Compose a 1750 words assignment on social media and public relations. Needs to be plagiarism free! With the advent of technology comes the rebirth of public relations. When Web 2.0 prompted the introduction of Social Media, so as the evolution and rise of PR 2.0 which allows the use of multimedia to enhance and improve the way public relations is conducted by the practitioners. As the Internet has transformed into a sophisticated hub for ‘netizens’ so as to the nature of online communication and exchanges of propaganda, campaigns, and information drive (Duhe, 2007). These changes are obviously referring to the significant changes in the way Facebook, Twitter, and blogs provide means of communication outlets that are not available in the early 20th century. For this research, we will focus largely on the use of Facebook in revolutionizing the conduct of public relations in recent times.

The Value of Social Media to Public Relations

In the past, press releases were an integral component of public relations until online news release agencies began to appear in the 1990s, creating a halt from too much reliance on fax machines and e-mails. As the years passed, press releases continued to exist but were also modified to fit the changes in the medium used. Press releases are now exchanged at a fast pace and in the most convenient way: using embedded multimedia. Green (2010) calls this a creative aspect of public relations that is driven by the swift breakthroughs in Internet programming and online software available as open source. Being creative is part of the trend in public relations, and according to Green (2010), this is an important component in being successful in public relations.

According to Grunig (2009), the age of digitalization prompts a turnaround of events in the way public relations is conducted. However, with the greatest help that social media partake to the field of public relations, it is high time to shift the way things are conducted in this kind of specialization. Grunig (2009) mentioned that there is a need to “reinstitutionalize public relations as a behavioral, strategic” field rather than being an obsolete “symbolic, interpretive” field.&nbsp. Social media is regarded by many public relations professionals as an effective tool in “communicating with strategic publics” (Lewis, 2010, p. 1).