Social media: What to adopt, what to drop in 2008

PR pros weigh in on the rapidly multiplying social media services and how they may or may not help you do your job better this year

Facebook. MySpace. Twitter. Flickr. LinkedIn. Second Life. The market for services and tools that help navigate the waters of social media and networking gets more crowded daily, increasing the pressure on PR pros to bone up on the latest and coolest gimmickry. However, just because the crazy kids on the Internet are embracing the newest social media hangout spots doesn’t mean you need to do the same.

Some social media tools have proven their value to communications professionals—and for others, the jury is still out. For instance, Second Life, a “virtual world” where people can socialize and do deals with each other, garnered lots of hoopla when it launched and was expected to become a required business tool. Today, Second Life’s growth has stalled, at least in this country—according to a recent Fortune article, 75 percent of Second Life users are outside the United States.