Public relations is a very multifaceted field of
work. PR professionals can find themselves doing any number of things from
event planning, to crisis communication to collaborating with the marketing
team. In Part 5 of "Share This" the
Chartered Institute of Public Relations presents a new area of work PR
professionals must take responsibility for due to the prevalent use of the Internet
known as online media relations.
Part 5 outlines the need for PR professionals to
adapt to the fluid and ever changing opportunities presented through social
media. Press releases must be formatted differently to have maximum effect
online and Twitter proves to be an important outlet for connecting with the
media.
Taking these things into consideration both scares
me and excites me as a public relations major. Online media relations change
the game for PR professionals and require a special set of skills to maintain a balance between abusing and embracing the use of online media relations. Based on the reading, I believe social media
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging sites present a huge advantage
for those in the PR world. For example, Chapter 12 highlights how online
newsrooms can be used to publish content to all shareholders instead of to a
few journalists.
In addition to maximizing the use of online press
releases, social media makes building relationships and engaging with
journalists and consumers just as important as ever. Chapter 16 of "Share This" says, “Having positive working relationships is a key to
online media relations as it is to traditional engagement with journalists.”
This excites me because not everyone gets to say their job is based on building
and maintaining relationships. I love people and I believe there is value in
getting to know someone beyond his or her LinkedIn profile.
However, relationships are a lot of work and utilizing
social media to build these relationships is a delicate balancing act. For
example, the book suggests just because you can direct message a journalist on
Twitter doesn’t mean you should abuse the privilege. "Share This" also presents a case study in which a food chain saw a
huge drop in shares after publishing a blog post intended to be open and honest
with its audience.
As a future PR professional, it is important to
acknowledge online media relations as an area of public relations that cannot
be ignored. With the right knowledge of the trade, online media relations prove
to be a huge asset in achieving any range of business goals. However, learning
how to properly use social media is a process as well as large burden to bear
to those in the PR world because of the newness and the nature of dealing with
people.
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