Twitter is not just another networking site, it is also the most popular. Considered as the “SMS of Internet” (probably it would have more sense to start calling it an “information network” or even better, a “human network”, as pointed out by one of the co- founders, Evan Williams in a really interesting article), it lets us interact with the followers (users) by means of connections and links.
Twitter is not just another tool for the service of PR; it shares the philosophy that supports our field from a societal point of view! The companies must start to understand this new perspective. It’s not just to share information, persuasion or power… The people want to share experiences, develop relationships; they debate not just about a product, but they think about its actual usefulness. As a result of a brilliant article by Thomas Baekdal, we can start to understand that we are not just living a communication revolution (and its models): it is a revolution that affects all the consumption system, and as a consequence, it also affects all its participants, including, of course, organizations.
What is the role of PR here, then? We must apply more than ever the core philosophy of our profession! In my opinion, the future panorama that is waiting for us is especially encouraging, a challenge for all of us: professionals, researchers and students. As a consequence we shouldn’t hesitate to participate in this new network; we must learn and understand these new tools as Twitter opens doors abroad for this new reality.
Twitter hasn’t spent a lot of time since it has understood the scope of its service, neither the important role that the organisations have in it. The companies are not just products or brands, as Baekdal says in his article, but they are part of the social framework, they are experiences: they are probably part of our careers, unforgettable moments, desires or even hates and disenchantments. Simply, they are part of all of us, no matter how much we try to avoid this fact. What is more, a few weeks ago, Twitter changed the question to which you have to respond with just 140 characters, “What are you doing?” to “ What’s happening?”. From my point of view, much more relevant to what people can obtain from this service.
I want to include hereafter a list of the most useful tools that have been developed for PR use in Twitter:
1. Tweetlevel, the most useful tool that I came across, created by Edelman. This precious treasure let measure the influence, popularity, engagement and trusts between the Twitter users.
2. Trending Topics, developed in April by Twitter. Really interesting, because it allows you not only be a follower, but also you can participate in a real-time search.
3. MuckRack, is the first service for PR in Twitter. It is made for journalists, in which they must pay 1 dollar for each character, and they can include what they call “News releases in one line”. Furthermore, it is really interesting the fact that they can include links.
4. Bit.ly, Ow.ly and pr140.com, as services to shorten the links so makes it possible to include them as tweet (usually links have more than 140 characters).
We don’t have excuses any more. Twitter offers a world of possibilities for PR.
Social media is an important strategy for PR. As newspaper readership declines PR practitioners are becoming increasingly aware of the leverage social media has over traditional media. Many people see social media as more trustworthy as it has less ‘filters’ than mainstream media.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDeleteTwitter gives PR succinct message immediacy and issue and public involvement opportunities.
However, PR practitioners should evaluate the suitability of its application after considering the differences in First or Third world publics, way of life, technological knowledge, or access to facilities.
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ReplyDeleteThe title of your post with the exclamation mark in the end, and the use of the Scottish tweet for twitter, immediately grabbed my attention and I said to myself: “Oh my God! That must be really interesting! I should sit down and read it now!” Yeah... today, whether it is for good or bad, the social media are becoming more and more important. Just as you said its creators and supporters stress that twitter is a “human network”... I’ve recently read an article in the Guardian where Stephen Fry claims that “before humans are reasoning, they are emotional beings. With gadgets you communicate with other people, and therefore this is an emotional internet that you have.” […]“ It is about being authentic. These things are human-based”.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that campaigns that include social media could be truly successful. But, remember, not all types of campaigns need to make use of twitter, facebook, or myspace...It depends on who our publics are, each time...For instance, facebook can be proved really helpful when a bar organizes a particular event because the campaign targets mainly students and generally young people, who most of them adore facebooking! (I know, this verb does not really exist but I think it is now the time for it to emerge also in dictionaries!). But what if our key publics are elder people or people who are just not familiar with hi-tech things? Different publics suggest different tactics.
If you want to read more about "the dos and don’ts of social media" click :
http://browse.guardian.co.uk/search?search=The+dos+and+don%27ts+of+social+media&sitesearch-radio=guardian