Twitter culture & best practices

1. ALL A-TWITTER: MAXIMIZING THE
CULTURE AND OPPORTUNITIES OF
TWITTER
Esther D. Kustanowitz (@EstherK)
Leichtag Foundation Social Media Boot Camp
September 15, 2014

2. ONLINE CULTURE: FROM “TOP-DOWN” TO “UP
AND OUT!”
 Used to be just top-down:
 hierarchy
 undemocratic
 user impact: low
 Now also bottom-up:
 peer reviews
 consumer feedback
 invested “prosumer” class
 Next phase: Wonkavator
http://content9.flixster.com/question/4
6/64/76/4664763_std.jpg

3. “YOU KNOW THE WAY YOU KNOW ABOUT A
GOOD MELON”
 Determining that a brand, person or organization
has value
 Defining that value through living in the same
narrative space, through:
 Encounter
 Engagement
 Deepening the Relationship
 Challenge
 Resolution

4. ENCOUNTER
•Healthy skepticism
•First impressions –
good or bad
•Immersion can be
“too soon” – you
learn too much
•Right
organization/person
at the wrong time is
the wrong
person/org
•Sense that the
person/project adds
a unique value

5. ENGAGEMENT
• Connection
• Interest
• Dynamism
• Sense of
Humor
• Relationship
building
through
experiences

6. DEEPENING RELATIONSHIP
•Deeper investment
– time & emotion
•Working together
•Partnership
•Shared experience
 creating history

7. CHALLENGE
•Period of instability
•Moment of dissent or
distress, maybe a #fail
•“I am not your
consolation prize”
•Acknowledging when
you’re wrong
•Intense work to repair
relationship
•Taking responsibility
•Showing value

8. RESOLUTION
•Trespasses forgiven
•Equilibrium restored
•Understanding
•Compromises (sauce
on the side)
•Happy relationship

9. TWITTER CULTURE EVOLVES TO
RELATIONSHIPS MODEL
 “What are you doing now?”
 Hashtags enabling easy following - examples
(celebrities, orgs & companies, brands)
 Twitter's role in discourse & social information:
news feed, conversation space, livetweet/broadcast
of conferences, idea and link sharing; media
campaigns and recurring challenges
 #lifeafterloss
 #ALSicebucketchallenge
 #NTCJews
 #JFNAGA

10. DEFINING TWITTER
 140 characters
 shortened links
 responding
 proactive sharing of related pieces, not just self-promotional
 immediate, open, accessible (not too techy, multiple
platforms, scheduling tools)
 adding value/being authentic
 opportunity to learn from and better grow/support
your audience/customers, respond in real-time

11. FACEBOOK VS. TWITTER
 Facebook – distribution, sharing & discussion
(deeper reach)
 a newsroom
 the water cooler/break room
 Jewish geography: school/camp/uni reunion
 evite.com
 Twitter - consumption & distribution (wider reach)
 a cocktail party in a large room
 a convention
 a sports arena
 CNN news ticker
 Can be great for recapping story…

12. WHAT’S TWITTER GOOD FOR?
 Brand identity/organizational presence
 Serious social awareness raising
 Keeping audiences engaged and interactive
 Laurie Kilmartin tweeting her father’s decline
 #blamedrewscancer
 #whyistayed #whyileft
 #ALSIceBucketChallenge
 Fun community-building - #HashtagWars on
@midnight TV show (Comedy Central)
 Why does it work? Knowledge of audience, ability
to participate, "Wonkavator culture”

13. TOOL: STORIFY
http://storify.com/CLSPN_Networks/collaboratory-convenes-jewish-innovation-sector

14. TOOL: TAGBOARD

15. #WHYISTAYED #FAIL

16. …THE APOLOGY

17. ANOTHER BRAND TWEETING #FAIL…9/11

18. #SCANDAL

19. @MIDNIGHT - #HASHTAGWARS

20. WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM #SCANDAL,
#ALSICEBUCKETCHALLENGE & @MIDNIGHT?
 What we can learn about engagement from these
successful accounts and campaigns?
 Why does it work?
 Authenticity
 Doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t
 Knowledge of audience
 Low bar to participate
 "Wonkavator culture” – communicates that the
feedback/participation of former “viewers” or “audience” is
valuable  content co-creators

21. PRACTICUM: TWITTER USE
 Who’s doing it right and what could they do better?
 Volunteers? (If not, we’ll look at @estherk
@JewishJournal @leichtagfdn)
 What can we learn about these people or orgs from
their Twitter feeds?
 What’s missing from these feeds?
 How could they improve their reach or messaging?

22. 5 THINGS YOU CAN DO NOW
1. Aseh lekha rav – both rav and rabim
2. Ulpan – social media regimen/cultural immersion
(coffee breaks, lunchtime, etc)
Check Twitter 1x/day
Read Tweetstreams of people and orgs you’re
following –begin to participate in conversations
3. Think about Twitter as an outreach strategy and a
conversation to build engagement
4. Create a Twitter content plan (w/flexibility to discard it)
5. Be open to input & inspiration from other places – how
are TV shows, films using Twitter for engagement?

23. ANY QUESTIONS?