Twitter is a Platform for PR Best Practices via the Tweets of Salvador Rodriguez of @Reuters

Twitter has become just as entertaining as a comedy special on Netflix. The happenings around the world and chaos in Washington, D.C., have opened up a whole new profession for serious business reporters – comedy writing. I use Twitter to monitor what reporters are covering more than I use it to post things of my own, so it’s not difficult to miss some of the commentary from reporters projecting their humorous opinions about trends and breaking news.

And when it comes to PR advice, reporters also share strong opinions there too. One of my favorites to follow and retweet come from Salvador Rodriguez, an enterprise and cloud-computing reporter for @Reuters. I don’t have much to pitch him on behalf of my clients, but I do enjoy his musings about some of his interactions with PR reps. But before we start, warning Tweet #1: Don’t address him as Slavidor, because he will delete your email.

I appreciate Salvador for his honesty, and I hope my colleagues in the industry are paying attention to some of these gems:

  • Another day, another lurking PR person who doesn’t announce themselves until the middle of the call ‪#WhySoShady ‪#TomShady #TheShadyBunch
  • If you’re pitching me in the middle of Microsoft earnings, you’re doing PR wrong. My hashtag, not his #PRFail
  • Reminder for PR ppl: Recording a call is illegal if one of the parties is in the state of California unless you first ask for permission
  • PR ppl, don’t offer me an embargo if you’re also offering to Business Insider. Rather not waste my time getting “scooped” by their “exclusive”

And I get a good laugh when his Tweets like this one, ‘When PR ppl call to pitch you at 9 am on the dot,’ come with a GIF:

  • When a PR person calls their pitch a “story tip” GIF
  • When the PR person says they don’t disclose the info you asked for and then you find it in the SEC filings GIF
  • When the PR person opens the networking dinner with “tonight isn’t the night to announce that thing your company is working on” GIF

Thanks to Twitter, you almost don’t have to go to PR graduate school to learn how to work with the media. Salvador will offer a free education via Twitter: “There are three certainties in life. Death, taxes and every PR person eventually becoming a Sal tweet.”  Go on, test him. GIF