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Twitter 101, beginner's tips: do you tweet?
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You have heard about Twitter, you have seen Twitter addresses on business cards and email signatures, and you have created an account on Twitter.com, now what?
Is Twitter yet another social network for kids? No, teens do not use Twitter, they prefer Facebook chat or even better their game console chat.
Twitter is a professional networking tool to receive and send text messages of less than 140 characters - called tweets. Less formal than an email, sent to your cell phone if you choose to, a tweet is a one-to-many message you broadcast to people who share the same interest, hobby or business. If you are a professional, Twitter is the most powerful and the most recent tool to build and maintain your online personal branding.
You are already on LinkedIn and Facebook, why should you tweet?
Twitter displays the text message of your choice on your online Twitter profile, in a very similar way to LinkedIn and Facebook status updates. The similarity stops here, since the type of status updates and the network of people who will read them are very different.
LinkedIn is a network of professionals and friends you update with work-related status: "I have a new job", "I am in a business trip in Japan," and the like.
Facebook is a network of friends and family, although it has become more and more professional over time. However most people will publish Facebook status updates about their day to day life," from "I am cooking lasagna" to "I went to see Harry Potter with the kids."
An open and condensed newsletter to link communities of interest
Twitter is entirely different in the nature of the social group you address and in the way you address it. This is not anymore for bloggers or small business advertising, it has become a way to read and send news for everybody. How?
First, the option is open to anybody to receive your tweets: those people will be your "followers" and will "follow" you. Yes, that way you will get followers you know nothing about, in a very loose and broad network compared to Facebook or LinkedIn where you are supposed to invite only people you know. That's ok, just remember to avoid personal messages on Twitter. If you feel the urge to say to the world you are driving to the mall, say it on Facebook, not Twitter.
You are what you tweet
Second, Twitter does not imply a detailed profile and nobody is interested in pictures of your cat there - unless you consistently tweet expert tips about cats dedicated to people interested in cats. No long profile descriptions, you are what you tweet! It's all part of your personal brand, so choose your messages carefully. If you always send tweets about cats, you will be known as a cat lover and will be followed by other cat owners. Consistency is the key word to respect. Do not start with lots of tweets on cats then switch to electric guitars - you will loose your cat followers. You do not have to be a blogger to tweet, you can send your opinion, or forward the link to an interesting article you'd like to share with others.
Third, Twitter is a one-way network: your followers and the people you follow can be very different. Most beginners are so happy to have followers the first days they think they have to politely return the favor and follow them back. Don't! Like on any other network, there are "spammers" that are looking to reach the top of the top in numbers of followers and who send irrelevant - sometimes adult - content. No worry you can choose to unfollow them later on very easily. Follow only the people you think will send interesting content for you. There is no commitment or reciprocal politeness like on the other social networks.
Now, some of your friends in Facebook and some of your contacts in LinkedIn may be interested in following your tweet: publish your Twitter address on those two online networks and watch what happens!
Who and what to follow?
Reciprocally you can choose to receive messages or "follow" anybody. You can find who you would like to follow with the Search tool on Twitter.com. Think of a tweet as a condensed piece of news, a kind of newsletter you can read in a snap. What do you want to receive news about?
For example, I follow high tech bloggers such as GigaOm, VentureBeat, a few companies like Cisco and Microsoft, and a few local news channels such as the Examiner and the San Francisco Opera. I have learn about Michael Jackson's death with a tweet in less than ten minutes: the tweets spread even faster than emails. You do not have to be on a news web site at all time to stay tuned, just glance at your tweets and the news will come to you. Some companies are even tweeting their job offers - that's the best way to check whether you are connected to the latest in social media.
Sweet treat for tweets: TweetDeck
You are soon going to be overwhelmed with tweets. Don't give up! Here is your savior: TweetDeck. It's a software you download on your computer in a few minutes. Few programs make it to my desktop but this one is a tweet must-have. I have filtered my email to put all the Twitter email alerts in a directory I never open, and I send or read my tweets with TweetDeck only.
TweetDeck allows you to define groups of tweets - news, companies, friends - and to display them by column (look for the Group button in the tiny button bar at the top). To send a tweet, use the first Tweet button on the top left. In the "What are you doing?" window type your message - now remember not to send just what you are doing, send a meaningful content or forward an other tweet with a piece of news you think is interesting.
Don't you love those tiny urls?
Underneath, the "Shorten Url" line allows you to copy the link of the web page you'd like to send. Now you may have noticed in the address bar of your browser how the web links have been victim of inflation in length, there is no way you can send a link and a text message in less than 120 characters. The tip is to let TweetDeck shorten the web link for you, by clicking the first button on the right. TweetDeck will create a "tiny url" and add it at the end of your message. Easy! Tiny urls are very convenient to send by email as well, instead of the original long one.
Before you send, in the "From" field, if you select the Facebook button, TweetDeck will automatically update your Facebook status with your tweet - provided you have authorized TweetDeck to login on Facebook for you. Interestingly, the opposite is not true, personal messages from Facebook will not make it on Twitter, which underlines the difference between the two types of social networks.
You can choose how often you want to update the display of the tweets and how you want to be notified by email or by phone with the top right button "Settings."
Pass the mouse over the picture or the logo of the author of the tweet you received and select "Other Actions" to get access to many options, such as forwarding the tweet, unfollowing the author or adding to one of your groups.
That's it, you're ready to go! Check the next post, Tweet and Twurl, for advanced tips and more "tweetiquette" do's and dont's. How will you know about that post? Follow me, @deldaix, of course!
Related links:
17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide For Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners - DoshDosh
Using Twitter To Create & Inform Communities - PR Squared
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