Title: Mentoring 2.0: how PR educators use social media to create and maintain relationships with students

Authors: Rowena L. Briones; Melissa Janoske

Addresses: Department of Communication, University of Maryland, 2130 Skinner Building, College Park, Maryland, 20742 USA ' Department of Communication, University of Maryland, 2130 Skinner Building, College Park, Maryland, 20742 USA

Abstract: A series of in-depth interviews were conducted with public relations educators to explore their perceptions of mentoring and to understand the choices they make regarding using social media channels to build relationships with students. Findings revealed that educators believed that social media help enhance their mentorships with students, allowing for deeper, more informal relationships that makes keeping in touch, charting progress, and sharing resources easier and more efficient. Practical suggestions for utilising social media channels in mentoring relationships are discussed, along with theoretical propositions that can help move public relations scholarship toward theories in mentoring and new technology.

Keywords: public relations; e-mentoring; educators; informal relationships; student mentorships; progress charting; resource sharing; scholarship; new technology; USA; United States; universities; higher education; university students; continuing education; life-long learning; engineering education; social media; internet; world wide web; social networking; networks; electronic mentoring; mentors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2013.051764

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2013 Vol.23 No.1, pp.18 - 32

Published online: 30 Dec 2013 *

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