Twitter, Tweets, Twit, oh my: A beginning course on Twitter

Introductions My name is Angela Brandt

I live right here in Spring Lake Park.

I am enrolled in Graduate School for Human Resource Development, and I specialize in Online Learning.

Introduce Yourself

What is your name? Why Twitter?

Outline of this CourseWhat is TwitterGetting setup on Twitter (if you’re not already) Follow / Be FollowedTwitter ListsUpdating your twitterSending Direct Messages through Twitter@replies (public) on TwitterRT RetweetingURL Shortning, www.tinyurl.comUsing #hashtagsTwitter Etiquette

What is Twitter?

Important TerminologyFollow: Subscribing to one’s status updatesFollower: Someone who is subscribed to your status updates. Lists: A way to organize the people that you subscribe to in a more

coherent fashion. ReTweet: Sharing the tweet of one user with all your Twitter

followers.Hashtag: Used when people are talking about the same event, so

that you can see what others are saying about what you are talking about. For example: #minnesota

Tweet: A message that is 140 characters or less; you are “tweeting” when you are updating your Twitter account.

@ : directly referring to a Twitter user in your Tweet. Reply: or publicly replying to someone in your tweet. For example:

@angelambrandtDirect Message: When you respond to someone privately on Twitter.

Who came up with Twitter? Jack Dorsey, CEO of Odeo, the podcasting

service, came up with the idea of Twitter to pull the company out of a creative slump.

Based on the idea of chatting through SMS text messages, only doing it online.

How Twitter became amazingTwitter originally began as a “status update”

service – I had macaroni and cheese for lunch, I’m going to work, etc.

Now, Twitter has become a sharing service – interesting articles, information about events, and thoughtful postings about world events.

Twitter has been used in presidential elections (Barack used it in the 2008 elections @BARACKOBAMA.

Twitter has even been used in operating rooms, giving step by step instructions to medical students.

And since then….

Who is Tweeting?

What am I going to use Twitter for? “Live-Tweeting” events – play by play updates

on what is going on around you. Promoting something – your business, your

blog, etc.Networking for jobs Getting your questions answeredMeeting new friends

How to sign up with Twitterand Finding People to Follow

Twitter Humor

Let’s Sign Up For Twitter!

Who should you follow? News People you know CelebritiesPeople who share your hobbiesSchool DistrictsCitiesBrands (coupons?)People that are following you (if you are

interested)Bots that help you do something useful

Examples of People to Follow

Now that we have people, let’s make a list…

Using Twitter

Re – Tweeting (RT)Re-Tweeting is requoting someone else’s

Tweet. Commonly referred to as RT’s. Don’t spam the world with RT’s, however.

RT’s are useful when adding your own commentary to them.

For example: @angelambrandt Tweets: The vikings are the

purple gods! Your retweet: @(username) RT: The vikings are the purple

gods! Yes they are!

URL ShorteningSince Twitter is only 140 characters, it is nearly

always a good idea to shorten links that you post on Twitter.

If you post a Tweet on Twitter.com, you will have to shorten the URL manually.

Some other services will shorten the URL automatically (TweetDeck, Ping.fm, etc.)

The most popular website to shorten URL’s is http://www.tinyurl.com.

Let’s practice this. Let’s take the url http://www.springlakeparkschools.org/departments/communityeducation.asp and shorten it.

Using #hashtagsUsing #hashtags allows you to be tracked by

other users who are talking about the same things.

Not sure if your #hashtag is being used already? Look it up at http://www.hashtags.org.

Let’s play with #hashtags!

Direct MessagingDirect messaging allows for you to send a

message to someone, so that not everyone reads it. Kind of like an email service!

To send a direct message, you click on “Direct messages” on the right hand side. From there, you will see a drop down menu with a text box. Choose who you would like to send a direct message to, and type a message.

Let’s send a direct message!

Ways to Update Twitter

TweetDeck

Twhirl

Twitterific

Twidroid

m.twitter.com

Ping.fmPing.fm is a great way to post to multiple

services (including Twitter). You won’t want to update your status

individually to multiple places, if you have them.

For example, let’s say you want to update your Facebook status and Tweet that same thing. Ping.fm will allow you do that.

Twitter Etiquette

Twitter EtiquetteIt’s helpful to be transparent about your

work/employer in your profile, if your use of Twitter has any implications for your day job.

It’s okay to follow people you don’t know on Twitter. They can choose whether or not to follow you back. It’s also ok to unfollow people on Twitter.

Tim O’Reilly suggests that @replies have lots of detail in them, so that others picking up the conversation can understand the response (example: turn “yes” into “Yes, I really love the new G.I. Joe movie.”)

Twitter Etiquette (cont..)Don’t ever Tweet personal information. At the same time, be personal – but to a

point. Don’t spam people – even by saying “thanks

for following me” can be misconstrued as spam. Use Twitter for communicating meaningfully.