Shel Holtz wrote an outstanding post about calls to replace more "traditional" public relations efforts with blogs. Blogs will continue to play an increasingly large role in public relations efforts, but are not a "be all, end all" tool. Rather, they are an additional (and very useful) part of any PR professional’s toolbox. The same goes for other "new media" tools like podcasts, wikis, etc.
A lot of great technology is beginning to mature before our eyes, and undoubtedly it will become "mainstreamed" very soon. I can imagine a day where press releases are exclusively issued by RSS instead of by e-mail or by fax. But when e-mail and fax machines were in their infancy, did most PR professionals think these technologies would replace postal mail as the preferred method of press release distribution?
I think it’s overearly to sound the death knell of many PR tools (such as press releases), or even the PR industry itself, in the light of this "new media" technology. The industry is evolving, and the technology becoming available will give PR practitioners additional avenues to distribute messages. What a welcome and exciting development!
0 Responses to “Blogging Will Not Replace Traditional PR Efforts”