Social media usage among public relations practioners in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study explores the uses of social media in public relations practices among practitioners in Lagos state, Nigeria. The study is based on the assumption that social media have changed the way public relations is being practised in contemporary times; the 21st century. The study is premised on the ‘Uses and Gratifications’ (U & G) Theory, a perspective that posits that individuals actively choose media or media content to satisfy their goals. Irrespective of the fact that the same theory has been applied in other countries, mostly Western (developed), this study provides an African i.e. Nigerian (developing country) perspective which differs in terms of its socio-cultural, political and economic status. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 PR practitioners in Lagos state, Nigeria, whose companies’/organizations’ names were retrieved from a list of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations Practitioners (NIPR) to gather data for this study. Adopting a qualitative approach also helped to provide the practitioners’ first-hand information on their experiences about social media usage in the profession. These practitioners were drawn from the government sector, an academic institution and private PR firms, all of whom actively use the social media in their PR practices. The study proposed four research questions: RQ1: How do PR practitioners in Nigeria use social media in their practices? RQ2: Why do PR practitioners in Nigeria use social media in their practices? RQ3: In what ways do social media gratify PR practitioners’ needs in Nigeria? RQ4: How has social media usage shaped PR practices in Nigeria? The findings of the study affirm that public relations practitioners in Nigeria have largely incorporated social media usage in their practices and derive numerous gratifications therein. However, they have a number of downsides to the usage in regards to how it has shaped their practices. Practically, the study suggests that practitioners be educated on how to properly use these social media platforms to achieve maximum professional objectives, employers should not relegate all PR functions and duties to only those competent in social media usage as not all PR duties can be achieved using the social media. The study also suggests the need for further research on the same phenomenon in other parts of the country.