Since it looks like Twitter is here to stay, public relations professionals need to learn how to effectively use Twitter and the myriad of tools that have been developed to help us navigate the microblogging network. To help, I pulled out the 10 apps that I thought would be most useful for PR pros [...]]]>

Since it looks like Twitter is here to stay, public relations professionals need to learn how to effectively use Twitter and the myriad of tools that have been developed to help us navigate the microblogging network. To help, I pulled out the 10 apps that I thought would be most useful for PR pros from the article, “105 Twitter Apps for PR Professionals”:

1. CoTweet allows multiple people to connect to and tweet from a single corporate Twitter account. This is one of two tools I am highlighting in this post that I have used. I found CoTweet to be extremely easy to use and valuable because when needed, you can schedule tweets far in advance (I scheduled two weeks of tweets at once) and you can see what the other CoTweet-ers are doing on the account.
2. Twiler allows you to receive email updates of tweets that contain the keyword(s) that you set up. Instead of constantly checking Twitter Search or TweetDeck (see #7) you can have the tweets you want to see sent directly to your email to view at your convenience.
3. TwitTrans is a service provided by OneHourTranslation.com that translates your tweet to any language using human translators for a small fee. You can translate your tweet to Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish. I’m assuming that the translation takes an hour, but that’s a lot faster than learning a second language!
4. ConnectTweet allows groups or organizations to combine the voices of its employees into a central Twitter account. With ConnectTweet, multiple people can contribute to the organization’s Twitter account by adding a hashtag to their company-related tweets coming from their personal account. ConnectTweet grabs the tweets containing the relevant hashtag and posts them to the organization’s Twitter page along with the individual’s Twitter handle.  This is a good way to avoid having a ghostwriter for your organization’s Twitter account (see my previous post: Ghostwriting for Social Media).
5. Twitpress automatically sends a tweet each time you update or add a new post to your blog. This helps you to promote your blog without having to remember to tweet about each new post you publish.
6. TwInbox, formerly known at OutTwit, integrates Twitter into Microsoft Outlook. This tool allows you to update your Twitter status, receive updates, archive, search and more all from Outlook. Simplifying Twitter and allowing you to have fewer items open on your computer?  Sign me up!
7. TweetDeck is a real-time browser that you can use on your desktop to connect your Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Buzz and more accounts that you monitor and use daily. The Integrated Media Services Group at Vanguard uses TweetDeck, and I have found it to be incredibly useful and organized. I can have multiple searches running for my clients at all times and can pull up TweetDeck to view these searches at my convenience.
8. TweetEffect allows you to see which tweet made people follow or unfollow you on Twitter. This could be a great tracking tool to see which messages and information are effective for your audience.
9. Twinfluence measures the combined influence of Twitterers and their followers to allow you to easily see which of your followers has the greatest influence on Twitter. Tracking success on Twitter is an ongoing question for PR professionals, and this may be a way to at least scratch the surface of this complicated question.
10. TweetBeep is similar to Twiler in that it sends you an email when your keyword(s) is mentioned on Twitter. The difference is that TweetBeep sends you an update every hour (which could be helpful or annoying depending on your personal preferences) and not only sends you information on people mentioning your keyword(s) but also who is tweeting your website or blog – even as a shorted URL!

What are your favorite Twitter apps?

I recently came across this article about the ethics of ghostwriting for a client on Twitter (UPDATE: the previous link is no longer active – you can view the Google cache of the article here). The client is an executive who wanted several staff members to tweet from his personal Twitter account during a [...]]]>

I recently came across this article about the ethics of ghostwriting for a client on Twitter (UPDATE: the previous link is no longer active – you can view the Google cache of the article here). The client is an executive who wanted several staff members to tweet from his personal Twitter account during a conference because he was concerned that he would be unable to keep up with all of the tweets that should be sent out throughout the day.  The executive instructed his staff to provide disclaimers noting that some of the tweets were not his own; they did so, providing a reminder once in every ten updates.  From the article:

“The executive wants his tweet stream to reflect his activity at the show, and to highlight other happenings at the conference, as well. He’s concerned that he won’t be able to support this many obligations.”

While I fully understand the importance of a consistent stream of tweets with information that is important and relevant to followers, it may be confusing to have multiple people tweeting from one individual’s personal Twitter account.  A strong alternative solution would be to create a separate Twitter account specifically for the conference or for the issue. An account that is not associated with one person can be updated by a team because the account’s “followers” do not expect to see the thoughts and opinions of one person.

“For the record, there was no pushback from the executive’s followers. Anyone who took the time to react to our approach seemed to appreciate the fact that, for a short time, his tweet stream became a mix of on-the-floor reporting by the exec, supplemented by dispatches from a third-party response team in marketing.”

The disclaimer helps – but if I am following an individual on Twitter that is an executive of a company, I expect to see that executive’s thoughts and not the thoughts of their PR team. This raises the question – if a person doesn’t have time to tweet, is it misleading for that individual to have a team updating their personal Twitter account, even if they are telling that team what to tweet?

An executive that is telling their team what to update on their behalf still represents the thoughts of that executive.  In this instance, the argument can be made that the person who is physically typing and sending the tweet is unimportant because their followers are still seeing the thoughts of the person associated with the account. It would be naïve to think that every personal account on Twitter is updated solely by that individual – but is it the hope of all their followers that it is that individual typing and sending the tweets?  And with reporters and media outlets paying greater attention to Twitter, what are the ethical concerns regarding updates attributed to individuals that come from a team of professional communicators?

A recent study conducted by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations found that a majority of reporters and editors turn to social media when conducting research for their stories:

Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social [...]]]>

A recent study conducted by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations found that a majority of reporters and editors turn to social media when conducting research for their stories:

Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.

The study also found that the reporters and editors using social media outlets for their research understood the need to verify all of the information that they find.

Eighty-four percent said social media sources were “slightly less” or “much less” reliable than traditional media, with 49% saying social media suffers from “lack of fact checking, verification and reporting standards.

To verify the information found through social media outlets and sources, journalists are turning to public relations professionals. PR professionals can provide verification of the information as well as access to additional information and experts.  From the article:

Editors and reporters surveyed said they depend on PR professionals for “interviews and access to sources and experts” (44%), “answers to questions and targeted information” (23%), and “perspective, information in context, and background information” (17%).

As journalists using social media outlets turn to PR professionals for verification and context, PR professionals should establish themselves as resources by building relationships with local reporters.  This requires public relations staff to be aware of the ongoing conversations in the social media sphere with respect to their clients and areas of expertise.  PR professionals should be constantly tracking the stories in their clients’ field of focus – in new and old media channels alike – in order to keep track of which local reporters are covering those issues.  This enables public relations staff to establish themselves as a contact to be used as a source of information and pathway to experts that can provide quotes and data as needed.  With a good relationship established, journalists will reach out to a PR professional for verification, context and expert input the next time they are working on a story.