clare siobhan

My handy firefox browser offers me many handy gadgets. One of those is the ability to add little icons over my tabs, making visiting my favourite websites a mere click away. These icons include your usual popular sites; Google, Facebook, Last.fm, YouTube and WordPress. But recently, a new contender has earned its place – Twitter.

I signed up to Twitter back in October after hearing the beginning of what was to be a huge amount of hyper surrounding the social networking site, but never really posted much until recently; which brings about the question, ‘What is acceptable to post on your Twitter account?’

I’ve read much advice over this topic, from lecturers such as Richard Bailey recommending guides to using Twitter for PR, to this short and simple guide on how NOT to use the service. But believe that as a 19-year-old PR student, there can be some exceptions to the usual Twitter etiquette.
For example, anyone who’s read any how-to Twitter guide will know that we are constantly advised NOT to constantly update the Twitter-verse on your tedious day to day tasks such what programme you’ll be watching tonight, or that Asda had run out of Spaghetti. Instead, we are told only to report on the most exciting or strictly business aspects of our lives. I however, object to this. Twitter is all about people, not robots and should reflect this. As a student, I’m hardly going to have an amazing business career, but I might feel like telling everyone that the Watchmen was a great film, or that I’m really enjoying my work experience. These kind of posts are not completely pointless, or likely to ruin my future career, and keep my Twitter profile updated and interesting.

Also, as a PR student, it’s hard not to notice to huge benefits (and potential disasters) Twitter can have for a company and see how so many businesses have already jumped on the bandwagon. In a crisis for a company, many Twitter users may produce negative posts that spread like wildfire, damaging a company’s reputation. If the company has a Twitter account, it can retaliate fast and is prepared to deal with the social media side of the crisis. Maybe if Leeds Metropolitan University had been more upfront and honest about the departure of the vice-chancellor on their Twitter, there would have been less backlash and more understanding from staff and students alike. I know all the staff at Quest PR have a Twitter account, which they use to their advantage in the PR industry.

So to finish, I’m fast warming to this exciting social tool, but hope that Richard’s prediction that it could be ‘The death of the blog’ doesn’t come true! Now for some shameless self-promotion, my Twitter username is claresiobhan…