How Public Relations Has Changed the Modern Media Ecosystem
Through an increased means of communication methods, the study of public relations has rapidly expanded in the modern media environment, especially in regards to social media. Much of this rapid change is due to increased access to internet/web-based communication methods. Social media has been instrumental in allowing political parties, corporations, companies, and even individuals, to create their own followings and networks. According to Matthew Royce, a prominent public relations expert, communication has evolved into a more organic and multifaceted “two-way conversation” model: “PR pros can no longer blast out information about their brand or client and expect to succeed. Consumers and journalists have come to expect that they won’t be ‘spammed’ and will be answered quickly and in a personal manner” (Dougherty, 2014, para. 19). Public relations has moved into an era of independent news creation, and social media has created a culture of endorsement-driven influence by way of utilizing people with large followings to promote products, brands, and ideas, instead of the generic marketing tactics of the late 20th century.
In the late 20th century, consumers were greatly removed from the news and media markets that nearly impossible for consumers to avoid in the modern era. According to Hanna, Rohm, and Crittenden (2011), consumers are now being targeted with media through revolutionary means: “dramatic developments in interactive digital media are revolutionizing marketing, and social media has fundamentally altered marketing’s ecosystem of influence…with a paradigmatic shift in the commercialization of the internet” (Hanna, Rohm, & Crittenden, 2011, p. 265–266). This “new social media-driven business model defined by consumer connectivity and interactivity” evolved from the dot-com companies falling out of favor in the early 21st century (p. 266). Michael L. Kent (2013) looked at public relations more broadly to assert that the expansion of internet and technology in fact altered the fabric of democracy, with the Internet being “the greatest communication tool of all time: ‘The Information superhighway,’ capable of linking remote parts of the world, and transforming democracy and education” (Kent, 2013, p. 337). Kent’s research highlights the transition from “journalistic gatekeepers” who for decades, presided over what key areas of information were made known to the public. These gatekeepers made decisions about what was considered newsworthy for the majority of America across broad categories of politics and government, health, law” (Kent, pg. 338). Leading up to the 1980s, Kent noted severe limitations in the number of channels available to the American people, so when print and broadcast journalism (“the fourth estate”) could run 24-hour news cycles, and the Internet exponentially amplified this momemtum and the news agencies’ ability to report on stories and provide information at any time of the day (p. 338–339).
Never before has there been so many ways for people to communicate with each other, as well as means for companies and organizations to communicate directly with their followers. Across hundreds of social means, “social networking, text messaging, shared photos, podcasts, streaming videos, wikis, blogs, discussion groups….highlight the importance of mobile devices for accessing these platforms” (Hanna, Rohm, & Crittenden, p. 266). According to Freberg, Graham, McGaughey, and Freberg (2011), the new wave of public relations is through the use of “independent third party [endorsers] who shape audience attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media” (Freberg, Graham, McGaughey, & Freberg, 2011, p. 90). These means allow companies to target certain demographics of people, when previously, consumers were viewed as passive recipients and companies were trying to guide followers to their products with less strategic plans and oversights (Hanna, Rohm, & Crittenden, 2011). According to Agnihotri, Dingus, Hu, and Krush (2016), social media has directly affected the relationship between consumers and producers and “social media may yield positive results for sales organizations if salespeople utilize it in facilitating their behaviors” (Agnihotri, Dingus, Hu, & Krushp, 2016, p. 172). The authors’ research on B2B sales empirically tested a structural equation model, and social media was found to enhance key areas of responsiveness and customer satisfaction when interacting with the salesperson or brand (p. 177–179). Social media is the key to today’s market.
Systems of earned media content and consumer influence communications are further defining the transition out of the dot com bubble towards a more connected “social media ecosystem,” as Hanna, Rohm, and Crittenden describe in their research (pg. 265). With the expansion of means of communication, the struggle has transitioned from how to effectively get a message out, to how to steer communication away from competitors, stand out among similar public relations campaigns, and ultimately dominate specific media markets. According to Lee, Sha, Dozier, and Sargent (2013), millennials have a definitive affinity for being public relations practitioners who have grown up with social media and use it more regularly and consistently than any other generation. (Lee, Sha, Dozier, & Sargent, 2013, p. 411–412). The researchers see social media as inseparable from public relations in the modern age, from drafting tweets, to running Facebook ad campaigns (p. 412). There is a rapidly increasing need to understand how social media can be used to affect competition away and drive sales to a brand or company, and the research that Agnihotri, Dingus, Hu, and Krush conducted on B2B sales only supports the importance of understanding how the social media framework is changing the world. Positive consumer relations begins and ends on social media, and companies and organizations that fail to adapt to these changing times will be left behind in the late 20th century.
Works Cited
Agnihotri, R., Dingus, R., Hu, M. Y., & Krush, M. T. (2016). Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales. Industrial Marketing Management, 53, 172–180. doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.09.003.
Dougherty, J. (2014). 6 Ways Social Media Has Changed Public Relations. CISION. Retrieved from http://www.cision.com/us/2014/09/6-ways-social-media-changed-public-relations/.
Freberg, L. A., Freberg, K., Graham, K., & McGaughey, K. (2011). Who are the social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality. Public Relations Review, 37(1), 90–92. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.11.001.
Hanna, R., Rohm, A., & Crittenden, V. L. (2011). We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business Horizons, 54(3), 265. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.007.
Kent, M. L. (2013). Using social media dialogically: Public relations role in reviving democracy. Public Relations Review, 39(4), 337–345. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.07.024.
Lee, N., Sha, B., Dozier, D., & Sargent, P. (2015). The role of new public relations practitioners as social media experts. Public Relations Review, 41(3), 411–413. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.05.002
