The Role of Digital Public Relations in Crisis Management

Communication in crisis is part of the public relations whose emergence is directly related to the news media communication method. On the other hand, these days, social media in cyberspace arenas is facing the demonstration and extensive and active participation of the audience immediately after the incidence of organizational crisis. Hence, this study aims at identifying the present state of digital public relations in Sepah (IRGC). The research questions cover various dimensions of digital public relations in Sepah. This is a descriptive research which uses questionnaire for data collection. The statistical population includes all cyberspace and public relation elites and experts of the Sepah, sixty of whom were selected as the sample through purposeful sampling method. The results revealed that in six areas, including importance and status of public relations in cyberspace (average: 3.08), planning to encounter threats in cyberspace (average: 2.07), knowing the audience (average: 2.74), understanding threats (average: 3.08), organizing and implementing (average: 2.92) and the feedback of measures in cyberspace (average: 2.91), the general position of public relations of the organization in cyberspace was not evaluated as appropriate. Thus, this situation indicates that the proper significance has not been given to public relations in cyberspace, neither in terms of structure and finance, nor manpower. As demeaning of the position of revolutionary organizations in cyberspace is considered by the enemy media as a serious tactic and plans, the commanders and managers of Sepah are required to put this issue on their agenda. To end, it is suggested that, the managers of this organization design a structure for the required budget, attract specialized human resources and acquire local and attractive technologies relating to this field.