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Twitter 101
The document provides an introduction to Twitter, including: 1. Twitter allows individuals to broadcast messages and follow other users' messages in real-time. 2. Hashtags and retweets allow users to categorize topics and share others' messages. 3. Best practices for Twitter include building relationships, listening, responding to comments, asking questions, and posting interesting links.
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Twitter 101
- 1. Twitter: A LoveStory (alt title: Twitter 101) Jodi Sperber, MSW, MPH July 6, 2010
- 2. What we’ll coverTwitter basics Examples Getting started Tools that make it easier Best practices
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- 4. Photo credit: kevharb,via Creative Commons license All if this, and you want me to tweet?
- 5. Twitter is…. Millionsof individual broadcasting networks – built by the users themselves A new way to speak directly to the people/organizations you care about – and that want to hear from you A giant and total time suck away from what is really important? Adapted from Twitter for Us - FCPCommunications.com
- 6. “ Many peoplehave assumed that Twitter is just another social network, some kind of micro-blogging service, or both. It can be these things but primarily Twitter serves as a real-time information network powered by people around the world discovering what’s happening and sharing the news.” Photo credit: Terje S. Skerdal, via Creative Commons license http://is.gd/bhJag
- 7. People have alot to say
- 8. People have alot to say Updated numbers: As of June 8, Twitter averages: 750 tweets per second 65 million tweets per day
- 9. “ Expect tosee an emphasis on the scholarly and research implications of the acquisition … it boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data. And I'm certain we'll learn things that none of us now can possibly conceive.” April 14, 2010
- 10. Photo Credit: emeraldisle druid, via Creative Commons license
- 11. A tweet is an individual message To follow somebody is to subscribe to their messages. This does not mean they will also follow you. A DM or direct message is a private message on Twitter. Often written simply as D. RT or retweet is to repost a valuable message from somebody else on Twitter and give them credit Sometimes noted as “via” instead of RT Photo credit jovike, used via Creative Commons license Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business
- 12. @username isa public message to or about an individual on Twitter A hashtag —the # symbol followed by a term and included in tweets—is a way of categorizing all the posts on a topic Shortened URLs . To fit links into the short message format, URLs are oftened shortened. Can be accomplished using a variety of services. Trending topics are the most-discussed terms on Twitter at any given moment Photo credit jovike, used via Creative Commons license Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business
- 13. Anatomy of atweet
- 14. Anatomy of atweet
- 15. Anatomy of atweet
- 16. Anatomy of atweet
- 17. Anatomy of atweet
- 18. Anatomy of atweet
- 19. First step: Listen search.twitter.com Try searching for a few keywords or topics Photo credit: Erica Reid, used via Creative Commons license
- 20.
- 21. Search for auser or keyword(s)
- 22. Search for auser or keyword(s) RSS feed (read & archive)
- 23. Developments Research Meetingsand Conference Info Q&A Conversations Chit Chat Campaigns What do you hear? Photo credit: bullcitydogs, via Creative Commons license
- 24. Photo by ThomasHawk, via Creative Commons license Just for fun
- 25. Photo credit samcrockett,via Creative Commons license Asking questions
- 26. Photo credit: Sifter,used via Creative Commons license Sharing information
- 27. Photo by kevharb,via Creative Commons license Connecting
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- 29. Photo credit: NimagesDR, via Creative Commons license Viral campaign
- 30. 18 followers/following 23Sharing ideas
- 31. 18 followers/following 23716 followers/following 1995
- 32. 18 followers/following 23716 followers/following 1995 1,094,192 followers/following 59 Photo credit: Nimages DR, via Creative Commons license
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- 42. Entire conversations takeplace… And you can participate if you like
- 43. Photo Credit: arbyreed,via Creative Commons license Does it feel anything like this?
- 44.
- 45. Sorting through thetweets
- 46. How do Iknow? I asked…
- 47. Is there avoice missing from the discussion? Is there information missing? What value can you add? Adapted from Twitter for Us - FCPCommunications.com
- 48. Ready to giveit a try? People like tips, links to interesting stories and blogposts (they don’t have to be about you), and a good sense of humor. People like the human touch and will appreciate posts with your thoughts and experiences more than you think They also like it when you say hi, respond to their questions, comments, praise, complaints and jokes Photo credit: kate.e did, via Creative Commons license Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business
- 49. Getting started Signingup takes approximately one minute
- 50. To help peoplerecognize and trust your account, fill out your profile completely and include a picture Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business
- 51. This is whereyou type your 140
- 52. Follow relevant accountsFollowing somebody means you’ve subscribed to their tweets When you find a good candidate, look under their picture for the Follow button Start small – follow five. Listen for a while. Then follow five more. Lists are also useful for finding/creating groups on a specific topic Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business
- 53. That’s the basics! But it’s only the beginning…
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- 55. TweetDeck: desktop basedThis is where you type your 140
- 56. HootSuite: web basedSearch term Type 140 here Mentions Integration Integration
- 57. Photo credit: Laszio-photo,via Creative Commons License
- 58. Best practices Buildrelationships on Twitter Listen for comments about you Respond to comments and queries Ask questions Post links to things people would find interesting Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business
- 59. Best practices Retweetmessages you would like to share Use a friendly, casual tone Don’t spam people Don’t tweet anything you wouldn’t want your mother to read…
- 60. “ No matterhow sophisticated the algorithms get, no matter how many machines we add to the network, our work is not about the triumph of technology, it is about the triumph of humanity.” http://is.gd/bhJag
- 61.
Editor's Notes
- #4 I know that some folks think that texting has gotten out of hand. And that Twitter is just an extension of this – that it’s another way to share with people the inane things you are doing. But we’re here today to look at ways that Twitter is a tool that can be much more than a way to let others know what you had for lunch. Of course, it can also be totally stupid, too, depending on the user.
- #6 So what is Twitter? At it’s core, it’s a web page that allows you to send broadcast messages of 140 characters or less. Here are some ways it might be described…
- #7 Twitter is… real time global news. When protests were happening in Iran, people turned to twitter to see what was happening. Same with the earthquake in Haiti. Same when the plane landed in the Hudson. It is where regular citizens get to share what they are seeing at that very moment. This makes it a powerful tool – it’s a democratization of information.
- #8 Twitter is… growing. This makes it that much more important to know how to navigate through the stream of information that is delivered. It can seem entirely overwhelming, but you can manage the networks, work with the crowds, build relationships, and become a better listener. That’s why you are here! Before we dive in too far, let’s review some language basics. Like many other tools, this one comes with some terminology. What’s interesting about Twitter’s terms is that they were created by the users themselves. They have since become convention. When you have only 140 characters you need to get creative! Knowing them will help you make sense of some of the messages you see.
- #9 Twitter is… growing. This makes it that much more important to know how to navigate through the stream of information that is delivered. It can seem entirely overwhelming, but you can manage the networks, work with the crowds, build relationships, and become a better listener. That’s why you are here! Before we dive in too far, let’s review some language basics. Like many other tools, this one comes with some terminology. What’s interesting about Twitter’s terms is that they were created by the users themselves. They have since become convention. When you have only 140 characters you need to get creative! Knowing them will help you make sense of some of the messages you see.
- #12 Lingo Following: you can follow individuals one by one, or follow many at once using lists. I’ll go into more detail on this in a bit. Followers: Does the number of followers you have mean anything? Yes and no. More opportunity to influence, but not guaranteed. Particularly with lists (collections of users gathered by one user to share) becoming more popular, someone can follow you as part of a list without knowing they are following you, per se. DM does not go to the public timeline/feed. @user does (found if searched)
- #13 # being used more and more to help organize the volume of data coming through on twitter. Example: within a conference, each session may have a separate hashtag to help sort later on. Twitter does not archive these messages forever, but there are free services (example: twapperkeeper) that will do this for you. It becomes a very useful source of information, often containing links, images, conversations that are relevant. Shortened URLs are helpful to take long strings of letters and numbers, and make them shorter. Remember: 140 characters. Lots of services out there for this: tiny URL, owly, bitly… they are often built into third party tools that support twitter. Trending topics change all the time. Whatthetrend.com is a crowdsourced, and generally accurate, way to find out what they are about if it isn’t clear.
- #20 You don’t need an account to use Twitter. And whether you have an account or not, the most important thing you can do is LISTEN. See what others are saying. Learn why people are passionate. Learn how they are using twitter. See how others make connections. Listening can help you get a sense of how you want to engage on Twitter
- #21 You don’t need an account. You can simply start typing and exploring.
- #22 I follow users who I find send out valuable information. Those that are nodes in larger networks, and often at the table for decisions. Also useful for those folks who tweet a lot, as you don’t have to worry about missing anything. Not recommended for every single user you follow. I also have an rss feed for myself, so I have an automatic archive of what I’ve sent. It’s everything but direct messages (DM). Following a hashtag or keywords is a great way to archive a topic you are interested in. You can create more sophisticated searches, using OR to include various keywords. Use quotes for text strings (“health policy”) or no quotes if you just want the words anywhere in the tweet (“health related conversations regarding policy”)
- #23 I follow users who I find send out valuable information. Those that are nodes in larger networks, and often at the table for decisions. Also useful for those folks who tweet a lot, as you don’t have to worry about missing anything. Not recommended for every single user you follow. I also have an rss feed for myself, so I have an automatic archive of what I’ve sent. It’s everything but direct messages (DM). Following a hashtag or keywords is a great way to archive a topic you are interested in. You can create more sophisticated searches, using OR to include various keywords. Use quotes for text strings (“health policy”) or no quotes if you just want the words anywhere in the tweet (“health related conversations regarding policy”)
- #26 Asking questions is a good use of Twitter for a number of reasons: You can get answers People can retweet, widening the circle of potential help, and helping you to widen your own network People like to share what they know – engagement You get get insight to who is following you Answering someone else’s question is a great way to show you are out there and engaged. Everyone likes a helper.
- #27 Twitter provides a new avenue for organizations to share research, news, updates, and reports. Note that the example here is a retweet, meaning one person saw it, found it valuable, and shared it with her own network. The end result is groups reaching into networks previously untouched. For free, I might add.
- #28 Making connections
- #29 A key hub for real-time information and communication
- #30 On the sxswater campaign: within an hour of clay shirky sending out this note, I counted over 60 people retweeting it. Hundreds have retweeted since. An organizations supporters can be it’s greatest advocate. Same thing for individuals – your followers can be your champions, and you don’t always know who that person is going to be. That said, it’s a good practice to say thanks.
- #31 This took place March 15&16, 2010. - Shmoo06 (a pink fan, based on the wallpaper on her twitter page) doesn’t have many followers. But she does have an idea. QTC picks up on it and forwards it out to their slightly larger network. Pink sends out the link. Note that within an hour 15 people had forwarded it on (I didn’t find out who they were, but I could). Over 1 million people saw the call to action, starting with an individual user’s idea.
- #32 This took place March 15&16, 2010. - Shmoo06 (a pink fan, based on the wallpaper on her twitter page) doesn’t have many followers. But she does have an idea. QTC picks up on it and forwards it out to their slightly larger network. Pink sends out the link. Note that within an hour 15 people had forwarded it on (I didn’t find out who they were, but I could). Over 1 million people saw the call to action, starting with an individual user’s idea.
- #33 This took place March 15&16, 2010. - Shmoo06 (a pink fan, based on the wallpaper on her twitter page) doesn’t have many followers. But she does have an idea. QTC picks up on it and forwards it out to their slightly larger network. Pink sends out the link. Note that within an hour 15 people had forwarded it on (I didn’t find out who they were, but I could). Over 1 million people saw the call to action, starting with an individual user’s idea.
- #53 Follow 5 new people – see who they “listen” to, then five more, then five more – watch the conversation happen