Social Media Incorporation Into Modern Public Relations Practice in Kenya- Perspectives of Active Public Relat

Abstract

The general objective of the study was to explore the perceptions of public relations professionals in Nairobi on the incorporation of social media in the modern public relations practice in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the opinions of professionals on social media incorporation in organizational strategy, to investigate the factors that influence the selection of social media tools to be used, to determine the perceived influence of social media on modern public relations practice, and to investigate the social media skills necessary in promoting modern public relations practice. The study utilized the social penetration, diffusion of innovations and the uses and gratifications theories. The study employed the descriptive design, with a quantitative approach to explore the feelings of public relations professions on mainstreaming of social media in the overall organization strategy. The target population was made up of all PR professionals registered by the PRSK to undertake the public relations mandates for various clients, initially stratified by their organization type and then selected using disproportionate method to promote representativeness. The quantitative data were collected from 100 professionals through semistructured questionnaires which were administered through a drop and pick method. The findings revealed that social media is generally incorporated in the modern public relations practice especially in disseminating information on corporate strategy. Age, education and audience type were the key factors that determine the selection of social media to use in PR practice. It was also found that social media had more positive influence on modern PR practice especially during crisis management, strategy dissemination, clients’ feedback and the call to action. The study also found that additional skills are required to promote efficient and effective incorporation of social media into modern public relations practice by the PR professionals. The study concludes that social media incorporation into organizational strategy is influenced by the advancement in information technology and it is not an option; and PR professionals needs to update their skills in order to leverage this innovation to promote public relations performance in corporate organizations.