دانلود رایگان مقاله مطالعه مخاطبان آنلاین تصور شده کارکنان روابط عمومی

abstract

Public relations (PR) practitioners are among those cultural intermediaries who privilege symbols, products, and communication rituals in society. Through interviews (n = 26) and analysis of practitioners’ Twitter accounts, this study considers how members of this field identify their personal social networking site audiences and how these behaviors are implicated in the performance of their online identity. Findings indicate practitioners feel pressure to use personal social media in accordance with field-constrained norms and that an “occupational publicness” pressure requires them to be visible online outside of the workplace. The persistent specter of public criticism from audiences and the prioritizing of organizational interests above their own self-expression limits performances of PR practitioners’ authentic selves online.

5. Discussion

Expanding Baym and boyd (2012) to the practice of public relations, this study highlights how social media are forcing a reconsideration of what it means to be public in an occupational context, how this group connects with audiences, and the formation of publics and counter-publics in digitally- mediated spaces. Our study reveals that PR practitioners navigate shifting personal and professional boundaries in venues that are open to consistent public and peer observation and that it is not just one’s personal reputation that is at risk with a problematic post. Organizational and professional priorities strongly dictate personal posting behaviors. This gives rise to an “occupational publicness” pressure, where PR practitioners are compelled to demonstrate ongoing occupational competence via their personal social networking accounts even as they desire to limit their use of these tools outside of the workplace. These practitioners are either well known in their local communities, or they are the official voices of their organizations through their organizations’ social media accounts. Occupational pressures add another layer of publicness beyond official work duties when it comes to PR practitioners’ expected use of non-client affiliated social networking accounts.