What Is Twitter: A guide for NFPs

Twitter: What is it?And what can we really do with it?

The BasicsThe basics of the Twitter Platform

Twitter:At it’s most basic, Twitter is a website that allows you to write 140 characters about any topic, and send it out into the Internet.

Twitter:A user creates an account on Twitter from which they send their tweets.People can subscribe to see the Tweets of other people, which is called ‘following’.Anyone can follow anyone else’s tweets. There is no need to accept or approve of another person viewing your tweets*.*Private accounts are available – but you’ll see why they have only limited use for general Twitter use.

Twitter AccountAn example of an active Twitter account.Real-Time Twitter Feed

The People I Follow The Tweets of

Direct Message capability of TwitterA TweetTweets can be as basic as a user wants. Above is an example of someone using Twitter like a blog, writing about what’s happening in their life (after, we can surmise, a big night out.) ;)

@replyTweets can be directed at a certain person by adding an @ in front of their username.These are public.Here, @Johan_Vonshag tweets @leoh1llary asking if he lost his car in the torrential downpour from the previous night.

@replyAnd @leoh1llary reponds:

Retweet: RTA retweet means that you’re sending someone else’s tweet out in your own network, like a forward in email:This original tweet by @warlach was retweeted by @genrobey and @tali3sin.@warlach’s tweet will end up in @genrobey and @tali3sin’s twitter streams, magnifying the amount of people who would see this tweet.

RetweetsIt’s polite to show where you got your tweet from – and sometimes as far back as you can; as tweets can be retweeted and retweeted and…Retweets can also be written “via”.

@Replies and RetweetsWhen you @reply someone, they are notified as someone ‘replying’ to them.If you talk about multiple people in a tweet, they are all notified.This is also the case in Retweets, where everyone you mention in a retweet is also notified.

SummaryA tweet is 140 characters sent out into the internet.Users can subscribe to, or follow, each other’s tweets.Users can direct a tweet at an individual by @replying.Users can forward the tweet to their own network of followers, by using a retweet.

The DeetsHow users have extended the Twitter Platform

URLsTwitter is the perfect medium for sharing information quickly. In emergencies, breaking news and sharing information, short, succinct messages are perfect.But what about those long URLs?

URLsURLs shorteners are used in conjunction with Twitter, to shorten long URLs to 25 characters.TinyURL.com and Bit.ly are popular services to shorten URLs for Twitter.

URLsYou can shorten any website URL into a Tiny URL to be used for tweeting.

URLsGood URL shorteners will not only track where the tweet was retweeted, but how many clicks the link has had.

HashtagsUsers can also tag tweets to link it to general conversation happening around the same topic.This is useful when people search all Tweets related to the topic, they can get a holistic view of the issue.Hashtags are commonly used at conferences so that all the tweets about the conference are together.A Hashtag can be a word or code, defined by users.Eg. #earthhourEg. #iranelection

HashtagsThese are unrelated tweets, but about the same topic, Earth Hour.

HashtagsThe recent Barcamp Conference in Canberra used the #bcc2010 tag to link tweets.(BarCamp Canberra 2010)

Hashtags#followfriday is a hashtag developed by the Twitter community where users recommend other people to follow about certain topics, every Friday.

SummaryURL Shorteners condense URLs to 25 characters.URL Shorteners can also track retweets and clicks.Hashtags track conversations with a common theme, as defined by users.

The StrategyUsing Twitter For NFPs and Business

Strategy For TwitterTwitter is used by business for: sharing information about community/industrysharing info about your business/NFP.creating community in Twitter (RTing people following you and responding to users daily) hashtags for events or competitions.It’s about giving your NFP a face, name and voice; it’s a customer support line, it’s the friendly receptionist, it’s the advice the savvy CEO gives: all in one.The best Twitter accounts will be all these things at once.

Example of an Awesome Twitter account

Strategy For TwitterQuality not quantity: retweets can be more effective than followers, because twitter is about reputation, community and culture not numbers.Your account could have 1000 followers, but no retweets. Your content would only reach 1000 people.Your account could have 300 followers, but a tweet is retweeted three times, by people with 400 followers. That tweet would reach 1,500 people.Having quality tweets and a more engaged audience is worth more than numbers.(…even though it pays off in the end in terms of numbers.)

Strategy For TwitterNoticing trends: pay attention to topics people RT and click on: provide more of that content or what it means if they click on that content.Hashtags for your industry. eg. #socent for social entrepreneurs.How to find people to follow for your industry: use Twitter search to see people discussing topics about your industry and follow those individuals. Also pay attention to #followfriday mentions.Following users creates loyalty, and they often follow back. But the only true way to build followers to to tweet awesome, relevant and non-spammy content.Ultimately, your aim is to become a source of knowledge people refer to on Twitter; that is how you will gain followers and retweets.

Other ways to use TwitterA desktop client, downloaded on your computer, means you can monitor many things at once.

Other ways to use TwitterSome web-based clients mean you can assign Tweets to different members of your team to respond to, or schedule tweets.

On The GoServices like Twitpic and Qik mean you can take pictures or video and post them directly to Twitter.Foursquare is a geo-locative game where you can check in and tag where you are at any point in time.

SummaryThink of how to provide your twitter followers the maximum amount of value for following you. Provide regular, relevant, quality information for them.Keep your twitter followers up to date with information about the industry and your business, but also respond to individual users and their needs.Desktop Clients like TweetDeck mean you can follow multiple searches, topics or people.Web-based clients like CoTweet mean you can assign tweets to different departments in your organisation or schedule tweets for the future.Twitter can incorporate live video streaming, images, RSS feeds and link to Facebook. You can update pretty much anything on the internet and sync it to be announced on Twitter.

Social Networking is BigPeople spend more time on social networking sites in Australia, than in any other country in the world. From: http://bit.ly/aVZg9D

Twitter is PersonalKeep it real. People tweet about themselves, have conversations with community and link to stuff that’s interesting to them.A brand working on Twitter should work the same way. When in Rome, and all that jazz…Source: http://bit.ly/bw7etg

Case StudiesThis was retweeted once or twice.

Had 88 clickthroughs within an hour of two of retweeting.

Not only increases people’s knowledge of Project Australia, but their chances of heading to the exhibition.

That’s 88 people who would not have known about the exhibition wanting to know more.Case Studiesx 24@Warlach has 30000 followers.

What Is Twitter: A guide for NFPs

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What Is Twitter: A guide for NFPs