Online Equality (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Everyone Has a Say...
Wildfire Strategy
In the latest excellent response to the young PR bloggers debate from last week, Tamera Kremer discusses the role of senior management in providing mentorship at the junior level, and learning to listen to the next generation. Among Tamera’s many arguments is the notion that senior level PR staffers will have a hard time using social media to communicate their clients’ messages if they completely shut out younger voices, pointing out that a terrific aspect of the Internet is its ability to put everyone on equal ground. “Anyone who has spent time on political blogs, entertainment or tech discussion boards knows the territory is fraught with flame wars and unpleasant conversations. It’s part of the landscape and if we hope to advise our clients and senior managers of the power and need for participating in the space we should take every opportunity to probe deeper and expand our knowledge.”

The Importance of Playing Facebook Scrabble
Twopointouch
While he at first eschewed all the seemingly silly Facebook applications that have launched since the site opened its doors to outside developers, Ian Delaney recognizes the value in some of these online games and “fun stuff.” He responds to an argument heard at a conference that face-to-face contact is the only way to build lasting relationships, and points out that interacting over a medium like Facebook can provide true intimacy and real friendship, along with business benefits. “Getting updates on the statuses of my professional contacts is actually deepening my relationship with them. I know if they’re tired, bored, elated. I know about the status of their latest projects. And they know about mine. There are people who have been friends to this blog since way back who I feel I could walk up to and hug when we actually meet in the flesh. And with those casual friendships - when we meet again - we’re so much more intimate than the first time we met.”

MSM Recognizes Social Media Impact (!)
Tough Sledding
Responding to a recent story out of the Chicago Tribune in which the paper gives credit to social media’s role in raising money for a civil rights cause, Bill Sledzik points out that the “grass” in grassroots movements has gone digital. He points out the strength of networking sites like Facebook in growing business and rallying for causes, and argues that all PR practitioners (even the reluctant ones) need to start including social media in their strategies. “A wait-and-see approach to social media isn’t the answer. You don’t have to shift your world view here, but you need to view the world, at least in part, from a Web 2.0 perspective.”