Public Relations and Social Media
Figure 1: BDI Logo
An essay on the Black Dog Institute’s use of social media for public relations purposes.
Major Assessment:
How is social media being used by not-for-profit organisations for PR purposes? Choose one not-for-profit organisation operating in Australia and discuss – with reference to public relations and new media theory – how the organisation is using social media to manage their key stakeholders and community groups online.
The practice of public relations has seen a change in recent years, and now includes many and varied tools; including new media. The term ‘new media’ encompasses a variety of non-traditional methods including social media. This essay discusses the use of social media in a public relations capacity, to assist in managing an organisation’s key stakeholders and community groups online. The focus organisation is the Black Dog Institute (BDI), a notfor-profit organisation and an “educational, research, clinical and community-oriented facility offering specialist expertise in mood disorders” (Black Dog Institute, 2012). When considering how an organisation uses social media, it is important to understand who the key stakeholders are and also what constitutes social media tools. Some of the institute’s key stakeholders (otherwise known as the specific target audience) include health professionals, donors/sponsors and government agencies. So, with some of the key stakeholders defined, what then is social media? Social media, as a whole, is online media with which you – the user can participate. Mayfield (2008) states that social media of all kind shares most (or all) of the following characteristics – participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness. The Black Dog institute has used several social media tools to get their message out to the wider community. The use of these new media tools, specifically social media tools, assists not-for-profit organisations such as The Black Dog Institute in managing their
An essay on the Black Dog Institute’s use of social media for public relations purposes.
Major Assessment:
How is social media being used by not-for-profit organisations for PR purposes? Choose one not-for-profit organisation operating in Australia and discuss – with reference to public relations and new media theory – how the organisation is using social media to manage their key stakeholders and community groups online.
The practice of public relations has seen a change in recent years, and now includes many and varied tools; including new media. The term ‘new media’ encompasses a variety of non-traditional methods including social media. This essay discusses the use of social media in a public relations capacity, to assist in managing an organisation’s key stakeholders and community groups online. The focus organisation is the Black Dog Institute (BDI), a notfor-profit organisation and an “educational, research, clinical and community-oriented facility offering specialist expertise in mood disorders” (Black Dog Institute, 2012). When considering how an organisation uses social media, it is important to understand who the key stakeholders are and also what constitutes social media tools. Some of the institute’s key stakeholders (otherwise known as the specific target audience) include health professionals, donors/sponsors and government agencies. So, with some of the key stakeholders defined, what then is social media? Social media, as a whole, is online media with which you – the user can participate. Mayfield (2008) states that social media of all kind shares most (or all) of the following characteristics – participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness. The Black Dog institute has used several social media tools to get their message out to the wider community. The use of these new media tools, specifically social media tools, assists not-for-profit organisations such as The Black Dog Institute in managing their
Bibliography: Texts: Ali, M 2006, Public Relations – Creating an IMAGE, Heinemann, Oxford, GB Chaffey, D & Smith, PR. 2010, eMarketing eXcellence – Planning and optimizing your digital marketing, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK. Flynn, N, 2012, Social media handbook – policies and best practices to effectively manage your organization 's social media presence, posts, and potential risks. Wiley, Australia Harrison, Kim 2011, Strategic Public Relations – A Practical Guide to Success, Palgrave Macmillan, South Yarra, Australia Lee, R & Kotler, P. 2011, Social Marketing – Influencing Behaviors for Good, 4th edition. Sage, California Rix, P, 2011, Marketing – A Practical Approach, McGraw Hill, North Ryde, Australia. Solis, B & Breakenridge, D. 2009, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations – How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR, Pearson Education, New Jersey Page 6 of 7 PRN101 – Major Assignment eBooks and PDFs: Junee,T 2012, PRN101_Social_Media_2012-2 [Slide].THINK: APM College of Business, Sydney Mayfield, A. 2008 What is Social Media? v1.4 updated 1 August 2008 http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_eb ook.pdf (accessed 3 May, 2012) Weblinks: Black Dog Insitute. 2012. About Us: Black Dog Institute. Available: http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/aboutus/overview.cfm (accessed 6 April, 2012) Harris, A. 2012. Be Social Media Savvy. Available: http://www.pria.com.au/priablog/be-social-media-savvy (accessed 7 April, 2012) Mental Health Wiki. 2012. Register: Available: http://www.mentalhealthwiki.org/deki/plugins/register/register.php (accessed 2 May,2012) Facebook. 2012. Key Facts. Available: http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22 (accessed 1 May, 2012) YouTube. 2012. Search results for Black Dog Institute. Available: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=black+dog+institute+&oq=black+dog+instit ute+&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=youtube.3...16614.20473.0.21177.22.19.1.2.2.1.303.2779.5j7j6 j1.19.0...0.0. (accessed 18 April, 2012) Black Dog Bite Back. 2012. Blogs: Available: http://www.biteback.org.au/ (accessed 2 May, 2012) Page 7 of 7 PRN101 – Major Assignment