Social Media and the chance for a real 'two-way communication'

The introduction of online media has changed communication fundamentally. People today go themselves in websites looking for specific information they need, so internet can be characterized  as a medium where information is being ‘pulled’. By contrast, traditional media are ‘pushing’ information to their audience, who will receive it independently whether they want it, need it or not. According to the traditional way, information between an organisation and its publics travels in one direction, but now social media have brought a revolution in the information flow between companies and their stakeholders. In traditional media the agenda is set by the organisations and the media themselves; however now with social media the online audiences have the ability and power to create their own content and influence the organisation towards change. Companies are also benefited by this process because through this conversation with the audience, they gain information and data about what their customers prefer, need or desire and accordingly they can customize their services or products.

Content providers on behalf of the organisations nowadays need to carry on in a more competitive marketplace. They need to be more creative, improve the quality of the message and not care just about the quantity anymore. In order for an organisation to survive opposite an audience that constantly challenges the received messages and has the power to scrutinize them, it is necessary to be authentic and transparent. Only through open conversation one can be part of the online community. If practitioners use social media in the same way they use traditional media then they will lose the opportunity of developing a two-way communication with their stakeholders and benefit the organisation by bringing in useful information for the decision making.  Although the term ‘two-way communication’ could be interpreted differently- either as conversation, as interaction or even persuasion by others-as Grunig and Hunt (1984) argue when this communication is symmetrical, then it is all about mutual adjustment and behaviour change. It relates to exchanging culture rather than just giving away information.

However when using social media there is some loss of control, since comments and conversation are open to everybody. Consequently the organisation is vulnerable to potential bigger scrutiny. This loss of control, if not handled properly, will simply lead to shifting power from the organisation to various stakeholders; so in this case we won’t be able to talk about a real two-way (symmetrical) communication anymore but for changing of dynamics.