Communication Breakdown

Let's say you have been asked a question; 'What is the purpose of blogging?'

Now let's say you that you take a moment to think about your answer. You bite your lip, furrow your brow and stare into space; meanwhile your brain is working overtime to fashion an answer that would make you sound intelligent and really impress the person who posed the question. Once this process is completed, you take a deep breath and attempt to answer the question without making a fool of yourself.

"The purpose of blogging is..." 

Truth be told, the true purpose of blogging is a subjective one, we each have our own individual reasons or opinions that compel us to blog. The way I see it; blogging is the updated version of a diary. We write our opinions, our thoughts and our experiences down on a blank page and when we are finished, unlike the old diary where we would put the pen down and close the cover, we hit the brightly coloured 'submit' button and in an instant our voice is thrown into cyberspace for anybody and everybody to see. To some, having your voice and opinion out in the open is a way of having a voice, even if it is a small one, in this fast paced world we live. For others, it is purely a form of entertainment and has little or no significance to anyone but the author. No matter our own personal reasons, blogging can be one excellent tool that we can use to our advantage in this technology driven era we find ourselves submerged, and social media is becoming more prominent in our day-to-day lives.

Now I want to take this chance to narrow the question down to a question that I have recently been asked; 'What is the purpose of blogging in PR?'  

As I mentioned before, we live in a technology driven world where social media is becoming a much more prominent and important part of our lives. We find ourselves relying on this form of technology as a communication device and a way to keep in contact or keep up to date with the lives of our friends and the happenings of the world. In fact, for some our dependance on these social networking websites have become so high that we would be lost without them. 

Think about this; Can you remember the last time you checked your facebook page? 

Let me take a guess; five minutes ago? An hour? Two hours? It couldn't be too much more than twenty four hours, because if it were you would probably be feeling out of touch or disconnected with the rest of your friends and family. This is because humans thrive on communication! Without it, we are lost.

Which brings me back to the question at hand, the purpose of blogging in PR. Just like humans, Public Relations is an industry that thrives around communication, and just like you and I, it must keep up with the times in order to be at the top of its game. The creation of social media has opened up a window of opportunity for PR professionals to get out there and interact with the rest of the world. Blogging is a key factor in this communication because it is an ideal way to get an idea or opinion across to the masses. However, unlike a standard PR press release, blogging allows feedback that opens the door to two-way communication between big business/clients and the general public. This is a huge advantage to the industry because it allows feedback, networking and a way to get yourself (or a client) known faster and a lot more affordable (even free) than traditional PR methods. 

As more and more people are going online to communicate with family and friends, or even use it just to catch up with the day-to-day news, social media will continue to become a much more prominent component of the PR industry. Blogging is merely a small factor in this very big form of communication, but it doesn't mean that it is not an important one!