Communication Technologies

Computer-Based Technologies in the Workplace

Most organizations, including the public relations units within them, now use mainframes, workstations, and personal computers connected in local area networks (LANs) for a wide range of activities, including accounting and data processing, database management, and word processing and graphic production. Computer networks are used for management reporting and for work group collaboration (e.g., using groupware and group decision support systems [GDSS] software). As result, hierarchical structures have become flattened and reporting relationships splintered. Work production itself has recentered around computer screens.

Similarly, many organizations and functions have become decentralized. Work units in dispersed geographic locations and individuals working in remote locations (e.g., telecommuters) share information via wide area networks (WANs) in real time. [Page 165]Web technologies have facilitated this process by creating Intranets using graphical interfaces that integrate text, images, and sounds. The latest enhancements now permit Webcasting and Webconferencing. Meanwhile wireless technologies have extended these capabilities by providing even more mobility.

As a result, workers in public relations and other fields have had to become more computer savvy. In an effort to reduce costs, many routine tasks have become automated with the advent of voice mail, e-mail, automated telephone response systems, and Web interfaces to database information. Critics argue that organizations have become more impersonal as a result; others suggest employees, customers, and others find it more difficult to make sense of events in organizations today. Thus, changing communications technologies have posed new challenges for public relations as it strives to establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships on behalf of organizations.

How Technology Impacts Public Relations

Technology had impacted public relations in several ways by the beginning of the 21st century. Many public relations practitioners approached the Internet timidly and without considerable thought, yet many practitioners have embraced technology widely. In 2001, Edward J. Lordan suggested that communication technologies primarily have influenced how practitioners conduct research and then package and distribute information. Research includes access to a wide range of electronic intelligence gathering sources, including the Web, proprietary databases, and specialized research software used in surveys and content analysis that improves monitoring situations and enhances the ability of practitioners to assume the role of a true manager versus merely a technician. Packaging includes the more sophisticated production and archiving of materials in digital formats by using word processing, database, graphic design, and electronic presentation software. Distribution covers the digital dissemination of information through the Internet, voice and text messaging, facsimile, and satellite uplinks and downlinks in addition to traditional systems.

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