Twitter & PR practice

Twitter, since its launch in 2006, is an excellent tool in the hands of communication specialists. It allows organizations to communicate in a direct, informal way with its interest groups and create an active online, virtual community of followers.



Although Twitter shares some common characteristics with other social media - products of the last decade’s technological developments - it forces its users to be concise by responding with a maximum of 140-character messages. Further more, it is a mean that provides the unique ability to the user, of posting a tweet regardless of where he /she is (e.g. via mobile).

Its benefits have been identified by PR professionals who based on the special needs of its communication program, take full advantage of it.

More specifically it:

* Provides an instant access to an organization news
* Adds the human element in strictly business relationships
* Promotes the loyalty of followers
* Is an extremely valuable tool for the effective crisis management / especially in cases of emergency, due to its real time monitoring aspect

I am employed in the Tourism sector and my recent registration to Twitter proved to be extremely helpful! As I chose the TRAVEL option from the Interests list, I receive on a daily basis news related to new destinations, hotels, travel packages, travel guides and tips from trustworthily sources such as nymag.travel, Frommer’s, Conde Nast Traveller. Thus not only I save time and money but also it is a precious tank of ideas that promote my creativity!