This document provides an overview of key Twitter terms and concepts such as tweets, retweets, hashtags, and direct messages. It also shares statistics on Australian Twitter usage and tips for leveraging Twitter including filling out your profile, finding people with similar interests to follow, curating your feed, and using images and questions to engage others. The document recommends strategies for sharing longer form content across multiple tweets and tracking tweet performance metrics.
2. Tweet: Each individual message. Limited to 140 characters.
Retweet (RT): Sharing someone else’s Tweet with your followers.
Feed: The stream of Tweets from people you follow.
Handle: Your username.
Mention (@): A way to reference another user by his username in a tweet (e.g.
@macleay). Users are notified when @mentioned. It's how you converse back and
forth publically.
Direct Message (DM): A private, 140-character message between two people. You
may only DM a user who follows you.
Hashtag (#): A way to denote a topic of conversation or participate in a larger
linked discussion (e.g. #madeatmacleay). Hashtags are a way to search Tweets
based on specific topics.
3. 2.8m active Australian Twitter
accounts as of June 2015
7.2m Australian Tweets are
sent every day
40% of Twitter users are
looking for news
Peak Twitter usage time is
during morning and evening
commutes, and on the hour.
4. Leverage your contacts
Add your Twitter name to your email
footer.
Fill out your profile and send a few Tweets
(even if no one sees them!) before you go
looking for followers.
Use the search function to find your tribe.
No matter how obscure your interest,
you’re not alone.
Dive in! Start following and interacting
with others.
5. Play nicely! Remember, this is a public forum and even a deleted Tweet isn’t
really deleted.
Don’t clog the feed – space your offerings across a day.
Remember this is “social” media. Don’t be afraid to show a bit of personality.
Have some dignity – don’t beg for retweets or follows.
Curate your feed – share Tweets and info that your followers may find
interesting.
It’s not all about you. Ask questions, compliment people, say thank you.
Tweets with photos usually perform better than text only. Make your photos
relevant.
Clickbait style Tweets trade long term credibility for short term reward.
6. One story could feed 20 or more Tweets.
◦ Tweet the quotes, the opening, a summary
◦ Ask your followers a question or their opinion on the content
◦ Share a detail not covered in the story
◦ Tell the story behind the story
Post a link to the same story multiple times – each time with different
wording / angle.
@mention the subject(s) of your Tweets (but don’t do it at the start of the
Tweet or only you and the subject of the @mention will see it).
7. Follow your areas of interest – stories often break on Twitter before the
mainstream news outlets.
◦ Hashtags
◦ Specific accounts
Be careful – information may not be verified.
Twitter may be the source of misinformation or can debunk it.
Is there an opportunity to engage eye witnesses?
8. Twitter lists – There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Look for pre-existing Twitter
lists at www.electoralhq.com
You can create your own Twitter lists and either keep them private or make them
public. A public list can be good for your profile / credibility.
Use the Advanced Search function to search by:
◦ Time
◦ Location
◦ Keywords
Follow the news makers, ie. if you’re interested in food and wine, follow the
restaurants / bars, reviewers, influential bloggers, festivals, relevant publications.
9.
10.
11. Recent introduction is a curated feed split into sections.
Designed to give you a quick overview of trending topics.
Suggests Twitter is wanting to look more like other mainstream news
services.
12. Twitter Analytics
◦ Follower demographics
Gender, location and interests of your following
◦ Tweet performance
When is the best time for your Tweets to gain maximum exposure?
Compare link to same content with different wording
Scheduling websites
◦ Allows you to schedule a full day’s content (or longer) in one sitting.
◦ Can save custom feeds, ie. sorted by a Hashtag.
◦ You’ll still need to drop in to participate in conversations. Don’t dump and run!
◦ Hootsuite and Tweet Deck are popular choices.
Notes de l'éditeur
Meetings starting and finishing on the hour.
Like walking into a crowded party where you know no one. Grab a drink, pull up a chair and people watch. Start a few conversations
Explain @mention
Case of US congresswoman Gabrielle Clifford - many mainstream US news services reported that she had died following shooting . Was wounded only.
“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated – Mark Twain. Itself a misquote.
Children’s hospital looting during London riots in 2011. Swiftly debunked on Twitter.
Case of US congresswoman Gabrielle Clifford - many mainstream US news services reported that she had died following shooting . Was wounded only.
“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated – Mark Twain. Itself a misquote.
