Slides used for the face-2-face presentation, "An Introduction to Twitter" at the 6th Annual St. Joseph's College NY Technology-in-Education Conference May 19, 2014
Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...
An Introduction to Twitter 2014 SJCNY Technology-in-Education Conference
1. An Introduction to Twitter
Background image from: Buzzfarmers and Nick Palazzo http://buzzfarmers.com/using-twitter-for-marketing/getting-to-know-twitter-lingo/
2. What event put Twitter on the map?
Why was it an important moment?
5. Tweet what?
What it is
• Valuable tool
• Massive, open or closed,
network
• Human powered search
• Real-time
• Sinkhole
What it is not
• Pointless
• Instant messaging
• Easy
• For celebrities only
• Real-time
• Sinkhole
What do you want it to be?
6. “If you think Twitter is ‘dumb’ or ‘a
waste of time’, well then it will be.”
-David Truss, Educator @datruss
http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/twitter-edu/
7. Account Creation
- Go to twitter.com
- Choose a Twitter handle … something that will
follow the @
- (Make sure user name is not taken)
- Keep it simple, try to keep it short, use an
abbreviation of your name or something that
represents you
- E.g. @profsmith @drsmith @Mrs_Smith
- Enter email address
Once account is made, try to skip the “welcome” steps
by going directly back to twitter.com
8. Complete Your Profile
Click the gear icon, then Edit Profile from the
Twitter home page when you are logged in
- Add a photo and a header image and stick
with them
- Add your real name
- Enter a link to web site, blog, etc.
- Complete your bio in 160 characters or less.
Describe yourself as an educator.
- Save Changes
Don’t forget to verify your account by checking the email
address used to register.
9. Other Account Settings
Click the gear icon, then Settings from the Twitter
home page when you are logged in
Familiarize
yourself with
all of these
settings
10. Hold on! You can search Twitter without even having an account!
Simply go to search.twitter.com and look for content, people, organization,
and more. Tap into the power of this tool right away.
11. Anatomy of a Tweet
https://twitter.com/jessicabakeman/status/465913973846454272
12. Anatomy of a Tweet
https://twitter.com/jessicabakeman/status/465913973846454272
Who
Tweeted?
Can you
jump in?
What’s
the link?
Who is
involved?
What can you do
with the Tweet?
What did
others do? When?
13. Anatomy of a Tweet
Hashtag use
Use of RT (retweet) = entire
tweet is wording from
another user
Sometimes MT is used for
“Modified Tweet”
14. Anatomy of a Tweet
Comment added after
Tweet wording
15. Composing Tweets
- 140 character limit, use box on left side of home page, or icon in upper right
- All of the Tweets you write appear on your profile page
- Your Tweets also appear in your home timeline as well as the home timelines
of the people who follow you.
- Content = anything goes, but consider your audience
16. Composing Tips
The Dot before using someone's @ name: If you put a period before someone's
username at the beginning of a tweet, everyone who follows you will be able to
see that tweet. If you start the tweet with someone's username, the only people
who will be able to read it are those who follow both you AND the person you
are tweeting.
Deleting Tweets: There is a delete button, but know that many of your followers
may have seen the Tweet.
19. Twitter Lingo
@replies: Public tweets directed at specific people — anyone can see them and jump
into the conversation.
direct messages (DMs): Private messages sent to specific Twitter users in your
network.
hashtag: Words preceded by the # symbol. Basically, hashtags flag something as a
keyword for searches.
RT or R/T: Stands for retweet, Twitter's equivalent of quoting. If you come across a
tweet that you want to quote, giving credit to the original user, hover over a tweet
and click the Retweet link that appears.
Twitter stream: The constantly updating and flowing timeline of everyone that you
choose to follow on Twitter; also called a feed.
21. Interacting With Others
There are a number of different ways to “direct” a Tweet to
someone’s attention:
- Reference them directly in a public @ reply
- Add in a cc: line
- Add in a “via @_____” line
- Send the Tweet to the timeline of your followers via the RT
Use the direct message (DM) feature to send a “private” message
to someone who is following you.
Note that you can’t include links in DMs.
22. Following / Followers
There is no secret sauce to finding Twitter users to follow. Really, there is none.
It is important, though, to grow your network.
1. Try to locate the people, companies, organization, places, etc. that you know.
2. Read their profiles and click (touch) the Follow button.
3. You can unfollow users as well via the same button. Users will know that
you have followed/unfollowed them.
4. Check out who they follow … follow some of their crowd.
5. When you get a notice, or see, that you have been followed, check the user
out and consider following back.
Give yourself 30-days to get going. Find at least 5
accounts to follow each day. Make a real effort.
25. Hashtags
A hashtag is simply a word or phrase (without any spaces) preceded by a, well, a
hashtag: #. For example, #SJCTIE
- The origin of them on Twitter was to identify trending topics for search
purposes. (Organize content and Tweets)
- Converse with other users who may or may not be following each other.
- Acts as a filter
- Can be misused
26. Hashtags
So, how do you use a hashtag properly?
Is your hashtag something that other people are using?
Is it based on a currently trending topic on Twitter?
Is it part of a niche following for like-minded users to talk to each
other?
Are you using it to organize content?
If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then go ahead and
use the hashtag.
But, please make sure you research the hashtag first!
28. Chats & Conferences
Many times, hashtags are tied to very specific, time-sensitive,
Twitter chats or real-world conferences.
Include the hashtag in your tweets during the time frame to
participate. Or, for conferences, use and follow the conference tag.
35. Twitter in Education
Finding :: Sharing :: Communicating
Here’s a sampling of the possibilities:
- Share resources
- Get updates & news from educational organizations
- Participate in real-time education events (conferences & chats)
- Communicate w/colleagues & other educators
- Find content including guest speakers for your class
- Stay up to date in your field
- Monitor worldwide events and activities
- Be conversational & meet new people
Adapted from: What Does Twitter Have to Offer Academics? http://digitalsociology.org.uk/?p=48
36. Final Tips
1. Ignore unwanted Twits
2. You will get spam. Ignore, block, report and move on.
3. Look to see who follows you. Check out who they follow.
4. Don't overload
5. Get some ... give some
6. Ask questions, ask for clarification, ask for advice
7. Pay attention
37. Resources
Finding SJC Tweeters: https://twitter.com/bwasson/lists/sjcny
Related links to browse: https://www.diigo.com/user/sjctrainers/Twitter
Continue learning: http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/twitter-edu/
Now get out there and Tweet!
