Social communication is a set of communicative acts whose purpose is to change certain representations or behaviours. What are its functions? Who uses it?
What are the objectives?
1. Transmit values to create and strengthen bonds of solidarity;
2. Provide information on social issues to raise awareness;
3. Give people back their voice and power;
4. Change ideas or attitudes that could be harmful to people, both individually and collectively;
Why social communication?
Social communication is completely different from the communication used in advertising, which seeks to ‘place’ a product. On the contrary, social communication goes against the opinion of the recipient. It is important for social communication to know the opinion, because the ultimate goal is to change it.
Furthermore, using social communication takes time. Indeed, ‘changing’ an opinion cannot be done in two minutes. There are two main steps involved:
- setting up a media campaign to give visibility to the message being conveyed;
- challenging the people concerned. Indeed, dialogue and proximity are two essential elements for successful social communication.
What are the foundations of social communication and which organisations use it?
It is based on human and civic values, and it is often social communication that allows minorities to be heard. It is also based on solidarity and sharing.
This type of communication is mainly used by organisations and associations that serve the public interest.
What are the functions of this type of communication?
1. Inform (provide information and news);
2. Persuade and convince (in order to influence behaviour change);
3. Educate (impart knowledge and social values);
4. Provoke emotions (seduce, please... in order to convince);
The importance of culture in social communication
It is unthinkable to want to ‘change’ a type of behaviour without having an in-depth understanding of the reasons behind that behaviour. In order to change social norms, we must first consider culture as an essential factor, because it is culture that shapes our attitudes. Without understanding culture, the message cannot be conveyed effectively, especially in social communication that aims to change values. Awareness campaigns vary from country to country because, for example, Germans and French people do not have the same social culture.
Social communication must study the cognitive and psychological factors of each target individual (or society) to ensure real effectiveness. The knowledge available to the society or individual in question is just as important, especially now with the multiplicity of digital information media.