Anyone with a Cell Phone can Tweet

Peter Shankman, founder of HARO, noted on his Facebook page that in a room filled 100 journalists at the New York Press Club, where was scheduled to speak, only four were live-tweeting (using Twitter) the event. He asked his more than 13,000 followers, "If journalists are so worried about re-inventing themselves as their media outlets die, wouldn't you think they'd ALL be live-tweeting as a way to improve and grow their personal brand?"

Forty-eight people posted comments including one journalist who stated "Professional journalists can't always afford blackberries."

Not a problem when it comes to tweeting. As Peter point out, "any cell phone can tweet."

It just so happens that the day prior to Peter's Facebook post, I was following Cara Ellen Modisett, editor of Blue Ridge Country Magazine, while she tweeted live during the Fall 2009 Conference of the Virginia Press Women where author Lucinda Roy was awarded the Newsmaker of the Year award for her book about the Virginia Tech shootings, "No Right to Remain Silent.

Cara's 20 Twitter posts covered the beginning and end of Lucinda's talk:

BRCeditor: #vpw standing ovation for Lucinda Roy. Q&A. Q How difficult was it emotionally to be ignored when she was voicing concern?

BRCeditor: #vpw "When it is murder... it is a different kind of grief" - barbed (Lucinda Roy)

Whether the intent is to build your personal brand or to report, the power of the press and media increases when social medial communication tools are used to share the story.

Anyone with a cell phone can tweet. Click for step-by-step instructions from e-How.

Comments

[Thomas Costick (3dBloke)]

I've only been on Twitter a couple of weeks and I've learnt how to send tweets and TwitPics from my old SonyEricsson K750i. Simple SMS text messaging for tweets and email for TwitPic. That is, after all, why Twitter limits your tweets to 140 chars. :-)