PR 2.0 vs. Industry 0.2

It’s as simple as Watzlawick once said: “You can’t stop communicating. Even when you say nothing, that’s a statement.” Over the last few months I’ve seen the debate intensify about how organisations might benefit from Web 2.0 technologies, such as corporate blogging, podcasts and Web TV, and how PR can assist with the communications.

But I feel that many are missing the point. It should be about dialogue. However, often whenever organisations talk about Web 2.0 they talk about the tools and how to use (or even abuse) them. The focus is on the speed and extensiveness of communications. But companies need to address communications strategically rather than from a tools perspective. They need to define their communications objectives, and embrace the opportunity for dialogue that the new tools give them.

However, there are lots of examples out there to illustrate how companies still need to embrace the basic principles of PR. Recently, there was an accident at a nuclear power plant in Germany, and it took more than a week before the operator Vattenfall provided a statement. Even the regional government was quicker to comment on the issue. And even worse, Vattenfall did something we in Germany call “salami tactics”: only when forced by the government, the media and the lawyers, did they acknowledged the inevitable. It seems before we can talk about PR 2.0, the industry standard needs to move from 0.2 to at least 1.0.

Might as well face it, I'm addicted to Facebook...

“How many people have asked to be my friend today? Who’s tagged me in yet another unfortunate photo? How does my cousin always reply to a wall-post in a matter of minutes, no matter what time of day it is?”

Yes, my name’s Emma Cohen and I’m a Facebook addict.

There, I’ve said it. I’m not ashamed…well actually I am a bit…I mean how normal is it for a twenty-something (ok, pushing thirty), sociable London girl with a long-term boyfriend to wait with baited breath every time they log on to a website to see how many new friends they now have?

The answer, hilariously enough, is pretty normal actually.

If the recent stats from Facebook themselves are anything to go by, obsessing about Facebook couldn’t be more normal - apparently the site has grown 523% in the past six months with the average user spending around 143 minutes on there every month. Hmm, that’s funny, I have friends who I’m sure spend more like 143 minutes a day on there.

And it’s not just students anymore – Facebook’s original audience. Its appeal has spread to the masses, from my boyfriend’s eleven year old cousin to my best friend’s sixty year old mum! And yes, they’re both ‘my friends’.

So why is it we can’t get enough of this site? Why do we feel the need to reach out to people from our past who we either actively decided not to stay in touch with, were never really friendly with or didn’t ever even really like in the first place and instead ask them ‘to be our friends’?

It’s simple. Social networking sites like Facebook have captured the imagination of the always-on generation – people constantly looking for better and more immediate ways of communicating with others. With Facebook, you’re not just talking to one person, you’re talking to everyone you choose to call ‘your friend’. Why call everyone you know to let them know you just got engaged? Just update your status on Facebook and boom, the news is out faster than you can type JUST MARRIED. It’s all about community.

Of course the other reason we can’t stop logging on could be an inherent desire for popularity and to have as many – if not more – friend’s than anyone else. This coupled with our relentless need to know other people’s business is quite frankly basic human nature.

So am I addicted? Yes, but try to make me go to rehab, I say no, no, no…