PR 2.0: where the internet and public relations converge

Innovative Web 2.0 applications and increased bandwidth have empowered the masses. Users are now able to congregate and share ideas and content online. As Deirdre Breakenridge explains in PR 2.0 A Communicator’s Manifesto, PR 2.0 puts the public back in public relations with the help of two-way communication.

But first a basic equation in Web 2.0: users + sharing content + credibility = mass awareness.




Agent of change and best selling author, Seth Godin believes there is a digital divide, which has placed people in one of two categories, the haves and the have nots. Or as Godin outlines in The New Digital, the digerati and the left behind. While the digerati are reading boing boing, the left behinds are still watching the Tonight Show.

Brian Solis of FutureWorks and co-author of Putting the Public back in Public Relations discusses the idea of web content being fully democratized in the video below. Solis believes that users, or the digerati, are the information and concept curators of the web, sharing the content with others who may be interested.

Watch Brain Solis’ full interview:




These curators or users develop online credibility through Tara Hunt’s concept of social capital. Hunt explains that social capital is the currency of the digital world in her book The Whuffie Factor. The book outlines how businesses can use social media to develop and maintain a strong customer base.

Web 2.0 has allowed those who have embraced it, the digerati to become online information curators, sharing content with their followers. Curators with a larger following have stronger social capital.

Here are a couple of examples of how broadband connectivity, or Web 2.0 has put the public back in public relations.

At a recent Third Tuesday event during the Q and A, Mitch Joel answered a question about online damage control. Joel uses a great example of how two-way communication can help a company improve its PR. When Bob Lutz was attacked online about GM’s environmental impact, it was members of his supportive online community that stepped in to defend him.

Watch Mitch Joel’s full answer:



The second example is the infamous twitpic of the napping transit worker. The photo went viral in a matter of hours and was covered widely in the media. This picture and the media backlash have forced the TTC to start a two-way conversation with its consumers.

These are not isolated incidences. United Breaks Guitar is another great example of how powerful the Web 2.0 platform can be.



Web 2.0 has given users a platform to congregate, share content and be heard. As Breakenridge explains PR 2.0 is the true convergence of PR and the Internet. The Web 2.0 platform has also shifted PR’s perspective or focus to the consumers who now have a strong voice. Technology now allows companies to speak directly to consumers, and allows the consumers to participate in two-way communication.