An Exploratory Study on Usage of Social Media by PR Practitioners for Media Relations
ABSTRACT:
Over the last few years, it has become apparent that social media has captured the fancy of most people. The extensive use of social media has drastically changed the way people communicate and share information. PR practitioners use social media every single day to get the word out about clients, to communicate with customers and to respond to questions or problems. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social sites have quickly become important tools in a PR practitioner’s overall toolkit. However, this study explores how PR practitioners (n=146) use the power of social media to connect, and develop relationships with the journalists as against the traditional method of face-to-face meetings and telephonic conversations with the journalists to develop relationships with them. The findings of the study revealed that Some of the platforms used by PR practitioners to engage with the journalists include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, various PR groups
that exists on various social platforms etc.
