The following is a guest post by David Barkoe, traditional PR guy with some thoughts & questions for the rest of us:
As social media has grown into it’s position of prominence, many in the PR world have begun draw a line in the sand between social media and traditional media.
Social media is a special breed that has to be treated differently and PR firms have to market their social media skills separately from their traditional media relation’s skills.
My question is…. why?
Hasn’t social media (blogs, social networking sites, etc.) achieved such prominence and become so ubiquitous that social media is on the same side of the line as traditional media (newspapers, magazine, broadcast and radio)?
Doesn’t social media align itself perfectly with the classic definition of public relations (communicating with the public via the media)? It’s pretty safe to say that the public are powering the blogosphere.
Authenticity is the word most associated with social media. You have to be authentic when venturing into the blogosphere, whether you a citizen, a corporation, a PR firm or even an advertiser/marketer.
But what most people don’t realize is that the word most associated with traditional media is also Authenticity. The first rule of traditional PR is “don’t lie to reporters” and the second rule is “check your facts.” Essentially, in fewer words, that means be authentic.
So if social media is now so prominent and so reliant on authenticity, why not bring social media under the realm of public relations?
4 responses so far ↓
Cat Laine // January 25, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I would argue that PR is not about authenticity in the least. It’s about the “appearance of authenticity”. If you’re going to get anywhere fast in the social media sphere, realizing the difference between the two will be key.
PR is all about spin, spin whose the distance of the truth varies from company to company. For example, Haagen Dazs isn’t Scandinavian. Burt’s Bees isn’t a cute little hippy company; they’re owned by Clorox! The authenticity of these “brands” is a simulation.
thefarmery // January 25, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I suppose where I would challenge the PR/social media thing is distribution models vs. PR if that makes any sense…
Danny Canarick // March 10, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Brand managers need to seek distribution strategies that brings a brands’ content directly to their consumers.
I would very much agree with “Thefarmery” and to truly capitalize on PR opportunities through social media, distribution becomes the most important element.
In traditional PR distribution, people are forced to go “find” content for themselves. The future of effective PR involves bringing content to where audiences/consumers are already spending their time. Consumers are not going out of their way for you — so you must go to them.
RYK // April 4, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Social media/Internet needs to be brought under the traditional PR managers umbrella just the way television was brought under it when that radical new medium 1st emerged ! Ofcourse being it’s own animal, Internet PR needs it’s own mastery.
With direct feedback occurring over the Internet authenticity and credibility of PR Assets is much more important. Lets call it the growing up of PR, where she now has to be far more responsible with what she does and says !