Twitter

For Busy Tweeps

Twitter: An Overview

Twitter: A Definition

• Officially: Microblog• A cross between text messaging, instant

messaging and blogging.• A way to send short updates to people who

want to hear them1

• A way for the world to communicate in real time.

• A nice halfway point: Less personal than Facebook, more chatty than LinkedIn

Twitter: How it Came to be

• Founded by programmers – Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone in July 2006

• Williams invented “Blogger” bought by Google• Idea of “SMS/text” integrated to the web• “Its like only the status field of an instant

message application”1

• A fun way to communicate internally• Launched in October 2006• Won a SXSW Web Award in March 2007 and

went on to achieve critical mass

Twitter: Who Use It?

Heads of Nation Media: News Networks, TV Shows, MagazinesBusiness LeadersEntertainers Businesses and BrandsSpoofs

Twitter: What’s it Good For

Searching for Stuff:News. A job. New

clients. Garden tips. Recipes. Ideas

Promote projects and updates

Updating lots of people – all at once

Personal Branding

Drive awareness of something of

interest to a larger audience

Discovery: trends, sites,

breaking news

A point of

contactA personal release –

ideas you just need to get out of your head – an

on-the-go notebook

Spread an Idea

Promote an event

Proactive customer service

Twitter: Terminology

Tweet- Noun: An individual message - Verb: Tweeting, Twittering

“post,” “message” and “update.”

Twitter: Terminology

Following/Followers- Follow people your want to get

messages from- People who follow you will see

your message- Measure of influence

Twitter: Terminology

@username- Like email address or personal URL - Use to direct a personal message

(in public)- @username becomes a direct link

to that person

Twitter: Terminology

DM, or direct message - Twitter’s private messaging channel. - Appear on home page under Direct

Messages - Only seen by you- Can only send to Followers

Twitter: Terminology

RT, or retweet“RT @Username: Original message, often

with a link.” To share ideas, give creditTweets appear on your home page under the

Direct Messages Only seen by youCan only send to Followers

Twitter: Terminology

Trending Topics- the most-mentioned terms on

Twitter at that moment- topics update continually,

reflecting real time- News often breaks ahead of

mainstream media

Twitter: Terminology

Hashtag (#)- Community addition adopted by twitter- Allows categorisation of Tweets- Says: “This message is about the same

thing as other messages with the same hashtag.”

- Facilitates searches and trends

Twitter: Terminology

Tweetup

An in-person gathering organized via Twitter,

Twitter: Terminology

Shortened URLs- A way of displaying your

hyperlink with less characters

- Many 3rd party services can be used and can track links

Twitter TerminologyFollowing/Followers

– Follow people your want to get messages from

– People who follow you will see your message

– Measure of influence

Tweet

– Noun: An individual message

– Verb: Tweeting, Twittering “post,” “message” and “update.”

@username

– Like an email address

– Or a personal URL

– Use to direct a personal message (in public)

– @username becomes a direct link to that person

DM, or direct message

– Twitter’s private messaging channel.

– Appear on home page under Direct Messages

– Only seen by you

– Can only send to Followers

RT, or retweet– “RT @Username: Original message, often with a link.” – To share ideas, give credit– Tweets appear on your home page under the Direct

Messages – Only seen by you– Can only send to Followers

Trending Topics– the most-mentioned terms on Twitter at that moment– topics update continually, reflecting real time– News often breaks ahead of mainstream media

Hashtag (#)– Community addition adopted by twitter– Allows categorisation of Tweets– Says: “This message is about the same thing as other

messages with the same hashtag.” – Facilitates searches and trends

Tweetup– An in-person gathering organized via Twitter,

Shortened URLs– A way of displaying your hyperlink with less characters – Many 3rd party services can be used and can track links

Source & More Info: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning

Twitter Terminology• tweeple: Twitter people, Twitter members,

Twitter users.• tweeps: Twitter people that follow each other

from one social media/network to another.• tweetaholic: someone addicted to Twitter, so

much so that it may be an actual problem.• tweeterboxes: twitterers who tweet too much.• twitterati: The A-list twitterers.• twitosphere: the community of twepple.• twitterphoria: the elation you feel when the

person you’ve added as a friend adds you back.

• twitterage: rage at a twitter post.• twitterrhea: the act of sending too many

Twitter messages• Twoosh - A perfect, 140 character Tweet

• twinkedIn: inviting friends made on Twitter to connect with you on LinkedIn.

• twis: to dis a fellow twitterer. very bad form.• twittastic: fantastic, wonderful, superb.• twitter stream: a collection of tweets often times

in alphabetical order• Twitophant / Twitophantic: One who repeatedly

tweets the Top 100 in an attempt to gain more followers. Actually pretty smart.

• tweetheart: that special tweeter who makes your heart skip a beat.

• tweetin: when a group of twitterers agree to get together at a set time to twitter.

• mistweet: a tweet in which one later regrets• politweeter: a political tweeter• politweet: a political tweet• twaffic: Twitter traffic.• tweepish: feeling sheepish or regretful about

something you tweeted.

Source & More Info: http://mashable.com/2008/11/15/twitterspeak/

Twitter: How to Use

Twitter: Getting Started

• Twitter.com• Full Name = Real Name

– Make yourself searchable

• Username – Becomes your

twitter.com/url– Closely associate with

you/your business– Simple & easy to remember– Corporate names with

multiple handles look better with a formula

• Create your profile before adding followers!

Untick to not receive emails

Twitter: Getting Started

Skip this step – tweet before you follow!

Twitter: Your Profile Basic

Make your profile more interesting

Twitter: Your Profile Basic

• Profile Pic– Without a profile picture your

image will be a little egg– Choose a close up, clear image,

profile pics are not expanded like on Facebook.

– For logos, you need a “square” image

• One Line Bio – 160 characters, enough space

for 2-3 facts and a joke perhaps– “Football fan, youth coach,

sports nut with dodgy knees”– You may wish to update this

section frequently, you could talk about different projects you are working on

Twitter: Your Profile Adv.

• Background Image– Twitter gives you 12

background images– To truly promote yourself or

your business, you want to create your own!

– You want to use the left hand side to promote yourself or your other online assets

– If you have experience using design programs the specs are XXXXXXX

• Some background image sites– WWW’s here– www’s here

Twitter: Your First Tweet

• Tweet First - follow later

How many characters you have left

This box is where you write up to 140 characters

Tweet Timeline Appears Here

How many times you have ever tweeted

How many followers you have

And how many you are following

Twitter: Find Some Tweeps

• Follow things you are interested in

• Follow your friends

• http://twitter.com/who_to_follow

Twitter: How to Follow

To Follow:

click hereHow many followers this person has

And how many people they are following

Some more suggestions on who to follow if you like this person

You can mention/@reply this person WITHOUT following them

Twitter: Send an @Message

• @username is a comment aimed at one user, but visible to the public

• When YOU send, they appear in your timeline on your profile page with all of your tweets

• They appear in the timeline of everyone who follows you

• When someone sends TO YOU, they appear in your @mentions tab

Easily access your public conversations

Twitter: Send DM

• A direct message sent in private to another user

• Can’t send to anybody – or even to people you follow

• Can only send to people who follow you

• To send – go to the persons profile and click “message”

Message box only appears if that person is following you

Twitter: RT@ A message

• Retweet another persons message – abbreviated to RT

• Credit the original poster “RT@originalposter …….”

• Good to include additional comments – if there is space

• Retweeting will help you build relationships with the original posters

More on Retweetinghttp://bloggingbits.com/the-art-and-science-of-retweeting-for-twitteraholics/

Mouse over the tweet you want to RT and ‘Retweet’ will appear

Twitter: Share a URL

• If you paste in a link less than 30 characters, Twitter will post the whole thing

• If you post a link longer than 30 characters Twitter will convert it to a shorter URL

• To make a link shorter you can use a URL shortening service like:– Tiny url– Owly

• Most mobile and twitter clients will automatically shorten for you

Copy and paste your URL into the space and pass the security OR sign in using

your twitter account

Twitter: Search Trends

• Use search.twitter.com like a google search

Perform a basic or advanced search at search.twitter.com

Search current trends right from your twitter profile. Search

worldwide or change to major countries and city

Twitter: Use #Hashtags

• The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet.

• It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

• Popular hashtags will trend

• Great for facilitating questions at a conference

• Use site hashtags.org to track a hashtag

A great article on Hashtagshttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/susanorlean/2010/06/hash.html

Twitter: Use a Twitter Client

Twitter: For Business

• Businesses Should– Be conversational

– Jump in the discussion

– Pay attention

– Pace themselves

– Reward their followers

– Offer giveaways

– Host “Tweetups”

• Businesses Should Not– Be sales-oriented robots

– Be repetitive and dull

– Follow too many people when not being followed

Twitter: Some Tips

• Private is pointless

• Post consistently and you’ll get it

• No HTML – Twitter makes them hyperlinks automatically

• You can’t edit a tweet after you post – only delete

• Mark links and interesting tweets as “favourites” and use like bookmarking

Twitter: Some Sites

• Twitter is an open source application

• Dozens of new “twitter apps” are produced ever week

• Some interesting sites to explore:

Twitdir.com

Tweetvolume.com

Twitaholic.com

Tweetwhatyoueat.com