Social media management is now mission-critical inside PR for one simple reason:
It sits at the intersection of reputation, relationships, and real-time narrative control. It doesn’t just “support engagement”. It creates the conditions for engagement, trust, and influence.
Why social media management is vital in the PR mix
1) It’s your fastest reputation system
PR traditionally works in cycles: pitch, publish, respond. Social media works in minutes.
A strong social media function:
detects issues early (signals before headlines),
shapes interpretation while the story is still forming,
reduces escalation by responding with clarity and calm.
This is one of the biggest practical reasons social belongs inside PR, not “near it”.
2) It turns one-to-many PR into many-to-many credibility
Modern reputation is built in public conversation, not press releases.
Social media management:
humanises the brand voice,
engages stakeholders directly,
provides proof of responsiveness.
That’s not “engagement for engagement’s sake” – it’s relationship capital.
3) It multiplies earned media
Earned media now has a second life on social:
You distribute coverage, not just celebrate it.
You give context, pull key messages through, and correct misunderstandings.
You make journalists’ work travel further (which they notice).
Net effect: stronger media relationships and better future coverage.
4) It’s where thought leadership actually competes
The Reuters Institute reports promote the shift towards social/video platforms and personalities in how people discover and consume news. (reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk)
So if your exec POV is not shaped for social, it is simply less likely to be seen or remembered.
5) It’s the best “message pull-through” lab you have
Social media tells you quickly:
Which messages land,
Which gets misinterpreted,
What language audiences use.
That feedback loop makes all PR sharper: statements, Q&A, spokespeople, even crisis comms.
“Mainstream influence platform” + free speech: what’s actually happening. Your point touches a real macro shift, but it needs to be framed precisely.
Social media is mainstream for influence
Data and research in the last couple of years reinforce that social platforms and “news influencers” increasingly shape what people see as news and how they interpret it. (Pew Research Centre)
So yes: social has moved from “PR and marketing channel” to agenda-setting infrastructure.
The free speech/liberty narrative is part of that mainstreaming
Social platforms are often positioned (by platforms, creators, and political actors) as arenas for free expression. At the same time, regulation and platform policy are becoming more central, especially in Europe.
A concrete example: enforcement of the EU Digital Services Act has been publicly framed by some as protecting users and democracy and by others as a threat to free speech – it’s an ongoing, high-profile tension. (European Commission)
PR implications:
You can’t talk about “free speech” on social media as a simple virtue story. The public reads it through:
platform trust,
moderation debates,
transparency and algorithm concerns,
misinformation and manipulation risk (including AI-driven influence operations). (Live Science)
The executive-level takeaway
A mature PR function treats social media as follows:
A reputation channel (risk + trust),
A relationship channel (stakeholders + media),
A distribution layer (earned + owned convergence),
An influence layer (thought leadership + agenda setting),
An intelligence layer (early signals + message testing).
About the Author
Steve Gardiner (exec MBA) is a senior marketing and commercial leader at Lighthouse PR, bringing global experience from Accenture, Electronic Arts, Virgin Media, Telekom, and Etisalat. Latterly, as VP Business at Etisalat, he was responsible for $1.8B in revenue.
Today, Steve applies his strategic, marketing, and growth expertise to support Lighthouse PR clients as part of the agency’s service offering.