The Use of Digital Environments in Public Relations Activities

Abstract

The increasing role of public relations (PR) in the organizations is the result of the dynamic social media tools that permit participation and provide reliable and continuous access to the information. Thus, scholars have been paid more attention to online PR practices to keep pace with this social media concerning PR. Given the phenomenon, this study intends to explore the utilization of online public relations from the perspective of public relations practitioners in Jordanian universities. Through qualitative research, the approach was used, which consists of conducting and analyzing in-depth face-to-face interviews with 23 PR managers from public and private Jordanian universities based on a purposive sampling technique. The output of interviews was transcribed after each interview, and then the content analysis was used via thematic data analysis with the assistance of NVivo 12 software. Findings show that online PR was used in multifaceted ways in terms of how online PR activities were utilized in Jordanian universities. Among the usages were publishing and broadcasting, communication channel, and an events platform for students and the public.