CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Use of social media networks is widespread among public relations (PR) practitioners and comprises important tools in the public relations area. Social media helps public relations because public relations practitioners are able to build more new relationships across a wider landscape and in a sustainable fashion never before possible (Waddel, 2010). The widespread use of social media has fundamentally changed how public relations practitioners communicate and share information for practice. Public relations departments in Nigeria are now more specialized since the Internet has transformed the way public relations practitioners communicate and interact with their different audiences. Public relations practitioners and journalists have changed the way they communicate because of the various social media tools available. Google and other Internet search engines have changed the way people find information online. The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue and is often used to describe websites like YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, or MySpace and Instagram — all virtual places where people can interact and engage with others by simply logging on through a computer or mobile device, it can be defined as “blogs, social networking environments, person-to-person broadcasting messaging and other Web 2.0 applications” (Palen, 2008). Arguably, new social networking and social media technologies are widely believed to offer business a powerful means to improve their communications, processes, and ultimately performance. However, there is a lack of empirical data on the extent to which public relations practitioners in Nigeria are utilizing social media networks, and in particular, how they are being deployed. Wright and Hinson (2009) studied extensively how social media tools are implemented in public relations and they perceived social media positively with respect to strategic communication for PR professionals