It seems that us PR people are taking to Twitter like ducks to water. I don't have a number but I'd assume there are potentially tens of thousands of us around the world using Twitter for client initiatives and to build relationships with our peers and journalists. Back in November 2008 (long time in internet months) I actually carried out a little research to see which UK PR people are using Twitter. The response was positive and it was then developed into a wiki. Side note: you should add your Twitter profile to it if you're not already on.

That said, even the wiki isn't a full representation of all the PR people on Twitter so if you're looking to follow more of your peers on the popular micro-blogging platform I have a handy little tip for you which I found on the blog, Mr Google Alerts.

Searching on Google is easy and we all know how to do it. However, with Google search you can also perform comprehensive and detailed search queries making your search very specific. In this case we can tell Google we want to find all the people on Twitter who work in PR and are based in London. To do this we write this in the search box: intext:"bio * pr" intext:"location * london" site:twitter.com

And there you have it. Take a look for yourself. There is a caveat however - the search results will only bring up the people who have specified that they work in PR and are based in London in the 'bio' and 'location' section of their Twitter profile. It's a good first start though and the formula is not restricted to just this. For example, you can also find journalists based in London or Manchester. Or you might be working on an initative which involves accountants, in which case you can make the search more generic to find accountants using Twitter.

The best part is you can add the search query to Google Alerts so whenever a new Twitter profile is added you will get an email from Google notifying you of it. 

As part of the day job I run an online PR training course which aims to help PR people understand and navigate the often complex and technical online media world. While some elements of PR will never change - regardless of whether it's done online or off - it is no secret that social media is throwing up a number of challenges for the PR traditionalists. Last week I delivered a course in Lithuania and afterwards one of the delegates commented that I use a high proportion of case studies where a company's reputation was impacted negatively. At first I disagreed with her notion but having given it some thought I concluded that, yes, perhaps despite my vested interest in online PR I do focus heavily on the negative.
 
Reason why? Subconsciously I think I do it primarily to deter fellow PR people from making similar mistakes from what I highlight in the training. Some of the traditional PR approaches don't apply to the online world and the best way to illustrate this is by showing real life PR gaffs as case studies. From this I hope that people understand that the result of what they do online is archived and cached forever. It can't be deleted, hidden or covered up.
 
The hugely popular technology start-up blog, TechCrunch, this week carried a blog post about a PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) social media seminar which aims to look at how to engage bloggers effectively and ethically. Part of the seminar will discuss how a New York based publicist allegedly screwed up by sending unsolicited press releases to a group of bloggers who attended a trade show. A discussion on the issue can be found on TechCrunch's blog post and on the PRSA Colorado blog which also includes commentary by the alledged publicist.
 
Make your own mind up about the situation. This blog post isn't about pointing fingers and saying who is right or wrong but aims to highlight that, since the advent of social media, we are all potentially unwilling case studies. Not sure about you but I don't fancy seeing my picture on a Powerpoint slide on how not to do PR.

It’s safe to say that we the people are increasingly becoming used to engaging in discussions and debate online. One only has to consider the number of Facebook wall discussions, blog comments, Twitter tweets and the often downright abusive comments on YouTube that take place each day across the web.  Media is becoming socialised and as social animals ourselves we are embracing this phenomenon relatively easily.

Mainstream news publications are increasingly getting in on the act too. The Guardian, Sky News, Telegraph and Times all allow their readers to engage in conversation around news articles, often generating heated debates around certain topics from sport to politics. From a personal point-of-view I often find the discussion taking place in the comment section more interesting and informative than the article itself.

Readers enjoy giving their opinion and a different perspective to that of the article; often criticising the journalist on the basis of their stories. Do journalists ever engage in the comment section of their own articles, especially when readers question the journalist’s professional integrity? As someone who reads 95% of news content online I have yet to see this happen.

Of course one might argue that journalists are too time-strapped to be engaging in two-way discussion with readers. My belief, however, is that readers will increasingly expect participation from the journalist. Bloggers do so why not journalists?

If media online is becoming more socialised then should journalists become a little more socialised online also? To retain credibility they may need to.

Hello and welcome to the first post of my PR Week blog. Why the 'iOnline' name you might ask? Well it's supposed to illustrate what the blog is about. Me keeping an eye online and reporting interesting events, new online tools, PR screw-ups/successes and anything else that I think you might like. Besides, all the good names were taken.

There is no set agenda here and the content will vary from post to post. I'll try not to go on and on about how online is fundamentally changing the PR industry forever because, quite frankly, I've done enough of that on my personal blog and this latest move by PR Week only adds to the notion that the we are going through a period of communication change. Some say revolutionary where others argue evolutionary; either way it's a change no less.

So bear with me while I discover my PR Week blogging voice and I promise you some good online insights. In the next couple of months I'll be heading out to a number of emerging markets on a project involving the online media in those particular countries so expect some reportage while I'm on the road.

So grab the RSS feed and stay tuned.