Spinning the Web

Posted by Bill on Jul 6, 2009 in MeshBlog | 0 comments

The New York Times looks at the new way of media relations in the Silicon Valley:

This is the new world of promoting start-ups in Silicon Valley, where the lines between journalists and everyone else are blurring and the number of followers a pundit has on Twitter is sometimes viewed as more important than old metrics like the circulation of a newspaper.

Gone are the days when snaring attention for start-ups in the Valley meant mentions in print and on television, or even spotlights on technology Web sites and blogs. Now P.R. gurus court influential voices on the social Web to endorse new companies, Web sites or gadgets — a transformation that analysts and practitioners say is likely to permanently change the role of P.R. in the business world, and particularly in Silicon Valley.

The trend won’t be limited to the Silicon Valley, or to tech-related products and services. A media relations strategy which doesn’t include a significant social media component is a strategy that is ignoring a sizable and growing portion of the population.