Can Twitter Make You a Better Editor?

You have anywhere from three to ten seconds to capture and hold someone’s attention in a conversation. On Twitter, you have 140 characters. Realistically, you have about one second if you consider the number of Twitter users (100 million+) and the number of tweets per second (1,000–4,000, pending on the current events). The point? If you don’t have a snazzy lede (am I old school for still spelling it that way?) you’re never going to get clicked.

So, tweeters got smarter. They saw what worked and what didn’t. They found ways to cut out the unnecessary info and focus on only the good stuff. They jazzed up their call to action. Basically, they became editors — and good ones at that (some of them, at least). Self-editing and style guidelines are now more important than ever because people can easily get content somewhere else. While Strunk and White never imagined a need for a well-defined Elements of Twitter Style, it does beg one question: Can Twitter make you a better editor? [keep on reading...]

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{ 17 comments }

best pr blogs

While there is no shortage of “Best PR Blogs” posts out there, I’ve put together a list of my favorites based on what I’m reading these days. Along the way, I found a few I need to spend more time with (and shared them). As a bonus, I also included some non-PR blogs I think PR people should read. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

My Favorite PR Blogs

These are my ‘must have’, can’t live without PR blogs (in alphabetical order)…

  • A Shel of My Former Self – you’ll find Shel Holtz’s blog ‘at the intersection of communication and technology’. Shel knows his stuff, enough said.
  • Brian Solis – Brian offers so much more than “PR” knowledge these days, it’s almost unfair to put him on this list. That said, he’s one of the leading innovators in our industry and is somebody you should pay attention to when he posts (he’s also a pretty nice guy). If you want to know what people will be talking about next year, just read Brian’s blog today.
  • Dave Fleet – PR professional who explores the intersection of communications, marketing and social media. Always great, insightful content on his blog. Surprisingly, Dave is one of the few people on this list I have met. What’s up with that?
  • PRDaily – PRDaily does a great job at sifting through all the top PR news of the day and packaging it in one, nice and tidy digest. PRDaily has climbed to the top of the charts for me in 2010. They do a great job at pulling stories related to PR and social media as well.
  • PRNewser – this is MediaBistro’s best blog. If you want to keep tabs on what’s shakin’ in the PR world, you’ll learn about it first PRNewser (co-editors @jasonchupick and @joeciarallo are great at what they do).
  • PRSarahEvans.com – while I love Sarah’s blog, I find Commentz even more valuable (it’s awesome) – subscribe today, you won’t regret it. Then again, if you don’t know who Sarah Evans is yet, you’ve got some catching up to do (see also #journchat and MediaOnTwitter).
  • PR-Squared – Shift Communications’ blog about social media marketing and public relations (they were blogging about social media before it was cool).

Don’t miss my non-PR blogs PR pros should be reading list on the next page.

[keep on reading...]

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Five Ws and One H: The Secret to Complete News Stories

August 5, 2010
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If you ever sat through Journalism 101, you know all about the Five Ws and one H. For the rest of you, you may find this concept helpful when preparing interview questions or writing factual news stories. This concept may help you write better news releases too, considering they should contain news. What are the [...]

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The Elements of Style: Twitter Edition

August 3, 2010
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I have at least four copies of The Elements of Style. Originally published in 1918 by William Strunk, Jr., this book has truly stood the test of time. It’s been a great writing resource for me over the years, even though there are still dozens of its rules that I break with each blog post. [...]

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Facebook for PR Launches

July 28, 2010
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I wrote about Facebook for Public Relations back in January and provided a few suggestions for how public relations professionals can use Facebook as part of the PR tool set. Facebook must have really enjoyed the post, because now they have launched a new Facebook for PR Page dedicated to “Best practices and conversations around [...]

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Is Twitter A Credible Source?

July 23, 2010
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“If you’re twittering, you can go to Hell! Go to Hell! How do you end up with an ego that you’re that interested in your own life?” – Lewis Black Lewis Black has a bucket-full of opinions when it comes to blogging and the social media phenomenon Twitter. I could go on and on about [...]

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The Best Four Years: Advice for College Students

July 22, 2010
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It is often said that college is the best four years of your life. In my opinion, the “best” years of anyone’s life are something that is left to self interpretation. As I enter my senior year, I find myself thinking a lot about what I’ve accomplished so far, and the things I wish I [...]

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Student Run PR Firms: The Dos and Don’ts

July 22, 2010
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When I heard about the opportunity to join Penn State’s first and only student-run public relations firm at our first PRSSA meeting last fall, I jumped at the chance. The opportunity has paid off. Doing public relations for businesses in downtown State College has been a great experience that has not only built up my [...]

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The Changing Face of Public Relations

July 21, 2010
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Log on to Twitter and it’s easy to find companies getting trashed for careless business practices (like creating an environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico).  On Facebook, corporations have their fan pages inundated with negative comments about lackluster customer service and local restaurants get to read reviews from unsatisfied guests.  In an age of [...]

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The Undergraduate’s Guide to Landing a Job in PR

July 21, 2010
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In today’s economy, your odds of landing a job could be comparable to winning the lottery. Five years ago, landing a decent job after college was not that hard, as long as you had a degree. At least that’s what a lot of us think. Today, recent graduates are struggling to land not only a [...]

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