, public diplomacy, stakeholder engagement, crisis communication, social media public relations, internal communications and many more (Johnston, & Sheehan, 2014, pages 8-9). Hence, PR industries often generate key messages with their content to build effective organisational   reputation to obtain public attention.

Yes to Social Media in Public Relations!

Professionals within the industry constantly work towards increasing the awareness of their organisation. Realistically, sharing information via various platforms in an instant can only be achieved   through the use of rapid and effective channels of communication. From this, it is evident that the use of social media is very much required within the public relation sector.

A Few Social Networking Sites Used In PR

Bivins (2008) supports the previous by suggesting that  technological expansions and new media  have benefited the PR industry in various aspects,  allowing  practitioners to be able to deliver content messages online  using social networks such as blogs,  Facebook, twitter  and YouTube to deliver  their  campaigns whilst also being able to share their content  and participate on online discussions to promote their creative materials.

Good News For PR

As previously mentioned and as shown in the previous video, ‘Web 2.0’ has allowed industry professionals to interact with their publics, not only through a single social networking platform but through multiple channels at once (Vistis Public Relations, 2011). This most definitely is of great benefit to the PR industry as it revolutionises the way work is generally conducted in PR. Consequently, practitioners have the facility to directly communicate with clients, increase brand awareness, provide organizational insights to their audiences and participate on search engine optimizations due to social media (Rutzou, 2015).

Consider the Risks Involved with Social Media In PR

Although this article mentions the benefits of using social media in public relations practices, it is also important for industry professionals to be aware of the risks involved when using social networking platforms to share their content. Accordingly, the Australian Government (2015) suggests that people’s “Digital reputation [are] defined by [their] behaviours in the online environment and by the content [they] post about [themselves] and others.” It is evident from this statement that people with an online presence need to be aware of their ‘Digital Footprint’ on the cyberspace.

What Does Digital Footprint Mean?

The term ‘Digital Footprint’ is used to describe the trails of information individuals create when using the internet (Christensson, 2014; Internet Society, 2015). This includes various online platforms, websites and emails that people use to share data via Web 2.0 (Christensson, 2014).Hence, in the PR industry practitioners need to be prudent about the content they share online.

Social Media Can Destroy a Good Reputation

When poorly used, social media could become a weapon of mass destruction as it is able to generate issues which may cause the organisation to lose its positive reputation. Some of the risks include legal implications, ethical considerations, confidentiality and misleading information (Robinson, 2015). Since the internet is a Digital Footprint arena, PR practices should avoid defamatory comments or sharing untruthful  and private information on their social networking sites as they may risk facing legal issues.

Overall, web 2.0 has enabled PR practitioners to send their messages through various online networking sites. Although social media is a rewarding tool in the PR industry, it was suggested for professionals within the field to be aware of the risks involved when using social media. 

Please leave your comments below

References:

Australian Government. (2015). Digital Reputation. Retrieved from https://esafety.gov.au/esafety-information/esafety-issues/digital-reputation

Bivins, T. (2008).Public relations ethics and the “new” media. Retrived from http://journalism.uoregon.edu/~tbivins/stratcomweb/readings/PR-new-media.pdf

Christensson, P. (2014). Digital Footprint Definition. Retrieved 2015, Oct 27, from http://techterms.com/definition/digital_footprint

Dewing, M. (2012). Social media: An introduction. Retrieved from http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/lop/researchpublications/2010-03-e.pdf

Flew, T. (2014). New media : An introduction (4th ed.). South Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press.

Horton, J. L. (2009). PR and social media. Retrived from http://www.online-pr.com/Holding/PR_and_Social_media.pdf

Internet Society, (2015). Your digital footprint matter. Retrieved from http://www.internetsociety.org/your-digital-footprint-matters

Johnston, J., & Sheehan, M. (2014). Public relations : Theory and practice (4th ed.). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

PRIA. (2015). About public relations. Retrieved from http://www.pria.com.au/aboutus

Rutzou, D. (2015). Getting into the social media game: The benefits of online public relations for businesses. Retrieved from http://www.drpr.com.au/public-relations/social-media.html

Robinson, G. (2015). The risks associated with social media marketing. Retrieved from http://blog.tailwindapp.com/risks-of-social-media-marketing/

Rouse, M., & Wigmore, I. (2015). Social media. Retrieved from  http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media

Vistis Public Relations. (2011). Benefits of social media in public relations. Retrieved from http://www.vitispr.com/blog/benefits-of-social-media-in-public-relations/

Skills PR Professionals Should Have to Outsmart Workplace Robotics in the Future

Look at your planned profession carefully; what can you do as a knowledge worker to ensure you cannot be replaced by smart machines?

The Knowledge Economy

Powell and Snellman (2004) describe the term ‘Knowledge Economy’ (KE) as being the“production and services based on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technical and scientific advance, as well as rapid obsolescence.” This statement suggests that jobs practiced by knowledge workers within a knowledge economic society may no longer be required in the future, despite them still being effectively important.  Research supports that a KE is one where knowledge and disembodied talents rather than physical talents are fundamental sources of contemporary economic designs, where wealth is “more strongly and more directly rooted in the production, distribution, and use of knowledge than ever before” (Flew, 2007, page 196).  KE  emphasises on the  advancement of knowledge  focused industries and  their capacity  in social and economic  change.

Knowledge Workers

To provide a clear understanding of the term ‘Knowledge worker’, Davenport (2005, page 9) suggests that the term is often used to describe the skills of professionals having higher level education, expertise and experience in their professional field. Such individuals generally use communication techniques within their occupation to effectively solve problems, fulfil customer requirements, make decisions, gather information and applying knowledge into their work (Davenport, 2005, page 9). Hence, people in such positions tend to experience continuous growth ( Emanoil, Alexandra & Mihaeka, n.d., page 151).

How PR is Affected By the Changing society

Relatively,  public relations (PR) is a discipline that uses communication in every aspect of business as it is an area that seeks to develop and maintain mutual and beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics (Public Relations Institute of Australia, 2015). Nonetheless, globalisation and the rapid expansion of technological innovations have inevitably affected in various ways the manner in which individuals interact with one another within the current society (Suny Levin Institute, n.d.). Hence, the way in which messages are sent and received through multiple communication channels is constantly changing.

Empty Chairs, No Administrative Jobs left,  More skills needed !

When discussing the future of labour forces and various industrial organisations, Pearson in the World Financial Review (2014) predicts that administrative, agency and knowledge based jobs will customarily be replaced by smart machines.  This means that professionals in specific industries will need to further their knowledge and skills to match future workforce trends. To avoid jobs being merged to robotic machines, workers will need to be aware of the required skill sets for future career advancements. This article will mainly focus on the area of PR and will discuss how PR professionals as knowledge workers can ensure that their jobs are not replaced by smart technologies. An overview of the changes caused by globalisation will also be outlined in this article.

What is Globalisation?

As previously mentioned, globalisation is a major factor which has significantly impacted the different means of human interactions (Global Business Environment, n.d., page 26). The term ’Globalisation’ is broad and is often used to clearly define the notions of various political, technological, economic and cultural arenas of countries  that  are in some way  merging into  an international sphere (Global Business Environment, n.d., page 26). The current technological expansion has strictly enabled people around the world to connect with their friends and family through various media and social media channels such as telephones, Skype, Facebook and text messaging applications.

NO JOBS For Humans and PR Professionals!

Consequently, individuals and organizations are forced to interact and adapt to   global markets  without  being limited by geographical  distances (Global Business Environment, n.d., page). Due to this, various industrial jobs that were vibrant in the past decade have ceased to exist in the current economy. Hence, it has been predicted that a similar phenomenon will occur, where existing jobs will eventually be replaced by artificial robotics (Pearson, 2014).This could negatively impact public relations industry specialists.

Adequate Skills Needed for PR Professionals In the Future 

However, to avoid this,  it has been suggested that  by 2022 professionals in PR  will  need to create  a robust economy by sharing  their knowledge   and expanding their skills through planned research, critical thinking skills, analytical skills, networking,  creativity,  content development,  digital productions, video/ podcast productions,   team work and responsibility (CP Communications, 2015; Hanson, 2014; & Waddington, 2013).

The KM World Report 2009

The  KM World (2009) report  supports the previous  by suggesting that  collaborative skills, technical skills, modelling ,  entrepreneurial, critical reasoning skill and various other knowledge based skills are the 10 most desired characteristics that  will  highly  be considered by organisations  for workers  under the  age of 25. From this it is evident that major public relations firms and other communication companies will be competing in global markets and due to this, professionals across various communication industries will need to continuously learn new skills to align with future electronic resources within such work environments.

Globalisation + Technological Advancements = New Skills Required

Overall, various research articles have suggested that  globalisation and new media expansions are the driving forces behind the extinction of various industrial related jobs which has  caused the need for industry professionals  to constantly update their skill sets.

Please Leave your comments below 

References:

CP Communications. (2015). Skills a PR pro of the future should have in 2022. Retrieved from https://publicrelationssydney.com.au/skills-a-pr-pro-of-the-future-should-have-in-2022/

Davenport, T. (2005). Thinking for a living : How to get better performance and results from knowledge workers. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.

Emanoil,E., Alexandra,S., & Mihaeka, C. (n.d.). Knowledge workers – drivers to organizational performance in a knowledge-based economy. Retrieved from http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCUQFjAAahUKEwj0sLvTwr_IAhXDG6YKHZ53AzY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.europment.org%2Flibrary%2F2014%2Fprague%2Fbypaper%2FAMCME-EBA%2FAMCME-EBA-24.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHpgN5W7icj4NQh78MDNyC1pNADwA

Flew, T. (2007). New media : An introduction (3rd ed.). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Global Business Environment. (n.d.). Globolization. Retrieved from http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEIQFjAGahUKEwiy9PGmtL_IAhUi4KYKHeHyAqc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalogue.pearsoned.co.uk%2Fassets%2Fhip%2Fgb%2Fhip_gb_pearsonhighered%2Fsamplechapter%2F0273752634.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHnKim6JfCftKDRmFrqv3EB2Hmvig

Hanson,A. (2014). 10 skills the PR pro of 2022 MUST have. Retrieved from http://www.arikhanson.com/2012/06/12/10-skills-the-pr-pro-of-2022-must-have/

KM World. (2009). The future of knowledge workers> Retreived from https://ilearn.bond.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-501980-dt-content-rid-3377570_1/courses/COMN12-302_151/Weekly%20Content/Week%205%20-%20Communication%2C%20Technology%20and%20Consumption%20The%20Lecture%20This%20Week/KMWorld1.pdf

Pearson, I. ( 2014). The future of work. Retrived from http://www.worldfinancialreview.com/?p=1896

Powell, W. W., & Snellman, K. (2004). The knowledge economy. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 199-220.

Public Relations Institute of Australia. (2015). About public relations. Retrieved from http://www.pria.com.au/aboutus

Suny Levin Institute. (n.d.). Technology and globalization. Retrieved from http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCIQFjABahUKEwiX9eyRsb_IAhWi2KYKHT2oDRk&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.globalization101.org%2Fuploads%2FFile%2FTechnology%2Ftech.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHVMa7BRMY3o1N-IIcKNFBY40QsDw

Waddington, S. (2013). 10 skills for the future PR practitioner: “get on or get out”. Retrieved from http://wadds.co.uk/2013/11/26/10-skills-future-pr-practitioner/