Kendall Winstanley, a North Hastings High School student in Bancroft Ontario asks:<\/p>\n
I am a student in grade 12 who is interested in a career in public relations.\u00a0 I am planning on going to Durham College in the fall for PR.\u00a0 Currently, I am doing a report on public relations professionals and how social media is affecting how their job is performed. I read your blog and was hoping that you could give me some more insight into the topic, so I can fully understand it and give the correct information.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
First off, congratulations on choosing PR as your field of choice.\u00a0 You couldn\u2019t have picked a better industry.\u00a0 Not only is it a rewarding and challenging field, there\u2019s data which shows the industry is growing, a nice backup for your decision.\u00a0 Employment of PR professionals is expected to increase 24% from 2008 to 2018, a much higher growth rate than the average occupation according to the\u00a0Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n
With that said, 18% of respondents to a recent\u00a0Digital Readiness Report\u00a0said they have no interest whatsoever in traditional PR.\u00a0 And, for the vast majority of respondents, knowledge of social networks (80%), blogging, podcasting and RSS (87%), and micro-blogging (72%) is either important or very important when it comes to PR and marking hiring.<\/p>\n
Further,\u00a0last year\u2019s PEW survey\u00a0noted more people rely mostly on the internet for news than cite newspapers, and nearly six-in-ten Americans younger than 30 (59%) say they get most of their national and international news online (an identical percentage cites television).<\/p>\n
Taken together it\u2019s clear:\u00a0 much (if not all) of the increasing demand of PR professionals will come from those fluent in digital skills.<\/p>\n
To get to the question:\u00a0\u00a0how is social media changing PR jobs?<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve actually answered this in quite a few posts, such as:<\/p>\n
\n
- 10 Skills All PR Pros Need For 2009 And Beyond<\/li>\n
- Why Use Social Media For Public Relations<\/li>\n
- 3 Steps for Effectively Using Social Media For PR<\/li>\n
- Is Your PR Agency SEO & Social Media Savvy?<\/li>\n
- Matt Cutts Is Representative Of Next Generation PR<\/li>\n
- How To Choose An Online Marketing Or PR Agency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
But I\u2019m just one person, and since many reading this are also active practitioners, I think the community can help Kendall even more.<\/p>\n
So today I\u2019m turning the blog over to readers here as many of you live and breathe PR.\u00a0 If you have an insight to share, leave an answer\u00a0sharing one way you see how social media is changing PR jobs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kendall Winstanley, a North Hastings High School student in Bancroft Ontario asks: I am a student in grade 12 who … <\/p>\n