PRticles of Interest

Good social media takes advantage of the viral characteristics of internet messaging. The best thing about social media sites like Twitter and Facebook is that your message can reach people outside of your “follower network.” If you post a link to an interesting article on Facebook for your client, the Federation of Public Relations Interns, for example, the members of that group and other interested parties who like that page will see the post. If one of those people likes or comments on the post, their friends will see that activity and may be attracted to the client’s page.. If your page or account is “followed” by 10 people and they each have 400 friends, you can actually reach up to 4,000 people with your post. This is the viral characteristic that distinguishes social media tools.

The difference between Facebook and Twitter is that your Twitter network is not concrete. On Facebook, if you have a small following and they are not actively engaged on the page, it can take a long time for that network to really launch and begin to grow rapidly.

With Twitter, however, you can use hash tags to insert your message into discussions that your followers may not be taking part in, thereby increasing the range of your message and bringing your followers into those discussions. If other groups or individuals are interested in the message that you supply to the conversation, they may follow you, and their followers may be inclined to do so as well. This pattern could theoretically continue forever and, like your Facebook network, your Twitter followers may increase exponentially.

Similarly you can “tag” other Twitter users that you do not follow and that do not follow you. By doing so, you can target specific groups and individuals to engage them and their followers. The absence of this capacity is the limiting characteristic of Facebook.

Following the release of the iPad 5, you can tweet about the advanced software or user interface and include #ipad5, an approach of particular value for a client with a stagnant social network – a firm, for example, that does research in the field of technology, This puts your client in a new position to expand their reach. New Apple enthusiasts or tech junkies that had never heard about your client may follow the Twitter account to learn more about the fascinating data that such tech junkies regularly uncover.  They may even connect to the client’s Facebook page for more information.

While other social media sites have their unique characteristics, capabilities, and benefits, Twitter gives you the unique ability to aim with pinpoint precision and then inject your viral social media message for widespread dissemination and impact.

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