The world we live in changes fast; even faster than it used to before technology kicked in and led to the development of the Ubiquitous Computing – “a powerful shift in computation, where people live, work, and play in a seamlessly interweaving computing environment”. In such a world, it appears that we don’t need certain industries that were once extremely useful, one of them being PR.

In his article Technology, self-promotion and the death of public relations, social media strategist Shane Paul Neil argues that PR is as good as dead and if you are still clinging to it, you are just refusing to let go of something obviously useless.

So how did a world leading industry which offered a service required by almost every company and organisation came to this state?

The answer is simple.  With the development of technology, the ways we use information change and it appears that PR is not able to keep up. In the years when people used newspapers instead of smartphones and television instead of the Internet, PR was powerful because it controlled the media, hence it controlled (or “owned”) the information. We knew what we read in the press or saw on the screens and there was no way to get extra information or check the truthfulness of the one we got. It’s as simple as that.

Now, however, the way information works is completely different. Instead of receiving information from one or two key sources, we can now access the web and Internet – everything we need to maintain a new level of awareness. Information is no longer disseminated by a single medium “owning” it – instead, it is diffused through the various aspects of the web: e-mail, social media, blogs, platforms, messengers etc.

The change, however, is two-sided. It is true that we no longer need the intermediary, but this is not only because we can get the information anywhere. It is that we ourselves have turned into PR specialists. As Shane Paul Neil notices, most of us nowadays lead a life strongly related to likes and shares, votes, retweets and endorsements. We have learnt how to present ourselves in a personable way and to win the expressions of respect, admiration and recognition. Moreover, we are active participants in the diffusion of information – with every comment, opinion, status or blog post, we add our point of view to the matter, thus enriching the Web prism through which information moves to reach more and more people.

Shane Paul Neil says that PR is no more. It only exists where NFPs or organisations still exist in the previous century, too attached to a practice that was once a powerful way to gain publicity.

If you have been using or considering PR for your Not-for-Profit organisation, it might be wise to think about building your online presence instead, and learning to do your PR yourself – because that’s how information works now and will in the future!

PR is dead.  Long live self-promotion.

What is your opinion on the matter of PR?