Public Relations via Online Social Media of Hat Yai City Municipality, Songkhla Province

Abstract

          The objectives of this research were to study the public relations via social media regardings of Hat Yai City Municipality 1) policy; 2) process; and 3) strategies. This was a qualitative research based on in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. There were fifteen key informants, chosen through purposive sampling, consisted of three groups: Group 1 consisted of five administrators and public relations policy makers of Hat Yai City Municipality; Group 2 consisted of five public relations academics and public relations personnel at the city municipality; Group 3 consisted of five other employees of the city municipality. Data were analyzed to draw conclusions.

          The results showed that 1) The municipality’s policy was that public relations via online social media should be: (1) proactive; (2) meet the needs of the people; (3) continuous; (4) easy to understand; (5) focusing on Facebook, Line and Instagram; (6) accurate and constructive; and (7) economical. 2) The municipality’s public relations process consisted of (1)studying the problem; (2) planning; (3) designing content in the form of text, short video clip, viral clip or an infographic that is clear, concise, to the point, and easy to understand with relevant and creative images or graphics; and (4) evaluating the effectiveness by tracking the number of views or reactions and reading the comments before considering how the public relations could be improved. 3) The city municipality used the following strategies: (1) sender strategies: the capacities of personnel were developed to have good online communication skills and deeper knowledge of new media; (2) message strategies: the focus were on clarity in content, and messages were usually crafted in the form of infographics; (3) media/activities strategies: mostly Facebook and Line were used because they are popular, and the messages were about the municipality’s projects, plans, work results and policies; (4) receiver strategies: the goals were to excite, inform, create understanding, inspire, and change attitudes; (5) other strategy was to build a network of supporters and allies; and (6) the PR management strategy was to co-operate closely with every related party, including community leaders, development volunteers, and public health volunteers, and to make sure news was reaching every unit, division and group.