Traditional media gatekeepers are in a state of flux as social media breaks down barriers through the rise of user-generated content and sharing of information. Publics are empowered and less constrained by the information traditional media choose to disclose, challenging the conceptual, asymmetric nature of PR (Grunig, 2009). Most significantly, social media has the opportunity to flatten the hierarchical nature of many organisations, from the point of view of communication. Digital communications makes it possible for more efficient management of organisational communications including internally and externally. As online technologies become ubiquitous organisations can effectively be more open and transparent to facilitate better understanding between and among various publics (Pavlik, 2008).
The social media landscape is widespread; Twitter for example, is an influential tool in both the B2C and B2B marketplace and has made communication more instantaneous. Twitter has significant implications for the B2B marketplace; one in five tweets feature a brand or product. Surely, it would be wise to monitor these ‘tweets’ especially due to the broadcast nature of Twitter and in a public space of over 170 million users? Twitter is deemed as a “hyper-grapevine news resource” and credited for breaking news on significant, real-time events with its short regular updates (Safko and Brake, 2009). This is particularly important in times of crisis.
Social media monitoring would therefore appear necessary for PR and reputation. Listening and engaging with customers requires organisational transparency which effectively builds credibility (Weber, 2007). Credibility is key to providing value to an organisation and/or brand in a competitive marketplace.
There are a range of free and paid monitoring tools which can be useful in analysing competitor activities, plotting influencers and identifying which platforms are relevant to publics. Monitoring who uses which platforms and how often they use them opens a window of opportunities to respond to customer service and competitors as well as initiating conversations; providing knowledge and engaging with certain topics. Twitter is invaluable for PR with the ability to track ‘trends’ and news seeding.
The article below from The Independent shows how social media sites such as Twitter are key mediums for communication and identifies the current trends tied to the controversy in Cairo where President Mubarak has shut down the internet.
Social media monitoring is not only useful for tracking news media coverage and correlated public opinion indicators, but for PR it can help in assessing media agenda setting and news media framing (Pavlik, 2008).
Social media facilitates the generic principle of two-way and symmetrical communication which Grunig (2009) states should be applied universally for effective PR; using research, listening and dialogue to manage conflict and cultivate relationships with both internal and external strategic publics. In this instance social media strategy has the power to provide greater value to both B2C and B2B clients and has the potential to make the PR discipline itself more global, interactive, dialogical, and socially responsible.
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