Use of Social Network for Business in Public Relations

Before the development of the Internet, there were only a few major media outlets that organizations could use to reach their target audiences. Subsequently, public relations practitioners were able to carefully control all forms of communication. The arrival of new media in the past few years has posed an array of new opportunities but also threats. The public has developed a need to access news and information practically before it exists, and so there is a growing desire to find out what's new via social network sites. With the introduction of social networks, business organizations should identify those social networks representing their target audiences; they should control and participate in them. This chapter describes basic characteristics of social networks and their role for public relations.