Social Networking and Public Relations

By Leah Packard

For the last blog assignment, I interviewed Whittney Beech, the public relations manager and First Fidelity Bank in Oklahoma City. Throughout the interview, she brought up the importance of social media and the future of public relations so I have decided to expand on this issue.

Social media is everywhere now; there is a social networking site for just about everything out there. Every career field has its own site for those in the field or students planning on joining the field. Colleges have their own sites and so do sororities and fraternities. And of course you can't leave out the giant-sized facebook.

However, not only are public relations practioners using their own sites like www.onlinepr.ning.com but they are using sites like facebook to monitor and participate in conversations about the companies or brands they represent. There are many blog stories I found about the importance of practioners engaging in social networking, like this story with tips about making the most of your online networking time, or this website completely dedicated to the future of public relations and marketing.

The upcoming class of consumers will be more tech-savvy than any before. They have access to the internet practically everywhere they go on social networking sites more so than any other besides yahoo and google.

Not only are practioners engaging with other social networking users but they are paying for advertising space. But not just any advertising space, this advertising can be tailored to a very specific audience based on what type of information the user reveals in their profiles.

Social networking is a huge part of life today and will only grow in the future. Public relations practioners know how valuable understanding social networking is and will continue to integrate it within their campaigns.