Cutline Speaks

It’s a Virtual World…And I am a Virtual Girl!

posted by Meghan on January 10, 2008

Morgan's recent post "When Online Networks Collide" regarding social networking colliding with professional networks brings up another challenge communication professionals are beginning to face today and one that will most likely continue to grow - using social networks to communicate with reporters and strengthen media relationships. Do we as PR professionals have to create multiple online identities in order to adapt our pitches and communication materials to meet our targets online social needs?

Facebook is changing the business world and Second Life has spurred many large companies like Dell to making their news announcements within the virtual world, to which avatars would attend from all over the globe. That's a very cool and controlled environment which in my eyes is a super-powered video conference with wings. However things are getting even trickier today with some reporters now requesting to be pitched via their social network. A communications firm has even created a social media press release application for Facebook (note: it has zero active users which speaks volumes)!

I personally would like to keep my online identity separate from my work. The death of the press release predictions have been whispered among many PR professionals for years. I don't see that happening any time soon, but we are seeing PR professionals already using social networks to promote clients' work and communicate more efficiently. The next question won't be whether or not we interact in these social networks (that's already happening) but on how we can manage our online identities and communications within this somewhat uncontrollable environment.

Tags for this post: social networking