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.
