The purpose of this thesis has been to acquire a theoretical and empirical insight to the premises on which corporations in modern society communicate as well as the subsequent challenges and opportunities of this.
Media are omnipresent. Media permeate the communication and relations of society, corporations and citizens. As a result of this, media have changed human communication and created new opportunities for communication across time, space and culture. This creates complexity because we are all within communicative reach of each other. Among other consequences, this complexity has caused a fragmented and dynamic society where the relation between a corporation and its users has changed.
In this work, the development of the communication of corporations up until current standards will be investigated theoretically in a media (theoretical) perspective. This is carried out with the purpose of creating an overview of and gain knowledge about the complexity of modern society including a clarification on the communicative challenges and opportunities faced by corporations.
The knowledge about the opportunities and challenges of corporations in modern society is first analysed and discussed through two experts with the primary objective of qualifying the table, and, secondly, the table is analysed and discussed by incorporating two corporations. The reason for this is to unfold the theoretical foundation through a multifaceted perspective in order to be able to provide a qualified suggestion to clarifying the problem.
The thesis concludes that modern society is fragmented, complex and dynamic, setting high demands for the communication of corporations. Modern society and a continuous accumulation of media has changed the relation between sender and receiver where users, among other activities, are included in dialogues, are being heard and are co-creating, and where corporations must appear credible, provide surplus value, pass over control and be prepared to handle users’ demanding mentality.
Through a strategic and explorative process, the overall purpose of this master’s thesis is to generate new and valid knowledge regarding the communication of corporations on social media in modern society.