Building Social Capital through Social Media in Public Relations (2017)

As professional communicators we use social media to capture the attention of influencers, media and the public. Through this information-sharing process, we build varying levels of relationships with family or friends (micro), an entire organization (meso) or society at large (macro). Social capital is the capacity for an organization to use its relationships to be more efficient in accomplishing its goals. As our world view expands, the digital channels we use connect us. These channels can be used to facilitate and foster the strength of our relationships. Despite the interest social capital has received in public relations scholarship, research examining the concept lacks concrete channels to build and bridge social capital among professionals, clients and publics.