ABSTRACT
This chapter summarises central theoretical foundations and results from a study of public relation (PR) consultancy in Scandinavia. The general question that motivated the research was to study how communication professionals in Sweden and Denmark perceive the challenges and opportunities of social media and how this affects their professional role. The chapter presents three themes from the study that point to the implications of the changes for public relations. It also includes a short analysis of how consultancy discourses commodify social media knowledge by creating urgency, imposing double binds and translating democratic ideals into strategic marketing resources. Social media works best when communication indicates mutuality, transparency, personality and engagement. The chapter emphasises the importance of distinctions in creating identity for the field of public relations, shaping practitioner roles and contextualising actual practice. It also presents empirical findings that show how the pattern of distinctions that make up the PR identity has been destabilised.
