Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Is PR the anti-social media?

I was recently a guest speaker at an RIT PR class discussing Social Media.  I went through my usual talking points about the relationship that Social Media has today for corporations, about being an authentic voice in a sea of "spin."

Then I got an interesting question from one of the students, he asked:

"When looking at a resume for a Social Media position, does it hurt to have PR experience/classes on there given what you said about the authentic voice?"

So what would lead him to believe that PR would hurt his chances of getting hired?  Is it that everything he learns in PR courses goes against the fundamental social media concept of an authentic voice?

I don't want to throw everything that a student learns about PR these days under the bus but it was a really good question given all that I had said until that point.  It makes me wonder what the future of the PR profession is since everyone knows the goals of PR is spin, its creation and control and Social Media is anti-spin and lack of control.

This is what got me thinking, is PR the anti-social media?  If everything about PR; spin, media seeding, guiding the press, etc. is the opposite of successful social media practices then where does it fit into the current mix?

How much will PR pros have to change in order to work in this new world?  In my opinion, a lot.  The traditional PR cycle and practices still has its place but some old walls are crumbling.  There is an entire conversation happening that PR has no control over.

How are the next generation of PR pros learning to adapt to social media?

1 comment:

TracyBonzo said...

Hey there Brian,

I was one of the students in the class. From your talking points I understand completely where my classmate was coming with that question. In all of my PR classes where we have used social media, it's always been about how social media can help the PR campaign. However, when you came in to speak, that was the first time that the idea of PR hurting an application for a social media position came up. I'm not quite sure what to think about it, but I do know that the idea of public relations is changing very quickly. I am curious and excited to see what the future of PR will be.