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This article explores how communication management is being practiced in Greece and sheds light on the impact exerted by social media practice and knowledge of communication roles on practitioners' involvement in organizations' strategic management process. This article also tests how communication roles interact with the different aspects of social media management. To this end, a quantitative survey was conducted using an online self-administered questionnaire that was completed by 107 communication practitioners in Greece. Communicators in the sample exhibited more knowledge for the technician role and performed managerial tasks to a lesser extent. Greek practitioners are mainly involved in routine operations, but they also perform strategic tasks as they provide input in strategic planning by scanning the environment to identify issues and help management develop goals. Concerning their social media practice, they seem to be involved with tactical activities such as content creation and engagement enhancement. The results also show that social media activities did not influence practitioners' involvement in strategic management, which was instead affected by the communication roles of manager and technician. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study sheds light on the under-researched relationship between social media content and citizens' engagement, as well as the impact of dialogic communication on citizens' engagement. To this end, Facebook content of the five largest Greek municipalities was examined. A six-dimensional typology of social media content posted by local governments on Facebook was proposed. The results suggest that dialogic posts and posts that trigger offline participatory activities exerted significant influence on all forms of citizens' online engagement. It is recommended that social media managers of local governments in Greece, as well as other countries with similar public administration styles and social media usage patterns, create dialogic loops with their citizenry by addressing users' questions and concerns through Facebook posts. Moreover, they could publish rich media content on Facebook in the form of videos and posts that mobilise citizens to participate in various offline activities (e.g., events, council meetings). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the extent to which PR agencies in Greece incorporate new media platforms in their clients' campaigns. Moreover, PR consultants' views about the benefits associated with social media usage in PR are also assessed. Based on a sample of 81 PR agencies, results indicate that integration of digital media in the clients' communication campaigns is widespread. Popular online tactics used by Greek PR agencies are related to social media platforms (e.g., Facebook), websites and viral campaigns. Moreover, executives of the Greek PR firms have acknowledged the new roles of digital media in practicing public relations for their clients, conducting research and managing effectively corporate reputation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a 3 × 4 between-subjects experiment, the present study delineates the effects of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and image restoration strategies (denial, reduction of offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification) on post-crisis reputation evaluations, positive social media engagement, and offline behavioral intentions, in the context of a fictitious hotel company facing a racially charged crisis. The results indicate that Twitter was more effective than Facebook and Instagram in terms of restoring a company's post-crisis reputation, triggering positive social media engagement with the message, and enhancing the offline behavioral intentions of users. Irrespective of the social media platform on which the message was disseminated, corrective action proved to be the most engaging strategy, triggering more online reactions such as likes, shares, and positive comments. This study also sheds light on the interplay between the dependent variables (post-crisis reputation, positive social media engagement, and offline behavioral intentions) and social media usage frequency. Important implications for crisis managers facing racially charged crisis are derived. • Twitter resulted in higher reputation, SM engagement, and behavioral intentions. • The strategy of corrective action resulted in higher SM engagement. • No interaction effect was found between the type of SM and response strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]