Public Relations as an industry has a long history of evolution , this industry has had to constantly reinvent itself to keep up with the fast changing times. In contemporary times where the world is at the threshold of a digital age, there have been massive changes in the way human beings communicate. The bounds of geography, culture and nationality no longer hold true and the world is turning into a global village. In this fast changing world , it is information and communication that hold the key to success. Organizations across every industry and geography recognize the importance of effective communications. Along with the traditional PR strongholds of analyst and media relations, disciplines such as internal communications are now becoming increasingly important as a core requisite for successful business operations. (Murphy, 2005, www.globalprblogweek.com) Public Relations is primarily concerned with establishing effective communication between organizations and individuals or companies and their audience. According to Anthony Davis, Public Relations refers to the management of communication between an organization and its public. Frank Jefkins describes Public Relations as a planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between organizations and its public.  As the world enters the digital age where computers and the Internet play an active role in the lives of the people,  Public Relations as an industry is shifting gears and adapting new means of communication that are not only fast but also efficient. The need of the hour is for the PR industry to  reinvent itself  in such a way as to enable itself to change with the ever changing times. Tom Murphy in his article on ‘Pragmatic Public Relations’ states that Public Relations at its most basic is about helping individuals and organizations to communicate effectively with their audiences. Traditionally this has been primarily about building relationships with the key stakeholders, namely journalists and editors, in an effort to ensure that a company can reach their audience. But there are changes taking place that require all PR practitioners to think long and hard about the best means of communicating on behalf of their clients. Speaking on Pragamatic Public Relations , Tom Murphy points out that even though PR industry has been slow to adapt to changing technological developments , it must realize that new mediums of communication have to be adopted in order to keep abreast with the audience.

 

Internet is undoubtedly one of the new technologies that the PR industry has had to adapt itself to, however, the internet is a dynamic tool as throws open several novel means of communication every couple of years. The latest trend that is taking the world by storm are web-blogs.

 

Weblogs, or blogs as they are affectionately termed, are frequently updated websites consisting of dated entries arranged in reverse chronological order so that the reader sees the most recent post first. (Walker, 2003) The style is typically personal and informal, with commentaries and links. Freely available tools on the World Wide Web make it easy for anybody to publish their own Weblogs. Some blogs are single-person operations (one to many); others have a community of authors (many to many) (Gill, 2004).

 

The act of updating a blog (adding an entry) is called “blogging;” someone who writes a blog is a “blogger.” (Gill, 2004)  Bloggers write about varied topics related to themselves and their audience may be large or small as a Weblog may have anywhere from a handful to tens of thousands of daily readers. So there is a lot of variety in the quality, content and ambition of Weblogs.

 

Therefore a blog is basically a program that is a quick and easy way to publish your content to the web. Not only is it economical but provides the viewer or reader a chance  to interact with the author of the blog. It is a democratic, honest and open way of communication , something that will and has proved extremely beneficial to both corporate house and PR companies.

 

 Blogs are undoubtedly a current trend in Public Relations, more and more corporate house are now turning to blogs to not only advertise their products but also receive customer feedback. The Public Relations industry has much to gain from this new tool, which is based on point to point communication.

Perhaps the single most powerful aspect of blogs, in the area of public relations, is the personalization aspect.

 

In the past, public relations depended upon controlling the message, that was put forward from the organization. The unspoken goal was to manipulate public opinion. However, blogging as a public opinion medium gives up that tight control, and presents a message in a conversation with the reader. In that sense, the blog cultivates public opinion. With increasing transparency, inside and outside of organizations, the best approach is one of open discussion. The transparency will serve the dual purpose of transparency in communication and also help the PR industry break away from some of the myths attached to the industry about it being manipulative. A blog is the ideal delivery vehicle for a Public Relations company.

 

Blogs provide a unique and personal way to communicate with current and prospective customers. Instead of being a nameless and faceless corporation, the blog helps the people in the company, to come alive in their posts.

 

By addressing the issues openly and honestly, the business can regain and even increase the public’s trust. Concerned customers, and the general public, will view the blog as giving the straight answers. Such trust will only help enhance the business’s reputation, both in the short and long run. This free interaction and narrowing of gap between producers and consumers will help attach a human face to the corporate sector .

 

Should a disaster happen, either to the business or its customers, a business blog provides an immediate and personalized vehicle to discuss the issue with the public. Instead of the “spin”, usually associated with public relations , the blog can serve as an honest and concerned pipeline, directly to the public.

 

With respect to its relations with the Media, blogs in PR can prove to be extremely efficient.Getting someone to hear the message is half the battle. Having the members of the media consider it newsworthy is the other half. Somewhere, there must be another vehicle, that can gain the attention, of an already swamped news editor. That help, for the publicity seeking business person has arrived, in the form of the blog.

 

When teamed with an RSS news feed, which employs the same technology as stock market and weather forecasts, a blog can provide an instant pipeline directly to interested media outlets.

The news media are constantly on the lookout for potential news stories. By writing about your industry, reviewing products, providing company news, and commenting on various business and economics issues, your blog is a ready source of news stories.

 

A blog’s readership can easily access posts, as they are updated, in real time. Much of those regular blog audience are members of the traditional mainstream media, consisting of newspaper, television, and radio journalists and editors.

 

Therefore, it can be seen that blogs are not only effective and efficient but they are also extremely easy to maintain and cost little if noting at all. Much has been said about updating a blog in real time but another aspect of blogs that needs to be considered is that blogs do not require a computer programmer to create it, it can be developed by anyone is whole well versed in computers and the Internet. It is a new means of communication that requires practically no investments but reaps huge benefits.

 

Finally, blogs, the new Public Relations paradigm are at the end of the day ，a marketing tool which helps in developing direct contact with the consumers, who are also given an opportunity to voice their concerns and their opinions.With respect to Public Relations, blogging serves two purposes, it not only serves as a medium to transmit information to the masses but also help receive information from the public in the sense of customer feedback.

 

A very practical advantage of blogs  and one that few are aware of is that blogs  are noticed by the search engines.Many people who have blogs have discovered that their blog entries are getting faster inclusion in the search engine, and more importantly, higher rankings on the search engines. 

 

But blogs need not all be made public, they can be on intranets, behind firewalls, and/or password protected.  This, plus their ease of use, makes them a great source for internal communications, project tracking, issue resolution, etc.

Blogs convert into sales and profits - those companies who actively use blogs as part of their marketing program have discovered that blogs bring in more visitors to your website and that a high percentage of those who visit a blog, if properly influenced through that blog’s content, will actually buy from their company.

 

According to David Sifry, founder and CEO of blog-focused search engine Technorati, there are almost 18 million blogs, spanning over one and a half billion links. These statistics are testimony to the fact that blogs are indeed a great way to develop and maintain public relations because of their sheer reach and influence.

 

"Blogs are all about conversations," says Sifry. A corporate blog allows a company both to keep an ear to the ground to hear what's being said about it and, if necessary, speak up with a correction. In fact, a global PR Blog week was organized between September 19-23, 2005 which was an online event focused on how new communications technologies are changing public relations and business communication

 

"If you're not blogging, you're missing out on the chance to contribute to the conversation taking place in the blogosphere," says consultant Debbie Weil, creator of the BlogWrite for CEOs blog (http://www.blogwriteforceos.com/) and author of The Corporate Blogging Book (forthcoming in 2006 from Penguin/Portfolio).

 

Blog as a trend is here to stay and there is much that the PR industry stands to gain by using this new medium of communication. Blogging may change the very nature of Public Relations as an industry and it could perhaps take it to a new level of interaction with the audience, a level that is not only direct and honest but one that promotes accountability.

 

Note:Please check References in the Booklists which have been well linked already!