Fair and Balanced Blogging: The Downside of Twitter

Posted by Katie Noonan

Let it be known that I share the following begrudgingly, but with the belief that like a good news outlet, The PRLaywer should be unbiased. As much as I love Twitter, Stephen Baker of Businessweek’s Blogspotting raises a valid point about the…umm…downside of Twitter here.

If you’re like me, you get just a little excited when someone new starts following your tweets. But how many followers actually see your tweets on a given day? Therein lies the problem. If they are logged in and tweeting at the same they may see it, but with so many people tweeting your tweet will be knocked off their radar probably within an hour or so. Which begs the question, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to tweet about it, does it make a sound? Ok, not a perfect analogy, but you get the idea. Baker’s blog made me think twice about how much PR is really garnered from tweeting.

By no means am I saying should you stop tweeting. Twitter still connects you to people with whom you may never have had contact. And, it’s just plain fun to see what people are saying and weigh in with thoughts of your own.

To optimize your Twitter presence, I recommend tweeting @ people. Doing so could build new relationships and lead to potential new business or networking opportunities. Also, Facebook and Plaxo have Twitter applications which send your tweets directly to your profile page. This means that even more people in your network will see what you have to say.

All-in-all, Twitter may not be perfect, but it’s still a wonderful PR tool.

Since this will likely be my last post before Christmas, I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday and happy and healthy new year! I hope you’ll continue to visit The PRLawyer and keep the conversation going in ’09…