Social Media vs. Public Relations: The new peanut butter and chocolate?

It’s an ongoing debate, and for some people, quite an intense one. Do social media have a place in the world of public relations?

Well, I’m no expert. The extent of my social media savvy –ness is limited to inappropriate gossip blogs and a near obsessive compulsive need to constantly check on my Facebook account. I mean, sure, at this point I have been obligated to branch out a little, using tools such as Del.icio.us and Google Reader to scan blogs. And yes—it has happened—that I may have taken part in a discussion or two about a new product being launched by some nameless, strategically marketed corporation. But in all honestly, my heart wasn’t in it. And every time I set my Google Reader to follow a new blog, I felt as though this snazzy little social media tool knew that there was no chemistry between us.

So how do I—a social media prude—tackle such a hefty debate? Easy, I steal other people’s thoughts and form a definitive opinion on a matter I will likely never ponder ever again. Let’s begin, shall we?

In a story posted on the Blog Herald, Chris Clarke tackles the issues of social media and PR theorizing that PR people simply haven’t caught the bug yet. Taking into account that the article is almost two years old, I still agree with Chris. He writes, “PR practitioners don’t have time to learn new things. This is probably true of every industry: you’re so busy trying to catch up on yesterday’s work that you can’t even begin to think about what tomorrow will bring. It’s no different for PR, as we’re talking about an industry that hasn’t changed a whole lot historically.” Despite his claim that the PR industry is slow to catch, Chris is still hopeful that it will. His story is rich with the ideal that social media and PR need to merge.

If you think about what we do as PR people, it does make sense. Social media is all about targeting audiences, promoting messages, creating communities and getting people talking, why wouldn’t PR people get hooked like it was phonics? In a newsletter developed by Vocus White Paper, a list of statistics made the issue pretty black and white. In addition to many other facts, the newsletter stated that, “More than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use social networking sites; 92% of consumers cite word of mouth as the best source of information on new product ideas; consumer trust in advertising has decreased 41% over the past three years.”

If you ask me, this whole debate is like watching the first season of FRIENDS: you know Ross and Rachel belong together, but for some reason, they just can’t make it work.

And like audiences around the world in 1994, we ask, WHY?

Tom Smith—I know that sounds fake, but trust me, he’s real—posted an article called, Why Big Brands Struggle and answers that very question. Tom seems to think there are six main reasons why PR people haven’t made a commitment to social media: “Social media is often viewed as just another marketing tool, it does not fit into current structures, communities and content are global, social media needs a long term approach, no guaranteed results, the metrics are new.”

Tom’s kind of a buzz kill, but at least he keeps it real. Among other reasons, social media still does not have a specific place in the industry, therefore, no one is really sure whose job it is to develop and many firms just do not have the capacity to handle the international spectrum social media can produce.

So, now we ask ourselves again: Do social media have a place in the world of PR? Are they the new peanut butter and chocolate? The new Ross and Rachel?

I’ll cheat and say kind of. But I mean it. The truth is social media can do a lot for us as PR practitioners, and both worlds have complimentary qualities that can only serve to enhance the needs of its peer. But like that cute guy at the bar who looked like George Clooney from afar, when you get bit a closer and really take a look, there are too many flaws to really make it work.