Public Relations: A Century of Change. Free Essay Example

Public relations have been around for almost a century. Edward Bernays is credited for being the pioneer of the public relations profession in the 1920s. Before the 1990s, public relations (PR) was mainly conducted by firms through print media. However, the development of the internet changed the field of public relations completely. Over the past ten years, the field of public relations has experienced numerous changes. Multiple diverse facets of technology and communications developments resulted in this but more critical is the advancement and popularity of social media. Social media transformed the purpose, time, place and parties involved in communication (Stareva, 2013). Social media has infiltrated almost every industry. Public relations have now changed their approaches to making sure they engage their audiences in the best way possible. The paper examines how social media has impacted public relations.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Social media tools include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Linkedln. In the field of public relations, establishing responsiveness and brand reputation are interrelated. Social media is not only being utilized for its direct to audience strategy but also as a proficient producer of media relations. Both sentience and status come on the tail of a firm's reliability. For a firm to establish a positive status, it must foster relations. It is not new that viable relations come from a basis of trust. The confidence that social media provides is genuine because it permits the affiliation to be undertaken in a two-way approach. Social media allows a firm to heed to their public demands and feelings, giving the company an open prospect of being responsive. Prior to the discovery of social media, the typical 'press release' in the conventional industrial media was prepared manually towards attaining the required objective (Torossian, 2015).

Public relations and social media are grounded on communication. Social media, with its real-time messaging, amplifies the intended message, permitting PR to be more influential and reach a wider target. Content published through emails, news releases, and other PR linked aspects can live longer, spread quickly and reach more people with the assistance of social media. Social media has challenged numerous brands to start emphasizing more on their clients and establishing positive associations. Clients can often go on Twitter and Facebook to explain their experiences with a particular brand. This compels firms to resolve concerns quickly to evade a PR disaster. Firms also utilize communications on social media to advance their enterprise as a whole, particularly where criticisms are involved. Since social media comprises numerous elements, PR organizations are compelled to widen their scope of work. PR agencies are integrating marketing individuals, digital advertising institutions and big data professionals into their teams to offer a full package for their clients (Stareva, 2013). Social media efforts necessitate teams to integrate everyone in public relations.

Conclusively, social media has become very influential in the field of public relations. Social media includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Linkedln. Social media provides real-time messages that allow PR teams to reach numerous clients. Social media has also challenged many PR firms to focus more on customers and create positive relationships. Additionally, PR firms have been forced to integrate various teams to attain business goals. Therefore, social media is a strong tool and PR firms that use it right will always have the advantage over their competitors.

References

Stareva, I. (2013). Impact of social media on the PR industry. Grin Verlag.

Torossian, R. (2015). What Is The Impact Of Social Media On PR?. Retrieved from: https://www.business2community.com/public-relations/impact-social-media-pr-01245327 on date 12/4/2019