Social networking sites and the challenge for public relations

The Web is an increasingly important component of public relations. Organizations use Web sites to build relationships with key publics, and they can provide a variety of organizational information and services to a diverse group of stakeholders. The Web enables publics to be active and selective in their exposure to marketing, advertising and public relations messages. For public relations practitioners to act effectively on behalf of organizations, they must monitor and track both traditional and new media sources for potential issues, and respond to accordingly. This digital revolution has provided public relations practitioners with a new communication challenge: social networking sites. This paper explores this challenge for public relations practice.