Q: Should there be a global standard for social media communication by international public relations professionals? Discuss.

By the mid-1990s, the advances in international trade and investment looked like undisputable proof of the validity of neo-liberal model. It seemed no wonder that the concepts of openness and development through globalization and regional integration became new development paradigms. Along the way of globalization, a new term is developed namely international public relations. International public relations, is undergoing major changes in its purview (Culbertson and Chen, 1996; Banks, 2000). Over two decades, international public relations was defined as the planned and organized effort of a company, institution, or government to establish mutually beneficial relations with the public of other nations. (Wilcox, et. Al., 1989). In 2000, Wilcox, et. Al adds that these public, in turn, may be defined as the various groups of people who are affected by, or who can affect, the operations of a particular firm, institution or government. International public relations may be a necessary part of doing business for the public relations firm of the next century (Grunig, 1992). Perceptions and standards related to international public relations differ as time passes by. Newsom (2000) explained, the globalization of news media, the unification of the worlds economy and the emergence of multinational companies have helped expand this area of public relations. International public relations is not limited to businesses, however, because non-profit organizations and associations are international in scope. According to Seitel (2001), the challenges will be worldwide, just as the field itself has become worldwide. The challenges facing public relations practitioners at the international level is apparent. To encounter these challenges, international public relations practitioners need to be trained. The growing need for skilled international public relations practitioners trained to conduct research in less than familiar settings; quite often employing differing methodologies to

obtain reliable data, and working with a rapidly growing number of practitioners from different countries and cultures are potentially three of the major challenges. (Stone, 2004) Over the years, social media has had a staggering implication on the practice of international public relations. Findings show that blogs and other social media are dramatically changing public relations. In 2008, 61% believed the emergence of blogs and social media had changed the way their organizations communicate. The score on that item in 2009 is 73%. Findings continue to suggest that these changes are more prominent in external than internal communicators. 93% of this years respondents spent part of their average workdays with some aspects of blogs and social media. (Wright and Hinson, 2009). Recent research by Tancer (2008), suggests social media have overtaken pornography as the number one use of the internet. According to the International Association of Business Communicators (Young, 2009) more than half of all internet users are engaged to social networks, as platform for creating and sharing content. Moreover, nearly 75% of all internet users have read a blog. According a study from Razmerita, Kirchner and Sudzina (2009) the social media platforms got very popular. The communications world is dramatically moving in a digital direction and those understand this transformation will communicate much more effectively than those who do not (Weber, 2007). Social media has changed the way we work, socialize and communicate, but its impact and the implications for public relations staff is the subject of much debate. A study of council communications finds that most use social media, but only a third allow all staff to manage its output (Spurrell, 2012). Social media is characterized by interactivity participants freely send, receive, and process content for use by others. The popularity of social media makes it a forum that cannot be ignored. In terms of corporate communication strategy, social media and similar internet services are characterized by easy searching, open participation, a

minimal publishing threshold, dialogue, community, networking, and the rapid spread of information and other content via a wide range of feedback and linking systems (Aula, 2010). Many aspects of technology have challenged how public relations is practiced. Robert (2005) explained, public relations in the digital age requires understanding how your key constituents are gathering and sharing information and then influencing them at key points. Doing so requires strategies that embrace the digital age. The potential impact of blogs on public relations and corporate communications is phenomenal. According to Steve Crescenzo, employee blogs have massive, almost unlimited potential to share knowledge, foster dialogue, market goods and services, and open up to two-way channels of communication. The 2005 PR Week/Burson-Marsteller CEO Survey reports that 59% of CEOs rate blogs as a good, very good, or excellent corporate communication tool for internal audiences. However, there are conflicting viewpoints. According to Ragan Report (2005), although employee blogs currently are a big phenomenon, many who work in employee communications do not like the idea of their employees blogging because the company is not able to control their messages. On the other hand, Dan Gillmor (2004) believes companies inevitably will try to co-opt blogs. Wright and Hinson (2006)discovered most agreed it was ethical to discipline employees who write negative things about their organizations on blogs and most also believed it was ethical for organizations to monitor information their employees disclose. A shift of opinion was found in response to the same question. The 2007 results reported only 10% agreement and considerable disagreement. Social media is has a variety of platforms that are different from each other, one of it is usergenerated content, or content that is distributed by participants rather than editors (Boyd, 2009). The movement from a read-only internet to read-and-write internet, has enabled audiences to test the power assumptions in this relationships, and developments in the

technology of personal communication and social networking software has caused media commentators to observe a shift in the balance of power towards the citizen (Flew, 2007). Example of user-generated campaign includes Go Green Vespa Video Challenge and The Best Job In The World Campaign destination marketing for Queensland. Both of these campaigns allowed contestant to create content themselves. Although buzz for the contest was successfully generated, but there are also risk on whether these user-generated-content are suitable for all. Social media lets us reach people more directly. It cuts across channels and is all about engaging with individuals. There are huge opportunities there, but the 24/7 scrutiny brings new threats too (The Impact of Social Media on Public Relations, 2012). In 2008, when one of the worlds biggest air carriers, United Airlines, refused to compensate a passenger who was a professional musician for breaking his $3500 guitar in 2008, he wrote a song about his lengthy but failed negotiations with the company. He turned to Youtube and uploaded a series of videos called United Break Guitars that told his story in a humorous manner. The videos went viral, and ultimately received social media backlash to their Facebook page, twitter account, and blog. The airline quickly reacted by apologizing and donating $3000 to the Thelonious Monk Jazz Institute. In terms of strategic reputation management, what is important is that social media content cannot be controlled in advance and that content cannot be managed in the same way as, for example, conventional media such as TV or newspapers (Aula, 2010). It can be argued that social media expands the spectrum of reputation risks and boosts risk dynamics (Aula, 2009). In social media services, users mostly generate unverified information, and put forth ideas about organizations that can differ greatly from what organizations share with the public (Aula, 2009). In 2009, two North Carolina Dominos franchise employees filmed and uploaded a video of themselves doing some really disgusting things to food that was most

likely later served to customers. Over 1 million viewers saw the video, and news travelled quickly. Dominos managed to get the video yanked off Youtube two days later, but the damage was done. Social media is a prickly and difficult situation for any employer and public relations practitioners. Social media is not a one-size-fits-all solution for international public relations practitioners. In 2008, Motrin launched a video ad campaign which suggested that mothers who carry babies in slings to be fashionable, but suffer more as a result. The video went viral, led to a backlash on mommy blogs, Twitter and Facebook. The campaigns website was eventually shut down. The website might be doing good deed by sharing information; however, it fails to take into account the pregnant ladies reaction. The generic approach has great potential for focusing international research and clarifying infrastructure, geopolitical, legal, cultural, media, other important variables (Sriramesh & Vercic, 2003). It is the scholars and practitioners to conduct and study global public relations. It is important to identify and nurture social media influencers within your target audience. Evolution of new media does not mean public relations practitioners can abuse and take advantage of the advancement. In 2009, Asus decided to hold a competition to help generate some buss for their products. The competition was going smoothly. For unknown reason, Asus did not approve the winner (voted by public) and announced a decision to change the rules at the end of contest. The organization was accused for manipulating the system and voters for their own benefit, which further became a mainstream attention. Both of these public relations disastrous cases stressed out that, even when using the internet to run campaign, it is essential to be honest and transparent. The concept of trust is a fundamental principle of both civil society and public relations. Being trustworthy, creating and maintaining trust, and keeping clients trusts are concepts that are found throughout public relations society code of ethical conduct (Kent and Taylor, 2006).

Social media present challenges, because they break down traditional categories of audiences. Matrices of targets and themes have become a blob with undefined connections and gaps. Social media are so fragmented that an individual may or may not see information in a blog, on a Facebook page or in a Tweet, hence, challenged with reaching the majority of an audience through media that theoretically can access but in reality might not view (Horton, 2009). Clients and agencies are hungry for expert guidance to navigate the changing media landscape, and they deserve guidance thats based on sound social science, proven practices and openly available methodologies, said Time Marklein. He added, too many of the social media measurement options available today are based on proprietary tools and method that cannot be easily replicated across brands, campaigns and organizations. As a coalition, we intend to break down those barriers and map out a path to standards that address key social media measurement challenges, including content sourcing, influence, sentiment, engagement and Return-On-Investment (ROI) among others (Coalition Aims to Establish Global Standards for Social Measurement, 2011).Developing global standards for social media measurement, further education of the PR profession, emerged as the top priorities by delegates at the Third European Summit on Measurement in Lisbon (Lisbon Summit sets top four measurement priorities, 2011) Effectiveness, in the new world of global economy and new media world of instant communications, requires some uniformity and standardization. Looking at the series of failure in online public relations cases, it became justifiable that there should be a global standard for social media communication by, and for international public relations professionals. The global standard must lay down principle of conduct and standard of measurement. Success in setting a global standard could contribute to a healthy and sustainable industry by minimizing social media abuse and better skills when handling social media public relations issues.

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