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In the digital age, many corporations communicate with their publics via online channels. Among many channels, a corporation’s official Web site is often used for informing publics of its performance and other corporate-related information and for shaping a positive corporate image. This study quantitatively analyzed corporate Web sites, particularly the “About us” Web pages of Fortune 500 corporations based on symbolic convergence theory (SCT), which describes the formation of symbolic reality and the shared meaning of that symbolic reality among the public. A content analysis revealed that economic corporate management was the dominant rhetorical vision, and the fantasy, in the context of SCT, of being a superior company was emphasized by the 500 examined corporations. Such symbolic reality was constructed using corresponding structural tools of Web content, such as dramatis personae, plot line, and scene. In addition, the rhetorical vision and fantasy themes created by the Web sites turned out to be contingent on business classifications (retailer/distributor, manufacturers, and financial/informational/recreational services). Companies that pursued other types of fantasy themes (such as admirable, futuristic, and competent/stable) and rhetorical visions (such as socially responsible corporate management) were also identified. Some suggestions for corporate communicators are provided based on the results of this analysis.

Within the context of a pandemic flu, this experiment investigated whether source (government officials or physicians), severity condition (high or low), and mention of self-efficacy method (mention present or absent) in H1N1 health news affected participants' (a) perception of media influence on self and others and (b) intentions to get vaccinated. Results found support for third-person effects, and the magnitude of the effects grew with social distance. Main effect of source, as well as interaction effects among the independent variables on third-person effect and vaccination intentions, were also found.

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This study examined how creating a human presence in organizational online communication affects organization-public relationships and publics' favorable behavioral intentions to engage in word-of-mouth (WOM) and dialogic communications. Four hypotheses were tested in the context of Twitter through a 2×2 (presence: human vs. organizational×organization type: nonprofit vs. for-profit) within-subjects design. The results revealed that conversational human voice was perceived to be higher for Twitter pages of organizations with a human presence than for those with an organizational presence. Providing a human presence on social media through the use of social media managers' avatars and names appeared to promote favorable organization-public relationships and positive WOM communication. However, dialogic communication intentions did not significantly differ between organizations incorporating a human presence versus an organizational presence into their Twitter pages. The proposed dynamic role of human presence versus organizational presence adds a new perspective as to how organizations can take better advantage of interpersonal aspects of social media.