Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 8: Social Media and Emerging Technologies
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Unlike traditional media, social media gives PR professionals 24/7 direct access to
______.
a. publishers
b. gatekeepers
c. target audiences
d. client databases
2. In 2016, a Pew Research Center study revealed that ______ of Americans use social
media.
a. 65%
b. 80%
c. 35%
d. 50%
3. The most popular social media network site for Americans is ______.
a. Twitter
b. Instagram
c. Snapchat
d. Facebook
4. Social media’s rapid adoption can be explained by ______.
a. mobile tablets
b. social network theory
c. the telegraph
d. network media theory
5. What data from the 2016 Pew Research Center’s study on social media usage best
explains the success of Snapchat?
a. One third of adults using social media are 65+.
b. There is no significant difference in usage between men and women.
c. The highest users of social media are young adults aged 18–29.
d. Expiring content is seen as exciting and popular.
6. The telegraph was the first invention to take advantage of ______, a distinguishing
factor between traditional and social media.
a. two-way communication
b. paper messages
c. the telephone
d. real time communication
7. Which of these have revolutionized the way public relations is practiced?
a. mobile devices
b. social media platforms
c. memes and photo posts
d. live videos
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
8. A Facebook post with beautiful beach imagery, a vacation discount code and a link to
a travel website is designed to ______.
a. attract travel reviewers
b. provide travel packages
c. encourage visitor interaction
d. monitor the competition
9. One advantage and challenge to social media is the lack of ______.
a. restriction
b. journalists
c. good news
d. dialogue
10. Social media is a 24/7 medium that demands content, constant watchfulness,
______ and engagement.
a. gatekeeping
b. transformation
c. dialogue
d. crowdsourcing
11. A particular benefit of social media to PR practitioners is having a direct channel to
target audiences without interference by a ______.
a. limited reach
b. media gatekeeper
c. printing deadline
d. delayed press release
12. Social network theory examines the concepts of network size, ______, diffusion,
complexity and social distance as related to interrelationships.
a. quality
b. expertise
c. interaction
d. media
13. Twitter’s 140-character limit for tweets leverages the principle of network ______.
a. size
b. social distance
c. complexity
d. diffusion
14. Sarah is majoring in communications with a focus on corporate public relations. She
hopes the excellent growth in ______ as a specialty at PR agencies worldwide might
also indicate strong career opportunities.
a. graphic design
b. social media management
c. IT analytics
d. content management
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
15. PR leaders know that reaching journalists is critical to successful media relations
and that the best social platform to connect with them is ______.
a. Facebook
b. Periscope
c. LinkedIn
d. Twitter
16. Regardless of the client, any solid communication strategy will require developing
______ for specific social media platforms.
a. memes
b. in-house graphics
c. different messages
d. generic messages
17. A serious challenge for social media management is ______, which could quickly
affect the beliefs of target consumers.
a. gatekeepers
b. cyberattacks
c. experts
d. Photoshop
18. Social media has made media relations a 24-hour-a-day job requiring ______ for all
internet content.
a. careful screening and organization
b. built-in engagement
c. customized dialogue tools
d. trackable research
19. Apple decides to use Facebook to dialogue with followers about their wish list for
iPhone upgrades. This demonstrates ______ communication.
a. diffused
b. social
c. researching
d. two-way
20. In public relations, personal interaction, welcoming language, trustworthiness, and
expertise are part of building ______.
a. a following
b. credibility
c. dialogue
d. a press release
21. Which of these is stated as being essential to credibility, a sum of all the others?
a. trustworthiness
b. welcoming language
c. expertise
d. personal interaction
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
22. You’re a PR manager working with regional divisions for the same company. Which
reason below most explains why their social media plans might be completely different?
a. twice the press budget in one division than the other
b. one division posts more often, with more visitor engagement as a result
c. data analytics indicate platform use is different among regional targets
d. the southern region is a mostly sunny climate; the northern region mostly rainy
23. The social media platform that best illustrates the concepts of network size and
quality is ______.
a. Twitter
b. LinkedIn
c. Instagram
d. Facebook
24. The social network theory concept of social distance is affected by ______.
a. close connections
b. network size
c. how fast a message spreads
d. message length
25. Because output is not the same as outcome, it is important to ______ social media
activities.
a. repeat
b. advertise
c. measure
d. trademark
26. Once you identify that your target audiences are Facebook users, designing a
strategy to move them beyond ______ is the next step.
a. just browsing
b. personal use
c. rewards and games
d. likes and emojis
27. What specific feature of Twitter contributes to messages becoming lost in the feed?
a. built-in trending alert for journalists
b. everyone is the same social distance
c. limited personal interaction
d. 140-character limit per tweet
28. Unlike most popular social media platforms, LinkedIn is primarily a ______.
a. business networking site
b. social connection platform
c. diffused networking site
d. site void of personal interaction
29. The Little Giant Ladder is most often demonstrated in practical, real life situations.
Which platform would target audiences most expect to find a collection of how-to
videos?
a. Snapchat
b. Instagram
c. YouTube
d. Periscope
30. Facebook Live videos can be accessed and liked forever, whereas Periscope
videos ______.
a. are streamed live only, with no replay option
b. self-destruct in 15 minutes
c. cannot be liked during streaming
d. expire 24 hours after broadcast
31. An organization’s use of Instagram is about more than posting images that reflect
their brand. The images also need to ______.
a. be 4-color and stunning
b. attract target viewers
c. repel non-target viewers
d. make a political statement
32. Being easy to use, informative and offering a feedback loop are all ______ features
built-in to Pinterest that organizations can use to build relationships.
a. connection
b. metric
c. static
d. dialogic
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
33. A unique aspect to Pinterest is that members can pin web content to ______ and
make these available to others.
a. visual bulletin boards
b. idea banks
c. virtual bulletin boards
d. printable catalogs
34. Which one of these platforms does not offer live video streaming for its users?
a. Periscope
b. Facebook
c. YouTube
d. LinkedIn
35. According to the chapter text, why should a company’s LinkedIn content include
some written by employees?
a. Employee content and interaction helps humanize a company.
b. The burden for updating social media can be shared.
c. Many writers means the posted content can always be timely.
d. LinkedIn content is not part of the executive team’s responsibility.
36. The Pillsbury Bake-Off contest currently requires entrants to submit their recipes via
an online form at the company website. What is one way Pillsbury could use YouTube
to easily increase consumer interaction for the contest?
a. Announce the contest on Facebook with multiple, animated posts.
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
b. Require entrants to upload one how-to recipe for subscriber voting.
c. Launch a multi-platform, two-month long contest with weekly entries.
d. Exploit Snapchat’s expiring content feature share the contest rules once per week.
37. Periscope is a ______ that PR professionals use to interact with and engage
publics.
a. gaming site
b. online hub to store recorded videos
c. live-streaming video app
d. social media app owned by Facebook
38. Snapchat’s expiring content ensures ______, an advantage over all other social
media platforms.
a. constantly refreshed content
b. visitor interaction
c. saving posts before they expire
d. viral memes
39. Fourth Screen Technology is a substantial component of everyday interaction,
suggesting both ______ are a priority user interaction.
a. customized domain names and exciting graphics
b. real-time content and static imagery
c. detailed contact forms and viral videos
d. personalized content and platform relevance
40. Social media ______ are today’s online gatekeepers and can significantly influence
a brand’s credibility, both positive and negative.
a. influencers
b. programmers
c. multipliers
d. consumers
41. Because blogs can be time consuming, it’s important any public relations strategy
ensures ______.
a. shared content authorship
b. weekly updating or less
c. no loss of momentum
d. limited word count
42. While traditional media requires strong written and verbal skills, social media
necessitates excellent skills for data analytics and ______.
a. direct mailing lists
b. content creation
c. games programming
d. network marketing sales
43. You’ve just been hired by Bart’s Best Burgers to create a social media contest to
drive new customers to retail locations. What is your first step?
a. Determine the best target audience and what social media platforms they use most.
b. Announce the contest on all social media platforms to increase visitor interaction.
c. Evaluate the engagement of the previous contest, held five years prior.
d. Develop a plan for additional staff training to handle the increase retail traffic.
44. Reach, exposure, and engagement are all analytics related to measuring social
media ______.
a. excitement
b. landscape
c. results
d. transparency
45. One of the most widely used metric tools for quantifying social media activity is
______.
a. Audience Metrics
b. Reach Predictor
c. Social Insights
d. Google Analytics
46. During a crisis, which platform best helps gauge how information about the crisis is
moving across social media and what is being said?
a. Facebook
b. Twitter
c. Instagram
d. Yahoo News
47. These two attributes should both be reinforced in all social media communications,
especially during a crisis.
a. remorse and responsibility
b. thought-leadership and humanity
c. transparency and authenticity
d. corporate beliefs and positioning
48. What critical mistake did VW executives make during the emissions scandal that
negatively impacted their credibility?
a. posted positive “We’ll get through this together!” memes
b. stopped posting to Facebook and Twitter the day the news broke
c. immediately claimed their innocence with journalists via Twitter
d. released their CEO’s video statement the next day
49. PR professionals can take advantage of today’s metric tools and make ______
adjustments to quickly increase visitor interaction.
a. delayed
b. time-lapsed
c. real time
d. negative
50. Which of these statements best completes the following sentence? Understanding a
client’s target publics and where they interact most on social media will help a PR
practitioner ______.
a. design the right messages for the right platform
b. stay ahead of potential fake news and cyberattacks
c. remove the need to encourage personal interaction
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
d. leverage second-order connections built-in to network diffusion
True/False
1. The explosion of social media can be explained by the groundbreaking invention of
smartphones.
2. One explanation for the success of Snapchat is related to data indicating the highest
users of social media are males between the ages of 30–49.
3. Any organization can be targeted by a cyber-attack at any time. Clint Watts, former
FBI agent, recommends developing a baseline for fact and fiction as the first public
relations step to managing a cyber-attack.
4. The concept of network diffusion helps explain why short messages travel quickly in
social media.
5. Personal interaction with social media followers helps humanize an organization,
while also demonstrating transparency and altruism.
6. In public relations, a blog can strategically target specific audiences with posts
designed to build community and invite conversation.
7. Donald is a PR Manager for Bright ’n Shiny, a national trash removal company.
Before he recommends an effective social media strategy, he must first determine who
the target publics are and the trash routes in their specific areas.
8. The social space is the only place where public relations activities, and how they are
targeted, can be adjusted in real time to take advantage of new media opportunities.
9. During a non–profit organization’s online fundraising auction, chatbots could be used
to provide milestone updates, share new auction item details and answer general
bidding questions.
10. Understanding data analytics should also include how to collect actionable data as
insight for building an effective measurement plan.
Short Answer
1. Describe how the roots of social media can be traced back to the telegraph.
2. How does LinkedIn demonstrate the network concept of social distance?
3. Data analytics can help PR professionals measure the effectiveness of social media
activities. What is another way to gauge effectiveness?
4. Compare and contrast Periscope and Facebook Live.
5. Why does Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship recommend employees
engage in the corporate social media content during a crisis?
Essay
1. Briefly explain how social network theory supports the need to create platform
relevant messages.
2. Discuss the “dark side” of social media and the risks this presents to public relations.
3. Who are social media influencers and how could they benefit an organization’s social
media campaign?
4. Social media has increased the public’s expectation that companies will communicate
in a way that is authentic, honest and two-way. Discuss how these expectations were
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
not met immediately after the VW emissions scandal broke and how that impacted the
company’s credibility.
5. Briefly demonstrate how social media differs from traditional media.