Thursday, October 19, 2006
Accidental PR
Google has mastered accidental PR, which also is purely intentional. By this, I mean that it provides for open use of its online tools that leads to happy discoveries and closer relationships with the company. Here is a wonderful example of how Google Earth is being applied in archaeology. Google may not have been thinking of this when it developed Google Earth but on the other hand, the firm knew that by placing space photography online, good things would happen.
There is a degree of romanticism in this approach. It trusts that humans will figure things out for themselves and their own interests. So far, that has happened. What it neglects, however, is that self-interest can sometimes be evil as well. When practicing PR in this way, one should be aware of the negatives and make sure positives outweigh them. Even so, one particularly ill use of a tool can cost a company its reputation or the use of the tool for everyone.
There is a degree of romanticism in this approach. It trusts that humans will figure things out for themselves and their own interests. So far, that has happened. What it neglects, however, is that self-interest can sometimes be evil as well. When practicing PR in this way, one should be aware of the negatives and make sure positives outweigh them. Even so, one particularly ill use of a tool can cost a company its reputation or the use of the tool for everyone.
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