Quietly, perhaps without us even noticing it, a massive shift has taken place. Social networking is booming in 2007 and it's a far more mainstream activity than blogging or podcasting ever was. It's appeal is far greater because social networking fosters connections. Statistics bring this to light. However, the greatest evidence is anecdotal. (Note: MySpace, a major social network, is an Edelman client)
Consider, for example, that social networking has become fodder for mainstream outlets like NPR and the Today Show. In addition, I see it in my own online habits. I spend much more of my online time on sites that allow me to connect with my friends, some of whom are virtual. This is allowing content that I care about to surface and find me.
Further, many people are choosing to send emails through Facebook or Twitter. This annoys some, including me, but the cultural shift is what interests me most.
Content that finds you is a theme that Cisco's Dan Scheinman often talks about. He believes, as do I, that in the years ahead social networks will define media consumption for millions of connected citizens. Recognizing this, the media is slowly making a pivot, turning their own sites into platforms for participation or by embedding themselves into existing social networking sites.
This begs the question - if social networking is a backbone that will pervade almost all of our online activities, what about PR?
Most of the stories you see on TV, in print publications or, increasingly online, PR professionals had a hand in, at least in part. In some cases we were called to respond to supply information. Other times, we successfully generated the story. Relationships are what makes PR work.
Many PR professionals are good pitchers. They know how to sell a story to a reporter. Email is the primary way this happens. Thousands of story pitches are circulated daily.
However, I believe that as more of us in the trade join the massive movement to participate in social networks, big things will happen. Social networks will become the primary theater of operations for PR. It will be where journalists and PR pros connect, perhaps sometimes out in the open. Even better, it will be where journalists, consumers and PR pros work together toward a common goal. Journalists are already discussing these topics actively on a new Facebook group that popped up.
The golden age of transparency in PR is coming. It will be painful, but the social networking genie is out of the bottle and with that the venue for PR will shift out of email into such open platforms.
