It is hardly surprising, in an increasingly fractured media world, that media outlets will try anything to keep us engaged.

We are distracted by the sheer number of choices of media that we have online, in print or broadcast. TV is no longer mainstream TV. There is even a fishing TV channel and if you are partial to a bit of Fly fishing then there is your own TV channel there too! The options are mind boggling for the average consumer online and in the  South West alone there are over 326 media outlets to choose from!

So what better way to keep your audience focused on what you have to offer than by using interactive media? Add a blog to discuss the best flies to use on what stretch of river, perhaps add a video to "hook" the audience by showing top tips on casting your rod? Twitter would be a great tool to live blog a fishing competition and perhaps use Flickr to allow your readers to upload their biggest catch? All of a sudden your readers feel a part of the fly fishing scene and a given a sense of "ownership" regarding your online offering, which in turn can support your broadcast and print media too.

User-generated and tailored content is increasingly key as our customers want to cut back on the media blizzard and tailor online content to suit individual needs. I often refer to this as a backlash to our spam and junk mail culture.

A great example of this type of website is the new BBC site that allows you to tailor the home page and allows the user to move panels around and select which sections they are presented with.

I have included the Interactivity Media index below so for you can compare the market media leaders in interactive media. It makes interesting reading. As you will see the BBC is leading this field in the amount of interactive media it uses.

(Hat tip - Paul Bradshaw for this)

We get a lot of PR pitches at Montage. We are in the unique situation that we are "poacher turned game keeper" when it comes to the outputs that we produce for blogging or the LINK magazine.

One thing that comes across in many PR pitches is that they think  blogging should be a "shout" and frequently scattered with marketing buzz words.

Blogging and social media should be very much as conversation, one-to-one, with your target audience. This is a concept that Valerie from Conversation agent blog feels passionately about and I agree with wholeheartedly. After all, if you come over as a used car sales man talking about "storage solutions" (when your product is actually a box), who is going to listen? It doesn't sound genuine!

This theme is something that we feel very strongly about when creating all our communications content at Montage. If the content and story is good, you do not necessarily need to shout to be heard. Journalists, influencers and "knowns" (people that know everybody) will pass on and build on your story if the content is good.

This is where the most power comes from online and social media. Whether it is a blog engaging with your customers, such as Dell's or the Lib Dems lobbying on Facebook against an incinerator, the real power comes from the ripple that becomes a wave in other blogs and eventually print and broadcast media.

Online PR provides many tools to engage with your audiences and provide subtle ways of influencing key people, such as our Twitter for instance where we have even had conversations with No10 Downing Street, about the London Mayoral elections for example.

So why shout when the person you want to communicate with is right next to you?