TY - JOUR
T1 - The blogosphere and public relations
T2 - Investigating practitioners' roles and blog use
AU - Porter, Lance
AU - Sweetser, Kaye
AU - Chung, Deborah
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2009/7/31
Y1 - 2009/7/31
N2 - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the perception and adoption of blogs among public relations practitioners and how blog use relates to roles and status. Design/methodology/approach A national email survey of 216 US public relations professionals was used. Findings While blog use was similar to national audiences, practitioners were maintaining mostly personal blogs and using blogs professionally at low levels. Furthermore, women lagged behind men in the strategic use of blogs. Finally, cluster analysis challenged Porter and Sallot's roles typology, reverting to the previous managertechnician dichotomy. Practical implications While practitioners use blogs at a similar level to that of the general population, they may be missing an opportunity to reach publics directly both through blogging and placing stories in blogs. Originality/value The paper provides an early look at an emerging technology that most practitioners agree will have a substantial impact on the industry.
AB - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the perception and adoption of blogs among public relations practitioners and how blog use relates to roles and status. Design/methodology/approach A national email survey of 216 US public relations professionals was used. Findings While blog use was similar to national audiences, practitioners were maintaining mostly personal blogs and using blogs professionally at low levels. Furthermore, women lagged behind men in the strategic use of blogs. Finally, cluster analysis challenged Porter and Sallot's roles typology, reverting to the previous managertechnician dichotomy. Practical implications While practitioners use blogs at a similar level to that of the general population, they may be missing an opportunity to reach publics directly both through blogging and placing stories in blogs. Originality/value The paper provides an early look at an emerging technology that most practitioners agree will have a substantial impact on the industry.
KW - Communication technologies
KW - Internet
KW - Management roles
KW - Public relations
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U2 - 10.1108/13632540910976699
DO - 10.1108/13632540910976699
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84992999008
SN - 1363-254X
VL - 13
SP - 250
EP - 267
JO - Journal of Communication Management
JF - Journal of Communication Management
IS - 3
ER -