A clean slate

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:49:33 +0000

Some of you may remember a different blog, Relações Públicas.

Written in Portuguese, It is still the blog that ranks second for google searches on the portuguese translation of Public Relations. Positioned as the best place for dialogue on PR, it stands as the result of three years of work.

It reached 550 RSS Subscribers and an average near 5000 visits per month and I believe that in time it would continue to grow. But times change and I began to regret the language barrier for a number of reasons.

So I decided to take on a new domain name, and start over. With a new blog, a new strategy and new challenges. Aggregating the dialogue being one of those challenges. (Hopefully, as soon as I have the time, you will see a good mix of blogging and microblogging.)

At the same time, I could not simply leave the first website un-attended. With a great google rank also comes great responsibility. That means that the pulse for Relações Públicas will still beat, just at a slower pace.

As for this new place of dialogue, I will try to focus on research and insights on Public Relations that applies to the discipline and not simply to a new platform for online communication.

Stick around, it will be interesting.

Browserd

Looking back to see what’s ahead

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:21:36 +0000

If you follow this blog or simply look at the archives, you will notice posting speed is down. And no, it is not simply because of my thesis or any other activity. I simply have not found a good topic to write about.

And recently it hit me why…

I still keep an eye on twitter and in a bunch of other portuguese blogs about public relations. Recently I compiled a list of a few portuguese blogs I read and Armando Alves was even surprised to find out he fits in that category.

Also, while celebrating their one year of blogging, PiaR wrote an interesting analysis regarding Public Relations Agencies in Portugal. My take on the post is that we are lacking a good amount of discussion. And if before we used to get good insight and dialog thanks to the newspapers who cover PR and Marketing in Portugal, that is no longer the case.

And as for blogs, agencies were quick to jump on but haven’t been able to catch on. What I mean is that blogs by PR professionals are being misused. What should be about listening and engaging in dialogue is proving not to be more than broadcasting and selling. I am not sure if anyone is buying…

Some agencies re-write press releases into blog posts, others focus on commenting the sector in an attempt to set their own agenda. And a few others are sticking to the formula that worked even though it does not work anymore. All is not lost, but I fear that less than a handful of authors are listening in and trying to engage in a conversation.

To aggravate the fact that these authors are outnumbered, several “experts” have popped up over the last 12 months. Correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn’t we start out as professionals and only then move on to being “experts”? (Whatever that means)

In the meantime, twitter and facebook are all the rage and the cycle is repeating.It is again more about broadcasting than about creating spaces for debate.

In a nutshell, all this means that this blog needs a new direction and I need a new perspective as to what it should be. One thought on my mind is if I should even continue to write in Portuguese.

All I can say is that this blog will not fade, nor will I move on to the next shiny new thing abandoning it altogether. So please, bear with me for a while.

Digital Insanity Magazine by Bruno Amaral

A clean slate

Looking back to see what’s ahead