Building on communication, there is more to the PR field.

I came across this image when browsing Steven Hodson's blog. In the blog, Hodson bashes the social media movement in PR claiming that people within the broad communications field are saying they are social media specialists when in reality they don't even know what it means.

Hodson says in his blog:

Then we have this intangible concept called social media that has been around for less time than Britney has spent in rehab for crying out loud and yet we have people proclaiming to be experts in the field. What field? We still have people who have been at the forefront of this whole movement who can’t agree on a solid definition of what social media is; or what it is suppose to do. All we have had for the last three or four years (at the most) is nothing more than buzzwords being passed between a very small group of people.

While, I respect Hodson's opinion, I am going to have to disagree with him. One of the major perks of social media is the fact that it can be used by anyone. Yes maybe it is not right for people to go around claiming to be specialists, but I think that one of the reasons that social media is makes such a large impact is because so many people can use it. In today's world, most people are in social networks or involved in blogs, and that right there is why it is such a valuable tool. So is it really that bad that people are all claiming to be a social media specialists? It just means that a lot of people understand the Internet, its applications and how to use them.

Hodson goes on to say:

Social media is just another bullshit term created in the wave of Web 2.0 for something we have been doing for a very long time - communicating; but then I guess calling oneself a social media specialist sounds newer and cooler than what existed before - communication specialists.

Of course being with public relations, your main goal is to communicate messages and communication is a key element, but isn't social media another tool to use. Honestly, the more I read Hodson's blog, the more I felt as though he didn't understand the industry or the direction it is heading. With technology thriving, it is vital for PR practitioners to learn the new tools before they are left behind in the past. While it may be questionable what PR practitioners motives are and many times unsure if they just want to be "cool", I do not think that very many people are changing their titles to seem more "cool". In fact, I think that it is not a fact of changing a title, I think that communication is still a very important foundation to the industry, but it is a industry that is highly effected by change and technology; therefore, titles are going to change and new sectors are going to open. So, it is not leaving communication in the past, it is about building on communication and finding and learning about new tools that will help PR professionals communicate better.

Read more about the changing industry by visiting Jeremiah Owyang's blog for his predictions for the field.