Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

I am reading a book called Putting the Public Back in Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge. Public relations is changing, due to the evolution of social media. Public relations professionals need to embrace the idea of social media instead of ignoring the fact that it exists. In the book, Solis stresses that “new public relations is about people and relationships, not just new tools.” Public relations is about people communicating with other people using different tools to reach their public. Public relations professionals should grasp the idea of social media and use it to their advantage.

I found it interesting when Solis compared public relations to farming. “The more seeds you plant, the more crops (in the form of coverage over time) you will grow (as long as you spend time watering, caring for and feeding those seeds and new shoots).”

Twitter Cracks Down

I read an interesting post on Mashable.com by Jennifer Van Grove called 10 People you won’t see on Twitter anymore. Twitter has changed its terms of service and some Twitter accounts are in danger of termination. Van Grove states the users that will no longer be seen on Twitter include: 1.The Impersonator. People may not impersonate others using Twitter. They must have a verified account and actually be the person they claim to be. 2.The Bot. Robotic Twitter accounts may get the boot. If you are not human, you could be in danger. 3.The naked chick. Twitter is going to crack down on inappropriate images. 4.The serial Abuser. Twitter users who are following lots of people, but have few followers in return. This also includes people who have numerous Twitter accounts. Mass account creation will result in suspension. 5.The Squatter. This applies to people wanting to make money by creating appealing names on Twitter in hopes of later flipping them to make a profit. 6.The Slimy Salesman. Theses are people who think they can manipulate people on Twitter and turn Twitter followers into a marketplace for profit. 7.The Hashtag Spammer. These are the people who use hashtags in their tweets to potentially reach more people. 8.The Plagiarizer. People who tweet something someone else said without giving credit to that person. Yes Twitter now has a code of Ethics. 9.The Bully. Twitter will not allow people to post things that could be damaging or harmful to another person. 10.The Faker. These are people who fake having a verified account.

Overall I think Twitter is taking a step in the right direction. I do not think these rules are drastic or hard to follow. This could make Twitter a safer place to connect and communicate with other people. Maybe these regulations need to be put in place for Twitter to be used as a professional communications site. I think it will be interesting to see how Twitter enforces these rules. It will be interesting to see how and if Twitter changes due to these new regulations.

Ethics

Today in class we talked about research and ethics. Ethical research is important in the field of public relations. It is important for public relations professionals to make sure their clients are comfortable sharing information. Participants must agree to take part in the research and know that they can withdraw from it whenever they feel necessary. Participants also must understand what they are getting into when they volunteer for the research. Anything received from the participant must remain anonymous. It is important to keep the participant’s identity confidential. When you reveal a participant's identity or confidential information it affects your credibility as a public relations practitioner. Bring the Golden Rule into play and treat others the way you want to be treated.