When it comes down to it, those of us in the public relations business really have only two things to worry about:

1) What we can or can not say about something our clients are doing
2) What other people are saying about our clients

Until recently, these “worries” were restricted primarily to the news media. But thanks to technological advances coming over the Internet, an emerging phenomenon is forcing PR to either take notice or reexamine things like weblogs (blogs), wikis, internet chat rooms, email and even cell phones. Yes, cell phones with text messaging and picture taking ability (and now video) can spread the word about an incident with lightening speed.

Of all of these, though, blogs remain the #1 opportunity – and concern. Technology PR practitioners need to seriously consider investing significant hours identifying and monitoring blogs that deal with technology on both the specific and general interest levels.

It should be abundantly clear by now that technology people love to talk about technology. However, the outlets to do so were extremely limited before the Internet, and were mostly one-way. Chat rooms and discussion boards devoted to technology quickly sprung up and are still viable. But, more and more techies are pontificating about and passing judgment on all things downloadable or installed through blogs.

PR people operating in the technology world need to keep this fact in mind moving forward. Your average Joe down the street can easily gain stature as an “expert” on a particular subject simply by having a blog. And not just among other geeks. Tech journalists are increasingly monitoring these “conversations,” and blog content could very well become fodder for the type of news coverage you don’t want.

Of course, it can work in your favor as well. If the latest version of your technology is indeed the neatest thing since sliced bread, or if benefit can be gained by a “one-off” application, the bloggers will trumpet that fact as well. The bottom line is: it might be smart to keep track of who has real influence, and what these average Joes-turned-reporters are publishing in real time to a worldwide audience via the Internet. It may also be worth your while to have an executive respond on a selective basis, and even to add key bloggers to your media universe.

The other question for tech PR people is whether or not the powers that be within a particular organization should themselves be blogging. It can be viewed as an excellent way to establish a credible voice, if not a face, for an organization. It would be another avenue to distribute the “message” among an audience that has an interest in what is being said. There is a significant time commitment involved.

But one thing needs to be clear. This “grassroots journalism” that is evolving over the Internet abhors corporate PR-speak. This is an audience that hates being “spinned” and will call you when you do it. So anyone who does blog has to be prepared, at the very least, to be interesting, honest and plain-spoken. Had the technology been available then, Lee Iococca would’ve been the ideal corporate blogger.

Once you start, of course, your audience is going to respond and it will tell it like it is. For a blogger to be taken seriously, he or she has to be ready to deal with criticism in a serious and forthright manner. Some executives simply can’t handle this. However, if they can, the blog will gain respect and stature, give you a direct line to your most interested customers and prospects, and provide you with a ton of links that will help push your Google ranking highter. You may even make some connections that will help the business. But to blog or not to blog is a tough call to make in a PR sense. It would require a lot of effort and coordination.

A possible electronic alternative for delivering story ideas to tech reporters may be the use of RSS feeds. RSS stands for “really simple syndication.” It is a format for syndicating news and the content of major news-sites, news-oriented community sites, and personal blogs. RSS-aware programs called news aggregators are popular in the blogging community. Many blogs make content available in RSS. A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favorite blogs by checking their RSS feeds and displaying new items from each of them.

Using RSS to your advantage as a PR professional will require some homework. You’ll have to identify reporters by publication and/or beat and ask them if they are interested in receiving RSS feeds from a particular organization. Then the feeds will have to be set up. But it might be worth the effort so that your news pitches can get around the clutter that is currently email.

The best advice is to become familiar with blogs before jumping in with both feet. Read them for a few weeks, see what kind of content and discussion they produce, see how widely they’re quoted and how many links point to them. If you’re going to produce your own, either for simple posting or for an RSS campaign, you’ll learn what type of style and content play best. With a big of due diligence, you cannot only increase coverage, but help drive it in the direction you want it to go.