A framework for Development of Social Media Literacy in Public Relations Case study: Economic Institutions

Public relations needs tools to inform and communicate with public opinion, the most important of which today is social media. Public relations staff, as facilitators of the process of developing and promoting community awareness, must be social media literate in order to make good use of technology facilities. The aim of the present study is to provide a framework for the development of social media literacy in public relations, quasi-governmental economic organizations. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection method and nature of research. Delphi method, interview and questionnaire were used to collect information. The research environment in the qualitative section included 15 experts in the field of media literacy and public relations, which ultimately led to the extraction and identification of variables. In the quantitative part, the public relations experts of quasi-governmental economic organizations have been used to validate the framework based on the criteria extracted from the qualitative part. The sample size was determined based on Cochran's formula of 148 people who were selected using simple random sampling method. The results of data analysis led to the extraction of 7 skills and 44 sub-disciplines. Using the least squares approach, the relationships between the research variables and the main research framework have been investigated. Factors influencing the development of social media literacy in order to enhance the capabilities of public relations staff of quasi-governmental economic organizations include technical and instrumental skills, communication, analysis, creativity, reflection, strategy and evaluation.