When looking at Twitter it may seem as though it is just a silly social media platform where people can post nonsense that happens to them. While this may have been the case when Twitter has evolved I believe it has become so much more. It has become a powerful resource for PR professionals and journalists to use. We talk about social media and the effects it has on both these fields a lot and perhaps the best example of how effective it is, is Twitter. In 160 characters or less you can reach such a large and wide audience that it is unbelievable. If a journalist needs to take a poll they can upload to Twitter and have such a large variety of people interact with it. As a PR professional you can post about your press releases or any updates you have about your client and instantly millions will see it.
Forbes points out that while Twitter can be useful it can also be difficult to manage. While this statement is not incorrect I do not think it is difficult enough to wave off. Keeping track of a twitter and making sure all the posts are up to date can be time consuming like Forbes says. However, I think the payoff can be huge because of the large number of people you can reach and how quickly it can be done. There is a lot of work to be done around a Twitter account, but it is such a good tool and to write it off the way Forbes does is not giving it enough credit.
A better point I think was had by Columbia Journalism Review in which they say that it can be difficult to write stories without consulting Twitter. There is so much traffic on Twitter that if you want to write an article about pop culture you would almost fail if you did not use Twitter. As a journalist you also need to keep a profile and Columbia says Twitter is a great place to keep that. You show your interests on Twitter and this can be a sign to potential employers. This article really spoke to me because I view Twitter in the same exact light. It can do so many things with such little effort and not using this tool is almost detrimental.
With times changing so does PR and Journalism and in order to keep up professionals must use these new tools, like Twitter, in order to survive.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwynne/2014/09/22/twitter-for-public-relations-fact-and-fantasy/#7bc68c7483b3 https://archives.cjr.org/realtalk/journalists_using_twitter.php https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/journalists-on-twitter-study.php
Mike's Corner 