Technology continues to transform everything around us—from politics and the economy to how we connect as a society. It’s altering how we work, how brands build relationships, and even what it means to have a ‘reputation’.
As we move into 2025, AI and other emerging technologies will continue to reshape our industry, presenting both opportunities and challenges for reputation management.
The discussion around AI and copyright is not new, but it’s becoming more complex and more real. Companies like Stability AI face ongoing challenges as they navigate the evolving legal landscape. The UK government’s recent consultations aim to reshape how AI uses copyrighted content, from training models to creating entirely new works.
This has significant implications for us comms professionals as creators and the potential for new licensing models that could offer more control while demanding unprecedented transparency from AI developers.
This isn’t just about legal theory. It’s about the practical implications for anyone leveraging AI for content creation, stakeholder analysis, or engagement monitoring. We’d all be wise to keep track of developments here.
While AI continues to drive benefits of efficiency and creativity in PR, it’s not the only technology in town. As we look to the future, we must consider how other technologies like Augmented Reality, VR, and the huge changes in social media, driven by politics and policy, will change how we interact and engage. These tools offer new ways to connect with audiences, creating immersive and personalised experiences that were previously unimaginable.
If our role as PR professionals is to build reputation and relationships with different stakeholders, reaching and engaging them with stories that matter, persuading them, then our toolkit needs to be as diverse and dynamic as the landscape we navigate.
The evolution of technology continually reshapes the methods and means through which we perform our roles. It’s not just about leveraging technology for the sake of innovation, it’s about using new platforms to more effectively tell our stories, reach our audiences, and measure the impact of our campaigns.
PR isn’t just media, a sprinkling of social media and whacking some analysts and influencers in for good measure.
In the digital jungle, a brand’s reputation can swing wildly at the speed of a tweet. Information, accurate or not, moves around like a cheetah—swift and sometimes merciless. Reflect on last year’s riots, and you’ll see just how fast things can spiral when the digital winds blow.
Yet, as PR pros, navigating this landscape is becoming trickier. Platforms like Meta and X are changing the game by swapping out their traditional fact-checking guardrails for something called Community Notes. It’s a big shake-up, shifting to a looser, community-driven way of policing content. This move strips away some of the old safeguards, putting more power into the hands of everyday users. Great for grassroots democracy, maybe, but it also means misinformation could linger longer and fan the flames of division before anyone steps in to correct course.
So, what’s our move as comms pros? We’ve got to stay sharp—eyes wide open. Think of ourselves as the guardians of our brands’ stories, always on watch. AI tools are certainly part of our arsenal, helping us sift through the mountain of data faster than ever. But tech alone isn’t going to cut it. We need to pair the tech with strategic thinking.
In this fast-evolving world, our role becomes even more relevant. We’re not just putting out fires; we’re guiding the narrative, turning potential pitfalls into opportunities for deeper trust and loyalty.
In our digital age, the traditional model of checks and balances within democracies is rapidly evolving. Historically, news media outlets served as the vigilant watchdogs of democracy, meticulously challenging information and holding powers to account. However, today’s social media platforms have transformed this landscape, changing our consumption habits and decentralising the control over information dissemination and reshaping the boundaries of journalistic influence. This shift has given individuals the ability to voice their opinions more freely, but it also complicates the democratic role of traditional watchdogs, diluting their influence and paving the way for misinformation to proliferate unchecked.
Social media’s role in society and politics is profound and double-edged. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have turned into battlegrounds where political opinions are not only shared but shaped. The freedom to express is vast, yet it comes intertwined with risks of manipulation and the potential for unchecked influence that can distort public perception and influence political outcomes.
As communication professionals and guardians of brand integrity, we have a role to play. Brands and businesses must reassess their values in this context. By committing to uphold standards of accuracy and integrity, we help counteract the erosion of traditional media’s role as the watchdog. The social media platforms are dependent on advertising and brands therefore have power here. If a business’s values are challenged by a social media platform (or their leadership’s values) then it is important to not be a silent witness. Moving advertising spend and energy away from these platforms places us into a position of a new kind of watchdog.
This redefined role is crucial, particularly as the lines between media, politics, and PR continue to blur. A long time ago, my university dissertation led me to read a lot of Chomsky, evaluating the dark side of the media and misinformation. This is a whole other level. It challenges us to be active participants in managing society’s informational fabric, ensuring communication remains fair and informed.
Embracing this expanded responsibility means understanding that our engagements must be as principled as they are persuasive. In an age where information can both empower and mislead, our commitment to fostering well-informed public discourse is not just necessary, it’s essential. We are now more than ever the new gatekeepers of information, tasked with maintaining the balance of power and truth in the digital age.
As we navigate these tech changes, the potential for PR professionals to lead and innovate has never been more exciting. Using cutting-edge technology trends, we have the power to shield brands from the tumult of misinformation and shape the global dialogue that frames our reality. Our efforts must be rooted in principle and knowledge, and dedicated to truthful and ethical communication.
The world of public relations is undergoing a transformation as profound as the digital revolution itself, broadening our roles to adapt to new challenges and acting on fresh opportunities. Let’s not just adapt to this change. We need to recognise the significant influence our work wields over society and the broader information landscape. By embracing our expanded role with passion and foresight, we can help steer the future of our industry and ensure that it makes a positive impact on the world around us.