Who holds the key to the future of online PR?

May 15th, 2008 by Lloyd Gofton

There’s been a raging debate in the Liberate Media office over the last few days, the reasons for which will become clear soon. As a result, i thought i would share some thinking on one of the issues: Has the PR industry lost ownership of online PR?

In my opinion yes…but PR is regaining lost ground.

So why? Well i think it relates to a slow uptake of the basics of online PR, and i don’t mean by the few, i mean by the many…the PR industry as a whole. Going back a few years, when online PR was all about keywords and online distribution, the PR industry was slow to react. SEOs took the lead and as the experts in this field it made sense that they would. However, as online PR techniques became more mainstream and with the introduction of the social media press release, the PR industry, or certain factions at least, has finally got its act together.

However, the argument has moved on in this time, communicating via the social web demands more than just technical knowledge, it requires strategic thinking and an understanding of the fundamentals of open communications. This is where i feel the PR industry must step up.

Strategic thinking and a basic understanding of the fundamentals of communications should be where the PR industry is unmatched. No other marketing discipline has the background or the qualifications to match up. Furthermore, many of the key thinkers in the social media sector have PR or comms backgrounds, and social media and online PR should go hand-in-hand.

So why the delay? Why is the relevancy of online PR still being questioned? Why is knowledge still so low (as an industry)? Don’t get me wrong the trailblazers are doing a fine job, producing amazing work and sharing insightful thinking, but what about the masses? Is online PR still just seen as a nerdy thing for the tech team? Maybe.

Will we see a breakout group of PRs, SEOs and social media experts lead the sector away from PR - is it already happening? I think so.

PR professionals that are still under the illusion that they can survive without clearly understanding the online landscape, and even those that still see online as just a channel to reach a specific audience are going to have a rude awakening in the near future.

                              

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Digital communications, Digital media, PR, Social media | 1 Comment »

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Strange and Weird Social Networking Sites

May 15th, 2008 by Andy Merchant

We’ve all heard about the Facebooks and MySpaces of the social networking world, but what about some of the more weird and wonderful ones out there.
Here’s a list of a few of the weirder social networks that we have come across:
Weird Beard A place for personal growth. - All about beards!
BarberandBeauty “We created this network […]

Posted in Blog, Social networking | No Comments »

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Business Podcasting Basics And Tools

May 14th, 2008 by Andy Merchant

Today’s post is a little pre-empt for the forthcoming Liberate Media podcast.
A good few businesses use podcasting as part of there intergreated social media campaigns, below is a list of just a few available at the iTunes store:
Direct Line (HSBC)
Business Link (government body supporting SMEs)
RBS Career Talk podcast
HSBC Golf Update
Which? Podcast - Consumer Association
UBS Economics […]

Posted in Blog, Digital communications, Useful resources | 1 Comment »

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Become A Movie Critic At FilmCrave

May 13th, 2008 by Andy Merchant

We all like to think that we are film critics at heart, and i certainly fall into that category. Everyone has very strong views on what’s hot and what’s not, and now you have the chance to have your say at www.filmcrave.com
When it comes to film watching, i always check out the average scores given at IMDB, […]

Posted in Blog, Social networking | 2 Comments »

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Are Wii friend codes safe? + Wii Social Networking

May 12th, 2008 by Andy Merchant

So I finally got MarioKart on the Wii and was desperate to test the online gameplay, which I must say is pretty impressive. I was also keen to try out playing online against my friends - the only problem being that I have two friends with the game and they never seem to be online […]

Posted in Blog, Emerging technology, Social networking, Trends and research | No Comments »

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