“Web 2.0,” is a term that’s used so loosely in tech circles these days that its meaning is defined less it seems by the actual term and more by the context and community that’s using it. I think Richard MacManus summed this up nicely, stating:
“Web 2.0 is social, it's open (or at least it should be), it's letting go of control over your data, it's mixing the global with the local….Web 2.0 is about the people, when it comes down to it. So it has to be inclusive. The definitions of technologists, social scientists, web designers, philosophers, educators, business people, anybody - they all count.”
For what it’s worth, I think you can take the spirit and the qualities and the energy behind Web 2.0 and very easily make a case for how it’s defining what can best be described as “PR 2.0” – where authenticity, trust, transparency, and technology in practice are among the key qualities that now separate the old school pros from the new ones.
With this having been said, beginning today, some of the smartest PR 2.0 practitioners will be teaming up for the second annual Global PR Blog Week, an online event focused on “how new communications technologies are changing public relations and business communication.” It’s an important event, one that I think is both timely and valuable for a host of industry people that are still struggling to get their arms around the PR 2.0 concept. My advice to these folks?
Nice post, Media Gorilla! I'm also focusing on the concept of PR 2.0. But I contend that notions that are being attributed to PR 2.0 are still really part of PR 1.0, and taking the field to the next stage of evolution will involve technical capabilities that truly embraces the literal meaning of Web 2.0. Huh?
What I mean is that the fancy notion of using Web-tools like blogging is still the long-established PR word-of-mouth tactics. It's doable because the typical PR person finds this software usable and can "get it" with relative ease. So, today's human social networking (a specialty of PR) can be brought to the Web and add some level of science, measurability, ROI, etc.
But Web 2.0 is about tying together programs located all over the world, each one serving it's purpose better than if you tried to build it yourself. So, how could this possibly directly tie to the PR industry? Aside from the obvious content syndication ways, it's also possible for PR companies to ad very advanced capabilities that no one would ever intuitively thing should come from the PR industry, but upon deeper reflection, makes perfect sense.
Posted by: Mike Levin | October 01, 2005 at 02:47 PM