This study examines the patterns and trends of social media-related public relations research published in 14 journals from 2006 to 2020. It analyzes the theoretical trends (i.e., research topics, theories and theoretical models, hypotheses, and research questions), methodological trends (i.e., types of sample, sampling methods, and research methods), and social media platforms used in 445 published journal articles. The findings are compared with the publication trends of social media-related public relations articles by journals in interdisciplinary areas, which include communication, public relations, and new media. The results reveal the trends of public relations research across three stages of social media development. In addition, this study provides directions for future public relations research involving social media and calls for more studies on fake news on social media, artificial intelligence on social media apps, and social media influencers. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.

本研究考察了 2006 年至 2020 年发表在 14 种期刊上的社交媒体相关公共关系研究的模式和趋势。它分析了理论趋势（即研究主题、理论和理论模型、假设和研究问题）、方法论趋势（即样本类型、抽样方法和研究方法）以及 445 篇已发表期刊文章中使用的社交媒体平台。将研究结果与跨学科领域（包括传播、公共关系和新媒体）期刊的社交媒体相关公共关系文章的发表趋势进行了比较。结果揭示了社交媒体发展三个阶段的公共关系研究趋势。此外，这项研究为未来涉及社交媒体的公共关系研究提供了方向，并呼吁对社交媒体上的假新闻、社交媒体应用程序上的人工智能和社交媒体影响者进行更多研究。还讨论了研究结果的理论和实践意义。