146379 Resource 81698 49412 49412 1161699135154 1161803570678 Controlled PR 2.0 Has Rules Of It’s Own

PR Professionals need to be trained so they avoid the pitfalls of online PR

Over the past two years the internet has been changing from a deposit<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />y of static inf<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />mation to a vibrant, live conversation.  Now referred to as Web 2.0, the live web is a very different place.  Instead of using online photo albums we now have Flickr and YouTube.  Instead of the Encyclopedia Britannica online, we have Wikipedia. And as F<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />tune Magazine said, we have blogs – f<personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> better <personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> w<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />se.Web 2.0 has given the average person the power of voice. The barriers to online publishing are gone. Anyone can set up a blog in mere minutes and have their say online. In text, images and video. They can podcast and videocast. They can syndicate their thoughts and ideas in an RSS feed, making their comments visible to the entire w<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />ld. And unlike print, it won’t disappear in a few weeks <personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> months. It’s there f<personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> the duration.What does this mean f<personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> public relations?  No longer are we crafting one way messages that we can control. We are not doing media relations anym<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />e – it has indeed become public relations.  There is a public conversation going on and as a PR practitioner you need to learn how to be a part of this conversation. What w<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />ks in traditional PR does not always w<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />k in PR 2.0. Of course the basic rules of communication are still the same, but the online w<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />ld has its own set of rules.  We’re used to looking f<personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> a few influencers who reach many individuals,. Now we have to find many influencers who might only be reaching a few individuals, but they’re all connected and in communication with one another.  W<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />d of mouth is still the Holy Grail, but now it’s w<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />d of mouse and it’s lightning fast.   There is no longer a slow feedback process - once an idea, <personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> meme, takes hold in the blogosphere it will reach millions of like-minded folk in a very sh<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />t space of time.Authenticity and transparency are paramount.  Some agencies and in-house PR people have learned this lesson the hard way.  The <a href="http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/cat_dell.html">Dell Hell debacle</a> need never have happened if their PR department were up to speed on PR 2.0.What was the PR department at Panasonic thinking when they invented a fake persona f<personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> a blogger?  And the recent <a href="http://msft.bloggingstocks.com/2006/10/16/wal-mart-blog-fiasco-a-lesson-for-retailer-on-ethics/">Edelman fiasco</a> with their fake WalMart blogs is a perfect case in point. An agency that was supposedly leading the way in PR 2.0 put both their feet right in the proverbial substance.  And it hit the fan, big time.  Do a Google search on fake Wal-Mart blog to see the fall out.Richard Edeleman said he is making sure that his staff gets m<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />e training. And that’s the crux of the matter.  PR 2.0 is a new discipline.  It’s not something you choose to learn, <personname w:st="on" />or</personname /> not.  It’s here and it’s here to stay.  Your audience is no longer where they were. They are getting their news and inf<personname w:st="on" />or</personname />mation online and you need to learn how to reach them – effectively. Perhaps some PR firms just didn't get the memo, comented one blogger.  Perhaps not, since <a title="SEO PR training" href="http://www.expansionplus.com/impr/seo-training.html" target="_blank">PR 2.0 training</a> is not yet widespread.  Only one in four universities in the UK are adapting their courses to reflect advances in social media. In the US, just 28 per cent of PR course content includes modules on blogging and new media techniques. In other European markets, the trend is similar, with a minority of university PR and marketing degrees incorporating any online communications elements. It's time for a change - it's way overdue vitally needed.  PR 2.0 training resources<a title="advanced PR training seminar" href="http://www.bulldogreporter.com/advancedprtech/" target="_blank">Bulldog Reporter Advanced PR Technology in Practice</a><a title="seo pr training" href="http://www.expansionplus.com/impr/seo-training.html" target="_blank">Expansion Plus</a><a title="pr training" href="http://www.prsa.org/_news/calendar/calendar.asp?ident=p1" target="_blank">PRSA </a><a title="pr 2.0 training" href="http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=d6a36774-b746-4ed7-8c96-5d01fb150f9c" target="_blank">IABC</a><a title="online pr training" href="http://www.e-consultancy.com/knowledge/training/category-5-1/online-pr.html" target="_blank">e-consultancy UK</a><a title="online pr training" href="http://www.lewispr.com/uk/wire/index/1842/" target="_blank">Lewis PR</a> 10 application/xml false dell hell edelman PR 2.0 seo pr training training wal mart blog Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 sally false true false false true 177676 false false true false false false true 81698 blog blogsite/Falkow/web