Public relations and the democratizing role of new media: How public relations practitioners who also are activists use social media for their activism

In mainstream public relations, the word activist has a predominantly negative connotation—one of a trouble-maker, who disrupts the financial progress and well-being of an organization. This is because mainstream public relations takes a modernist, organization-centric stance that valorizes the interests of organizations above all else. In recent times, however, critics of mainstream PR have adopted alternate approaches to public relations where the interests of stakeholders are accorded equal—if not more—importance than those of organizations. Postmodern scholars such as Holtzhausen (2012), for instance, urge public relations practitioners to take up an activist stance on behalf of stakeholders if they are confronted with unethical behavior from their organization. Berger and Reber (2006) in their studies on organizational dissent also find a small subset of public relations practitioners exhibiting activist behaviors when confronted with unethical organizational decisions. Holtzhausen (2012) especially points out new media as tools with which public relations practitioners can help democratize the discursive space between stakeholders and organizations. Adopting the postmodern standpoint, this dissertation in particular will examine how public relations practitioners who also engage in organizational activism use social media in their activism. In addition, it will explore how the top 50 Fortune 500 companies—being at the zenith of corporate success—use their Facebook and Twitter pages to engage with stakeholders. Through this inquiry, this study will examine whether social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter indeed foster a democratic exchange between successful for-profit organizations and their stakeholders. Thus overall—through my two research questions—this dissertation will explore the extent to which social media levels the power dynamics between an organization and its stakeholders