Web Site Public Relations: How Corporations Build and Maintain R ...

Come election time, many U.S. users turn to the Web for political news and information. During the November 2002 midterm elections, 46 million Americans got their political news online and 12% of Net users visited political public relations sites such as those run by the political parties, a candidate, or a campaign (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2003a, 2003b). These numbers doubled in the 2006 midterm elections (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2007). Web sites have been used by political candidates for a while now. As early as 1998, more than 63% of political candidates participating in a Congressional Research survey had Web sites and another 21% were planning to launch theirs soon (Moffet, 1998).

Although searching for commercial, political, and other information are major online activities, statistics about other uses of the Web show that Web sites are a part of a wide variety of important decisions. For example, planning and booking travel online is one of the fastest-growing online activities (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005). In this context, the public relations function of Web sites sponsored by hotels, resorts, and even nations becomes very important.

Another survey conducted by Pew Internet and American Life (2002) found that Web sites play important roles in a host of U.S. Internet users’ life decisions. For example, 14 million Americans reported that the Web played an important role in their choice of car. Almost 9 million people reported that the Web helped them make financial and investment decisions. Corporate Web sites usually have entire sections devoted to financial information and investor relations. More than 11 million Americans relied on the Web to choose a school or college for themselves or a member of their family. Eight million people reported relying on the Internet for finding a job, and another 8 million, for finding a place to live.