Bloggers, social media practitioners and PR professionals are not rival factions, in fact we should all be working together to create the best communications campaigns we can whether for a product, a cause or simply for entertainment.

Like any discipline within the communications mix, knowing your target audience, where they communicate, granting them the courtesy of acknowledging that they can actually think for themselves and engaging in good quality exchange is what makes for success.

As a marketing and ‘traditional’ PR practitioner I am always surprised at how few PRs attend social media workshops but on the flipside, I would encourage social media practitioners to attend traditional PR worshops as well and neither are mutually exclusive. I’d see both schools as two departments within an organisation rather than rival companies.

Here’s to collaboration and not conflict!

I don’t see why we should be pessimistic at all – there are problems at present but they’re not insurmountable. I think it’s a shame that Niall seems to think so, given what it is that Simply Zesty are trying to do.

I appreciate your comments and would love to continue the conversation offline. The thing about the other day was that there was in fact quite a good debate during which I made many of the points you have and others did too.

I am not as pessimistic as Niall about the PR – blogger relationship. I think ther is much to learn from each other and many opportunities for collaboration.

Conall

Also just wanted to say that I actually support PR interacting with consumers via social media. I also think it should be commended, rather than lambasted, but it does require a different approach and thinking to traditional media. People as a whole are very cynical about advertising. In any research study if you ask the question “did this advertising have any effect on you?” and the answer will invariably trend towards the “no/not much” answers – we don’t like to feel as though we’re being controlled/

This is compounded online and is, in my opinion, one reason that people get so infuriated when they see it happening there, where the nature of communications is much more open and transparent (or at least we perceive them to be). To my mind, this is where there’s a real role for online PR to get it so right and actually do something great.

But it needs a new way of thinking which will take time, not only to train ourselves to think differently, but to explain to clients that they need to look for different things from it.

Personally, I wish you the best of luck – you’ve stuck your neck out by going for it and I hope it pays off. It’s new to all of us in the industry, so we’re all learning & should remember that when critiquing others, no matter how much oner person “gets it” versus another – if we listen to each other we can all learn & get better

I’m aware of that but this post related specifically to blogs & bloggers, which is why I referred to them alone. The same thinking I’m talking about applies to all social media platforms though. It’s about engagement and interaction rather than dictating a message in return for a prescribed reaction.