How It Works - Instructions

For Journalists

Find the group from which you want PR people and/or other journalists to give you information, tips, sources and feedback.

Follow the group(s) you would like to post to.

The relevant group will then follow you, which will allow you to post to the appropriate group(s).

Post to the appropriate group(s) via a Direct Message to the group name. 

Your message will then be posted on the private page of the group and the private pages of the people who have been authorized to follow the group.

PR people or other journalists will respond to your message by either an @reply or Direct Message if you decide to follow them.

For PR People

Find the group(s) from whom you want to receive requests for information. 

The group will be private, so you must be approved.

Once you are approved you can view all posts on the Group and on your Private Page.

To reply to posts you can @reply to the Tweeter, or send a Direct Message directly to the journalist if they decide to follow you. 

Do not @reply to the group. 

You’ll likely be rewarded for effective @replies by acquiring journalist followers.

Notes

This process is primarily designed for journalists to ask questions, and for PR people to answer them. If other journalists have the answers, then it is just as much a forum for them to @reply or Direct Message the tweeting journalist. However, if journalists prefer to keep details of articles or questions under wraps, then it is their choice how much information to reveal. 

Group members’ @replies to the group can be viewed by all followers, and all who search for the group. So unless you want everyone to see your message, @reply or Direct Message specific people. 

If journalists want to broadcast a Direct Message to all the group’s followers they must send a Direct Message to the specific group Twitter account. The Direct Message will then be shown on the home page with a message from the group via ‘@member’. 

If PR professionals’ responses are timely, consistent and effective, they will likely be rewarded with journalist followers. 

However, if responses are spam, irrelevant or any other category of unacceptable posting listed in ‘Rules’, other group followers can complain by sending a direct message to the Twitter group, contact us via @hacktweets or send an email, and the complaint will be investigated. Offending followers will be banned without warning.