Southwest: ‘Every tweet is a story idea’

When frequent flyer Paul Lovine wanted to propose to his girlfriend, a Southwest Airlines plane seemed like an ideal place to culminate what had long been a commuter relationship.

After she accepted, he blogged and tweeted about what happened, and Southwest’s social media team picked up on the mentions.

So the airline contacted him and ended up writing a heartwarming story for its blog. All of which proves that Twitter and other social media are not only conduits where passengers complain about delayed flights and lost baggage, but are also a source of stories.

“Content is everywhere, especially on Twitter,” says Brooks Thomas, emerging media coordinator, and speaker at Ragan’s upcoming Best Practices in PR conference. “Every tweet is essentially a story idea.”