Social Media and Public Relations: Fake Friends and Powerful Publics (Routledge New Directions in PR & Communication Research)

Social media is having a profound, but not yet fully understood impact on public relations. In the 24/7 world of perpetually connected publics, will public relations function as a dark art that spins (or tweets) self-interested variations of the truth for credulous audiences? Or does the full glare of the internet and the increasing expectations of powerful publics motivate it to more honestly engage to serve the public interest? The purpose of this book is to examine the role of PR by exploring the myriad ways that social media is reshaping its conceptualization, strategies, and tactics. In particular, it explores the dichotomies of fake and authentic, powerless and powerful, meaningless and meaningful. It exposes transgressions committed by practitionersthe paucity of digital literacy, the lack of understanding of the norms of social media, naivety about corporate identity risks, and the overarching emphasis on spin over authentic engagement. But it also shows the power that closely networked social media users have to insert information and opinion into discussions and force "false PR friends" to be less so. This timely, challenging, and fascinating book will be of interest to all students, researchers, and practitioners in Public Relations, Media, and Communication Studies. Winner of the 2016 NCA PRIDE Award for best book "Social media has had a profound, and as yet not fully understood impact on public relations. In the 24/7 world of perpetually-connected publics, will public relations function as a dark art that spins (or tweets) the truth for credulous publics? Or must public relations be reconceptualized under the full glare of the internet and the expectations of increasingly powerful publics? The purpose of this book is to examine the role of public relations in social media through an exploration of the myriad ways that social media is reshaping its core concepts and activities. In particular, it examines the dichotomies of fake and authentic, powerful and powerless, meaning and meaningful. It also examines the key transgressions committed by practitioners: the paucity of digital literacy, a widespread lack of understanding of the norms of social media, a naivety about the corporate identity risks, and a prevalent emphasis on spin and persuasion rather than on authentic engagement. This challenging and fascinating book will be of interest to all students, researchers and practitioners in Public Relations, Media and Communication Studies"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 Preface 9 Acknowledgements 11 1 Identify the problems: social media and public relations 12 2 “Don’t do anything stupid”: social media affordances, policies, and governance agendas 27 3 Create yourself: corporate identity for interconnected publics 46 4 Speak the truth: transparency, power/knowledge, and authenticity 57 5 Engage: one-way, two-way, and every-way 77 6 Connect creatively: worlds, identities, and publics as content production and co-production 95 7 Engage critically: activist power 117 8 Protect yourself: issues of privacy and regulation 137 9 Know your risks: a collective orientation 155 10 Navigate the issues: situating power/knowledge within public relations 175 11 Reshape policy: public–private clashes and collaborative dialogue 195 12 Conclusion 217 Index 227