The Real Numbers Behind the Votes

People are not only receiving information in new ways because of the evolution of technology, but politics as well.  Now that voters are able to get constant updates on the political candidates through social media it is easier to have an opinion. These opinions can be expressed on social networks and other new media platforms. President Barak Obama was one of the first candidates to perfect the use of social media when communicating with the voters.

"Content analyses are a second concentration, because content is accessible and inexpensive even with little grant support, for the press if not for television and radio programs" (Barnhurst, 2011, p. 578). The fact that it is so economical and gives the candidates a direct contact to the voters eliminates the middlemen, journalists. This allows the political candidates to create the influence and credibility that is necessary for candidacy. When posting information on a social media site or any media platforms it is inevitable that the voters will respond with comments and concerns. As this happens, it would be beneficial for the candidate to respond accordingly, to make sure that they do not allow the voters to create their own opinions without influence. 

President Obama faced a lot of scrutiny for his methods of attracting followers, but in the end he prevailed. By reaching the audience on social networks, he was able to direct them to his personal website and gain their attention on different topics.  Being open to comments and allowing two-way communication made the interaction more relaxed and comfortable for the followers.  "To build new ways of thinking, theories must go beyond instrumental rationality" ( Barnhurst, 2011, p. 585).  This is something that must be done to keep up with the changing society and make the voters want to participate in conversations and elections.

Reference

Barnhurst, K. (2011). The new "media affect" and the crisis of representation for political communication. Sage pub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI:10.1177/1940161211415666

Raine, L. (2012). Social media and voting. Retreieved from Website: http://mprcenter.org/blog/2013/01/how-obama-won-the-social-media-battle-in-the-2012-presidential-campaign/  

Rutlege, P. (2013). How Obama Won the Social Media Battle in the 2012 Presidential Campaign

. Retrieved rom Website:  http://mprcenter.org/blog/2013/01/how-obama-won-the-social-media-battle-in-the-2012-presidential-campaign/

Truth Revealed Through Social Media

Technology influences many of the changes throughout the world and society.  The fact that citizens and users in other countries are able to freely voice opinions and share information with their peers can often be seen as affecting the events in the world.  It may seem far-fetched, but in many cases it is evident that social media has acted as a catalyst to many situations.

For example, social media helped with transformation of the authoritarian regimes in the Arab world and has gone as far as to be called, “Revolution 2.0” (Hochwald, 2013, para. 1) because of how Web 2.0 influenced the changes that were made.  Although social media has been seen to empower the people by giving them a voice, the governments are now starting to use this technology as a benefit rather than a disadvantage.   “The widespread diffusion of the Internet, mobile communication, digital media and a variety of social software tools throughout the world has transformed the communication system into interactive horizontal networks that connect the local and global” (Hochwald, 2013, para. 11).  By the government and local authorities participating on these social networks, they are able to respond to the concerns of the community and make sure that they retain their credibility.

In the United States today there are many issues with the African American community having issues with police forces.  The fact that information can be widespread quickly allows them to gain followers and influence the opinions of others.  “It is making "communication on the Internet ... no longer a controlled, organized, exclusive, product-driven monologue; it is an authentic, transparent, inclusive, user-driven dialogue" with global reach” (Hohwald, 2013, para. 21).  This is a concern that has affected the world and should not be taken lightly.  This is a major reason of why social media should be taken seriously when it comes to politics and world events such as #Blacklivesmatter, which gained popularity quickly.

People use the internet to show what their interests are and what a priority is in their lifetime.   Blogs are not the first place that welcomed the opinions of the users and have filled gaps in community everywhere.  “The open nature of blogging means that anyone with access to a computer and something to say could, potentially, create a blog” (Meyers, 2012, p. 4).

Reference

Hochwald, T. (2013). How do social media affect intra-state conflicts other than war? Connections : The Quarterly Journal, 12(3), 9-37. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1478179238?accountid=3783

King, J. (2015). #blaclivesmatter. Retrieved from Website: https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-03-01/black-lives-matter/

Meyers, E. (2012). ‘Blogs give regular people the chance to talk back’: Rethinking ‘professional’ media hierarchies in new media. sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1461444812439052   

Preparing for the Evolution of Social Media

How can one prepare for a field that is rapidly changing and revolutionizing mass media communication?  As the forerunners to these changes, educators are struggling with how to better equip the journalism, public relations and advertising majors for a profession that is unpredictable.  Many of the changes have been burdensome to the budgets of colleges and universities, but it is essential to get the soon-to-be graduates for the workforce (Hopp, 2013, para. 2).

The information that is provided depicts the results of a study of students in these major concentrations, at a state-funded university, that is required to complete a three-course sequence focusing on new and traditional media.  The study was conducted at the beginning of each student’s in-major coursework so that the study can find out how the each student has been influenced and because of which source of technology.  “Because postsecondary educators have the ability to directly influence a student's conceptualization of the normative requirements related to work as a professional, understanding the role that such influences play in student adoption decisions is of great importance to the ongoing attempt to identify the best practices for educating tomorrow's media producers” (Hopp, 2013, para. 5).  Subjective norms have a large effect on the students’ behavioral intentions.  The fact that many students lack tangible experience causes them to rely on others to answer the questions that they may have regarding the necessary skills needed in the workforce.  Students can also reduce the uncertainty of the post-graduate lifestyle by acting in agreement with the superiors (2013, para. 9). 

The impacts of subjective norms on the behavioral intentions were found to be based on the communication major.  This means that in the courses with a mixture of majors, the professors have the ability to impact the students’ adoption intentions similarly.  Although it seems like there has been no momentum in the education of the upcoming professionals, but there are some professors that have tried some unorthodox teaching methods.  Journalism, Public relations and advertising majors should have sort of sensitivity training, as well as how to write for these audiences.  Martindale (1988) spoke of how he would prepare his students by having them read articles that were written for different audiences and compare and contrast them.  In many instances, he would speak about the different races, sexuality, gender and all others that can be considered a minority.  The consciousness is very helpful to public relations majors because of their constant interactions with the publics, intergrating this knowledge on different mediums will help as well.  For example, public relations majors often see the benefits of technology, but are not reliant on them to succeed their career goals.  This is why the production techniques of each profession should be reviewed along with the discussing the information above.  Overall, the student’s enthusiasm of the new technologies is essential to developing competent professionals.  The students must also rely on the knowledge of traditional communication, like writing and editing, this information will always be relevant.

References:

Felecia, J. R., & Patton, J. P. (2000). The nature of journalism courses devoted to diversity. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 55(1), 24-39. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/215291754?accountid=3783

Hopp, T. M. (2013). Subjective norms as a driver of mass communication students' intentions to adopt new media production technologies. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 68(4), 348-364. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1491982723?accountid=3783

Swallow, E. (2010). The Future of public relations and social media. Retrieved from Website: http://mashable.com/2010/08/16/pr-social-media-future/

Tiwari, R. and Singh, BP. (2010). Traditional communication media in the development process-status, role and relevance in new era.  Retrieved from Website: http://agropedialabs.iitk.ac.in/openaccess/?q=content/traditional-communication-media-development-process-status-role-and-relevance-new-era

The evolution of technology has made sure that the companies are able to create effective relationships with the audiences that they serve.  It has change the way that public relations professionals send messages and changed the communication from one-way to two-way communication.  This is seen through the social media, blogs and websites.  The companies are beginning to encourage participation and sharing amongst the audience members.

The two-way communication is more of a conversation than public relations professionals sending messages to a mass audience.  Now the messages are more individualized.  This helps to create the relationships and maintain them because the people will no longer be receiving information that does not pertain to them.  Also the online presence of these companies can help them to see and acknowledge the naysayers.  Building credibility is one of the main goals of being involved in social media and other media outlets.  “Reputation can be seen as an aggregation of lots of individual opinions, some derived from personal experience (‘I bought one of those cars and it was always breaking down’) but more often a synthesis of fragments of information derived from a wide range of sources, some more accurate than others (‘I haven’t been there myself but I have heard…’)” (Phillips and Young, 2009, p. 4).

The fact that the audience receives reviews from numerous sources means that the companies must be aware of what is being said about them, to respond accordingly.  This is why the public relations professionals must create a presence online.

These companies have these links on their pages as well for their followers to post reviews, hopefully positive ones, and it will be seen by potential consumers.  The share icons can boost the traffic that comes to the websites because of what the public has shared with their friends.

All of this information has shown the goals of the public relations field with the changes in technology.  The companies need a person that is versatile and is able to work with a number of different platforms.

References

Daoud, H. (2011). 5 large companies that consider social media a must. Retrieved from Website: http://www.hqsocialmedia.com/5-large-companies-that-consider-social-media-a-must/

Phillips, D., & Young, P. (2009). Online public relations: A practical guide to developing an online strategy in the world of social media. London: Kogan Page.

Roberts, K. G. (2009). Public Relations Outline. Review Of Communication, 9(1), 91-94. doi:10.1080/15358590802074787

Soni, R. 4 effective ways to boost traffic by adding social share buttons. Retrieved from Website: http://blog.loginradius.com/2014/11/4-effective-ways-boost-traffic-social-share-buttons/

Social media is not the only place for public relations professionals to communicate with the public.  People in any profession can use blogs to write about interests and concerns of certain individuals.  The use of the Internet has allowed an increase in productivity and two-way communication, amongst many other benefits (Porter, Chung, and Sweetser, 2009, para. 1).

These benefits are great for public relations professionals because it enables them to be audience-centered in their communication and gives the audience a chance to respond or comment at any time.  Weblogs have been around for years, but have recently grown in popularity amongst readers.  There are 57 million blog readers according to the Pew Internet and American Life Report ([31] Lenhart, 2006) (Porter, Chung, and Sweetser, 2009, para. 5). The credibility of these blogs has also grown and many people have been reading these for information over the traditional news markets.  Practitioners can use blogs for research purposes, to engage bloggers or even host an organizational blog.  There have been many people that have attempted to make a presence as a blogger; this is a list of 30 of the most influential bloggers. 

The blogs create another way for the PR professionals to complete the tasks that they already perform.  “That is, blogs represent an opportunity for communication professionals to monitor less formal, word-of-mouth type of communication about their organizations or clients” (Porter, Chung, and Sweetser, 2009, para. 6).  This is something that is already done on social media like Facebook, so this is another place to receive the opinions of different followers.

Companies often create blogs for their followers to read, but they do not talk about the company itself.  It is a place for the followers to express their feelings about recent interactions or concerns.  Blogs are another method for PR professionals to show the consumers their value and respond to the comments.  There are many different benefits to creating a company blog, for instance gaining the traffic to the company website by reaching the targeted audience on different social mediums.

Blogs are a great place for people to speak their minds about politics, events and interests.  On the other hand, for public relations professionals it is used to gain information on the public that is served and another way to connect with them to build the relationship.

References

Comcowich, W. The 30 most influential bloggers in public relations. Retrieved from Website: http://www.cyberalert.com/blog/index.php/media-monitoring-news-the-30-most-influential-bloggers-in-public-relations/

Eridon, C. (2013). Why blog? The benefits of blogging for business. Retrieved from Website: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/the-benefits-of-business-blogging-ht

Porter, L., Chung, D., & Sweetser, K. (2009). The blogosphere and public relations. Journal of Communication Management, 13(3), 250-267. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13632540910976699

The rise of technology has steadily changed the use of computers for public relations professionals.  It began with the PR professionals using technology for data entry, to communicating with colleagues and now has evolved to communicating directly with the public.

Computer-mediated technology has been improving communications efforts among journalists, editors and PR professionals because most editors and journalists are already accustomed to using computers.  “Activities include identifying media contacts more readily via criteria, customizing messages to media contacts, learning about reporters and other stories they have written before returning their calls, pitching stories electronically, keeping electronic records regarding media contacts, tracking online to determine immediately whether releases issued were used, and tracking news for information about competitors” (Johnson, 1997, p. 6).  This is helpful to the profession because it is best to stay aware of competition and find out which journalists would be most likely to write an article about the information sent in a press release.  Technology allows the PR professionals to include graphics, photos and videos and make sure that the information is easily accessible to the journalist.  This will ensure that the professional receives an adequate amount of media coverage.  This blog provides a few steps on how a PR professional can make this process easier on the journalists.

New technologies have changed the methods of communicating with the audiences as well.  The communication process has become more audience-centered than ever before.  The level of comfort among the audience is what determines the practitioners reasoning and decision-making relating to the use of new technology.  “An association member noted that computer-mediated communication allowed her organization to ‘get to a portion of our audience we may not have reached before—the under 35 Generation X group’” (Johnson, 1997, p. 11).  With this, social media can be used to reach the audience in a number of ways, but should continuously tell a story about the brand or company.

The changes in technology should not overwhelm new public relations professionals; instead they should make sure that they become familiar with the social media platforms.  By being aware, you will be prepared to connect with the audiences effectively.

References

Falke, T. (2011). PR, Search, and social media must collaborate for an effective marketing campaign at SES London 2011. Retrieved from Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERdhaafbslU

Goldsberry, L. (2015). Does your PR firm know how to connect with journalists? Retrieved from Website: http://www.axiapr.com/blog/does-your-pr-firm-know-how-to-connect-with-journalists

Johnson, M. A. (1997). Public Relations and Technology: Practitioner Perspectives. Journal Of Public Relations Research, 9(3), 213-236.