Are you putting enough thought into your headlines?

Headlines are a crucial element of a piece of writing. After all, if a headline does not catch the reader's attention, the piece is likely to be ignored by readers. Significantly, as reported in a blog post called "18 Resources to Help you Write Better Blog Titles" on the blog "Blogussion," "on average eight out of ten people will read headline copy, but only two out of ten will read the rest."

Despite this important role, headlines are neglected by many writers, and authors jeopardize readership potential as a result. In the post on Blogussion, as its title implies, author Alex shares 18 resources for writing effective headlines.

Check out the post and the list of resources by clicking here! I found the tips offered in resources 6, 9, and 10. What tips do you find most helpful? Do you have any resources or techniques you'd like to see added to the list? What works best for you when writing headlines?

Are Virtual Crops Coming to Life?

Good news FarmVille and Mafia Wars lovers- soon you can really take a bite out of your games- no really! According to “Digits,” the Wall Street Journal's technology blog, Zynga, the creator of our favorite addicting facebook games, is teaming up with 7-Eleven to bring the games from your screen to the store. This means that certain items you purchase at 7-Eleven will be accompanied by access codes that you can redeem online for goods in the popular Zynga games.

For all of you who scoff at friends watering crops or feeding their baby eagle, consider these figures: in 2009 the sale of virtual goods in social games brought in $336 million of revenue for Zynga. This figure is projected to quadruple to $2.1 billion by 2012.

7-Eleven is notorious for promoting movie and charity campaigns, but this partnership signifies the growing popularity and buying power of not only social media, but also social media games. The idea for the partnership developed after 7-Eleven retailers began selling FarmVille, Mafia Wars and YoVille gift cards in their stores. When sales of these gift cards skyrocketed, Zynga and 7-Eleven decided to capitalize on the concept of virtual goods and real goods coming together.

What this really proves to all of us is that whether we are talking about the virtual world or the real world, money is money and it is good for anything anywhere. The promotion is set to begin June 1 and run through July 15. For more information, you can read the Wall Street Journal blog post here.


This guest blog was written by PRowl staff member Michele Reilley.

The Tweetin' NBA - How Teams Use Social Media Effectively

Check out this video via Ragan's PR Daily about how NBA team the Phoenix Suns (@PhoenixSuns) uses Twitter to expand the team's brand and fan base. Video includes great strategy and creative promotional ideas!

Wal-Mart Begins to Blog

I came across an interesting article from the New York Times from earlier in the month about a PR campaign created by Wal-Mart. The store is fighting for more spending on employee health insurance and going after state legislation. In efforts to get more media coverage, Wal-Mart made a clever move. The store’s public relations firm wrote an email to dozens of interested bloggers with a message that would sway them to write a blog about it. Wal-Mart was “feeding them exclusive nuggets of news, suggesting topics for postings and even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters.” This is a step towards a better public outlook of such a commercial company and its workers. Although many blogs used the same wording as the firm-email that was sent, the blogosphere is full of “copying and pasting.” I think it was a swift PR move for Wal-Mart and a move into the right direction. More people are aware of Wal-Mart employees’ fight for justice and shines a positive light on the company’s appreciation for its employees. For more information, you can read the article on NYTimes.com!

Tips for the Overwhelmed Intern

I started my first internship last week at The Franklin Institute as their summer development events intern. Although it has only been a week I am already having an amazing time learning an invaluable amount of knowledge and skills. As a first time intern, all of the new assignments and tasks can get a little overwhelming and learning how to organize and prioritize all of them can get a little stressful. In order to help myself become more efficient with my organization, I consulted a great article on Intern Coach that lists some great suggestions for interns to manage your time effectively.

• At the end of every day, make a list of the next day’s assignments, arranging them in order from most important to least important. If you’re not sure, ask your intern manager to help you prioritize your responsibilities.

• Check to see if your assignments are the same ones that were in the description for the internship. If you see lots of new additions, it’s perfectly fine to question them. Don’t feel shy about asking for advice. Remember, people like to be asked for help because it makes them feel important.

• After you organize your list, allot a specific amount of time to each item. Note deadlines when necessary. Make sure that you do the top items to the best of your ability. You can probably do the least important items quickly. If you run out of time to complete the list, you could shift the bottom items to the next day.

• Make sure to get to your internship early every day, even if it’s only 15 minutes before the rest of the office. You’ll make a great first impression, which is the lasting impression. People will automatically expect that you’ll do an excellent job since you’re so enthusiastic that you even arrive early. Then, if you don’t get everything done, it won’t be a disaster because you’ve already established yourself as a thoroughly competent person.

• Maintain a positive attitude even if you feel frantic about the pile of work on your desk. However, it’s acceptable to sit down and talk with the intern manager, explain the overload, and ask if some items could be deleted from the assignment list. Emphasize that your priority is to do to a really good job. But with so many assignments, your work could be compromised.

• Take advantage of your many assignments as a way to prove that you have multiple skills. You’ll be more valuable to the company

What do you think about these tips? Do you have any suggestions of your own? Let us know!

A Journalist's Advice About Pitching

I recently came across an insightful video of New York Times technology columnist David Pogue talking about which pitches catch his attention and get turned into stories and which get deleted. Pogue recommends tailoring your pitches to each specific journalist rather than sending generic press releases and email blasts, which many journalists will not even read. Although it takes more effort to tailor your pitches to each journalist's beat and style of writing, you will be more successful at getting your story covered if you take the extra time to do so. Watch the video on MyRaganTV.com.

Just how big is the social media world?

It is not secret that social media has exploded in recent years, revolutionizing the way people keep in touch and interact with one another and with companies. But just what is the magnitude of this social media explosion?

The "Hubspot Blog" recently posted a collection of more than 300 facts contained in various social media statistics reports. The statistics are fascinating! What's more, the reports are published in a variety of formats, from videos to visual maps to colorful and elaborate diagrams, which helps bring the statistics to life.

Be sure to check them out by clicking here!

Summer Internships Come In All Shapes and Sizes

With the school year coming to a close, there is one thing on the mind of many college students: internships. It is common knowledge among students that experience of any kind will get you far and enhance your marketability in the job world. As internship experience is becoming increasingly vital to finding a job after graduation, finding an internship over the summer is becoming more competitive. Yet, with the internet and social media advancing, there are opportunities out there that many students overlook in terms of internships. The first step in finding one of these often overlooked internship opportunities is initiative. I can say this from experience.

Last semester, I found myself in the same situation as many other full-time students: I had too many classes and extra curricular activities to commit to a 9-5 internship. During the summer, I wanted to have an internship in the city, but like many other college students I need to make an income to have spending money in the fall. Many students think that they have to make a decision between having an internship and having a job. Since internships and jobs typically run during the same business hours, it can be hard to balance both.

Therefore, when I received an e-mail from Temple University's PRSSA detailing a virtual social media internship, I was intrigued. I sent in my resume and had a conference call with the woman I now call my boss. She explained that she and her husband began a website, Wandering Educators, and they were looking for someone to circulate it through various social media outlets. After hearing about the responsibilities and deciding on an appropriate number of hours per week, the virtual internship seemed manageable. I was told I would be responsible for managing the Twitter account, utilizing StumbleUpon to circulate their articles and increase their friendships, and using Digg. In addition, I will now be increasing my hours to go through a Facebook training program.

Social media is one of the fastest growing areas of Public Relations, and the internship has taught me a great amount about how to utilize the internet for Public Relations purposes. In the first month of working for them, I increased their website’s traffic by 10%. This was work that could be done anywhere that I could transport my laptop.

After the first eight weeks of interning, the social media position turned into a job and I now receive a weekly salary for my work. I have found that taking initiative has paid off, and I can have the best of both worlds. I have a 9-5 summer job, and when I come home I am still able to gain experience in the Public Relations field.

I encourage all curious Public Relations students to put themselves out there! Utilize the internet and use all of the resources available to learn as much as you possibly can. My experience in social media will help me when applying for internships in the fall, and has even given me a little extra spending money for the summer. Send out your resume, keep chipping away, and realize that there are internship opportunities that can work around your schedule and possibly without even leaving your home.

This guest blog was written by Meagan Prescott.

Energy Companies Conceal Interactions with Iran

While British Petroleum (BP) has a disaster on their hands regarding the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a Wall Street Journal article exposed yesterday that BP, Shell and other energy companies are also avoiding bad PR by attempting to hide their interactions with Iran. Even though it is perfectly legal, companies are trying to conceal their business dealings given Iran’s recent nuclear program controversy.

According to the article, “An oil tanker named Front Page, chartered by Royal Dutch Shell PLC…reported it was going to another United Arab Emirates port, then on to Saudi Arabia, ship-tracking data show. But the tracking information reveals that Front Page also made an unreported stop—to the coast of Iran. There it loaded Iranian oil, according to records obtained by oil traders and shipping sources.”

“Another oil tanker that stopped in Iran in March, which oil traders say was chartered by Total SA of France, turned off its tracking transponder throughout the visit (to Iran), according to ship-tracking data.”

Although companies have said they’ve stopped selling gasoline to Iran, they do not publicize the fact that they continue to buy crude or other Iranian oil products, a larger and more lucrative business than gasoline deliveries.

All companies involved declined to comment.

What do you think? Is there a problem with energy companies attempting to hide their business with Iran?

My opinion: According to the article, what they are doing is legal; instead of declining to comment and acting even more deceitful, the companies should assure the public that no gasoline sold in the United States is refined from Iranian oil (which is true according to the article) and ensure transparency.

We’d love to hear your feedback! Do you think they actually are better off keeping their mouths shut and trying to distance themselves from the story?

To read the full article and get details about current sanctions, click here.

TMI Facebook Casualty

As I am sure most of you have a Facebook account, I am almost as positive that a great deal of you are “friends” with co-workers and/or customers at your workplace. Not to say that maintaining a relationship with these people outside the job is a bad thing, but you need to take into consideration what is being said in your daily statuses and friendly comments made to one another. My “friends” list consists of close friends, co-workers and mere acquaintances, which could ultimately be the death of my career if I post something distasteful.

After reading a blog post from SF Weekly reported by Ragan.com, I became more aware of what is being said on Facebook. The blog post was about a 22-year-old waitress named Ashley Johnson. She received a $5 tip from a couple that sat in the restaurant for three hours. Ticked off by the lack of appreciation she received, she went on Facebook to post the following status:

Thanks for eating at Brixx, you cheap piece of s*** camper.

Although her “friends” list contained only co-workers and friends, someone contacted her business and she was fired two days later for “casting the restaurant in a negative light on a social network.”

So, what’s the Facebook lesson of the day? It doesn’t matter if only friends can see your site. Keep your thoughts about work to yourself or you might end up without a job to talk about at all.

Social Media Keeps Tabs on Gulf Oil Spill

We are all aware of the explosion that resulted in the devastating oil spill from a BP offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico only a few weeks ago. With thousands of news articles circulating the internet keeping track of the ongoing crisis and its progress can sometimes get a little overwhelming. Geoff Livingston, co-founder of Zoetica media posted a great article on Mashable How to: Monitor the Gulf Oil Spill Using Social Media that shows readers the sources they should be keeping track of. Livingston goes on to list the four ways non-profit and governmental organizations are helping citizens stay up-to-date with the ongoing Gulf crisis:

1. Grassroots Mapping Provides Accurate Pictures

Through their use of balloons, kites and other simple tools, Grassroots Mapping is able to produce their own aerial images of the oil spill, offering complete and open access to spill imagery and broadcasts these images on websites like Flickr.

2. Deepwater Horizon Command Online

The U.S. government is taking an active part in keeping citizens informed about the current crisis through their Deepwater Horizon Unified Command Response effort online where you can receive the latest updates, blog posts, FAQs, as well as links to Twitter, Facebook, Youtube videos and access to hundreds of pictures.

3. Another Great Ushahidi Crisis Map

After becoming incredibly well-known for its fantastic mapping of the Haiti crisis, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade reported that they will be using the technology to develop an oil spill crisis map.

4. Greenpeace Provides Ongoing Coverage

Greenpeace USA has an ongoing blog updated daily about the oil spill where readers can find the latest news and images from the Gulf. Their coverage includes videos, blog posts, maps and Flickr images in addition to a counter that tabulates the minimum estimated amount of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico thus far.

With access to so many great and informative resources we should all be staying on track with the latest media coverage. Besides these great resources, what additional sites do you use to stay updated on the crisis?

Starbucks Targets "Millenial" Consumers with New Frappuccinos

Starbucks has recently launched customizable frappuccinos, which they are calling “however-you-want-it frappuccinos.” The Starbucks Frappucino Facebook page announced the coming of these new drinks on March 17 with a status update and a link to an article from The Wall Street Journal. The announcement generated a buzz among the fans of the blended drinks, receiving over 1,700 “likes” and over 260 comments.

The goals of the launch were to boost Starbucks’ iced-drink sales and to expand their customer base. With warmer weather approaching, Starbucks hoped an increase in iced-drink purchases would offset the drop in hot-drink sales. The concept of custom-made drinks was also expected to appeal to Millenial consumers: those aged 18-24 who thrive on customizable technologies. The inability of customers to customize their frappuccinos may even explain some of the recent drop in frappuccino sales.

To kick off the launch, Starbucks held a “Frappuccino Happy Hour” from 3-5 p.m. on May 7-May 16. During the “Happy Hour,” customers could purchase the new customizable frappuccinos for half-price. The promotion was advertised with a Facebook event, which gained over 237,000 confirmed guests.

Starbucks advertised their new frappuccinos with TV and print ads, but I learned about the new drinks and the “Happy Hour” promotion through their Facebook event. I also happen to fall into their target demographic for the campaign, and I did make a trip to my local Starbucks this past weekend to take advantage of the half-priced drinks.

My experience as a consumer of the frappuccino campaign points away from traditional forms of advertising and toward social media. Do you think companies targeting Millenial consumers should cut back on traditional forms of advertising and focus on reaching out through social media?

Will you tune in?

MTV's new show "Hired" begins today. The show "tracks young adults as they look for jobs" and demonstrates that "many entry-level candidates need guidance," according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Appropriately, the show makes its debut during a week coinciding with many college graduations. It also seems especially relevant given the competitive job market we face today as a result of the recession.

It will be interesting to see if the show proves to offer any useful advice for job seekers, or if, true to MTV reality TV, it will focus primarily on being entertaining.

Check out the whole Wall Street Journal article here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/05/11/mtv-hired-teaches-interview-dos-and-donts/

Be sure to tune in and chime in with your impressions of the show!

10 Tips for Writer's Block

Who doesn't hate writer's block? You stare at the computer with a blank mind, hoping for inspiration to overtake you. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen. To help get your fingers connected with your keyboard, Jonathan Morrow for the blog Copyblogger wrote "10 Tricks for Getting Inspired to Write." Here are his tips:

1. Look at magazine covers for headlines
2. Browse openings of novels
3. Read your favorite author
4. Retype passages from those favorite authors
5. Browse quotations (try www.quotationspage.com)
6. Listen to music
7. Listen to smart dialogue
8. Talk to your readers by inviting feedback
9. Close the door on other's opinions
10. Find joy in writing

To read the full article and learn why these 10 tips are important, click here.

Attention, job seekers...

Check out this video! This guy placed ads on Google so that, when top execs in the advertising field "Googled" themselves, an ad appealing to them to hire him would appear at the top of the search page. Creative! It cost only $6, too.



On another note, do you think it was appropriate for the job candidate to disclose the names of the firms whose interest he caught?

Connecting Community Service and the Workplace

I came across an inspiring article in the Philadelphia Business Journal yesterday. The article highlighted IMA Consulting, a health-care consulting firm in Chadds Ford, Pa., for their annual volunteer day. Each year, the firm takes a day off from the office to give back to the community by volunteering in the Chester County area. This year, the firm spent their volunteer day at the Tick Tock Early Learning Center in Avondale, Pa., cleaning inside and outside and reading to the children. In addition to this day of community service, the firm also provides employees with two days of paid community service leave annually. As an advocate for community service, I find it inspiring that this company encourages their employees to give back to the community both as a group and on their own.

What do you think: should companies provide paid leave for volunteer work?

Congratulations!

Congratulations
to
Temple University's
Class of 2010!

To all the graduates,
Best of luck with everything, it's time to make great things happen!

What I've Learned About Pitching

Over the past few years at PRowl Public Relations I've had the great opportunity of pitching many different publications with many different stories. It hasn't always been easy, it hasn't always worked, but I've learned so much. Since graduation is Thursday, I thought I'd share my tips for pitching before I'm an alum!

1. Give them something they need but don't have. When you pitch it's important to sell the journalist/blogger/etc. on why they need to know about what you're pitching, so be passionate about it! If you're not excited about it why should they be?

2. Don't give them everything at once. If you give the person you're pitching all of the information at once, what will you follow up with? Try to save an interesting piece of information for when you do follow up calls to get their attention again.

3. Be available for whatever they need. It could be something simple like sending the press release again or something more complex like an interview with the client or photos. Whatever they need, get it to them ASAP!

4. Be respectful. It's a hard time for communications practitioners everywhere. Being respectful and kind goes a long way, even if a situation is frustrating.

Do you have tips that you'd love to share? Let us know!

The Social Media Revolution

Some of you may have seen the YouTube video, "The Social Media Revolution." Socialnomics09 recently posted an updated version of the video, "with new and updated social media & mobile statistics that are hard to ignore." The video is based on a book called Socialnomics, which is authored by Erik Qualman. Check it out!

Vick Seeks to Build Better Image

My younger brother got a surprise at school the other day: a visit from Michael Vick in his high school weight room!

Vick had apparently been in our town of Lancaster, PA to give a speech about "making the right lifestyle decisions." He had agreed to personally visit the area school who had sold the most tickets to the appearance.

It appears as though Vick has launched a campaign to help rebuild his image. Do you think visiting schools is an effective way to combat his PR problems of the past? Do you think it is ethical or appropriate for Vick to target high school students in his campaign?

This Week's Twitter Top 10

While reading www.adage.com this week I found an interesting article, a list of the Top 10 Twitter topics for this week. I found it especially interesting that BP was not on this list. After this week's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and BP's role, I am surprised they didn't make the list, and so is article author Simon Dumenco.

So if BP didn't make the list, who did? This week's Top 10 topics are as follows:

1) Justin Bieber

2) GE2010

3) NBA

4) Star Wars

5) Jonas Brothers

6) Boxing

7) Mother's Day

8) Miley Cyrus

9) Chris Brown

10) Super Junior

Falling short of making the list was Apple, Iron Man 2, Groupon and Continental Airlines. To check out this weeks stats, go to http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=143759. How many of you tweeted this week about any of the Top 10 topics?

Be More "ReTweetable"

One of the greatest benefits of social media sites such as Twitter for PR professionals is that it's an inexpensive (free) tool that you can use to get your message across, and potentially reach a large audience quickly.

We spend time crafting our tweets to have the most critical information in our limited 140 characters. After we hit "Tweet," we take a breath and hope for the viral message to spread. We go back to our @ page a few times a day and look for the desired "RTs" to begin. ReTweets don't always happen though, as creative as we try to be with those 140 characters.

Valerie Maltoni on her blog Conversation Agent, recently posted the article "What gets Retweeted?" to discuss what types of tweets have the best chance of being multiplied throughout the Twittersphere. Maltoni says the following are most likely to be ReTweeted:

• Research - you look smart by sharing and your network benefits from receiving
• News - you look like you're on top of things, your network sees and benefits from that
• Easy to digest tips and lists
• Offers
• Genuine requests for help - causes/stories you believe in and are passionate about

Another interesting tip to be aware of: Keep tweets between 100-125 characters so the ReTweeter doesn't have to edit before sending. The easier it is to share, the more likely your Tweeps will do so.

If you found the content of this article interesting, also visit Dan Zarrella's post about the science of ReTweets here. One of the many charts in his presentation illustrates that the most effective times to tweet are between 1 and 4 p.m. and the least effective times are between 7 and 10 a.m.

Happy ReTweet Seeking!

Twitter's Blackbird Pie

For those of you scratching your head... I'll try and explain. Twitter Media seems to have been toying with a new prototype, they're calling "Blackbird Pie," which allows you to create an embeddable tweet, from the URL of a tweeted message, just by clicking the "Bake it" button. This is an especially helpful tool, particularly for us PR folks, because we don't have to use screen shots or scans to clip the mentions. Instead we can potentially embed the tweets right to a website or blog. Twitter Media is still experimenting with the tool, updating users about the Blackbird Pie and the fresh-baked tweets here. In my opinion, I definitely think this is a useful tool, one that will come in handy in the media and public relations fields.

Try using Blackbird Pie here! What do you think about this new Twitter tool?


PS: Follow us @PRowlPR and our clients @RDDanceCo and @CasaPapel

Become a Fan of PRowl Public Relations on Facebook!

As a student-run PR firm we spend all of our free time promoting our awesome clients the Rebecca Davis Dance Company and Casa Papel. Luckily, our Director of PR Emily Woodward is like Superwoman when it comes to time management and heads up our own publicity efforts in addition to her work for one of our accounts. In PR we're used to being behind-the-scenes, making it difficult to use our talents for the promotion of our own firm.

A few weeks ago, Emily revamped our PRowl Public Relations Facebook profile to keep us up-to-date with one of the biggest new social media trends. Facebook now has something like 400 million active users who spend an average of 500 billion minutes on Facebook each month. After successfully creating, launching and maintaining Facebook pages for many of our clients, we've decided to harness the power of social media for ourselves and spread the word about PRowl Public Relations.

So, without further adieu, I present PRowl Public Relations Facebook page. Please take a look and 'like' us if you believe in our mission to provide clients with comprehensive PR services and solutions, offer PRSSA members with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and gain experience beyond the classroom and to build credibility while forming lasting student-client
relationships.

Also, follow us on Twitter @ProwlPR.

Has your organization begun to utilize a Facebook page to connect with your target audience? How do you feel about this new phenomenon becoming such a big part of PR?

Social Media Brands to Watch!

What brands reach out to you most through social media?

Social Fresh posted a list of the top 10 brands using social media outreach. Pepsi, Southwest Airlines and Zappos.com all made the list.

Be sure to check it out to see what other brands made the list. Who do you think was #1?

The Socialization of Microsoft

In their next version of their Office suite, Microsoft has redefined its product to encompass the growing global demand for collaborative and social features. Microsoft Office 2010 will bring competition to Google Docs and Zoho, which enable users to access their documents from anywhere. These days it’s critical to cater to users’ lifestyles, which don’t always entail being tied down to a desk anymore.

The latest version of Microsoft allows users to save PowerPoint 2010 presentations as movies. Before users had to use additional tools to accomplish this, but now videos can be saved in multiple resolutions: Computers or HD screens, Internet or DVD, Portable media devices, or Screenshot. PowerPoint 2010 also allows users to create a URL so that users can share and broadcast presentations to anywhere in the world.

In Microsoft Word 2010, users are able to co-author documents, as Microsoft makes collaboration an important aspect of Office 2010. Users are capable of comparing and combining different versions of documents, while also blocking specific authors or restricting editing. In addition, with Word 2010 users can share documents as PDFs and XPS.

Getting onboard with the social media craze, Office 2010 allows users to share over Windows Live or Facebook. In an effort to compete with Google Docs, Microsoft designed Office 2010 to enable users to upload and share their documents to Skydrive and edit them from a browser with no need of having the Office suit installed. Microsoft did this through the implementation of Office Web Apps. The company recently teamed with Facebook too and anncouned docs.com, allowing users to create and share office documents with their friends on Facebook.

Outlook 2010 features being able to keep track of your contacts’ social activities on services like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, by showing you their recent status updates.

Given how socially connected things are increasingly becoming, these added features are practical that many are likely to find useful. For a more in-depth look in Microsoft Office 2010, or for a preview of screenshots of the different programs, click here.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member, Trish Wyatt.

Such Tweet Sorrow: A Modern Twist on Classic Theatre

Okay, I’m sure we have all seen adaptations of classic Shakespeare plays that we would consider strange or “out-there.” However, none of these modern adaptations measure up to the newest twist on Shakespeare, Such Tweet Sorrow, a 5-week performance of a modern take on Romeo & Juliet that has found its stage at quite an unexpected venue: Twitter.

The Royal Shakespeare Company has formed a partnership with Mudlark, a cross-platform production company to bring this strange albeit creative concept to life. The production stars 6 RSC actors who tweet dialogue in real-time (GMT) through the use of scripted character diaries written by Mudlark’s writing team of Tim Wright and Bethan Marlow. Under the direction of RSC’s Roxana Silbert, the production began on April 10 and will close its curtain on May 15.

The six characters of the performance: Romeo, Juliet, Laurence, Mercutio, Tybalt, Jess and Jargo will be tweeting thoughts, messages, links or confessions over the remaining two weeks of the performance. However, if you’re a little behind and missed the first few acts, you can catch up by visiting http://suchtweetsorrow.com to learn about the cast and crew, get performance recaps and visit the live tweeting timeline to stay updated on all of the drama that has yet to unfold.

As a personal Shakespeare fanatic, I am incredibly pleased to see that people are continuing to find new ways to reinvent and modernize classical works of art to make them more accessible to contemporary audiences.

What do you think? Do you think Twitter is the newest stage for storytelling and theatre or have we gone too far? In the words of the late great Shakespeare himself, “To tweet, or not to tweet?”

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member, Niki Ianni.