Is Social Media Bad for PR?

Most of the space on this blog has been taken up defending old-school public relations. I’ve argued against those that declared the death of the press release and the demise of public relations, (although I have admitted that I’m no longer in public relations) but there is a current trend that has me wondering if we are nearing the beginning of the decline – not of public relations, but of – outsourced public relations.

Now, I’m not smart enough or connected enough to the PR agency business leaders to have the insight to present credible data or point to the industry trend lines, but you’ve come this far, so stick with this premise for a few minutes (and questions) and tell me if you think I’m off base.

Premise: Social media is important to business communications and as organizations build their communications department to adapt to the need for integrated communications, we will see a shift toward more in-house public relations.

Is social media important to business communications? While everyday there are new articles, blogs and stats about the ROI of social media, the larger question has been answered. Sure, social media engagements and strategy is still in its infancy stage for many organizations, but the bottom line is that it is too powerful and ubiquitous to ignore. Answer: Yes, social media is important to business.