A survey of social media use, motivation and leadership among public relations practitioners

This study investigates the relationship between motivation, leadership and social media use among a sample of public relations practitioners who recently had begun using Twitter to follow Universal Accreditation Board (UAB)-affiliated organizations. A majority of the survey respondents were classified as “everyday users.” A series of Twitter leadership indicators correlated positively with internal motivation and correlated negatively with amotivation. Several word-of-mouth variables also were investigated with regard to motivation.

► Public relations practitioners in this sample tend to be “everyday users” of Twitter, not thought leaders or trendsetters across the entire social network. ► Twitter leadership positively correlated with internal motivation. ► Twitter leadership negatively correlated with amotivation.