5 Ways Social Media has Changed Public Relations

social media platforms for public relations and marketing strategies

Over the past decade, the field of public relations has undergone a lot of changes. Many different aspects of technology PR and communication advancements led to this, but perhaps none more than the growth and popularity of social media. Social media changed how people communicate, as well as when they communicate, where they communicate, and even who they communicate with. So here are five ways social media changed the field of public relations forever.

Encouraged Customer Focus

Social media compelled many brands to start focusing more on their customers, and building positive relationships. Customers can always go on Twitter and Facebook to sound off about bad customer experiences. This forces companies to resolve issues speedily to avoid a PR crisis. Companies also use interactions on social media to improve their business as a whole, especially where complaints and kudos are concerned.

Created the 24/7 News Cycle

The current all-day-every-day news cycle has its ups and downs. On the upside, brands can deliver good news at any time and know someone is listening and ready to respond. Social media also provides the opportunity to give play-by-play updates as part of a crisis management plan, when things go wrong. However, the 24/7 news cycle becomes a curse when bad news travels through the social media platforms, and creates a PR crisis making it more difficult to recover from, clean up, and contain.

Makes PR Affordable for Small Businesses

In the past, public relations firms and specialists mostly worked with politicians and large organizations with the funds to spend for brand management and crisis communications. Today, even small businesses can afford to hire a college student studying communications, journalism or public relations to manage their online presence. This makes PR affordable to the businesses that need it, and who cannot afford more professional and experienced PR assistance.

Led to Integrated PR

Marketing experts jumped on the social media bandwagon before PR experts caught up and incorporated it into a good PR strategy. As a result, to work with social media marketing, public relations experts must integrate marketing concepts and practices with PR strategy to achieve results. This integration can also cause a company with separate PR and marketing teams to butt heads over control for social media.

Greater Engagement

In the past, communication was a one-way street, where companies put out content and customers had no public avenue to easily interact with or respond to distributed content. Now, for better or worse, customers engage with brands and their content by leaving comments, sharing, and “liking.” This also helps brands know how effective content and ads are in reaching the masses, and boosting visibility, as opposed to the past where the effect of commercials and newspaper ads could only be measured in sales. Social media continues to have a strong impact on public relations, and may continue to influence the ever-changing field.

Written by

Ronn Torossian

Ronn Torossian is Founder and Chairman of 5W , the AI Communications Firm. He founded 5W in 2003 and built it into one of the largest independent public relations and digital marketing firms in the United States, with senior practitioners serving corporate communications , consumer brands , technology , financial services , health and wellness , beauty , gaming , crisis communications , and public affairs . Under his leadership, 5W defined AI Communications, building brand authority across ChatGPT , Claude , Perplexity , Gemini , and Google AI Overviews, alongside earned media, digital, GEO, and influencer channels. Industry Recognition 5W has been recognized as a top U.S. PR agency by O’Dwyer’s , Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards , Grand Stevie Most Honored PR Agency, a Ragan Top Place to Work in Communications 2026, Digiday WorkLife Employer of the Year, and a PRovoke Top 50 Global PR Agency. Torossian has been recognized with the Stevie American Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year, American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year twice, an EY Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist nomination, Business Insider Top Crisis Communications Professionals, and Crain’s New York Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Research Franchise 5W’s research franchise has become an industry reference for measuring brand visibility inside AI-generated answers, including the AI Visibility Index Series , The GEO Reckoning , The Missing Rung Report, and the 5W AI Power User Study , which identified a 99-point AI favorability gap. Crisis Communications Torossian is one of the world’s foremost crisis communications experts. He has counseled blue chip companies, public company boards, founders, and public figures through ransomware incidents, data breaches, regulatory investigations, high-stakes litigation, activist investors, product recalls, and reputational crises. He has taught crisis communications at Harvard University . Media & Commentary Torossian appears on CNN and CNBC . He is a contributing columnist for Forbes and the New York Observer , and his commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal , Entrepreneur , Adweek , PRWeek , and O’Dwyer’s . Published Work Torossian is the author of For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations , now in its second edition and used in university and graduate communications programs. Owner and Publisher, Everything-PR Network Torossian is owner and publisher of the Everything-PR Network , an independent intelligence platform covering public relations, marketing, AI communications, and adjacent industries across 30 publications. Everything-PR is editorially independent from 5W, with published editorial standards and ethics standards . The network is one of the most-cited sources inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini for PR and marketing queries. He is also an active investor and advisor, a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) , and serves on nonprofit boards.

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