Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College Students

Social media have been adopted from its inception by public relations, advertising and marketing practitioners as tools for communicating with strategic publics. Wright and Hinson (2009) have established that public relations professionals perceive social media positively with respect to strategi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bobbi Kay Lewis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Insitute for Public Relations 2010-06-01
Series:Public Relations Journal
Online Access:https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2010Lewis.pdf
_version_ 1811251779235479552
author Bobbi Kay Lewis
author_facet Bobbi Kay Lewis
author_sort Bobbi Kay Lewis
collection DOAJ
description Social media have been adopted from its inception by public relations, advertising and marketing practitioners as tools for communicating with strategic publics. Wright and Hinson (2009) have established that public relations professionals perceive social media positively with respect to strategic communication. Given that social media are having an impact on professionals in the industry, the current study examined if social media are having a similar impact on college students in general and students studying in the area of public relations and advertising. The uses, attitudes and perceptions of social media among college students were explored through survey data. 7KHUHVHDUFKIRXQGWKDWHGXFDWLRQDIIHFWVVWXGHQWV¶XQGHUVWDQGLQJDQGDWWLWXGHVWRZDUG social media. It is important for educators and curriculum leaders to have an DSSUHFLDWLRQRIVWXGHQWV¶NQRZOHGJHEDVHRIVRFLDOPHGLDDQGKRZ they employ it in their construction of knowledge and reality. It is also valuable for professionals in the industry, who are hiring recent college graduates, to gain insight into how students perceive social media in their own lives and as strategic tools. Findings suggest that college students majoring advertising and public relations view social media more positively than other majors because they understand how it fits in to the industry in which they are being educated. These finding suggest that social media should be incorporated into strategic communications curriculum to better prepare students for the current media climate.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T16:25:30Z
format Article
id doaj.art-3eb3c2ce3c6b4066bded4c965ea05984
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1942-4604
1942-4604
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T16:25:30Z
publishDate 2010-06-01
publisher Insitute for Public Relations
record_format Article
series Public Relations Journal
spelling doaj.art-3eb3c2ce3c6b4066bded4c965ea059842022-12-22T03:25:24ZengInsitute for Public RelationsPublic Relations Journal1942-46041942-46042010-06-0143Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College StudentsBobbi Kay LewisSocial media have been adopted from its inception by public relations, advertising and marketing practitioners as tools for communicating with strategic publics. Wright and Hinson (2009) have established that public relations professionals perceive social media positively with respect to strategic communication. Given that social media are having an impact on professionals in the industry, the current study examined if social media are having a similar impact on college students in general and students studying in the area of public relations and advertising. The uses, attitudes and perceptions of social media among college students were explored through survey data. 7KHUHVHDUFKIRXQGWKDWHGXFDWLRQDIIHFWVVWXGHQWV¶XQGHUVWDQGLQJDQGDWWLWXGHVWRZDUG social media. It is important for educators and curriculum leaders to have an DSSUHFLDWLRQRIVWXGHQWV¶NQRZOHGJHEDVHRIVRFLDOPHGLDDQGKRZ they employ it in their construction of knowledge and reality. It is also valuable for professionals in the industry, who are hiring recent college graduates, to gain insight into how students perceive social media in their own lives and as strategic tools. Findings suggest that college students majoring advertising and public relations view social media more positively than other majors because they understand how it fits in to the industry in which they are being educated. These finding suggest that social media should be incorporated into strategic communications curriculum to better prepare students for the current media climate.https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2010Lewis.pdf
spellingShingle Bobbi Kay Lewis
Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College Students
Public Relations Journal
title Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College Students
title_full Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College Students
title_fullStr Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College Students
title_full_unstemmed Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College Students
title_short Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College Students
title_sort social media and strategic communication attitudes and perceptions among college students
url https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2010Lewis.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT bobbikaylewis socialmediaandstrategiccommunicationattitudesandperceptionsamongcollegestudents