There's a "challenge" spreading on Facebook, where people share the 10 books that have changed their lives and then nominate others to do the same. The rule: List them as quickly as possible – the first 10 that come to mind within just a few minutes. I saw Gini Dietrich turning that into a blog post on Spin Sucks and I thought, "This is great, I'm so doing it too!" Immediately, I took a pen and paper and wrote down the first 10 that I thought of at that moment. Funnily enough, I was challenged last week as well, so I decided to share these 10 books and why they are so special to me with you here.

But before I move on to the list, I just wanted to say that these really are the first 10 that came to my mind in no particular order. If I am to rewrite that list to make it "perfect", I might choose other titles. But being fair to the challenge, I am not going to do so.

I admit, 10 life-changing books is probably a little strong, but 10 books that have impacted my professional and personal life is pretty accurate.

And yes, the majority of those books are business or somehow work-related, but that's what I tend to read. (I know, I need to read more fiction...)

Here we go:

Do you agree: storytelling is THE buzzword of the year in marketing and communications? From what I've seen, and read, and experienced, it sure is. I also got addicted (and still am) to studying storytelling and learning how to use it as a powerful tool in PR and social media (see here, here, here and here).

Apparently, the hype hasn't just affected me, but the whole profession seems to be fascinated with storytelling for business.

This was more than evident at the dmexco in Cologne last week – the international digital marketing exposition and conference with the motto "connecting the global digital economy".

I was at the #dmexco on the second day and even though I got to choose which seminars and sessions to visit, many of them touched upon or were entirely focused on the importance of brand storytelling.

But why this sudden fascination? Why this massive interest?

Big shift in media

Well, one of the reasons, obviously, is the "big shift in media" that we've observed over the last decade or so.

This shift is what Jonah Peretti, CEO of BuzzFeed, presented in a really cool and funny way at the closing keynote at the event.

When talking about the "evolution" of BuzzFeed, he said that the company has quickly grown to an organisation which has the reach of a traditional media company, but doesn't function as one. This has been due to the emergence of thousands of new media technologies and types, which on the other hand have transformed media consumption and information sharing.

Today, attention has shifted – your audience is on social and mobile, not TV or radio.

So, the learning here is this: be where your consumers are and be relevant.

My last piece got me thinking about how much has changed in so little time and particularly about how much the world of PR has been impacted by the Internet and social media. I did a whole research on this topic when I was writing my first dissertation two years ago.

However, a lot has happened since then and I wonder how relevant my research findings still are...

You might think, two years is not enough for that much to change, but actually, it's plenty.

Speaking about social media for PR, many practitioners believe that social media has simply offered additional tools and channels, but the nature of the practice has remained the same. I partly agree with that. Yes, PR is about building meaningful relationships with people and organisations and about establishing a positive reputation. And yes, social media has given us many more tools to do our daily jobs.

But the bigger picture in my opinion is not just about how social media has impacted PR, but about how it has influenced human nature and behaviour: about how we as individuals now connect, interact, make decisions, believe or disbelieve, communicate and present ourselves to the rest of the world.

Why is that important for our industry?

Social media is booming! People spend 6.35 hours per month on Facebook; almost half of all Twitter users tweet at least once a day; there are more than 20 billion images shared on Instagram; more than two users sign up on LinkedIn every second; 100 hours of video are uploaded on YouTube per minute... No surprise social media is now the top activity on the Internet, with 60% of that time spent on mobile devices not desktops computers.

But how social are we really?

And by that I don't mean how active we are on social media, but how is it that we use our social skills to facilitate interaction and build relationships with others?

As an avid social media user, I firmly believe that all these new channels have allowed us to broaden our palette of ways to communicate. They have given us more opportunities to connect with individuals from all over the world and exchange information, ideas and knowledge.

On the other hand, one could argue that we might be losing our sense for face-to-face interactions.

No matter how much technology advances (for example, the use of sound and video, or Google Glass, wearable technology, smart watches and other geeky stuff), there is one element that is still difficult to transmit or sense to a full extent via the Web.

That element is emotion. Or the touch of all our five senses.

"Just pin and they will come", said no communications or social media professional ever. When it comes to Pinterest – 70-million-user strong online visual bookmarks platform – it requires a lot more than just pinning nice images and waiting for the repins, likes and followers to pile up.

A successful Pinterest account for business requires a carefully crafted strategy that not only has visual storytelling at its core, but also advertising as well as search engine optimisation (or as I call it Pinterest optimisation) too.

You may wonder, "What does advertising and SEO have to do with a visual social network?" Read on to find out.

As with any comms and social media strategy, one of the most important initial steps is truly knowing your audience and understanding what makes it tick specifically on the platform in question.

As Pinterest itself puts it, the network allows people to discover ideas for any project or interest, hand-picked by other people (or brands) they like. Boards serve as to-do and wish lists or as a "walk down memory lane" of past experiences.