TOOLKIT 3 - Twitter, a handy Quick Start Guide by Transport for All

Twitter

A Handy Quick Start Guide

Contents

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What is Twitter? What do I need to start? Are there any terms I should know? Glossary

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Twitter - A Beginners Guide to Tweeting ÂŠ Transport for All 2013

What is Twitter?

witter is effectively a giant conversation, in 140 character chunks. Imagine a meeting among your members and other stakeholders but which doesn’t involve all the preperation of documents, or the fretting over lunches! The other benefit of twitter is that it is completely free to use, all you need is a computer or ‘smart’ mobile phone, and an email address. So, for example, if you have a meeting coming up with a member of your local council, you might want to poll your members to identify three key issues they want to highlight. To do this, you might tweet something along the lines of: “Meeting Mr Smith tomorrow, responsible for access in borough, what issues would you like highlighting?” Hopefully, you will get

some contact back from people, although this depends on how interactive your ‘followers’ are (don’t worry, we will cover the lingo later.) Choose an account name and images consistent with your other online presences and your brand. Twitter is a global tool, allowing you to get in touch with likeminded individuals not just on your street, but on every street in every country. Maybe Mike from Melbourne or Rachel from Rio can answer your question, or maybe they will have a different perspective on how to achieve your goals. Twitter can also be

used as a tool for promoting your cause for fundraising. There are numerous people who might not be aware of your organisation, yet who may wish to raise funds for you, or donate, or promote your cause. While the benefits of Twitter are plain to see and easily within your reach, you really must take into account your target audience. Many older and disabled people for example do not have internet access. Therefore it is important not to forget the traditional methods of engagement, such as forums, meetings and newsletters.

Twitter - A Beginners Guide to Tweeting © Transport for All 2013

What do I need to start?

Want to venture into the wide world of twitter but don’t know what you need to get going? This is the section for you, with a handy step by step guide. First of all, you will need an email address. Most of us will have one, two or even 10 of these to hand, however as the Knight in Indiana Jones said: “choose wisely.” What are ‘mentions’? Mentions are the way twitter identifies who you want to talk to - it’s the same as shouting a persons name to get someones attention.

In the unlikely event that you forget your password you will need to log in and check it. Therefore it’s useful to use an email address you check regularly! Embarrassed to sign

up to twitter for business as pinkkitty@email.com? don’t worry, as this will only be used by twitter to inform you of ‘mentions’, new ‘followers’, and ‘direct messages’ and won’t be shared with anyone. Once you have decided which email to register, it’s time to head to twitter.com and click sign up. The next part of the process is often one of the trickiest - picking a ‘handle’ - your identity on twitter. However, while it’s important to pick the right ‘handle’ it’s not too big of a problem as it can always be changed later if you aren’t happy. It’s also important to not choose a lengthy ‘handle’ as it counts toward the 140 character limit on each tweet. After all of that it’s time

to find some fellow tweeters to ‘follow’. These will, or should, be people or organisations you find interesting, who comment on the issues you are concentrating on, or who might be able to provide you with greater exposure. Hopefully they will ‘follow’ you, and thus you will have a ‘follower’. Now you’re all set to tweet, but what do you tweet? This is a very difficult question to answer. There’s no set recipie to make twitter work for you, and there’s no definitive answer about what style you should adopt. The general consensus is to tweet in a style that befits your organisation - so if you’re known for being warm and welcoming to your members, be that, if you’re more professional or dealing with companies, then be more professional on twitter. Don’t panic if you don’t get 100,000 followers overnight - for starters, you aren’t (most likely) going to be

Twitter - A Beginners Guide to Tweeting © Transport for All 2013

tweeting pictures of cats. People love cats. Instead, try and engage with the followers you do have. Value them, and they will value you. You might also notice a vertical blue line connecting some tweets. When two or more users you follow are involved in a conversation, Twitter automatically groups those messages together on your timeline, displayed chronologically from when the most recent tweet was sent. Up to three messages in the conversation will appear

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Consider your target audience Be interesting, even if using a professional tone Be willing to learn you don’t know it all yet Admit when you get it wrong Engage! If we all engage twitter is far more productive

on your timeline, connected by the vertical line. If there are more than three messages in the conversation, click on any one to view the entire conversation. Social Misfits Media interviewed Claire DíazOrtiz the Head of Social Innovation at Twitter, and author of Twitter for Good: Change the World, One Tweet at a Time she states that social enterprises should remember the acronym TWEET when taking to twitter for the first time.

Don’t

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Use twitter for the sake of it Engage with followers if you feel threatened/angry Use twitter sporadically - it’s better not to tweet too much, or too little Send anything in a tweet or DM you wouldn’t want to see in a paper

Target: You can’t get

anywhere on Twitter if you don’t have a target or goal.

Write: It’s time to send

your first tweet, whatever it may be. Then send your second. Stop editing yourself and let it flow.

Engage: Once you

send your first tweet, the world won’t come running. Engage with others to get them to see you, listen to you, and interact with you.

Explore: Motivational

speakers tell you to try one new thing every day. Do it on Twitter, too. More importantly, find new people. Twitter is about relationships, q to start building them.

Track: You won’t know

if you’ve met your target unless you’re tracking it.

Terms to know

This is the page that most people who are new to twitter will be most afraid of....the jargon page. Twitter is it’s own language - from mentions, to handles, hashtags to trends, there is a whole vernacular for microblogging. However, trust us when we say, it’s not all that complex once you get up and running. The following are key terms you will need to know to be successful on twitter:

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Tweet: A 140 character public message Mention: An @ message - e.g. @yourname. It’s how people take part in the big conversation of twitter Handle: A username, and what people will write after @. Hashtags (#): These are a way to denote a topic of conversation or participate in a larger linked discussion. A hashtag is a discovery tool that allows others to find your tweets, based on topics. For example #transport or #londonbuses. Events should use their own hashtag, to allow audience input. Direct Message: Also called a DM these tweets are private only visible by sender and the intended recipient. Retweet: A tweet by another user, forwarded to you by someone you follow. Often used to spread news or share valuable findings on twitter. Likewise, you can retweet another user's tweet to all of your followers. Trends: A subject which is one of the most popular on twitter at the moment.

This booklet is part of the Get Moving Project funded by London Councils

Transport for All believes in a fully accessible, reliable and affordable transport network for disabled and older Londoners. We provide specialised advice, information, advocacy and training to both service users and providers of accessible transport in the capital.