Dialogic Properties of University Websites: A Case Study of the University of Ghana Website

Abstract

Corporate communication tools and processes have, over the years, evolved from the use of traditional methods to the use of internet-facilitated new media. Public relations practitioners are leveraging these new media, such as websites, to engage with their increasingly well-informed and globally-dispersed publics. This is on account, principally, of the opportunities that new, digital and internet-enabled, technologies, are offering bi-directional and interactive communication. Using Kent and Taylor’s (1998, 2002) five principles of dialogic public relations as the theoretical foundation, this study sought to examine the dialogic properties and potentials of the University of Ghana website, and to find out how these could be exploited to meet the needs of the University and its diverse publics. The study employed an inductive research approach, entailing a mixed methods design of a qualitative content analysis of the University of Ghana website and in-depth interviews with two assistant registrars at the Public Affairs Directorate, the public relations arm of the University, and also the head of the University of Ghana Computer Systems (UGCS), in charge of the back-end of the website. The study revealed that the University of Ghana website was being used mainly for image-building and information-sharing purposes. While much of the indicators of dialogism were observable on the website, there were, also, a wide and unexploited range of dialogic capabilities which, as the interview respondents affirmed, made the University’s corporate website a largely under-utilised public relations resource. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made both for further research and for enabling greater, two-way symmetrical engagement by the University of Ghana and other institutions that seek to be globally relevant and competitive.