Email: No Longer King (Queen)?

I’m curious. How many of you still email? How many of you

follow journalists on Twitter? How do you determine the importance of your

emails? And how many of you actually use the landline in your office? Do you

even have a landline in your office?

            Asking

these questions makes me feel old, but the topic seems to be a popular one that

is changing by the day. Sometimes when I feel a little ancient I’ll ask my kids

how they’re communicating. Of course I need to be careful; they’re both a

little suspicious of my intentions, plus I really hate looking stupid in their

eyes, but that’s another issue . . .

            Earlier

today, I was reading about the way social media has become an important PR

piece for Hollywood. What’s interesting to me is how some people there are trying

to be so careful in the way they promote themselves. Are they kidding me? This

is what they’ve been doing for years. I know many are worried about—and incur

big legal fees over—fake Twitter accounts (and Facebook for that matter). I

guess that is something to be concerned about, but worrying about

self-promotion?           

            I

don’t think the medium will ever define one’s promotional proclivities. To me,

it’s still about attitude. You can speak before a group, Twitter your

140-characters to your gazillion followers, and have more Facebook friends than

you could ever imagine. Yet if what you’re telling people isn’t useful or you

come off as not quite the gracious celebrity you are then, as Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody remarked

to The Daily Beast, you might be violating the “spirit of Twitter” and all

other social media sites.

            But

let’s be honest here: most people are marrying publicity with social media not

because they’re actually interacting but because they want attention. It always

makes me laugh when people in the spotlight try to redefine what is so obvious

to everyone else. Publicity is what it is and through the ages we have

witnessed many different methods to our madness. Social media is just one

example. Is it changing our lives? Of course. Is it all good? No. Are we

obligated as publicists to understand all of this? I think so. Does that mean

we stop using the phone and having real conversations with people? Never.