Online PR: Weaving your way into the world of widgets and beyond

Since we entered the noughties, more and more consumers have left their daily newspaper on the doorstep having been distracted by the lure of the World Wide Web. Where lonely-hearts columns once dwelled Match.com stands firmly in its place, gossip pages have become usurped by the likes of Perez Hilton and TMZ and, perhaps most significant of all, Google has ensured we’ll never have to search through the paper to find ‘that’ article again.
Both content and consumer are now unavoidable online with the average person (that’s the youths, the suits and the greys) clocking 6 hours web time a day and why shouldn’t they – with news sites such as The Times and Daily Mail Online being updated up to every 7 minutes. Just as the tide changes when the earth moves, traditional PR has moved alongside the media industry with online strategy now helping to bridge the gap created by Web 2.0.
Now, as PROs, we find ourselves confronted with RSS feeds, Twitter and SEO. It’s a virtual parallel universe where bloggers sit in seats once filled by journalists and podcasts blare out in place of radio.
Online PR has been likened to common sense and, with research; there is no need to be intimidated by what could be a potentially thrilling new spectrum. There are many tips and tools helping everyone to dig their toe into the digital PR pool – Search Engine Guide, Every Dot Connects and Neville Hobson to name but a few.
The output may have been stretched to an infinite size and the essential PR kit broadened to encompass forums, bookmarks and virals but the underlying concept remains the same:
Come up with an innovative brilliant idea that get’s the world talking – as now there’s an even bigger platform for to stand on.
Besides, now we’re all getting to grips with Web 2.0 I’m sure it won’t be long before 3.0 pops up with a yet another set of puzzling anagrams…. I’d better work fast!