Greater Work Load

The arrival of social media was a game changer for the public relations profession. No more did these professional communicators have to rely so much on the traditional media for exposure for clients. Instead of having to pitch stories to reporters, for instance, in the hope they would agree to pursue a story, public relations workers could simply post that story on the web or email it out to as many persons as they wanted. The press' power over public relations efforts was, if not totally compromised, certainly reduced. For those in public relations, social media marked the end media dependence.

But social media also greatly increased the work load of those in public relations. A key characteristic of social media is that it literally gives anyone with a computer or access to the Internet the ability to post pretty much anything they want, thus making it possible for hundreds of thousands of viewers to see or read their message. This blog of mine is an example. There is nothing to prevent me from posting commments that are highly critical of a product or public figure. If I do that often enough and develop a following, then potentially I could do harm to who or whatever it is I am attacking. This, of course, is not something that any public figure or entity wants.

Suddenly, not only does the public relations worker representing the subject of my criticism have to deal with the media, now they have to contend with me and/or people like me who are saying not-so-nice things about their client as well. And as I am able to communicate my public perspectives any time I wish, this means the public relations reps need to be at-the-ready to refute my messages. Is this unfair to those in public relations? Yes. But in today's virtual world, it is also the new reality. For many in public relations, the work day is no longer just eight hours long. Their need to be vigilant on behalf of a client is now greatly expanded.