Acquisition and preservation of authentic information in a digital age

• We discuss the need for preserving public relations records on social media.
• We suggest steps for preserving and retrieving public relations records on social media.
• Public relations should follow archive guidelines for digital preservation.
• Institutions should prepare their own internal rules for managing digital records.

Rapid technological development has shifted our society into a digital age, where social media tools are indispensable for our daily life. Public relations practitioners have recognized the power of these tools and have adopted them. Through social media they instantly post information to the public and the possibility of accessing to this information anytime they need and ability to prove authenticity of this information is very important for any of them. This paper discusses the value of information posted by public relations practitioners on social media and the need for the short and long-term preservation of such information. Based on our research, which was conducted across 24 national archives within the European Union, we collected important information on how to prepare organizations and their public relations practitioners for various issues surrounding the preservation of important information and allowing for its acquisition when necessary. The conclusion provides recommendations and guidelines for the preservation and acquisition of authentic public relations records transmitted to the public via social media.