Ease of PR on the Net Hurting Independent Thought and Creativity

     It is no secret that advances in technology have made our world a smaller place. The internet obviously allows for quick dissemination of information, easy access to various forms of media and the ability to interact with people across the world from the comfort of your own home. It has quite literally changed the face of media. There are an overwhelming number of websites dedicated to social networking, business networking and other tools to help people save time, cut corners and ease their work load. Necessity begets innovation, right? But where do you draw the line? At which point is laziness the driving force behind the innovation?  

     Kevin boldly abandons his “digital age” generation and ascertains in his blog, “Are PR Tools Bad Form?” that maybe it has gone too far and the numerous public relations tools now offered on the internet are impeding upon the creativity, originality and independent thought process once required by the media.  “These tools are all blessings,” Kevin says, “But don’t let their ease of use, powerful capabilities and impressive efficiencies tempt you into taking short cuts with things like critical thinking.” At this point public relations is fighting for its life. The ability for anyone to access millions of people has given the general public the notion that anyone can “do” public relations and these tools are just proponents of that idea.  

     Kevin mentions Linked-In and Facebook as examples of networking but also points out the mindless-traps people involved in sites like this could fall in to. Instead of sending “cookie cutter” emails, or “friend” requests, try something that takes a little more brain power. Kevin makes a good point by sort of echoing the “old school” business mentality. “Take 10 more seconds to write someone a personal note. Those 10 seconds will make a big impact. So many people take the short cut it’s not really helping them.”  He finishes by saying “Work smart(er), think hard(er). Eschew shortcuts that are really creativity cuts.” A philosophy I am sure no one would disagree with. 

 

 

 

Social Networks and Word of Mouth

TALLfore

It is crazy how fast news can travel.  Trenton (the “T” of TALLfore) sent me an article about the power of Twitter.  This article was linked to WordPress but originated from the CEO’s journal entry on Thomas Nelson Publishers direct site.

The core idea that is provided in the posts is a story of UHaul not treating a customer appropriately.  The customer who was treated badly, later posted on Twitter how terrible their experience with UHaul was. In the Twitter post they also went on to say how great Penske was when they went there instead.  UHaul’s sales made a dramatic drop that day all because of this one post.  

The guy who posted on Twitter about UHaul had over 1,500 followers.  Those followers more than likely told someone and the trend continued all the way until right now.  Now I am writing about it on wordpress and anyone with internet access can get to this post to find out that UHaul treated a customer terrible and that customer would never refer their services again.  I am shocked that a networking site (Twitter) can absolutely help a business or even destroy one!  

A few semesters ago I was in a small business marketing class and we were talking about word of mouth and how vital it is to a company, no matter if its large or small.  For some reason people like to focus on the bad things that happen to them, so if someone runs into a problem with a specific business it is likely that they will tell 30 people about their experience.  If someone has a good experience they will tell two people, if any.  

So this goes to show that social networks are now increasing all of the possibilities of word of mouth.  In the end probably because of the growth of the internet UHaul, I’m sure, had a lot of crisis management to deal with!

Is it time to get “radical” about PR?

There is a new movement spreading through the PR profession, calling for a reinvention of traditional PR as we know it. Radical PR is trying to get away from advocating the two-way symmetric “normative” approach to public relations because they believe it has too many limitations.  It is known that there are many “old-school” PR agencies/departments that refuse to acknowledge, and then make necessary changes, that will update the way they do business. 

Personally, I think it’s great that there are people out there challenging our perspectives on communication relationships. So tell me, being apart of this new generation, do you agree that our core PR values have become too focused on ways to promote the interests of the people writing our paychecks? Radical PR affiliates believe that it is evident that PR practitioners form obvious agendas so regularly now, that whenever something new or challenging happens in our profession, its gloves off to protect outdated methods. Do you think this group of committed individuals can really make a difference in our profession? In order for this PR to have a valuable future in the eyes of society, changes will need to be made—maybe “radical” PR is the way to do this.

ABC PR