This twitch thing is really catching on!

My recent two-day rejection of PR pitches via email and telephone in favour of Twitter caused quite a stir.

Despite accusations from some of my fellow hacks that my real intention for the experiment was ironically PR; the truth was that the amount of irrelevant material which fills my inbox and voicemail is getting really annoying.

The pressure on PRs to get the word out about their clients, particularly in these tough economic times, is stronger than ever. But unfortunately it's leading to a plethora of poorly targeted pitches. That's where Twitter comes in.

News travels fast on Twitter, something reflected in a significant increase in the number of people following me in the period between me making the announcement and carrying out the actual experiment.

So how did the PRs do?

It certainly worked in terms of cutting the amount of emails and telephone calls I receive. Over the two days, phone calls from PRs dropped from the usual 20 or so to an amount I could count on the fingers of one hand. There also certainly seemed to less emails hitting my inbox.

When it came to Twitter pitches - or twitches as I nicknamed them - many were pretty inventive; one even managed to put together a rhyme! I commissioned a couple of articles based on some twitches but unfortunately some PRs employed the same old tactics: a tweet asking me 'are you interested in a good story?' the worst among them. My response 'Yes but I'm afraid you've used up your quota of tweets' was unsurprisingly met with silence!

So what did it teach me?

Overall, I think was a success. It certainly got PRs thinking about how they interact with me and gave me time to concentrate the ever present of tasks on my To Do list. There's still some way to go though.

Whether or not they choose to accept it, the way news is gathered is changing. Twitter and social networks like it have given ordinary people the tools with which they can break stories. You only need to look at the much reported tweets during the Mumbai terrorist attacks and the first picture of the Hudson River plane crash to see what I mean.

Brands also need to be aware of how things are changing. Weekend tweeters will be fully aware of the furore surrounding the poor wireless signal at the South by South West Interactive festival currently taking place in Austin. The Twittersphere became littered with negative comments forcing the company to respond and hike up the signal.

Communication has never been more instant and the ordinary man and the woman on the street has never had more power.

That's not to say PR is dead. There is still a need for it but those working in the field must think about how they get the word out to journalists about the individuals and organisations they represent.

It appears I'm not alone in my thoughts. I admit I wasn't the first to ditch email in favour of Twitter. Blogger Dennis Howlett announced he would only accept PR pitches as tweets last year.

The latest journalist to join in is Charles Arthur, technology editor, who this week tweeted:

[Gorkana is a directory used by PRs to find journalists' contact details.]

PR consultant Craig McGill picked up on Arthur's action and post on his blog.

He makes some good points such as:

"I've often argued that even if they do nothing else, PRs should be monitoring Twitter to see what is said about their clients, but now they have to learn how to use it if they want to appeal to the UK's top mainstream technology supplement. It's not the only bit of education involved as Charles also hopes it means people will start to be more relevant in what they send to him. Here, here!

Relevance is key. In the seven years I've been a journalist, PRs have got very lazy. Yes, you might be able to tell your client you've got their release in front of 100 or so journalists but how many of those journalists will actually write about it because they cover the area in which your client has an interest? Very few I predict in many circumstances.

Nothing lasts forever so it's time to accept that the news gathering process has changed. Deal with it and start tweeting!