Multi-method analysis of transparency in social media practices: Survey, interviews and content analysis

With the decline of public trust in corporate America, organizations must consider ways to improve their relationships with key publics. One of the best strategies to build trust is through engaging in transparent communication (Rawlins, 2009). The increase in the popularity of social media has brought both challenges and opportunities for organizational transparency. This study used multiple methods to explore whether public relations professionals believe they are using social media to communicate transparently, to investigate how social media can be used to improve transparency along with its benefits and challenges, and to identify how transparency is used in social media campaigns.

► Social media was used to enhance transparency.
► Transparency was used in social media campaigns to provide information that is useful for others to make informed decisions.
► Social media was used to be accountable for actions and to communicate about how decisions affect others.
► Most of the campaigns communicated what they were doing but few explained why they were doing it.