Nigerian Public Relations Practitioners’ Use of Social Media: Validation of an Online Interactivity Model Applying Structural Equation Modeling

© Media Watch 11 (2) 337-347, 2020

ISSN 0976-0911 | E-ISSN 2249-8818

DOI: 10.15655/mw/2020/v11i2/195653

 

Nigerian Public Relations Practitioners’ Use of Social Media: Validation of an Online Interactivity Model Applying Structural Equation Modeling

 

Mukhtar El-Kasim

Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria

 

Two-way symmetrical communication has been described as the best practice in modern public relations. The advent of new media, specifically social media, provides public relations practitioners with the opportunities of engaging in effective two-way communication with their publics because of its interaction potentials.The aim of this paper, therefore, was to propose and validate an online interactivity model that explains how public relations (PR) practitioners use social media for the promotion of two-way balanced communication with their publics. Data were collected from 513 Nigerian PR practitioners through systematic random sampling and were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings of the study suggested that the proposed and validated online interactivity model explained 82% of practitioners use social media for enhancing interaction with their publics. 

 

Keywords:    PR practitioners, social media, perceived interactivity, active control, two-way communication, synchronization

 

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Mukhtar El-Kasim (Ph.D., International Islamic University, Malaysia, 2016) is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria. His main research interests include: Public relations, new media studies and communication theories.