Online Public Relations Thoughts

Today is the 40th anniversary of the invention of the internet -- an event that changed communications the world over. Everything we do now is different because of the development of data packets that could travel over any number of routes from computer to computer. It is worth noting that the internet was a Cold War invention -- a way for communications to survive in the event of a nuclear attack. The inventors couldn't have foreseen the growth that would occur and indeed, for the first 25 years of the internet's life, it was confined to universities until the invention of the web protocol that runs on top of it. Take a moment to consider what PR was like before the internet became an essential tool. Think paper -- lots of it -- and inefficiency. PR departments were little better than mailing houses. Public relations is better, faster and less expensive today because of the internet. That is worth remembering.