out of 5 stars by
AppAppeal Editor
Pressitt bills itself as a social media news release (SMNR) service. Users of Pressitt are given the tools to create informative news releases including video, text, links, images and contact information. After the creation process, a new social media news release is published to a community of journalists, and the general public. Pressitt social media news release templates allow users to implement all the aspects of a traditional press release while incorporating functionality that takes advantage of all the technology that its electronic format allows.
The concept of the social media news release was put forward by former Financial Times journalist Tom Foremski. Mr. Foremski called for the end of the traditional press release, in favor of a more dynamic and logical format for the internet. Pressitt was founded by Liberate Media PR and Social Media, and went into public beta in 2009. Today, Pressitt has been used by the government of the United Kingdom, as well as the public relations departments of Coca Cola, AVG, and Logitech, thus lending credence to the idea that the social media news release is a viable alternative to traditional press releases.
Pressitt is a free service, providing the tools to PR departments and other organizations wishing to release information to the general public, or the press. The concept of the social media news release itself is revolutionary, although Pressitt can hardly be credited with that, merely with its proliferation throughout the web.
Pressitt’s website is very plain, but this isn’t necessarily a criticism. The site is easy to use, informative, and modern looking. On the right hand side of the screen, there is a Feedback widget which clings to the top third of the page while the user scrolls up and down. This is a fairly annoying feature, and truly the only thing that detracts from the site’s overall appearance. A static feedback link could easily be provided in the top menu, or the bottom footer without causing any lack of functionality, and one can imagine that users will likely have no problem finding it if need be.
When registering for Pressitt via the “free registration” link in the menu bar, users are presented with two confirmation boxes. The first is fairly straightforward, confirming that the user has distribution rights and the relevant copyright for all the information that is to be contained in a social media news release, the second confirms that the content being released does not contain a wide range of banned topics. Some of these are understandable, such as explicit adult themes, others seem to preclude a lot of users, such as religious themes, activism, finance, credit, prescription drugs, and vitamins. It’s a bit confusing why some of these are banned, but they provide a link if the user wishes to discuss why they feel addressing a banned subject is appropriate in the release, so the user is not entirely without recourse. After this, the user fills out the standard form of name, email, password, company sector and name, then enters a security code. After agreeing to the terms of service, the signup process is completed by activating the account via email.
Pressitt is a free application available for public relations departments or anyone else who wishes to issue a social media news release, providing they meet the guidelines illustrated by Pressitt. This makes the application easily accessible to anyone, from small businesses to individuals who wish to spread the word about a cause or event.
The features available to public relations firms, marketing departments and others who wish to issue social media news releases make Pressitt a wonderful alternative to manually compiling a press release. The time saved by using the tools provided enable the user to spend more time tweaking the content and ensuring that the information being released is accurate and informative.
Twitter followers:
1,537
