Nearly half of reporters are using social media tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and Wikipedia to research their stories. So are you using those tools to talk to (or at least influence) reporters?
Reporters Increasingly Rely on Social Media Tools
Denver Public Relations Blog 
Jeremy, I am ashamed to admit that I once Facebook-message-pitched a reporter!! I know that’s a PR faux pas, but I swear-to-blog it worked!
Facebook messaging is ok in my book… just stay away from poking! (That’s the virtual equivalent of giving a reporter a spank on the bottom!)
Keep it clean, Lan the Man!! 😉