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Prior to the Internet boom, public relations groups had very different approaches to how they handled their public relations campaigns. Organizations were forced to find a PR niche to spread the word and continue to run effectivly. A few of the niches included employing "fag-broadcasting technology" and maintaining a high press profile.

However, the world has changed significantly with the coming of the Internet, and now public relations are moving toward using newer technologies to get the message out. Discussing the current technology-driven phenomenon known as globalization from a first-hand point of view, Thomas Friedman explained in his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree how the world has changed in the post-Cold War era. This dynamic, ongoing process driven by free market capitalism has shrunk the world into an overly connected society with no one in charge through the symbol of globalization, the Internet.

Both Friedman and Bill Gates, who wrote The Road Ahead, saw the consequences that could turn about should any corporation ignore the new technology that is heading their way. No matter how powerful, someone (or a smaller company) is always waiting in the wings with a big idea that a large corporation may miss. Gates added that it can be very easy to miss a "big bend in the road" when it comes to the future of technology.

Edelman Public Relations Worldwide has called the Internet "an ideal PR Medium." Before most groups realized the potentials behind the creation of a web site for public relations purposes, Edelman had already built more than 20 sites in two years. One issue Edelman found web sites to be most effective was during crisis,' when information needed to not only be distributed quickly, but it needed to have depth as well.

With the new changes in technology, the Internet has become more important for the public relations practitioner in maintain contacts with the mass media and the mass audience as a whole.

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