Increasing Use Of Social Media Among Public Relations Practitioners

The core objective of this research was to examine the increasing use of social media among public relations practitioners using Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi Uku as a case study. Basically, the use of social media has increased among consumers around the world, causing an increase in the adoption of social media as tactics and means of sharing information and interactions among many public relations professionals and its Public. This study employed descriptive survey to assess use and emerging trends of social media in public relations practice in Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi Uku.

This exposed state of things in this era of digitalization. The target populations were public relations officers and staff in the Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi Uku, individuals deemed to have knowledge or experience on social media use. The sampling procedures were simple random sampling and purposive. There was a definite focus to choose the 10 public relations officers in Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi Uku. Simple random sampling of the Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi Uku staff was used to select 180 officers as the subjects of the study from a total population of 1800 Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi Uku staff.

The data collected were analysed and interpreted using simple statistics frequency and percentage table method. Findings of the research revealed that Social media are an effective tool for communicating and redistributing news from traditional media sources. Finally, it was recommended that digital media or new media should form part of the curriculum for undergraduates in mass communication and public relations, in particular, this will equip them for digital practice.