The Communication Matters panel was presented on Nov. 9 by co-moderators Lindsay McCluskey and Stephanie Herbert with Tina McCorkindale and Marcia DiStaso as panelists.

Herbert is a strategic communications graduate student, while her co-moderator, McCluskey is an assistant professor teaching public relations and other courses in the communications department. McCluskey, McCorkindale and DiStaso all hold doctorate degrees, as McCorkindale is the CEO and President of a nonprofit, the Institute for Public Relations. DiStaso is the chair of the public relations department at the University of Florida.

McCluskey and Herbet asked McCorkindale and DiStaso multiple questions concerning their study published in October, looking at the career path of a social media professional through the Institute of Public Relations.

The panel began with a question from McCluskey asking what platforms professionals are using in their careers. DiStaso provided statistics found from her survey, which she admitted was done before the COVID-19 pandemic. She said that some of the data might look slightly different after the pandemic broke out.

She explained that 81% of respondents chose Facebook, 77% chose Twitter, 67% chose LinkedIn, 66% chose Instagram, 51% chose YouTube, 14% chose Pinterest, 8% chose Snapchat and 6% chose Tik Tok.

“Now, that’s where I think we are going to see a change,” DiStaso said. “COVID happened and Tik Tok took off.”

DiStaso explained five key points of the findings of the study. The first being that social media managers work a lot. The second was the finding that social media managers are ambitious, as the study found that 70% of respondents wished to be promoted. Next was that social media tends to be housed in communications and public relations. The fourth point was how social media managers usually participate in internal strategy conversations.

“We are seeing an anticipated turnover in social media managers over the next two years,” DiStaso said.

Herbert asked the panelists what findings from their study surprised them the most. DiStaso expressed her concern with the finding that 30% of respondents do not have their social media performance evaluated. She also explained that most social media managers only count likes and followers when observing their performance.

“That, to me, is a really big concern,” DiStaso said. “[Likes and followers] lack the true depth of what we can analyze and what we can measure.”

McCorkindale then turned the conversation to disinformation. 

“Disinformation is a big topic for the Institute for Public Relations,” McCorkindale said. “Disinformation is defined as deliberately misleading or false information.”

McCorkindale explained that the study found that 58% of respondents believed disinformation to be a major problem and that most of the respondents believed it to be a problem to some degree.

One way to resolve mistrust and disinformation could be local reporting, as McCorkindale theorized.

“Local news is more trusted than other broadcasts,” McCorkindale said. “There has been a decline in newspapers over the past 20 years.”

She added that local newspapers tended to be one of the most trusted sources of information, but they are dying out fast.

McCorkindale finished up by providing results from the study that show Facebook as being most responsible for spreading disinformation and LinkedIn being the least.

Herbert’s next question asked the panelists to provide students with advice about the ethical, effective and professional use of social media.

“Social media is a tool in your toolbelt,” DiStaso said. “Consider the resources you have available to you.”

McCorkindale advised students to always consider if they are contributing to content pollution. She explained that posts should have a benefit to their audience.

McCluskey finished the panel with her final question asking what tools are the best for students to use. McCorkindale’s answer for students was to simply be a well-rounded person, while DiStaso emphasized teaching oneself.

“Lean into what your interests are,” DiStaso said. “Just be a lifelong learner.”

Graphic by Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian