In today’s world many have not realized that the influence of communication have been transferred from PR practitioners to social media consumers who have no renowned role in any organization or a definite interest in that organization. As a form of two-way media, social media have obtained so much attention from the public and have been known to either enhance public relations efforts or to obstruct it.
This article specifically reviewed on how Twitter is used to communicate their participation in the Haiti relief efforts and also the type of public relations approaches are the tweeters using. This research was done using the qualitative content analysis technique where 1400 Twitter posts or tweets using the word “Haiti” were collected during six different occasions between January 22 and February 11 last year. The posts were then categorized into different types of users’ response.
The article has found that the Twitter, instead of being a promotional effort to gain help from public for the Haitian, has evolved into more personal, perceptive and disparaging tweets. It has been proven that the public uses Twitter to correspond with a group of followers and to cultivate involvement in the Haiti relief. Tweeters feel more connected to those who share their causes and this can bee seen through their involvement statements and the use of the word “Haiti”.
The findings of this article have shown that as a social media, Twitter is not only functioning as message mechanism, it also acts as a foundation for social interactions and promotion of causes. The article also stated that Twitter is a form of social public relations which comprises of three components; viral interaction, public-defined legitimacy and also social stake. Viral interaction can be seen through the PR related messages being posted on Twitter during the Haiti tragedy where the relief effort group posted simple messages that simply communicate and relate other tweeters with the Haiti online support community.
Retweeting other’s post can be an element that can be used to measure the legitimacy of a message. The more a certain post is being retweeted, the more valid the post is being perceived by the public. The hash tag (#) has made it easier for the both the people involved in the relief and also the public to connect to a particular post. It works as a “like” button on facebook. The more tweeters were to follow the post, the more legitimate the post is in the eyes of other tweeters.
In the Haiti relief effort, tweeters have nothing to gain or lose from posting messages about the individuals involved in relief efforts on Twitter, which means that they have almost no stake whatsoever in the organization. They might hold some “social stake” in regards to the relief efforts when they converse online and their messages that they have posted online might affects their credibility in their online communities.
It can be seen here that tweeters and also the public can act as a PR practitioner. Social media has now made it easy for everyone to access information online. In order for an organization to get the attention from the public on its causes, the PR practitioners of the organization have to know how to utilise the social media to the organization’s advantage. PR practitioners have to be internet savvy and use social networking sites such Twitter to help promote their organization. They also have to learn how to interact online with the organization’s constituents in order to cultivate relationship through information sharing and facilitation of interactions. The utilisation of new media by PR practitioners will help their organizations to compete in their field or industry.
Source: Smith, B. G. (2010). Socially distributing public relations: Twitter, Haiti, and interactivity in social media. Public Relations Review, Vol. 36, 329-335.
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