Monday, October 13, 2014

Twitter as a Tool

As it has been obvious in my past blogs, a majority of my blogs are about a book. This is because I am also writing these blogs for a social media class, not just for sheer enjoyment. The last book we read was called Share This. We are now onto a book called Real-Time Marketing and PR.

This book is my favorite so far, not only because of the content but also because of how the book is set up. Each chapter is broken up into sections so you know what you are going to read about before you even start to read the sections. If I would have picked this book up in a book store and skimmed through the pages, I would have instantly known what the content was and bought it right then and there. As you can tell, I am excited about this book.

The first topic in this book that I would like to discuss is how Twitter is being used as a tool when it comes to crisis communication. The book explains how you can use Twitter to talk to the company causing the crisis or journalists about the crisis.

It is explained that you can do this is multiple ways. You can use the hashtag tool or the mention tool (@) to mention a company or journalist. I feel that the hashtag would be the most useful and productive way to get someone's attention about a crisis. If you use the hashtag, more people are going to see the tweet.

It amazes me how much Twitter can be executed in crisis communications. It can be used to report a problem, to quickly apologize and let your audience know that more information will follow about a crisis, to send your audience to a link where more information can be found and so much more.

Twitter is a HUGE tool and if it is executed in the right way, it can benefit a company in more ways than one.

3 comments:

  1. Alex, I am also really excited about this book! I think it is pretty easy to read and comprehend. It hopefully will touch on more of the marketing side of PR, which is what I am interested in! Twitter is such a great tool. I find myself using that more than Facebook these days. I can't wait to use it more in the professional world!

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  2. Alex, I was looking through the book the other day and was thinking the same things about the book too. I love the ease of reading and the content. I have noticed how Twitter has become more and more popular in crisis communication and it is neat to see the book confirm this. The most recent example I can think of is when the men escaped from prison in Lima and authorities went to Twitter to not only communicate with the public, but also find leads. I am excited to see how Twitter will be continued to be used by companies!

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  3. I think the biggest advantage of Twitter in a crisis situation, aside from the @ and # symbols, is how instant and direct it is. Even if you send out a tweet not directed as someone specifically, someone else important in a crisis situation may see it anyway. Plus, Twitter users are more inclined to share information and retweet which is great for crisis situations.

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