What is Public Media

Public Media is the combination of two vital resources all companies have to utilize to be competitive in their market: Public Relations and Social Media. Traditional PR has been a staple of any successful company for years, but social media is the relative "new kid on the block". These two working in unison is the best way to reach publics.

Oxford, the word experts, deemed "unfriend" the word of the year in 2009. If this isn’t a sign of the extreme rise of social media, then I don’t know what is. It is an amazing tool to build relationships with people all over the world. Building relationships is at the core of any PR professional's skill set. However, some practitioners don’t fully understand how to use social media effectively to build relationships.

Almost every PR pro has a Facebook profile, Twitter handle, and LinkedIn profile. These are all great, but simply having them does not ensure you will reach, and more importantly, affect people. Social media is all about involvement, so you have to get involved.

This means taking steps to connect to people, not profiles. Sending direct messages via Facebook or Twitter is a great way to connect a profile with a person. Whenever you "friend" someone on any of these social media sites, send a personalized message and introduce yourself. This further reinforces the personal touches that are essential to relationship building.

Unfortunately, all of these social networking devices have given people the ability to interact on a surface level. It doesn’t illicit real human interaction. Public Relations professionals have to add the human element. This is now the best way to reach publics in the personalized manner they want.