Digital Public Relations Through the Lens of Affordances: A Conceptual Expansion of the Dialogic Principles

Abstract

ABSTRACT Connecting the affordance framework in computer-mediated communication to public relations theories, this essay proposes an affordance perspective on dialogic communication and digital public relations in general. We argue that 1) the enactment of organization-public dialogue on digital platforms requires certain combinations of media affordances; 2) the lens of affordances facilitates a non-dichotomous examination of the “dialogic communication vs. digital media” debate; 3) the fifth dialogic principle “ease of interface” should be conceptually expanded to “favorable affordances,” which asserts that public relations practice should evaluate digital media platforms’ various action possibilities and consider their inherent potentials for organization-public relationship building; and 4) research on digital public relations should incorporate affordance theory to achieve cross-platform theorization.