Social Media in the PR world

The trend of social media is something that I find to be very interesting. One can find many companies on facebook, twitter, as well as LinkedIn. Social media makes everything a lot more accessible in the world and is a great resource for finding valuable information. A lot of times companies have websites that are accessible to the public but they tend to be very formal, where social media sites show more of the personality of the company or organization. For instance, the non-profit organization that I was fortunate enough to get an internship with for the upcoming summer is on facebook. They are the Media Research Center in Washington D.C. and I really like being able to see all the different posts they make. It allows me to keep up on current events with them as well as get a better feel for what they are like. Their facebook can be located at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/mediaresearchcenter. It is amazing to think how far we have come as a society in relation to technology and the fact that we're only progressing even further. While doing some research online I came across the blog of Stephanie Schwab, who works for a digital marketing agency. Her blog http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/five-social-media-trends-for-2011/ predicts the social media trends for 2011. In relation specifically to public relations, social media is an amazing tool for communicating with clients as well as promoting a brand. Some good information about how social media is being used in the public relations field can be found at http://mashable.com/2010/03/16/public-relations-social-media-results/.