Electronic and Internet Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Electronic and Internet Public Relations - Essay Example It has now become a necessity to integrate computer-mediated communication (CMC) with the PR mix of an organization. In the field of PR, internet makes it possible to communicate with various key constituencies without the message being altered by the media. The traditional channels are eliminated and direct communication with the audience is possible. The proliferation of the internet has allowed easier and faster access to information by the people as more than 50% homes in the US and the UK are internet-connected (Holtz, 2006). The internet has moved beyond a one-way channel for information and the speed of the internet, interactivity and the crossing of national borders make it highly attractive to public relations practitioners as a communication strategy tool (Hurme, 2001). Internet is different from World Wide Web (WWW) because in the WWW it is possible to place the advertising material like the company balance sheets or annual reports or new releases (Jo & Jung, 2005). WWW can be used as a distribution channel to reduce or eliminate distribution costs for products. Consumers can browse through the website and extract information before purchasing a product or service but this is only a one-way communication. The Web has been bifurcated into three different braches due to the social and technological changes that have taken place. These include the reference web which typically gives out information to the surfers, the collaborative web – through which the users share information and becomes a publisher on the net. The third is the broadband web which has turned the web into an audio and video venue (Holtz, 2006). Internet has thus been exploited in different ways to build and enhance the PR that an organization wants to build. Internet as a tool for PR can enhance media relations, employee communication, government relations and customer relations, due to its interactive function