tweeting for nc state university

Tweeting for NC State University @timjonesonline @jason_austin @nematome

Welcome to “Tweeting for NC State University”


Twitter is a fancy Web 2.0 tool that lots of bosses want you to use so they can say they’re doing social media stuff. But it’s also useful.


Twitter lets users post in 140 characters or less pretty much anything you can imagine. It’s evolved well past answering What are you doing?


Let’s be honest. No one cares what you’re doing. Eating isn’t interesting. Neither is waking up, going to sleep or arriving at work.


Isn’t that all Twitter is? A bunch of narcissistic commentary with no real value for responsible, intelligent, working people?


Nope. People use Twitter to share links, news, feedback, answers, insights, even for real-time coverage of news and events.


Twitter also lets companies and employees listen to the social media conversation surrounding their brands, participate in it and affect it.


NC State’s brand is profound and its people make it remarkable. Twitter lets us celebrate that depth and diversity in our own voices.


So....What should I tweet?


Share. Use Twitter to tell the facets of NC State’s story you know, influence, experience or find interesting.


Make NC State a part of conversations about what you do by being part of those conversations. We are our people.


News, events, pertinent information, industry insights, questions, feedback solicitations—all of it has a home on Twitter.


But be diverse in your postings. Shameless self-promotion shouldn’t be your (only) focus. A little is ok #ncsuweb


Know your current audience and the audience you want. Consider what they’ll find interesting.


Before you hit update, ask yourself “Who cares?” If you can name them all by their first names, don’t post. If you have no idea, don’t post.


Think of Twitter like networking at a cocktail party. Be relevant, be personable, be entertaining and be memorable.


Don't be that guy—the one who talks about himself and how great he is the whole night and doesn't listen to anything anyone else has to say.


How do I get started?


It’s a good idea to listen to the conversation a bit before jumping in. http://www.twitter.com No account required. When you’re ready, sign up.

http://www.twitter.com



You’ll need an unique email account for each twitter account. http://www.twitter.com -> sign up now.






Pick a username. Be accurate and informative. Name should reflect the NCSU name or unit (not the person updating tweets).


Fill out the profile information, and provide the account user’s name here. Be honest. It’s good for transparency and authenticity.


Add a photo that represents both the university and your unit. Same thing for your background. NC State downloads coming.


Don’t leave everything as “default.” Take some time to customize the look and feel of your page. Web Color Palette (http://bit.ly/cq4ut).

http://bit.ly/cq4ut

http://bit.ly/cq4ut


Start at http://twitter.ncsu.edu to find some people to follow. Most will follow you back. See who they’re following, grow your follow list. Use search to find more.

http://twitter.ncsu.edu

http://twitter.ncsu.edu


A few “do’s and don’ts” of tweeting...


Do: Have one or more communicative purposes. Don't: Tweet outside your purpose.


Do: Discern the core messageDon't: Bury the lead


Do: Make your tweets interesting. Sell your story with your tweets.Don’t: Be uninteresting, stodgy or overly formal.


OK: NC State Engineering Researchers on Centennial Campus publish new research on implications of nanotechnology advances. http://shortlink

http://shortlink

http://shortlink

http://shortlink

http://shortlink


Better: Is nanotechnology killing us bit by tiny bit? #ncstate attempts an answer http://shortlink

http://shortlink

http://shortlink


Do: Contractions, colloquialisms, slang and flexible grammar are your friends.


Do: Tweet things that directly or implicitly support the fundamental NC State brand: hands-on, relevant learning opportunities that contribute to “real world” solutions.


Do: Provide context for your links

great #ncstate article on how visual consistency strengthens brands http://bit.ly/asdfd

http://bit.ly/asdfd

http://bit.ly/asdfd

http://bit.ly/asdfd

http://bit.ly/asdfd


Don’t: Offer blind links

check it out!! http://bit.ly/lkasdf

http://bit.ly/lkasdf

http://bit.ly/lkasdf


Do: Remember whom you’re tweeting for.Don’t: Post anything you don’t want your boss AND the Chancellor to read.


Do: Provide university contextDon’t: Assume the Twitterverse knows who or what you’re tweeting about


Working on some cool stuff for “Information Technology” will get lost. Use NC State Information Technology or some variation. Topic+Context FTW


Participate in the twitter community by @replies


How to reply: type @ followed directly (no space) by the username of the person you want to reply to. Lots of tools do this for you.


Do: Give context even in @repliesDon’t: Assume all your followers know what you’re replying to


Do: Use reply when you have something to addDon’t: Have personal conversations in public


Do: Listen and respondDon’t: Ignore @replies


Trying to reach out to a reporter? Follow them on Twitter and @reply when you have something that might help. Build a relationship.


You can @reply to anyone, even if you’re not in a follower/following relationship (yet).


Connecting through Direct Messages


Direct Messages (DMs) provide a way to only tweet to an individual user and not your whole user base.


DMs don’t appear in the timeline. They are private between 2 twitter users.


You can not DM a user that doesn’t follow you.


When to DM v/s @reply?


Spread the word through Re-Tweeting


Retweeting helps spread a tweet around the Twitterverse


How to retweet: Copy/paste full text of a tweet, add RT:@originalposter in front of post.


Do: Retweet good, relevant tweetsDon’t: Retweet anything you wouldn’t post yourself.


Do: Retweet posts your audience would find interestingDon’t: Retweet posts your audience doesn’t care about


Leave room in your tweets for retweets (RT @timjonesonline takes up 18 characters)


You can retweet anyone, even if you’re not in a follower/following relationship.


Promote your brand by adding hashtags to your tweets


Do: Tag lots of stuff with #ncsu and #ncstateDon’t: Forget to tag


Do: Limit your local tag vocabularyDon’t: Create multiple tags for the same thing


Do: Use hashtags in contextDon’t: Create arbitrary, uninformative tags (often) #nothelping


Spread the word with links and pics


Do: Use a link shortener Don’t: Not post links


http://bit.ly is great. Free account, let’s you track links and references. Very helpful for metrics. Great for your links, less so for “general links”

http://bit.ly

http://bit.ly


http://bit.ly key stats: Number of clicks and referring sites/tools. Neat.

http://bit.ly

http://bit.ly


Some real world example tweets about advertising, announcements and news...


Twitter is about connecting with new people, so you gotta follow them!


Do: Be discerning in who you follow and who you let follow you.Don’t: Follow everyone.


When it comes to earning followers content and participation are the most effective investments.


Search topics, ideas, people, places—find people to follow. Places like http://www.wefollow.com offer some good ideas as well.

http://www.wefollow.com

http://www.wefollow.com


Find groups of people with Lists


Lists are user-generated groupings of other twitterers.


http://listorious.com/ can help you find relevant lists to follow. Also create your own lists.

http://listorious.com

http://listorious.com


Twitter has spam too


Spotting the spammers is pretty easy...


Following: 2,347 Followers: 7 Tweets:1


Every post is “Check out my xxxxxxx” or “Learn how to make millions on the Internet”


Blind links + names like sexychristine324 with posts like check out my pix -> http://got.vir.us

http://got.vir.us

http://got.vir.us


...or is named @jason_austin

(joke)


Spammers are fairly harmless. Just don’t follow them.


Search is your friend


http://search.twitter.com can help see what people are saying

http://search.twitter.com

http://search.twitter.com


Twitter is a real-time news network. Just check out the trending topics...


Use twitter tools to help manage your account


Tweetdeck, TwitterFox, Tweetie, Twitterific, Twhirl, Netvibes—the list goes on and on. Find what works for you.


So you think you are twitter master now? It’s time for a throwdown, Bobby Flay style.


Get in groups of 3 or 4 and craft a tweet promoting a news announcement. And make it good :)


Purpose? Interesting? Relevant? Context for links? Hashtags? Retweetable?


A parting challenge: Commit to at least 3 tweets a day: 1 original post, 1 @reply and 1 RT@. This requires you to contribute, participate and listen.


Go forth and tweet!

Please fill out the evaluation at http://webapps.ncsu.edu/classmate/

http://webapps.ncsu.edu/classmate/




tweeting for nc state university

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