The Role of Social Media in Public Relations Practice – A Study of Security Agencies in Ghana

Abstract

The research examines how public relations practitioners with the security agencies in Ghana are using social media, their perceptions of these media as communication tools; and the impact and implications that this new media has had on the public relations practice. Using a mixed methods approach and a cross-sectional survey design, 120 respondents from the general public and 5 public relations officers of the five security agencies were sampled.. Respondents from the public were sampled using simple random sampling while the purposive technique was used to sample the public relations officers. The study data was analysed using Descriptive Statistics and findings indicate that a number of security agencies in Ghana use social media in their public relations efforts. The public relations departments of these organizations use social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Findings also showed Social media's speed and ease of use were cited by all respondents as a major factor in the adoption of public relations by security agencies. Findings further revealed that security agency public relations units have achieved goals such as enhancement in reputation, quick circulation of information and quick feedback mechanism. The study concluded that social media has indeed had an impact on public relations practices irrespective of the organisation and has further changed the way that public relations unit communicate. It was thus recommended that the public relations unit of the security agencies should have a team which constantly monitors social media to ensure that information falsification are curtailed and if possible the perpetrators arrested. Also, the public relations unit should not use social media solely as a means of communicating with the public. Finally, the public relations units should have specially dedicated numbers or hotlines where the needs and queries of the public would be responded to on 24 hour basis.