Web based social and environmental communication in the Australian minerals industry: an application of media richness framework

This paper considers the potential of the World Wide Web (web) as a medium for communicating social and environmental issues in the Australian minerals industry. The media richness framework was used to assess the communication potential of the web. The communication of social and environmental issues on websites of three Australian mining companies was analysed over a period of time. Interviews were also conducted with sustainability and communication managers from these companies. Findings suggest that companies are still learning about web based social and environmental communication. There was varying usage of different web capabilities across the three companies. Managers were willing to utilise the organisational and mass communication capabilities of the web more than its timeliness and presentation features. Limited consideration was given to the interactive potential of the web. It was also found that certain social considerations could limit the use of the web for social and environmental communication.