Twitter 101

Liz Borod Wright

Adjunct Professor at Columbia Journalism School

Strategic Social Media Workshop, Fall 2014

Contact: lizborod@gmail.com or just tweet @Travelogged

Are YOU one of 241 million active users on Twitter?

Why Should YOU be on Twitter?

• Make connections and meet people: “Facebook is to connect with the people with whom you went to college, Twitter is to connect with the people with whom you WISH you went to college.”

• Promote your work• Keep up with the news

Anatomy of a Tweet• 140 characters, which can include

@usernames, links, #hashtags and up to 4 photos (new!)

• All elements use up characters• Ideal length is 100-120 characters

Anatomy of a Tweet: User Names

• @usernames are clickable – gives the reader more info

• So it shows up in notifications • Double-check that the names are correct

Anatomy of a Tweet: Links

• Twitter shortens your link to 22 characters• For a shorter link (13 characters) and to see

how many clicks your link gets, use Bit.ly, a free metrics tool that gives you incredible information

A Look at Bit.ly

Anatomy of a Tweet: Hashtags

• Hashtags originated on Twitter (now on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest)

• A hashtag is a clickable, searchable term; Gives your tweet a wide audience

• Can only be tracked through third parties for now

• Do “market research”: a quick search to see which ones are the most popular

• No more than 3 hashtags per tweet

Anatomy of a Tweet: PhotosYou can now add up to 4 photos, and even tag users! The number of photos doesn’t affect the character count.

Famous Tweets

First tweet by the Twitter founder! Was your first tweet more exciting than that?

The Queen’s First Tweet

Did You Dress Up for Your First Tweet?

And Did Anyone Give You Flowers?

Famous Tweets

The most retweeted tweet of all time…

Famous Tweets

Previously the most retweeted tweet of all time…

Famous Tweets

Quick thinking during Super Bowl 2013 made Oreo one of the Twitter winners that night.

Famous Tweets

Famous Tweets“Don’t wait until the plane has landed in the Hudson to figure out Twitter!” -- Sree

Famous Tweets

Facebook recently acquired Acton’s Whatsapp for $19 Billion.

Activist Tweeting: #WhyIStayed

Activist Tweeting: #WhyIStayed

RT: Retweets• Retweeting is the currency of Twitter!• Use the Retweet button or cut & paste so you

can add a comment• There’s also “Favoriting” the star, but that’s

more like bookmarking. You really want to retweet and be retweeted…

• Look at how many RTs those “famous tweets” got!

MT: Modified Tweets • Need to change the text when you RT? Use MT

(modified tweet)

Wondering what to tweet?

The Twitter Profile

Your Twitter Profile: 2 Names• Username, aka Twitter handle: max 15

characters. • “Real Name”: max 20 characters.

Your Twitter Profile: 2 Names• Your Twitter handle is important for personal

branding…• You are allowed to change both at any time

(announce it to your followers so they don’t get confused and unfollow you)

Your Twitter Profile: 2 Photos• Profile Photo: Should be a recognizable

headshot• Header Photo: 500 by 1500px

Your Twitter Bio• 160 characters (not including link at the end)• Can contain links, hashtags and @usernames• Should indicate what you’ll be tweeting about

Your Twitter Bio• Tweak your bio frequently -- let it evolve with

you• Check out these bios: @Sree, @wordwhacker,

@jeffbercovici, @KMSieminski, @KristaCanfield, @earthxplorer

• Whose bios do you like?• How can you optimize your own bio?

Understanding Direct Messages

Source: Meg Pickard, https://www.flickr.com/photos/meg/5757742705/

Free Twitter Analytics• Fairly new (not everyone has it): Twitter Analytics• When you’re logged into Twitter.com, go to

http://analytics.twitter.com/• Much of this info is available just by looking at

your Twitter feed, but the presentation is nice• You can also buy ads from here… Twitter is hoping

that seeing these analytics will disappoint you enough to pay for better results!