Upon reading and reviewing others’ opinions on the future of public relations, mine has changed a bit. My thoughts have changed from thinking everything will be online to, quite honestly, not having any idea. Let me explain myself.

I still think it is a very real possibility that public relations will become exclusively online and more independent, but others have made me look at the future of public relations from different view points.

For example, John Paluszek’s, Senior Counsel, Ketchum, and APR, Fellow PRSA, blog entry made me see things in a different light. Instead of trying to figure out what the public relations field would become, I realized that we relate to what happens in the world. Just like any relationship, you have to react to what the other party does; you can’t expect to have a good relationship if you dictate everything that happens.

In Paluszek’s entry, which also appeared in the fall 2007 issue of The Public Relations Strategist, he suggests that the field of public relations is changed and developed by the circumstances around it, or in the world. He references World War II and how affected people and the field of public relations.

He says that we, as public relations practitioners, must evolve and grow to keep good relations in our changing society.

The most compelling part of his entry is at the end, when he says the following:

“So the related questions for every PR practitioner and educator are as follows: How will you and your organization or institution fit into this kind of world? How will you prosper in this social environment? And what can the PR canon and portfolio, as they continue to evolve, contribute to a better society?

“No one can answer these for you.

“But the answers will be apparent for each of us who is as creative, bold and dedicated as those who preceded us in public relations 60 years ago.”

It is definitely interesting to think about where public relations will be in 60 years; but I think that it is impossible to predict t, just as it was impossible to predict where we are today to those who pioneered the field many years ago.

Paluszek’s blog can be viewed at http://www.ketchum.com/node/1094.

Richard Edelman also had some interesting pointers in his November 2005 entry on the future of public relations.

He outlined where the field was today, 2005 at the time of his entry, by presenting several astonishing facts, which I’m sure are even more astonishing today in 2008.

For example, he says, “An estimated 24 million homes in the US now have access to video on demand.”

After presenting several facts like this, he gives the following three main suggestions for the next year (2006) that can be applied to the field for several years to come: 1. Retrain our work force. 2. Recognize the influence and credibility of blogs. 3. Experiment.

I agree that all these suggestions are important to public relations. We must keep our work force high to promote competition, experience and opportunity; we must recognize the growing realm of blogging to keep up with the developing world; and we must experiment to come up with new, effective ways of mass communication so we can help the world’ communication methods develop ourselves.

Edelman’s blog can be viewed at http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2005/11/is_public_relat.html.

The varying opinions on how public relations will change and what we need to do make it happen are good to hear and can be a great learning experience to study, but the fact of the matter is, we must adapt to, and we will be greatly affected by the world around us.

With all of this said, I honestly don’t have any idea what the field of public relations will develop into, but I can’t wait to find out and enjoy the ride.