Recognizing the growing impact of social media on public relations, the press release distribution company PR NewsChannel (prnewschannel.com) today announced a significant change in editorial policy, effective immediately, to allow for the hashtag # and the @ symbol in headlines.
A hashtag, signified by the # symbol, is used to identify keywords or topics in a Twitter message.
Hashtags have also become a way for social audiences to categorize and reference information. Hashtags are basically keywords and Twitter allows users to search for hashtags and even shows which hashtags are trending, or being widely used at the time.
Out of habit, some social media users have also begun using hashtags on Facebook and LinkedIn.
As for the @ symbol, on Twitter it is used before a name to signify or address a Twitter user or Twitter account (i.e. @PRNewsChannel).
Marketing news: Benefit of hashtags in headlines
PR NewsChannel says by allowing hashtags and symbols, sharing articles from PR NewsChannel on Twitter will become even more powerful.
“When anyone uses the social media tools on PR NewsChannel to share a headline, hashtags and symbols automatically appear in the Twitter message,” says Glenn Selig, founder of the press release distribution company and president and CEO of Selig Multimedia, Inc., its parent company. “The elements that make a message standout on Twitter are automatically embedded into Tweets.”
In making this change, the press release newswire departs from The Associated Press Stylebook standards it adopted. Reporters, editors and others use the AP Stylebook as a guide for grammar, punctuation and principles and practices of reporting.
PR NewsChannel says the exception is necessary because of the growing influence of social media on our lives and on public relations.
“Press releases need to be more social in the age of social media and PR NewsChannel must create an environment to not only make that possible, but make it easy,” says Selig.
About PR NewsChannel: PR NewsChannel is the only global newswire created by journalists. We’re affordable, effective and offer unparalleled customer support. PR NewsChannel is the ONLY press release newswire with a Breaking News Desk, on call 24/7. We have a huge database of news contacts from around the U.S., Canada and the world, keeping it constantly updated so we can send a press release to the media at any time of day or night. We have built an extensive and powerful online syndication network, enabling us to harness the power of the Internet to get your news, everywhere.
ON THE WEB:
CONTACT:
Phone: 888.399.5534
Email:
Website: prnewschannel.com
SOURCE: PR NewsChannel
Print Friendly
This press release is distributed by PR NewsChannel. Your News. Everywhere.
A good idea.