Social Media

Public Relations has changed with the evolution of technology.  Over the past few years, technology has been changing the way public relations specialists are doing their jobs.  Now, instead of sending a press release through the mail it is send through email.  This has caused a problem for journalists.  There are times when important emails go to their spam folders and they automatically delete the press release. 

The biggest advance in Public Relations is the social media aspect of the web.  Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace have become a major way for people to communicate.  Companies and firms have to put themselves out on these social networking sites to be recognized.  There are blogs that more and more companies are using to inform the public about what is going on.   It is important for a company to join an online community once they have heard and researched it.

There is always danger when dealing with online social media.  You don’t always know if the information you receive is true.  As an employee of a company, you want to make sure that the information you are putting out for the public to read is 100% truthful.  Also, if you are getting information from others make sure that their sources are reliable. Another danger of this new social media is a negative response to you or your company.  Each company has to watch for even the smallest error that could be used against you.  

Today social networking and the online age have changed the ways Public Relations operates.  Public Relations used to be about building relationships with journalists and mailing them press releases.  There is a new way to communicate with the public today.  Almost everything is online.  There are social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter used to reach out to the public.  Companies are doing a lot more Public Relations on the internet.  This use of technology has increased the flow of information to the public.  In the long run is an increase in flow of information a good thing?    

This article is titled Technology and Public Relations written by Dave Roos.