PR doesn’t own social media; it belongs to every department

I believe that practitioners are often so self-absorbed and so accustomed to operating in silos that they have trouble stepping back and taking the long view.

The reality is that no one department within an organization owns social. Or at least that’s the way I think it should be. Social should permeate the entire organization and be a part of the culture, no matter the size of the business. Social is reality. Your customers are there, your prospects are there, your competitors are there, your employees are there, your future employees are there, your kids are there, your parents are there, your grandmother is there.

I read the PR Daily story on this topic (“6 reasons PR pros should manage social media“) from a well-intentioned PR professional laying out all the reasons that public relations should “own” social. It was further evidence that she, like so many others, isn’t seeing the forest for the trees.