July 24, 2006

Public Relations Reaches the Blogosphere

The New York Sun takes a look at the work that Edelman Public Relations is doing in the blogosphere.

Known as "emerging media," blogs began as diary entries by individuals to be read, and replied to, solely by friends. Because they are posted on the Web, though, they have the potential to reach anyone with a computer around the world if the ideas, photographs, or artwork are considered captivating, controversial, or somehow of value. Some now have enormous audiences, in the hundreds of thousands.

"Companies must learn how to manage this," Mr. Edelman said. "The reality is that companies face the problem of having employees with blogs who are griping about internal matters concerning their employer. Companies now have consumers with blogs who are annoyed and complaining about products or corporate behavior on the Web to hundreds or thousands of other consumers. Still others have blogs by NGOs that are complaining about offshore labor practices or environmental problems caused by a company's operations or products," he said.

Blog management has become a logical extension of public relations and advertising strategizing, he said.