You don't need to follow any Twitter advice - unless Twitter isn't working for you or you want to get something different out of it. If you lose followers because you tweet pictures of your lunch, who cares? Just have fewer followers. But if you're a researcher and you want to grow your network of support on Twitter, the tips in this presentation will help you do that. It covers Content, Tone, Logistics and your Account. Part of the Becoming a Networked Researcher suite of workshops and learning materials, which I deliver at the University of York.
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Tips for Twitter IMPROVERS Becoming a Networked Researcher Ned
Potter Academic Liaison
Above all, remember its not about broadcasting, its about
conversation!
Above all, remember its not about broadcasting, its about
conversation! This is Web 2.0. Its interactive, participatory, and
about positioning yourself as part of a dialogue. If you remember
this rule, all the other rules in this guide can be broken.
(This guide is aimed at people in the academic environment who
already use Twitter. If youre brand new to the platform, read this
introduction first.)
Content Part 1
Dont just make statements, ask questions. Content
Content Tweet multimedia Pictures, videos, slideshows all
appear within Twitter itself
Consider the 1 in 4 rule* *actually its more of a guideline
Content
Consider the 1 in 4 rule* 1 in 4 Tweets directly about you /
your work *actually its more of a guideline A ReTweet? A link to
something useful?A reply? Content
Embrace the smartphone! (Soon there will only BE smartphones so
you may as well get started now.) Content
Embrace the smartphone! (Soon there will only BE smartphones so
you may as well get started now.) Imagine the people reading your
Tweets are not just in your building, but on the train, in the
supermarket queue, at conferences or events. Twitter doesnt have to
be something people MAKE TIME for. Content
Tone Part 2
Try not to think of it as purely personal or purely
professional it works better when its both. (Personally I think it
works well when you major in professional and minor in personal)
Tone
Spell things correctly, dont use text-speak, ensure proper
grammar and syntax but the tone is friendly and approachable.
Tone
Ultimately the tone on Twitter is roughly akin to how you would
address your peers face-to-face (as opposed to in print). Are you
friendly, irreverent, sarcastic, enthusiastic, irascible? Thats
probably how you should be on Twitter, too. Tone
Ultimately the tone on Twitter is roughly akin to how you would
address your peers face-to-face (as opposed to in print). Are you
friendly, irreverent, sarcastic, enthusiastic, irascible? Thats
probably how you should be on Twitter, too. (Just dont be
unpleasant, as the written word can have a bigger and
longer-lasting impact than what is spoken.) Tone
Your Account Part 3
Your profile is hugely important it can both win and lose you
opportunities. Use your bio to give people a reason to engage with
you. Use the URL space to link your blog. And whatever you do, dont
leave the picture as the default Twitter egg people associate this
with spam accounts and switch off instantly. Your Account
Bio, blog link Following back Dont be spammy Check hashtags
Your Account You dont HAVE to follow back. Although reciprocity is
an important part of building a social network, dont feel like you
have to follow everyone who follows you. Above all Twitter has to
be manageable and work FOR you.
Your Account And if you DO have to follow back for political
reasons The mute button is your friend.
When creating hashtags for events, projects, conferences and
discussions remember to check theyre not already in use before you
make them public! Your Account
To lock or not to lock your account? Advantages: Complete
control over who sees your tweets Free reign to be critical or
otherwise controversial Protection from the undesirable side of the
internet Numbers of followers are not an end in themselves a larger
network doesnt always equate to a more valuable one
To lock or not to lock your account? Disadvantages: Will reduce
the size of your network so you may miss out on interacting with
useful or interesting people Prevents you from being ReTweeted,
meaning you cannot reach additional audiences Your tweets cannot be
seen by people who dont follow you, even if addressed directly at
them with an @ reply
Logistics Part 4
Logistics How often should you tweet? Targets can often
backfire tweet when you have something to say, and dont when you
dont.
That said, the more people tweet, the bigger their network.*
Often the bigger their network, the more they get out of Twitter.
Logistics *Usually. But theres no guarantee here!
Set up saved searches After any useful search, save it so its
easily accessible next time you click the search box.
Logistics
Set up saved searches As well as searches for relevant topics,
set up a search on pertinent URLs (for example your project page or
blog) so you can see whenever anyone tweets about your work.
Logistics
Lists allow you to usefully curate the people you follow For
example, make lists of people who tweet about Your discipline
Research in your area Impact factors Technology in HE Higher
Education in general Local news Global news University news
Whatever is relevant to you Logistics
Analyse your Tweets There are a million and one Twitter stats
packages online choose the ones which give you information you can
ACT on. E.G. use http://tweetstats.com to check how often youre
replying and RTing, and WHEN youre Tweeting Logistics
Analyse your Tweets Then use www.tweriod.com to find out when
your followers are actually online: Logistics
Consider a social media dashboard Twitter doesnt have to be run
from twitter.com something like Hootsuite may be useful as it
allows you to view your timeline, mentions, direct messages, lists,
searches etc, in real time, from one screen, and you can also
manage other social media accounts here Logistics
And finally You need to actually tell people youre there.
@username on your business cards on your PowerPoint presentations
on your name-badge at conferences in your email signature
Thanks for reading! More on Becoming a Networked Researcher can
be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/library/info-
for/researchers/networked/ Follow the Library on Twitter:
@UoYLibrary Picture credits are on the next two slides.
Photos via Flickr Creative Commons (1) Twitter birds on a wire
by MKH Marketing, at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8477893426/size
s/l/in/photostream/ Birds in the sky by ,T.R.G, at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/therealgrudge/4065114735/siz
es/l/in/photostream/ Twitter bird in a cage by MKH Marketing,
edited by us, original at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8481608368/size
s/l/in/photostream/ Graduation, by j.o.h.n walker, at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/whatcouldgowrong/460896372
2/sizes/l/in/photostream/ Smily fruit by *Light Painting*, at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/helmuthess/9563262919/sizes/
l/in/photostream/ Seminar room by Jonas_k, at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonask/2311309574/sizes/l/in/
photostream/
Photos via Flickr Creative Commons (2) Egg by JeffPoskanzer,
at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jef/7550549938/sizes/c/
Reciprocal roof by The Year of Mud, at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/smallape/2868726577/sizes/l Homemade
hashtag by Alexander Hugo TarTari, at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/byhoogle/6879766189/sizes/l Blue
padlock by Aff, at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/affers/8298047871/sizes/c/in/ph
otostream/ Question-mark cufflinks by Oberazzi, at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/oberazzi/318947345/sizes/z/in/
photostream/ Smartphone by Xrajis_, at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/xraijs/3474643866/sizes/l/in/p
hotostream/ All Twitter icons, and the iPad icon, via
www.iconfinder.com