TwitterA fledgling guideSupporting research and research uptake

By Robin Coleman, Digital Communications Officer, IDS @IDS_UK

In a nutshell

A social media channel or social network Tweeting - sharing information, opinion, links, photos or a status publicly Find out what others are doing, latest news, events etc. instantly Accessible via a feed made up of those you ‘follow’ via Home Each tweet allows 140 characters Your identity is represented by @yourshortname Accessible via internet connected device - PC, Macs, smartphones, tablets A mar-comms tool for research uptake – direct connection with your target audience

How to present yourself

Create a short but meaningful @name – up to 15 characters

Bio text should explain who you are and what you tweet about – passion, specialism, etc. Use keywords that will get you found

Bio text allows 160 characters so keep it short

Include your Location and website / blog URL

Images and branding Upload a good square profile image which

works well in small dimensions Header image – landscape allows creativity Background image for branding

Create a niche community

Follow those who share common interests You may gain followers by following them Who you want to influence Who influences or inspire you Twitter’s own search and

recommendations to find new people to follow

Follow those who use #Hashtags that you would use - for instant search filtered – simply click on #hashtag word as a link

Create lists to organise who you follow Instead of ‘following’ people you can add

them to a list Examples:

your work colleagues News websites Bloggers Funders Event attendees or speakers

Up to 20 lists can be created Look at other users’ Lists for new

potential followers

How to use Twitter

Tweeting 140 characters per tweet – luckily Twitter

will count down the number remaining Share links (inserting web address gets

automatically shortened) to web pages, videos, anything with a URL

Share images (photos, infographics etc.)

#Hashtags – common subject keywords which create instant search/filter function (have different colour and can be clicked on)

Engage with others Reply to others – show them someone’s

listening or mention (MT) others – keep the conversation going

Retweet – (RT) others who your own followers would appreciate

DM (Direct Message) – sometimes works depending on who (big accounts may ignore, be unaware)

Favourite – bookmark a tweet for later (useful for recording your influence) – indicates success

Good etiquette

Don’t use CAPITALS – looks like you’re SHOUTING!! Mention others by their Twitter @identity #FF (Follow Friday) – a chance to thank those who have retweeted, mentioned, replied or

those you can recommend to others Use #Hashtags with purpose but don’t over use them in a tweet – looks spammy Don’t clog up others’ feed by tweeting multiple times in short time spans Exception to rule is Events Before attending an event warn your followers or introduce others who maybe event

tweeting Commentate on key points at a seminar, take photos, share links if mentioned in seminar

Tips and tricks

Tweeting Get noticed by Mentioning another

@identity in your tweet if they have something to do with the communication

Before tweeting check who else is talking about the same subject then Follow them just before sending tweet

Distribute and schedule your tweets Timing for maximum exposure

Engaging Use the @Connect tab to see mentions and

interactions Retweet those who’ve mentioned or replied

to you Search for tweets that mention you or your

organisation’s full name not @name then Retweet

Craft your tweet then edit again

Check the spelling to look professional Shorter the better – someone may want to

quote you (without having to edit) Avoid duplicate words Remove unnecessary words w/ = with, TT = Translated Tweet Insert URL between text to increase click-

thru rate Use #hashtags within the sentence rather

than an afterthought Instead of using Reply to respond to

others, write new tweet & quote @name prefixed with a full stop so it will appear on your followers’ feed (otherwise hidden)

Tracking your links

Bit.ly - https://bitly.com/ URL can be customised banned in Ethiopia

Google’s URL shortener service - http://goo.gl/ for tracking click-thru’s (when logged in to Google account)

Google’s URL builder - https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867 Essential if using Google Analytics for statistics Use ‘social’ as Source, ‘twitter’ as Medium and some text to identify your Campaign Code E.g. http://www.ids.ac.uk/?

utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=fhstrain

Twitter for research

Your mission: Become respected, become the expert Tweet whitepapers for peer review Highly tweeted articles are 11 x more likely to get cited

than less Tweet your blog to engage like-minded peers Poll your followers for quick research results E.g. #uksnow people tweeted their postcode and amount

of snow they had

Be a great party host

Welcome old and new friends (followers, #FF Follow Friday) Introduce new friends to others (mention, retweet) Stimulate conversation (tweet questions, well-founded opinions) Quote others and be topical – keep the conversation going, use #hashtags No one likes a party pooper – don’t moan or vent your anger about trivial

things Take an interest in new people – (retweet those who offer similar opinions) Thank those who have helped you – not just Friday’s (retweet, mention,

reply) Kindness gets rewards – Retweeting usually get returned or remembered Ignore those who are rude or vulgar – avoid public spats Evict those who annoy others (use the block/spam option)

Further resources

Twitter for researchers (slideshare) - http://www.slideshare.net/UniofYorkLibrary/twitter-for-researchers-22963915

Using Social Media to Increase your Research Impact (slideshare) - http://www.slideshare.net/mishdalton/social-media-for-researchers-22433236

75 powerful ways to get more Twitter followers - http://twittertoolsbook.com/how-to-get-more-twitter-followers/

15 ways to increase the click through rate of your tweets - http://blog.bufferapp.com/15-ways-to-increase-the-click-through-rate-on-your-tweets

Ultimate complete social media sizing cheat sheet - http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2012/11/12/final-social-media-sizing-cheat-sheet/#sr=g&m=o&cp=or&ct=-tmc&st=(opu%20qspwjefe)&ts=1384940675

Topsy - http://topsy.com/