31 May 2012
Yasmine Triana, PR Assistant

Live tweeting - the new trend on Twitter

Will-i-am Olympics


Using Twitter as a commercial communications platform has become increasingly popular among celebrities, TV programmes and organisations over the last few years. But it is still evolving, so quickly in fact you will notice hashtags and @ signs popping up everywhere. It’s all about engagement, and connecting with fans, viewers and consumers. 

Using Twitter as a commercial communications platform has become increasingly popular among celebrities, TV programmes and organisations over the last few years. But it is still evolving, so quickly in fact you will notice hashtags and @ signs popping up everywhere. It’s all about engagement, and connecting with fans, viewers and consumers. 

This use of Twitter isn’t new, but what is trending now is using the social network tool to connect in real-time – Live Tweeting.

You may have recently seen pictures of will.i.am with the Olympic torch in one hand and his phone in the other, posting live tweets and pictures while #runningthetorch. This is a great example of celebrities live tweeting in order to interact with their followers in real-time. Many celebrities on TV are now also live tweeting during their programmes, which is great for getting immediate feedback from the audience sitting at home. Lord Sugar tweets during episodes of The Apprentice, giving his followers a running commentary on his opinion of the candidates’ performances. He also uses this opportunity to run a live Q&A with the viewers on Twitter.

It’s no secret that Twitter can also be a great tool within PR and journalism. As well as being able to keep up-to-date with news and activities as they happen, it also gives clients the chance to interact with their target audiences and journalist contacts. 

Here at Westgate, Twitter is a great way for us to let our followers know about our latest news, whether it’s a new client win, a campaign that we’ve been working on or some great coverage we’ve secured for a client. We also tweet during events and press trips, which enables us to build great relationships with journalists as well as giving us a chance to mention our clients.

On all of the various events and press trips we’ve organised, we’ve tweeted whilst on the trip, or during the event, and responded to any tweets the journalists have posted so that we are able to engage in a dialogue with our target media. This has even resulted in journalists getting in touch with us and requesting to go on future press trips or events, as they’ve seen all the comments flying around the Twittersphere.

Twitter is also a great way of connecting with journalists who were unable to attend an event, as they will often tweet or re-tweet the progress of the event as it happens, giving clients even more exposure online.

A journalist or celebrity that tweets about your client may have many more followers than they have readers or viewers, and with any trending hashtag, your client could potentially reach a worldwide audience online. Therefore, I strongly believe Twitter should be recognised as a form of coverage in itself. Somehow I don’t think I’m ever going to get the 24,913,182 followers that Lady Gaga has (at the time of writing this blog - it rapidly increases by the minute), but I’m still a fan of #livetweeting.



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