As the world of social media heats up for PR pros and marketers, the inevitable question arises – what to do about errors posted to social networks?

The Poynter Institute’s live chat asking, “How should journalists handle incorrect tweets?” recently caught my eye. Among the suggestions offered by journalists for dealing with errors on social media, I applaud Kathryn Schulz, author of “Being Wrong,” who recommended that “everyone who’s involved in spreading news also needs to be involved in correcting it — and, right now, in helping to figure out how best to do so.” Schulz suggested Twitter perhaps offer a ‘correct’ function (like ‘reply’ and ‘retweet’) that would automatically send a correction to everyone who had retweeted something that contained an error.

Poynter also recently linked to a great working list posted this week on Zombie Journalism, “Accuracy and accountability checklist for social media.” PR reps should keep handy this list of questions to ask before posting (or reposting) on Twitter and Facebook. Among the gems, for Twitter, “Is the original tweet written clearly enough to be passed on from me?” and, for Facebook, “Is the post text and headline reflective of the content of the story?”

This topic sadly has been the subject of discussion in media circles during the past two weeks after several erroneous reports appeared of the death of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords following the shooting in Tucson on Jan. 8.  Columbia Journalism Review collected positions on the subject from several major outlets in the blog post, “To Delete or Not to Delete?” Many said they kept their original tweet or Facebook post live, error and all, to appear fully transparent to readers and followers. Others deleted the incorrect postings so the false news would not continue to spread online.

Of note, the CJR post was reported by Craig Silverman, the author behind Regret the Error, a site that both pokes fun at the media’s missteps and details how to handle serious errors with class.

This recent talk is a sober reminder that we, as public relations professionals, have a responsibility to think before we act on social networks, and to not trade speed for accuracy. But we, as fallible human beings, can at least handle errors on social media with grace and candor – hopefully, just as we would when speaking to someone face to face.

As I snuggled into bed on this past week’s snowy Wednesday evening I realized I forgot to watch the President’s Speech in Tucson. Fortunately my smartphone was charging nearby so I opened my YouTube app and caught up on my current events. I smiled to myself as I thought of the iconic images of past Presidential speeches, families gathered around the radio waiting with bated breath over crackling speakers. Not quite the same scene today is it?

This got me thinking. First of all it’s incredible that we live in an age with such a wealth of information that I knew beyond a doubt that the video would already be uploaded, in HD quality of course, to YouTube if not several other sites. I spoke with a friend about this idea and she told me she had gotten stuck at work but followed live-bloggers on Twitter during the speech and eventually went to WhiteHouse.gov to live stream the video to her desk.

While in general I see this information overload as a privilege of our generation I couldn’t help but wonder, are we missing unifying moments as a nation because of convenience? My parents always watched Presidential speeches as a family and when the news came on at 6:00 PM they say, “you either saw it or you didn’t no DVR-ing broadcasts like you do.” I know I’ll never forget the pure horror I felt on 9/11 as I watched the live broadcasts of the twin towers falling, but I took some solace in the fact that I knew the whole nation was watching, and we all felt the same way.

That being said, social media allows each and every one of us to connect personally to news, and to borrow Twitter’s slogan, now we can ‘join the conversation’.

So what do you think? Are we sacrificing a human connection for convenience? Or perhaps with our ability to be a part of the news on our own terms now maybe we’re more unified than ever.

My colleague here at Matter, Nick Porter, sent me an article published by The Economist in the December 16 edition about the history and current state of the PR industry. While the examination of the start of the profession was undoubtedly interesting, the article was written in such a way that showed the writer had little if any respect for PR practitioners at all. At one point, the piece states that PR people “have been locked in an antagonistic, symbiotic relationship with journalists, with mutual contempt tempered by mutual dependency.” Both “wow” and “ouch” are appropriate responses here.

There’s no doubt that there have been more than enough PR people out there whose less-than-ethical tactics have tainted the industry as a whole. In fact, the Economist piece describes a few of the early instances where PR representatives for big corporations pulled the proverbial wool over the public’s eyes without remorse. But the fact is that labeling all PR people as “spin doctors” is unfair and irresponsible. Journalists may look upon PR people with contempt just because of their reputations, but I’d be willing to bet that most journalists have received help from a good PR guy or gal to get out of a bind on deadline, or secure that sound bite to round out their article right when they need it most.

The Economist article doesn’t only say negative things about the publicity profession – there are some nuggets of positivity worked in. However, after reading it, I had a bad taste in my mouth. Something just didn’t sit right and while everything in the piece seemed to be well thought out and well written, I just didn’t like how we’re portrayed. At Matter, we strive to be resources for the journalists with whom we work. And yes, there is a fine line between persistent PR person and annoying flack. But I’d like to think that by exercising some of the basic best practices of our profession, we avoid being looked upon as pariahs in a media landscape where PR people are needed now more than ever.

I’d love to hear what other people think about the article. Please feel free to get in touch with your thoughts or leave them in the comment box below.

I know what Oprah would say, but I have to be honest, if I was the CEO of a company, profitability would be my main concern. Without the money, your vision can never be executed. Apparently Twitter’s CEO thinks differently.

I agree that it is absolutely key to have a vision and a goal, but to me the bottom line is always the bottom line.

Twitter’s CEO says his next step is making the startup a profitable company. Call me crazy, but I would think having a plan to make money should be just as important as having a vision. They really should go hand-in-hand.

What do you think? What would come first for your company?

Working in PR, we’ve probably all struggled to explain exactly what we do to family and friends. Our chosen profession is not as easily understood when compared to careers like being a teacher, lawyer, doctor, even an ad exec. In part, I suspect it’s because most people have seen those other professions accurately represented on TV shows and in movies. Yet it’s rare that a show or movie presents a character who works in PR…and even rarer still that what he or she is shown actually doing at work matches what any of us do on a day to day basis. The closest I’ve come to seeing a realistic portrayal of PR on the silver screen was back when “The West Wing” was on the air, and Alison Janney played C.J. Cregg, White House press secretary. In some ways, it was that role that inspired me to enter the industry in the first place.

Recently though, PR has popped up on some other shows and it’s been really interesting to see how it’s depicted. I watched one episode total of Bravo’s “Kell on Earth,” and that was one too many. Katie Cassidy portrayed a pretty convincing PR practitioner on the short-lived reboot of “Melrose Place,” but writing press releases and counseling clients in real life is a little bit different than what was shown on that show. ABC aired a run of “Grey’s Anatomy” webisodes, showing the characters working with a marketing and PR consultant trying to help the hospital re-brand itself in the wake of a shooting. It was exciting to see some of my favorite characters, on one of the biggest hit shows, actually talking about crisis PR and touching briefly on the kinds of work we do with our clients though, admittedly and thankfully, that level of crisis is not exactly an everyday occurrence, either.

Despite these instances, I’ve still wondered why there aren’t more characters on TV that work in the communications and marketing industries. This is especially true given PR has grown so much over the past few years and has become so critical for public figures and celebrities, as well as companies of all sizes. Now, word is that ABC has greenlit a pilot from “Grey’s” creator Shonda Rhimes, about a public relations crisis expert and her staff as they try to help high-profile clients navigate various PR landmines. Sure, the show will probably focus on extreme cases and scenarios that most of us would be lucky to never have to encounter with our own clients, but I’m looking forward to it. It will be refreshing to see a TV show shine the spotlight on how PR can make or break the perception of a person or company (especially after a scandal). And who knows…maybe it will also help some of my friends and family get a better sense of what I do every day.