Demi Moore as "Jules" from "St. Elmo's Fire" (one of the best 80's movies around)

Twitter provides us with endless entertainment, and I will give a ton of credit to the celebrities (or their ghostwriters) that keep things interesting

We’ve heard about John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston allegedly breaking up because of Twitter.

We’ve also heard about hackers breaking into Britney Spears’ account.

We’ve also had the disappointment of Christopher Walken’s account being a fraud.

And then there was Shaq who tweeted where he was dining and met up with some of his followers who enjoying the same diner food (though probably not as much food; Shaq’s a big dude).

Considering that Twitter is only about 3 years old (founded in March of 2006), the rate at which it’s growing is staggering, and the users are also an impressive bunch.

Sure, celebrities have had a presence on social networking sites, but none of the interaction is real time and, working in entertainment PR, I can assure you that most celebrity pages are maintained by someone on payroll.  

I think it’s the quick quips and real time interaction that makes Twitter such a unique outlets for the general public and celebrities, as well.

And it’s a good thing that people are addicted to Twitter, as it recently saved someone’s life.

The long and short of it is this: a fan tweeted Demi Moore that she was going to kill herself.  Demi (and her followers) took the threat seriously, called the local police and the woman found unharmed and taken in for observation.

Great PR for Demi, great PR for Twitter, fodder for news and celebrity gossip sites, and most importantly, a thwarted suicide attempt.  Entertainment PR at its finest.

Jackie for AMP3pr.com

@JackieBrook

Don't make yourself look this competent...

Even for those people with jobs, times are stressful.  Whether they’re worried about keeping their jobs, having wages cut, or are simply burnt out from taking on the work of laid off employees, everyone seems to be (rightfully) on edge.

But is that an excuse for letting common, socially normalized etiquette fly out the window?

Working at an entertainment PR firm, we get our fair share of people inquiring about jobs or internships.  And some of the inquiries are very creative and show initiative and promise.  But lately, we’ve been receiving generic emails (where multiple PR companies were solicited and NOT in the BCC field), or emails with the subject line “Important Documents” with nothing in the body of the email.

PR is an industry that’s been hard hit by the economy, so for the few firms that are hiring, these tactics are not the way to put your best foot forward or showing that you have an understanding of how the game is played.

But I wonder if these cases are bred out of desperation or ignorance.  Analysts debate when the recession will end, and with no end in the immediate future’s site, people are corresponding in ways that aren’t helping to hedge their bets.  But being in dire straits or simply looking for a new job during a recession does not give someone license to forget that there are certain ways to go about finding and securing a job, and thoughtlessness is not one of them.

As if impersonal emails weren’t bad enough, people are taking to the mean streets of Twitter and soliciting veritable strangers to help pass along resumes or contact information in an effort to network.

Now, I’m certainly someone that appreciates a bit of audacity, but only when it’s mixed with a healthy amount of charm, confidence, and credible footing.  I would happily do my best to help a mildly brazen acquaintance become more familiar with entertainment PR, but I’m not going to respond kindly to some snarky email from that acquaintance’s co-worker’s cousin.

In the elegant (and probably ripped off) words of a dearly departed friend: know your role.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn: they’re all great resources for staying in touch with people and using resources you wouldn’t otherwise have access to, but soliciting strangers without any sense of decorum just shows that the person in question has no place working in Public Relations.

Jackie for AMP3pr.com

@JackieBrook