The internet changes everything (Ashleigh Smith)

So where should we all be listening? As technology advances, people are shifting online. Following Bianca’s comments – there has been a move from “PR/mass communication” to “PR 2.0/social media communication” where social media has put the ‘public’ back in public relations as it encourages the input and export of information from organisation to consumer.

The internet changes everything. Phillips & Young (2009) states that in some ways, nothing changes everything, but for public relations practice the unavoidable conclusion is that nothing will ever be the same again; the advent of an online world means almost every aspect of the discipline needs to be rethought.

Nowadays, we have blogs, Google, twitter, facebook, MySpace enabling interactive sites where we can unite together and discuss our opinions or create a movement/bring attention. This blog itself is an example of this. Here we are, 5 Masters Students, coming together online (not in the ‘real-life’ class room) and discussing if social media is encouraging public opinion about public relations. Yes it is. Maybe it is because our age groups are more used to being online, or perhaps it’s the ease to type and send a message, than to face and stand up for it in real time. Let alone how would we have access to get our opinions across to large organisations. These days it is a lot easier to send an email, or ask a question on a website to express our thoughts and find out further information. Perhaps people are getting lazier? Or even it may be seen as we are utilizing the power and efficiency of the internet and how more accessible things are to us know as it opens up communication flows between both sides (the organisation and the consumer).

Social media is the enabling mechanism for a communications revolution that is driving significant changes in the dynamics of society (Phillips & Young, 2009). The internet is about the exchange of information, and so is public relations. With this, public relations practitioners (PRP’s) are turning online as perhaps the internet is important to people. Dutton et al (2005) found that the internet is either important or very important to a majority of people. More than seven in 10 believe the internet is making life better. People surveyed said they used the internet everyday either to obtain information, for work, to email friends or even shop. This knowledge tells us that this online realm is becoming a significant part of our lives and both organisations and consumers are heading this direction.

Solis (2010) mentions the idea of brands being surrounded by the “Social Map”. These include blogs, micromedia, social graph, content, music, niche networks, audience/communities, activity feeds, rich media and live casts. This explains how social media marketing starts with observation and listening. What better way to listen to your audience than to ‘connect’ with them, observe what they say and learn from it. Solis (2010) further comments that social media humanizes your story by matching it to the culture and the people driving the communities you are trying to reach. It asks ‘what matters to them” and “how do they talk to each other?”

It can be seen that social media can be used to research consumer groups in their behaviours and attitudes. This is great for PRP’s to understand their publics and the best way to effectively reach and even monitor them. As Bianca mentioned, social media has improved the ‘two-way model of communication’ approach which is the best approach to converse with publics, without appearing bias and even strengthens trust and reputations. What is the point of public relations without public interaction and involvement? Social media opens this channel up and definitely reinforces public opinions.

-Ashleigh Smith

References

Dutton, w., di Gennaro, C. & Hargave, A. (2005).The Internet in Britain. The Oxford Internet Survey.

Phillips, D. & Young, P. (2009). Online Public Relations: A practical guide to developing an online strategy in the world of social media. London: Kogan Page.

Solis, B. (2010). Putting the Public back in PR. Retrieved online, VUWS, 8 April 2010, from http://vuws.uws.edu.au/webct/urw/lc5116001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct