Old Habits Still Die Hard (At Least in the Media World)

Guest post by Danny Brown (@PressreleasePR)

If there’s one thing you can guarantee about working in an industry like PR, it’s that you will come in for numerous potshots from various sides – frequently, too. From bloggers to journalists, advertisers to marketers, even Joe Public – it seems that PR is either a valid or easy target (depending on what view you subscribe to).

Yet we’re just as bad at times. I’ve seen plenty of PR firms and professionals lay into bloggers, other media industries and print publications, often without provocation. And if I had a nickel for the amount of times I’ve bore witness to really bad PR practices, I’d have to walk lop-sided with all the change in my pocket.

Why? Why do we do this to ourselves, to others, and continue along the same path? Have we really learned so little over the last few years about co-operation overcoming adversity, or are we just choosing not to work together?

It doesn’t need to be this way, either.

As social media continues to grow in value and use to professionals and companies, so do the chances to mend these broken bridges of ours and work towards more common goals. Tools like Twitter and Friendfeed are opening portals to conversations like never before – we should use them.

In fact, Sarah herself has started an innovative way for journalists, PR people, editors and more to communicate with each other effectively. Using Twitter, JournChat continues to grow and bring together the very people that normally oppose each other. This has led to more understanding of what makes each industry tick and how we can help each other appreciate what we all do just that little bit more.

But why stop there? Imagine if we took this simple idea into other industries and applied the same “How can we help you?” logic:

• Real estate agents and mortgage lenders could open up more accessible dialogue with homebuyers and prospective landlords

• Law firms, security agencies and police departments could break down the one-upmanship that often aids criminals as opposed to preventing crime

• Councilors, public transport boards and commuters could work together to improve city transport issues

These are just some of the ways that social media and projects like JournChat can help improve business practice. It doesn’t cost money, it involves the core people and it just makes sense.

How about we start building some bridges together?

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Danny Brown is the owner of Press Release PR, a boutique agency specializing in search engine optimized press releases and social media PR. He is also the founder of the 12for12K Challenge, an ambitious social media charity project for 2009. He is a blog partner of the WebProNews and iEntry business networks and offers social media consultancy services for individuals and businesses. His social media PR blog has garnered praise for its involvement of the online community and includes the popular “Discussing Social Media with…” interviews.