There are a lot of people who work in public relations, but not all of them know its history. Can you believe that PR has been around for a long time? From the time of the ancient Egyptians until the Middle Ages, men and women had access to channels and devices that let them share important information and stay up to date on what was going on in their area and elsewhere. These are the main ways that public relations is done in the modern world. So let’s dive into the history of public relations.
How Public Relations Got Started
There are clear examples of how people used public relations in the ancient world. Socrates and Aristotle were two Greek philosophers who knew how important public opinion was. They used direct public speaking to spread information and change people’s minds.
No one knows who came up with the idea of public relations first. But it was a specific way to use psychology, philosophy, and sociology to control, manage, and change people’s opinions. It’s important to point out that PR is often called propaganda.
The 18th century
This century is called the Printing Age. As soon as there was a press, there was a lot of propaganda. Top people used the press to tell people what they needed to know and to get them to act and think in the right way. During election campaigns, this powerful tool was used in many democratic countries.
During the 1800s, PR was used to help many different causes. Benjamin Franklin won his famous campaign against slavery, raised the level of education, and made the country safer by using the power of the press. PR and politics are always tied together.
The 20th century
We live in an age of mass media. Public relations changed a lot and became a tool that helped people build relationships and keep a good name. PR is growing at the same rate as technology. Because PR people were able to spread important messages all over the world because radio and TV were used so much. It is the time when the most effective public relations campaigns have ever been mounted.
The 21st century
We are moving into the age of digital technology and the growth of social media sites. At the beginning of the 2000s, especially after the internet was made, public relations became a very important field. This was a huge step toward making a lot of information available to people all over the world.
The world of media is getting more and more complicated. Public relations could only stay important if it kept up with the other fields. PR specialists have to learn a lot of new ways to talk to people. Since 2008, politicians in the US have been using social media to connect with and sway potential voters.
Obama was the first president to use social media to get as many followers as possible, which brought in a lot of young voters. A new strategy worked really well based on the analysis of exit polls. The Obama team’s PR plan shows us how powerful online tools can be.
Conclusion
In the past few years, social media has taken over all communication around the world. We can’t deny that it’s a useful tool that every PR pro uses to reach out to the people they want to reach. The world of technology keeps getting better. Changes like these make PR experts want to keep up with the latest trends and do even better work.
