Twitter 101By Becky Yost

Key Twitter Terms• Tweet - A tweet is the 140 character message you post on twitter. The visibility of your

tweet is controlled by your settings. You can set your tweets to “public” or you can choose

to only share them with people who follow you.

• Username or “Twitter Handle” - This is the name you choose to represent you or your

business on Twitter. It can be up to 15 characters. Once you pick your name, it will be

shown with the “@” symbol in front, e.g. @BeckyYost

• Follow - To subscribe to receive updates from a Twitter user. When you follow someone,

you’ll see most all of their tweets. They won’t see yours unless they follow you. (You can

choose to approve followers or allow anybody to follow you)

• Re-Tweet – When you re-post something another user tweeted. You do this when you

wish to share another user’s update with your followers. You may or may not choose to

accompany the re-tweet with your own message.

Key Terms Cont.• Hashtag (#) – A way to tag a keyword or topic within a post to give it emphasis and make

it more easily searchable by other users. Twitter users can click on or search a hashtag to

view posts that have mentioned it. Many brands and events create “official” hashtags so

that users can easily track the conversation.

• @Mentions and @Replies – An @mention is when one user mentions another user in

their tweet. Example: “Check out the #ExposureResearch done by @UWDEOHS”. An

@reply is when a tweet is directed at another user. Example: “@UWDEOHS how can I get

involved with your awesome research?” Note: An @reply will only appear on the feed of

the specific account you are replying to/tweeting at and the feeds of people who follow

BOTH of you, whereas an @mention will be seen by all of your followers, even if they don’t

follow the account you are mentioning.

• Twitter Feed – The home page you see when you sign in featuring tweets from the

people you follow as well as sponsored Tweets (ads). You can find your feed by clicking

“home”.

• Trending – You will notice on your home page a list of Hashtags or Topics that are “trending”. This means that hashtag or topic is being talked about by a lot of users at this moment. Joining in on trending conversations can help you gain visibility on Twitter.

• Moment – a “Moment” is a collection of tweets all related to a specific topic. Moments are automatically created by Twitter, as well as by users, usually about trending topics. For example there might be a Twitter Moment for the Super Bowl which would showcase a collection of the best tweets and videos about the Super Bowl. You can create your own moments, as well as follow ones you are interested in.

• Notification – You will receive a notification when somebody interacts with one or your tweets, tags you in a tweet, follows you, or sends you a direct message.

Key Terms Cont.

Setting Up Your AccountTips to Get Started

• Create a Handle (username) that is easy to remember and recognizable– this

helps others find you and interact with you more easily. Your first and last

name is usually best or the name of your organization.

• Make sure your username is readable. Use caps in your username to make it

easier to read - example: BeckyYost or BeckyYostUW vs beckyyost or

beckyyostuw

• Upload a profile picture and add a description. This lets people know more

about you and indicates it is not a spam account. When setting up a business

or organization-related account it is best to use your logo as your profile photo.

Setting Up Your AccountTips to Get Started Cont.

• Set a cover photo for you profile page. This image might represent a promotion you

have going on, or may be an eye catching image that is related to your business

sector.

• During set-up twitter will try to help you find others to follow based on the

information it gathers about your interests. You may or may not want twitter to

automatically follow these people for you (you can always unfollow them later).

• Get started by following colleagues, friends, and similar organizations or businesses.

• Use other user’s “lists” to find people to follow. For example, UWDEOHS has a list of

DEOHS affiliated users. Create your own lists to sort people you follow.

Getting to Know the Website1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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Getting to Know the Website Cont.

1. Home button - this will always bring you back to this screen.

2. View current Moments or create your own

3. View your notifications

4. View your private messages

5. Search for users, topics, and hashtags

6. View/change your account and profile settings

7. Create a new tweet (there are two places to do this from)

8. Quick view of your account stats, click your photo to view your profile.

Getting to Know the Website Cont.

9. Trending topics and hashtags

10. Second place to create a new tweet

11. Tweet from someone you are following

12. Re-tweet – Notice it looks like a tweet within a tweet. You will see a re-tweet if the person re-tweeting is someone you follow. The original post will not necessarily be from someone you follow.

13. Suggested accounts you might want to follow, based on who you currently follow and topics you tweet about.

14. Popular live video suggested by Twitter – usually about a hot topic or event that is happening RIGHT NOW (you can hide this video box if you choose).

Getting to Know the Mobile App

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1. Openyourappmenu(pictureonright)

2. Createanewtweet

3. Asecondwayre-tweetsaredisplayed.

U.ofWashingtondidnotmaketheir

owncommentabouttheposttheyre-

tweeted,soitdoesnotappearasa

tweetwithinatweet inthiscase.

4. Homebutton – willalwaysbringyou

backtothisscreen

5. Searchpeople,hashtags,topics

6. Notifications

7. Privatemessages

*Exampleofan@mention– letting UWknowthepostisaboutormayinterestthem

*

Getting to Know the Basic Actions on Twitter

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1. Replytoatweet.Usingthisbuttonyoucan

replytotheposterand/oruserswhohave

repliedbeforeyou.

2. Re-tweetapost.

3. Likeapost– youcanviewyourpastlikes

onyourprofilepage,youcanalsoview

otheruser’spastlikesontheirprofile

pages.

4. Directmessagetheposttoanotheruser.

5. Viewadditionaloptionsincluding reporting

inappropriatecontent,copyingalinktothe

tweet,blockingtheuser,etc.

6. Followanothertwitteruserbyvisiting

theirprofile.

ACTIVITY #1Spend the next 10 minutes working on Activity #1, if you have questions or get stuck please raise your hand.

Building Your Presence on Twitter Interacting with Others

Interaction with other users is one of the most important steps in building

up your twitter following and building a presence.

1) Follow influencers and other users who have a similar message/audience.

2) @Mention users in your tweets who have a large following, a great way to

gain visibility is by being re-tweeted or mentioned by a larger account.

Example: “Check out this great article from @UW researchers – their work is so

great! #ResearchMatters [Link to article]”

Building Your Presence on Twitter Interacting with Others

3) Retweet users who have a large following. This is most effective if you also add

your own comment along the lines of “Check out this awesome infographic from

@user, what a great resource”. Getting the attention of popular users is important, they

may choose to follow you back and re-tweet your posts.

4) Ask colleagues and organization partners to re-tweet you or @mention you. If you

are promoting something specific, give them some example tweets that they can copy

and paste. Example: “Friends over at @UWDEOHSCE are hosting a new social media

course, #SafetyCultureUW, check it out! [link to course]”.

5) @Reply to a tweet you find interesting to build a relationship with that user.

Building Your Presence on Twitter Keeping it Interesting and Relevant

1) Always Always Always keep your target

audience in mind when tweeting!!!

2) Tweet about something that is trending.

Check out the trending topics and find

something that can relate to your messaging.

See the example to the right.

3) Exercise caution and your best judgment

when posting about a potentially

controversial topic.

The more interesting and relevant your content is to your target audience, the more quality followers you will gain.

Building Your Presence on Twitter Keeping it Interesting and Relevant

4. Use images and/or GIFs to make your

tweets more eye catching and save

characters, studies have shown users are far

more likely to engage with media posts.

4. Show your personality and the faces

behind the keyboard!

5. Fact check and determine credibility

before posting or sharing content created by

others.

Building Your Presence on Twitter Keeping it Interesting and Relevant

6. “Live tweet” about events you are

involved in or exciting things

happening at your workplace.

7.When you write a new blog post,

create a new fact sheet, upload a new

video, update a webpage, come out

with a new product, accomplish

something, etc - SHARE IT!

8. Use Twitter analytics to capitalize on

your best performing posts – we will

talk more in depth about this later.

ACTIVITY #2Spend the next 10 minutes working on Activity #2, if you have questions or get stuck please raise your hand.

Advanced TwitterUsing Twitter Analytics – Accessing Twitter Analytics

Twitter analytics allows you to discover your must successful tweets and biggest opportunities on Twitter.

Access Analytics from your home page or by visiting analytics.twitter.com

Advanced TwitterUsing Twitter Analytics – Getting to Know the Home Page

The28daysummaryalwaysappearsatthetopofthepage,andisupdateddaily.

Tweets:Thenumber oftweetsyoupostedTweetimpressions:Howmanytimesyourtweetsappearedonotheruser’sfeedsProfileViews:ThenumberoftimesusersvisitedyourprofilepageMentions:Thenumberof@mentionsyouweretaggedinFollowers:Yournumber offollowers,andchangeoverthepast28days

Advanced TwitterUsing Twitter Analytics – Getting to Know the Home Page Cont.

Belowthe28daysummaryyouwillfindmonth-by-month snapshotsofyourtopactivity.

TopTweet&TopMediaTweet:Postmoretweetslikethese,theydidwell!

TopMention:@Mention thisuserfrequentlyandbuildarelationship.Ifyouknowthempersonally,askthemto@mentionyou.Theyhaveafollowing thatengagedwellwiththeir@mentionofyou.

TopFollower:Thisuserhaspotentialtohelpyourpresencewithan@mentionoraretweet– engagewiththem!

Advanced TwitterUsing Twitter Analytics – Getting to Know the Tweets Page

Thetweetspagebreaksdowntheperformanceofeachofyourtweets.

• Determineyourfuturetweetsbasedonthecontentthatperformedwellinthepast.

• Engagementsareoftenmorevaluablethanimpressions,butpayattentiontowhatusersmightbeengagingwith.

• Graphatthetopcantellyouwhattimesofday,andwhichdaysoftheweekyourfollowersaremostengaged.

• Promotingtweetscanbeagreatwaytogainmorevisibility,followers,andengagement.Alwayspromotethetweetthatisalreadypreformingaboveandbeyondtheothers!

Advanced TwitterAdvanced Interaction & Content

• LiveVideo– Onceyouhavebuiltupafollowing,livevideocanbeagreatwaytoengagewiththose

followers.Themostpopularwaytouselivevideoisataneventortoschedulealiveintervieworotherlive

event.

• ParticipateinaTwitterChat– Differentcompaniesandorganizationsoftenhostlive twitterchats.Youcan

participate inachatbyfollowingtheofficialhashtagandusingthathashtaginyourpostsaboutthechat

topic.Normallytheseliveeventswillpromotedbeforehandalongwiththeofficialhashtag.

• ParticipateinaSocialMediaCampaign– Manyorganizations,suchasOSHA,usesocialmedia intheirsocial

marketingcampaigns.Forexample,OSHA’syearlyNationalSafetyStand-DowntoPreventFallsin

Construction.OSHAencouragespeopletosharetheirStand-Downactivities, resources,pictures,videos,etc

using#StandDown4Safety.

Twitter vs. FacebookWhich is Better for Your Brand?

Twitterat-a-Glance

• 48%ofmonthlyusersfollowbrandsand

companies

• Majorityofusersareunder40

• Primarilyusedbypeoplewholiveincities,not

aspopularinruralareas

• Onaverage0.03%ofabrand’sfollowerswill

engagewithposts

• Twitterusersvisitmorepagesviapost links

thanusersonFacebook

• Fast-pacedinnature,lotsofcontentto

competewith

• Conversationsarelesscommon

Facebookat-a-Glance

• Moreusersoverall

• Numberofyoungerusersdwindling,while

olderusersareincreasing

• Fewerusersvisitoutsidesitesvialinks,

howevertheyspendmoretimeonsitesthey

dovisit

• Facebookpostshavealongerlifespan&allow

forlongercontent

• Facebookisprimarilyusedto interactand

keeptabsonfriendsandfamily

• Commentsallowforconversationwiththe

public,butalsomustbemonitored

QUESTIONS?