All About Twitter

1. Liz Bogner AmeriCorps VISTA Coordinator Wisconsin Campus Compact-UW Stout All About Twitter

2. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

3. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

4. What is Twitter? • Twitter is a microblogging service • Entries are 140 characters or less • Focus on current activity, immediacy • Twitter is a social network • You can choose to “follow” other people’s Twitter updates and vice versa.

5. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

6. A Brief History of Twitter • Twitter has been around since 2006 • Developed by the board members of Odeo, a podcasting company • Originally an internal service for Odeo • Public site was launched in July 2006 • Developers were interested in bringing SMS to the internet • Name derived from the word “twitter” • “A short burst of inconsequential information”

7. A Brief History of Twitter • Twitter gained popularity during the 2007 SXSW Festival • TVs were set up to display tweets about the festival • People used Twitter to see what others were doing and to post reactions and opinions • Today, Twitter is the third most-used social network • Behind Facebook and MySpace • Since then, Twitter has become more than inconsequential babble (although a lot of it still is… • Linking to pertinent news stories • Providing immediate information about natural disasters • Marketing

8. A Brief History of Twitter A Content analysis of tweets: • Since then, Twitter has become more than inconsequential babble (although a lot of it still is… • Linking to pertinent news stories • Providing immediate information about natural disasters • Marketing

9. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

10. Pros and Cons of Microblogging Pros Cons • Less time consuming • Easier to read than big blocks of text • Once you learn the lingo • Conveys main idea faster • Think of Twitter as a lead to a news story • You can see what others are doing RIGHT NOW • FREE! • Difficult to say everything that you would like to say • Not embraced universally • Like Facebook, for example • Takes time to understand the language of Twitter

11. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

12. I already have Facebook… • Twitter is not Facebook! While the tweet and the Facebook status are similar… • Twitter users tend to be more engaged than those who only have a Facebook. • Twitter has the capacity to be more info-centric than Facebook • Dependent on who you choose to follow • You don’t get the sense of mixing work and personal life on Twitter

13. Social Technographics Ladder

14. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

15. The Twit-tionary • Twitter’s biggest barrier to entry is the language: Do you have any idea what that means?!

16. The Twit-tionary • Twitter Handle • A Twitter username • Used in a sentence… • What’s your Twitter handle? I’d like to follow you! • Should be easy to remember and as short as possible • UWStoutVISTAs- UW-Stout AmeriCorps VISTA Office • UWayDunn-United Way of Dunn County • LVChipValley-Literacy Volunteers Chippewa Valley

17. The Twit-tionary • Tweet • A Twitter entry • 140 characters long • Posted onto your Timeline, or a list of all your tweets. Your every day, ordinary tweet

18. The Twit-tionary • Retweet (abbreviated RT) • Sounds like “repeat” right? • Repeating someone else’s tweet on your profile • Retweeting is how tweets go “viral” Spreading the word about WiCC recruitment season…

19. The Twit-tionary • @ + username • @ messages are a way to reply to someone else’s tweet • Also a way to mention another Twitter account The original message… …The reply

20. The Twit-tionary • # • Otherwise known as a “hashtag” • A way to categorize tweets by content • Makes searching for relevant tweets easier

21. The Twit-tionary • bit.ly, and ow.ly • These usually begin shortened links • Makes it easier to link with Twitter • Link shorteners • Type bit.ly into URL bar to get to the link shortener • Ow.ly is HootSuite’s built-in link shortener Let’s go back to our confusing tweet…

22. The Twit-tionary • Other terms • FF or Follow Friday • When Twitterers suggest people to follow based on who follows them • Widget • A Twitter feed that can be added to a website • Trending Topic • The top 10 most mentioned things on Twitter • Lists • A way to sort people you follow • E.g. News, nonprofits, technology

23. The Twit-tionary • The Fail Whale • He appears when Twitter is over capacity

24. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

26. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

27. Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Tweeting is like a distilled Facebook status • Straight to the point • Since you are focusing on marketing your agency, you’re going to want to stay away from pointless babble (obviously). • Focus on 3 areas: • News • Conversational • Pass-along value

28. Zen and the Art of the Tweet • News Tweet • Answers, “what’s going on?” • In your agency • Projects • Fundraising • Successes • Events • In your “area” • WestCAP, Stepping Stones might mention the Farmer’s Market • Bridge to Hope might mention local “Take Back The Night” events

29. Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Conversational Tweet • Discusses an issue • e.g. “Who is responsible for bridging the digital divide?” • Asks questions about news stories and statistics • e.g. “15.1% of Dunn County residents live in poverty. How can we help them?” • Develop individual conversations with your followers • Utilize @ messages

30. Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Pass-along Value Tweet • Links to useful resources • Your website • Online methods for low-income individuals to apply to receive aid • Other materials in your area • LVCV: links to 24/7 resources for adult literacy • News stories fall under this category too • Awareness

31. Zen and the Art of the Tweet • What if I have too much to say? • Link shorteners • Link to another place that says everything that you can’t fit into your tweet • Note: links count toward your 140 character limit! • Tweet Longer • An external service that allows you to extend a tweet as long as you would like • Don’t make a habit of using this, as it sort of defeats the purpose…

32. Zen and the Art of the Tweet • What if I want to include media? • Photo services • Upload pictures from your hard drive • TwitPic and YFrog • Upload a picture, and then will give you a link to post in your tweet • Video services • Upload videos from your hard drive • TwitVid and YFrog

33. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

34. Other uses for Twitter • Staying current • Follow other accounts so that you can stay informed of what others are doing • Pro tip: Separate users into lists—it will help when you want to get specific information • e.g. While you might want to follow local news stations on Twitter, they won’t help you much if you’re looking for resources specific to food security or domestic violence (or whatever else).

35. Other uses for Twitter • Live Tweeting • When someone “live-tweets”, they give frequent, real-time updates from an event that they are attending • Pertinent quotes, concepts, schedules, etc. • Prior to the event, they will probably inform followers of a hashtag to search for • e.g. #sxsw11 = South By Southwest 2011 • Useful for people relaying information from conferences and other live events to those unable to attend

36. Other uses for Twitter • Chatting • Some sites have weekly/monthly chats that go through Twitter • Categorized by a common hashtag • NPTalk (nptalk.co) • A Twitter chat that discusses technology and its application in the nonprofit sector • Wednesdays at 2 p.m. • For more information, go to socialnicole.com, follow @SocialNicole or search for #nptalk on Twitter.

37. Agenda • What is Twitter? • History of Twitter • Pros and Cons of Microblogging • Facebook vs. Twitter • The Twit-tionary • The Twitter Interface • Zen and the Art of the Tweet • Other Uses for Twitter • Best Practices

38. Twitter Best Practices • Look before you leap • Before you start tweeting, start following a few accounts so that you can get the hang of reading tweets as well as observe how other organizations write for Twitter • Step up your scanning skills • Twitter feeds contain a lot of content, so when you go to read your feed (or list), figure out what information you’re interested in first

39. Twitter Best Practices • Make your tweets stand out • Challenge yourself to make your Twitter “headlines” more interesting than anyone else’s • This will reduce the likelihood of your tweet being passed by unnoticed • Are you interested in what you’re writing? • Keep things you want shared short • Someone may want to share what you wrote, but if what you say is more than 120 characters, they might not be able to once they input their opinion and RT @username.

40. Twitter Best Practices • Create an average user • Within your agency, create a profile of the person that you want to target your tweets towards. This will help you when you develop content for your tweets. • Who are they? • Where do they live? • What do they like to do? • What beliefs do they have?

41. Twitter Best Practices • Use hashtags when appropriate • Tag your posts with its main idea so that your posts can be found by the Twitter search engine • Use Twitter as your website’s newsfeed if you don’t already have one • Twitter feed widgets can fit easily in website sidebars or in the main section of a webpage • For more information, you could link to another page on your site or link to a blog • Don’t have a whole lot of time on your hands? Use a dashboard! • HootSuite • TweetDeck • Both let you manage Facebook pages and Twitter accounts at the same time.

42. Twitter Best Practices • Remember to keep things personal • Sound like a real person—don’t be overly informational. Twitter users like seeing personality! • For more information… • Support.twitter.com • Twitter’s official help forum • TwiTip.com • Has a lot of great resources for beginners

43. Any Questions?

44. Thoughts on linked accounts… • Personally, I don’t think that you should link a Facebook and Twitter accounts • Different audiences require a different writing style • Instead, consider using HootSuite, TweetDeck or any other dashboard application • You can update both quickly from the same place

45. HootSuite