PR Resources on the Internet

In recent years there has been an increased trend in the communications industry to become more professional.  With this professionalism movement the internet has become an increasingly important resource tool, playing a prominent role in strategic PR. 

The internet is being used as an evaluation and research tool which presents many challenges for practitioners.  Users must determine the quality of information received from the internet because PR relies on valid and reliable information. 

Literature suggests that the speed and ease of using the internet has caused practitioners to forget the importance of the information’s credibility.  Practitioners need to slow down and look for timeliness of the information, credibility of the source, the author’s motive and the owners of the information. 

Issues surrounding credibility have created a ripple through industries.  This ripple has caused entrepreneurs and software designers to develop programs to screen for credibility.  The credibility screening software will work in affiliation with search engines and is anticipated to hit shelves within the next two years.   

The internet is and will remain an excellent resource for PR practitioners because it opens up new communications channels for PR, recently, podcasts, blogs, and Second Life.  It is crucial for PR to be there, while keeping credibility of information as a top priority. 

Through my research I found several interesting and informative sources.  Here are my favorites.. Check them out!!

Jess D.

1. Online Public Relations    http://www.online-pr.com/

This website links PR practitioners to hundreds of other websites including PR books, interviews, essays, statistics and much more. 

2. The New PR/Wiki   http://www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php

This is an online repository of relevant information about the PR practice is changing.  This site is addictive because of all the information available. 

3. Gaschen, D.  (2001). Websites you Need to Know About.  Public Relations Tactics, 8(5), 21.  Retrieved October 3, 2006, from ABI/Inform Global database. 

If you can get your hands on this article it is quite valuable because the author conducted a survey of PR practitioners and results show the best websites for PR practitioners use.