The document provides an overview of Twitter, explaining its basic functions including tweeting, following, and using hashtags. It emphasizes the platform's potential for communication and networking, particularly in professional contexts such as job searching. The document also outlines best practices for engaging on Twitter and tools to facilitate effective use of the platform.

1. What the heck is Twitter?
(And why should I care?)
Photo credit: Thomas Hawk, via Creative Commons license

2. What we’ll cover
 Twitter basics
 Examples
 Getting started
 Tools that make it easier
 Sample use: job search
 Best practices

3. Portions are a remix:
Dan Cohen, Full Court
Press Communications
http://www.slideshare.net/dcstpaul/
twitter-for-us-2010
Twitter
http://business.twitter.com/twitter101
Photo credit: danmachold, via Creative Commons license

5. Twitter is….
 Millions of individual
broadcasting networks –
built by the users
themselves
 A new way to speak
directly to the people
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. Photo credit: Terje S. Skerdal, via Creative Commons license http://is.gd/bhJag

7. April 14,
2010
“Expect to see 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.”

8. (that’s an average of 600 per second)

9.  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
 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
Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business Photo credit jovike, used via Creative Commons license

10.  @username is a 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 messages,
Twitter shrinks some URLs down automatically.
 Trending topics are the most-discussed terms on
Twitter at any given moment
Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business Photo credit jovike, used via Creative Commons license

11. First step: "
Listen!
search.twitter.com "
Try searching "
for a few keywords
or topics"
Photo credit: Erica Reid, used via Creative
Commons license

13. Search for a user or keyword(s)
RSS feed (read &
archive)

14. What do
you hear?
Q&A
Conversations
Developments
Research
Chit Chat
Campaigns
Meetings and Conference Info
Photo credit: bullcitydogs, via Creative Commons license

15. Photo credit samcrockett, via Creative Commons license

16. Photo credit: Sifter, used via Creative Commons license

17. Photo by Thomas Hawk, via Creative Commons license

19. Photo credit: Nimages DR, via Creative Commons license

20. 18 followers/following 23
716 followers/following 1995
1,094,192 followers/following 59
Photo credit: Nimages DR, via Creative Commons license

21.  Is there a voice missing
from the discussion?
 Is there information
missing?
 What value can you
add?
Adapted from Twitter for Us - FCPCommunications.com

22. Ready to give it a try?
Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business Photo credit: kate.e did, via Creative Commons license

23. Getting started
Signing up takes
approximately
one minute

24. To help people
recognize and
trust your
account, fill out
your profile
completely and
include a picture
Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business

25. This is where
you type
your 140

26. Follow relevant accounts
 Following 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

27. That’s the basics!
But it’s only the
beginning…

28. TweetDeck
hootsuite
Adapted from Twitter for Us - Part II - FCPCommunications.com

29. This is where
you type
your 140

30. Integration
Type 140 here
Integration
Search
Mentions term
Adapted from Twitter for Us - Part II - FCPCommunications.com

31. Photo credit: Laszio-photo, via Creative Commons License

33. http://www.twitjobsearch.com/

36. Tweetdeck + LinkedIn + job search = JobDeck

37. Best practices
• Build relationships 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

38. Best practices
• Retweet messages 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…

39. http://is.gd/bhJag

40. Jodi Sperber
@jsperber
jsperber@brandeis.edu
Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Brandeis University
April 15, 2010