Social media is constantly changing. Well that’s what we all thought with the migration of MySpace to Facebook but what if the online tools we’re using today could actually develop at the same pace as our attention span?

Maybe it’s me, but it feels like Flickr, Digg and Twitter have been around for so long, I can’t remember life before them!

On the anniversary of the launch of Facebook Platform, the company has announced on its blog a whole host of improvements coming soon. Many of you will have noticed the change in profile layout, something that I think is a massive improvement allowing me to find the most recent information quickly. More importantly, I’m no longer being distracted by all those apps I added a year a go.

The most interesting part of the post for me is the upcoming Facebook Connect:

“Facebook Connect is a new way to use applications, on the open web and not just on Facebook. Soon, you’ll be able to use your Facebook account to login and connect on websites throughout the web. Imagine never filling out another profile at a new site, or having to find your friends all over again. Facebook Connect will help make this a reality and allow you to use Facebook to share information from all over the web with your friends.”

So that’s my personal information following me around wherever I go on the web. Is it ok for me to be intrigued and scared at the same time?

I’ll be fascinated to see which sites sign up for this and what benefits there are for web developers in the short term. For advertising I can see huge benefits in terms of personalisation.

Flash forward to a point when facial recognition becomes common place in CCTV cameras and that personal data is not only following me around the web but down the street.

Now exactly when should I start to regret putting all that personal information about myself on Facebook? Perhaps when I have billboards shouting out at me?

Once it’s up there, it’s not just going to disappear, even if you ‘delete’ your profile. We’ve put into action a chain of events where information is the currency of the technology age. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

WPP’s chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell has told everyone in PR that we’re fine. We’re firing on all cylinders. He can’t recall a time when PR has been so strong. Why? We’re recession-proof. We’re annoying the advertising industry. As one over-muscled cartoon character once proclaimed: WE HAVE THE POWER…of editorial publicity.

“Something has changed and the reason for the change is online activity, where personal recommendation and personal communication have become more important. And it’s clearly editorial and it’s clearly not advertising based.”

 We’re good aren’t we? Let’s all go to the pub to celebrate. I’ll get my coat.

Sorry? What was that AdAge? A survey of attendees to your Digital Marketing Conference you say? And they said what??

Where should social media lie? Audience poll: 53% in marketing, 5% say in PR, 9% say customer service and 33% say some new division.

But this was just marketeers right? We’re still great…aren’t we?

Well no. Judging by the comments on Adrants, if PR isn’t playing second fiddle to ‘marketing’, it’s picking up bronze behind a ‘new division’ which is yet to emerge.

How did we fall so far behind? Social media is all about communication as is Public Relations. It was ours for the taking but somehow we’ve let it slip through our fingers. Were we all out to lunch, sipping champagne and smoozing? I doubt it. Maybe we’re too afraid of technology. All that typing could break a nail!

Seriously, I’m worried by the number of PRs who don’t just understand this area but who are too afraid to even experiment. I’m not suggesting they should take a multi-million pound client, stick the CEO in front of a camera, hit record and see the response on YouTube. I mean writing (or commenting on) a blog, listening to podcast, watching a webchat. Even a little twittering wouldn’t go amiss. It seems the furthest most PRs have strayed into social media is with a Facebook profile. It’s a start right?

Based on the the social media conferences we attend with speakers from a variety of backgrounds (bloggers, financial institutes and yes PR agencies), it seems there is a theme running throughout which is that PR (agencies and in-house) should be doing…something. We’re not going to tell you what it is but we will point you in the direction of the web and watch you worry. We can’t give too much away because we want to maintain that competitive edge. But we don’t mind throwing stats at you and watching you have a panic attack safe in the knowledge that you should be doing…something.

So who’s role is it to take ownership of this area? Who in PR is going to help educate the industry? The industry bodies clearly need to step in and provide the much needed training. Actually telling PRs how to do it. Seminars such as the CIPR one hosted by Rob Brown, soon to be MD of Staniforth (Full discolsure: I work for the agency) at Manchester University. Social Media is the future of PR but I’m concerned after looking at the CIPR list of upcoming events for 2008. Just five events based around social media planned for the rest of this year. Is that really enough for PR to take ownership?