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Advocacy organizations increasingly leverage social media and visuals to communicate complex climate issues. By examining an extensive dataset of visual posts collected from five organization accounts on two multimodal social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram, we conducted a cross-platform comparison of visual content categories and visual features related to climate change. Through deep-learning-based unsupervised image clustering, we discovered that visual content on both platforms could be broadly classified into five categories: infographics/captioned images, nature landscape/wildlife, climate activism, technology, and data visualization. However, these categories were not equally represented on each platform. Instagram featured more nature landscape/wildlife content, while Twitter showed more infographics/captioned images and data visualization. Through computational visual analysis, we found that the two platforms also presented significant differences in overall warm and cool colors, brightness, colorfulness, visual complexity, and presence of faces. Additionally, we identified platform-specific patterns of engagement associated with these categories and features. With the urgency to address climate change, these findings can guide climate advocacy organizations in developing strategies tailored to each platform's specific characteristics for maximum effectiveness. This study highlights the significance of using computational methods in efficiently uncovering meaningful themes from extensive visual data and quantifying aesthetic features in strategic communication. • Through unsupervised image clustering, five main categories of climate change visuals were identified from climate advocacy organizations. Instagram featured more nature landscape/wildlife content, while Twitter had more infographics/captioned images. • These differences extended to visual features such as warm and cool colors, brightness, colorfulness, visual complexity, and presence of faces. • Platform-specific patterns of engagement were identified. • The study highlights the potential of computational visual analysis in understanding visuals in strategic communication. • The findings emphasize the importance of considering platform-specific characteristics when designing climate change visual content on social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July of 2021, Simone Biles shocked the world with her withdrawal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics citing "mental health" as her rationale. Mental health remains a taboo subject within the realm of professional sports, and is often devalued, in stark contrast to the value placed on physical health. The present study explored Biles's framing of her withdrawal and publics' reactions to the withdrawal across two distinct social media platforms. Critical rhetorical analysis was used to analyze the Instagram posts made by Biles and a press conference transcript announcing and reifying her withdrawal, as well as 100 TikTok videos and 1000 comments illustrating publics' reactions. Findings demonstrate that Biles's framed her messages through genuineness, responsibility, resistance, and consistency. As a result of the frames used in the withdrawal messages, and the modality allowances afforded on TikTok (e.g., video, text, text and video, stitching), the space for dissent, as well as the ability to critique current power structures was created. From these findings, theoretically I argue that (1) framing theory can be used to create the space for resisting power, reclaiming agency, and challenging attacks of morality, and (2) theorize the ability of public relations to shape broader societal discourse. Practically, this research adds to the public relations literature (1) the value of new frames for image cultivation and the new role of publics for engaging in the acceptance, rejection, or co-creation of frames put forth by organizations and (2) the role of message modality for cultivating discourse and dissent. • Framing as a tool for resisting power and reclaiming agency. • Message modality access can influence dissensus discourse. • Social media allows publics to co-create frames with organizations. • Athlete communication shapes and is shaped by public relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated within the context of online firestorms on Chinese social media platforms, this study combines crisis communication literature and connective action logic, to examine what factors contribute to public engagement in negative word-of-mouth (n-WoM) behaviors in online firestorms. In doing so, this study uses a computational method to leverage large-scale longitudinal data of social media users' digital traces on Sina Weibo and conceptualizes two dimensions of collective legitimacy sources of online firestorms—message and information network legitimacy, revealing their multilayered functional roles in escalating n-WoM engagement. Specifically, our findings suggest that the negativity of social media posts functions as an intensifier of collective message legitimacy escalating publics' n-WoM engagement, while the observation of a greater cumulative number of negative comments functions as a downtoner for n-WoM engagement. In addition, collective legitimacy is contributed by authority and endorsement sources of information networks. Posts from authoritative sources (KOL, media, and corporation) tend to trigger more subsequent public engagement in n-WoM than posts from endorsement sources (ordinary users). Ability-related online firestorms are more likely to have more n-WoM commenting from netizens than social responsibility-related ones. Distinct differences are found between ability- and social responsibility-related firestorms in terms of the impacts of collective legitimacy sources on eliciting n-WoM engagement. • Theorize how two dimensions of collective legitimacy sources contribute to the engagement of negative word-of-mouth (n-WoM). • Employs an unobtrusive computational method of collecting data of digital traces of social media users in online firestorms. • Negativity of online messages intensifies collective legitimacy, boosting publics' n-WoM engagement in online firestorms. • Authority and endorsement sources of information networks contribute to collective legitimacy and trigger n-WoM engagement. • Corporate ability firestorms elicit more n-WoM commenting behaviors than corporate social responsibility firestorms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions on social media during major disasters are robust and often have multiple frames of reference. Temporal perspectives, however, are still lacking in current understandings of social-mediated discussions during disasters and crises, but incorporating temporal perspectives can significantly enhance environmental scanning efforts as prescribed in the issues management framework. The purpose of the current research is twofold: to apply and validate the SIR (Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered) model to examine topics' growth over time on social media and to understand how future orientation of social media users (an indicator of temporal distance) affects their construal of a disaster through supervised machine learning. We based our analysis on Twitter discussions during the Texas winter storm in 2021. Results of the study show great fit of the SIR model for topic growth, and that temporal distance affects users' construal of the event in line with core predictions of construal level theory. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications on social-mediated discussions related to climate change-induced and -intensified disasters and issues management are discussed. • The current study used the infectious disease model to examine topic growth and identify rising topics. • The study incorporated a temporal perspective by modeling topic growth over time and individuals' future orientation. • Applying construal level theory, the study found that the differential growth rate corresponds to the centrality of the topic to the current disaster, with more central topics growing faster. • Temporal distance created a higher level of construal, focusing more on the central features of the event. • The methological approach is particularly relevant to issue monitoring and trend identification in issues management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technologies such as intelligent and fully automatic driving are currently developing rapidly. However, product recalls by electric vehicle manufacturers occur frequently because of immature technology. As a crisis factor, product recalls of the focal company pose a risk of contagion to other players. Through a two-period time series analysis, the current study observes that online public opinion regarding Tesla exerts an indirect spillover over abnormal returns on non-focal companies (i.e., BYD, NIO, LI) from two aspects—social media buzz and public sentiment. Moreover, abnormal returns on Tesla directly spill over into abnormal returns on NIO and LI. The low brand equity proximity plays a role in the direct spillover effect. Besides, the time lag is two days in the direct and indirect spillover process. Under the guidance of Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), we classify spillover crises as victim clusters of crisis types and put forth implications and suggestions in practice based on our findings. • Product recalls are a source of crisis and have a horizontal crisis spillover effect of the focal enterprise on non-focal companies in emerging industries. • Online public opinion regarding Tesla exerts an indirect spillover over abnormal returns on non-focal companies from two aspects—social media buzz and public sentiment. • The low brand equity proximity plays a role in the direct spillover effect. Besides, the time lag is two days in the direct and indirect spillover process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a digital tool named Diversity Perspectives in Social Media (DivPSM) which conducts automated content analysis of strategic diversity communication in organizational social media posts, using supervised machine-learning. DivPSM is trained to identify whether a post makes mention of diversity or a diversity-related issue, and to subsequently code for the presence of three diversity dimensions (cultural/ethnic/racial, gender, and LHGBTQ+ diversity) and three diversity perspectives (the moral, market, and innovation perspectives). In Study 1, we describe the training and validation of the instrument, and examine how it performs compared to human coders. Our findings confirm that DivPSM is sufficiently reliable for use in future research. In study 2, we illustrate the type of data that DivPSM generates, by analyzing the prevalence of strategic diversity communication in social media posts (n = 84,561) of large organizations in the Netherlands. Our results show that in this context gender diversity is most prevalent, followed by LHGBTQ+ and cultural/ethnic/racial diversity. Furthermore, gender diversity is often associated with the innovation perspective, whereas LHGBTQ+ diversity is more often associated with the moral perspective. Cultural/ethnic/racial diversity does not show strong associations with any of the perspectives. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed at the end of the paper. • DivPSM can analyze how organizations communicate about diversity on social media • DivPSM codes whether a post includes cultural/ethnic/racial, gender, or LHGBTQ+ diversity • DivPSM identifies the underlying rationale for diversity management that the organization uses • In social media posts by large Dutch organizations, gender diversity is mentioned most often • Gender diversity is often communicated as a way to increase creativity and innovation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While businesses are increasingly active in raising voices for social and political issues, known as corporate social advocacy (CSA), the strategies, impacts, and ethics of controversial businesses' CSA are largely unknown. This study draws on the visual framing theory and CSA literature to explore how visual framings are constructed in cannabis companies' CSA and their effects on public engagement (i.e., likes and comments) on Instagram. Findings from content analysis of 502 Instagram posts by 42 cannabis companies reveal that cannabis companies construct the meaning of CSA via various visual strategies. However, they may still have a long way to go before initiating authentic image-based CSA. Regression analyses found that gender, color, and issue category are among influential visual characteristics that can foster or impede public engagement, raising critical consideration of cannabis companies' positionality in corporate activism. This study advances the theory-driven, nuanced, and contextualized understanding of corporate communication in today's polarized public opinion environment and increasingly visual-focused media landscape. • Cannabis companies use social media to engage in corporate social advocacy. • Visual framing of CSA on Instagram can reveal how this industry builds legitimacy with younger audiences. • Gender, color, and issue category are among influential visual characteristics that can foster or impede public engagement. • CSA that aligns with business objectives seems more impactful than other hot-button issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by crisis communication literature, the study addresses the importance of sentiments in corporate online firestorms, with a focus on the effectiveness of different immediate response strategies (explanatory vs. sympathetic response vs. silence) on mitigating the negative sentimental discussions and engagement behaviors. It also aims to clarify the relationship between different types of online firestorms (ability vs. social responsibility online firestorms) and intensity of negative sentiments from the online public. Leveraging unobtrusive data and computational methods, we employed a DID design to test the causal effects of response strategies on 335 online firestorms on Twitter to answer the concerned questions. Results showed that silence strategy functioned better than the other two strategies in reducing the negative sentiments and engagement behaviors in online firestorms on Twitter. Moreover, sympathetic response strategy would rather elicit more likes and retweets engagement behaviors in social responsibility-online firestorms than in ability-online firestorms. This study also revealed that there were generally more social responsibility online firestorms than ability-related ones on Twitter, whereas no sentiment differences were identified in the two types of online firestorms. Theoretical advancement, practical implications, and methodological contribution were discussed in detail. • Actual cases were used to test the validity of online firestorms typology and effectiveness of corporate immediate response. • Social responsibility-online firestorms occurred more frequently than ability-online firestorms on Twitter. • Immediate strategic silence demonstrated more instantaneous effectiveness than the other two response strategies. • Immediate sympathetic response caused more likes and retweets in social responsibility firestorms than in ability firestorms. • Adopted a Difference-in-Difference (DID) approach to make causal inferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees' work-related social media posts can serve as persuasive sources of organizational information. Limited research has shown, however, how such posts shape consumers' evaluations of organizations. Across two experiments, we examine the impact of employees' social media posts on consumers' evaluations of the corporate reputation and their behavioral intentions toward the organization. The first experiment studies the role of work-related posts' valence (positive vs. neutral vs. negative) and context (crisis vs. no crisis). A follow-up experiment exclusively considers positive posts, examining whether the external impact of employee ambassadorship differs depending on employees' motivation (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) to serve as organizational advocates. Results from the first experiment show that both negative and positive work-related posts substantially influence consumer attitudes and behaviors toward organizations, both under routine and crisis circumstances. The second experiment's findings show that positive work-related posts are equally effective in intrinsically motivated (i.e., spontaneous) and extrinsically motivated (i.e., paid) circumstances. Organizations can therefore, both in routine and crisis situations, consider ways to stimulate employee ambassadorship on social media. • Negative work-related social media posts damage consumer attitudes and behaviors. • Positive work-related social media posts enhance consumer attitudes and behaviors. • Paid and spontaneous employee ambassadorship on social media are equally effective. • Paid employee ambassadorship does not activate more persuasion knowledge. • Employee ambassadorship activates more persuasion knowledge during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the efficacy of conversational human voice (CHV) in protecting organizational reputation during a para-crisis on social media. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, the study manipulates tone of voice (CHV vs. organizational voice) and construal level (concrete vs. abstract) to identify the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions. The findings demonstrate that CHV surpasses organizational voice in bolstering social presence and perceived organizational listening, ultimately fostering a positive impact on organizational reputation amidst para-crises on social media. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of CHV is contingent upon the construal of crisis messages. Specifically, CHV becomes particularly effective in reputation management solely when crisis messages are conveyed in a concrete manner. The study highlights the importance of incorporating CHV into crisis communication strategies and offers practical guidance for organizations to communicate effectively on social media during a crisis. • CHV more effective than organizational voice for crisis reputation management. • Effectiveness of CHV depending on the construal level of crisis message. • Improve CHV effectiveness via enhanced social presence and organizational listening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media has emerged as a very popular topic in public relations research but building social media theory seems to have been almost neglected. In this curation, we explore recent attempts to develop social media theory in public relations while focusing on the various characteristics and conceptualizations of research. We explore recent theoretical work published in Public Relations Review that features theoretical perspectives of social media. This curation offers a thematic analysis of the current research initiatives. We also specify potential future directions in theory building and discuss how future theory public relations development and refinement should address social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how social media can be better managed to cultivate positive organization-public relationships. It advances an expanded and integrated conceptual model to test how the communication features of corporate pages on social networking sites may influence publics' perception of the organization's communication ethicality, which further predicts organization-public relationships as a compound index of trust, commitment, and satisfaction. The results, based on structural equation modeling, showed that three important communication strategies are success factors that could shape perceptions of communication ethicality: timeliness, responsiveness, and the use of human voice in a dialogic framework. In particular, publics' perception of the organization's communication ethicality emerged as a key mediator driving communication effects to foster positive relationships with stakeholders in an online environment. • Timeliness, responsiveness, and human voice are effective communication strategies that shape the perception of ethicality. • Use of human voice is the most influential predictor for communication ethicality. • Perception of communication ethicality further fosters organization-public relationship. • Communication ethicality is an important mediator in the process of building trust with stakeholder in an online environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 resulted in an armed conflict that led to the death of thousands of soldiers and innocent civilians. While the countries waged war on the ground in places like Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mariupol, another battle took shape in the Twittersphere. Ukraine and Kyiv's official Twitter accounts leveraged their online platforms to win the war of public opinion by broadcasting the atrocities of war in real time, engaging with other countries as a form of digital public diplomacy, and rallying internal publics through nation building message strategies. The current study explores the use of government social media accounts during a unique period of armed conflict to identify various messaging strategies utilized to (1) communicate during a crisis event, (2) project itself favorably among an international audience, and (3) build a sense of national identity and unity among its citizenry. Results from this study suggest that public relations scholars should consider further analyzing the ways in which social media, nation building, and public diplomacy intersect during crisis events. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. • Examines the intersection of social media, public diplomacy, and nation building during international crisis events. • Thematic analysis of data by two official Ukrainian government Twitter accounts from the start of the invasion. • Identifies message strategies by Ukraine and Kyiv social media accounts during a period of armed conflict with Russia. • Accounts used a combination of approaches to inform publics about and shape meaning around the ongoing crisis. • Practitioners must actively contribute to the discussion in real time so as to relay information quickly and efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crisis communication research typically focuses on how a single organization strategically responds to crises based on its own set of situational factors. However, it is common for multiple competing organizations to be involved in responding to the same crisis. By analyzing two industry crisis cases in China, this study provides insights into what we termed competitive crisis communication , which involves not only crisis response timing and strategies but also competition and comparisons among the different organizations involved in the same crisis. The analysis of organizational statements on social media reveals the extent of differences in crisis response strategies adopted by competing organizations. Findings from an analysis of online media coverage and public posts on social media further suggest that stakeholders' comparisons of different organizations' crisis responses can influence stakeholders' emotions and reputational perceptions of the organizations. Finally, the competitive advantages for an organization to respond as the first mover or late mover in industry crisis communication are discussed. • Competitive crisis communication in industry crises analyzed with two Chinese cases. • Notion of first-mover advantage borrowed to study crisis response sequence impacts. • Competitive (dis)advantages of responding as the first or late movers summarized. • Crisis response comparisons as a factor intensifying reputational threats discussed. • An industry crisis communication model based on SCCT proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A conversational human voice in CSR communication positively affects social presence in CSR communication. • In CSR communication, messages written in a gain-framed style have higher social presence than those written in a loss-framed style. • The use of conversational human voice in CSR communication can enhance publics' willingness to spread positive word-of-mouth. • The findings suggest that gain-framed messages generate higher positive WOM intention than loss-framed messages. • By using human voice with gain-focused frames on Facebook, companies can enhance the benefits of CSR communication. To understand how tone of voice, message framing, and type of online media affect public perceptions and reactions to an organization in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, this study conducted a 2 (tone of voice: human voice vs. organizational voice) x 2 (message framing: gain-focused vs. loss-focused) x 2 (online media: Facebook vs. organizational blog) online experiment (N = 394). Conversational human voice and gain-focused framing significantly influence the social presence of the organization and publics' positive word-of-mouth intention. Publics' intention to generate positive word-of-mouth was highest when the organization used conversational human voice with gain-focused message and conveyed the message on its Facebook page. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The boundaries between public relations and marketing roles still exist. • An examination of how these boundaries are breached, upheld and negotiated is important to our understanding of the practice of public relations. • This article proposes a way to understand these boundaries as they continue to shift but not disappear by revisiting encroachment concepts. Although public relations and marketing trade presses regularly discuss the conflict between the functions (e.g., Ecker, 2013; Havartin, 2013), academic researchers focused on the issue primarily in the 1980s and 1990s. The drop in public relations and marketing encroachment research does not parallel a drop in encroachment in practice, especially in light of today's social media environment. In fact, historic tension between public relations and marketing intensified with the incorporation of social media into communication efforts. This paper updates the study of encroachment by reviewing the historical views of the topic, proposes ways that social media use has intensified issues related to role encroachment between public relations and marketing professionals, and outlines questions to guide future study of these topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This study aims to understand when an apology would have a stronger effect by exploring how consumers process a corporate apology on social media. • By taking a conditional effects approach, this study argues that apology efficacy varies according to audience, brand, and message factors. • This study examines the interplay among crisis involvement, brand image and message appeal on apology effectiveness in a corporate crisis. • The results show that the three-way interaction is significant, especially in the low crisis involvement condition. Abstract This study examines how the interplay among crisis involvement, brand image, and message appeal impacts the effectiveness of an apology in the context of a corporate crisis. To determine apology effectiveness, a 2 (crisis involvement: high vs. low) × 2 (brand image: symbolic vs. functional) × 2 (message appeal type: emotional vs. informational) experimental design was employed. The results demonstrate that the three-way interaction is significant, especially in the low-crisis involvement condition. The study concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Interactivity negatively impacts while vividness positively impacts engagement. • Emotional traits yield stronger engagement outcomes than functional traits. • The joint effects between emotional and functional traits vary by outcomes. Abstract Drawing from literature regarding public engagement, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), computer-mediated communication research, and emotion psychology, this study examines the effects of companies' social media communication strategies on public engagement behaviors as indexed by post likes, shares, and comments. Specifically, it investigates how corporate Facebook posts' functional traits (functional interactivity and vividness) and emotional traits (emotion presence, valence, and strength) impact public engagement online. Through data mining and computer-assisted sentiment analysis of 33,379 posts from 106 Standard & Poor 500 companies' Facebook accounts, this study finds a negative effect of functional interactivity but a positive effect of vividness on engagement. It also shows that emotional traits overall yield stronger public engagement outcomes. Two-way interactions between emotional and functional features are also detected. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Infectious disease threats in a dynamic communication environment bring new challenges for public health information officers (PIOs). • Different types of infectious diseases prompt the need for communication in different ways. • There are many structural and institutional issues affecting the performance and effectiveness IDT communication. • Infectious disease threat messages, materials, and recommendations sent by PIOs need to be trusted in news media engagement. • PIOs and health agencies need to strategically integrate traditional, social, and online media in doing infectious disease communication. Abstract The public health communication challenges that arise in times of infectious disease threats (IDTs) were examined using the Risk Amplification through Media Spread (RAMS) Framework and in-depth phone interviews with 40 national, state, and local public health information officers (PIOs). Interviewees shared their experiences and insights related to how IDTs are communicated to the public, including the different types of traditional and social media used, how they develop and assess IDT messages, and their perceptions regarding the IDT risk amplification process. Theoretical and practical implications for health public relations and public health communication are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Current crisis communication frameworks, while extensive, may not be sufficient to equip practitioners with the tactical nuance to communicate bad news, which is arguably one of the hardest tasks in crisis communication. • This paper develops the CONSOLE (Coherence, Orientation, Nuance, Support, Ongoing, Leadership, Emotions) framework to guide practitioners on how to break bad news effectively to stakeholders during crises, arguably the first framework integrating established medical protocols with crisis communication literature. • CONSOLE was applied to examine how airlines had communicated during crises. Findings showed these organizations lacked tact and empathy in communicating bad news. Abstract This paper develops the CONSOLE (Coherence, Orientation, Nuance, Support, Ongoing, Leadership, Emotions) framework to guide practitioners on how to break bad news effectively to stakeholders during crises. Arguably the first study integrating well-established medical protocols such as SPIKES (Baile et al. , 2000) and COMFORT (Villagran et al. , 2010) with crisis communication literature, the CONSOLE framework is applied on four aviation crises to examine the manner in which organizations communicate bad news on social media platforms, which are increasingly used to communicate with stakeholders (Siah, Bansal & Pang, 2010). Data was obtained during the height of the crises (Vasterman, 2005) from official Twitter and Facebook pages of Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Asiana Airlines. Findings showed that the airlines' communication of bad news to stakeholders suffer from emotional deficit. Practitioners can use the CONSOLE framework to break bad news in a holistic and empathetic manner during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Digital and social media are reported to be the most important communication channels. • However, practitioners report low to moderate skills in using social media. • Practice focus is on technical skills, tactics, and one-way messaging. • Therefore, major gaps exist between practice and theory. • Future directions for theory and practice are explored. Abstract A number of studies of the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), competencies and capabilities of public relations and communication professionals have been carried out in the USA, UK and other countries. However, most have not engaged to any significant extent with literature in the human resource development field which specializes in defining and developing these characteristics. Also, few studies to date have related the KSAs, competencies and capabilities of practitioners to the key activities of public relations and communication management required for the future. This article presents findings and analysis from a regional survey conducted in 22 Asia-Pacific countries in 2017/18 that compared, for the first time, the capabilities of practitioners in relation to activities identified as the most important over the next three years. This data, and comparison with equivalent regional surveys in Europe and Latin America, confirm a gap in capabilities in relation to key communication activities and suggest a gap in theory as well as practice. The findings and conclusions present a challenge for higher education and professional development for public relations and communication management and point to potential future directions in theory building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Different crisis response strategies are prioritized differently over multiple crisis stages. • Twitter enhances government organization-public crisis communication. • Government organizations' crisis communication strategies focus on information over blame mitigation. Abstract While social media like Twitter have been increasingly adopted by public-sector organizations, it remains less explored as to how government and emergency management (EM) organizations use these platforms to communicate with the public in response to emerging natural disasters. Extending the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) to the realm of social media, this study examines the emerging semantic networks from 67 government and EM organizations' official tweets during Hurricane Harvey over a three-week period. It identifies how multiple crisis response strategies—including instructing information, adjusting information, and bolstering—are constituted of different issues, actions, and organizational actors before, during, and immediately after the disaster event. Results suggest that government agencies use the strategy of instructing information predominantly before and during the disaster, whereas adjusting information and bolstering strategies are utilized more during post-disaster recovery. The study offers theoretical and practical implications of using a semantic network approach to studying organizational crisis responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Propose a new framework theorizing g different dimensions of social media influence in crises. • Test the integrative framework with large-scale Twitter data from four crises. • Results from multigroup CFA on Twitter suggest four factors of social media influence. • Each factor is associated with a distinct set of users' communicative behaviors. Abstract Social media empower publics by providing a platform for their voices during crises. Digital-enabled platforms allow individuals to become influentials by sharing their insights and expertise with others. Confronted with the fast-paced and complex dynamics of crises, we lack a systematic conceptualization and a valid measure of social media influence in the crisis context. By integrating diverse perspectives on influence, we propose a new framework that theorizes different dimensions of social media influence based on publics' communicative behaviors during crises. This integrated framework offers a refined conceptualization and measurement of social media influence in crises by incorporating the network perspective. We tested the framework with large-scale Twitter data from four crises. Results from multigroup CFA on Twitter influencers suggest that social media influence is composed of four factors: output, reactive outtake, proactive outtake, and network positioning. Each factor is associated with a distinct set of users' behavioral indicators (e.g., retweet). Implications for crisis communication and public relations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Examined the multiplicity and dynamics of publics' crisis narratives on social media. • Analyzed the narratives in various interpretative communities using topic modeling. • Explored the dynamics of publics narratives based on crisis stages. • Recommended organization to address publics' various needs embedded in the narratives. Abstract The new reality of networked publics on social media calls for crisis communication practitioners and researchers to understand the narratives generated by publics on social media during organizational crises. As social media publics possess diverse, unique characteristics and communicative needs during a crisis, they form interpretative communities and co-create various symbolic interpretations of the crisis. Extending the public-centric and narrative perspective to the context of social media crises, we examined what crisis narratives were constructed by social media publics (i.e., multiplicity) and how these narratives changed by crisis stages (i.e., dynamics). Using topic modelling based on large-scale Twitter data of the Chipotle E. coli crisis (N = 40,610), we identified ten narratives subsumed under two themes (i.e., sharing-based and conversation-based) based on publics' social constructions of their perceived risks and crisis experience. On the one hand, sharing-based narratives, heavily impacted by publics' shared media coverage, reflected media crisis narratives and salient risk perceptions aligning with the news agenda. On the other hand, conversation-based narratives, fueled by publics' opinion expression and emotional venting, demonstrated publics' interpretations of their experience with the organization in the crisis with less salient but more diversified risk perceptions. Crisis managers are recommended to produce and deliver compelling narratives resonating with different groups of social media publics during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This study uses mixed methods to analyze social media use in a crisis. • We examine crisis coping and emotional expression in social media engagement. • Results demonstrate dialogic clusters in the Paris and Barcelona terror attacks. • Analysis suggests ways to identify publics on social media. • This study shows that resilience and agenda-setting are factors in crisis coping. Abstract Despite the promise of social media to engender dialogue, the common approach to studying social media may prioritize monologue, whereby research considers the strategies organizations use in targeting publics, particularly in a crisis. This study uses a mixed-method approach to analyze dialogue in a crisis—semantic network analysis and content analysis. Specifically, this study examines the emotional expression and crisis coping behaviors on social media during two separate terror attacks: the Paris terror attacks in 2015 and the Barcelona terror attacks in 2017. Results demonstrate how publics may be identified and understood through semantic network analysis and content analysis. This study also shows the connection between emotions and coping, expanding the crisis communication literature in public relations, and suggests the need to consider agenda-setting and resilience in crisis communication research. Finally, we discuss this study's implications for assuming a dialogic orientation in public relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile-based social messengers have overtaken social networking sites as the new frontier for organizations to engage online stakeholders. This study provides one of the earliest empirical investigations on the antecedents and relational outcomes of pubic engagement with companies via WeChat—one of the world’s most popular social messaging apps. Publics’ social messenger dependency and privacy perception of the medium are found to effectively drive public engagement, which in turn enhances organization-public relationships. Strategic guidelines based on the study findings are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media have become important communication tools for organizations and public figures, particularly in times of crisis. Public figures are frequently advised to use social media platforms to apologize to publics, and their apologies are often posted by news outlets or individual social media users. However, evidence suggests social media may function on an interpersonal level, yet traditional image repair strategies are based on a mass media model. Using image repair strategies based in theoretical frameworks from mass mediated and interpersonal communication, this research examined the verbal behaviors and emotions displayed by public figures apologizing on YouTube and the relationships these had to audience perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness as expressed via YouTube comments. Two studies analyzed 335 segments of video from 32 public apologies on YouTube spanning from 2009 to 2014, and 1971 posted responses. The interpersonal strategies and expression of emotions were largely unrelated to the perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness; and the image repair strategies were limited in their relatedness. However, the content of the comments, a majority of which focused on the reputation of the public figure, was associated with perceptions of sincerity. Reducing offensiveness was associated with perceptions of insincerity, as was the combination of reducing offensiveness, denial and evasion. Negative comments regarding the offender’s reputation were also associated with perceptions of insincerity. Audiences were non-forgiving if the apology was perceived as insincere, but forgiving if they perceived the apology as sincere. Implications of these results in relation to the practice and scholarship of public relations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the recent influx of studies examining the role of influencers in a campaign, most studies examine influencer marketing, leaving the public relations approach to influencers underdeveloped. Through in-depth interviews with professionals who work with influencers, this study establishes the concept and process of influencer relations. Results illustrate key relational and dialogic factors of influencer relations. This study also provides a set of best practices for working with influencers in public relations. • This study establishes influencer relations using public relations principles. • We interviewed professionals who work directly with influencers. • This study suggests a definition for influencer relations and best practices. • Result show that successful influencer relations are communal, organic, and dialogic. • Best practices include building personal relationships, working with communities and granting creative freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing a 2 (accepting crisis accountability vs denying crisis accountability) x 2 (high vs low information substantiality) x 2 (high vs low participation) online experiment (N = 293), this study examines how different transparency strategies influence public anger and trust in a Chinese police crisis context, offering insights on government social media crisis communication. In general, transparency is crucial for Chinese local governments, especially police agencies, in managing crises on social media. Reporting organizational crisis accountability, delivering sufficient and evidence-based messages, and enabling public discussion on social media are three transparency strategies that can help minimize public anger and rebuild public trust. Results suggest the positive effects of delivering messages in crisis situations by using transparency. Furthermore, the study points out that police organizations in China should consider the possibility of information overload and unexpectedly low overall expectations for government transparency among Chinese publics. • This 2x2x2 experimental research examines how three transparency strategies influence publics' anger and trust in China. • Each strategy used in crisis response can effectively rebuild public trust through reducing anger, but their interaction effect is limited. • Anger was identified as a key mechanism through which public trust is constructed in government crisis management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this exploratory study was to expand upon previous literatures in public relations power, and fill the need for more scholarship regarding practitioners’ perceptions of social media work, power, and gender. Findings from a survey of PRSA members showed that there is a gendered difference in power perception between males and females regardless of their PR roles or level of experience, but social media expertise was perceived equally between both genders. We argue that while social media expertise may serve to reduce a gendered power divide in public relations, continued critical exploration of social media and gender inequality is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the benefits of social media for enhancing citizens’ interactions with their local governments are well known in a more global context, few studies have focused on Latin America, or on the MERCOSUR countries in particular. This paper examines the use of dialogic strategies in the social media activities of local governments in MERCOSUR countries in order to generate citizens’ online engagement. Analysis of this question enhances our understanding of the use of social media by local governments in less developed countries and highlights the need for empirical evidence on the use of dialogic communication theory regarding stakeholder engagement with social media. The findings obtained reflect the positive influence of dialogic strategies on citizens’ online engagement, particularly those based on dialogic loop , useful information and generation of return visits, aimed at fostering participation via social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study examined the network TLC’s response to Josh Duggar’s (from their reality show 19 Kids and Counting ) confirmation that he molested young girls, including two of his sisters, when he was a teenager. While TLC was not responsible for the molestation, their proximity to the family and their relationship with the Duggars led to criticism and thus, a plan to improve their image. Overall, TLC relied on four different tactics to assist their image repair efforts: (a) delayed and minimal responses, (b) reducing offensiveness, (c) minimizing the severity of the situation, and (d) ineffective social media use. We argue these four strategies were unsuccessful tactics. Specifically, their decision to wait two months to cancel 19 Kids and Counting, to air a documentary on sexual abuse featuring the two sisters victimized by Josh Duggar and their later decision to give these two sisters their own spin-off series calls into question the ethical and exploitative nature of their response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social software creates opportunities for internal communication. Public relations literature suggests it affords more two-way internal communication that can meet the ideal of symmetry as promoted in the excellence theory (Grunig, 1992). This study involved in-depth interviews with internal communication professionals at 54 companies. Our findings indicate that these professionals tend to view social software positively, often stimulating its use among employees. Additionally, we found that they appropriate social software in such ways as to maintain and even strengthen their gatekeeping role identity. More specifically, our data reveal that traditional gatekeeping, which characterizes mass media systems based on the centralized production and distribution of information, is complemented with networked forms of gatekeeping in decentralized digital media environments. Furthermore, our data suggest that an underlying management ideology hampers the symmetric potential of social software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Half a million citizens participated in the Women’s March on Washington the day after President Trump’s inauguration, starting a political movement. The march communicated key messages to the public directly and via the media. This study explores how media coverage framed those key messages through content analysis. Media frames mentioned all key messages, emphasizing solidarity and activation at the grassroots, and in a way that both supported and challenged organizational messages. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the results of the national survey of 287 Public Relations Society of America members regarding current media transparency practices in the United States. The purpose of the study was to understand the forms of media non-transparency that exist in the United States, levels of non-transparency at the national and local/regional media, and perceptions of non-transparent practices by the public relations practitioners in the country. The project builds on previous research on global media transparency (Tsetsura & Kruckeberg, 2011) and uses Tsetsura’s (2005) framework to study media transparency. The survey results showed that direct media bribery is not a pressing issue in the United States; however, indirect media pressures that involve new forms of content creation, including native advertising and content marketing, are worrisome. Specifically, forms of indirect media bribery are common at the local and regional media levels in the USA. Research findings demonstrate that U.S. practitioners experience particular non-transparent challenges when working with the media and recognize financial pressures that U.S. media outlets face today. The results provide a basis for creating standards in U.S. practice to ensure that new forms of content creation, including native advertising and content marketing, are not acceptable at any level when sources of content are not disclosed. The study concludes with the discussion about the importance of understanding how new forms of sponsored content relate to media transparency in the USA and why U.S. practitioners should understand how media non-transparency relates to the issues of native advertising and brand journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among traditional crisis communication research, the public is often treated as passive receivers of firm-dominated crisis communication. Social media has changed the situation since the public have now become senders and engage in secondary crisis communication (SCC) that affects corporate crisis management. However, our understanding of the mechanism of SCC on social media is still limited. This study aims to reveal how the public engages in the decision-making process related to SCC from a social control perspective by critically considering the broadcasting and social network functions of social media. Our research hypotheses were supported by a survey conducted after a real crisis in China. The results indicate that cognitive reputation results in SCC by causing the public to feel morally violated, and that such feelings of violation lead to individuals being more likely to engage in SCC given the perception of support for their opinions on social media. Thus, this research provides a better understanding of SCC from the public’s perspective in the context of social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engagement has become the new buzzword for public relations, in both research and practice. And yet, despite its centrality and import for public relations, the concept still remains severely under-developed. Discussions have centered on engagement’s connection to the organization-public relationship and its role in facilitating and mediating relationship outcomes. Yet, two considerations of engagement have gone practically unconsidered: the sense of power and sense of stake of a public or stakeholder group in social media activities regarding an organization. This study examines social media engagement among employees and argues for a need to consider stake and relational connection as critical components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the dominance of digital media, corporations increasingly attempt to engage their strategic stakeholders, especially consumers, on digital media for the purposes of interactive marketing and relationship management. Utilizing an online survey data of 272 Chinese users of WeChat, the most influential mobile social networking application in China, this study examined the relationships between perceived values of branded WeChat accounts, consumer engagement on the account, quality of business-consumer relationships, and purchase intention. Results showed that consumer engagement is driven by five perceived values. Consumer engagement affected relationship quality and overall purchase intention. It also mediated the effect of perceived values on both. Intention to purchase via WeChat, however, was predicated by perceived values (i.e. usefulness) only. Theoretical contributions to stakeholder engagement theory and practical implications for corporate mobile (WeChat) strategy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, there is a paucity of studies that looked into the way unions can use social media platforms to increase employee engagement in activism. Understanding the most effective ways in which unions can make use of online communication to increase membership and raise awareness becomes of paramount importance in light of the decline in union participation that occurred during the last decades and that deepened wage inequality. In addition, union efforts were shown in past studies to be hampered by upper management. Online platforms become an important means that unions can use to eschew managerial control and indirectly increase their membership.The current study used the predictors for online engagement to analyze the online interaction of IBM’s union and assessed the extent to which it was effective in engendering increased employee participation. IBM represents a unique case study as a result of the company’s current focus on offshoring and restructuring. The results of this study showed that the union engaged in an informative and one-way communication style which failed to increase employee activism. The results and their implications are discussed for theorists and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly disengaged world, companies need to engage their employees, at the very least in order to boost employee loyalty and productivity. In line with the trend of digitalization, more and more companies are also establishing social tools in their internal communication. When such platforms are established internally in companies, they can, in a best case scenario, change employee engagement, knowledge management, leadership structure and ultimately even the business models of companies fundamentally. However, there is an important interdependence: the use of internal social media fosters stronger employee engagement, while a minimum of existing trust based employee engagement is necessary in order to successfully establish these tools. Therefore, "digital employee engagement" can only function as at least partly "blended employee engagement". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the massive incorporation of social media into communication strategies, there is still much that we do not know about the type of content that stakeholders expect to receive and what conversations they wish to have with organizations. Numerous studies have demonstrated that an adequate use of digital media is essential to understanding and responding to the expectations of different audiences and to be able to improve the effectiveness of communication departments (Kent & Saffer, 2014; Linke & Zerfass, 2013; Moreno et al., 2015). Nonetheless, there are still relevant issues that have yet to be addressed in depth, such as the process of converting online audiences into active communicators, or what their expectations are with respect to digital interactions. This article compares the perspectives of public relations professionals against those of the general public in Spain with respect to the content that organizations should offer and what activities they should carry out in the context of social media. Our results show a gap in the perceptions and expectations of these two groups in both Spain and across Europe in order to open a discussion about whether communication professionals are effectively managing the tools at hand to create bonds and foster engagement with stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media are important channels of communication during a crisis. This study examined the use of Facebook as a crisis management tool for Pennsylvania State University during the first month of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. A content analysis of all 129 posts made by the university during that time period and 2060 comments to the posts suggested that audience reaction to crisis information varies based on crisis response strategy, sources cited, and topics shared. This study has implications for social media crisis management models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by the Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) model and coping literature, this study qualitatively examined online publics’ crisis emotions, especially positive ones, coping methods, and a focal organization’s (Boston Athletic Association, or BAA) engagement as discursively enacted on the Boston Marathon Facebook (BMF) page during one month following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Results from qualitative content analysis showed that positive public emotions did exist, and stemmed from online publics’ identity, coping, and BAA’s engagement. Publics engaged in cognitive, emotional, action-based, and discursive coping; they formed a rhetorical digital community where a renewal discourse fostered positive public emotions, aided coping, and guided BAA’s engagement. By detailing the connections among publics’ positive emotions, coping, BAA’s engagement, and community discourse, this study offers suggestions to (1) refine and expand the ICM model, and (2) develop a community-based, organization-decentered renewal discourse, which reflects the social media landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public relations (PR) practitioners strongly believe that social media are changing the way PR is practiced. While it is premature to confirm the change, previous research has found that PR practitioners remain trialing with social media for purposes related to organizational communication. By conducting in-depth interviews with 19 practitioners from corporate, governmental and non-profit organizations in Kuwait, this qualitative study aims to understand how Kuwaiti organizations use social media to achieve PR objectives, the advantages and barriers PR practitioners face when using them as well as the extent whether or not social media have changed PR. Kuwaiti organizations were found to use Twitter and Instagram the most for promotion and information dissemination, but the use is generally occasional and reactive. Extending the organizations’ reach and popularity of social media among Kuwaitis were the main advantages for using this type of media, while lack of social media strategy, lack of technical skills, and confusion of the two-way communication approach were the main barriers. A new finding can be added to the literature where insufficient educational background was found to contribute to the practitioners’ reluctance to adopt and adapt to using social media. As to any causing change to PR, the respondents believe that social media have broadened the field and have made organizations look less official and more mainstream in the popular culture. The implications of the findings suggest the need for a strategic approach in terms of purpose, roles, responsibilities, policies and guidelines toward the management of social media between higher management and PR practitioners. Improvements to PR curriculum and practicum are also needed to integrate communication technologies into PR practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines how companies can strategically use corporate social responsibility (CSR)-dedicated pages on Facebook to engage stakeholders. Specifically, we look at the effectiveness of different message strategies that companies use on their corporate CSR-dedicated Facebook pages to elicit stakeholder engagement. We content analyzed 533 posts on the CSR-dedicated Facebook pages of 16 companies from the 2014 Fortune 500 list. Drawing from the company–cause fit literature and dialogic theory, we examined the effects of two types of message strategies—topics and dialogic strategies—on eliciting stakeholder engagement as measured by the number of likes , shares , and comments . The results showed that topics were effective in engaging stakeholders when they were congruent with a company’s core business. Two dialogic strategies—incorporating multimedia components and using interactive language in the messages—were effective in engaging stakeholders. In terms of theory, this study advances company–cause fit studies and dialogic theory by applying them to CSR communication via social media. In terms of practice, the results highlight the importance of topics and dialogic strategies when utilizing CSR-dedicated Facebook pages to engage stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although social media have been used by public relations practitioners as a key vehicle for crisis communication, little is known about how these platforms were utilized by public health organizations in infectious disease outbreak situations and how this may have shaped the publics’ responses to the outbreak on and off social media. Taking the approach of strategic health risk communication, this study examined Ebola-related social media posts by three major health organizations, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, also known as Doctors without Borders), on Twitter and Instagram, focusing on the types of communication that were used during the outbreak, the content and context of these communications, and the responses they elicited from the publics. While both platforms were utilized by all three health organizations, the results suggest that Instagram may be a particularly useful platform for establishing meaningful, interactive communication with the publics in times of global health crises, as evidenced by significantly greater levels of engagement on the part of health organizations and the publics. Furthermore, our findings indicate that social media messaging may be most effective when it is used by health organizations that are familiar with and to the publics, and when it is based on the strategic use of risk communication principles such as solution-based messaging, incorporation of visual imagery, and acknowledgement of public fears and concerns. We discuss the results in the context of strategic health risk communication guidelines and implications for public relations practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on Toledano and Avidar (2016) method and questionnaire statements, and inspired by its theory, this paper focuses on studies about internet-related public relations from an ethical standpoint. As such, this study’s objective is to assess the attitudes of public relations practitioners (PRs) while using social media professionally, identifying some ethical issues and the implications of their perceptions, by means of a quantitative study supported by an online survey. A questionnaire, which included thirteen attitude statements related to transparency, authenticity, truthfulness and respect for competition, plus five demographic questions, has been applied to PRs from Portugal and Brazil. Research questions include concerns about PRs’ attitudes towards ethically acceptable or non-acceptable online public relations practices and the influence of socio-cultural environments, namely, of countries’ human freedoms respect and levels of transparency in PRs’ ethical attitudes. Results show no significant differences between practitioners from Portugal and Brazil. Portuguese and Brazilian PRs share common cultural attributes that might explain similar perceptions around professional ethics. As for ethical dimensions, authenticity and transparency are not vehemently defended in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 2 × 2 experimental study (N = 168) examined the effects of the message source (CEO vs. individual real estate agent) and response strategies (deny vs. diminish strategies) on public perceptions of controversial online comments and emotional and behavioral responses. This study extends situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) by applying it to paracrisis situations as well as by testing a cognitive model in which breach of expectation by different actors leads to different degrees of judgment of responsibility and counterfactual thinking processes (i.e., the person could/would/should have done something else). A deny crisis response (e.g., scapegoating) was effective in reducing blame and negative affective responses and yielded less negative reputation assessment of the message source. The expectation breach led participants to engage in a counterfactual thinking process, which in turn evoked greater indignation and more negative reputation assessment. Indignation and negative reputation were both significant predictors of online word-of-mouth intention. Social vigilantism, individuals’ tendency to propagate their opinions onto others, mediated the relationship between indignation and online discussion intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Zika virus emerged as a global health concern in 2016, it was surrounded in public uncertainty regarding its transmission and health consequences. Health communicators were tasked with managing their own uncertainties and with incomplete information on the virus. Given the misinformation, rumors, and even conspiracy theories surrounding Zika virus, monitoring public awareness and understanding of the mysterious illness on social media could offer critical insight to crisis management. A survey ( n = 226) was conducted with public information officers (PIOs) at local public health departments across the United States to reveal how they utilize and listen to social media during public health crises. In addition to an overall low rate of social media monitoring reported by PIOs, troublesome disparities exist based on community size served. However, there were positive relationships between social media monitoring and satisfaction with overall departmental crisis management as well as preparedness for Zika. These and many other monitoring trends are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed how social media presents both challenges and opportunities to multinational companies (MNCs) in crisis situations. Employing a case study approach, the present study examined how McDonald’s and KFC used social media to manage their 2012 crises in China. Important findings of the study include: 1) crisis response strategies should be based on cultural insiders’ assessment of attribution of blame; 2) perception and use of specific response strategies (e.g., apology) have cross cultural variations; and 3) the role of influential social media users needs to be contextualized by culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]