During the last few years, social media has stolen some of the thunder of traditional public relations in the eyes of businesses of all sizes. Even prior to the explosive use of the Internet, small businesses in particular often put advertising and marketing ahead of public relations, perhaps because of insufficient budgets, and in some cases, because of a lack of understanding of how public relations is different from the other two communications practices. However, small businesses would be...

Blogs. Tweets. Posts. It is undeniable that social media is an increasingly important and influential part of our daily personal and professional reality and will only continue to grow with the proliferation of tablet devices and mobile applications. It is estimated that by 2013, 164.2 million Americans (or 67 percent of internet users in the U.S.) will participate in social networks. With nearly 150 million Americans regularly accessing social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook,...