[The social media ecosystem, via Deb Shultz]

Continuing with our 2009 PR predictions series, here are a few thoughts from Flatiron Communications founder and principal and "The Flack" blogger Peter Himler.

-- Twitter, and the countless applications and tools that now sustain it, will gain greater traction among agency and corporate PR pros.

-- The line separating bloggers from mainstream journalists will
continue to blur creating one amorphous media ecosystem. The most authoritative bloggers will increasingly adhere to accepted
journalistic standards and practices, while the vast majority will
not.

-- PR pros will continue efforts to build a branded presence on
YouTube, Facebook, and elsewhere. However, achieving editorial
traction -- both online and off -- will remain, at least for 2009, the
primary currency on which the industry is measured.

-- The era of the "personal brand" will take hold. Companies like
Ford, Dell, Pepsico, Comcast and countless others will recognize the value of appointing and empowering individuals (versus faceless
entities) to engage on their behalf in "the online conversation."