getting started on twitter

GETTING STARTED ON

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What is Twitter?

• Definition: a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows you answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets", to your friends, or "followers.”

“Twitter is blogging without the hassle!”- Anonymous

What’s all the fuss about?

• Twitter can help with the following:– Getting real-time updates and news immediately– Connect with people who you may have been

connected with– Broadcast real-time updates immediately to your

network

The Growth of Twitter

3x Increase!

3x Increase!

My experience with Twitter

What you’ll be learning today

1. Get your Twitter account started2. Understand what people say on Twitter3. Understand how others have used Twitter4. Integrate Twitter with current activities5. Utilize tools to enhance your Twitter

experience

BASICS

Getting Started on Twitter

• Branding yourself– Choosing a username– Choosing a photo

(i.e. headshot, logo, etc)– Choosing a background

• Build your network– Find who’s already using

Twitter– Follow people you’d be

interested in

What to Tweet About

• What are you doing?– Interesting facts about your industry– Specials or promotions– Information about events– Handling customer service via Twitter

TERMINOLOGY

Twitter Terminology

• Jargon:• Tweets = 140-character updates on Twitter• Follower = A user interested in your updates

• Symbols:• @ = public conversations• # = adding a tag to a tweet• RT = retweeting is sharing tweets with others• d = direct messages are similar to e-mails

@ replies = public conversations

my tweet:

my follower’s responses:

# = hashtags (tagging tweets)

tweets tagged with #twitterteacher:

RT = retweeting tweets

recent retweets from @daveschappell:

EXAMPLES

• Zappos (@zappos)– Customer service– Company transparency– Brand proliferation

• Other examples:– Comcast (@comcastcares)– Dell.com (@delloutlet)– Motore Coffee (@motore)

Business Example: Zappos

• CNN (@cnnbrk)– Breaking news worldwide– Connecting with a network

of virtual reporters

• Other examples– Hudson River plane crash– Presidential Inauguration– Earthquakes in Italy

News Example: CNN

• Shaquille O’Neal (THE_REAL_SHAQ)– Connecting with fans at a

personal level– Ability to control their brand

• Other Examples:– Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk)– Kevin Rose (@kevinrose)– Lance Armstrong

(@lancearmstrong)

Personal Example: Shaq

INTEGRATION

Integrating Twitter with Life

• Cell phone:– Connect it with your text

messaging– Use 3rd party applications to

tweet• Blogging:– Use Twitterfeed.com to

push your blogs to Twitter automatically

• Facebook– Connect your tweets with

your Facebook Status using the Twitter Application

TOOLS

Twitter Clients

• Twhirl: http://www.twhirl.org

• Twitterific: http://iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific

• Tweetie: http://www.atebits.com/tweetie-mac/

• Tweetdeck: http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/

• TinyURL: http://www.tinyurl.com

• Bit.ly: http://www.bit.ly

• Tr.im: http://www.tr.im

• Digg.com: http://www.digg.com

URL Shorteners

Question?E-mail: help@teachstreet.com

Twitter: @teachstreet