Say yes to social media #gamechanger

SAY YES TO SOCIAL MEDIA #GAMECHANGER

I absolutely agree, most of social media are a waste of time. It is a perfect place to post holiday selfies on, share funny cat videos with your online friends and announce your opinion about the dress Kim Kardashians has worn at a gala the other night. It can also contribute to the breeding of improved thumb muscles by liking everything you see on Facebook. But somehow, if you blind your eyes for all the nonsense and use your common sense, social media can be very effective tools for PR professionals and organizations.

Just to mention a couple of benefits associated with the professional use of social media by PR people: Through social media it is possible to circumvent the gatekeeping process of the media, which makes it possible to communicate directly with stakeholders and publics; make your message more visible; and influence publics’ opinions on brands or issues. The new type of media provides a symmetrical two-way communication between organizations, PR professionals and publics which improves the relation building process between these entities (Kent, 2013; Linke & Zerfass, 2013; Wright & Hinson, 2015).

But obviously there are some critics like Valentini (2015) and Ott & Theunissen (2015) in this world, who only look at the risks of using social media professionally. They are worried about the privacy loss of publics and the lack of trust emerged from the idea that organizations only share/ broadcast content on the web which is beneficial for themselves. Above that, they argue that PR professionals aren’t using social media to engage and have a dialog with publics, but are using them like any other media type according to a transmission model of communication. They also assume that publics still have the leading role on social media and have the power to ruin organizations by sharing their opinions about them on the web.                                                                                                                                  

Honestly, do these critics need a wake up call? Hello, we live in the twenty- first century, which is all about social media! People don’t read papers and watch television anymore: they read personalized news online, read blogs and see commercial videos on Facebook. As PR professionals we need to see social media as a new adventure in which the rhetorical and relational functions of PR are fully reflected. We don’t need to be scared of ruining messages of publics, if even the NS can handle those. It is a challenge to conquer the negative messages and complains with creative personal reactions and arousing content which stimulates publics’ interest and curiosity. And in addition to that publics want us to have a dialog with them through social media, because it is much more personal and they get more engaged with organizations this way. So why should we be cautious?                  

If you, as an organization, aren’t being active on social media, it seems like you don’t dare to take risks and you don not care about innovation in the field of PR. I think the critics undermine the power and professionalism of PR people, because managing reputations and banning negative content is actually our job.

So now we finally have a game changing tool to avoid the gatekeepers, just befit from it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Naomi Vonk, 23 years old, is a MSc Corporate Communication student at the University of Amsterdam. Has done several internships, including a PR internship at Microsoft Advertising. Particularly interested in the field of PR, crisis communication and social media. Guilty pleasures: Italian food and Pinterest