Opportunity for reciprocity
Today, we are witnessing the greatest evolution in the history of PR. New forms of digital media are developing, and PR professionals have the opportunity to cultivate practices that take advantage of social media, as well as digital communications in general. With this shift, social media is ‘putting the public back in public relations’. ‘Monologue has given way to dialogue’, because social media ‘creates new ways of reaching and engaging with stakeholders’.
A New Era of Communication
New media provides organisations the opportunity to engage in interactive conversations with stakeholders or the general public. Companies are able to tell and elaborate their stories or key messages. Similarly, stakeholders can also join these discussions on new, participative platforms that open up opportunities for dialogue.
It is now generally recognised that we are in a new era for communication. An era in which transparency and actual dialogue with stakeholders play key roles. However, despite the emphasis on the importance of openness and interactivity, there are signs that social media is not everything optimists wished for.
The Dialogue Is Still Missing
For instance, studies regarding the use of social media for citizen engagement in election campaigns have not produced evidence of any substantial dialogue or increased citizen engagement. Instead, social media has proved to be a one-way transmission of political and organisational messages.
Despite claims of a shift to ‘social businesses’ and ‘social organisations’ supposedly interacting, engaging and collaborating with stakeholders, reality is mostly a case of ‘business as usual’. Organisations do not seem to be fully utilising the interactive potential of the internet. They are not building and maintaining relationships between them and the public.
Organisations understand the rules and ideals around social media (authenticity, interactivity, reciprocal communication), but do not put them into practice. Most of them use social media platforms — or believe they are best for — one-way communication and message dissemination.
A look at the general use social media by corporations shows that the “social” communication tools are typically misused to push messages out to the public. On the other hand, a truly professional use of Marketing, Communications and PR turns is reciprocal, benefiting all the stakeholders.