Public Relations, Social Media and Sports

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2015 im Fachbereich Medien / Kommunikation - Medienökonomie, -management, Note: 1,3, University of Newcastle upon Tyne (Sport Economics), Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: This essay tries to identify the relation between social media and public relations, the opportunities social media offers and the challenges it bears. Furthermore, it attempts to emphasize the meaning of social media for the work of contemporary sport managers with public relations responsibilities by analysing different studies about the use of social media and by considering social media websites of well-known sports companies.

In times of globalisation and worldwide interconnectedness, traditional media, such as magazines and newspapers, lose ground. People work and communicate differently nowadays, using social media and mobile applications as daily platforms of communication and networking. Social media is not only increasing in importance for private people and businesses, especially the sports industry seems to benefit from this digital development. What does the term 'social media' exactly mean and why does it play such an important role in our today's life?

Social media can be broadly defined as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or participate in social networking. The rise in popularity of social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook or Linked-in is tremendous. Sports clubs are realising that using social media is the future and allows improving and extending their businesses. According to Briones, Kuch, Liu and Jin (2011), "practicing public relations through social media is effective and necessary in the emerging digital age" and the understanding and application of social media practices helps to build strong, lasting relationships. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (no date) defines public relations as: "the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics."