Interactive Public Relations

Chapter 1PR 475Brett Atwood

(Don’t) Believe the Hype

The online media and marketing sector has a brief (but shady) history Rise in the ’90s Crash of 2001 Web 2.0 post -2002

Rise in the ’90s

When the Internet emerged into the mainstream, there were a lot of promises – many of which were broken

Rise in the ’90s

Lots of high-profile dot-com businesses and instant millionaires “Get rich quick! Go

public with an IPO! Never mind the business model”

Rise in the ’90s

Traditional media companies invested heavily in the Internet space Example:

AOL acquires Time-Warner

Rise in the ’90s

Many “cutting edge” technologies use the Internet with a lot of “hype” Some genuine

success stories Amazon.com eBay Google Yahoo!

Failures

But there were also technologies that failed

Crash of 2001

In the rush to get rich many businesses went bankrupt and investors got burned

Consumers were subject to skepticism over the over-promoted “hype” on the Internet

Welcome to Web 2.0

Web 2.0

As the Internet continues to grow in popularity, a new generation of more stable businesses and technologies are emerging online and on mobile devices

Web 2.0

Web serves as a platform for other technologies to interoperate withMobile devicesHome entertainment devicesAppliances

Web 2.0

Architecture of participationUser-generated content

Blogs Wikis

Social networking sites

Web 2.0

All of which enable a new ecosystem for online public relations campaigns

Web 2.0

The definition of “Web 2.0” extends to several other areas

The term is subject to “hype” and remains in debate and in flux

Web 2.0

Content power shift to the masses rather than the “mass media”

Mass media is “de-massed”

User-Generated Content

These sites build content from the submission of users, rather than staff editors or writers “Blogs”/Personal Journals Photos Podcasts Video sharing (“Vlogs”) Reviews/Advice Forums

Content Management Systems

Publishing information online has become easier due to several self-publishing tools and content management systems

Publishing Tools: Blogs

Popular Blog Tools Blogger.com LiveJournal WordPress

Publishing Tools: Wikis

The “wiki” concept of user-created content extends beyond news Wikipedia.org Wikitionary.org Wikibooks.org Wikisource.org

In-Class Activity

Register with Wikipedia.org Add to an existing entry Create a new entry for a product, service

or organization

Homework

Get the books! Read Chapter 1 “Public Relations Online” Come up with three potential clients for your

online campaign Be prepared to discuss and defend your choices How would an online campaign benefit your client? We will decide in class on Wed. your semester client