The Uninvited Guests; a reaction to say yes to social media

Scholars in public relations seem to be overly positive about social media and the dominant discourse in public relations is that using social media is ‘good’. They suggest that through social media you can directly communicate with stakeholders and publics and that new types of media provide a symmetrical two-way communication between organizations, public relations practitioners and publics which improves the relation building process between these entities (Linke & Zerfass, 2013; Wright & Hindson, 2015). But are social media as powerful as they say they are? If we have to believe my colleague Naomi Vonk, social media are the future. But let’s put aside this positivism for a moment and look at the risks of engaging in social media. This blog is a direct reaction to ‘SAY YES TO SOCIAL MEDIA’ and points out the risks of engaging in social media from a public relations perspective. 

The power of the public
Naomi Vonk argues that publics want a dialog with organizations, because it is much more personal and they get more engaged with organizations in this way. But very little is known about whether publics perceive organizational social media use as beneficial and some scholars (Kent & Saffer, 2014; Coombs & Holladay, 2014) have questioned whether all organizations should maintain a presence in social media, and whether such a presence really contributes to nurturing relationships with publics. In my view, an airline has more interest to engage in social media than a brand that makes toilet paper. When my flight is delayed I want information concerning the departure and when using toilet paper it is will less likely arise questions. But do social media users themselves consider a corporate social media presence intrusive? In my view, not all organizations should maintain presence in social media, because it is not always necessary. As more content from organizations moves to the Web, professionals are confronted with the stark realization that social media were made for people, not for brands (Fournier & Avery, 2011). After all, one of the main reasons for using social media is seeking human connection, rather than product or company relations. According to Fournier & Avery (2011) an interesting paradox presents itself: in social media, everyone – and no one – is the audience. When you send out your press release or message you no longer control the reach, frequency and timing of the message. Social media users can read your message, but they can also decide to do not. Organizations could be everywhere in social media and yet still be ignored. 

One-way or two-way?
In my view, organizations are using social media according to the transmission model of communication, therefore as a form of one-way communication. Valentini (2015) and Ott & Theunissen (2015) are worried about the lack of trust which emerged from the idea that organizations only share content on the web that is beneficial for them. Organizations often employ tactics of negotiation and persuasion combined with traditional crisis response strategies like denial and justification rather than engaging in genuine dialogue. Attempts to manage reputation are sometimes likely to diminish trust and ignite anger. Take, for example, the McDonalds campaign that was meant to draw attention to the brand’s guarantee of fresh products. Social media users hijacked this hash tag and started throwing dirt. This case and other hijacked hashtags show that social media can be an offered forum for angry online users to share their points of view and vent their feelings. Anger spreads fast on these platforms and because organizations are perceived as disembodied entities, they are likely to become targets (Ott & Theunissen, 2015). On social media an innocent event can unleash a storm of negativity, and such negativity spreads directly on organizations social media accounts who were made for public relations or marketing purposes.

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Conclusion
Honestly Naomi, do PR professionals need a wake up call? Of course, we live in the twenty-first century which is about social media and Web 2.0 and the importance cannot be ignored. But yet the risks of social media need to be taken into account when entering the social media field and PR professionals have to be aware of this. Naomi, you ask why be cautious? Well, let me conclude with three points to be cautious about. When I scroll down my social media page I don’t want to be bombed with organizations advertisement and videos. But the good thing of social media is that I can decide if I read it or not. First, not every organization needs to engage on social media. Second, social media have empowered customers and organizations should be aware of this. To conclude, the web was made for people and their conversations; it was never a media channel for organizations for their public relations. Publics still have the leading role on social media and organizations are uninvited guests of Web 2.0. 


About the author 
Sophie Staartjes, 23 years old, is a master student Corporate Communication at the University of Amsterdam. Loves traveling, partying and good food.