Social Media and Public Relations: Fake Friends and Powerful Publics

235 Pages·2016·1.284 MB·English

by  Judy Motion, Robert L. Heath, Shirley Leitch

Social Media and Public Relations
Social media is having a profound, but not yet fully understood impact on pub-
lic relations. In the 24/7 world of perpetually connected publics, will public
relations function as a dark art that spins (or tweets) self-interested variations
of the truth for credulous audiences? Or does the full glare of the Internet and
the increasing expectations of powerful publics motivate it to more honestly
engage to serve the public interest?
The purpose of this book is to examine the role of PR by exploring the
myriad ways that social media is reshaping its conceptualization, strategies,
and tactics. In particular, it explores the dichotomies of fake and authentic,
powerless and powerful, meaningless and meaningful. It exposes transgressions
committed by practitioners—the paucity of digital literacy, the lack of under-
standing of the norms of social media, naivety about corporate identity risks,
and the overarching emphasis on spin over authentic engagement. But it also
shows the power that closely networked social media users have to insert infor-
mation and opinion into discussions and force “false PR friends” to be less so.
This timely, challenging, and fascinating book will be of interest to all
students, researchers, and practitioners in Public Relations, Media, and
Communication Studies.
Judy Motion is Professor of Communication at the University of New South
Wales, Australia.
Robert L. Heath is Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston, USA.
Shirley Leitch is Dean and Professor of Communication at the Australian
National University, Australia.
Routledge New Directions in Public Relations and
Communication Research
Edited by Kevin Moloney
Routledge New Directions in Public Relations and Communication Research is a new
forum for the publication of books of original research in PR and related types
of communication. Its remit is to publish critical and challenging responses to
continuities and fractures in contemporary PR thinking and practice, and its
essential yet contested role in market-orientated, capitalist, liberal democracies
around the world. The series reflects the multiple and interdisciplinary forms
PR takes in a post-Grunigian world; the expanding roles which it performs,
and the increasing number of countries in which it is practised.
The series will examine current trends and explore new thinking on the key
questions which impact upon PR and communications including:
• Is the evolution of persuasive communications in Central and Eastern
Europe, China, Latin America, Japan, the Middle East and South East Asia
developing new forms or following Western models?
• What has been the impact of postmodern sociologies, cultural studies and
methodologies which are often critical of the traditional, conservative role of
PR in capitalist political economies, and in patriarchy, gender and ethnic roles?
• What is the impact of digital social media on politics, individual privacy
and PR practice? Is new technology changing the nature of content com-
municated, or simply reaching bigger audiences faster? Is digital PR a
cause or a consequence of political and cultural change?
Books in this series will be of interest to academics and researchers involved in
these expanding fields of study, as well as students undertaking advanced studies
in this area.
Public Relations and Nation Positioning Theory and
Building Strategic Communication
Influencing Israel A new approach to public relations
Margalit Toledano and David McKie research and practice
Melanie James
Gender and Public Relations
Critical perspectives on voice, image Public Relations and the History
and identity of Ideas
Edited by Christine Daymon and Simon Moore
Kristin Demetrious
Public Relations Ethics and
Pathways to Public Relations Professionalism
Histories of practice and profession The shadow of excellence
Edited by Burton Saint John III, Margot Johanna Fawkes
Opdycke Lamme and Jacquie L’Etang
Power, Diversity and Public Challenging Corporate Social
Relations Responsibility
Lee Edwards Lessons for public relations from the
casino industry
The Public Relations of Jessalynn R. Strauss
Everything
The ancient, modern and postmodern Strategic Communication,
dramatic history of an idea Social Media and Democracy
Robert E. Brown The challenge of the digital naturals
Edited by W. Timothy Coombs, Jesper
Political Reputation Falkheimer, Mats Heide and Philip
Management Young
The strategy myth
Christian Schnee Social Media and Public
Relations
Corporate Social Responsibility, Fake friends and powerful publics
Sustainability and Public Judy Motion, Robert L. Heath and
Relations Shirley Leitch
Negotiating multiple complex
challenges
Donnalyn Pompper
Motion, Heath, and Leitch have done excellent work in the past and this is no
exception. The area of social media and public relations has long needed an author-
itative and critical text and Social Media and Public Relations fills that void.
Michael L. Kent, Professor, University of Tennessee Knoxville, USA
Social Media and Public Relations provides an insight into a growing area of focus
in social media while tying in emerging trends and historical perspectives in
public relations. This book helps explore the current issues, risks, opportu-
nities, and challenges involving social media from the audience perspective,
which can be applicable for practitioners and researchers – adding a needed
area of discussion in social media research and practice within public relations.
Karen Freberg, Assistant Professor, University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Social Media and Public Relations disrupts the notion that social media has ame-
liorated public relations. Motion, Heath, and Leitch question the relationship
between public relations and social media to reveal the complexities and ten-
sions between social media cultures and the promotion-oriented goals of public
relations. Sharply written and scrupulously documented, this is a must read for
scholars, practitioners, and students interested in the future of social media in
public relations.
Adam J. Saffer, Assistant Professor, The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Social Media and Public
Relations
Fake friends and powerful publics
Judy Motion, Robert L. Heath
and Shirley Leitch
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Judy Motion, Robert L. Heath and Shirley Leitch
The right of Judy Motion, Robert L. Heath and Shirley Leitch to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Motion, Judy.
Social media and public relations : fake friends and powerful publics / Judy
Motion, Robert L. Heath, Shirley Leitch. -- 1 Edition.
pages cm. -- (Routledge new directions in public relations & communication
research)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social media. 2. Public relations. I. Heath, Robert L. (Robert Lawrence), 1941-
II. Leitch, Shirley, 1960- III. Title.
HM742.M68 2015
302.23’1--dc23
2015021332
ISBN: 978-0-415-85626-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-72779-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by GreenGate Publishing Services, Tonbridge, Kent
Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgements x
1 Identify the problems: social media and public relations 1
2 “Don’t do anything stupid”: social media affordances, policies,
and governance agendas 16
3 Create yourself: corporate identity for interconnected publics 35
4 Speak the truth: transparency, power/knowledge, and authenticity 46
5 Engage: one-way, two-way, and every-way 66
6 Connect creatively: worlds, identities, and publics as content
production and co-production 84
7 Engage critically: activist power 106
8 Protect yourself: issues of privacy and regulation 126
9 Know your risks: a collective orientation 144
10 Navigate the issues: situating power/knowledge within
public relations 164
11 Reshape policy: public–private clashes and collaborative
dialogue 184
12 Conclusion 206
Index 216
Preface
As we began this project, we knew that we would have to overcome two
obstacles, at least. One was the study of a topic that was in its formative stages.
Given that social media are continuing to develop, as are the patterns of users,
we would be writing on a topic for which little historical perspective was avail-
able. We knew that it would be challenging to know what was going on and
how people and public relations practitioners were using and responding to
social media trends. Scholars, practitioners, social media developers, and skilled
users were deeply engaged in making something happen. In the midst of all of
that uncertainty, we were confronted with the notion that social media were
(or were constrained from) being used for sociopolitical activism, terrorism,
and marketing. As we immersed ourselves in social media, we joined various
communities and sought to understand not only public relations practices but
also gain insights into user perspectives. Social media became a distraction, a
fascination, and at times, a procrastination technique. As critical scholars, our
attention was drawn to the cultural clash between the promotional cultures of
public relations and participatory cultures of social media; the shift in power/
knowledge relations; and the ways in which sociality played out in various
social media. At the heart of our inquiry was a concern for democratic prin-
ciples and equity practices. It seemed to us that social media was driving a
cultural transformation in which identities were formed and performed as users
engaged in collaborative relationships, exchanged information and meanings,
and shared their everyday lives more publicly. We have sought to document,
theorize and critique these cultural changes and the ways in which public rela-
tions seeks to influence such processes.
The second problem was time and geography. What seemed to be a
workable timetable failed for many reasons, and distance led to the diffi-
culties of coordinated work. On this last point, we decided that each of us
would be the lead author on various chapters, but no one would have the
task of making style and presentation totally consistent. Each of the authors
had special interests, read each other’s chapters, and made comments. Most
importantly, rather than severely differing over matters we tended to help
one another make points clearer and more forcefully. We shared articles,
cases, and encouragement.
In that spirit, rather than having the book read like something that was an
edited work, we agreed to acknowledge the individual chapters and the writer
who was primarily responsible for them, but the work is ours as a team. Judy
led Chapters 1, 2, 7 and 12, and co-authored Chapter 5 with Bob, who also
authored Chapters 6, 9, 10 and 11. Shirley authored Chapters 3, 4 and 8.
However well we presented the technical elements of social media, we do
believe that we shared a critical perspective, a pragmatic sense of the pos-
sibilities and limits of social media, and confidence that something important
is happening, something that needs early on a critique of purpose and prac-
tice. This book represents the culmination of many years of critical discussions
about public relations and its role in society. We believe that communication,
through the practice of public relations, can make society more fully function-
ing, and a better place to live. But we also know that swords have two edges
and cut both ways.