Dialogic communication in public relations: An evaluation through new media

The impact of the new media is reflected in every aspect of life. With its structure that allows instant and two way symmetrical communication without any distinction between time and space, social media provides the opportunities of dialogue and two way symmetrical communication in public relations. In the literature, there are opinions that the relations between organization and its stakeholders, which are carried out in one way and asymmetrical way in the cooperation of traditional media and public relations, can be carried to a dialogue ground with the new media. The aim of this study is to provide a general assessment of the extent to which the dimensions of the dialogic public relations are met, especially on social media platforms. Through in-depth interviews, social media users' perceptions and experiences of dialogue were evaluated in their relations with the organizations then the official Twitter accounts of the prominent organizations during the interviews were measured by quantitative content analysis in terms of dialogue principles. Findings from both studies show that organizations do not benefit from dialogue-based public relations. In spite of the fact that social media platforms allow for two way and dialogic communication, it has been observed that the organizations mostly manage these areas with one-way, asymmetric methods appropriate to the structure of traditional media. More reserach focusing on the development of organization-public relationships is needed in order to make public relations practices more ethical and to maintain its ideal direction, researches should be continued to improve the dialogic communication between the organizations and its public.