The influence of social media
According to Wikipedia social media is mainly the new Forms of media that include or involve interactive participation. The public gains access to social media services through the web based apps that provide social media functionality through their devices such as tablets and smartphones.
Benefits of social media on public relations
Budget friendly
One of the benefits of using social media is the fact that it is budget friendly, cheaper as it saves organisations from spending huge amounts of money on traditional marketing or advertising ways Such as print, billboards coverage, television and radio. Instead of advertising the traditional way PR professionals have chosen to advertise using social media platforms, which saves them from spending a lot of money. As there is no need for them to pay for posting on their own social media platforms.
Brand building
Through social media, public relations practitioners are given the opportunity to build their brand and its image by sharing their compelling stories, engaging visuals, leadership content and their values. Once PR professionals decide to build their brand through social media, they might attract potential new stakeholders and clients.
Saves time
Marketing or addressing an issue in a traditional way is time consuming as it requires a lot of procedures to be followed. For example, if you want to address any issue that has taken place, you have to start by conducting the research and find a solution to the crisis, then you will have to book an interview with a certain journalist. After the interview they will need some time to publish your story and by the time that they are done publishing your story or statement thee public would have come to its conclusion without hearing your side of the story. In that way, you lose clients. Oreilly (2024) argues that all these procedures can be prevented by using social media platforms because it quickly delivers the message to the target audience without even including a middleman.
The challenges of social media on PR
Data privacy
A major challenge that PR professionals might end up facing is the privacy concerns, as they must always make sure that they are data privacy and security does not end up in the wrong hands. Donald Tobin (2024) stated that with every post, comment and like we are leaving traces of digital footprints which makes it easier for hackers to have the organisation’s system. With that being said PR professionals must always ensure that their communications channels are secure and protected from hackers.
Fake news
On social media platforms people post now and then and half of the information that they post is fake news. Osama Tahir (2019) stated that it is quite difficult to tell if whether the information shared on social media platforms is legit or rather fake. Fake news is a major problem in the field of PR as it can create false narratives which often break the relationship or bond that the organisation has with its client or public. Furthermore, fake news also damage the reputation of an Organisation. It can also be the reason why an organisation ends up losing potential clients ort Stakeholders.
In nowadays everything has its advantages and disadvantages I believe that we should just stick on the bright side of things like the benefits of Social media on public relations since it plays a major role on bringing new potential clients.
ReplyDeleteThat is a valid point and we should also try to look for alternatives of dealing with the issues that arise from the use of social media
ReplyDeleteSocial media is also advantageous because many people are no longer interested in traditional media instead they are now interested in the digital ways of doing things
ReplyDeletePlus social media is much more cheaper than traditional media
DeleteSeemingly social media plays an important role in the PR field by making things easier for PR practitioners.
ReplyDeleteStraight to the point...well said.
DeleteSocial media came with a lot of opportunities. For example now public relations professionals can reach a wider audience through social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and so on.
ReplyDeleteThat is very true and a lot of people are no longer interested in traditional media, they prefer digital media
DeleteHow, in your opinion, can PRP's balance using social media to its full potential for communication while addressing privacy and security concerns?
ReplyDelete
DeletePublic relations organisations should ensure that all the PR practitioners that are within the organisation are well trained in privacy laws, regulations and best practices related to social media. They can also implement secure account management.