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Social Media and Emerging Media: Theoretical Foundations

Karen Freberg

When 16‐year‐old teenager Carter Wilkerson reached out to the official Wendy’s Twitter account in April 2017 about how many retweets he would need to get their chicken nuggets free for a year, he showed the world the power of social media. Wendy’s surprisingly reached out to Carter and said he would need 18 million retweets to get this incentive. With this single tweet, the rest is history. Since then, Carter’s initial tweet has gone viral, getting mainstream media coverage around the world and even surpassing Ellen DeGeneres’s popular Oscar selfie tweet to become the most retweeted tweet ever in Twitter’s history. In addition to this accomplishment, the #NuggsForCarter campaign was even showcased and entered for consideration to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity for PR work.

Without social media, Carter may not have gotten the exposure and engagement for this exchange with a brand like Wendy’s. Other brands have experienced both the positive and negative consequences of not using social media proactively, as in crisis situations. When United Airlines experienced its April 2017 crisis where a passenger was dragged off one of its flights from Chicago to Louisville, it showed audiences the power of video and the importance of understanding the medium and first impressions that arise from what is shared and posted. The United Airlines case, along with its CEO, Oscar Munoz, also realized the response that is necessary on social media needs to be tailored and framed for the appropriate audiences. However, other brands like Always and its campaign #LikeAGirl helped build a community surrounding a clear message that resonated with audiences and won several awards in the process.

All of these cases show an important distinction. Social media are not like traditional media outlets. For example, social media are not just for official spokespeople, brands, or gatekeepers. Everyone has a distinct voice, influence, and presence in the digital space. Brands, along with public relations professionals, are constantly learning and adapting their practices to fulfill the growing expectations for having mutually beneficial relationships with key audiences and effective message strategies for each situation, and to assess the overall financial and emotional impact of the community and network on the reputation of the parties involved.

Social media have transformed public relations both in research and in practice. With each advance that occurs in the social media industry, public relations research adapts and explores these various changes and discusses their implications for the field, society, and practice. This chapter will discuss the core characteristics of what social media are, some of the theoretical frameworks that are incorporated in public relations research, and future challenges and opportunities to note for scholars and practitioners studying social media.

Defining the Concepts: What Are Social Media?

Social media have been at the forefront of bringing both pain and delight for brands, organizations, and public relations professionals over the past decade. They are the focus of some of the more recognizable campaigns, as well as crises, in the public relations profession. One case, in particular, first started with content that was shared and immediately spread like wildfire. Social media played a significant role in the response as well as perception of the brand, which is still recovering. Samsung is one of the most established brands in the world and experienced a significant crisis in 2016 when malfunctions with the batteries of its Note 7 devices started being reported. Malfunctions soon turned to sparks that caused fires, which were shared online and spread virally on social media. Samsung in turn had to order an immediate recall of the devices, responding online as well as in other channels. The sentiment and spread of the news for Samsung first began on social media, which have become a powerful hub of community and information to be created, shared, and disseminated at a rapid speed, breaking down barriers in time and location.

Social media have transformed how people are able to consume, disseminate, and engage with news and other forms of information in society. These new communication technology tools allow individual users and organizations to engage with, reach, persuade, and target key audiences more effectively across multiple platforms. Pew Research Center surveys found that, in 2017, 7 out of 10 Americans used social media, a dramatic increase from the 5% reporting social media use in 2005 (Smith, 2017).

Industry professionals, scholars, and social media users have contributed a number of different definitions and conceptualizations for the concept of social media. Social media are sometimes referred to as “new media” to capture the association of social media with the advanced integration, strategy, and application of new communication technologies. Freberg (2016) described social media as providing the ultimate personalized online networked hub of information, dialogue, and relationship management. Essentially, social media combine the use of innovative strategies with digital communication technology platforms, enabling the user to share knowledge, engage in digital storytelling through conversations and visual components, collaborate with others, engage in crowdsourcing tasks and contribute ideas to solve problems, conduct strategic monitoring and analytic analysis online, and build relationships within a community sharing common interests, investments, and needs.

Other conceptualizations emphasize the role of social media as a toolkit that allows users to create and share content. Still others focus on how social media extend Web 2.0 technologies to bring communities together. Social media platforms serve as gateways where content and conversations are created and ignited between individuals, brands, organizations, and nations. In addition, social media platforms provide first impression management tools for corporations and individuals to showcase their own brands and reputations. These virtual platforms allow user‐generated content to be shared in highly dynamic and interactive communities in real time, which allows for co‐creating of content, crowdsourcing of ideas and perspectives, and even the editing and extending of conversations and ideas within a respective platform and with a particular community.

Many definitions have focused on specific platforms (Mangold & Faulds, 2009), construction of profiles to build digital connections (boyd & Ellison, 2008), application of tools (Lariscy, Avery, Sweetser, & Howes, 2009), or building communities virtually through user‐generated content (Mulhern, 2009; Waters, Burnett, Lamm, & Lucas, 2009). While useful for understanding social media, this textbook takes a broader view of social media, incorporating the vast opportunities and actions that can be incorporated strategically in campaigns and strategic communication plans.

How and Why Are Social and Emerging Media of Concern to Public Relations?

Social media have changed the face of public relations for the twenty‐first century. Public relations has had its own evolution over the years with its modernized definition from the Public Relations Society of America: “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics” (PRSA, 2018).

The importance of social media to practice is reflected in the rise of social media research over the past decades (Duhé, 2015). Researchers are working together to explore growing issues, challenges, and opportunities in their work. The power that individuals have been given to create, curate, and share content, becoming their own media outlets in the process while engaging with businesses in real time, is unlike any other form of interactive or emerging technologies previously available in society. As public relations agencies are trying to become more relevant in their stance with social media, they are moving backwards into more tactical roles rather than strategic thought leader roles (Kent & Saffer, 2014).

Social media and public relations have become intimately connected. Social media have shifted from being simple, entertaining platforms (such as MySpace) to channels of communication for scholars, researchers, businesses, and other entities, used to create networking connections and relationships. Social media in essence offer more than just a platform where people congregate and engage in dialogue, but also provide a way to express oneself in a virtual space in multiple formats and frameworks.

Social media within public relations are not a new phenomenon, but they have brought forth novel opportunities to engage, share knowledge, use strategic storytelling, and break down the barriers between the organization and their key publics. There are many similarities between what public relations does and what social media offer. Both focus on creating and maintain meaningful relationships. Both share a correspondence with the traditional media. While social media have allowed more access and transparency between public relations and journalists, there are still some challenges for using social media for fact checking, using user‐generated content, and bypassing the traditional media altogether and going directly to the source (Meltwater, 2014).

As Taylor and Kent (2010) noted, public relations focuses on building relationships and understanding between organizations and their key publics. Public relations seeks to create meaning in conversations among different parties, which can take place in person or on social media. The dominant view is that “social media are good” for the public relations profession, but there are challenges to this view. Valentini (2015) argues that the ability of anyone to post an update online does not guarantee the health or sustainability of the community or conversation. However, what it does provide is a solid documentation that is posted for all to see, breaking down the barriers of time and location as well as helping create a transparent view for others to witness. We should not rely too much on individual platforms (or “rented space”) on social media or else we will lose track of the overall purpose and meaning of being part of these platforms. Ideally, building relationships and the health of communities will translate into offline interactions and behaviors (Valentini, 2015).

Public relations professionals are able to use social media in a variety of different ways to conduct their businesses and formulate relationships. Social media tools and platforms have allowed public relations professionals to initiate conversations and queries that lead to real‐time correspondence and customer service options. This process transforms a customer from an inactive audience member to an active audience member. In addition, social media have impacted the customer service sector – so much so that there is now an established specialized area called social care. Customer support, for both positive circumstances and negative ones such as crisis communications, has become a key part in establishing the image and overall reputation for a public relations function for an organization or business.

While social media and public relations are interconnected and aligned, some distinct differences between the two areas remain. Social media management engages in the strategic planning of the right time, platform, and circumstance to send out a message for the community in question, whereas public relations identifies the right relationships in which to invest to have the right impact for the long term.

Social media allow real‐time interactions and conversations to emerge, while adapting to evolving parties, communities, and influencers. Before engaging with communities, public relations professionals must understand the management and health of the relationships within each community. Consumers often have strong views regarding how they do and do not want to engage with organizations and what they want in terms of communication and relationships. Public relations professionals must account for these preferences and strategically plan for optimum engagement in advance.

As social media continue to evolve, the field of public relations must also adapt in response to changes to maintain relevancy.

How, When, and Why Is Theory Applied to Social Media?

The Challenges Social Media Pose for Public Relations Theory

To assist public relations professionals as they navigate the new world of social media, researchers have turned their attention to the identification of best practices in the strategic use of social media. Most of the literature that focuses on social media has used established theories from public relations, but has borrowed approaches from other fields as well such as marketing, advertising, business communications, and even social psychology. Social media research has extended past discipline and professional boundaries for research and practice, which has allowed more opportunities for transdisciplinary research and collaborative projects.

One line of research has explored the extent of public relations professionals’ use of social media (Wright & Hinson, 2014, 2015). Social media management has been a key duty and responsibility task for public relations professionals for some time now (SCPRC, 2014; Wright & Hinson, 2014, 2015). The GAP VIII study from the University of Southern California (SCPRC, 2014) found that surveyed practitioners spent 83% of their time dedicated to social media, making social media activities an essential part of their positions.

Additional theoretical work attempts to guide the practitioner in using social media to best advantage under precise circumstances.

Determining Behavioral Actions to Take

Two prominent theories have been used on social media to look at behavioral actions to take in response to messages, but they have been primarily focused within the crisis communications area of public relations research. The situational crisis communication theory (SCCT; Coombs, 1995) and the social‐mediated crisis communication model (SMCC) have both been implemented and applied in social media contexts in crisis communication situations. Most of the literature focuses on the overall message responses that are needed in order to reduce uncertainty and provide action steps for users and others to take.

Researchers are also exploring the impact of messaging on intended behavior (Freberg, 2012). For example, the platforms that are being used more frequently will most likely impact the likelihood of achieving behavioral goals for a specific campaign, initiative, or strategy for a public relations effort (Paek, Hove, Jung, & Cole, 2013).

Determining the Channels for Dialogue to Emerge

Communication is one of the fundamental functions that social media serve for public relations professionals. One of the dominant theories that has been used to evaluate and determine the nature of communication online has been dialogic theory, which is interconnected between public relations and social media. Kent and Taylor (2002) discussed the role of public relations in building dialogues on established channels. These channels have evolved over the years from websites and blogs (Seltzer & Mitrook, 2007), to social networking sites (Bortree & Seltzer, 2009), and finally to microblogs like Twitter (Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010). Each platform explored in each of these studies has focused on communities. Communities may be in a particular geographic location, be based on similar interests, or may be based on affiliation or identify. While some communities are only online, with members never or seldom meeting each other in person, they are no less robust than the physical communities in which we live, and in many ways more robust from the simple fact that the barriers barriers of time and location are removed.

While most of the studies have looked at the way in which organizations have created these networks and communities within individual channels, organizations have yet to really foster and establish a sustainable community where dialogue truly emerges authentically among the individual users. Theunissen and Wan Noordin (2012) noted that dialogue is an ongoing process that needs to be authentic among the community in question and the content being created needs to be supported by the organization or business in question.

Determining Best Strategies for Using Social Media

There have been discussions of how social media focus on strategic planning or if these practices are emerging from the industry (Charest, Bouffard, & Zajmovic, 2016). Social media are naturally a field where practices, strategies, and applications come from both planning and research capabilities for businesses, organizations, and other public relations efforts like campaigns. A strong line of research has evaluated the use of social media for campaigns (Wright & Hinson, 2015; Paek et al., 2013; Briones, Kuch, Liu, & Jin, 2011). Specifically, Paek et al. (2013) analyzed a social media campaign using different messages across the different social media platforms of blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, while looking at user engagement. One of the ways in which campaigns are explored is through the evaluation of how they are taught in current public relations curricula. Social media pedagogy research has explored large projects like campaigns (Melton & Hicks, 2011) as well the implementation of specific platforms or tactics online such as Twitter (Anderson & Swenson, 2013; Carpenter & Krutka, 2014; DeGroot, Young, & VanSlette, 2015; Forgie, Duff, & Ross, 2013; Fraustino, Briones, & Janoske, 2015) and Facebook (McCorkindale, DiStaso, & Fussell Sisco, 2013). While most of these are focused primarily on applying these tools in the classroom, the theoretical foundations that are prominently used in this line of work for public relations education are experiential learning and evidence‐based practice.

Evidence based practices (EBP) is an approach focused on integrating three perspectives together, namely the practitioner’s expertise, the client’s situation, and proven best practices. Shlonsky and Gibbs (2004) define EBP as involving “a well‐built practice question, an efficient search for best evidence, a critical appraisal of that evidence, and action based on the interchange between client preferences, practice experience, and the best evidence” (p. 137). The first perspective takes into account the individual knowledge and expertise of the practitioner, a role that may be defined as that of a manager, technician, or some hybrid of these two functions. The second model focuses on client expectations. The third part of the model is best evidence. In medicine, social work, clinical psychology, and public health, EBP focuses on systematically comparing various scenarios and treatment options to help improve the impact of practice. That means drawing upon evidence from applied research, the expertise and educational training of the practitioner involved, and the expectations and needs of the client (Shlonsky & Gibbs, 2004). All of these elements are interconnected and rely on each other to formulate the most effective approach for the client or organization in question (Shlonsky & Gibbs, 2004). While this approach has been explored in other public relations related studies (Freberg, Remund, & Keltner‐Previs, 2013), there needs to be more studies in public relations that address the theory, research, and applied practices in social media specifically. Social media as a discipline and field is still in its infancy, but it is becoming more scientifically oriented, so the studies and theories used in public relations work need to evolve concurrently.

Determining Quality of Engagement and Consumption of Information

The quality of social media content, messages, and relationships all play a part in how relationships and reputations are built online. Generally speaking, social media platforms and channels are open and dynamic in span and presence. While traditional media appear to be focused on one‐way forms of communication, social media content is emerging in real time with multiple parties involved. The barriers to entry for establishing one’s presence on social media are much lower and easier to overcome than those involved in establishing a presence in traditional media. In addition to the barriers of entry, barriers of time and location are also overcome by social media, where users and can engage in conversation and dialogue in a matter of seconds in widely different locations. Users of social media vary in their levels of active participation and voice. Users can range from being very vocal on issues that are important to them, while others take the roles of observers and lurkers in social media discussions.

Li (2016) distinguished between active and passive users on social media, which is important when evaluating the message strategies and overall activity related to the timing and channels being utilized for public relations purposes. In either case, there has to be the ability to be part of the conversation, be connected, and to be able to share relevant information for those who are part of the community (Li, 2016). However, researchers have noted that the level of engagement as well as the characteristics attributed to each platform are somewhat different (Paek et al., 2013).

Social media not only provide users with an opportunity to engage people in their local community, but motivate their engagement a world away. Anyone with a computer, tablet, or smartphone can use social media platforms to inform, educate, and engage others. In essence, social media give users the opportunity to communicate in a different way. These channels have changed the way individuals communicate by allowing them to have access to a variety of different platforms to consume and create knowledge, with the accessibility to share these insights with their local and global communities. The use of these technologies to their fullest potential assists in the improvement of community engagement overall. Linking individuals, organizations, and governments across multiple platforms, including social media and other mobile as well as web‐based platforms, allows better communication and sharing of information, which is important in understanding engagement. Engagement can arise in different ways, from sharing information (contribution), to consuming information (consumption), to creating information (creation), as discussed by Sisson (2016). Tsai and Men (2013) discussed how social media creation elicited the most engagement, because it allowed others to view the content, consume it, and provide their own feedback and insights to the original piece of content.

It is important to note that connecting the terms community with engagement seems to be a shift in itself for public relations professionals. When discussing engagement, we are looking at specific users rather than a group, and if we go down this path of community, we are bypassing the individual connections and one‐to‐one communication efforts we may want to have with our audiences. Community engagement is a separate entity in itself, and has to have a strong place within the public relations strategy to make sure it is defined as a specific group that is characterized based on location, interest, affiliation, or membership.

Determining Relevance in Trust and Credibility

The level of trust in what is being shared on social media often depends on its source, as well as the timeliness of the message given the situation. Social media users are able to bypass traditional media gatekeepers who attempt to set the narrative and frame the stories from their point of view. Social media present widely diverse points of view, and allow the individual users or consumers to make the ultimate decision about the information they want, how they want it, and whether or not the information fits their overall needs and expectations.

The overall functions of social media are not limited to communicating messages designed by professionals for audiences, in parallel to message construction in traditional media. In addition, social media allow the user to participate to an extent not seen previously in traditional media. Increased empowerment of the individual stakeholder leads to greater feelings of control over a situation and a willingness to help others in the community, which could potentially be used by brands and corporations to engage with audiences, formulate message strategies, and evaluate their own reputation in the eyes of their online audience members. With these new shifts in power and breakdown in barriers, brands are expected to listen and to respond to stakeholder concerns in new ways. Recognizing the influence of social media provides professionals with the opportunity to use social media strategically to discover potential issues relevant to their stakeholders, to prepare for different scenarios and situations, to implement online communication strategically, and to evaluate results of communications in real time.

Trust and credibility of sources is a large part of what influences behavior and action taken in a given situation. Freberg (2012) questioned the impact of the level of trustworthiness and credibility of messages from a social media platform compared to other forms of media as a function of age cohort. Younger consumers were more influenced by social media messages than older consumers.

Examples of Theory Used with Social Media

How Can Public Relations Theories Inform Social and Emerging Media?

One of the important elements to keep in mind when it comes to social media theory development is the fact that it is not limited to just public relations. Theoretical frameworks for social media are advancing from diverse disciplines such as communication, psychology, marketing, and many others.

Many theories used in social media and public relations research have a strong connection back to psychology (for example, the theory of planned behavior; Fishbein & Azjen, 2010), while others have been adapted from public relations into the new space. Dialogic theory has been a stronghold for understanding conversations and their impact between an organization and its key publics. Other specific theories focus on particular specializations like crisis communication. Theories need to be able to inform and predict outcomes that can be transferred from situation to situation.

Table 7.1 outlines some of the dominant theories that have been used to explore and examine different aspects of social media activities and specializations (for example, crisis communications) in the public relations literature.

Table 7.1 Dominant theoretical perspectives for social media research

Theory Researchers using theory Summary
Agenda setting theory Kiousis et al., 2016; Waters, Tindall, & Morton, 2010 Traditional mass media theory focusing on the ability of the news media to influence the stories and essential agenda for their intended audiences. This has become a primary focus for research due to the increased perception and use of social media as a way to receive news and updates on local, national, and global events.
Critical theory Valentini, 2015 Critical theory is a fundamental approach in the social sciences, but this approach looks at social phenomena happening in society and in our environment and critiques how it impacts our human interactions and practices. With social media, this discusses how access to the tools of communication has been beneficial (or not) to our relationships, identity, and how we practice in our field.
Convergence theory Saffer, 2016 Focuses on how the intersection between traditional and social media comes together online in the various networks and platforms.
Dialogic theory Sommerfeldt, Kent, & Taylor, 2012; Kent, 2014; McCorkindale & Morgoch, 2013; Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010; Kent & Taylor, 2016; Watkins & Lewis, 2014; Watkins, 2017 Main focus for this theory is that dialogue is about the exchange of ideas and perspectives, and channels are needed in which these conversations can be used for organizations with their publics.
Organization–public relationship (OPR) (Ledingham & Bruning, 1998) Saffer, Sommerfeldt, & Taylor, 2013Engagement: Men & Tsai, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016; Sweetser & Kelleher, 2016 One of the fundamental perspectives in the public relations field. The primary focus is on the management of mutually beneficial relationships between the key publics and the organization in question (Ledingham & Bruning, 1998). Many of the studies have explored this on social media by adding in the component of interaction on these platforms, otherwise known as engagement.
Situational crisis communication theory Freberg, 2012; Ott & Theunissen, 2015; Roshan, Warren, & Car, 2016; Schultz, Utz, & Goritz, 2011 An established crisis communication theory focusing on which responses to use in a given crisis situation based on legitimacy and attribution of responsibility.
Social‐mediated crisis communication model (Jin & Liu, 2010) Jin & Liu, 2010; Liu, Austin, & Jin, 2011; Jin, Liu, & Austin, 2014; Austin, Liu, & Jin, 2014 Specific to crisis situations emerging on social media, this theory evaluates the source of the information and how to respond to the situation.
Social capital theory Saffer, 2016; Sommerfeldt, 2013a, 2013b Theory focuses on utilizing resources to facilitate actions and resources based on collective actions and responses. Primary focus in the research utilizing this theory looks at the networks and associations available online.
Social network theory Kent, Sommerfeldt, & Saffer, 2016 Social media is a vehicle that links sites, resources, and people in social networks that have been built to build and maintain relationships.
Theory of planned behavior Kinsky et al., 2015; Lee, Park, Lee, & Cameron, 2010 A traditional psychology theory (linked with the theory of reasoned action) which connects attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control together. This has been tested in social media research in various situations and determines the intention to comply with messages that appear in various scenarios and channels.
Uses and gratification theory Krishna & Kim, 2015; Woo, An, & Cho, 2008; Chen, 2011 Theory focusing on why individuals seek out specific channels and media for particular needs. Understanding the rationale and reasoning for why users choose certain platforms is critical for public relations professionals to determine whether or not they are sending out the right messages on the right channels for their audiences.

Major Topics/Questions Needing to Be Addressed by Public Relations Theorists Working with Social Media

There is a range of challenges facing social media scholarship:

  • the rise of anonymity on social media and the impact this has on relationships, influence, and the quality of messages and content being shared;
  • the move from examining reactive to predictive innovative strategies;
  • behavioral intent to comply with messages and formulate sustainable relationships online;
  • the rise of the influencer as a source to engage with in terms of organization–public relationships;
  • how to foster participation and development of online communities that are sustainable and actionable;
  • exploring the “negative” features of what social media can do to impact public relations, but connecting this back to proactive strategies.

There also seems to be an apparent rush and pressure to publish research about social media due to the rapid evolution of each of the platforms. There has to be a balance between timely applied uses for public relations and social media strategies, and enough time to be able to sit back and understand the psychological, philosophical, and behavioral differences happening across the different platforms. Public relations theory has to develop further as well (Theunissen & Wan Noordin, 2012) to make sure there are key differences between each of the theories already being explored in studies that are not focused on social media.

The focus of theoretical scholarship and creative applications of social media should be explored not only in public relations, but also through the lens of other associated disciplines. More transdisciplinary work needs to happen rather than isolated work within the public relations field. The field of social media scholarship is not limited to just public relations. Opportunities exist for scholars to move to the forefront of innovation with thought leadership that explains behavior and underlying message comprehension and intention rather than exploring tactical behavior that is relevant for a specific segment in time.

Furthermore, new advances in social media theory and application research need to position themselves more centrally within the public relations discipline. Of the research literature that has examined social media as a core concept and focus, most concentrate on specific platforms, with more global cross‐cutting theory coming second. Instead of being able to explain why things happened the way they did for a social media campaign or a social media experiment within a classroom, current examples of social media research often stop without exploring how these experiments and campaigns would do in the real world.

Theory needs to be focused on explaining behavior as well as being able to predict behavioral actions by others. Social media theoretical research has been more along the lines of applying other theories from other disciplines rather than solidifying unique and specific theories that are applied and integrated within the platforms themselves. In addition, there has been a limited number of articles in the public relations field that have tried to push the envelope from just applying traditional public relations theories to social media rather than exploring new innovative ways of evaluating, testing, and explaining phenomena arising on these various platforms. Many current studies have just scratched the surface of the underlying behavioral measures driving the conversations, attitudes, and behavior we are seeing online among brands, organizations, and key stakeholders.

With that being said, most of the research focuses on testing ideas, concepts, and cases with students, most who have grown up with social media. In order to move forward, research in social media needs to expand beyond one age cohort and look at universal trends happening across different groups. Participant samples – whether they are student samples or participants in services like Amazon MTurk – do not always tell us what our audiences will do in a given situation, especially on social media. If researchers want to use these tools as a pilot test or for a Study 1 perhaps, then these have some benefit. Study 1 could be used as a preliminary test to explore key concepts before testing these at a larger scale with a bigger pool of participants. We have to push ourselves to be stronger both theoretically as well as in methodology to be able to be in the same room as disciplines like marketing, psychology, and even computer science, not only for the research community, but in the applied circles. The more rigorous we are in our research and theoretical standards when it comes to social media, the better.

The other growing concern with current social media research in public relations is the issue of measurement, as well as the methods that are used to evaluate the various concepts being explored. Public relations researchers should expand their horizons with new ways of evaluating behaviors, attitudes, and other concepts on social media, and include additional methods. The studies that have focused on social media in particular have used perhaps one specific method (survey or interviews, for example), but in order to advance the theoretical foundation of social media theory within public relations, the methods also have to be more advanced to tie into the questions researchers are waiting to test in their work.

Social media have become a mainstream communication platform for businesses, organizations, and public relations professionals. This is one of the rising specializations and focuses we are seeing both in research and for public relations practice. With the rise of these digital platforms, more research needs to be conducted in the public relations discipline. More research is not only needed to explore the strategic social media applications within public relations practices, but designated theories can provide a better understanding of the impact messages, information, and actions have on offline interactions. Public relations professionals must explore new ways to answer these questions with methods that are appropriate for addressing these points. Public relations scholarship and the profession need to come together to create a more stable and sustaining bridge to answer and address these challenges for the twenty‐first century.

Suggested Cases to Explore to Demonstrate Theory at Work with Social Media

Within the public relations field, there are several places where public relations scholars can witness theory being applied effectively. Several cases showcase how certain theories can be strategically applied to social media.

One of the cases that can be applied in the context of social media is the Samsung Note 7 crisis in 2016. Samsung Notes were reported to have a tendency to explode at random. This phenomenon was first reported by users on social media. Individual users came together to engage in the conversation surrounding an ongoing issue. Only later did the traditional and social media outlets pick up the story based on the conversation. While dialogue was emerging among users during this case, Samsung took the traditional approach in addressing it through their own media outlets and with the traditional media.

Another case is related to the power of utilizing social media to build relationships and stories. Clemson University Athletics used social media to engage with fans, university students, and the media in their pursuit of a 2017 National Championship run for their football team. The social media team (Jonathan Gantt, Jeff Kallin, and Nik Conklin) implemented visual storytelling strategies in the hope of engaging with active audience members, reaching out to emerging audiences, and motivating latent audiences to participate in this campaign with the team. This particular case study example can be examined and evaluated by using some of the established theories that were discussed earlier. For example, when exploring the prominence of the community, public relations researchers can look at the online network Clemson Athletics has established on their social media platforms to determine the state of the relationship, the connection they have to individual and media accounts, and the frequency of these exchanges. In addition, the dialogue that emerges from their respective communities online could provide us with indications of effective message strategies to help not only to build community, but to engage in virtual dialogues to influence behavior and perceptions for a brand, organization, or in this case, team.

Discussion Questions

  1. 1 How would you define social media? How has this definition changed or adapted over time for public relations professionals?
  2. 2 What are the underlying similarities and differences among the studies that have explored social media?
  3. 3 What theories could help guide future research studies into the application and understanding of social media within public relations?
  4. 4 What methods could help guide future research studies into emerging areas of social media within public relations?
  5. 5 Based on this chapter’s reading, what are the future theoretical opportunities and practical challenges that need to be addressed in social media research?

Suggested Readings

  1. Charest, F., Bouffard, J., & Zajmovic, E. (2016). Public relations and social media: Deliberate or creative strategic planning. Public Relations Review, 42(4), 530–538.
  2. Freberg, K., Graham, K., McGaughey, K., & Freberg, L. A. (2011). Who are social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality. Public Relations Review, 37(1), 90–92.
  3. Jiang, H., Luo, Y., & Kulemeka, O. (2016). Social media engagement as an evaluation barometer: Insights from communication executives. Public Relations Review, 42(4), 679–691.
  4. Kent, M. L., & Saffer, A. J. (2014). A Delphi study of the future of new technology research in public relations. Public Relations Review, 40(3), 568–576. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.02.008

References

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