Are PR agencies ruining Facebook?

Last week I picked up on Daniel Stein‘s original article on DigiDay to write  a response on Tempero to the question ‘Are PR Agencies ruining Facebook‘.

My thoughts? Stein was bang on the money that advertising agencies create content and then try to work out  how to socialise it afterwards, while many PRs are boring fans to death with branded small talk.

Why? My belief is that most PRs are so used to talking to 3rd party media (newspapers, magazines, TV producers) who are in charge of creating the final content read by the audience, that PR has forgotten how to talk to directly to consumers*.

Paul Armstrong amplified the debate over on PR Week by re-posting both articles and conversation kicked off.

“To me, this is a rather dim and short-sighted view of what public relations has been doing for decades. The fact remains that at the heart of our jobs, we are storytellers. And good storytellers are able to speak with, empathize and understand a variety of audiences, whether that’s customers, stakeholders, clients or the media.” Keith Trivitt

“This question is a bit like asking if technology-inept parents are ruining Facebook. Think about it: they’re perpetually confused, they clog up our News Feeds with pictures of cats, and are not quite sure why they’re on Facebook besides the fact that someone told them they should be. In short, it’s not that they are particularly bad at communicating, but they’re not using the platform the right way.” Faith Chihil

“I’m going to say no. Some PR agencies have got a bad rap for attempting to jump on the social media bandwagon without understanding the platforms or establishing objectives and a strategy. But some are also doing a spectacular job, having dedicated specific resources to recruiting expertise and leading best practice.”  Beth Carroll

“I wonder if:
Agencies are having to do far more with less. Less visibility to big plans, less money, less time, less resources. Less gusto and passion for their work after one too many knock backs. Or are they doing less because they run an agency more like a factory than a consultancy“. Shannon Boudjema

“Can’t we all just get along? People speak of the media like it’s this great machine that you need to know how to communicate with. The person reading the news is a person, the editor is a person, the journalist is a person. And they are all consumers.” Samson Adepoju **

So, a mix of opinion then. Despite the fact that I think PR does a lot of good work and is too easily attacked for failing it still surprises me when a debate like this crops up how many people are prepared to say the majority of agencies are doing it well when evidence (or lack of) suggests the contrary.

For example I hear PR agencies talk a lot about how they are ‘masters of storytelling’ but the reality is that in many cases that supposed storytelling is just putting the audience to sleep.

Overall I don’t really care if people agree with my opinion or not. The fact so many people are happy to debate the ins and outs of this only serves to drive the industry forward – or keep it in it’s top spot, based on how well you think PR is performing in Social Media

*PS Just because I think it’s broken doesn’t mean I think it can’t be fixed. Often with only the smallest amount of education.

** This was the most confusing response to me. Samson – you’re a PR Manager. If there’s no skill in communications is there no such thing as a communications professional then? i.e. Anyone can hold the PR role?

[Image credit: markhillary]