New Media and Public Relations

In the 21st Century, we have witnessed the wave of IT hitting developed worlds. With endless of connectivity and information on the Internet, it is true to some extent that we have created and developed a cyberspace; an electronic dimension where data is free to roam and any user is free to obtain and contribute to this deep source of information. Without a doubt, new media is the reflection of mainstream media and any PR practitioner looking to keep up to date with means to gain publicity is to utilise this new forms of media.

Establishing a foothold on the Internet is to create a personalised website for the organisation or client. We no longer need to rely on mainstream media to post ads or have big billboards to show and generate recognition. In today's age, it is to be one of the top few results of the search engine to be posted. It is simply by the amount of hits generated by the website or by paying Google to have your website on the top of the list in search results.

Another way to keep users on your website and the news is to make use of instant messaging components like Twitter or Facebook which automatically publicise your message to users who have 'followed' you. It is the online way of keeping a network of contacts as well as the connection to the public online. In the past, we keep in contact by asking for cellphone numbers and emails, which could take some time and hassle to inform news to someone else. With a click of button, a single message can be disseminated instantly 'on the fly' to everyone online who is connected (most people are and most likely your target audience will be online).

Besides from disseminating news and publicity, new media offers free of charge publication of audio and visual content. This is similar to the likes of having a news report or advertisement on the television or radio. Websites like Myspace and YouTube offers free online hosting of your video content. Similarly, generating high a hit count will earn you a featured spot and on the top of the list for viewers' picking. Blogs which are a side variant of websites can include podcasts which are like a radio station that broadcast your audio content (be it news spoken online or interviews of such). This can be useful as well when people are on the go and connected via WiFi and may download your podcast daily to listen to your news on the go.

From the general trend we can see, online it is all about generating publicity with the amount of hits (which means clicks on your content). By successfully doing so, even more people will visit your content and more publicity is generated. However, PR practitioners must be extremely cautious and careful not to produce two-way asymmetrical content which benefits the organisation through manipulative message and propaganda. Such messages are short-lived and public/stakeholders will not support such content for long. A successful usage of new media for PR is to include channels of feedback and response for organisations and PR practitioners to reflect upon and better improve the plan.

PR on the online world can be extremely competitive, while one can be looking to generate more publicity, others will be sure to use similar methods to do so. Hence, at times, it would be advisable to use both means of new and mainstream to have a broad approach to the masses.