Browsing by Author "Birhanu, Henok"

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    Multilateralism Versus Regionalism: An Appraisal of Ethiopia's Foreign Trade Policy Options
    (Addis Ababa University, 2010-02) Birhanu, Henok; Merso, Fikremarkos (PhD)
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    The Use of Social Media as a Public Relations Tool Among Humanitarian Organizations in Ethiopia: The Case of Ethiopian Red Cross Society
    (Addis Ababa University, 2021-07) Birhanu, Henok; Mochona PhD, Samuel
    This research is conducted to investigate the use of social media as a PR tool among humanitarian organizations in Ethiopia by taking the specific case of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS). The study also specifically assesses whether the ERCS is adopting social media as a PR tool or not, the drives for adopting social media and the opportunities and challenges of using it in the ERCS. To provide answers to the research questions, the study employed a qualitative research approach. Primary data were collected through an in-depth interview conducted with colleagues of the communication department. Selected thematic messages were also gathered from the social media platforms of the ERCS’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube outlets for qualitative content analysis. This study employed affordance theory to better understand the use of social media in an organizational setting like the ERCS. The results indicate that the ERCS’s communication department has adopted social media as a PR tool. The main drives for using social media are management directions, its recognition in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and to take advantage of some of its benefits. The ERCS use social media to convey general and thematic messages. These messages are mainly prepared in Amharic and English languages by predominantly using the combination of text and picture/photograph contents. By using social media as a PR tool, the ERCS is able to widely communicate its messages and further reach its publics. The ERCS is unable to optimally use social media as a PR tool due to technical, administrative and input related challenges. To further improve the ERCS's social media engagement, this study forwarded some strategic and technical recommendations.