Talking about the future of Public relations it is essentially important to highlight the changes of current cultural life. Digital age has evidently touched the ways of cultural expression, the information flows and access to the texts, pictures, video and audio material. This let us draw up the image of the current cultural life that is based on improved computer operations and functions.
It means, that Public relations have huge perspective to expand them operating fields. First of all, the biggest area of PR growth is new media. The opportunities of the Internet communication are hardly counted and evaluated. However, there is an evident true, that those, who manage to follow and handle all new computer challenges, reach progress much quicker.
It can be adopted to all PR agencies and departments. It follows, that PR experts, who integrate new communication forms in them operating systems, will easier set balanced two-way symmetrical communication. The virtual environment has already suggested great opportunity of interactive communication. Social networks and social media, active forums, opportunity to post comments under the articles or pictures and many new communication perspectives are creating open and easier spread communication between the companies or organizations and public society.
On the one hand, this huge growth of new computer based communication forms has helped to improve quick and effective PR. However, on the other hand, it is very difficult to keep up with all these new technologies. As social media professor and researcher has noticed, “it has became a part of my job to stay abreast of these developments”.
Before the explosion of virtual communication and Internet media, the most important PR communication targets were newspapers, radio and television. It was thought that if you reach the publicity, your PR program was successful. However, it is particularly important to notice, that those media channels spread messages to unknown audience. Of course, there are many ways, how to research that anonymous audience. However, to measure the effectiveness of the communication through those channels is hard task and the results are not accurate.
Later the spread of new technologies and social media, has made first strong step of new PR. When the user got opportunity to express his opinion just after reading the article and get the reply of the article author, real two-way communication started. Social networks later expanded the interactive communication that was strong kick to PR evolution.
According to Grunig’s communication theory, the two-way symmetrical communication is an ideal form. More popular social networks become, more closer to two-way communication has became current PR.
Social media has already reached high level of popularity, however, not so many PR agencies know how to use all the opportunities of social networks communication platforms.
In the future, PR agencies are supposed to find out how to reach the right audience on social networks. Current situation shows, that to spread information through facebook or twitter is easy task, but to spread the message to right audience is still challenging work. In the future, the platforms according to the users’ demographics would be provided. It means that communication would be more effective.
When people register to social networks and participate in the virtual network activity they share them private information, hobbies and other personal ideas. This personal data helps to build up platforms that are very useful to PR agencies, when they need to find exact niche audience.
The social networks should become perfect place for reaching clients and partners. However, the other media participants, mostly journalists will use the social networks as the source of information for them reports more and more often.
What is more, PR agencies will have to concentrate on other Internet media channels.
PR agents will have to follow the flows of information online, because more popular social media becomes, more challenges it brings. Blagging, virtual chats, pictures, video sharing sits – all these channels will have to be observed.
It means, that PR agencies will not forget the basic rules – research, action, communication and evaluation. Monitoring and measurement tools, deep analysis of PR processes and organization’s environment will stay extremely important for effective PR.
All in all, to indicate the direction of the contemporary movement of PR is challenging task to analysts. Because the culture and environments of communication fields have experienced multiple transformations. Digital age has caused cultural revolution. Explosive intervention of computer machines with software and virtual screens has enabled those machines to participate in cultural life and to create new PR environments.
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