Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

Indymedia.ie report on an intiative in Australia called Street Seen. It’s well worth reading and I’d say that we’ll see an Irish version of the site in the future. There are some parts to it that I find dubious like bringing homeless people onto the site forums, but the overall idea appeals to me.

Everyone has got to admit walking past homeless people, pretending not to hear or see them. So what better way to let them be seen and heard than give them a presence on the Internet?

It’s another instance of how the web can provide an outlet for organisations that normally get exposure because they’re flavour of the month. I remember reading an ‘exclusive’ in one of the tabloids about one of their reporters spending two days on the street. No doubt, that’s the last mention you’ll hear about homelessness until an organisation kicks off another high-profile campaign.

Here’s a way though that a homeless organisation could use to steal the tabloid’s thunder and to use on an ongoing basis to position themselves in the minds of the Irish public.