I am not just speaking about some conceptual transformation. The New York Times reported that the, “Public Relations Society of America, is embarking on an effort to develop a better definition of “public relations,” one more appropriate for the 21st century.” The Times goes on tot report at “the effort, of course, has a catchy name, Public Relations Defined, and a logo, too, that proclaims its goal: “A modern definition for the new era of public relations.”
Perhaps this traditional approach to the effort start indicates that they really do need to redefine themselves. The current definition is: “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” I find this a bit bizarre. Does it mean there is a problem in the relationship that needs to be overcome or does it mean that PR helps firms and their public co-exist despite the problems?
Now I have no disrespect for the field of Public Relations. I deal with PR people all the time in my capacity of writing for this blog and doing the product reviews for the AppGap blog. They tend to be more friendly and engaging that the average person. The professional that I work with are also very respectful of my space. They act as great facilitators to make useful connections between myself and the people I write about on this blog.
I remember way back when I was in college and majored in sociology because it had the fewest requirements. My very politically conservative aunt who lived in a very conservative state said to me to tell her friends I was studying public relations because the people in the sociology department at her local university were all considered left wing radicals.
There seems to be two types of PR firms now. The old school ones that are relationship oriented and the new wave ones that have a data driven component. Adam Lavelle, a member of the board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association who is the chief strategic officer at iCrossing, is quoted in the Times piece, “Before the rise of social media, public relations was about trying to manage the message an entity was sharing with its different audiences. Now, P.R. has to be more about facilitating the ongoing conversation in an always-on world.”
This sense of facilitating conversation, encouraging engagement, and monitoring what is happening on the Web needs to part of the new definition of PR.
I will add that Traackr maintains a useful list of people who are influencers in the new world of PR 2.0. They also have a great tool for finding influencers that is ideal for those in the new school of PR. I was on it briefly once and I discovered them when someone tweeted my presence on the list.
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