Roles in Social Media: How the Practice of Public Relations Is Evolving

• Main Authors: Marlene S. Neill, Nicole Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Insitute for Public Relations 2016-09-01
• Series: Public Relations Journal
• Online Access: https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/neill_nz3.pdf
• ISSN: 1942-4604; 1942-4604

Through two online surveys, this study found support for seven distinct social media roles assumed by public relations practitioners. Principle components analysis using varimax rotation resulted in the following roles: social media technician, social listening and analytics, online media relations, policy maker, employee recruiter, internal social media manager, and policing. The study provided evidence of gender differences in roles. Although there were no gender differences in enactment of social media management roles, women enacted the social media technician role more often than men. The traditional manager role in public relations correlated with five of the social media roles. In contrast, the traditional communication technician role was found to correlate with three of the social media roles: social media technician, policing and policy maker. The study found evidence that social media are offering opportunities for more power and influence for public relations practitioners at all levels in the organization.