Press Releases Get TrackBacks…

But Will They Send Them Too?

Press releases became a bit more social yesterday as PRWeb added trackback functionality. As Mike Manuel notes, this news comes on the heels of Six Apart’s commitment to making the trackback (defined) a web standard.

So, here’s a question. Will press releases ever gain the ability to also send trackbacks? I imagine this would cause blogger outrage. Taking this a step further, if trackbacks become a web standard, what will happen when ads start sending/receiving them? There’s a collision in the making as traditional marketing tools adopt social features and vice versa. It’s a necessary collision that will occur now that consumers control the message. The shakeout should be fun to watch. Which tools will become acceptable for marketers to use and how?

Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.

He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.