London is burning, but did Twitter really start the fire?

For those of us living in Vancouver, the London riots raise many of the same questions that we addressed in the wake of the post-Stanley Cup riots. Among these questions are the role social media played in fueling the riots and the ways that social media can be harnessed to mobilize the city’s redemption. While some writers have examined the urge to blame social media directly for the resulting violence, others have pointed to the fact that social media has helped to organize city clean-up efforts and identify rioters.

Now Prime Minister David Cameron has announced he is looking into banning communication through social media sites and networks like Twitter and Blackberry Messenger (BBM), while at the same time acknowledging that attempts to control social media are likely to fail.

What Cameron’s response highlights for people working in public relations is the unwieldy nature of social media and the need for professionals who can navigate this complex web of communication and ensure the correct message rises to the forefront. These riots – and the ways BBM and Twitter have been used – point to the heart of social media, highlight the fact that it’s a medium founded on response, interaction and immediacy, and demonstrate that for better or for worse, it has the power to affect change in the outside world.

If social media and social networking tools can’t be controlled, how does this lack of control, either real or perceived, affect PR professionals? Does it undermine or validate our work?

My working answer is this: social media has become an incredibly valuable tool not despite, but precisely because it can’t be explicitly controlled; it can only be mediated through response. It is a democratic tool. A person’s positive response to your message can’t be purchased; it can only be driven by the power of your message and your ability to elicit a response because of how your words and messages affect people. This shouldn’t scare us.  It should make us realize that as PR people, we are needed to help stakeholders and clients navigate this complicated tool. It’s both scary and exhilarating when you understand social media’s influence, but as PR pros we can harness this power to help us do our jobs better and to become more authentic communicators.