Twitter or be Twittered
May 6th, 2008 by Miriam H.
Okay, I finally did it. I’m on Twitter. After hearing for months and months about the buzz of this new phenomenon, I will now follow my favorite cyber friends’ twitters and join the millions who have already started using it. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Do you not know what the New York Times’ has called “one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet?”
Twitter is an online social networking application where people write short, almost haiku-like messages about what they are currently doing/thinking. Seems simple enough. Once you start “following” someone around, you get an RSS feed of all the messages from people you are following, which change daily, often several times a day.
The thing that actually spurred me to start my own personal account was this article from PR-Squared, declaring: “Get Into Twitter or Get Outta Public Relations.” This wasn’t as shocking to me as it may be to some people since I heard a PR professional go gaga over Twitter during a panel that was discussing PR 2.0 tactics, which Kerry McClenahan had moderated for the local PRSA chapter last year. However, this article certainly makes a bold statement.
Just as my colleague and teammate Venera pointed out in a recent blog post, online social networking is quickly becoming the way to create real relationships with editors and industry influencers. PR professionals are using Twitter as a way to follow New York Times editors, for instance, or share ideas with colleagues. Sometimes editors will throw out messages commenting on what article they are writing or quick anecdotes about trade shows they are currently attending. Keep in mind these are mostly personal blog post style messages. For example, here’s a recent Harry McCracken (PC World) twitter: “Just discovered I accidentally bought an elliptical exerciser from Amazon. And it’s shipped. I have no idea how that happened…” This may seem trivial and too silly to actually produce any ROI, but it’s valuable information in developing a personal connection to this seemingly “untouchable” editor.
So, according to Venera’s post, it makes sense that Twitter is quickly becoming mainstream for PR professionals. Given the trend of these media crazes trickling down into our deep technology world (i.e. online video, blogger relations, etc), this may be something for us all to keep bookmarked.
If you want to understand the direction of effective advertising and marketing today, just look at the Obama campaign. A few months ago I was half joking to friends that he’s gonna win because he’s got the best website. Then as I dug in deeper, I noticed that this guy is doing everything right to sell himself, and that his campaign reflects, more than anyone else’s, the future of business.