Online Public Relations Thoughts

This is an interesting view of how technology may impact the future. The Cisco Systems executive divides the world into information rich and information poor. With low cost computing and networks reaching the poor, they can become players in society and join the information rich. Expect them to make their voices heard in ways they cannot do now. Expect calls for justice and fairness in the sharing of the world's resources. Expect them to join, as the executive says, the world economy and to provide competition for jobs globally.

The pressure of the Third World on society will be hard to ignore, and that 's a good thing. But, it also means publics of tomorrow may be different than today, and PR practitioners should be preparing for them. We should have a better and growing understanding of the economic and political issues of countries we can largely ignore today. We should learn how organizations we represent impact these countries and vice versa. The time will come soon enough when we will put that knowledge to work.