To tweet or not to tweet?

Many PR firms are grappling with social media and the micro-blogosphere, and how they relate to our business and industry.  If you’re not familiar with tweets, tweetups or DM’s, you should be. Twitter is a social media and microblog where live conversations (140 character posts) occur between individuals, influencers, and perhaps organizations.

So here’s a few reasons why public relations consultants should be tuning in and participating:

• Twitter is an excellent place for “grassroots” monitoring and tracking of conversations, reputations, buzz, opinions, breaking news and trends.

• It’s another medium to generate awareness by providing product or service information, which connects followers to the company website, booking page or blog.  Quoting Morgan Johnston, of JetBlue Airways Corporate Communications, “Our Twitter account is making ourselves available in an environment where are customers already live. It’s not focused on marketing, but real interaction: less billboard – more information booth.”  A good example: Whole Foods

• Twitter can be used to promote stories, start conversations and feed news through twitterfeed, which automatically twitters your RSS feeds.

• The media uses twitter: CNN, Reuters, BBC, ITN, etc. Rick Sanchez for example started twittering, a form of live reporting, during Hurricane Gustav, which allowed for on-air interaction with a ”live” audience. He now has a following of 18,000.

• Last but not least, Twitter is a good place for both the media and PR professionals to get story ideas and leads.