Entry 3- Social media and crisis communication

 “We are in the midst of a communications upheaval more significant than the introduction of printing press” (R. Brown, 2009, p.1) society has been revolutionised by the use of social media. The PR industry has also been effected by the new use of social media tools especially when it comes to crisis communications. First of all it was newspapers and magazines giving “PR practitioners their first taste of evolving media” (R. Brown, 2009), however now the world has advanced even more with the use of social media, and in particular tools such as twitter and Facebook.

Crisis communication is the “transferring of information form significant persons to help prevent/avoid a crisis, recover from a crisis and maintain or enhance reputation” (K. Fearn Banks, 2009, ebook, p.1), nowadays this is massively influenced by social media channels such as twitter as news is now reported and broken on twitter as it happens. The news is already out there and will have reached many different public's before PR practitioners can get their hands on it due to the use of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook being instant. An example of this was the Hudson plane river crash, it was reported on twitter “15 minutes before the mainstream media alerted viewers and readers to the crash” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/4269765/New-York-plane-crash-Twitter-breaks-the-news-again.html) and it was filmed on twitter as it was happening so it immediately reached the public. This could be seen as a negative factor for PR practice as tweets spread like wildfire so the public will know that a crisis has happened before PR practitioners have a chance to act on it. The public may not know the full story from only seeing it reported on twitter which is where rumors could be spread and reputations could be damaged.

However “the platforms (social media) and channels and contexts and their many applications for communication and relationship building affect practitioners, their community and organisation” (D. Phillips and P. Young, 2009, p.137) so by PR practitioners building relationships with these social media channels it will enable them to handle crises immediately. They can use social media in a positive way by enabling an organisation that has been hit by a crisis to respond as soon as they can using channels such as Twitter and Facebook. This again is a step in the right direction for PR practitioners as it allows them to access the public first hand and give them an instant explanation. This is backed up by a quote I came across on the institute of Public Relations website, as cited by Arapan and Rosko-Ewoldsen (2005), they “conducted a study that documented a quick and early response allows an organisation to generate greater credibility than a slow response” again highlighting the importance of using social media to react in a crisis.

Furthermore “social networks have evolved into online communities” (R. Brown, 2009, p.50) and they have “revolutionised the way we communicate and share information” (R. Brown, 2009, p.50) and they have changed the way that some PR is practiced. Social media is now a big tool in the public relations industry. With the recent Volkswagen crisis, social media played a big role in helping Volkswagen communicate with their customers. They used a speedy response using social media, releasing statements on Twitter and Facebook and setting up a crisis website for their customers (https://econsultancy.com/blog/66972-social-media-and-crisis-management-a-volkswagen-case-study ). This practiced good PR using social media to interact with customers and apologise. It was also a useful tool to help those affected direct customers to the right place to get help.

This demonstrates the increasingly growing influence and impact that social media has on PR practitioners. It may come with a few negatives but PR practitioners can reap in the benefits and use it to their advantage. 

References:

 

Arapan and Rosko-Ewoldsen (2005), cited in: W. Timothy Coombs, crisis management and communications [online] 30^th October 2007. Available at: http://www.instituteforpr.org/crisis-management-and-communications/ [Accessed on: 14^th December 2015]

B, Davis. (2015) Social media and crisis management: a Volkswagen case study [blog] 29^th September 2015. Available at: https://econsultancy.com/blog/66972-social-media-and-crisis-management-a-volkswagen-case-study/ [Accessed on: 14^th December 2015]

C, Beaumont. (2009) New York plane crash: Twitter breaks the news, again. The Telegraph [online] 16^th January 2009. Available at: www.telegraph.co.uk [Accessed on: 14^th December 2015]

D, Phillips and Y.Phillip. (2009), Online Public Relations, a practical guide to developing an online strategy in the world of social media, London, Kogan page, p.137

K, Fearn Banks. (2009) Crisis Communications, A Case Book Approach, [online], 3^rd ed. New Jersey: Lawernce Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Available through: www.books.google.co.uk [Accessed: 14^th December 2015]

R, Brown. (2009), Public relations and the social web, London, Kogan page, p.1, 4, 50

 

Entry 2- are bloggers the new journalists?

The online environment has welcomed blogs into the mix since the 1990’s, however blogs nowadays have become increasingly influential especially on PR practice. They can help create relationships and are used as daily communication channels. This blog post will analyse the impact that the World Wide Web and blogs have on PR practitioners as well as exploring whether bloggers are the new journalists of this generation. A blog can be defined as “a type of website that allows the blogger to write posts and make them available in reverse chronological order” (D. Phillips and P. Young, 2009, p.12). PR practice has dramatically changed with the growth of the internet and new social media tools such as blogs. The internet is now used to broadcast news stories and it is used as a communication channel, blogs also are used to broadcast news stories as they are happening which are of interest to PR practitioners. Which is why it has become increasingly common for PR practitioners to get in touch and work with bloggers. Leading to the question been asked; are bloggers the new journalists of this generation?

“There has been much debate in PR circles as to whether bloggers are the new journalists” (R. Brown, 2009, p. 28). PR practitioners are now working with bloggers to gain an insight into the news that they are reporting. Brown (2009 p.30) states that “the social web provides us with tools for engaging with bloggers that were unavailable to PR practitioners in their dealings with journalists”. The internet allows for 2 way communication with bloggers, with being able to comment on blogs or tweet the bloggers, this again helps PR practitioners as it gives them an understanding into what the public are feeling which is something they couldn’t do if they were just emailing journalists. This demonstrates how the online environment has evolved to include tools such as blogs which have changed many PR practitioners’ attitudes towards building a professional relationship with bloggers. The online environment has changed the perception of many PR practitioners with the use of blogs, they are now used as a main source for news stories and the first port of call for practitioners to get in touch with.

“The structured announcement of PR stories to ensure that a key monthly title could carry a PR story on the same day as a daily paper came to an end when news organisations could release stories literally within minutes of receiving them”. This is now becoming increasingly common on blogs and micro-blogging sites such as twitter. This statement expresses how much the online environment has impacted PR practice through the use of blogs. Bloggers technically are the new journalists, they come together with the internet to write about new stories as soon as they have broken. This is why it’s crucial that “blogger engagement” is now practiced in PR, they can give PR practitioners the information they need instantly whereas it takes time to get hold of journalists and get the information needed off them. There are “500,000” new blog posts a day and “40,000 daily comments” (http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/08/02/blogging-statistics-facts-and-figures-in-2012-infographic/) this highlights the importance of blogger engagement within the daily practice of PR.

References

D. Phillips and Y. Phillip, (2009), Online Public Relations, a practical guide to developing an online strategy in the world of social media, London, Kogan page, p.12

Jeff Bullas, (2012) Blogging Statistics, Facts and Figures in 2012 – Infographic, [online] Available at: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/08/02/blogging-statistics-facts-and-figures-in-2012-infographic/#2mHRJwIMzilwkR2x.99 [Accessed on: 14^th December, 2015]

R. Brown, (2009), Public relations and the social web, London, Kogan page, p.4, 27, 28, 30

Entry 1- Internal Communications

The online environment has taken the PR world by storm in the last few years. Social media and the World Wide Web are changing the way that practitioners deal with day to day PR jobs, internal communications have massively improved within PR thanks to the help of the online environment. The use of staff emails and weekly bulletins are no longer how businesses communicate internally, “press releases, email campaigns and blogs” (Varney, C. 2014) are now key forms of businesses communicating internally. These platforms are creating “positive results that occur through employee interactions, e.g. higher retention rate of staff and the creation of brand advocates who are passionate about their work”. (Varney, C. 2014) This allows PR practitioners to communicate with their staff through the use of the online world, it allows employees to have a voice and be heard, creating a happy work environment. “The way the internet has changed is a reflection of a much wider change in society” (R. Brown, 2009, p.2), this quote demonstrates that the online environment is increasingly growing and impacting PR practitioners especially when it comes to internal communications.

A company that I have come across when conducting research is Nokia and their use of internal communications through the use of the online environment. Nokia have a motto about the “connection of people through communication”, (Varney, C. 2014) this is demonstrated through their internal communication channels within the company. They use a tool called “bloghub” which is Nokia’s “powerful internal communication system that allows employees to create their own community through posts and videos”. (Varney, C. 2014) This allows PR practitioners to communicate with their employees on their own level and it allows an “exchange of knowledge and opinions”. (Carr, P. 2014) As well as bloghub Nokia also have platforms such as videohub, Infopedia and Nokia conversations which are also internal communications that allow employees to collaborate with each other and “gets employees in the know about the latest Nokia product news”. (Carr, P. 2014) This example really clarifies how the online environment has affected the way PR practitioners communicate internally with their staff. It highlights the fact that it must be effective for PR practitioners to internally communicate with their employees using the online platforms because worldwide companies such as Nokia are using internal communications on a daily basis.

The online environment has had a massive effect on PR practitioners especially when it comes to communication. Social media has caused waves through the PR world, it can be used to help build a positive reputation but could also destroy a reputation with one bad tweet. These online communication channels are important to PR practitioners as this is what they use on a daily basis to communicate. Internal communications and the online world have changed the way employees communicate, it’s now so much easier for them to voice their opinion and share their knowledge and experience within the business.

To conclude, this quote sums up nicely that the online world has affected PR practice especially when it comes to external and internal communication. “Various new and emerging technologies have significantly empowered a wide variety of strategic publics by giving them dynamic ways to communicate with a variety of internal and external audiences” (Donald K. Wright and Michelle Hinson 2014). PR practitioners can now communicate with their employees internally within the company as well as sharing their knowledge and experience of the company with other team members.

References

Chelsea Varney (2014) Using social media for internal communications [blog] 17^th January 2014. Available at: https://www.brandwatch.com/2014/01/internal-communications-a-look-at-the-untold-story-of-marketing/ [Accessed on 26^th November 2015]

Donald K. Wright and Michelle Hinson (2014) Examining How Social and Other Emerging Media Are Being Used in Public Relations [blog], 22^nd July 2014. Available at:  http://www.instituteforpr.org/examining-social-emerging-media-used-public-relations/ [Accessed on 27^th November 2015]

International Public Relations Association, (2015) An approach to the practice of external communication: global trends inside a hyper-mediatised context [online] Available at: http://www.ipra.org/itl/02/2015/an-approach-to-the-practice-of-external-communication-global-trends-inside-a-hyper-mediatised-context [Accessed on: 27^th November 2015]

Peter Carr (2014) Nokia Actively Communication with Employees Worldwide [blog] 5^th June 2014. Available at: https://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2014/06/nokia-actively-communication-with-employees-worldwide  [Accessed on 26^th November 2015]

Online PR module

So I am taking a different direction with this blog. I am creating this blog for my Online PR module at Liverpool John Moores University.

The question we have been given to blog about is: "Discuss the impact that the online environment has on PR practice"

The task in hand is to create a blog as a way of using social media and the online environment first hand to answer this question. This is an effective way of displaying my answer to this question and I hope you enjoy reading about the online PR world.