Public Relations and Twitter Terms

@: (at) - sends a message to a user


Boilerplate: a brief paragraph stating who you are, what you do, and how you do it, usually used as the first paragraph in a biography or last paragraph in a news release


Corporate fact sheet: one-page document that describes a company's principles, services, philosophy, fees. Includes address, telephone, fax and e-mail, and map to allow prospective clients or reporters to easily find a business


Fail Whale: an image of a whale held up by birds and nets. This image shows that Twitter has been overloaded or that a failure occurred within the service


#followfriday/#ff: every Friday you can use  #followfriday to suggest people to follow.

Lead time: period of time that reporters and producers need to prepare stories and information for publication or broadcast


#musicmonday/#mm: Monday is music day on Twitter. Tag used to suggest music to people on Mondays.


Talking head: television shot that shows only the upper shoulders, neck, and face of the person being interviewed. Usually accompanied by a computer-generated sign that appears mid chest identifying the person and his or her company


Tweetup: A real life meet up announced on twitter