The Use of Social Media in Public Relations at Non-Governmental Organisations in South Africa

Abstract

Social media can be a useful tool in public relations in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), but do NGOs make use of social media in their quest for service delivery in South Africa? Social networking sites, blogging, email, instant messaging, and online journals are some of the technological changes that changed the way interaction between people and how they gather information. Although social media is mainly used for interactive dialogue and social interaction, the private sector soon realised that the web-based technologies (especially Facebook and Twitter) could also be a competitive business tool. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) soon followed suit however at a slower pace than the general communication growth rate of social media in South Africa. This article examines if social networking sites have any impact on public relations practices of NGOs in South Africa -an environment where both customers and employees still struggle to take full advantage of social media. The critical literature findings increase the understanding of the current and future challenges of social media use in public relations at NGOs in South Africa. The study explores the main differences between traditional and social media, how social media is redefining public relations role, and shed some light on defining public relations practices, identify the uses, limitations and benefits of social media by public relations practitioners in NGOs. Recommendations for future communication research are given. Based on the literature, a qualitative research design collected data using semi-structured, individual interviews. The results revealed that social media platforms such as Facebook do have an effect, and even changed the way in which NGOs communicate. The study also revealed that social media certainly has an impact on public relations relationships. This means that it has become crucial that public relations practitioners at NOGs embrace and take advantage of social media, and that they should also invest in proper electronic platforms to reap the benefits of improved communication internally and externally. 156 6. New skills needed in managing fear and expectations of online media. 7. We also ensure we establish a positive image of the organisation. 8. Managing the implementation of corporate/NGO communication.The following themes were derived from the research findings of this research. These themes reflect how public relations practitioners in NGOs embraced social media in their organisations and are discussed below.Theme 1: Global Perspective: Merrian-Webster (2018) reports that social media is best understood as communication using new kinds of online media which share the following characteristics: participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness. The search findings redefined the belief that there was no transformation in NGOs towards using social media as a public relations tool. It showed that social media tools had transformed the public relations function in NGOs. During the interviews, different ...