For a long time I've disliked the use of the word "social" when it comes to press releases or applied to any other business-related software or business activities. Yet I do recognize that there is a grey area when it comes to online communities such as Facebook, where my business contacts get co-mingled with my friends.

However, in other areas, especially when it comes to press releases and business software, "social" seems to be an inappropriate use of the word.

I've been one of the key evangelists for what I've called the "new media release" it is a news release that includes links, tags, photos, graphics and video. Lately, people have been calling it a "social media press release." I'm not a fan of that term and I'm not the only one.

Tamera Kremer over at her Wildfire Strategic Marketing blog says it well in a post titled: What's so 'social' about product pitches?

The title says it all, imho. But here is an extract:

Let's be realistic and clear-- Social Media Press Releases are micro-sites for a product or announcement. This isn't "game changing", it's just borrowing from what interactive advertising was doing 7 years ago and adding RSS and API feeds and using it as a landing page to direct bloggers and journalists to. That's hardly something that deserves the amount of air-time it's been getting if we are being honest (and doing more than patting each other on the back within the echo chamber).

Let's just call them commercial product pitches . . . a media release with links...(!)