Is Twitter the newest and coolest way to pitch the media?

A social media service that lets you tell people whether you got the frappuccino or the decaf latte, or how you’re passing time at the airport—what could be more useless?

Twitter is one of those social media technologies that is bound to make you scratch your head and say, “You’ve gotta be kidding me”—assuming you’re not already drinking the Twitter Kool-Aid.

Well, given the trajectory of most social media, you may not be surprised to hear that Twitter is rapidly gaining a following not only as a PR tool, but as a way to reach out to the media (yes, they’re slowly but surely getting on Twitter too). If you’re a total Twitter newbie, read our sidebar on Twitter basics. If you have a general idea of how the service works, read on for tales of Twitter success.

Journalists are Tweeting too

Slowly but surely, mainstream journalists (not just the tech media) are turning up on Twitter and often sharing thoughts on stories they’re covering.

“They’re out there telling us what they’re writing about, and what they’re thinking about,” says Lisa Dilg, account director at PerkettPR in Detroit. “It’s more valuable than an editorial calendar ever was.”