Voting in the Age of Social Networking

By Rebecca Kelly

As students, most of us find ourselves using social networking sites regularly, with a large proportion of us using them everyday. Whether or not we want them to, it is an undeniable fact that social networking sites have become so commonplace that they are having an increasingly influential role in our lives.

Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Bebo and blogging in general have taken over our lives in the way of social media and many major businesses are choosing to use social networking sites; with a great deal of their advertisement budget being spent on projects online. With companies consciously looking to persuade and influence via social networking sites it seems important to question whether this kind of social media could actually influence our vote when it comes to the elections.

Over one hundred MPs are now using Twitter to mass communicate new policy suggestions and others have their own blogs to put forward their campaign messages. Some may view this as a great opportunity as it enables the general public to view different MPs’ policies and make more informed decisions on the basis of the information provided. Others however feel that the increased level of political intrusion into our personal lives is a step too far and that it is possible that people could feel bombarded into voting for a particular party as a result.

Many social network users vehemently disagree with the idea that these sites may have the power to influence votes, and they would argue that a politician’s online views cannot force anyone to vote in a certain way. Many also see social media as completely ethical as it leaves the choice of what to do with the information up to the viewer and therefore they can decide whether or not to alter their opinions or beliefs.

As a generation of students who are beginning to rely on social media in many aspects of life, it is hard to draw a line between different levels of persuasion, as we ourselves create groups and campaigns online for various reasons and causes. Do we view this particular freedom online as too strong a tool for influencing others?

One recent report suggested that, “Twitter and other social media platforms, if used effectively, have the potential to impact the next general election in unprecedented ways”. This could be taken in two ways. The first is that we could be influenced forcefully and without choice to vote in a certain way. The second could merely mean that politicians will now be battling it out via the use of social media as opposed to television and radio.

It remains to be seen whether social networking sites will have an effect on our generation and how we vote. However, it seems fair to say that where there is a will to influence and a platform by which people can do so, every opportunity is likely to be taken by individuals and groups who feel it will benefit them, but this certainly does not confirm that these people will be successful in their attempt to influence our vote.

Second year begins…

Every Thursday is now a 9 – 5 for me. Since the start of the academic year I have been on a one day a week work placement with Beattie Communications in Leeds. I was so happy when I was given the opportunity and am loving experiencing life within a real PR agency. I have already been given tasks writing press releases for companies such as easyJet and have already seen a whole campaign come together with the launch of easyJet’s new winter routes. The link I’m posting here is for an event Beattie held at Gatwick Airport to celebrate the launch of the new route to Agadir. Yes, it is the real Black Lace!
I am looking forward to the rest of my time working for Beattie Communications as I am learning so much and I would urge any Public Relations student to gain work experience in this way!

The Reel Movie Show

This is just a quick video post of an interview I did for a friend from the University of Leeds. Unfortunately it was very last minute and I only had a few minutes to look at what I was suppose to be chatting about and I had never been in a studio before, but I thought I would pop it on my blog, I am hoping that it doesn’t look too bad! As we have been told many a time this term, you have to think on your feet when faced with a challenge because in the real world there’s no running away…

The title is the link to the video!

(It is also interesting as the film in question ‘Hancock’ is centred around a dysfunctional superhero who is aided by a ‘PR Practitioner’ whose aim is to try and help the superhero win the hearts of the American people).

What is Public Relations?

A few weeks ago, my classmates and I were given a rather hard assignment. In 750 words we were asked to answer the question, “What is Public Relations?” I was completely stumped! I had no idea where to start. This question seemed to me, something that could have easily been turned into a 3,000 word essay. There was nothing I could do other than attempt to write the essay. We were given a very new definition of PR from Morris and Goldsworthy’s new book, PR – A Persuasive Industry and were to compare other academic and practitioner definitions to it. This is what I came up with:

Sharpe and Pritchard, 2004, suggest that the profession of public relations is the result of a ‘social mandate brought about through the empowerment of public opinion.” This would suggest that public relations (PR) is a benign force which results from what Cutlip, 1994 identified as a “growing awareness of the need to court public opinion.” Morris and Goldsworthy’s recent definition, however, has a more cutting edge. “PR is the planned persuasion of people to behave in ways that further its sponsor’s objectives. It works primarily through the use of media relations and other forms of third party endorsement.” (Morris and Goldsworthy, 2008). This definition appears to provide a more realistic, up to date view which includes good and bad aspects of the profession, and describes how public relations achieves what it sets out to do.

The UK CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) defines public relations as, “the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.” This definition suggests that the aim of PR is not merely popularity or approval, which concurs with Morris and Goldsworthy’s view. Through use of words such as ‘planned’ and ‘sustained’ it is intimating that these relationships PR wishes to uphold are not effortlessly kept. However, it chooses to sum up the objective of PR as purely for goodwill which differs significantly from Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition, which presses the point that PR behaves in a way that will further its ‘sponsor’s objectives’ and highlights that some PR can be used in a negative way and may undermine its ‘publics’. Most other definitions choose to ignore this side of public relations, as PR practitioners seem reluctant to admit that the influence they exert is not always for the good of others.

The simplest definition given for public relations is, “the management of communication between an organization and its publics” (Grünig and Hunt, 1984) which fails to mention how public relations manages this communication. It does indicate that PR is a corporate activity and within this, communication is used. Yet, unlike Morris and Goldsworthy, ‘persuasion’ and ‘planned activity’ is simply not acknowledged. Grünig and Hunt also do not mention that this management is for the benefit of the organisation.

There are many other definitions which do seek to describe the activity which PR practitioners take part in. For example, the ‘Mexican Statement’ which resulted from an assembly of PR associations from 31 countries agreed that, “Public relations practice is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organizations’ leaders, and implementing planned programmes of action which will serve both the organizations’ and the public interest.” The importance of this definition is that it refers to analyzing trends which suggests that PR involves the ‘application of research techniques’ (Jefkins, 1997). The definition also tightens its focus on the public affairs and social science aspects of an organisation, and on the responsibility to the public interest. This definition like many others emphasises the idea that the programmes of action will serve both the “organizations’ and the public interest” in a mutually beneficial way. This is very idealistic and more often than not may be highly desirable but is not a reality. The Mexican statement also focuses on describing what PR should do on a ‘strategic level’. However, as with so many other definitions it fails to describe ‘how’ PR does what it is supposed to do. (Morris and Goldsworthy, 2008).

The idea of persuasion has been left out of many academic definitions, even though there is evidence of its importance in the profession’s history, for example, Edward Bernays’ 1929 campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes, which aimed to equate women with men represented by the use of what Bernays coined as ‘freedom torches’ . I believe this is due to the negative connotations surrounding the idea of persuasion, and the ongoing wish of PR practitioners to idealise their field of work. Also, in a fast paced world, the nature of the profession is constantly changing and academic definitions may result from a perspective that has become distanced from the reality of today. It is true that much of PR is very useful to society, yet there are often cases of public relations which distort the truth somewhat and more often that not, public relations’ aim, is for the good of its ‘sponsors’ – as Morris and Goldsworthy suggest. It is a shame that the academic definitions of public relations tend to idealise PR as this gives an air of falsity rather than truth. However, the current practice within the PR industry is reflected very well in Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition and we can remain hopeful that tomorrow’s public relations practitioners will not have to inherit as much criticism as today’s.

Next Post

I was recently looking for PR blogs to try and give me an idea of what people tend to write about and what I could perhaps learn about the PR industry from blogging myself, when I stumbled across a blog post written for students of Public Relations. Steven Silver, whose blog focuses on PR and strategic influence,  lists five things that PR students should know about their choice of career in response to Karen Matthews’ post on what she wishes people would blog about for her PR students. I found it thoroughly insightful as a first year student, as so often we are being convinced that PR is nothing to do with falsity and I am glad therefore that at least this post highlights how often, the industry does play host to untruths and ’sleaze’. Many other critical issues are raised such as “PR people don’t write well” and the fact that “PR is not the end result of itself”. Here is the link for this post which I hope other students find as useful as I have. A little bit of criticism of your own industry can go along way I think (perhaps criticism is the wrong word, maybe it is purely facing up to what many choose to ignore) , especially in generating a more realistic view for the next generation of PR professionals! Thank you, Steven.
http://www.stevensilvers.com/2007/10/five-things-all.html

*University of Salzburg – PR*

Just thought I should update my page with some exciting news. I will be spending my entire second semester of second year at the University of Salzburg in Austria studying Public Relations (all studying will be completed in German). I can’t believe it! It’s all happened so quickly but I couldn’t be more thrilled. It means I can really focus on making sure my German is as fluent as possible. My Erasmus co-ordinator has already been able to set me up some PR work experience with a company in Bad Reichenhall, a stunning town on the border of Germany. Everything seems to be fitting into place and I cannot wait! I will keep you posted. Becca x

A Little Introduction

I am a 20 year old, who grew up in Southampton, Hampshire where I attended St Anne’s Catholic Convent School for Girls (a bit of a mouthful…I know!) I took my A-levels in English Language, German and English Literature. I gained 2 A’s for English Language and German and a B in Literature. I was very passionate about German and intended to continue at the University of Leeds. Unfortuantely I couldn’t complete the year due to illness and had some time to think about where I could go with my life. I loved my German degree and all the linguistic aspects too however I just couldn’t face going back. Everyone kept telling me to make a new start, research new degrees until I found something I felt I could enjoy but would still stimulate me. (I refused to continue with German knowing I’d have to travel away for a year, and at the time I couldn’t see myself doing it). After a lot of (soul) searching I fell upon the Public Relations degree at Leeds Metropolitan and I was thrilled. I managed to apply in time and got a place! In hindsight I don’t know what it was about the degree that struck me as something I thought I could do well in, but in the back of my mind there must have been something.

And now, here I am setting up this page, let the blogging begin…