'Tweets' on the menu are a sweet deal

Restaurants are using social media for cheap, effective marketing. On Dec. 2, computer consultant Jen Deaderick got on the social-networking site Twitter and posted: “Tupelo02139 is preparing.’’ It was her first missive, or tweet, on behalf of the Cambridge restaurant Tupelo, where her husband is a chef. The restaurant was more than four months away from opening. Other tweets followed, about getting inspected, planning the menu, picking the paint. By the time Tupelo opened at the end of April, word had spread among followers of the restaurant’s Twitter stream (@tupelo02139), and their followers’ followers, and so on. “Our opening night was packed,’’ Deaderick said. “At least half were there because of Twitter.’’ More at The Boston Globe