TMZ vs. Celeb Flacks (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Hollywood vs The Blogosphere?

The Flack

Peter Himler outlines the diminished influence of celebrity publicists in the era of countless blogs and websites devoted to celebrity gossip. The publicist’s former role of controlling the media attention received by their clients is heavily incapacitated by the influx of social media in Hollywood. Peter quotes today’s New York Times, which interviewed a celebrity publicist about working with 2.0 citizen journalists, like those behind TMZ. “'If you have something you know they will like, you tip them to it,' the publicist said. 'It’s kind of the old way you dealt with the old-time gossip columnists. You have to occasionally feed them an item. You have to be in the game with them. If you’re a publicist and the only time you call up is to complain about an item, they’ll laugh at you.'"

New PR Tools Reach a Tipping Point?

Common Sense PR

In an interesting post outlining the various steps social media has taken to become recognized as legitimate, particularly in the public relations industry, Eric Eggerston argues that the medium has finally reached the tipping point and entered the mainstream in PR shops. “So feel free to get off the fence, if you’re still waiting to see if this fad will pass. Use new tools, don’t use new tools. It’s your choice. Just don’t be afraid to jump in because blogging and content sharing is only for the geeky enthusiasts. If the Ragans, the IABCs and the Melcrums of the world are spreading the gospel, social media has long ago moved past a fad.”

Facebook Bubble?

Paul Gillin

Quoting another post on the topic from Rick Skrenta, Paul Gillin wonders about the prospects for longevity of Facebook’s recent surge of popularity. While MySpace has suffered recently, perhaps as a backlash to its earlier popularity, or its bad press about sex offenders, or its banning of the widgets, Facebook is thriving. Paul wonders how long it will be until a new contender comes along to throw another hat into the social networking ring. “But who's to say that will last? As Skrenta notes, the cost of switching services is pretty low and people are inclined to run toward whichever network has shiniest new toy, at least for now. If Facebook doesn't continually out-innovate new competitors, its success could be short-lived.”

Comments

[Eric Eggertson]

Thanks for the mention, Chip. Good to hear you twice a week on For Immediate Release. I much prefer the new format.