How Can You Be A Nobody...

...if EVERBODY wants to be a NOBODY?

The first thing I thought when I saw this meme sprout, weed-like, last week was, "Gosh, that's an esteemed group of smart, caring, thoughtful people.  I'd like to join them." 

So, first off, thanks for allowing me to join the Club.  I don't know how much farther this Nobody thing will go, but now I'll always be able to look back and say, "I was a nobody, once."  In fact, isn't that a goal for most of us? ;)

With a dash more seriousness - it is fascinating to consider how the blogosphere has empowered a widely-dispersed group of like-minded professionals to coalesce around a handful of topics each week, and make an incremental impact on the state of our industry. 

Do you foresee a day when the PR blogosphere is a "place" where our best practices are shared, evolved, standardized?  Isn't that starting to happen, already (e.g., the Wal-Mart/Edelman brouhaha)?

Do you envision a world in which the PR blogosphere (all of us, not a single spokesperson) is "asked for comment" by members of the media - or  by members of different interest groups?   

I can see such a day dawning.  And it's cool.  Not bad for a bunch of nobodies.

Comments

[Ike]

Paul, this isn't about PR. This is about communications.

I was once very active in a broadcast journalism forum. Because of the nature of the discussions, sensitive and political topics often meant people wrote under pseudonyms. After all, you don't want your viewers Googling you, then complaining to your station that you aren't "fair and balanced."

What I discovered was a concept called "meritocracy." Under assumed names, we all started as tabula rasae, blank slates. Over time, we earned our reputation solely by the power of our reason and persuasive skills.

Web 2.0 (and the Nobodies) is all about merit. There is no sliding by on reputation, you bring your A-game every day. The mighty Steve Rubel can make a pronouncement on his blog, and be cut to the quick by a first-time commenter.

We are all nobodies, because the technology of social networking has levelled the playing field.

Ain't it great? Welcome to the club. You were a member all along, and just didn't know it.

[Paul Chaney]

I'm not a PR blogger, but would be honored to join this esteemed list of "nobodies."

[Mary Schmidt]

Fellow proud "nobody" here. Wow, it is amazing how a group came together so quickly isn't it? (and we even have a logo, gollleeee). But seriously folks, this is a great example of how the Web can foster a community of people who would otherwise have never "met."

All comes down to - it's not really "public" relations - it's all "personal" relations.

Sure, there's a lot of noise out here in blogville, but one person's noise is another's music.

And, it's going to get increasingly difficult for the flim-flammers to get away with slick speak. (be they politicians, CEOs or PR specialists.)

[Susan Getgood]

But that's the thing... everybody IS a nobody. Social media lets us all play on a somewhat level playing field, where all our opinions stand a reasonable chance of being heard.

Some folks are just stuck in the old model, where they think you have to be SOMEBODY for your opinion to matter.

Nope. A nobody is just as important as a somebody. And probably nicer too :-)