17 Jan PR Heading Towards Social Media or Another Buzzword?
In doing a little PR for Ignite, I typically use free, basic services like PR.com and PRLeap. For the most part, these are pretty decent for getting a traditional release “out there” easily and affordably. It has also led to Google News inclusion, which has led to boosted SEO of our site.
So today, I was dismayed when I went to PRLeap, submitted my release and then was met with this screen:
As you can see, there is currently no free service anywhere. Believe me, I checked. Then I noticed the following announcement on the website that confirmed my speculations, “As announced on November 26, 2007, PR Leap has discontinued its free service after four and one half years.”
However disappointing this was, I decided to to look more at the pricing to see what exactly the different cost structures included, when I noticed that the first “distribution” listed on this chart was none other than “social media”.
No description. No explanation of what sites are included or where it would be distributed- just social media.
I can’t help but to look at this and think, “Is this just another example of PR trying to head in the area of social media?” or “Is the term “social media” going to be another “added feature” claimed by PR distribution channels and PR agencies?” I can’t help but to think of it as the latter.
So- I’m curious if any of you use PRLeap and use this “social media” feature? If so I’d love to hear your experience with it, and get some insight into the social media it targets.
