1. @ukcochranecentr
Getting started on Twitter

2. Why tweet?
Engage
Inform &
influence
Promote
Monitor
Learn
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3. Twitter basics
• Twitter is a „microblogging‟ site, where you can publish
short posts (tweets), including links to websites and
resources
• Twitter users (tweeps) follow other users – you can
choose to follow individuals or organizations with similar
interests
• You will see tweets from those you follow in your
timeline
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4. Tweeting basics
Your tweet can be up to 140
characters, including:
•Your pearl of wisdom
and possibly...
•A link
•A hashtag e.g. #ukcc21
•A twitter user‟s name e.g.
@influentialperson
•RT (retweet) or MT
(modified tweet)
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5. #hashtags (anything with # in front of it!)
• Associate your tweet with a topic
or event #malaria #ukcc21
• Make your tweet searchable by that tag
• Can act as a sub-clause to your
tweet, for added comment, emphasis or humour:
We‟re hosting an event on social media at the UKCC today
#getmartintweeting
Roche still refusing to disclose #tamiflu data. #disappointed
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6. Tweeting basics: visibility
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•Tweets are visible to all, unless they are a direct
message to or from a follower
•Your tweets will appear in the timelines of your followers
•If you include someone‟s Twitter name in your
tweet, they will get an email alerting them to it
•Hashtags are searchable so may be found by those
looking for that topic or event

7. Tweets are soon gone!
They quickly disappear from the screen, so:
• Send your tweet more than once
• Use screenshots to capture examples
of your tweeting successes!
• Storify to capture your own
and others tweets & links on a topic
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8. So how often should you tweet?
• Check at least daily, Monday to Friday
• Keep asking yourself “can I tweet this?”
• Look out for mentions and direct messages – they
might need a response
• Look for opportunities to join in conversations
• You could set up a minimum expectation
e.g. #CochraneEvidence appears daily
Monday to Friday
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9. Finding your voice
• It‟s SOCIAL media! Be a real person or people not just a
faceless organization
• Follow your organization‟s policy
• Be professional but human, a light touch and some
„atmosphere‟ tweets
can be very engaging
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10. Dos and don’ts
DO
• Listen, engage, join in conversations
• Link often, direct people to useful sites – especially your
own!
• Keep it active
• Credit others
• Keep the tone pleasant and professional
DON‟T
• Use abbreviated text-talk; cutting corners in your tweets
suggests you might cut them elsewhere!
• Allow your tweets to be truncated at the end – people
may miss things
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11. Building a following
• Increase your twitter presence, get tweeting!
• Follow others
• Retweet, mention, reply to tweets, join in
• Be interesting!
• Recommend others
– on Fridays! Using #FF (Friday Follow): „#FF
@Cochrane_OHG, @CochranePHG, @LifestyleElf‟
– „Great blog on #CochraneEvidence by @juliaoftoronto‟
• See who other relevant twitter users are following
to find people to follow
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12. Timing tweets
• Scheduled tweets
– Social media management software allows this
– We send daily tweets using #CochraneEvidence
hashtag to highlight and link to new/updated reviews
– Multiple tweets with same link but different wording –
to target different groups, or to highlight different
aspects
– Remember global audience, different time zones
– Awareness days/events & conferences
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13. Timing tweets
• Responsive tweets
– Answering direct questions or comments
– Engaging in public debate on a topic to state a
position, direct to information or just to be in the
conversation
– Joining in a conversation to flag up relevant Cochrane
evidence
– Tweeting a conference
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14. Tweet chats
• Scheduled discussion, in real time, of a particular topic
• Check whether there‟s any preparation needed – it may
be preceded by a document for discussion!
• Use the hashtag
• Tweetchat.com makes it easy!
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15. Why tweet a conference?
Share your enthusiasm!
Get new followers from your field of interest
(they‟ll value your input!)
Discuss issues with peers online
Transform online connections into real ones
(tweetups)
Promote your organization‟s values
through what you highlight
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16. Types of conference tweets
• Mood tweets
“Excited to be at #ukcc21, tucking into fab
pastries before the first plenary!”
• Tweetups
“Great discussion on #bias, suggest meet at 12 in the ballroom to
talk some more #ukcc21”
• Talks - these are key tweets!
Should include speaker‟s name, main information and hashtag
• Links
To media coverage, videos, presentations and other useful resources
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17. Monitoring value
• Analytics
• A growing following
• Responses: retweets, replies, engagement with your
tweets, comments
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18. Twitter engagement is valued!
• Increased UKCC twitter presence since September 2012
• Following growing daily, reached 1000 after 5 months
• Lots of positive comments e.g.
@GM_AHSN “SoMe has been a big part of our engagement plan & we
will continue using this platform to get more interested in our work
#nhssm”
@UKCC “@GM_AHSN Essential for #Cochrane too! #nhssm”
@a_double_tt “@ukcochranecentr Good to hear. I like the increased
content already. V informative #nhssm
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19. Just do it!
If we want to engage then we MUST use social media
It makes us part of a global
community, communicating
in real time
It seems to be working!
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