Why does Twitter receive so little respect? So many critics say that its popularity will soon fizzle out, that it is a flash in the pan and will never amount to much. Yet all the metrics prove otherwise. Take the latest results from a survey from VMS, a news monitoring service. According to VMS, Twitter generates $48 million of media coverage a month. Yikes. In the past month alone Twitter received nearly 3 billion media impressions—and online Twitter is outpacing even Google.
Maybe it is time to give Twitter its due. Maybe, Twitter will be as firmly entrenched in our social media world as Facebook. Until shown otherwise, those of us in PR would be wise to find ways to work with this unique new communications tool rather than fight it. We know from surveys I have done with the Society for New Communications Research that journalists are turning to Twitter in increasing numbers. We know that people of all ages are using Twitter. What further evidence does one need? To me, to not incorporate Twitter in a communications program borders on incompetence.