Abstract

This study examined the influence of social media on public relations practices in universities in South-East Nigeria Qualitative research design was used to study eight public relations practitioners purposefully selected from eight universities in the zone In-depth interviews conducted face -to -face and through telephone conversations were used to generate information from respondents The study discovered that the use of social media by the public relations practitioners has changed the traditional methods of information dissemination in the universities It was however discovered that the frequency which the PR practitioners use the social media was not enough to generate backlinks needed to improve the global ranking of their universities The study recommended that universities should employ personnel dedicated to managing their social media platforms under the supervision of their public relations units